Teddy Roosevelt and Working Passion
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
God’s people are characterized by active, working passion. They at times fail (David with Bathesheba, Peter with denial, etc.), but they always get back up so they can press onward. I am often reminded of Micah 6:
“Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil?
He has told you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you?
But to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God!”
Press on!
With love, always,
—Luke
