• +1-805-242-3180
  • info@cccsl.org

Perfectly Imperfect

Perfectly Imperfect

Sharing is caring!

Perfectly Imperfect
by Rev. Elizabeth Rowley,
Spiritual Director
May 17, 2019

Ernest Holmes, American New Thought writer, teacher, leader and the founder of our Spiritual movement known as Religious Science wrote, “The whole purpose of the Science of Mind is to reconcile the apparent separation of the spiritual world, which must be Perfect, with the material world, which appears imperfect.” [Science of Mind, page 448.1]

I spent some time in India ten years ago with thirteen traveling companions and a tour guide who, thankfully, handled all of the travel arrangements.  As soon as you step out of the airplane, India greets you with her intensity and depth.  As a third world country, you see things you’ve never seen before or even imagined to be possible.  Love and compassion wash over and through you as you take it all in.

One of the locals in Rajasthan shared with me that American people have said to him that it was hard for them to be in India because it was difficult to bear witness to so much poverty.  He responded that they did not live in poverty according to their values.  They might have eight people living together in a small room and love the close, intimate time they get to spend together.  He said that they believe Americans live in poverty because we have 2,500 square feet homes with two to three people living there.  That seemed very sad and lonely to them, like poverty.

Being human can be messy at times and appear imperfect.  We are each perfectly imperfect, and we would all do well to be proud of our unique individual imperfections.  Thinking you are alone in your suffering creates separation from others and God.  If you are dealing with something troubling in your life right now, I invite you to remember that you are not alone.  Additionally, as you are made in the image and likeness of God, you are the living presence of love endowed with the wholeness of spiritual perfection within you.  Beyond any appearance is the spiritual prototype of your good, your highest and best self, waiting to be noticed.  Say yes to this good.

Amid your suffering, if you could imagine your spiritual perfection and know that there is that within you which has never been hurt, harmed, deceived, betrayed or ill, and focus on that, your suffering would decrease.

In difficult times we tend to focus on the difficulty which perpetuates it and the suffering around it.  Instead of focusing on the source of the pain, the group of thoughts you’re having that perpetuate it and make it worse, imagine what you would love to experience instead.  Keep focusing on that, and bring it into your prayer and meditation, create a vision board or journal about it and talk about it with your friends.  Share it as a possibility that you’re living into in the here and now.  Your spiritual magnificence awaits.

Know that the Universe is always conspiring for your highest and best good.

And so it is.

Rev. Elizabeth Rowley

Leave a Reply