That Inner Strength

                                                             That Inner Strength

The old saying, "what does not break you, makes you" could be true.  But there's a problem with it.  It conjures up the picture of just holding out instead of the power of purpose that grows and surmounts the threat. It feels like a dam holding back flood waters until it finally gives way.  What we seek is an inner resolve that grows out of adversity instead of just outlasting it. 

I loved the movie "Men of Honor" with Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding, Jr--both put on spectacular performances. De Niro as the Master Diver (Billy Sunday) and racist determined to run Gooding (Brashear) the Black Man out of the service. Neither seems willing to give up. In the struggle, Gooding increases strength as racial attacks mount. It is more than stubbornness not to give up.  It is inner strength of conviction for right principles. By the time the movie ends, DiNiro is right in his camp, transformed by the strength of conviction that the inner man he has persecuted has a purpose which he too gives his career for.

The story also happens to be true.  What's the truth about you?  How has your life's journey, the very times when the winds blew worst, showed you your inner resolve and made it happen?

See if the poem, "The Oak Tree" gets this message across for you.

The Oak Tree   by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr  

A mighty wind blew night and day It stole the oak tree's leaves away Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark Until the oak was tired and stark But still the oak tree held its ground While other trees fell all around The weary wind gave up and spoke. How can you still be standing Oak? The oak tree said, I know that you Can break each branch of mine in two Carry every leaf away Shake my limbs, and make me sway But I have roots stretched in the earth Growing stronger since my birth You'll never touch them, for you see They are the deepest part of me Until today, I wasn't sure Of just how much I could endure But now I've found, with thanks to you I'm stronger than I ever knew.