In the conversation between
the stream and the rock, the
stream always wins,not thru
strength but by Persistence

It is hard to stay positive in this day and age. There is an increasing amount of injustice, inequality and violence but most people seem blind, or maybe numb, to it. Even the simplest thing like spending 5 million dollars to purchase, renovate and operate for one year a thrift store in the suburbs by St. Vincent de Paul Society, dedicated to one on one personal contact with poor and needy, seems like a good idea to some. They just cannot see or hear the cry of the poor. Marquette University, a Jesuit Catholic University, teaching young men and women how to kill without the use of conscience seems hard to grasp to anyone that knows anything about Jesuit education yet it happens.

When research, facts, religious teachings or common sense are brought to the table the people promoting these unjust or immoral projects just do not want to hear, or if they do, hear, ignore. Creative conflict and dialog are a thing of the past. All truth seems just a matter of ‘your opinion, my opinion’. While I admit that my ‘opinion of the truth’ is my own, I know that conscience and truth are a universal and we should all be struggling toward the same truth.

“Together we stand, divided we fall.” Working together as Vincentians, as neighbors, as people seems to be a thing of the best. The going thing I hear is “do you own thing”, let me alone and I will do my own. Or another refrain is ‘just let it go’, ‘back off’. I put out some new information on the St. Vincent de Paul properties and a good ally, someone I respect and he respects me, wrote back that this new information I had just learned had been repeated by me over five times to the same people. I appreciated the person’s response but it just shows me how deep stigmas and labels run these days. I am aware of repeating things but it was not this case. One reason I repeat things, over and over again, especially when I am ignored, is that I found persistence pays off. I do not like being so persistent but have found out by being persistent is the only way to get through to some persons. They might not still hear the message and continue to label the messenger but often they just give in to stop the message, especially if there is truth to it, to stop.

When I owned a direct mail advertising sales business I did not like selling but I was good at it. I believe I had a decent product and persistently try to sell the business person over and over again until they finally purchased an ad. Often they were happy with the purchase and service provided and would be good repeat customers. But as one customer told me that without my constant persistence he would have not purchased the first ad.

Jesus tells a few parables in the Gospel where the persistent person finally gets his or her way and even ask us to persistently plea with God.

Perseverance might not be a pretty virtue but it sure beats ‘giving up’ or ‘backing off’ in getting something done. If one listens to one’s conscience it even works better. Persistence pays.

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