what matters is to endure
This paragraph from Rowan Greer*:
The paradox of the Christian life is that the evils we suffer in our earthly pilgrimage must be taken with absolute seriousness, but so must the destiny that awaits us in the City of God. There are no victories or defeats in the present that really matter. All that counts is the final victory for the saints in the age to come. The practical implications of Augustine’s view is that what matters is to endure. The Christian can be neither fully involved in society nor fully withdrawn from it … I am persuaded by Faulkner’s view that we cannot alter the tragic character of human life, but we can endure and so prevail.
Not meant to suggest passivity nor irrelevance and insignificance with regards to our daily travails (or small victories and defeats), but a simple reminder that in endurance lies our testimony to the victory of Christ. (Phil 2:12-13; 4:4-9)
*Rowan Greer, “Broken Lights and Mended Lives” (PennState UP, 1986)
