Failure and falling short are the best teachers; success has virtually nothing to teach us on the spiritual path. -- Fr Richard Rohr, "Daily Meditation," February 26, 2021
That quote is a perfect example of why changing our mind is essential. Essential to our peace of mind in fact.
We resist failure and falling short, we feel shame and look to blame when (not if) it happens to us...all the while the thank you prayer is all we need to be freed. It never hurts to add, Welcome, ego, my old friend...nice to sit with you again. The power of nonresistance gains momentum the less we resist.
Just as an aside since I know less than a little about saints, but I have read that Saint Teresa of Avila wrote about the necessity of loving our ego...specifically our ego. Once we have loosed our dual thinking, love all becomes an "of course," doesn't it?
Back to Rohr's quote...I'm convinced failure and falling short are the best teachers because, just like fear, nothing turns us to God quicker or more sincerely than an utter inability to think of a fix. Which is as ego-threatening as it gets...ah, and there's our blessing, ego running on empty.
That is how we come to befriend the ego. Not by beat down, nor by hate...no spiritual good ever came from either...but by God. Make a quick U-bie from ego's fear, shame and blame, and there's God with arms open, welcoming ego's all...ourself in a word, and we know love.
Afterword: It's not that we come to want fear, failure and falling short, it's that we can accept them as we accept rain on a picnic day...we're less than delighted but not destroyed.
Thank you.
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