Blessed imperfection

In the last couple of days there have been two politicians exposed for hypocrisy. Why is it that these right wingers have taken it upon themselves to attempt to legislate a morality that they themselves cannot endure. Thomas Merton wrote of the shadow. I believe that within all men and women there is a person we’d prefer not to be. We want others to think the best of us and so we go to great lengths to avoid our most glaring defects of character. Stuffing these shortcomings is dishonest and almost always backfires. Thich Nhat Hanh has said that within all of us are seeds of hatred. Some Christians might call this original sin. There can be no doubt that all of us have faults we’d rather not admit to. Maybe it’s a quick temper, a penchant for gossip,or name your own fault. I don’t know where this notion came from that any man is perfect. I once read a book by Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM in which he stated that a certain Native American tribe deliberately knit an imperfection in each blanket they produced. That imperfection was the mark of the Creator. If you take a minute and look around you at nature you’ll quickly observe that imperfection is the rule. I think the real sin of our existence is our denial of this imperfection. Maybe we ought to acknowledge our imperfection and be willing to acknowledge and accept the imperfection of our fellows. Maybe that honesty would keep us from attempting to legislate morality. Maybe that stab at honesty could help us avoid these demonstrations of embarrassing hypocrisy. Maybe if you really have family values you don’t need to talk about it. Maybe the best example comes from acceptance of ourselves and others exactly as we are. Maybe.