Living in OverflowSample

Failure as a Spiritual Practice

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.

In this interview, Stephen gives us a better look at the daily habits that strengthen his relationship with Jesus.

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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. I love contemplative prayer. I love repeating 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 His Presence. I love journaling and listening to the gentle voice of God, who speaks me back to life.

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

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