Glaciers and Perseverance

I just read a story that gave me a whole perspective on perseverance. It told of a mountain climbing experience that seems almost unbelievable. An expedition of glacier experts set out to try to find a camera bag left behind 85 years ago by Bradford Washburn, a world famous scientist and photographer, who had to abandon it when his life was endangered on the mountain. He has since died, but a group of experienced explorers decided to see if they could find it using new scientific methods to trace movements of glaciers. 

The members of the expedition knew the camera had valuable photographs that would aid in this highly exclusive science. Dora Medezyka, a glacier specialist who knew how to trace the movement of glaciers, had pinpointed the area where Washburn had left the bag. At first, they were disappointed and were ready to leave, but Medezyka searched her data once more and was able to locate the bag frozen under thick ice. Miraculously, the contents were still usable.

Most of us would think that there was no way this camera bag could be found after so many years, and we'd doubt that the film would still be usable if found. Then, when the object of the search wasn't where it  had been figured, we might be likely to give up. Even these experts could hardly believe their likelihood to find it. 

It made me think of my perseverance in searching for some new information that no one else had discovered, or persistence in finding something about which others had given up. I tend to give up when things get hard or dangerous. Even with prayer, I expect quick answers. I'm sure I would have stopped praying for St. Augustine, who was leading a life of sin and degradation. Yet St. Monica, his mother, persevered for 30 years to pray for his conversion. 

From the story of these explorers, I gained a whole new appreciation of digging deeper to find hidden evidence and continuing to pray when change seems impossible. Since God never gives up on us, we shouldn't give up on God. Lord, help me to persevere in prayer, even when all seems lost.  

 

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