Fail on, my brethren, fail on.

If there’s one thing I have learned in my twenty-one years of church, it’s that you can make an analogy of pretty much ANYTHING. I’m practically thinking in analogies now. It’s scary. You don’t want to know.

To prove my point, I will make an analogy. Right here. Right now. I know, didn’t see that coming, right?

So I was driving to work the other day and heard this new song on the radio called “Before you Fly.” It’s by Ginny Owens (who, by the way, is blind), one of my favorite Christian Singer/Songwriters. The chorus says:

"Spread your wings
in the sun
don’t give up
there’s more to come.
You will find
when you try
you always fall before you fly"

I really like this song, and not just because the phrase “take that to the bank” is in it. The song takes the picture of a bird learning to fly.

I actually witnessed this the other day. I was sitting out on the front porch, and saw a bird who was having some difficulty flying. He didn’t look small, so I didn’t think it was a baby. He would get a few fleeting moments of air, and then fell back down to the ground. I originally thought he was having wing trouble, perhaps an injured or broken wing (or too much turbulence perhaps?). But as I watched him, he kept trying and eventually his air time got longer and higher, and he began to soar for part of his flight. I realized now that he was having no problems with his wing but had never figured out the secret to flying. A few minutes later, I saw another bird doing the same; he got the ‘hang’ of it, too.

[Enter analogy stage right.]

When I heard this song on the radio in the car, my mind immediately went to those two birdies who fell several times before they learned how to fly. It was essential for them to fall a few times so that they could correct what they were doing wrong and perfect their skill. Without the falling part, they wouldn’t have had the flying part.

Isn’t the same thing true in life? We always fall before we fly. I actually just heard a sermon about this same thing on Sunday. I was visiting a church on the other side of the state and the pastor there talked about “failure.” (Perhaps not the best choice for a Father’s Day sermon...fail!) I’m seeing this theme of failure/falling popping up frequently in my life these days...that makes me a little nervous, especially in my internship summer!

Let’s be honest. Failure is inevitable. It’s part of the human condition. It is common, it can be devastating and discouraging, and is often misunderstood. But the good thing is, it’s not fatal, it’s not an enemy, and it’s not final. Michael Jordan, arguably the most famous athletic figure in America, said that his failure was actually the key to his success:

“I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot...and missed. And I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

You may have heard about how Post-It notes came into existence: Spencer Silver was trying to make a new adhesive for 3M that was super strong, but instead he made one that was so weak that it could be easily lifted off. Fail! Little did he know, the forgetful person’s best friend was born! Success!

Failure is something everyone experiences. But, undoubtedly, failure makes us all better at whatever we are trying to do. Without failure, we would never learn anything! Failure is never fun but without the pain of failure, success wouldn’t be as sweet.

To put a cherry on top, think about this: Jesus even guaranteed failure, imperfection, and trials. In John 16:33, Jesus says, “In this world you will have tribulation...” Basically, He says, “Nobody ever said it would be easy!” Thankfully, He doesn’t stop there. (If He did, we would be in trouble for sure...and I also wouldn’t have mentioned it in this post.) He goes on to say, “...But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus has taken care of everything for us and pretty soon we won’t have to remember the failures of this world! As my Grandpa used to say, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!” We have the fantastic hope of Heaven! WIN!

We will fail, but the more we fail, the more we learn. It would be a tragedy to be perfect at something but never learn anything new! Keep failing and keep learning...success only comes through failure! Fail on, my brethren, fail on.

So, essentially, each failure is kind of a success! In the long run, more failures = more successes! Epic Fail = Epic Win!

I don’t know, maybe this post was a failure...Or was it?

Bearers of Hope

What's the best thing about summer? You got it - NO SCHOOL!

Or so I thought...

Well you know I just love school SO much that I just couldn't go 3 months without it, so I had to take a summer class. Yeah, something like that. Anyways...

So I'm taking a summer online class - World Literature. Might as well make the best of it, right?

This is a Discussion Board posting assignment after reading Dante's Inferno. The assignment was to place someone in whichever circle of Hell (as described by Dante) they deserved. It is a difficult thing to write of, so I decided to put a little spin on it. See what you think...

You may recognize the name Rahab. Well, you may know her better by her full name: Rahab the Prostitute. Rahab lived in the city of Jericho - a pagan, godless nation. Jericho was a city surrounded by walls, hence the song, “Joshua fought the battle of Jericho and the walls came a-tumblin’ down.” Anyways, Rahab was known for her profession, be it wholesome or not.

Rahab lived just inside the wall of the city. Perhaps she was in a corner or just on a wall. Either way, her location undoubtedly helped her business. Her “clients” knew exactly where she was, and word-of-mouth advertisement was easy to describe her location.

Not only was she a pagan (which would have left her in Circle one, melancholy and hopeless), she was a panderer, a seducer. According to Dante, Rahab’s final resting place would be in Circle VIII, in Bolgia 1. Her punishment would have been, as Dante described it, “whipped by devils.”

The cool thing about Rahab’s story is that it doesn’t end with her eternal punishment. After a rendezvous with a couple of Israelites (the people who followed the one true God, Jehovah), her heart was changed. She also became a God-follower, thereby escaping the perils of Hell. Whether or not Dante’s description was accurate, she was prevented from eternal punishment. You can read Rahab’s story in the Old Testament book of Joshua, chapters 2 and 6.

(The Good News is: You don’t have to wind up in any part of Hell, either.)

Perhaps it will cause some to ponder the afterlife and their final destination. Perhaps it will open some discussion. Or maybe it will just fester in someone's heart. I'll never really know, but one thing I do know - we are called to bring hope to a lost world and if I can, I'm going to slip that hope into any corner I can find. Even in a discussion board based on a secular piece of literature.