What do we do when we get it wrong?
Failing is not a very positive word in our culture and it seems to me from the earliest age we and those around us, work very hard to ensure we don't fail so that when we do it can feel big. Painting is a good and safe way of learning about failure, and there are plenty. The ones which don't work out, the one where mistakes are made, yet it does no harm except perhaps to my ego, and over time I have learned rather than tear it up and throw it in the bin in embarrassment, to really look at the painting and learn what went wrong, to learn the lesson.
But that is risk-free failure...
What about the times when it hurts someone, causes real damage, the times when the world looks on and judges. This morning's story of Peter's denial of Jesus would count as one of these times. In spite of all good intentions, when it matters, Peter is scared and denies that he knows Jesus. Yet the most memorable part of this story is not the denial but the forgiveness. Jesus looks at Peter and how we would love to see that look, for yes there is sadness in it but also such love and forgiveness. It was not the end of the story for Peter, in fact, it was a time of transformation when he began to live understanding his human frailty and his need for God, and in time he grows to do more than perhaps he could have done without that failure.
Our failures can be times for us to grow too yet we are often our own harshest judges. Perhaps we need to spend time in that moment when Jesus looks at us, perhaps we need to be more ready to receive his forgiveness in all our vulnerability, and then, of course, be ready to do the same for others.
"And the Lord turned and looked at Peter." Luke 22 vs 61
Failing is not a very positive word in our culture and it seems to me from the earliest age we and those around us, work very hard to ensure we don't fail so that when we do it can feel big. Painting is a good and safe way of learning about failure, and there are plenty. The ones which don't work out, the one where mistakes are made, yet it does no harm except perhaps to my ego, and over time I have learned rather than tear it up and throw it in the bin in embarrassment, to really look at the painting and learn what went wrong, to learn the lesson.
But that is risk-free failure...
What about the times when it hurts someone, causes real damage, the times when the world looks on and judges. This morning's story of Peter's denial of Jesus would count as one of these times. In spite of all good intentions, when it matters, Peter is scared and denies that he knows Jesus. Yet the most memorable part of this story is not the denial but the forgiveness. Jesus looks at Peter and how we would love to see that look, for yes there is sadness in it but also such love and forgiveness. It was not the end of the story for Peter, in fact, it was a time of transformation when he began to live understanding his human frailty and his need for God, and in time he grows to do more than perhaps he could have done without that failure.
Our failures can be times for us to grow too yet we are often our own harshest judges. Perhaps we need to spend time in that moment when Jesus looks at us, perhaps we need to be more ready to receive his forgiveness in all our vulnerability, and then, of course, be ready to do the same for others.
"And the Lord turned and looked at Peter." Luke 22 vs 61
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