Perfection

PERFECTION - is there a word more fraught with expectation and crushed hopes in the English language? As defined by more than one dictionary on the interweb, 'perfection' means the quality or state of being perfect. If that's not enough to cause you some concern, see also flawlessness.

Achieving perfection is placing that bar pretty high, but the challenge to be perfect was laid before us by Christ in Matthew 5:48: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. So we strive and struggle to be perfect. It doesn't help that our Western, OK American, society has jacked up the image of perfection with unattainable, and unhealthy, idols of physical perfection or wildly insane pressure about how a home should look or a family be fed (ahem, Pinterest). So the message that Christ intended - that we strive to be like God in our actions has, by and large, been lost.

But there is perfection to be found and achieved. I am by no means perfect nor do I believe I ever will be. I'm a man, full of flaws but trying to be a better man, each and every day. I'm trying to be an example to my family and it is there that I find 'perfect' moments. Yesterday was an example of that perfection. It was CAL's last full day at home before returning to her own private Idaho to start her junior year of school and she wanted to spend another day in New York City, hitting one of the museums and enjoying the day. The perfect moments began when we got to the train station and literally walked onto an awaiting express train. This NEVER happens, so we were to Grand Central in no time. More perfection awaited as we emerged from the dank, hot tunnels of Grand Central into a resplendent, sun-filled Manhattan. Our walk up 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue through the hoity-toity environs of the Upper East Side to the Museum Mile was spectacular. The Met was crowded but not enough to switch on the 'I really dislike people' button that I have. We had time to take in several of the collections and be awed by the beauty that artists have captured for thousands of years. After taking in that beauty, we walked through Central Park and it was, and I hate to say, perfect. What was most fun was a moment like this:

This was taken in Central Park and it was great for the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML and me to see them having such a good time together. They had us laughing for most of the day. Whether they want to admit it or not, they are going to miss each other. Knowing that little fact was another one of those 'perfect' moments. Far too quickly are day drew to a close and capping the perfection was getting yet another express train. Icing on the cake was that it was loaded with Yankees fans licking their wounds from a loss to the Red Sox. Like I said, it was a perfect day.

There was a somber moment though.  Twelve years ago, at nearly the same time, the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML and I were in New York City for a long weekend and it was perfect. The weather was stunning. The sky was as blue as we'd ever seen it. We'd had an amazing time. As we were being driven to JFK for our return to Los Angeles, we looked out the back of the Town Car and caught a glimpse of the Twin Towers. Albeit pretty unattractive but a perfect homage to the architecture of the 1960's, the way the sun bathed the Towers in light that September afternoon twelve years ago was as perfect as we'd ever seen the Towers. Little did we know that a few days later they would fall, the targets of terrorism that we still feel today. We'll pause to remember that fateful day later this week. And I'm glad we'll take time to do that. We can't ever forget.