We often hear the phrase, "nobody's perfect." You have probably heard someone say that within the past few days. It is usually used as an excuse for doing something stupid; wrong or immoral. It is true that no one is pefect from the standpoint of being a perfect human being. There has only been one of those and we use his conduct as a standard of perfection.
However, that is not to say that we should not strive for perfection, both as a human being, and in doing things that can be perfectly performed. Perfection is an ideal that can be attained. We are admonished: "Be ye therefore perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect."
We should not get discouraged. We may not attain personal perfection in this life but we can become more perfect in many ways as we learn from experience and learn self control. Meantime we can enjoy life more as we realize that many things can be perfectly performed and give us great satisfaction.
As an example, I was asked to write a Legal Memorandum by the Grand County Attorney on whether or not it is permissible for Council members to edit the minutes of their meetings before they are approved by the Council. Over time, some had the idea that they could edit the minutes if they did not like the way things sounded after being transcribed. The County Clerk who is charged with recording and transcribing the minutes was frustrated by some of the changes that were being made. My memorandum pointed out legal authority making it a misdemeanor for anyone to alter public records among other things. I sent off the memo and shortly received emails from the Clerk and the County Attorney saying: "The Memorandum is Perfect. Just what we needed." This helped make my day.
Perfection is attainable in many of our daily activites. Puzzles can be solved perfectly. Simple tasks can be performed perfectly. Doing any job right gives one satisfaction and a feeling of self-worth. But we should not be discouraged if we do not attain perfection in everything we do - it is enough to do our best and hope for perfection in the future.
5 comments:
It is funny that you posted this the same day I posted a blog about how "imperfect" I was that day and how I failed that day- So it is so nice to see your wisdom and put things into perspective! sharla
Thanks Dad, your opinion is encouraging. It also made me think to look up the scripture you quoted because I remembered reading a change to it from the Joseph Smith translation. Matt.5:50 "Ye are therefore commanded to be perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." I thought that was interesting. When I learned that we actually can share in Christ's perfection it changed my whole outlook on the quest for it.
Bel
We are definitely forgetting that we should be constantly striving toward perfection, which is God's plan for us, enabled by Christ. It's all part of the "dumbing down" age we live in. When we give up the old standards of health, goodness, truth,etc. we don't have to strive anymore. Scary.
As an editor, I know that striving for perfection is a worthwhile and important goal. But as an editor, I also had to learn that sometimes, just making it better is good enough. It's hard when I find flaws in what I edit, or what I do in life, but I always try to remember that making perfect the goal always makes the product better.
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