The Light

simplicity // 25
the Light

I have tried hard to give up perfectionism for Lent, but I feel like I could have tried harder. It’s a vicious circle, that one.

So it’s liberating to remember a line from an old Leonard Cohen song (‘Anthem’). It may give you heart, too, if you are struggling to make it through Lent as effectively as you might have hoped.

“Ring the bells that still can ring,” sings Cohen. “Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in...”

Perhaps it’s our unique imperfections, as much as anything else, that help to make us what and who we are, in the end.

And if we don’t want to take Cohen’s word for it, there’s always St Paul, who believed that God said this to him, in a time of struggle: “My grace is sufficient for you. For my power is made perfect in weakness.” Which is surely the point of Lent. It weakens us, in so many beautiful ways.

Thank God, then; you are not perfect. Let there be light.


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action point:

Find a landscape that is imperfect. A slightly unkempt garden. A bit of wasteland. An overgrown patch of earth. And seek beauty within the imperfection of it all. Notice what you notice there. What does it say to you?

Alternatively, finish a task earlier than you might normally dare. Complete the talk, the homework, the project, the essay, the chores - whatever it is you spend too much time trying to perfect, for whatever reason – a bit earlier than usual, and do not return to it. Notice how you feel. Spend the time you have redeemed by doing something playful or spontaneous or kind (delete as applicable).

Or, find a crack in a wall and watch the light stream through it.


* * *

rsvp:

“Re: ‘the Silence’. I went to see a great band last week, the loudest guitars imaginable. Yet somehow I felt God’s presence envelop every space in the room, and felt something like silence but more like a peace and understanding than anything physical, and mixed with a great joy for the music .” George

“It so happened that on Monday I was on retreat for half a day, when silence was your theme. Needless to say the space was filled with a delightful sleep in the convent chapel. In the evening I bumped in to some neighbours who said, ‘Blimey Daphne – you look great. Have you been on holiday?’ ‘No,’ says I, ‘I don’t wear make up, they’re all my own teeth but I have been on retreat today. You know, chilling out with God.’ And today I woke up to Fire, Rope and Bread – I’m definitely on FIRE!” Daphne (51 but feeling 31)

“About 20 years ago I was given the words ‘you are a pearl of great price'. Pearls are formed over years as a result of a foreign body getting into the shell -when I think of this now I can see how it fits the journey I am travelling with God towards healing and wholeness.” Kirsty

“On a lighter note (I had to giggle to myself), with this idea of describing ourselves metaphorically - I could be the ‘filing cabinet’ of our church. Members are always saying I am a very organised person, so they all throw things and ideas at me and I sort them all out and come up with a plan. The ideas are ‘filed’ inside my mind and very soul, ready to be sorted and after great thought and many hours of work are handed back in an ‘organised’ format, to do with as they will (hopefully I have heard the still small voice and it is God’s will too)! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if life itself was so straight forward as this..?” Sue

“You are correct, Barbara – you are not the only one struggling. You are also correct that God understands our frustrations – and he meets us where we are at. I didn’t ‘do silence’, and I didn’t ‘do barefoot’, nor many other of the daily actions. I can do today’s however; I didn’t relate to Mary Oliver but I did to Douglas Coupland – my gift (I think) is to “shock people into new ways of thinking”. Hopefully there is some “captivating” in there too but I am probably better at the “shock” bit.” Tim


* * *

May you delight in the imperfections, today.
Go well!

Brian