Touching Gently

It is not the perfect

But the imperfect

That is in need of our love

                Oscar Wilde (as quoted by Jack Kornfield in Path with a Heart, p.44)

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there is imperfection everywhere

I know you are surprised

but it is so

how can they be such a mess?

how can I be such a mess?

and those flaws

those weaknesses

those differences

(for often what we see as imperfection is really merely a difference)

irritate me

sometimes

I even hate them

and I would shun or destroy

I would purge

and yet

the way of healing demands

love

only when I touch those marred spots

with compassion and gentleness

can they be healed

and transformed

in love the imperfection is changed

perhaps truly transformed

perhaps transformed in my perception

(for sometimes the flaw is in the seeing)

O Lord give me love

for the dented and scratched

parts of my self

and the marred aspects of others

let me touch them gently

with the loving hand

of a restorer