Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end.

What I know for sure is that there is no strength without challenge, adversity, resistance, and often pain.

But it is the same with man as with the tree. The more he seeketh to rise into the height and light, the more vigorously do his roots struggle earthward, downward, into the dark and deep - into the evil.

I've learned to rely on the strength I inherited from all those who came before me-the grandmothers, sisters, aunts, and brothers who were tested with unimaginable hardships and still survived.

My folks ain't graduated from high school or nothing like that, so we always had to struggle in the family - and I come from a big family.

Strength is granted to us all when we are needed to serve great causes.