Perseverance 끈기

                                            

Rearranging the garden in early spring this year, I removed a group of overgrown plants in the middle of the upper garden. The pointed leaves were so thickly dense around one another that their full vitality looked rather ugly and disorderly. 

Cutting the roots buried in the earth halfway, I noticed they were tightly tangled and deep. I didn't feel like digging out whole bunches of roots from the very bottom. 

After several months, new sprouts began to come up here and there, again and again, in the same place, and nowadays, I notice quite brand new leaves coming up and up continually. Because they are small now, they still look fresh and beautiful. So I just let them grow as they are.

Even though I take time to root out the weeds growing here and there on the paths or in the gardens whenever I can, the weeds grow constantly. Nobody sows them but they grow everywhere for evermore. It seems that they don't know how to disappear or die.

Whether it is good or bad, helpful or useless, every creature has such a persistent energy to exist and survive to the end. It seems that every living being struggles desperately to assure a better future.

Some of the proverbs say: "Slow and steady wins the race." "Patience is half of success." "Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet." So many people mention "patience" as the key to success or potential.

In Galatians 5:22-23, nine fruits of the Holy Spirit are introduced: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Forbearance is another name for perseverance, endurance or patience. 

This spiritual merit is a virtue that leads us to endure daily fatigue and hardship so as to do the best at every moment. Especially when we study, do business, or when we try hard to attain certain virtues, positive results depend not only on individual talent but also on the inner power called "perseverance."

Suffering and enduring a lot due to wars and persecution, it is said that Koreans by nature have an indomitable spirit. Truly, standing firm in difficulties, obstacles or challenges lets us appreciate the joy of overcoming reality and going beyond the limits.

There are always multiple possibilities of success or failure, and in fact, many people have survived while undergoing an indefatigable struggle with adversity.

St. Paul is a great model who endured many trials, confrontation and persecution. He bravely confessed the amazing spiritual power that made him behave in a different way: "When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently." (1 Corinthians 4:12-13)

As in Hamlet, to be or not to be, to give up or to go on is a matter of life and death. In the midst of endless challenges and crises, what matters most is perseverance that ultimately inspires and empowers us to achieve the goal. 

Being a person who easily concentrates on whatever I do at the moment, I highly regard perseverance as a faithful and constant guide to arrive at a goal.

How lovely and reliable it is for us to confess that "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith!" (2 Timothy 4:7)

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2019/06/162_271183.html

The Korea Times/ Thoughts of the Times/ June 26, 2019