Baffled, but Undaunted – Sunday, July 28, 1985
Call it what you will: Persistence, Tenacity, Resolution, or Perseverance; it is still the quaint old principle of getting back on the horse that has thrown you-again and again. It is a simple faith in ourselves that, if we want something badly enough, we can achieve it—not without persistence, not without work and struggle and sacrifice—but that it can be done.
We are surrounded by too much defeatism, too much pessimism, deceived by a modern-day philosophy which says: try, try, and, if you don’t succeed-accept defeat.
The truth is that ordinary people with quite common talents can achieve extraordinary results through simple perseverance by sticking to it, by seeing the task through to its conclusion.
One such ordinary person rose from failing report cards in school to become one of the world’s great inventors. Through tenacious attention to scientific experimentation, he produced thousands of products to benefit mankind: Thomas Alva Edison.
Another survived defeat after political defeat, rising each time to run again, to finally occupy this nation’s highest political office: Abraham Lincoln.
And still a third, through uncommon determination, overcame almost insurmountable linguistic handicaps to become a great literary artist: Helen Keller.
Perseverance pays dividends not to individuals but also to nations. In the early and ominous days of World War II, England was left virtually alone to face the unchecked enemy—with the only weapon she had: bulldogged persistence—an unfailing will to withstand, to endure, to rise again; a quiet but penetrating voice, which pierced the tiny shops and fish markets of London, whispering: this night the bombs shall lay waste to our city once more, and in the morning we shall clear away the rubble, bury our dead, and build again. The Battle of Britain was not won with steel and bayonet, but with iron will and resolution.
And thus, through example, we learn one of life’s greatest lessons—that we are, after all, created equal; that, despite differences in aptitude and ability, we are all endowed with the single most important ingredient to success—the potential for perseverance.
Even the path to heaven is not paved with heroic deeds or extraordinary talents. “Endure to the end” is the charge; endure with kindness and a gracious heart—minute by minute, day by day, through the years and decades, till the prize is won.
Baffled, but ever undaunted; disappointed, but always resolved, determined, and tenacious, the human heart toils persistently onward towards distant goals—and to life eternal.
July 28, 1985
Broadcast Number 2,919