A 16th Sunday After Pentecost Thought About Perfection

Perfection can be a two-edged sword. 

The first cut from this sword can be a simple but sincere attempt to do our best. We hold some notion of perfection as our standard or objective. 

In our domestic world, it could be replacing a faucet in the kitchen. If you've ever tried this, you know the connections can't be sloppy. We take our time and do our best. We turn on the water and there's a drip. We go back and fix it until it's perfect: no drips.

At work, I might prepare some recommendations for a client. I've got an idea of what I need to communicate, and it needs to be presented simply, clearly. Whether presented verbally or in writing, I hone my thoughts until they're just right. Close enough to perfection to do the trick.

In our spiritual life, we notice how distracted we get when praying the rosary. So we work on this such that we cut down distraction. It's likely we won't ever pray without any distraction. So we're maybe not really that close to perfection. But that's pretty much the best we can do.

Those are all ways that we try to be perfect. If we're really on our spiritual game, in all these efforts we included God. "I'll do my best and leave the results to You, Lord.: Sometimes things actually do turn out perfectly, sometimes close, sometimes a good distance from perfection. But we've put in our sincere best effort.

There's merit, both practical and spiritual, in all that.

Then there's the second cut from our two-edged sword of perfection. It's quite different, and it can cause us a lot of trouble. It's when our idea of perfection focuses on our producing something perfect. God's not in the picture here at all. Old Man Ego drives the effort. And that's not good. 

Perhaps we can contrast this ego-driven perfection with a resolution from our dear Father Willie Doyle's diary. He has multiple entries that talk about doing things with fervor and exactness. "Exactness" focuses on our not producing anything remotely slap-dash, whether due to our rushing our work, or plain old laziness in not putting our all into the task at hand. If we've put our all (fervor) into our work, and avoid all laziness or sloppiness, we're back to doing our best.

(By the way, Father applied his fervor and exactness to what the Rule of St. Benedict refers to as ora et labora - prayer and practical work. Indeed to everything. We can do the same.)

None of this means that if we're highly skilled and are capable of producing something literally perfect, we should not go ahead and do so. For example, I knew a cabinet-maker who had skill and patience in his work, along with the desire to produce something perfect. Our family has some pieces he made. And they are indeed perfect. None of the other furniture we have, no matter the cost, comes close. We're fortunate to have these pieces.

If you can produce something that perfect, great. If in doing so, your overriding desire is to produce perfection for the greater glory of God, even greater. However, if it simply puffs you up and feeds our pride, well, you know who's the king of Pride, right?

Here's a selection from the writing of Abbot Chapman, one of our "go-to" spiritual directors. He'll help us see the real meaning of perfection, at least as it applies to our spiritual life. As I read it, I see how it applies not just to our spiritual life. It can help us in all our endeavors, at work, at home - all the time.

If you've ever tried to really apply yourself seriously to spiritual works like prayer, meditation, trying to stay recollected at Mass, making a good Confession, receiving Communion with deep reverence, you've likely fought against distraction and been confronted with what spiritual directors describe as "dryness." It happens, and can last a very long time. Some say it's a sign we're making progress. Others note that it can be a symptom of a lack of devotion. I like what Abbot Chapman has to say here. We don't need to get caught up in trying to dissect or analyze our spiritual state. Read this and you'll see why.

“We must not think that distraction, dryness, desolation, is merely a state of trial which we pass through on our way to perfection. Perfection in this world is not a calm union with God, unless God so wishes. Our Lord suffered temptation and desolation to show us that they are not incompatible with perfection, but are perfection. Progress will mean becoming more and more indifferent as to what state we are in. We ought to care less and less about our own souls, except about that higher part in which we ought to live united to God. We must not worry about perfection; simply be what God enables us to be at this moment. When we realize that God is not only in every external event, but in every internal event – I mean in every involuntary feeling we have – we realize that, at every moment of our life, we are in touch with God, and His hand is on us. We have only to be carried in His arms. Our one care must be not to jump out of them and try to walk alone.”

The operative sentence that can help us negotiate our way with perfection in the forms we've outlined is this: We must not worry about perfection; simply be what God enables us to be at this moment.

It diverts our attention from ourselves to God - always a good thing, and especially so on a Sunday!

Happy Sunday!