I’m currently re-reading a book entitled ‘The Spirituality of
Imperfection’, a work which was co-authored by two lay people, Ernest Kurtz and
Katherine Ketcham. It was one of those
books I had stashed away in my collection of books, some which were given by
well-meaning friends who either knew of my predilection for books with a
particular spiritual bent, or who were sympathetic toward my perfectionistic
flaws in life.
This one was given to me by a long-time priest friend of mine even
before I entered the seminary. I
remember asking out loud why he thought I needed to read this book, but was
only given a knowing smile as a reply. I
guess it took me almost 20 years of life’s experiences and challenges to not
only see that my perfectionist streak in me was already somewhat visible back
then, but also to see that the very notion of perfection is an imperfection
itself – a paradox indeed.
What makes us human beings such strange rational animals to have
such notions as perfection in life? In
the animal kingdom, the pursuit of perfection is hardly evidenced. There seems to be an almost imperceptible
acceptance of the way things are to these ‘lesser’ beings around us who walk on
two legs and have rational minds. The
very beauty of nature seems to almost have to include imperfections so that
beauty is seen in its splendid array.
Imagine how dull and uninteresting any landscape would be if every blade
of grass, and every tree was symmetrical and straight. Yet, it is precisely from such a varied array
in nature’s existence that we see its beauty emerge.
Apparently, the way that the rational mind views life and how ideas
or notions of perfection affects it has something to do with whether we have a
Greek or a Hebrew mind. The Greek mind
has very clear definitions of what it means to be perfect. It includes but isn’t limited to ideas of
having no deficiencies and is devoid of flaws and faults. One has in one’s mind the notion of an ideal
to be reached, however unattainable, and it is applicable to all that is true
and beautiful as well. If one extends
this to the moral world, then it would have to include a notion of being
sinless or as free from sin as possible.
But the Hebrew mind, apparently, has a very different understanding
of perfection. It has something to do
with being able to walk with God, despite our having flaws. It includes the notion of being present to
Presence, and to accept to a certain extent, the reality that there is beauty,
goodness and truth in things that are not quite perfect.
This story, which follows, brings to light the apparent
contradiction of the two minds:
The
chief executive of a large company was greatly admired for his energy and
drive. But he suffered from one
embarrassing weakness: each time he
entered the president’s office to make his weekly report, he would wet his
pants!
The
kindly president advised him to see a urologist, at the company’s expense. But when he appeared before the president the
following week, his pants were wet yet again!
“Didn’t you see the urologist as advised?” enquired the president.
“No, he
was out. I saw the psychiatrist instead,
and I’m cured,” said the executive. “I no longer feel embarrassed about it!”
Clearly, the Hebrew mind was given scope and breadth to live in
harmony with something as flawed as such a bad case of incontinence.
At the priests’ annual retreat, which we came out of last week, one
of the things that we were brought to appreciate is that there are stark
differences between the presence of problems and the presence of mystery in
life. The Greek mind deals with problems
with an almost German-like precision.
Problems require solutions, and issues need fixing. The Greek mind does this, and does this with
aplomb and sangfroid. But the spiritual
quest that the rational animal (read us human beings) is invited to cannot be
seen as a problem that needs fixing. We
are not broken people that are in search of mending, and neither are we
imperfect creatures seeking some sort of restoration and rectification. In fact, it is the very fact that we ARE alive that decries our flawed
existence and imperfections. As human
beings, we do not “have” limits; we ARE
limited and this shows that we are alive.
It is when this reality of our shared limitation is denied and viewed with
some repulse that we suffer in our spirituality.
There’s another difference between the minds and their dealings with
what lies before them. If the presence
of problems require solutions that fix them, the presence of mystery cannot be
answered with the same mind. Gabriel
Marcel, the noted French philosopher said that if problems require solutions,
mystery requires not a solution, but rather invites a response. To think that mystery requires a solution is
a problem in itself.
