Failure

I have found that often when I ask people what they want to do with the next five years of their life, they shrug, laugh nervously and mumble something that often sounds  like, "I don't know..."

Often (not always) when I change the question and ask...

If you could do anything...
   ...and you knew it would not fail...
               ...What would you do?

The response is different.   Even if the person does not have a ready answer, often there is a smile of relief, a tilted head and the dreaming begins...

We find it easy to dream when the possibility of failure disappears.

What's tragic about this is the fact that we cannot grow without failure...   we cannot learn without failure...

I think I've only ever failed one test/exam in my entire life...   (I know, I know... get over it...)

The thing is a test/exam is not life!   

What I mean is this.   Before I ever sat to write the test or exam I spent hours learning how to get the right answer.   Hours erasing and trying again.   Hours squinting my eyes and trying to remember elusive facts, dates, formulaes and the like...   In other words... for every right exam question I logged hours of failures.

If you could do anything and you knew you would not fail... whatever it is would be the failure.   

Success cannot exist apart from the possibility of failure.   In other words, if the thing cannot fail... it cannot succeed either.   If the only time an athlete competes is when success is guaranteed they aren't competing.   If the only time a business trys a new product is when its success is guaranteed it's not a new product...

Success and failure are the two inseperable sides of the same coin...

Want some advice?   If you do anything and it "fails" (whatever that means) get up and go at it again until you figure out how to get that coin to land success-side up!

just my 2c

Fownly...

Most of us suffer from this disease called fownly…

You know… “if only”….

If only I was wealthy…

If only my job were more secure…

If only I had a better spouse…

If only I had more time…

If only I were smarter…

If only my kids were…

If only I were healthier…

…I would serve God better, give more faithfully, attend church more regularly…

If only…

It’s a lie you know.  If you’ve been journeying with us through The Story surely you’ve seen it by now.

If only my life were more peaceful, ordered, consistent, joyfilled, etc.  If only all my needs were met and my spouse were more transparent and loving.  If only I didn’t have to worry about putting food on the table or gas in the car or… whatever…

Sounds like paradise… sounds like Eden.  Apparently, paradise wasn’t enough to stop Adam and Eve from trying to “make it on their own.”

Or maybe that’s not your “if only”?  Maybe your “if only” is: I have an area of struggle in my life… health, porn addiction, chemical addiction, depression, unemployment – if only I was free from this bondage I could …would be more faithful to God.

Sounds like Israel groaning beneath the yoke of Egyptian slavery.  Yet when they were set free they became even more disobedient.  At one point they actually say, “We were better off as slaves!”    Apparently, freedom isn’t enough if you suffer from fownly’s disease.

Well, that’s all spiritual hocus pocus!  I’m struggling with the basics – food, shelter, clothing, key relationships – If only I could have the basics provided for… I don’t need to be rich, I just need my basic needs met. 

You mean like Israel in the desert? Having their basic needs met didn’t make them more faithful.

…seeing their enemies defeated didn’t do it

…living in the land of promise didn’t do it

…bold, courageous, anointed judges and prophets was not enough

…well… If only we had a king like the nations that surround us…

…If only we had a temple to worship in

…If only I had more teaching… wisdom… knowledge… 

…If only life were a little more manageable…

The only cure for disobedience is obedience.  An act of your will. 

There is no external circumstance that will cause you to rise to faithfulness.

That’s a path you must choose to walk…

…just sayin’

Truth takes work...

I once heard a guy… let’s call him Wendell, explaining why he refuses to become a follower of Christ.

“There are,” he said, “too many variations and options out there.”

It is a common criticism leveled against many faiths.  There are so many different varieties of “Christian” how is a person to tell who is right?

It’s true that there are lots of denominations… stripes… varieties and brands of religions, faiths and Christians out there.  That this is sufficient reason to give up the search for truth is perhaps a bit telling.

North Americans are lazy… We want it easy… This may be true for other western cultures as well but North America is the one with which I am most familiar.

People who lament that finding truth takes too much effort have no desire to find it.  We think it should fall into our laps.  We want to be able to google ‘truth’ and get a single, tidy answer that fits nicely and conveniently into our lives. 

We don’t want to have to work or wrestle for it…

..but what if there is no short-cut?

If you want to become a great musician you have to work for it…

If you want to be an excellent athlete you’ll have to work at it… even if your goal is just to be the best athlete you can possibly be.  You may never qualify for Olympic trials – that’s besides the point.  Just to be the best you can be requires effort.

If you want to become an effective communicator, dancer, teacher, plumber…[fill in the blank] you have to work at it…

How is it that we get the whole need to “work for it” when it comes to sports, employment and hobbies but think that something as significant and important as truth should just fall into our laps?

The pursuit of truth is important!  Treat it like it is!

My 2c...