My imperfections and failures are as much
a blessing from God as my successes and my talents,
and I lay them both at His feet.
Mahatma Gandhi
What if every morning, we received an email of God, labeled, “My Will for You Today”? And what if in the email, God told us everything we were supposed to do and everything that would happen? Wouldn’t that just be great?! It would take all the guess work out of life.
No. It would not be great. It would be like being given the answers for a pending test before the test. There would be no motivation to learn and grow.
With all the answers given, we would not bother to develop a relationship with God – and we would cease to become -- and be close.
The same is true of our imperfections and failures. They are our means of developing intimate Presence with God. Without them, our human brains would convince us that spiritual struggles with myself and efforts to grow – and become -- are unnecessary. And we would live lonely, meaningless lives -- without conscious Presence of a caring, loving God who brings all the pieces of the human experience into a spiritual whole.
“I lay them both at His feet.” It makes sense to lay our imperfections and failures, but why our successes and talents?
Our human brain is preoccupied with outcomes as a means of making ourselves “happy”—actually for protecting us from painful consequences – painful separation. The reality is that success and talent can be as much a trap, as imperfections and failures can be a gift.
Success can lull us into the illusion that we can control the outcomes of our lives – and that when we do, we will be happy. Both conclusions are false and extremely harmful.
We need to accept and experience our powerlessness in our failures -- see caring Presence in our successes – hear that Someone is looking out for our best interests and needs – and continue to surrender our outcomes His and Her loving care.
What we have placed at Their feet no longer has the power to control or threaten our serenity -- we can truly Be.
a blessing from God as my successes and my talents,
and I lay them both at His feet.
Mahatma Gandhi
What if every morning, we received an email of God, labeled, “My Will for You Today”? And what if in the email, God told us everything we were supposed to do and everything that would happen? Wouldn’t that just be great?! It would take all the guess work out of life.
No. It would not be great. It would be like being given the answers for a pending test before the test. There would be no motivation to learn and grow.
With all the answers given, we would not bother to develop a relationship with God – and we would cease to become -- and be close.
The same is true of our imperfections and failures. They are our means of developing intimate Presence with God. Without them, our human brains would convince us that spiritual struggles with myself and efforts to grow – and become -- are unnecessary. And we would live lonely, meaningless lives -- without conscious Presence of a caring, loving God who brings all the pieces of the human experience into a spiritual whole.
“I lay them both at His feet.” It makes sense to lay our imperfections and failures, but why our successes and talents?
Our human brain is preoccupied with outcomes as a means of making ourselves “happy”—actually for protecting us from painful consequences – painful separation. The reality is that success and talent can be as much a trap, as imperfections and failures can be a gift.
Success can lull us into the illusion that we can control the outcomes of our lives – and that when we do, we will be happy. Both conclusions are false and extremely harmful.
We need to accept and experience our powerlessness in our failures -- see caring Presence in our successes – hear that Someone is looking out for our best interests and needs – and continue to surrender our outcomes His and Her loving care.
What we have placed at Their feet no longer has the power to control or threaten our serenity -- we can truly Be.
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