Mistakes Happen
The big news story of the day seems to be the mix up at the Academy Awards show, where the wrong movie was announced as the winner of the Oscar in the “Best Picture” category. Amidst all the confusion, it was discovered that someone had given the wrong envelope to the presenters, Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. In the end, the award was presented to the right cast of the winning movie. However, there were a lot of red faces due to this embarrassing snafu.
To the average working stiff, this seems like much ado about nothing. As host Jimmy Kimmel said, “Let’s remember, it’s just an awards show.” This annual event is an opportunity for entertainers to get dressed up and be entertained, while witnessing some of their peers receiving recognition for their most recent work. Certainly the Academy Awards is a gala event for those who participate, but it is nothing earth shattering or life changing for the rest of the world.
My assessment of the chaotic climax to the event is that it was “art imitating life.” The truth is that we all make mistakes, even the best, brightest, and most talented people among us. Not everyone has their flubs televised into the homes of millions of viewers, but it is rare for a mistake to go unnoticed by someone. And like this event, even when our errors are unintentional they are still embarrassing to us and often hurtful to others. Since we are all prone to such mishaps, we should be kind and considerate when it happens to someone else.
One of my favorite passages from the Psalms is found in Ps. 37:23-24: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delights in his way. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholds him with His hand” (NKJV). We are all going to stumble and fall at times. Alexander Pope, in “An Essay on Criticism,” wrote: “To err is human, to forgive divine.” This embarrassing event is a reminder to us all that we should guard against criticizing one another, for none of us is above or beyond making a faux pas!
Serving in love,
Bro. Jim