(a car-ride prayer)

perfection is not a requirement
you are welcome here
here in the caverns of my heart
there is a place for you
especially for you
and
specially for you

Oftentimes, my mind becomes fixated on perfection (or lack thereof). Perfection within myself and seeking perfection in others. Yet, when I demand perfection in those around me, it is not true perfection because it is based on the standards I have now. Toward that end, I am making myself a god.

Silence is a great humbling agent. In the silence, I hear prayers like the one above. The Holy Spirit teaches me to pray the words prayed over me back to Him. The cycle of blessing is infinite when we respond to the Initiator.

Jesus tells me I don’t need to be perfect, He invites me to take the next step with him. The next step means greater intimacy, greater trust, and greater love beyond the bounds I know now. Dante writes in the Divine Comedy that to ascend Mount Purgatorio one needs the light from God and will from the individual. Perfection is not required; however effort is. No relationship can be whole without two invested parties.

This prayer is spoken over me by God, reflected back to God, and a grace spoken over those around me. So, in the silence of the car, the noise of work, in every conversation amongst my people, my soul echoes these lines:

perfection is not a requirement
you are welcome here
here in the caverns of my heart
there is a place for you
especially for you
and
specially for you