Perfection
Perfection asks for a fixed state in our minds. People who struggle with perfectionism suffer a great deal. The reality is that life is in motion. Life is changeable. We might say that a day is perfect. But that day gives way to another day and the perfect day followed a different day altogether. And if we look closely at that day, regardless of how perfect we thought it was, there were elements that were imperfect about it.
Our ideal life, which hopefully is a place we are aiming toward, will not be perfect. But the idea is that it will have the crucial elements that are important to us. Relationships with loved ones tend to be taken for granted but one of the things people regret at the end of their life is that they failed to see the beauty in their imperfect relationships.
While perfection may be a good goal in engineering, we cannot expect it in human relationships. Because we are in motion, everyone else is in motion, and the connections between us are always developing, well or poorly. Relationships take work.
Let us, for a moment, extend that same understanding to our relationship with Christ.
Our relationship with Jesus Christ includes us, human beings. Therefore, it will be imperfect at our end. If we can understand our relationship with Jesus as both giving and receiving, we can best understand that religion is intended to support a private connection with God. When we do not feel close to God, religion can help us get reconnected and teach us how to improve our giving to God. But the primary goal will always be a close personal connection to God. If we surrender our direct connection to God and think religion will get it done for us? Well, we are missing the point entirely.
Every day should include some direct contact with God. Those who pray contemplatively, who draw God down into their moments, will feel themselves gently guided by the Spirit. Despite the ongoing ups and downs in their lives, they will know that God is with them.
Someone once challenged a sea Captain after a rough storm at sea. They said, "Couldn’t you just go around the storm?" The Captain laughed and said, “We don’t control the seas. We sail them.” Life is definitely a bit like that. Changeable, with occasional high seas.
Our faith life should be developing, always changing, as we are always changing. If we look back at the past few years and cannot identify any spiritual growth, we should be alert. Have we stalled in our search for divine connection? Because it will not be God who stops meeting us in a way suited to our changing conditions.
Perhaps we have parked God while we get on with life, supposedly with him, but maybe freezing him out a bit, too. In today’s world of swirling, ever changing information, we should develop the skill of discernment, which can be thought of as follows:
I think for myself, always with God.
Contemplative prayer. It’s not just for monks.
