Tonight, I want to tell you a story about a guy named Peter Jackson, though probably not the one that you’re thinking of. The man I have in mind was born on July 3rd, 1861, on the island of St. Croix in the Dutch Virgin Islands. He left there when he was 17 years old and eventually landed in Sydney, Australia where he found work at various jobs, including as a lumberjack, a fireman, a stoker, and a longshoreman, trying to make a living in his new homeland.
Take on the challenges.
One evening on his way home, Jackson was jumped by some thugs who thought that Jackson would be an easy target. They were mistaken. He fought them all off with a vicious beating that happened to be noticed by a local boxing promoter who hired him on the spot. After a few years of gaining experience fighting practically every night, Jackson finally won the Australian Heavyweight Title. With no one in Australia left to beat, he sailed to the United States in 1888 in pursuit of the World Heavyweight Championship.
He defeated George Godfrey in California to become the World Colored Heavyweight Champion, and then crossed the Atlantic to fight the United Kingdom Heavyweight Champion Jem Smith in 1889. It took only two rounds for Jackson to defeat Smith, who had to hold onto him to avoid a knockout. Now the Heavyweight Champion of the British Empire, Jackson travelled back to the U.S. searching for that final, elusive World Title. He would never get the chance. The White boxers who held the title wouldn’t fight him. For doing so they were accused by many of hiding behind their racism to avoid Jackson’s powerful jabs.
The closest Jackson ever came to the title was a fight in 1891 against James Corbett, who, a year later, would win the World Championship by becoming the first man ever to beat John Sullivan. Jackson and Corbett dueled for 61 rounds, and still the bout ended in a draw. Corbett later said that Peter “The Black Prince” Jackson could have beaten any heavyweight boxer he’d ever seen.
Over the next few years Jackson fought when he could, acted in local theaters, and ran a boxing school in London. He returned to Australia for his final fight, with tuberculosis, which he lost on July 13, 1901. He was only 40 years old.
Jackson’s life was marked by many obstacles and challenges, but he never used them as an excuse to quit trying. He travelled the globe in pursuit of a goal that would ultimately elude him, but in the process earned respect and renown because of his persistence and endurance. I’m sure the strength of his punch had something to do with that, too. Jackson also paved the way for the first black World Champion—Jack Johnson—in 1908.
Don’t let obstacles stop you from trying, and never fear challenges. If we can learn to embrace them instead, though we may not reach our goals, and things may work out for us in an unexpected way, we will always be smarter and stronger for having made the attempt.
LET US PRAY
Lord, we know that the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle always to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor riches always to the men of understanding; but time and chance happens to them all, and they happen also to us. Teach us how to accept our present circumstances and give us the strength to keep up our struggling against the obstacles we encounter along the way. Help us understand that though we may no end up where we wanted to be, when we get there You will have formed us into better versions of ourselves than we ever could have expected as long as we don’t quit. For You are the God of strength and purpose, and You are Holy always, now and forever, and to the ages of ages.
AMEN
An Orthodox Priest Abroad 