Good Enough

I heard a man say today that we are way more screwed up than we give ourselves credit for.

I think he is absolutely right.

We can never be "good enough". People can act as pious and as rightous as they want - but we all have a dark side- a sinful side- a guilty pleasure - it is the Nature of being Human. There are always parts of who we are or what we have done that we are not proud of. It happens to everyone - probably from the Pope and Billy Graham to the Dahli Lama to the Bible-belt housewife who lives next door. We all fall short - we all have flaws. I have said before that to love someone who does not acknowledge their flaws is a miserable business- and that both of you cannot be in love enough to make things work- speaking this from experience here) Understanding that each of us has weaknesses and that we need love because of our weakness - not in spite of it.

We hide in shadows - afraid that if someone sees who we really are - dark parts and all - that they won't like us - all the while the other person is in exactly the same position.

Until one of us decides to leap - to take the risk- to ignore the heart pounding furiously inside the chest and be vulnerable.

It is in that moment that we are the best version of ourselves. We dare to believe in possibilities- we open our heart to another person - we put our faith in the promise that God wants to show us He loves us -we are alight.

When we put ourselves in another person's place - when we strive to understand how another person thinks or feels - we are putting ourself second. We are becoming Christlike.

When Jesus was on the cross, He became the perfect example of what love should look like. Our culture talks a lot about give and take but it is just talk. Real love lived out looks like 1 Corinthians: patience, kindness, gentleness, forgiveness. Not much take in those words. No reference to whether the other person is also trying to do those things. No discussion about growing old or drinking Jello through a straw together when you can't find your dentures - not a word about wrinkles or sags. Just guiding principles that when followed lend themselves to a love and a life well lived out. And when we look to that example of Jesus on the Cross- there was no "take" about it - but there was a whole lot of give.

I am in the middle of a season of giving - it seems that all my time and energy and money are going to others these days - but during just a few moments today, I got to give the gift of healing and quite by accident, I received a peace and joy that just overflows my heart.