It’s early January, still New Year’s. During the last weeks of the old year and the first weeks of the new year there is always media postings and sharing of new habits, new resolutions, new dreams, new goals. Usually these are worthy aspirations to be healthy, learn something new, to slow down, etc. But sometimes, we have unrealistic, and at times, even unhealthy expectations. Plus, many if not most, of these new plans don’t make it past January. So, while challenging ourselves is a fine endeavor, maybe a couple of reminders would be good too. I submitted a similar version of what follows for a class assignment. Sections of the text have been rewritten for a more general audience.
First, as humans, our starting point is our goodness, as declared in Genesis 1. In the beginning, God declares God’s creation to be good, not perfect, good. That includes us humans. We have been made in the image and likeness of God and that has been declared good by God. Good, not perfect. Whatever our new goals and plans are in this new year, undertakings of any kind are likely to have difficult and messy times as well as being enlivening and rewarding. There will be wonderful moments or days, and there will be times that leave us questioning why we decided on this resolution or that lifestyle change. I hope that whatever you have decided to focus on, if you have selected a goal, that it will be good. Good, not perfect. Perfection is not attainable by us in this life, we are a work in progress as they say. So too will the resolution or goal we engage with be works in progress.
That means that we will make mistakes, we will fail to do things, or we will do things that start out great and then fall apart. We may get frustrated and discouraged. Resolutions aimed at healthier eating and weights may have us comparing our progress to that of friends or celebrities. Unfortunately, comparing seems to be the nature of human beings. What we look like, what we succeed at, does not define us at our core. Neither do our failings. Good, not perfect. Instead when we encounter moments of failure, we will get up, shake off the dust, and try again. We are good, not perfect. If there is a silver lining to the pandemic, it might be that many of us took stock of our routines and re-evaluated what was important. Maybe the pandemic has already resulted in a new mindset that you do not need to do more. Or maybe since life seems to have returned to a “new normal” and there is a sense that it’s time to get things going again.
But here’s the thing as we look at our goals and dreams for this coming year, our striving for perfection and ideals whether that is the perfect body weight, the uber organized schedule, or being the perfect parent, those things are not what will make us whole. Granted, achieving a healthy body weight can have long-term health benefits and being more organized can help eliminate stress, like knowing where our keys are when we’re already late leaving. But this wholeness humans seem to be forever chasing, that is the biblical understanding of salvation and it is God’s doing, not ours. While many of us have choices, decisions, and various opportunities to live lives that allow us to balance our practices of work, responsibilities, and play, we are not expected, nor were we created, to be “Super “.
Having taken 2 biblical studies courses and an ancient Greek course this summer, we spent a bit of time looking at words and looking at how a word’s translation can change the meaning of the text. One of the texts that came up in the theology class was from Matthew 5:48 which tells us to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” This harkens back to verses in Leviticus that tells us to be holy. I have often wondered how that verse is heard in this age of “perfect” images that abound in our culture. But really, this perfection evolves over a journey of learning, mistakes, growth, and of becoming over time, over a lifetime, and not from following the perfect diet or having that designer outfit.
We are not expected to be perfect. We are not called to be “super” people, nor to “fix” others’ problems. We are not asked to look like the photoshopped images we see in the media or to live the lives we think are “better” on the other side of the fence. When we, or others, say that we are not doing enough or doing things right, remember to see the good that is in the little things or hidden from view. Remember and have faith that all of creation (us included) is good, not perfect, but good. Sure, have some goals for the coming year, work towards achieving them, support others in what they want to achieve, but we also need to cut ourselves and others some slack when the discipline fails, when things get messy, and figure out how to keep going. Or, and there’s always this option, maybe that resolution is not what is needed in the moment.
As Nadia Bolz-Weber is known to say,” There’s grace for that.” There’s grace for our errors, our failings, for all the things done and all the things left undone. There’s grace for our being human selves, for our not being perfect. Sometimes, saying enough is good. In the beginning, it was good. Good, not perfect. You are good.
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