Keep the Faith

“Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated.” Deuteronomy 34:7

Moses, just like St. Paul after him, “fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.” Do we have what it takes? Don’t we need to be a spiritual giant to fight the good fight? 

We can all get inspired by John Stephen Akhwari, a runner from Tanzania who competed in Mexico City for the 1968 Olympics. He was one of seventy-four participants in the 26.2 mile marathon. They all took off at 3 p.m., the hottest part of the day. One by one, 18 runners dropped out. A few hours later, everyone who was left crossed the finish line, all except John. Because John was from Tanzania which has an altitude of 660 feet, and the Olympics was held in a city high above at 7,350 feet, his legs started cramping. When he fell, he dislocated and wounded his knee and injured his shoulder as it hit the pavement. His wounds were bandaged and he rejoined the race, limping. 

He fell again, got up, hobbled, at times even dragged himself. Officials were already begging him to stop! But he refused and continued on, stumbling. Finally he shuffled into the stadium almost half an hour after the last runner had finished. The few remaining spectators cheered him on as he limped across the finish line with the little strength he had left. 

In a TV interview, John was asked why he did not drop out of the race. He answered, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race." Like John, we too have a mission to finish. Do we have the endurance, persistence, the hopeful fortitude to keep going even when the going gets tough? As Edwin Hubbel Chapin wrote, “Not in achievement, but in endurance, of the human soul, does it show its divine grandeur and its alliance with the infinite.”