Secretaries are wonderful people. They can be so efficient, often doing things before you even ask them and a good secretary never needs reminding, is confidential, can word process, answer the phone and remind you of all the things you were going to forget to do. Take our secretary for instance. She's bilingual, if you don't count her Scottish mother tongue, so when she answered another Scottish voice on the phone, you wouldn't have expected any problems. Except that she didn't understand the caller at all and he wasn't doing much better. But they both persevered and eventually enough dialogue passed both ways for them to make some sense of the conversation. But that's not what this is all about. I just want to tell you a little story and when I needed a word to headline my blog today, who should come to my rescue but the all seeing, all knowing office resident as she persevered to open over a dozen boxes of requisitions that had arrived at school. 'Persevere!' she shouted. So I will.Once upon a time, in a land not far away, in fact very close indeed to where I am sitting right at this moment, there lived a family, Daddy Bear, Mummy Bear, Older Baby Bear (who doesn't even have a walk on part in this story, let alone a speaking part) and Younger Baby Bear. One day, Younger Baby Bear went to see the nice man in the white coat, who looks after your teeth and after his name was called by the little girl in the other white coat (who may have been Goldilocks, but that is not important), he nervously went and sat in the big chair right in the middle of the big clean room. The nice man in the white coat put on his mask and gloves ( to prevent catching any serious disease from Younger Baby Bear and vice versa, though at the prices he charged, you would have been forgiven for thinking he was a robber) and proceeded to shine the big bright light on to Younger Baby Bear's face. 'Open wide.' he said, kindly and Younger Baby Bear opened his mouth as wide as he could. 'Mmm,' said the nice man in the white coat, 'what big cavities you have!' Younger Baby Bear thought to himself that he had heard that before in another story, but he made no comment, except to say, 'Mmmm,' for the nice man was exploring inside even further and he couldn't say proper words. 'I will have to take an XRay just to check,' said the nice man in the white coat and with that, he pulled down a big machine and pointed it at Younger Baby Bear, at which point the nice man in the white coat and the little girl in the other white coat both left the room and went and sat somewhere safe, probably about a mile away, until the big machine had finished. When it was all over, he glanced at the little picture in front of him. 'Your teeth are very jagged and there are so many cavities,. this is going to cost you a fortune to fix,' said the nice man in the white coat. 'Sorry,' said the little girl in the other white coat, 'that's a photo of my pot holing holiday in the Alps last summer. Here's the picture of Younger Baby Bear's mouth. 'Mmm,' said the nice man in the white coat, ''Your teeth are very jagged and there are so many cavities,. this is going to cost you a fortune to fix. I think you better go and make some appointments at the desk.'
Younger Baby Bear walked solemnly to the desk where another little girl (who certainly wasn't Goldilocks) arranged for him to come back to see the nice man in the white coat, who incidentally had a Scottish accent. But as Younger Baby Bear turned to leave, the other little girl said, 'Not so fast, Younger Baby Bear, because you missed your last appointment and didn't cancel in time, the nice man in the white coat says you have to pay a fine.' Though shocked, Younger Baby Bear, paid the other little girl (who definitely wasn't Goldilocks)and left.
But when he came home and told Mummy Bear, she was less than impressed. 'Doesn't he know that Baby Bears have no money? Didn't he cancel your last appointment when you rode your little tricycle all the way from the big city and you didn't fine him? Well I'm not letting this go, eh Daddy Bear?' Daddy Bear was chewing on his foot in the corner. 'Whatever,' he replied. He looked at his watch. It was barely lunch time. 'This is going to be a long day,' he thought to himself and it was. By midnight that night, Daddy Bear could still hear the words teeth and fine being used in the same sentence, above the music on his ipod as he lay in bed.But Mummy Bear wouldn't give up. She sought advice from all sorts of people, some who wore white coats themselves, some who wore grey coats and some who wore no coats at all. She even talked to an all seeing , all knowing lady with a Scottish accent. And eventually, three days later, she got a phone call from the nice man in the white coat who said he would waive the fine, even though the cavities weren't going to go away. Or something Scottish like that anyway.
Perseverance. That's what I call it. If I had been Daddy Bear, I think I would have reacted just like he did, though I get the feeling wife might have persevered just like Mummy Bear. Anyway, it's only a story. But the Bible has lots to say about persevering. Paul, in talking about love says 'It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.' And in writing to Timothy, he advises, 'Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.' But I think James gives us the greatest reason never to give up when he says 'Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.' The great thing of course is that we do not persevere alone for Jesus is with us, as Paul write is his letter to the church at Corinth, 'He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.' So don't give up. The reward is always greater than the struggle.
