Practice of Failure

Podcaster, founder, author, musician, and composer—Stephen Roach is a man of many talents. Despite his wide range of interests and endeavors, there’s one overarching theme that unifies them all: the marriage of art and faith. That’s what The Breath & The Clay—a creative arts organization he founded with his wife, Sarah—is all about. Their goal is to help artists encounter God through the creative process; build bridges between art, faith, and culture, and hear from diverse perspectives as they develop skills and build community.

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At the risk of sounding pseudo-spiritual—and perhaps I should just pop that bubble immediately—sometimes failure is the best spiritual practice I can muster.

As my dear friend and fellow art community leader Corey Frey said to me, sometimes our best offering to God is the desire to offer something. Our failed attempts are just as much received by God with joy.

But I love silence, contemplative prayer, and the repetition of a short phrase from Scripture that calls my anxious heart back to the truth of God's love for me. I love to offer worship and pretend that God has forgotten how incredible he is and so I must remind him.

I love the small hours when the house is asleep and I can give myself to seeking the Presence. I love journaling and listening for the gentle voice of God, who speaks me back to life.

—Stephen Roach, the host of the Makers & Mystics podcast, as told to Rapt Interviews