Don’t Do That Again (11/25/2025)

This weekend, as I was making an early Thanksgiving dinner for the family, I burnt my hand. As I quickly drew my hand back, I told myself, “Don’t do that again!” I’d made a mistake in my rush, but a moment later, I wasn’t defeated. No, I was smarter. Mistakes aren’t the end, they are learning moments.

As a child, I climbed trees. Trust me, my first attempts weren’t pretty. But with every tumble or slip, I learned. I got smarter about which branches to use for leverage, I got stronger as I hung from my hands, and I grew more self-reliant. I learned the art of tree climbing not by succeeding the first time or even the tenth time but rather by persevering and taking the lessons learned to heart.

Mistakes are to be avoided, if possible, but the operative words may be “if possible.” Sometimes, like learning to walk as a toddler, we don’t know enough yet to not make the mistakes. But our mind and body eventually click, we get smarter about how we try to stand up, we get stronger and our balance improves, and we become more self-reliant not because we never fell but because we did.

I’ve noticed that many today are afraid of mistakes, probably for fear that someone will catch it on video and post it to their embarrassment. It makes me sad, because I know that most everything in my life that I am at least quasi-good at, I had to learn through making mistakes. My first baking experiences were disasters, my first poems were pitiful, my first sewing projects could not be worn in public, and my first year of marriage was punctuated with “I am sorry.”

The LORD understands. The LORD is kind and merciful. Most of our mistakes hurt no one but ourselves and our pride. But some do, and they require us to learn from them, to grow smarter about the fundamentals of relationships, to grow stronger in our desire to grow our relationships, and to recognize that the first essential of self-reliance is recognizing our dependence upon the LORD in whom we live and move and have our being. It is only within that relationship with our LORD that we come to be our best self in the world. But we will make mistakes in that relationship, too. And we will need to try not to do that again and to make amends. We can learn from our mistakes and become better.

I’m 75 and I’m still making mistakes in how I do things. “Don’t do that again!” is only surpassed by “I’m sorry!” in my usual daily utterances. I’m pretty sure I will keep making mistakes our of lack of experience or lack of attention. But thankfully, I’ve learned that mistakes aren’t the end usually; usually they are invitations to learn. And I love to learn!

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.