Many of us are feeling some fatigue. The Coronavirus has brought significant losses to many and has made nearly everything we do or would like to do more difficult or even impossible. When this CCE Corner is posted, we may not yet know who will be president in 2021. Even when we do know the results of the election, we may still feel fatigued by this long and tiring political season. Along with this, we face cultural upheaval which gives every indication of continuing. Speaking around the time of the birth of our nation, Samuel Adams observed: “The necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance.” The same is true today, and so, as we begin the second quarter, we turn our focus to the virtue of perseverance.
The idea of perseverance may bring to mind images of an athlete training, a musician practicing, a farmer plowing his field, or soldiers courageously performing their duty, or it may bring to mind the simple childhood poem, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again…” The verb “persevere” comes from the Latin “perseverare” which means “continue steadfastly, persist” so all of these images seem appropriate, but there is an even deeper meaning found within the classical Christian tradition. Christian writers often used a synonym for perseverance–“diligence”. The Latin root for diligence is “diligere” which means to respect or esteem, to love. It may sound strange, but perseverance or diligence is not merely staying the course or gutting it out, it is an expression of love.