A must-read for every homeschooling family, especially those with sons, is The Endurance by Alfred Lansing. The title was taken from the name of the ship that bore Ernest Shackleton to the Antarctic in hopes of being the first to traverse the Antarctica via dogsleds at the turn of last century (1914). What looked to be a total failure ended up being one of the greatest stories of adventure ever told.
The Endurance follows Shackleton’s voyage from Great Britain to the ice pack of the Weddell Sea where his ship became encased in ice and was eventually crushed to pieces by the shifting floes, leaving the crew of 27 to the mercy of the environment. They were chased by deadly sea leopards, whipped by hurricane force winds, and faced starvation and dehydration several times during their eighteen month ordeal. Six of them sailed a glorified twenty-three foot life boat for 800 miles across the most treacherous sea in the world with swells reaching fifty feet tall before reaching Elephant Island some two weeks later. They then crossed this same island on foot in three days with a small adze and 50 feet of rope, a feat that wasn’t repeated for almost three decades and then by a well-equipped exploration party who took several weeks. In the end, all crewmembers were rescued and, with the exception of one member who lost a few toes to frostbite, they all were in good health.
The Endurance was named after Shackleton’s family motto, Fortitudine Vincimus — “by endurance we conquer.” This family crest was the embodiment of the man himself. One of his fellow explorers described Shackleton’s ability to endure the worst elements by saying, “For scientific discovery give me Scott; for speed and efficiency of travel give me Amundsen; but when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.”
During almost six decades of life, I have heard such descriptions as “luck,” “they always get all the breaks,” “the ball always bounces their way,” or “they always come out smelling like roses,” as if some invisible force was always pushing some to success while the same wind was blowing adversely against others. If you read this saga of the Antarctic, you will find the winds blew mightily against this tiny little group again and again, but they would simply not give up, and their efforts were crowned with success.
The homeschooling journey can also experience some gale force winds at times. It may come in the form of a difficult pregnancy, prolonged sickness, a learning disability, or other family problems. I have heard some share a loose layman’s paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 9:11: “the race is not always to the swiftest but to he who endures until the end.” There is something to be said about simply hanging in there. I have observed on many occasions, both in the business world and athletic arena, where the victory did not go to the smartest or the most gifted but to the one who simply refused to yield.
This should give us the greatest of encouragement as homeschooling parents for two reasons. First, since our hope is based upon God and not ourselves, we know we parents can endure anything by the power of His Spirit. By endurance we can indeed conquer. Second, if we can but teach our children to learn how to endure difficult seasons — through teaching of historical figures or through our own example — they will have a huge head-start on the worldly man who often gives up when the winds of adversity blow.
Shackelton wanted to leave a legacy of being the first to cross the Antarctic. He failed at his original mission, but because he endured, he left a much greater legacy. His experience is still celebrated 100 years later as one of the greatest human feats of exploration. It makes one wonder what could happen in our children’s lives if we learn to do the same.
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