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Reverend James Squire

The Tortoise And The Hare

The tortoise and the hare is an excellent commentary on where we are today with Covid 19 and the Black Lives Matter Movement. We all know the fable of the tortoise and the hare. They race. The smart money would be on the hare as he is lightning fast and gets off to a fast start. The tortoise is slow but steady. During the race the hare literally runs rings around the tortoise, but the tortoise wins because he is slow but steady to the end.


This image applies in an election or sports when we hear after a loss of a person who made a big splash or team, but didn’t know how to finish. They are good for the short run but not for the long haul. The importance of grit is well known but not enough has been underscored by researchers about the long haul or comeback and its relationship to grit. I think there is something that has been left out. Referring back to the fable, it isn’t how you start. It is how you finish whatever the task may be. Let’s link to grit the importance of pace and someone who is in it for the long haul. Let’s begin to celebrate the “closer”.

How many times in the Philly sports world or in our own professional lives do people arrive on the scene with a lot of fanfare, bells, and whistles who do well in the beginning but seem to run out of the ability to get the job done.

There is currently a contrast between Black Lives Matter Movement and the time of Covid 19. Everyone thought that there would be a few local, if not global, protests. No one seemed to grasp that this was going to be a global phenomenon that, at this point in time, seems to be a movement for the long haul possessing a fast start, then pace, and certain outcomes coming into view to make things more equal among the races in then end.

I write this as spikes have occurred of the virus because areas have opened too soon and were filled with people who gathered in close proximity without masks as they couldn’t wait to get outside with some declaring, “I got to party!!!”

I would put my money on people like our troops away from their families, John McCain in his five-year imprisonment, Anne Frank in her self imposed hiding from the Nazis, people who did the long haul. It is why we often hear about the teams that come far behind to win. This is the reason why “Rocky” was such a hit for it slid into the national consciousness. He was a closer.

Clearly with Covid 19 and Black Lives Matter, we are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Maybe we need a cause bigger than us to help us seek justice for all and a state of wellness for our nation and the world. Maybe the closer is what is best for a team or a group of people wanting something and about “we” and not about “me.

Grit, pace, the long haul, and the closer are some of the secrets of success. Ask any runner who goes out too fast as he looks good out front, but is pretty ugly at the finish line when he is passed by someone who knew about these markers of success: pace, the long haul, and the closer. We have to choose between being a “flash in the pan” or a “closer”.

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