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Showing posts from December 7, 2008

re: Anne Lamott's "Mess" and John Wesley's "Perfection"

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here is 6 days growth. my son said this morning, "your beard is pinching me!" i have received some comments regarding my last post which included an excerpt from Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird . The comments centered around Lamott's observations re: perfectionism being the voice of the oppressor, the Wesleyan theological term "Christian Perfection", and the United Methodist understanding that we are moving on to "perfection." i don't think that by sharing Lamott's observations i have called Wesley's theology into question or compromised my own understanding of "Christian Perfection." as i understand Wesley, his move towards "perfection", or the acquisition of "sanctification" (though Wesley seems to believe that this could be a fleeting acquisition at best) is a process or journey made by one through grace alone and that one who achieves "perfection" is not in the state permanently and therefore is...

three days growth and making a mess...

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here is me after three days growth. its a work in progress. read below for Anne Lamott's view of making a mess of one's life only to discover one's true meaning. enjoy. Make a Mess, Discover Your Life By Anne Lamott "Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won’t have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren’t even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they’re doing it. Besides, perfectionism will block inventiveness and playfulness and life force (these are words we are allowed to use in California). Perfectionism means that you try desperately not to leave so much mess to clean up. But clutter and mess show us that life is being lived. Clutter is wonderful...