The only perfect thing about me is my imperfection.  Those were the words that washed over me as I listened to the Jesuit retreat director who was speaking to us.  We were on retreat, a group of lay ministers working in parishes—Directors of Religious Education, Liturgists and Pastoral Ministers.  I paused and stopped listening for a time as I carefully repeated the phrase to myself over and over again.  The only perfect thing about me is my imperfection.  The director’s message was a way out for me.  If I was perfectly imperfect, then I could NEVER achieve perfection.  I began to feel a sense of new-found freedom.  God’s grace was rushing in, and God was gently whispering, I don’t expect perfection.  I do expect that your relationship with me and my relationship with you will shape your life with all its beauty, love and yes…all of its imperfections.  That’s how I created you.

Today is the first Sunday of Lent.  The word Lent has Old English and Germanic roots which mean springtime and lengthening of days.  Light is coming into our part of the hemisphere following the darkness of winter.  The light of Jesus Christ is at the heart of Lent and Jesus gives us an opportunity to shine a light on any darkness in our lives.  Are we lost in something that pulls us away from God?

The church in her wisdom has been preparing us for Lent the past few weeks with readings from Genesis describing our creation and gospel passages which encourage us to be salt and light for the world.  God’s great love has created us, and God has expectations about how to live life well. But it will not be perfect.

Just as Jesus was tempted in today’s gospel but chose to turn away from the darkness, we too are influenced by the darkness of our temptations which may turn us away from God.   My temptation had been perfectionism which created great anxiety and influenced me at times to hold back from being salt and light for others. In striving to be perfect, I would come face to face with my imperfection which would then lead to an exhaustive effort to achieve perfection.  I couldn’t find a way out until I heard those words that day and knew that God was reaching out to me.  God called an audible and I changed course.  To this day, I whisper that phrase when the perfectionist shows herself.

Is God calling an audible in our life and are we ready to listen?  Lent is a powerful time for us to lengthen our relationship with God, self, and others.  Lent is an invitation to focus on prayer, fasting, being salt and light for others and taking time to examine any places where we may have fallen away from God. It’s an opportunity for new life and in the words of today’s psalm we pray, A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me. 

Let’s not miss the audibles.