"Continue in a society dark with cruelty to let the people hear the grandeur of God in the peals of your laughter…..Continue to remind the people that each is as good as the other and that no one is beneath nor above you…..Continue to put the mantel of your protection around the bodies of the young and defenseless….Continue to take the hand of the despised and diseased and walk proudly with them in the high street. Some might see you and be encouraged to do likewise…..Continue to plant a public kiss of concern on the cheek of the sick and the aged and infirm and count that as a natural action to be expected….Continue to ignore no vision which comes to enlarge your range and increase your spirit…..Continue to dare to love deeply and risk everything for the good thing……Continue and by doing so you and your work will be able to continue eternally."
                                          Maya Angelou, from Continue

Perseverance, I believe, may be one of the noblest of human qualities. Of course there are those who persevere for less than noble reasons, creating less than noble results. But perseverance toward the good is difficult yet rewarding work, work that connects us deeply with the Holy One.

A few weeks ago when I was given this quote by Maya Angelou, I was reminded of so many people in my life that have, in spite of all the obstacles placed before them, continued. Continued to feed the ever growing number of hungry on our streets…Continued to teach children to read and grow in healthy ways when budgets in the public schools continue to be cut…Continued to offer kindness and justice to the marginalized in our midst…Continued to offer hope to women and children who live on the edges, those who hang on from paycheck to paycheck….Continued to visit the lonely in nursing homes offering songs and laughter, sweet treats and a warm touch. Continued to offer a smile, a joke, their laughter in the middle of a stressful day. Simply continued………..

Perseverance and faith walk hand in hand. To persevere toward goodness in our lives requires faith that, indeed, our actions will make a difference…even ones we may never see or be aware of.

Each day we have the opportunity to wake up, get dressed, put on our shoes, brush our teeth and hair, and head out into the world…..to persevere, in faith, to offer ourselves to the world, to continue……..eternally.    

It is noble and important work.