IMAGE OF THE WEEK
We are grateful to Rupali Bhuva for offering this hand-made painting for this reading.
Your less evolved areas have a right to be.
They whisper of things past.
They whisper of confusion, of unfulfillment
and of the pain of the soul separated from its God
and the longing for that Oneness again.
Realize that on this earth
there can be only relative perfection.
Realize too that you do not need to be perfect
to be loved. Love each other in your imperfections,
tenderly and completely. Be gentle with yourselves.
The demand for perfection on the physical plane
can be your worst enemy.
To insist on perfection precludes growth.
To accept imperfection as part of your humanness
is to grow.
If you can love the part of you that you think
is imperfect
then the act of transformation can begin.
When you judge it and throw it out of your heart
it becomes a hardened shell that blocks the Light.
If you deny, what is your nature?
you become deeply attached to that denial.
When you accept what is there, in its truth,
then you are released.
One does not release through rejection.
One releases through love.
To strive for Light is a beautiful calling
but you cannot find the Light
until you acknowledge the darkness.
Souls who strive in perfect yearning
are as close to perfection
as anyone in human form can be.
Who you are is a necessary step
to being who you will be, and so it goes
through eternity .
Be comfortable but not complacent
with your imperfections.
Who demands perfection?
Only you souls who are locked in human form
believe somehow that perfection is the requirement.
It is not. The requirement is sincerity,
an open heart.
That is the perfection that is demanded -
the perfect longing.
The perfection of the universe
is an encompassing reality
around the imperfection
of your human world.
From "Emmanuel's Book," Introduction by Ram Dass, Compiled by Pat Rodegast and Judith Stanton
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion that insistence on perfection precludes growth? Can you share a personal story of a time you felt a release after accepting what was truly there? What helps you be comfortable but not complacent with your imperfections?