“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
This marvelous quote from President Teddy Roosevelt has made its way into many morning watches and reflections in our valleys throughout the years. Roosevelt was clearly a man of action, determined to discover his limits in the arena of decisive movement, trial and error, and real struggle with the issues that arose in his life. If there’s anything plaguing modern youth, indecision and insecurity are up high on the list of generational problems. The paradox of choice in a digital age where young people are bombarded with an overwhelming number of choices for every desirable pursuit, from dating to college classes to coffee drinks, leads many to paralysis.
My brother, Jeffrey Trufant, recently remarked a profound insight. We were discussing the noticeable rise in anxiety among young people and Jeffrey mentioned, “If our sphere of awareness is much larger than our sphere of influence, then we will certainly be more prone to anxious thoughts and feelings.” I agree! Never have global headlines been so close to our consciousness. And while our awareness of the problems assailing the world, the economy, the county, and our communities gets ever more finite through the polarizing lens of social media and instant connectivity, there comes with it a recognition of our human limits, our finite nature, and our weakness against the magnitude of the healing required to fix the headlines.
What a gift to send our children to simplify their vision in beautiful mountain valleys where they can revisit the fundamentals of a happy life! At camp, our focus is on the concrete, here and now, things we can actually impact and control: love of God and neighbor, and pursuit of personal growth. Often, and again and again, we revisit this notion, alluded to so eloquently by former President Roosevelt, that it is our best effort that counts when it comes to God and conscience. As Christians, we have a firm confidence that our loving Father is never disappointed with our best efforts. Instead, he celebrates them! Even when we fail (just as the cross of Christ can be seen as a “failure” in the eyes of the world) our God looks into the heart to see if we gave our widow’s mite, our five loaves and two fish, our honest and sincere offering.
After all, any honest human life will be full of “failures” and moments when we bump up against our weakness. What a gift to give our campers if we succeed in encouraging them towards a different sort of success – a kind of success that leaves room for our weakness and expects to trip over our humanity from time to time. Only when this concept is graskped can we also make room for the healing presence of our loving God who sees his children like toddlers learning to walk for the very first time. This should be a heartening image for us! He does not expect perfection, but instead expects our fidelity and our effort. This, this is something I can get behind. No room for shame, just the determination to show up again and again.
Today, what arena are you called to? In what space are your talents expected to sew future fruit? May God bless you!
