Roger Williams
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me, you might have peace; in the world, you shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world (John 16:33).
There were numerous times in Roger Williams’ life when he could have given up. Trained as a minister in London, he came to these shores in 1630 as a refugee, fleeing religious persecution from the Church of England. He discovered the Puritans of Massachusetts to be no more hospitable. The heresies that got him into trouble were religious toleration, advocacy of church and state separation, respect for Native American rights, and respect for all people regardless of background.
Williams was horrified to see the way the Puritan leaders treated the Native Americans. Already, the colonists acted with foolish haughtiness. The Puritans and Pilgrims strutted about these new colonies with a holy entitlement to a land that had been lived on, cultivated, and loved for centuries by Native Americans. Roger Williams fought this attitude and the pervasive fixation of white superiority. He befriended the Native Americans, learned several of their languages, and attempted to ally with them against the other colonist’s abuses—until he was forced to flee from Massachusetts. Then those he was attempting to protect, protected him. The Narragansett Indians welcomed him as one of their own, into a place that would later become known as Providence.
He could have quit, but the “staying power” of his faith was strong. Today, consider the strength of your own beliefs. How far would you go to stand up for what you believe in? Cultivate a sense of your own staying power, and see what can happen when you hang in there.
“Defeat is simply a signal to press onward.”
—Helen Keller