Failing - Grace
None of us or at least no humans that I know from the age of one day to 100+ like to fail at whatever tasks they attempt. Yet, from a very early age all of us fail. Some of us might decide to quietly sit and greatly reduce any possibly of failing. We may delude ourselves into thinking that living a quiet, no risk life if the best we can do. We may also delude ourselves into thinking that our decisions do not affect others. When I lived and worked in rural Alaska and later Juneau I would meet families who had decided to live off the grid. Yet, if a member of the family got seriously ill they depended on the Coast Guard services to transport the ill family member to a medical care facility. These same families also exchanged products they grew or made for staples of clothing, food products they could not make themselves, and supplies such as books for teaching their children. Their attempt to live very isolated lives and to delude themselves into thinking that they could go back in time and ignore the knowledge of modern medicine and education failed.
In one form or another we all fail. Our failure can be passive or active. Some of those attempting to live isolated lives in Alaska failed in a very passive way. They contributed little to the resources which they wanted to know were available when the need arose. Their use of common resources might have been limited but there was no way for such resources to only exist when their need for them arose. Some of them might have found ways to contribute to the functioning of the larger community, but their location and limited income in most cases precluded significant contributions. There was nothing wrong with their decision to live off the grid. It just did not work in the way they envisioned. Some did eventually decide that they needed to find a way to acknowledge and honor their interdependence.
Actively failing says something positive if we have indeed tried something. Passively failing may mean that we did not summon the courage to try. Either way of failing is, I believe, deserving of grace. Grace may, however, require that we acknowledge our failure and be open to making any changes we need to make before we try again. It has often been said that trying the same thing over and over again expecting different results is insanity. Addiction to power, money, alcohol, other drugs, sex and things creates insanity. Addictive behavior or focusing on immediate gratification often leads to short terms rewards. Long term one’s brain changes and demands more and more and more until no amount works. The addict must eventually surrender and seek help if he and she is to experience grace.
Grace implies forgiveness, acceptance of humanness, and a sense of humor. Grace says that no matter what the mistake it is okay to get up and try again after making the necessary changes based on an examination of the reason for failure.
I believe that no matter of how we fail or how often we fail we deserve grace. We deserve a helping hand to get out and try a new way.
Written January 11, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
None of us or at least no humans that I know from the age of one day to 100+ like to fail at whatever tasks they attempt. Yet, from a very early age all of us fail. Some of us might decide to quietly sit and greatly reduce any possibly of failing. We may delude ourselves into thinking that living a quiet, no risk life if the best we can do. We may also delude ourselves into thinking that our decisions do not affect others. When I lived and worked in rural Alaska and later Juneau I would meet families who had decided to live off the grid. Yet, if a member of the family got seriously ill they depended on the Coast Guard services to transport the ill family member to a medical care facility. These same families also exchanged products they grew or made for staples of clothing, food products they could not make themselves, and supplies such as books for teaching their children. Their attempt to live very isolated lives and to delude themselves into thinking that they could go back in time and ignore the knowledge of modern medicine and education failed.
In one form or another we all fail. Our failure can be passive or active. Some of those attempting to live isolated lives in Alaska failed in a very passive way. They contributed little to the resources which they wanted to know were available when the need arose. Their use of common resources might have been limited but there was no way for such resources to only exist when their need for them arose. Some of them might have found ways to contribute to the functioning of the larger community, but their location and limited income in most cases precluded significant contributions. There was nothing wrong with their decision to live off the grid. It just did not work in the way they envisioned. Some did eventually decide that they needed to find a way to acknowledge and honor their interdependence.
Actively failing says something positive if we have indeed tried something. Passively failing may mean that we did not summon the courage to try. Either way of failing is, I believe, deserving of grace. Grace may, however, require that we acknowledge our failure and be open to making any changes we need to make before we try again. It has often been said that trying the same thing over and over again expecting different results is insanity. Addiction to power, money, alcohol, other drugs, sex and things creates insanity. Addictive behavior or focusing on immediate gratification often leads to short terms rewards. Long term one’s brain changes and demands more and more and more until no amount works. The addict must eventually surrender and seek help if he and she is to experience grace.
Grace implies forgiveness, acceptance of humanness, and a sense of humor. Grace says that no matter what the mistake it is okay to get up and try again after making the necessary changes based on an examination of the reason for failure.
I believe that no matter of how we fail or how often we fail we deserve grace. We deserve a helping hand to get out and try a new way.
Written January 11, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
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