Have you heard of the children’s book We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen?  I used to read this book when I was a music teacher, and the students would enhance it with movement and percussion instruments.  In the story, the family encounters various obstacles, including long wavy grass, a deep cold river, and thick oozy mud.  For each of these, the children announce, “We can’t go over it.  We can’t go under it.  We’ve got to go through it.”  How true this lesson is to life.  We often encounter obstacles along our quest to follow God’s will.  Although we’d like to avoid them by either going over or under them, sometimes the only way is through. As we continue along life’s journey today, may we seek the grace of perseverance to accept any obstacle, knowing that God is always with us every step of the way.

By Catherine Dueene, OSB