A Path to Joy and Understanding

Joy comes to the soul that embraces its own flaws and those of others.  We are not meant to root them out as though they were weeds and we were the gardeners.  Flaws are meant to be shown mercy and patience, the way God showed mercy and patience toward the Israelites, or the way Jesus showed mercy and patience toward his disciples in the Gospel.

Flaws are not sins, they are defects that make it difficult to function normally, and the effects of those defects.  Who said we were meant to be perfectly ordered in this life?  When we accept our disorderliness, we're able to accept ourselves.  We are disordered creatures.  Original sin caused us to lose our integrity.  Now Jesus has come with a Gospel of mercy, not perfection.  If we want to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect, we must be merciful.  If we have no flaws, we cut off a pathway of mercy in our lives.  St. Paul would boast of nothing but his weakness.

What better way to witness the mercy of God than by seeing that he continues to pour out his grace on us even though we have flaws and mess up?  God wants to show us the kind of Love that is there for us in our imperfection.  When we are weak, then we are strong.  When we are open about our flaws, then people can see our humanity.  When people witness the humanity of a Christian, they witness Jesus Himself.  

Does that mean we should adopt flaws to have a greater claim to God's mercy?  Of course not.  We already have enough flaws as it is, we just often can't see them.  But armed with God's mercy, we can begin to explore our own shortcomings, and make our way to a greater understanding of ourselves and of the God who Loves us.  Then the flaws will begin to work themselves out.