With the upcoming weekend forecast of the weather turning colder, I know I will find myself adding on an extra layer of protection to prepare myself as much as possible for the inevitable chill to settle in and stay put for a while.
And as so many of you are, I'm sure, I am blessed and grateful to be able to escape from the harsh elements and take up space in a nice, warm house, filled with lots of color and surrounded by personal photos of those I love, which, all combined, make it feel cozy and just as it should feel – like home.
While I don’t see it so much where I’m living now, in my previous home, I would notice that in the wintertime, the house would shrink a bit from the cold, resulting in a few hair-line cracks here and there, on the ceiling and on some of the walls.
Yet in the summer, those cracks were never quite as noticeable. The warmer and more humid weather would expand the walls further apart, closing in the gaps. But I always new they were still there.
Just like my old house, I, too, have many cracks and flaws – in my life and deep in my soul. Places where I’m more vulnerable to the effects of immorality than others. Areas where I let greed, jealousy, and frustration invade so severely that the good appears to have no hope of revealing itself.
Which brings me to the question of, how am I really living my life? Am I living with honor and integrity? Humility and gentleness?
Do I apply the same rules to others as I do for myself? In this social-media-crazed society, it’s easy to point fingers and condemn others for how they act while remaining safe behind a computer screen, but why is it when we’re faced with a difficult situation, we give ourselves a free pass to react in a different way? We open the door for our own pride, but close it to others.
The reality is that I live in an imperfect world and I am an imperfect person. And so perfection will always be out of reach for me and for you. However, our capacity to fill in the cracks of our lives with truth and nobility is always in reach.
Very often, it’s even closer than we think.
So...is it possible to attain greatness, even with our flaws?
Yes…
I do believe it is.
