“It is not the critic who counts, not the person who points out where the doer of deeds could have done better,” said Theodore Roosevelt, “the credit belongs to the person who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the devotions, and spends himself or herself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and at the worst, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his or her place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Without knowing if Mr. Roosevelt had a particular model in mind, it would be difficult to find a better description of the fisherman whom Jesus calls into His ministry in today’s Gospel Lesson: Simon Peter. Here is a “doer of deeds” if there ever was one.…
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