Chapter Four: Removing the Flesh
Nearly Perfect in Every Way
I have had my share of blunders and mistakes, some minor and some not so much. I have pushed the envelope to numerous to count, often defying the reality of others. Not always correct, never really knowing what is real.
I used to think I knew everything. With divine intervention, I have come to a place of not knowing. The human mind has a very difficult time in this place of not knowing, but assuredly the heart knows the truth. Often truth has no reality…it just is. Changing rapidly with the seasons of change, the heart guides us into safety. Imperfectly perfect we see, imperfectly perfect the world shall be.
Transcending the reality of mirrors, space, and time…we enter a place of understanding. Understanding that nobody or no thing is perfect unless we see it as imperfectly perfect as it is to be. We are all imperfect, and we are all perfect at the same time. We are a part of a greater whole…unseparated and divine as the spark beside us.
So, is it possible to be imperfect? Are we perfect in our own way? Absolutely! The only time we are not perfect is our own perception. Even if another perceives us as flawed or having made a mistake, it does not mean we are imperfect. Not at all…it merely means we made a mistake. How we handle the mistake is the defining moment of our perfection. In correcting our mistakes or transcending the perception of a mistake, we now enter a world of perfection. The human mind needs to recognize something as perfect or imperfect as it is…never allowing something to be as it is imperfectly perfect.
Just as we transcend the mirror of our reality, we come to a place of transcendence for all reality. Letting go of absolutes and accepting infinite possibilities.
Just as Mary Poppins declared “nearly perfect in every way,” so too are we…we need only see perfection all around.
Where is God’s Perfection?
In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional schools.
At a Chush fund-raising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.
After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, “Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God’s perfection?”
The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father’s anguish, stilled by the piercing query.
“ I believe,” the father answered, “that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that he seeks is in the way people react to this child.”
He then told the following Story about his son Shaya:
One afternoon Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball.
Shaya asked, “Do you think they will let me play?”
Shaya’s father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya’s father understood that it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging if his son were chosen to play.
Shaya’s father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, “We are losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team, and we’ll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning.”
Shaya’s father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shaya’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. Shaya’s team scored again at the bottom of the ninth inning, and now with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base, Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game? Surpassingly, Shaya was given the bat.
Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it. However, as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly, so Shaya should at least be able to make contact.
The first pitch came in, and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya’s teammates came up to Shaya, and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya. As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung at the bat, and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out, and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond the reach of the first baseman.
Everyone started yelling,” Shaya, run to first. Run to first.” Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman, who would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher’s intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman’s head. Everyone yelled, “Run to second, run to second.” Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shaya reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, “Run to third.” As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him, screaming, “Shaya run home.”
Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate, and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a “grand slam” and won the game for his team.
“That day,” said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, “those 18 boys reached their level of God’s perfection.” ~ Story told by Wayne Dyer
Whether in the Story of Shaya or a scenario of self-worth…it is merely our perception of any given situation. Those 18 boys hit a level of perfection that most have forgotten. Transcending the normal feelings of who will win and seeing an opportunity to undo what humanity has done. In our personal stories…are we seeing beyond our flaws? Accepting our mistakes as opportunities? Whatever the case, we need only see beyond the canvas of self and witness the canvas of life as it was meant to be…imperfectly perfect.
Transcending the idea of being perfect or imperfect, we see it as it is…nearly perfect in every way. Like that of a child, we see with fresh new eyes. Unadulterated eyes of truth…seeing things as raw and awe-inspiring as it was meant to be. In any given situation, we see an opportunity versus finite. We see vast openness versus boundaries or borders. We transcend the illusion of self, seeing the truth of I Am. We are limitless, and our reality is too…we are a work in progress.
We are entrained to believe that we are separate from source and/or separate from others within our flesh and thoughts. We are connected in more ways than imaginable.
Spiritual Exercise: Removing the Flesh
1. Eliminate negative words
Our days are filled with enough negativity, and we are consumed by its words of the day. Within our reach, we can grasp the possibility to see the good in any one given situation. It begins with a thought, a word, or an action. Instead of reacting from fear, we react with Love. Start small and practice daily. With each new day, our practice gets easier and easier, tasks grandeur and grandeur.
2. Being Mindful
What does it mean to be mindful? Mindful is merely awareness and choosing to act under one’s wishes. “I am here now, and no matter what the day brings, I will be present, allowing my highest good to shine love in arenas filled with fear and anger.”
The world has its share of events to bring fear and anger towards the inhabitants. However, accepting non-attachment to expected outcomes and adhering to mindfulness…happiness shall prevail.
3. Daily Mitzvah
One good deed can brighten another’s day. It is a win-win in performing a daily mitzvah. The recipient is given the gift of kindness, with the potential to change the course of their hectic day. What may be filled with fear is changed to hope and opportunity.
As the recipient receives a gift, the sender receives an equally good feeling from doing a good deed.
Word of caution: some actual people are ridden with fear and paranoia, who do not know how to receive a good deed without getting angry. Either pride or another form of fear gets in their way. In these instances, we need to look back on option 2 of this chapter’s spiritual exercise: being mindful, exercising non-attachment.
Do a good deed or don’t do a good deed, but do it with a non-attached approach with no strings attached.
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