IMPERFECT IS PERFECTLY OK!!
This Easter I’d like to address two issues that may seem vastly different but at a deeper level are closely related….
There were once two frogs who lived beside a lagoon in the countryside.
They were Mabel and Abel.
Mabel was partially blind, making it hard for her to see.
She also had poor hearing, making it hard for her to hear.
Tragically, she had also lost part of one of her legs, making it hard for her to jump. So life in many ways was hard for her……
One day Mabel told Abel she wanted to swim to the other side of the lagoon to check out life over there…..
Abel freaked out; and implored Mabel not to do it.
Although he’d never had the courage to swim to the other side, having been told of its many dangers (by his many frog friends) he felt it his duty to warn her that he believed there was a huge lizard living in the water that could attack her; and there were huge snakes on the other side that could eat her plus the land on the other side was dry and ugly and barren…….
Mabel simply smiled and nodded agreement each time Abel gave her bad news…..
But she couldn’t hear him properly…..so when she was ready she jumped into the water and swam to the other side.
No huge lizard attacked her during her long and determined swim.
And when she reached the opposite bank she found a delightful land of milk and honey, free of any snakes or troubles!!
Abel, on the other hand was sadly stuck on the other side, afraid by what he had heard with his perfect hearing………
This weekend is Easter.
The Bible tells the story of the death of Jesus and the two “bad (imperfect) people” who were killed alongside him.
One of them challenged Jesus to save himself and them; the other simply acknowledged his own lacks, imperfections and wrong-doings and asked Jesus to ‘remember’ him (in other words, ‘accept him, just as he was).
Jesus told the man: “Today you will be with me in paradise”.
No mention of hell.
No mention of purgatory.
No mention of retribution.
For Jesus, being imperfect was no bar to a bright future.
You just needed to acknowledge your imperfections.
After Jesus died, some 500 people at various times and places saw him and spoke with him, walked with him, ‘broke bread’ and ate with him and shared with him in a multitude of circumstances.
For Jesus, being “in spirit” was no bar to life, either!
Do you and I need to be perfect? Or ‘holy’? Or even ‘right’?
Not at all.
Not in any way.
Being ‘imperfect’ and ‘screwing things up’ is perfectly ok.
We just need to be honest and come from our heart.
And that goes for every Tom, Dick and Harry, Abel and Mabel……
And also you and me.
So this Easter, enjoy your imperfections – and remember to come from your heart.
That’s ultimately all you and I have to do.
Blessings and hugs,
Happy Easter!
Les