Is Perfection All It's Cracked Up To Be?
The other day, I used the phrase "in a perfect world" and went on to describe what I thought would be the ultimate outcome concerning the subject of discussion.
This morning I thought about perfection and how it might get in the way of our enjoyment of life. Take golf, even the pros aren't perfect. They make mistakes and we watch avidly to see if they can recover from their errors. Those of us that play golf or another sport make even more mistakes. Would the game be fun if the perfect outcome was always achieved? We'd be quickly bored and quit playing.
I had a drafting teacher in high school. I was always ranked first or second in the class. But, each drawing came back marked "A-." Early on, the drawings had red corrections; but, overtime, there wasn't a mark on the paper except for the grade. I asked him one time what was wrong with the drawing that resulted in the A-. "Do you want me to find something?" I got the point. I kept trying. Never did get rid of the minus though.
When I was a kid I went to a Lutheran grade school and high school. We learned about free will and predestination, as Lutherans, the former being good and the latter, less so. I still buy into that opinion. I don't want to know the outcome. It seems much more interesting to have a stake in getting to the result you want.
I'm not sure I should be equating perfection with predestined outcome; but, they seem related. First, perfection should not be in the cards. Second, outcome should be, at least in part, the result of ability and effort. Why play if there's no chance of winning, or conversely, if you always win?
These two opinions lead to a problem getting my head around the concept of heaven, nirvana, utopia and so on. Won't it be boring? What's the point? If going or not going is already determined, what are we doing here?
God must not play golf.
10 comments:
I had a different blog for two years and in January began This Woman's Journey for something new. People online seem to think my life is perfect which is funny because I fight legal battles constantly with the VA, I've lost loved ones and I do not agree with the present running of our government.
But my life is perfect because it is perfect for me. Today is my older son's birthday. He has battled cancer, a TBI and PTSD. He is one of the three greatest gifts I ever received. And while it's his birthday, I'm the one who got the greatest gift of all.
Life is perfect for us if we are happy with those He has put in our lives. That's my perspective, anyway. :)
Have a great day. And I'm still looking for that freaking cell phone.
Perfection is overrated. I always find the most beautiful people physically have something interesting, like a crooked tooth or something unusual, to make them unique. I think it's the same with anything, that nothing is perfect, but the joy is in what we do with it, what we make of it, or how we learn from it. I always say "there is perfection in imperfection" if that makes any sense? ha
JLee,
Physical perfection, well that's several posts. I don't know that there's such a thing for all of our heads, that's what creates the ideal. For me: Alive eyes. There's of course more; but, eyes that engage and bore are, to my mind, an indicator of what's inside. Nice wrapping paper is a bonus.
Monica,
I'm sending out the word to the web, find the phone. If that doesn't work, if everyone that reads everyone that I read sent a quarter to PayPal, we can get Monica an IPhone, is that how it's spelled?
Hmmmm...interesting post Dave. I definitely agree with the part about perfection, especially when you used the example of golf. It would be boring if one became "perfect" at it. Personally, I find it boring anyhow. but that's probably because the few times that I have played, I spent more time looking for my ball than I did hitting it. In other words, I suck at golf.
I agree with the free will thing too. We all have that. It's the predestiny thing that I do not agree with.
As far as going or not going to heaven...I believe that we have a choice in that. I believe that I am here to bring God's Kingdom to others. To serve them as Christ did. That's my belief and I'm sticking to it!
But I am not close minded and am very open to dialogue and discussion.
Be well and I really liked this post!
God must not play golf.
Goes without saying, I think. Waste of good parkland.
God gets his/her/its kicks from watching us play golf. What a hoot!
You're right. It's not the perfection that's so great. It's the striving for it, against all odds, that makes a little part of our life so wonderful and satisfying.
Dave, I find it interesting that your true "perfect world" scenario would be one filled with imperfections, with just a few glimpses of the ideal to keep us trucking away.
Also, it sort of reminded me a bit of one small part of the pseudophilosophy of the movie The Matrix. I assume that most have seen it, but for those who haven't, allow me to persummarize somewhat poorly -- the matrix is a collective illusion foisted on humanity by malicious self-centered machines. It looks just like life in Sydney Australia in 1999. An earlier version of the matrix was a utopia, but it was an abject failure since human beings truly could not tolerate a perfect world.
I should probably mention that The Matrix is not one of my favorite movies, and that I find it more laughable than profound, but at least with this one concept it seems to jive with your view on "perfection."
Things that are perfect make me nervous. And uncomfortable. If it's new, I invariably break it/get it dirty. If it's perfect I have this subconscious need to make it less so. That said, the only truly perfect things I've encountered are in nature. The gnarled roots of a tree. A feather in the yard. The sky before it rains. Perfect is what God looks like.
Dave, remember what Mark Twain said about golf...it's "flog" spelled backwards, and the ruin of a perfectly good walk...can you tell I don't golf?
;p
Judi
p.s. - two of my brothers are avid golfers, though.
Maybe God's definition of perfect isn't the same as ours?
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