Nelson Mandela, President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 once observed, “The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.”
Failing is a part of life’s landscape. We fail by accident or through errors in judgment. We fail as result of ignorance. And, of course, we fail because we willfully make the wrong choices — we sin against God, against one another, against ourselves.
But many of us cannot distinguish between the kinds of failure we encounter and we find it hard to accept forgiveness for ourselves when there is something worth forgiving.
When that happens we can find ourselves carrying false guilt, because we take responsibility for everything that goes wrong. And, when we do need forgiveness, we find it hard to believe that it is possible. Sadly, for some people guilt and shame are, as a result, not just something they experience now and then, but a way of life.
The Lenten emphasis on repentance and forgiveness is not about adding to this struggle. It is about finding spiritual balance and health.
That involves distinguishing between accidents and sins. It involves distinguishing borrowed or carried guilt and shame from guilt and shame that is rightly our own. And it requires the knowledge that God can and does forgive us when we need to be forgiven.
Mandela is right. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.” But that the knowledge that we do fall and the assurance that there is glory in rising is God’s gift.