Saturday, March 1, 2008

Prayer in time of Failure

O God, teach us to know that failure is as much a part of life as success -- and whether it shall be evil or good depends upon the way we meet it -- if we face it listlessly and daunted, angrily or vengefully, then indeed is it evil for it spells death. But if we let our failures stand as guideposts and as warnings -- as beacons and as guardians -- then is honest failure far better than stolen success, and but a part of that great training which God gives us to make us women and men. The race is not to the swift -- nor the battle to the strong, O God. Amen.


W.E. B. Du Bois



Educated at Fisk University, Harvard University, and the University of Berlin, W. E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) was the first African American to receive a doctorate from Harvard. A prolific author of novels, autobiographical sketches, verses, and scholarly studies, including his monumental work, "The Souls of Black Folk", Du Bois served as professor of economics and sociology at Atlanta University.


In Him, Mimi

18 comments:

Pam said...

Such truth!

Mimi said...

Hi,
nice to see you visiting out and about...hope you are having a wonderful weekend...

Mimi said...

last comment was addressed to Pam...

nannykim said...

cool!

SweetAnnee said...

Thank you Mimi ..for a wonderful post. Life is GOOD

much love, Deena

Karen H. said...

Good Morning Mimi,
"HAPPY MARCH"!!!! I am once trying to catch up again. I did put up a new post and I am out visiting now. This is such a beautiful and very truthful post. "THANK YOU" for sharing it with us and for reminding us. I hope you have had a great weekend. We have had Spring like weather and temperatures here all weekend. It is suppose to be around 72 degrees here today and a cold front is to come thru on Monday night and turn cold again. Take care my friend and have a great day. May God Bless You and Yours.

Love & Hugs,
Karen H.

Bob's Blog said...

Yep, that's a hard one, but so very true.

Anonymous said...

Amen. Such true words.

Paula said...

A very good post once again. I really like the tidbit of history on the author that you added.

Saija said...

The race is not to the swift -- nor the battle to the strong, O God. ... and neither do we have to battle it alone! praise Him for that!

Dawn said...

I love that you call the twins "our babies!"

~Red Tin Heart~ said...

Wonderful post. It is a hard thing to sometimes, to learn in a gracious way from our failures.
Thank you Mimi for always visiting me.. You really do help with your words. My son's names are Austin and C.J.
Love nita

j said...

Mimi, I love this. I fail someone - my hubby, my kids, my parents, my Lord, myself - everyday. God is good and He loves me anyway! Jennifer

Melissa said...

This really hit the spot - very timely and very true. Thanks. Love, M

Maxine said...

Thanks for sharing this, Mimi. It was a real blessing to learn about this great American. May we all let our failures stand as guideposts and warning and become greater men and women.

Unknown said...

Wonderful words and so true.

Adrienne said...

This is good! Thank you for sharing it with us.

Thank you for stopping by my blog and for leaving your sweet comments. It always amazes me how God gives us songs just when we need them most.
~Adrienne~

Rose of Sharon said...

This is so true. I really feel like I learn from my mistakes. I certainly don't want to repeat them, so I must learn from them!

Thank you! Sharon