Failing with Style

I had the opportunity to read an exert from On the Threshold of Transformation: Daily Meditations for Men by Richard Rohr. It has been resonating in my spirit for the past 7-8 days. I thought I would share it.

"Men hate to fail.  And yet we have to experience a fall.  It is the hidden pattern that mystic Julian of Norwich wrote about: "first the fall, and then the recovery from the fall, and both are the mercy of God".  The man in all of us who falls and fails, who actually must fall and must fail is called Adam.  The man in all of us who gratefully returns and says "yes", is called Christ…

 

Adam must lose his fear of being dust, which is to lose the fear of being who he is.  Eventually he understands what God can do with dust and loses his fear of failing, and returns to the garden"

I cannot think of anything more real, more true than a legitimate fear of failure, especially in men. We have been so conditioned that failure and falling are signs of inadequacy and therefore, such should never be visible to the naked eye. Yet here, is an objective look at the need to fail in order to show the "Christ in us" and allow him to express His presence in our life. Fear holds us back from who we are and what we were created to be, love. I love what Brennan Manning says, "Fear breeds a deading caution, a holding back, a stagnant waiting until people no longer can recall what they are waiting for or saving themselves for…when we are tormented by guilt, shame, remorse, and self-condemnation, we deny our faith in the God of love." To be blunt, fear robs us of the ability to feel the love that we all received from Him. It makes us "stagnant," like mildew and mold. 

Maybe letting go and allowing the pretenses of success and failure to fade away, will bring us closer to renewal and redemption than we thought possible. Maybe, just maybe, the more we show our need for Him and allowing more of Him to invade us, the more we become what we were created to be. 

…just some thoughts to ponder.