We've all been guilty of it: saying or doing the 'wrong' thing when we badly wanted to say or do the 'right' thing -- the sickness we didn't take seriously, the grief we couldn't quite take the measure of, the relationship we misunderstood. Often we end up so full of self-recrimination that we overlook the obvious: our intentions were good. Yes, we blundered, but we did try; and sometimes the willingness to risk failure is more important than anything else.

Our culture is success-orientated. We even judge the 'success' or otherwise of our family or community lives by standards that have nothing whatever to do with family or community. One of the consequences of setting aside time for prayer on a regular basis is that we are continually being recalled to reality. We have to face ourselves as we are. We are not great successes, but we are not junk, either. Our mistakes are many, but we blunder on, trusting in the mercy of God to put right what we have got wrong. Most of us will probably blunder our way into heaven, and what's wrong with that?.