About a decade ago, when I learned of the death of famous boxer Muhammad Ali, my mind immediately began to recall some of his most famous words and victories. Though Ali did not have God’s Spirit, one of his quotes helped me both in and beyond my academic pursuits.

In my college dorm, it seemed that half of the rooms had on the wall a picture of Ali standing victorious over a defeated foe, with a caption of what he had said about doing the impossible: “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”