DAY SEVENTEEN

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Championing a new idea is a lonely business. The fear of laughter stops many. To forgo popularity and stay on course despite the derision is a matter of grit and determination. They laughed at Alexander Bell about the telephone. They mocked Christopher Columbus, but did he fall off the Earth? They said to Henry Ford: who needs a car? There are no roads anyway! They derided Thomas Edison about the oil-less light bulb. They told the Wright Brothers, it will never fly. The vital characteristic they all showed was resilience, the ability to spring back after defeat, to ignore setbacks, disregard discouragement and rise above inevitable deterrents to action, to combat the sheer inertia and indifference of others. Only a man or woman of vision will press on in the cause, in face of the apathy of others. The hunger of these men reveals stockpiles of reserves and energy. They get a second wind. But maybe we have a third wind, maybe even a tenth wind. The reserves lie dormant within us. This has been my experience of introducing invitation into the life of the church.