I was sitting in Duffield, Virginia - about 5 hours from the VCU campus - when I got a message from my friend Connie at that very VCU campus. It said, "Hey Keith, just checking to see if you are on your way. Melissa and I are here in room 2129."
On my way 😮? I quite literally couldn't have been further away from on my way.... My heart sank. Or blew up. I'm not sure there's a difference in a moment like that. I'd had two meetings with my friends and co-presenters about this upcoming event in room 2129. We had mapped out our parts; we were ready to roll. But when presentation day came, my friends were there. I was not. I still don't know exactly how that happened. How I didn't get it on my calendar. I just don't screw up the big calendar stuff like that. I could come up with a ton of excuses, but in the moment of reading that text message, none of them mattered. None made it easier to respond: "I'm in southwest Virginia doing a site visit. I'm sorry isn't near enough in this moment, but clearly I won't be there." I was wrong, though. Sorry WAS enough. In fact, sorry was probably unnecessary to my friend. She responded, "no worries Keith, we got it, but you will be missed." Our lives are riddled with big screw ups. Some of them come with very good reasons. Some - maybe not so much. Either way, they all have the potential to stop us in our tracks. Stop us in our tracks for a moment. Some of them can stop us in our tracks for a lifetime. The answer for getting unstuck is always grace. Grace offered to us from others; grace offered to us from ourselves. Our mistakes are a moment. That is it. One. Moment. The only thing that makes a mistake outlive the moment is the need we feel to beat ourselves up FOR that moment - or the need someone else feels to beat us up for it. My friend said, "no worries Keith, we got it, but you will be missed." If you're stuck in a moment today, a moment from yesterday or a moment from years ago, I would encourage you to tell yourself - no worries, you've got this. I would encourage you to let it go. If someone else is keeping you stuck in a moment today, if someone else wants to beat you up for a moment from yesterday or a moment from years ago, I encourage you - let them go. And if you're keeping someone stuck in a moment today, a moment from yesterday or a moment from years ago, I encourage you, if at all possible, let them know - no worries. There are too many challenging moments coming our way for any of us to stay stuck - to keep each other stuck - in challenging moments that are long gone. Just because we beat ourselves and each other up over moments long gone, doesn't mean those moments aren't indeed long gone. Mistakes can rob us all of life. Grace says, not today. Not today.
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Robert "Keith" CartwrightI am a friend of God, a dad, a runner who never wins, but is always searching for beauty in the race. Archives
February 2025
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