How perfect are you?

Being Imperfect

“We are in moments pure and ageless as light, and with the very next breath, we drop things or bruise the treasures of a lifetime. We need to soothe ourselves, not blame ourselves. We are rare, not perfect, and seem to know all there is briefly, only to pound it into bread.”

                                 Mark Nepo (The Book of Awakening)

Matthew 5:48 admonishes us to be perfect, even as our Father is perfect. Jesus is telling his disciples why they should be different from others—not simply kind to those in their own family, or circle of friends, but to everyone. I dare say Jesus knew his disciples were far from perfect, and so are we, but he meant, give it your best shot. As much as possible, do not discriminate, show kindness to everyone.

Human beings are made of clay and sometimes we act like dirt is all we are made of. One moment, we can be saints, and the next, sinners. One day, we are the very essence of light, and the next, darkness personified. As Nepo says, “We are rare, not perfect.” Even the best of us have moments of selfishness and jealousy, and even the worst of us can be gentle and loving. We are an amalgam of all the polarities. Occasionally we are not even aware that what we say or do is hurtful to someone else—we are simply speaking off the cuff, and giving no thought as to how it may sound.

I believe most humans want to be decent. Call me stupid, but I do. I think we have this ego-side that just trips us up whenever we feel threatened. If we are afraid, it is human nature to strike the first blow. Afterward, we may be ashamed of our actions, even guilt-ridden, but that won't keep us from doing the same thing again the next time we feel threatened. The best we can do is apologize. Sometimes we even find the strength to remove ourselves from the situation before we have said or done something we'll regret later.

As hard as it is, we must simply accept ourselves as both light and darkness, both good and bad. In fact, it is our imperfections that make us human, and that is not such a bad thing. Try your best to be kind and patient and good, but when you fail from time to time, as we all do, be kind to yourself as well. We are “rare, not perfect”.

                                                 In the spirit,

                                                  Jane