Efficiency vs Perfection
Today's Sunday ponderings. I have been thinking on this a while and still have not fully fleshed it out in all its implications. Over the last few years, it has become clear to me that it is easy and common to confuse Perfection and Efficiency. Often we think of Perfection in terms of checking off a list of do's and do nots in the most efficient way possible. Thus we are able to *be* perfect - or at least think of ourselves or each other that way anyway.
This mindset of being efficient, I find, has led to a very limited understanding of what perfection is capable of. People often consider those trying to be perfect as boring, and those who attempt to be perfect feel overwhelmed and restricted. This perception I think is most transparent in the established general pop-cultural depiction of Angels all being flat, unemotional, self-righteous, and rigid creatures to the point of being a-moral.
Perfection I feel is much less about becoming the master of one's self in a restrictive way, but in an enabling way. It is about Self Mastery, not in terms of restricting reactions, but in knowing and being able to make the correct reactions in all circumstance. Its about continually gaining ability and strength physically, temporally, emotionally, and spiritually so that a correct reaction is an option. Thus to achieve perfection, it is essential to strive for growth in the work environment, experience different cultures and ways of thought, learn new skills and develop talents, meet new people and grow friendships and networks (all without compromising your ability to act/react correctly, hence God's Commandments). Last I think the most important thing in perfection is to feel happiness, sorrow, exhaustion, desire, and even anger and uncertainty, like our Savior did with the money changers and at Gethsemane, and learn how to control them and when to apply them.
