Article July 23, 1990 Issue

Perfect ten or perfect one?

Self-improvement and realizing spiritual perfection are not necessarily the same thing.

Annabel Keely

Who's perfect? We often give high points to the person who always seems to do and say the right thing at the right time, someone who "has it all together." The great number of self-improvement books published each year suggest how eagerly people pursue such personal excellence.

Can perfection be gained through these efforts? In our daily lives, perfection often seems elusive. Instead of finding fulfillment and satisfaction with our performance, we can feel frustration, competition, and maybe even doubt.

When this occurs, the problem may be that we are attempting to perfect human experience, which, to the degree that it is rooted in materiality, is imperfect by its very nature. Perfection is actually a spiritual quality. And at its best, the human longing for perfection is the deep desire to see ourselves as the spiritual, wholly good children of God.

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