Wholeness Does Not Mean Perfection
I guess I am not a whole person. You see, I’ve had some body alterations. Toes amputated on my left foot, three heart bypasses in one surgery, a broken left arm and other scrapes, dents, flaws, and weaknesses.
So, I guess I’m not perfect either. Hmmm. This idea strikes me tonight as I write.
Parker Palmer said this: “Wholeness does not mean perfection. It means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life.”
Whew! That kind of takes the pressure off, doesn’t it?
Wouldn’t it be grand if we were perfect? Life would be a breeze if everything we did, or sought, or thought, or talked about was perfect.
So, what do we do?
Looks to me like we embrace our broken places. We accept our flaws, our impurities, or proclivities, our weaknesses, our less-than-righteous tendencies. We accept the cracks that occur in our lives, our goals, and dreams, and do life anyway. Sometimes that means getting over ourselves,
Oh, I want to be perfect. People like me when I am perfect. When I balance to a zero difference in banking, I’m perfect. And you should see me on the days when I’m off balance. Ouch. That is not a pretty sight.
When I write a really great blog, or produce a great podcast, that’s amazing. I’m approaching near perfection. And when I don’t, I write and do podcasts anyway.
We keep going. We keep trying. We keep doing life.
In Brennan Manning’s book, Ruthless Trust, he tells a story about a cracked pot. Here is my re-telling.
Once upon a time there was a water bearer who had two large pots. Each hung on opposite ends of a pole that he carried across his neck.
One of the pots was perfect. The other had a crack in it.
The perfect pot always delivered a full measure of water to their master’s table, while the cracked pot leaked and arrived with only half a measure. Needless to say, the cracked pot was discouraged. He was ashamed of his performance because of his cracks. He didn’t feel useful.
One day, the cracked pot spoke to the water-bearer. “I am ashamed of myself. I only deliver a portion of what you expect of me each trip to the well. You see, I have cracks and I lose most of my measure of water all the way back home.”
The water-bearer smiled and replied, “My poor cracked pot. As we walk home today, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”
And sure enough, there were dozens and hundreds of beautiful and colorful flowers on his side, all along the path home.
The water-bearer pointed out, “Did you notice that there were flowers only along your side of the path and not on the side of the perfect pot? I know about your flaws. Every day for two years, as we have walked this path, you have been watering the seeds on your side and they have grown into beautiful flowers. Without you being just the way you are we would be looking at brown dirt, not graceful beauty.
Maybe, my dear cracked pot, you need to embrace your imperfections. You are whole, nevertheless, despite your imperfections.”
You see ... the cracked pot was useful after all. Sure, he leaked, sure he was considered less than, because he delivered less than the other pot. However, he had his purposes to fulfill, and he learned to do just that.
Wow! This gives a whole new sense of wholeness and perfection to our lives, doesn’t it?
If you need a spiritual application to this analogy, here it is.
God takes our imperfect cracks and weaknesses and teaches us a new sense of purpose, a new way to be whole and complete. We are useful, even in the middle of our imperfections.
Will we allow that to happen? I am. And I hope you are too.
Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration
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