Imperfections, like illness, like psychoses when treated only as
problems can only give us relief to a certain extent. But it is when its presence in life is seen
as mystery and invites not so much a solution but an entering into a response
with our lives and the whole of our being that gives us the ability to live
with these imperfections and flaws on another level. Solutions tend to make the issue go away, but
responding to mystery with our entire lives allows us to live WITH them in harmony despite their
imperfections.
When Jesus asks us to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect,
it is not perfection in the Greek sense.
It is the perfection of having that breadth of love of the Father who
gives his love equally and without bias whatsoever so that his rain ‘falls on
the just and unjust alike’. It is the
ability to walk with God, in the cool of the evening as at the beginnings of
creation, without needing to hide from him at all, bearing, perhaps even with a
tinge of honest pride, our flaws and imperfections.
That would make things perfectly imperfect. An oxymoron?
Go figure.
Dear Fr. Luke,
ReplyDeleteThank you for explaining the following :
When Jesus asks us to be perfect as the heavenly Father is perfect, it is not perfection in the Greek sense. It is the perfection of having that breadth of love of the Father who gives his love equally and without bias whatsoever so that his rain ‘falls on the just and unjust alike’.
How often has this phrase "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" been misunderstood. I often squirm when I hear this phrase and in my mind and heart, I'd be saying, "We can never be perfect as we are imperfect."
Now knowing that this phrase means having the breadth of love that our heavenly Father has, does give me a better insight, that we too have and can give that breadth of love to others (correct me, if I am wrong).
I also heartily agree with you that if everything is perfect, life will be boring.
It is our imperfections, our flaws, our differences, our weaknesses, our failures that truly make us ALIVE.
This makes me recall to mind another phrase "It is when we are weak, that we are strong." When we are weak, we realise how much we need God in our lives, how much we depend on HIM, who is our pillar of strength, our tower of refuge.
So let us celebrate our imperfections, our flaws and our strengths too, because these make us unique sons and daughters of God.
Eileen
‘ The very beauty of nature seems to almost have to include imperfections so that beauty is seen in its splendid array.’ Whilst I do acknowledge the soundness of this, I do beg to differ that symmetry and straight lines do not delight the eye too. When I open my storage cabinet and behold the Tupperware containers neatly stacked according to shape and size, seemingly inviting one to use them, the sight gladdens the heart. It is a thing of beauty too ! This does not bespeak of perfection but rather a sense of order, a departure from chaos and I believe this is actually what one sees in creation too. The splendour of our world is seen in the seemingly random scattering of the constellations and like you said the ‘imperfections’ of nature’s beauty.............yet in all this, one senses a ‘deliberatness’ in the flawed beauty.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it is God’s way to show that there is beauty to be found in ugliness, in the flawed, the imperfect. It is a way to give ‘character’ to a thing or person. I do recall how a lop-sided smile or a toothless grin can be endearing, making a lasting imprint on the mind whilst a ‘faultless’ pretty face leaves one unmoved. So it would seem that it is perfectly alright to be imperfect for it will remind us to be humble and remember that we do have (Robert Frost) “miles to go before we sleep”
God bless you, Fr.
tessa
The quest for perfection is not a bad thing in itself, as long as we understand that it will always remain out of our reach, no matter how clever, talented or determined we are. The problem arises when we look down our noses at others who have fallen short of our own ‘level of perfection’ (as if there were such a thing).
ReplyDeleteThis is especially true in the spiritual realm. No matter how ‘holy’ we pretend to be, we all fall short of what we ought to be, except for a very special few. Even St. Paul wrote about the ‘thorn in the flesh’ (2 Corinthians 12: 7). Although he did not elaborate, we can assume that he struggled with being imperfect and was told in no uncertain terms that, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.”
And so we struggle, daily, not so much against things external but rather against our own failures and weaknesses. The real sin (pride) is NOT to acknowledge our complete dependence on God, and especially - His mercy.