Just because I'm on a Thomas Paine kick.

When I was in high school I read Thomas Paine's works for the first time, in my American Lit class.  At the time I was trying to convince myself that all literature was boring and depressing and that I hated it.  But even with a chip on my shoulder, I couldn't help but appreciate his stuff.

This was the passage that made me realize how much I liked his writings:

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as freedom should not be highly rated."   - Thomas Paine, The American Crisis

This was written for the soldiers of General Washington's army, who were camping in the dead of winter after a bitter retreat through New Jersey.  The pamphlet was published December 19, 1776 - 6 days before Washington paddled across the Delaware, snuck up on the Trenton Garrison, peeked over the walls and went, "Surprise!" and then proceeded to take the fort, launch an offensive up New Jersey and flank the British army. 

Clearly, I'm not the only one who found these words inspiring.

We don't have war on our soil anymore, and life isn't anywhere near as hard for us as it was for the battle-weary soldiers of the Revolutionary War.  That doesn't mean life is easy right now.  I'm watching people struggle - a good friend who is too sick to go to work, a whole region of farmers losing their crops in the face of an awful drought, and my own battle with discouragement.  The war is more metaphorical now, but this is still a time that tries our souls.

But the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.  Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods.

Keep fighting.  Hell is not easily conquered.