Learn to fall

As I was training for the triathlon this week, I stumbled and tumbled. A few years back this belly flop would have been bloody and banging: scraped hands and knees, bone jarring. I have perfected klutziness.

But this time I didn’t gush O+. On an uplifted sidewalk section, I tripped. But as I fell, I rolled, wasted my momentum, got up and went back to jogging without so much as a scrape. I had learned to fall in soccer.

My previous technique — the one that leads sidewalk carnage — was like a body shriek. My mind panicked, muscles tightened, limbs extended themselves to shock-absorb. Every pound of body weight took the hit.

Then I copied the boys who played soccer with me. When tripped, they curled their bodies up and let themselves roll freely. They didn’t try to “stop” the fall. It saves you a trip to ER.

Christians need to learn to fall. A fall should not injure badly. You should roll out of it quickly, gracefully and without abrasions. Get up and keep running. As you walk with Christ, there will likely be a few stumbles through the years. Christianity is not living in perfection, but constantly aiming at perfection. Learning to get back up after a fall is part of that.