Hobbit Habit 3: PerseveranceIt is one thing to win a battle, another to win a war.
Our lives are series of battles. Everyday we do battle against the “enemy”, the world and our very self. One can survive a major crisis unscathed, but it is the daily battles that can wear us down.
In the book, Frodo’s journey from the Shire to Mount Doom took years. The hobbits walked for months, encountering all kind of dangers. But in all of it, the hobbits persevered.
The virtue of perseverance is rare these days. We live in a culture of instant satisfaction. If we find something “too much work” then it is too much work that we don’t want to do. In our society where “emotional high” is king, lack of emotions is a good enough reason to quit. When the going gets tough, the tough bails out. The modern man is allergic to hardships.
How much good work have been wasted or never been started because we quit too early, too easily? How many of us have given up before we reached the goal?
Perseverance is important in life. Without it we shall accomplish nothing. When Frodo decided to destroy the One Ring, he was going against enemies bigger than him. And he had to battle them not only once, but many times. Everyday he has to battle the hostile landscape he needed to pass through. But most of all, he has to make battle with himself every minute as the One Ring tempts him. Even though the tides were against him, he pushed forward. This is most true for Christians, who are asks to go against the spirit of the world. Christ Himself said that the world would hate his followers. Without perseverance we shall all give in to the world, and be traitors, just like Judas.
A big part of perseverance is getting up after a fall and getting back on track. How many times did Frodo and the Fellowship was side tracked because unforeseen events. They were forced to travel underground in the Mines of Moria were they have to face orcs and the Balrog. Frodo was captured twice, bitten and cocooned by a giant spider and stabbed by a Nazgûl . But all of these setbacks did not stop Frodo from fulfilling his mission. We too suffer a lot of setbacks in life. But these setbacks, failures and obstacle are not the end of the adventure. It will only be the end if we choose so.
The spiritual life is not a sprint. We cannot rely on emotional consolations with our journey with God, for emotions fade. How much promises we have made when we were emotionally high and then never really delivered? Life is long marathon. We must learn to persevere amidst hardships and desolations. We cannot base our perseverance with our emotions, but with our decisions. We must continue running the race even if it takes us to the desert. And we need to persevere if we want to get out of the desert to the Promise Land.
In the end we can say with St Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
And the Father will say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Come and share your master’s happiness!"
Written by Daxx Bondoc
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