We must pray continually and not be discouraged (Luke 18:1-8). Pray, call on God and goodness, and hold on—persist and persevere in justice, nonviolence, fairness, and honesty. Even the hardest structure and injustice will crack. The woman who persevered until justice was done is the hero of today's gospel, for her persistence is relevant for all times. Nothing good and just comes to you without time and effort.
Long Walk to Freedom is an autobiography by Nelson Mandela, South Africa's first democratically elected President, first published in 1994. The book profiles his early life, coming of age, education, and 27 years spent in prison. Born in 1918, he was a key figure in the fight against apartheid, a system of racial segregation, which led to his imprisonment for 27 years. Upon his release in 1990, he helped dismantle apartheid and worked to create a new, multiracial South Africa, earning him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Do you want to be relevant in your classroom, in your community, in your family, or in your friends' circle? Listen to Lisa Tzwu-Fang Su, an American billionaire business executive. While addressing the graduates at MIT, she said: find the toughest problems out there and volunteer to help out. This is how you make a difference. The world is full of complex and challenging problems. Working on those hard problems is extremely challenging and frustrating. Go all the way to the end. I remember a powerful quote I once read: "Don't quit before the miracle happens." Hold on; do not give up until the nut cracks.
Let me bring to our memory a couple of seemingly impossible incidents from the racial and caste history—reading about them gave me goosebumps.
In the 1950s in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to give up her paid seat on a bus. The Montgomery Bus Line practiced racial segregation. As a result of this segregation, African Americans were not hired as drivers, were forced to ride in the back of the bus, and were frequently ordered to surrender their seats to white people even though Black passengers made up 75% of the bus system's riders. Many bus drivers treated their Black passengers poorly, beyond what the law required: African Americans were assaulted, shortchanged, and left stranded after paying their fares.
Rosa Parks (1913–2005) was a seamstress by profession and also served as secretary for the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. Twelve years before her history-making arrest, Parks was stopped from boarding a city bus by driver James F. Blake, who ordered her to board at the rear door and then drove off without her. On another occasion, she was forced to give her seat to a white man and move to the back. On December 5, 1955, her refusal to give up her seat was more than just a tired woman's defiance—it was a deliberate act of courage against a deeply entrenched, dehumanizing system. She faced immediate arrest, public scorn, and personal hardship, yet she held her ground, sparking a movement that would transform American society.
African Americans boycotted the Montgomery, Alabama, bus system for over a year to protest segregated seating following the arrest of Rosa Parks. They continued their protest until December 20, 1956, when the federal ruling in Browder v. Gayle took effect and led to a United States Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws segregating buses unconstitutional. Rosa Parks' courage wasn't in the initial "no," but in the sustained commitment to that "no" in the face of an entire city's entrenched prejudice.
The agricultural strike led by social reformer Ayyankali in 1907 was a historic protest by agricultural laborers in the princely state of Travancore (modern-day Kerala). The strike was a powerful act of defiance against the discrimination faced by the Dalit Pulayar community and resulted in significant gains for their rights.
In early 20th-century Travancore, the caste system was rigidly enforced. The Pulayar community, designated as "untouchables," faced severe oppression and were treated as bonded laborers or even slaves. They were denied basic civil rights, such as access to public roads, public schools, and dignified clothing.
Ayyankali recognized that education was key to the emancipation of his community. In 1910, Ayyankali brought Panchami to a school in Ooruttambalam, Thiruvananthapuram, to enroll her. At the time, schools were forbidden to students from the so-called "lower castes." When the headmaster and upper-caste Hindus denied her admission, riots broke out. The agitation continued, with Dalits refusing to work, which crippled the agrarian economy. Ayyankali changed his strategy. He issued a call to action, declaring, "If you do not allow our children to study, we will not work in your fields. Weeds will grow there instead of paddy." This was a revolutionary move, as it directly challenged the economic dependence of the upper-caste landlords on Dalit labor.
The strike lasted for about a year, despite landlords' attempts to break the protest through force and intimidation. The protestors endured periods of hunger, but Ayyankali helped sustain them by arranging food from allies like the fishing community. Unable to manage their fields without the labor of the Pulayar community, the landlords were forced to concede. The year-long strike ended in a negotiated settlement.
Life oscillates between failures and successes. For most people, like the widow in the gospel, there are more instances of failure than success. The gospel urges us: Never give up. There are so many more popular examples in history.
When a reporter asked Thomas Alva Edison, "How did it feel to fail 1,000 times?" Edison replied, "I didn't fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps." He understood that "great success is built on failure, frustration, even catastrophe."
Most people know Winston Churchill by his magnanimous speeches delivered in his deep British accent, his ever-present cigar as he walked, and the way he led the United Kingdom and the Allies to victory in World War II. He is one of the most quotable figures of all time, and books continue to be written about him—and will likely continue to be for years to come. What most people do not know is that Winston Churchill was considered an incredible failure by the age of 40. He failed many times in life, starting in the sixth grade. Churchill's early political career was tumultuous, and he was defeated in every election for public office until he finally became Prime Minister at the age of 62. Churchill himself expressed it best: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
At the age of 23, Lincoln bought a general store in New Salem in 1832. The business wasn't successful, and he went bankrupt; it took years for him to pay off his debts. It was fortunate for history that he did not prosper as a shopkeeper—this failure pushed him toward other goals. He lost his first love, Ann Rutledge, when she died in 1835 of typhoid fever. Lincoln suffered what is sometimes called a nervous breakdown and, in fact, struggled with depressive tendencies throughout his life. Lincoln ran for the U.S. Senate and lost twice. He also ran for the U.S. House of Representatives and lost twice before finally getting elected in 1846. These failures deepened his resolve.
In 1842, Lincoln married Mary Todd. Together, they had four sons: Robert, Edward, Willie, and Tad. The era was not kind to children. Edward died when he was 3, and Willie died at age 11. Tad died at age 18, six years after his father's death. In 1860, after failing in various elections 14 times, Lincoln was elected president with less than 40 percent of the popular vote. He gave his inaugural address knowing that Army sharpshooters were guarding him from Confederate sympathisers. He was heavily criticised by both Democrats and Republicans—his own party—while in office and was despised by half the nation. Yet nobody accomplished what Abraham Lincoln accomplished for America and for the world: issuing the Emancipation Proclamation and pushing for the 13th Amendment to abolish slavery. What mattered most was not winning or losing, but continuing the fight.
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