Perfection
Paul D. Morris, M.Div., Ph.D.
"To all perfection I see a limit; but your Truth is boundless."

Some things, events, phenomena seem . . . well, perfect! What we mean by this is that we can't think of how it could play any better. It satisfies us beyond our expectations of being satisfied. It may be a choir of children singing in perfect harmony and rhythm. It may be mist in a valley of a sunlit morning, or the rainbow at the foot of a waterfall. It may be the smile of an infant, or the adoring look of a puppy. Whatever it is, it evokes a sense of "perfection," within us.

The psalmist believed that he saw a limit to such perfection. At some point, at some level what he perceived as perfect -- stopped. It could go no further. There was something it could not give him. It was perfect insofar as it could go. But, there was something beyond what he perceived.

Is there anything that does not stop? Is there anything that is, in the truest, strictest sense of the word, absolute? Is there anything at all that can satisfy perfectly? Is there anything that is boundless, that is infinite? In thinking about this, we must also ask the question, "Since we ourselves are imperfect, how can anything satisfy us perfectly?"

Good question.

In other words, how can anything be perfect to an imperfect creature?

Mankind, for all its achievement has a woefully limited concept of the universe. Owing to the wondrous process of Carbon-14 dating, and based on the notion that all things proceed from a beginning, we are able to wander back in time some 14.5 billion years to the "Big Bang." We say we know approximately when it began, but there are yet no credible answers to the question, "What existed before the 'Big Bang?'" And "In what environment did the Big Bang take place?" Space? Where does space start? Stop? Supposedly, the observable universe is some 93 billion light years in diameter. And if we can measure the universe, what exists, if anything, outside these metrics? More of the same? It had a beginning, so where does it end? Answers, please?

Questions about perfection, questions about infinitude and boundlessness can only be found in God, who is, in himself and in his Son Jesus Christ, perfect in the absolute sense. His Truth is the only perfect truth. If, as imperfect beings, even his truth can't satisfy, we have this hope: There will come a time when our imperfection will be laid down. Discarded. Buried in the landfill that is, was, our former lives. We are now -- even though we see through a glass darkly, imperfectly -- one with Jesus. One with God. In that moment, we shall see perfectly, for we shall see him as he is.

We shall without limitation, comprehend Perfection!

-- PDM

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