Πάλη
Pal - lee // The Greek word for wrestle. Which very ironically or not, now that I look at my last blog https://www.wwv.life/blog/struggle-1 dated 21 Dec 2018 (I get extremely busy during January - March every year...) also means to struggle.
In wrestling and in life anyone can see the physical struggle, many even feel the mental struggle, but, only if you yourself have truly wrestled can you even begin to imagine the spiritual struggle it takes to succeed in both sport and in life in the highest sense!
So, then if we want to be successful in this regard how can we "truly wrestle"? Let us examine briefly the Old Testament story of Jacob wrestling the Angel as a starting point. BTW: Avek the Hebrew word for wrestle used in the OT literally means to roll in the dust or to get dusty. Jacob was on his way to return home and face Esau his brother over a dispute about birthright, this had the potential to turn into a very physical contest as Esau at last sight was out to murder Jacob for stealing his birthright. Along the journey, he meets an Angel which is a spiritual being or presence whose main function is to communicate a message from God. Jacob then wrestles or struggles with this messenger for many hours without giving up or giving in until he suffers a hip injury. At this time Jacob displays his mental struggle through his increased determination to not let pain of body force him to quit. Furthermore, with persevering faith in which he displays his spiritual struggle and resulting strength he finally prevails and receives the Blessing. And with this Blessing came a more perfected will so Jacob then names the place Penuel which means 'facing God'. To close out the story, Esau recognizes through Jacobs humility the amount of struggle he overcame and embraces him in brotherly love.
To conclude, to wrestle is to struggle and to struggle is to wrestle and to do this we must be willing to get dirty not just physically but both mentally and spiritually, never allowing ourselves to not to continue, ultimately in the end embracing each other in love displayed through honor and respect!
"Do not fear the conflict nor flee it. Where there is no struggle there is no virtue. Where love and faith are not tempted, it is not possible to be really sure whether they are really present. They are tried and revealed in adversity." - St. John