{"id":280,"date":"2022-10-26T19:02:33","date_gmt":"2022-10-26T19:02:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/2022\/10\/24\/how-to-recover-from-an-epic-failure\/"},"modified":"2025-12-29T20:42:55","modified_gmt":"2025-12-29T20:42:55","slug":"how-to-recover-from-an-epic-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/how-to-recover-from-an-epic-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Recover from an Epic Failure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

You know that feeling you get when you suffer an epic fail?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not thinking about goofy errors or clumsiness, I\u2019m thinking about those times when we really come up short. We fail at something significant, we make an error in judgment, we let someone down, or we make a really stupid decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m thinking of those times when we start thinking that we\u2019ll never measure up to the standards that others have set for us, to the standards we\u2019ve set for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When those times hit, we can certainly learn from our mistakes, we can double down on good decision-making or better work habits, and we can promise ourselves and others that it will never happen again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the feeling in the pit of our stomach won\u2019t be resolved with our good intentions for the future. We must figure out how to let go of what has happened and move past it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s almost like we have to figure out a way to forgive ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know from our experience with others that forgiveness is a gift. It can\u2019t be earned or bargained for, it can\u2019t be demanded. It has to be given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if restitution is made, even if we pay for the damage we\u2019ve done, forgiveness is a gift that is something more than this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forgiveness is a \u201cletting go\u201d or a \u201cletting be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big idea at the center of the Reformation was that forgiveness from God works the same way. The realization that Luther had was that human beings are reconciled to God by a divine act of forgiveness that cannot be earned<\/a>. Of his new understanding<\/a>, Luther wrote, \u201cHere I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through gates that had been flung open.\u201d1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how do we figure out how to give that gift to ourselves? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that the answer is \u2013 we can\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, we talk about buying presents for ourselves and giving ourselves gifts, but we know that these aren\u2019t real gifts \u2013 they are purchases we\u2019re making with money we\u2019ve earned (or borrowed). It\u2019s not a gift if you\u2019ve earned it or if you\u2019re going to have to pay it back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, when folks talk about forgiving oneself, what they\u2019re really talking about is not being so hard on one\u2019s self, not expecting perfection when perfection is impossible, and not getting hung up on little errors or disappointments. This is reasonable and good practice. It\u2019s good not to take yourself so seriously that one can\u2019t make any mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, however, things are bigger than that and we feel crushed under the weight of the guilt we feel like we\u2019re carrying around. Forgiveness must be given to us. We can go and talk things over with the person that we\u2019ve wronged if there is someone. We can ask them for the gift of forgiveness \u2013 all the time recognizing that we can\u2019t demand this gift. But sometimes there\u2019s no one else. It\u2019s just us and our guilty conscience accusing us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Kate and I have a way of doing that for you. We have a script for a ritual of confession and forgiveness<\/a> that we\u2019d be honored to work through with you. The ritual provides a way of unburdening yourself from whatever has you stuck. It\u2019s a way of coming to terms with whatever has been going on and beginning to move past it. It\u2019s a way to be sure that the gift of forgiveness is even for you.  What is said will never be shared or repeated. Pastors make public vows to never share what is told to them in these confessions. (One could also adapt it for use with a trusted friend.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pr. Kate and I take turns being available for an hour before Candlelight on Sunday nights and an hour before Celebrate on Wednesday nights. You can also make an appointment with one of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I bid you the peace that only forgiveness provides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pastor Jim<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 <\/sup>Luther\u2019s Works, Vol 34, p.338 Fortress Press, and quoted in Luther, the Reformer by James M. Kittleson, (1989 Leicester: IVP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You know that feeling you get when you suffer an epic fail? It\u2019s the worst. I\u2019m not thinking about goofy errors or clumsiness, I\u2019m thinking about those times when we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-james-a-wetzstein","category-csl-newsletter-devotionals"],"acf":[],"author_meta":{"display_name":"dev@eridesign.com","author_link":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/author\/deveridesign-com\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/08\/ValpoCampus8-Resized-300x192.webp","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["James A. Wetzstein<\/a>","CSL Newsletter Devotionals<\/a>"],"unlinked":["James A. Wetzstein<\/span>","CSL Newsletter Devotionals<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 4 years ago","modified":"Updated 10 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on October 26, 2022","modified":"Updated on December 29, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on October 26, 2022 7:02 pm","modified":"Updated on December 29, 2025 8:42 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12053,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280\/revisions\/12053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.valpo.edu\/devotionals\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}