Luke 18:1-8: The Persistent Widow
Friday, September 12, 2025
This has for a long time been one of my favorite stories. Perhaps this is because it has to do with the importance of stamina, something I look for daily. It is so easy to give up. And it is so important to continue.
Yesterday I spent pilgrim time with friends renewing the soul and remembering what is accurately the most significant work of each day breathing, living, and remaining in God. The world so quickly distracts us, and we so easily are drawn away from the only path that can lead us to the tranquility we seek. In the end, there is only God.
The persistent widow and the unjust judge. It is likely that this story has universal appeal because the figures represent archetypal images we see and hear each day. We relish this story because on any given day we are either the judge or the widow and so we know these roles well. When we are overwhelmed, cranky, and feeling our “underdog” status we lash out at others, trying to snatch what we perceive to be rightfully ours. We are the unjust judge. When we are tired but hopeful and we allow God to smooth away fatigue, we come to understand that we must become the persistent widow. When we are wounded but determined, we come to know for certain that in the end, there is only God.
My granddaughter likes a particular saying and recently I gave her a mug with its words printed in blues and purples: Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly. This granddaughter is wise beyond her years for one so young; she already knows how to be the persistent widow. She understands the importance of doggedness, the need for perseverance, the sensibleness of diligence. She – and her mother – believe that in the end, there is only God. They believe, and try to act in the belief that, restoration and resurrection are God’s healing gift. I thought of them a great deal on our pilgrimage yesterday.
I am convinced that fatigue is the devil’s companion and that our little demon doubts and anxieties weigh us down to exhaust us. A cloud of anxiety descends and suddenly we find ourselves believing that there is nothing for us but sadness. Our eyes become clouded and we act as if we are doomed to a life of sorrow when in reality we are creatures of joy. Spiritual weariness will tell us that we are worth little and that we are alone. It will take its toll and lead to inertia and so, we must keep moving forward in the journey, always seeking God, always asking for healing and rebirth. We must ask for manna and feed ourselves, always thanking God. We must “go away for a little while” as Jesus did, and find pilgrim companions who thirst as we thirst and who understand the importance of nourishing one another, always loving God.
I believe that in today’s parable the unjust judge recognizes God in the widow and so he finds in her favor, hoping that no one will notice or remember what she has said. I also believe that the persistent widow has nourished herself and bolstered her soul for the journey. She has slacked her thirst and hunger with the manna of God’s goodness, she has rested awhile in the company of those who know and understand her plight. In this way she has come to fully understand and to act in the belief that there is nothing but God. She fully strengthens herself to once more go up against the enormous obstacle that blocks her path, not worrying about what others think of her, only knowing that in the end, there is only God.
A re-post from August 20, 2011.
Images from: https://kentuckycounselingcenter.com/life-after-widowhood/
Other links of interest about Elizabeth Seton:
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/elizabeth-ann-seton
The Noontimes 