Lucy on Failure
Audio / Produced by The High CallingTranscript
The Peanuts comics strip can teach us great life lessons. In one, Lucy approaches the pitcher's mound from the outfield.
"I'm sorry I missed that easy fly ball," she says to Charlie Brown. "I thought I had it—but suddenly I remembered all the others I've missed." Lucy then pinpoints her problem—"The past got in my eyes."
Theodore Roosevelt said, "The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything." Failure is common, and failure is a great teacher. But keep the lesson and leave the rest. Don't let past failures rob you of the success that comes next.
This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. Remember that failure is predictable, but how you use it is full of possibility—in the high calling of our daily work.
Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
