Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, May 21, 2009


Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes
for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned
the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others
can learn from.

- Al Franken, comedian, Senator-elect of Minnesota

OK. I won’t get on my hobby-horse about why the hell Franken isn’t in the senate seat he was elected to (according to media reports, after court rulings). Except to say that when Evil is defeated, it dies hard and agonizingly – and yes, I know that describing Coleman as “evil” is provocative, and I do so to expose my own frailty in following the path of The Christ.

But, except when my anger and frustration get the better of me, I try to glean some “inner truth” from the people and their words that I quote.

Boy, have I made several mistakes along the way! By which I mean “sins against Love”. Most of them came from one place: a desire to be important, coupled with a desire to gain power. You’d think that, trying to follow a Christ-like path, I would do better. Well, it’s a life-long struggle. Wisdom is always willing to be a Guide, but human longings are a devil of a thing to overcome.

Case in point? I once let it be known that a man I knew who was married was Gay. I was motivated by anger that Gay men who hide, who play around sexually, ruin their own and others lives. But I forgot about the wife and child. That was not loving.

We all make mistakes. We must learn from them, even if it is hard. We must repent of them and forgive ourselves. As to the fatal mistakes, they are out of our control. But there is always some possibility of good: others may learn from them.

Bottom line: mistakes are part of being human. But we can’t let our mistakes stunt our growth.

Brian+