Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
Psalms 50:2
There existed a time in the history of mankind when the amount of darkness that could be lighted by the flame of candle light would have been understood as the ultimate amount and life revolved around that degree of enlightenment but with the invention of the electric light bulb the old level of candle light would forever be understood as inferior. In other words, a new degree of enlightenment made the older level that once had been the ultimate level inferior. With this new level, brought by the electric incandescent bulb, the more the lesser light, of the candle, would make sense of usage and the more it, or a lesser light, would be tolerated.
One of the paradoxes of spirituality is that the more we are able to grasp perfection the harder it becomes, in many cases, to tolerate imperfection. This principle, in its right employment, is a much needed one as it allows us to evaluate many things, especially concerning ourselves, in the correct degree because the less of perfection we understand the more we misunderstand imperfection. Like the man that knew only the power of candle light he could never understand that it was a far inferior light but the man who experienced the light of the electric bulb could easily discount the candle as an inferior light. This is the reaction of the prophet who saw the Lord high and lifted up and fell like a dead man at his discovery of his own imperfection in the presence of Perfection, or as Peter who fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
This principle of knowing perfection in greater revelation can also cause us to begin to have great difficulties in dealing with imperfection or, at least, to tolerate it in great amounts knowing that it falls far short of what it could be. It is because of this scenario that we must be careful as to how we deal with imperfection, especially in others. While imperfection cannot be discounted or be seen to be less imperfect than it truly is we also cannot turn off the electric bulb and go back to the candle to compensate, however, we need a greater revelation of Perfection and also the grace to deal with imperfection. Rather than an outright disposal of imperfection God meant for us to strive to aid the imperfect by lifting it to greater heights of perfection like the man sitting in candle light, unaware of how inferior his light is to have another come and switch on a brilliant electric light and giving instant revelation to the man of the candle.
Men, sadly, are prone to failure and displays of their imperfections and if we cannot tolerate or help to deal with those imperfections in spiritual ways then, pray tell, what good is our greater revelation of Perfection? Surely it was God’s intention to help us both see the tragic failure of imperfection and to aid it to become better. In other words, before we cast away the imperfect should we not first attempt to improve it by God’s grace? Yes, we understand that men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil and that some men will refuse spiritual aid for their imperfections but not to try to help them is our imperfection.
In a world where it appears that they keep dimming the lights in order to justify their deeds and hearts we need, more than ever, the Greater Light of Jesus Christ –the perfection of beauty to shine!
— jlg —