Library of Congress In 1884, a woman named Belva Lockwood ran for president of the United States. Seeing as how you’ve probably never heard of her, you already know that she didn’t win. Her first campaign for the presidency (she would run again in 1888) came more than 30 years before women received the right to vote, so we can assume the majority of the voting public was not enthralled with the idea of a female president. Just from reading a short article about Belva (I hope it’s okay for me to call her Belva…I wish we were close friends on a first-name basis) in Norah O’Donnell’s book We the Women, you can’t help but be impressed by this woman. She defied the norms of the day in so many ways. She was a teacher at age 14. Then she married, gave birth to a daughter and was widowed soon after. To support herself and her daughter she went back to school, and eventually became a lawyer, though she faced many naysayers during the pursuit of her law degree. And the opposition continued after she passed the bar exam. While in Washington, D.C., Belva saw male lawyers getting around town quickly on bicycles so she purchased a tricycle to level the advantage, but her cycling was met with horror since it wasn’t considered a very ladylike activity. Though she wouldn’t become the first female US President, Belva was the first woman to argue before the Supreme Court. Years later, in the final case she’d argue before the highest court in the land—she was 75 years old, by the way, and still fighting for justice for marginalized people—she won $5 million for the Cherokee nation from the federal government. It was one of the highest settlements awarded to Native Americans at the time. When I think of Belva Lockwood, I think of the word gumption. According to etymonline.com, this word originally meant "common sense, shrewdness, acuteness of practical understanding." Over time, the meaning of gumption shifted to imply “drive, initiative, spirit.” Belva’s life displayed all of these virtues. Her story reminds me of the parable of the Persistent Widow in Luke 18. Here we read about a judge who wasn’t a fair and benevolent man. He “neither feared God nor cared what people thought.” A widow in the town came before the judge to ask for justice in a problem with her enemy. The judge was dismissive, but the woman kept coming back. Eventually, the judge gave in to her persistence, even though it was for the wrong reasons—just so she’d leave him alone. As parables go, this one seems a little odd. Fortunately, Jesus gives the listeners an explanation. He says, “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.” If you needed a sign not to give up on a godly pursuit, this is it. God sees your persistence in the face of difficulty. He’s aware of each time you get back up (maybe on a tricycle?) and keep going. So take Jesus’ advice to “always pray and not give up.”