This post is only for folks who have, in the past, made mistakes - or for those who have failed miserably - or those who are currently in the midst of making a royal mess of things (the rest of you undoubtably have better things to do than read this blog - now would be a good time to go do some of them).
The title of this post is, of course, an homage to the tremendous tag-line from the 1973 movie Westworld, about a futuristic amusement park where human-like androids enabled rich guests to safely engage in all kinds of fantasies - including winning Old West gunfights (against Yul Brynner as a very cool robot Gunfighter). Advanced computer technology was in place to ensure the safety of the guests, but just in case you had any doubts about the likely failure of the "fail-safe" measures, the posters for the movie contained one of the great lines of all time:
"Where nothing can possibly go worng."
And of course things did go worng - er, wrong - VERY wrong.
This is not a post about the hubris of those who trust in technology, though - this is about when things go very wrong - and when it's our fault - and about the temptation we have at such moments to just throw in the towel and give up and decide that we are, really & truly, failures.
While I have never been any good at keeping up with Christian recording artists, many years ago I came across the artist Don Francisco. At that time, at least, he was most known for recreating Bible stories in dramatic songs - (he's the guy behind "He's Alive" - heard in many Easter celebrations - you can find a way to connect with his music below).
He has a song called "There is No Condemnation" which speaks to the days when I'm so busy kicking myself that the rest of the world would have to wait a turn. Perhaps you are familiar with the feeling. This is not about times when someone incorrectly assumes that I have messed up, or when I'm unjustly accused of failure - this is about when I have, for sure and for real, made a mess of something (hey, it happens). In the midst of a song about the morning after a personal failure ("...when I was so far down that even up looked wrong") - he uses a beautiful phrase :
"It doesn't matter what you've done,
it matters what you'll be."
Wow - what a thought - particularly for folks who profess to believe that we are creatures of Eternity. In the song Francisco has Jesus telling the songwriter, "Satan, the accuser has been whispering in your ear - you just tell him you're forgiven - he has no business here." It matters what you'll be. What a doorway out of self-pity, & self-punishment, & self-hatred - and all the things that make us want to take ourselves out of the running and stop trying.
There are times when I even actually remember it.
++++++++++++
[As always, if this is your first visit to Leaving Nadderby, I urge you to click on "Looking Back" for an introduction (& an explanation of the name). Under the BLOG ARCHIVE, click on 2008, then on February 2008, & then on the title: "Looking Back" (or browse through several if you are so inclined). Don Francisco can be found online at: http://www.rockymountainministries.org/index.html - there's even an online radio station there featuring his music and that of some of his associates.]
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