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Friday, August 30, 2002
This is a short essay that Jusin wrote:
All Things Are Perfect
Sometimes over the summer, for reasons I don’t even remember, I thought to myself, “Well, nobody’s perfect.” I’ve heard this many times before, as I’m sure we all have, but for some reason it seems different this time, ‘off’ is the best way I can describe it. I started thinking about the statement itself, and pretty soon I realized the problem; it was full of shit. I realized that, fundamentally we are all perfect.
Generally, people view perfection within the perspective of a certain group. For this discussion, let's use ‘people’ as the group. Who then is the perfect person? If one were to view this question from the traditional Christian perspective, as I'm sure most of you will, the answer is obvious: Christ. Strictly speaking this is not accurate. The problem is that ‘people’ is an abstract concept. It does not actually exist. Nowhere in this universe can you find a singular entity that is ‘person’. Sure, we are all people, but we are also mammals, animals, living organism, and so on. Some of us are male, some female, some of us like rock music, some country, some both, and some neither. But all of these categories, and any other as well, are just conjuration designed to simplify the world so we can understand it, none of them are real. Only distinct individuals are real. You are real. I am real. 'People' is an idea.
To illustrate this concept, consider the category ‘Justin Meneely's Body’ (not to be confused with the individual ‘Justin Meneely’). ‘Justin Meneely’s Body’ is a group, composed, obviously, of individual body parts, just as the group 'people' is composed of individual people. So, then, which body part is best, which is perfect? My left foot? My pancreas? It’s a ridiculous question, isn’t it? How can you rank things which are so different? The only way to chose the ‘best’ would be to manufacture a value system by which to rate each body part. Imagine that such a system existed and, based upon it, the ‘perfect’ part of ‘Justin Meneely’s Body’ is the fingernail on my left ring finger. Should all of my other body parts then aspire to be as much like that fingernail? Obviously not, because, while my left ring finger’s fingernail may truly be perfect based on a certain value system, that and all other value systems, are purely figments of our imagination.
Now, back to people. Yes, Jesus is perfect, but no more so than you or I. Christian doctrine teaches that we can never be perfect, because we all fall short of the Christ. Is my foot any less perfect because it cannot, no matter how hard it tries, be like the fingernail on my left ring finger? It’s true that you or I or anyone else would be a horrible Jesus, but at the same time, imagine what a bad me Jesus would make. Is he 6'1"? Does he like to listen to Rage Against the Machine? Is he even alive? NO! Jesus was perfect, but only as Jesus. We are all perfectly who our natures dictate we should be.
This is not to say that we can’t or shouldn’t aspire to ‘better’ ourselves. We are all free to pursue whatever value system we deem appropriate. In fact, goals and values are probably necessary to help give life dimensions. But realize that all such goals and value systems are products of our own imagination, they do not truly exist. The truth is that everything simply is. I am as I am, you are as you are, and one way or another, we will all be who we will be.
This opens some interesting possibilities on the subjects of fate, free will, and Calvinism, but those will have to wait til a later date.
| Mr. McBastard | 6:02 PM | | |
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