September 2, 2022

“Failure is not an option.”

When people say that they usually mean that it is time to do everything possible to succeed. Dig deep, muscle through, win by any means necessary. I take failure is not an option to mean this: failure is not an option - it is an inevitability. Failure in one form or another will come, whether you opt for it or not.

In other words, you are free to fail, welcome to fail, even expected to fail. Theologically speaking, to fail is to be part of the Fall. Moreover, God is right at home with our failure; failure is where He shines. So, you fail? Big Whoop.

Here is what the psalmist says: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my hear and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26)

“O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Proper 12 – BCP)”