In the ideal world, everything goes off without a hitch. But in the real world there’s usually a glitch. To some extent Hollywood and TV exaggerate that notion for us. We watch movies and TV shows where everything goes off like clockwork and there are no failures, except where that advances the plot. But the perfect scene on TV or in the movies may have required dozens of “takes” to get it right. Even then, splicing of scenes may be required to make the whole thing seamless.
But in the real world things are not always perfect. People show up late or don’t have the expected reaction. Things go awry. Technologies fail, computers freeze, accidents happen. Every now and then things seem to go perfectly only to discover that not everyone liked what went perfectly! We once had what I thought was a perfect parish event, only to find out that some thought it was too long, others thought it was too short. And yes, a few liked it just fine.
Alas, the human condition. I read a book some years ago called, “Spirituality of Imperfection.” In effect the book argues that God has placed the perfect in our heart to make us strive for and desire heaven. But he allows us to experience imperfection to teach us humility, without which we will never attain to heaven. Imperfection is something to be accepted with humility. If we do this we are learning wisdom. It is the human condition to strive for that which is best and perfect and never give up on that quest. But the human condition is also to be able to accept with humility that which is ordinary, and imperfect; that which is our very selves and a seldom perfect world. Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for heaven!
Here is a very funny video. On the TV series Star Trek the computers usually work without flaw, unless some alien has messed them up! But what if Star Treks computers were Windows based? Enjoy this video as perfect Hollywood gives way to imperfect, though still adequate Windows. By the way there is a whole video series devoted to the imperfect. Just go to you Youtube or any video service and search “Fail” and lots of videos will pop up! Careful some of them are vulgar, but most of them are very funny.
The Spirituality of Imperfection was recommended to me as part of my 12-step reading, though I’m not sure if it’s approved AA literature or not. I was rather hard on myself and confused about the purpose of suffering and pain in our lives. I was also embarrassed by some of my past behavior, but I learned that if I was a truly humble, I could not be be humiliated. Oddly enough, I now look at some of my biggest imperfections as my greatest blessings; they have, indeed, given me (often) repeated opportunities to learn the most.
The other part about acknowledging my imperfections helps me to assess my successes. When I acknowledge the good in myself to myself and to others through example and self confidence, I find that I make the commitment to continue being good and remain open to the fact that I will make mistakes. I assess my mistakes to remain humble and acknowledge my achievements to stay open to growth.
Humility is among my favorite topics at current meetings. Striving to be humble has taught me so much about myself.
Oh, “fail” pics are always good for a laugh, and a reminder that God can mess with even the best-laid plans. (And that video is funny… and not far from reality. 10 years ago the Navy was using Windows NT to run ship systems. The results were predictable.) If you want more good “fail” pics, there’s always FAILblog.org (the link is to the ones tagged G-rated.)
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