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The Turtle & The Hare
What does endurance mean and why is it so important now?
Lately I’ve been using Twitter a little more heavily, mostly to keep up with developments I’m following in a few different areas. This article about our current pandemic situation and finish-line anxiety popped up in my feed yesterday:
This article reminded me of a conversation I had just had on Lunchclub with an anthropologist, who told me his work right now is focused on the modern definition of “endurance”.
Endurance is a funny word, that has both positive and negative meaning associated with it. Endurance is what powers you through a marathon; but in contemporary Biblical terms (and older Puritanical terms), one must “endure” hardship, especially on the path to martyrdom or sainthood.
In the Middle Ages, pilgrimages were actually trifectas of endurance: in duration, in difficulty, and in suffering. Subjects were ordered to go on pilgrimage as part of their penance, and part of a proof of loyalty to the Church, and later to the State. Contemporaries of witch trials, the…
