We are free to fail

 If you knew that failure didn't matter, what would you dare, or try? What mission would you attempt, what venture would you risk; what great deed would you undertake?  Would you, like Bartimaeus in our Gospel (Mark 10:45-52), shout out for healing even though the people around you would try to silence you? I wonder, could it be that Bartimaeus was so used to failure and disappointment that he saw no reason not to try one more time? 

Would your cry out for healing or justice, peace, equality, or any of the things that the world calls idealistic? Or, maybe you would be more inclined to quietly volunteer at a food pantry, or help, to the extent that you can, minister to the sick or infirmed. Maybe you would opt to visit an elder who most have forgotten? Despite the feeling that the worst of Covid is behind us, we are still limited to what organized ministry we are able to volunteer. I personally miss our time at St. Mark's or our Hospital and Nursing Home ministries. But there are no shortages of opportunities that come to us when we least expect or are completely unprepared. I suppose like looking for the presence of God, the key is to be aware.

So often, these things – whether great or small – seem either so hopelessly impossible or so ridiculously insignificant that we just don't even try. Yet the promise of the Gospel is that we are free...free to risk, to dare, to love, to live, to work, to dream, and yes, free to fail, because we have God's promise that there is no small gesture and there is no impossible deed, and that the God who raised Jesus from the dead will also bring all things – even our failed efforts – to a good end.

So, if you're going to risk anything that matters, "not failing is not an option." Risk entails failure. Change entails failure. Creativity and innovation and experimentation all entail failure. And if we forget that, we will either never try anything that matters or end up sorely disappointed.
(Adapted from David Lose , Working Preacher, 10/23/12)