Closed Doors

“I have not failed. I’ve just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.” - Thomas Edison

Referring to his many early versions of the incandescent lightbulb, Thomas Edison maintained the remarkably positive perspective that each failed attempt simply brought him one step closer to success.

It’s a difficult attitude to maintain, but it is one that is found in so many of history’s greatest people. The willingness to see mistakes and closed doors as valuable learning opportunities and life as a continual process of growth.

William Wilberforce, the champion of social justice in early 19th century England, brought about the abolition of the slave trade in that country. Wilberforce persevered through what became a twenty-year-long political struggle, overcoming many obstacles and set-backs and paying a high physical and emotional cost along the way. Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer stood firmly as the leading voice of dissent as most of the organized church in Germany bowed to the pressure of the Nazi Party in the years leading up to the Holocaust. Bonhoeffer faced disapproval and persecution from friend and foe alike for the stand that he made. And he was ultimately executed by the Nazis in the final days of World War II.

Certainly these men harbored doubts at times. As human as the rest of us, they had to question the rightness of their path when the doors they pushed on were repeatedly found to be stuck tight. Perhaps the source of their greatness was their simple determination to keep walking forward despite the discouragement they faced.

I am thankful for the stories of these people who have gone before us. When I see my failures pile up and encounter one closed door after another, their lives offer me hope that failure is vital to life, difficult journeys do not always point to misdirection, and closed doors are every bit as valuable as open ones.

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