Perfection

"Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It's not about winning. It's about you & your relationship w/yourself, your family & your friends. Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye & know that you didn't let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could. There's not one more thing you could have done. Can you live in that moment as best you can, with clear eyes and love in your heart--w/joy in your heart? If you can do that, gentlemen, you're perfect."

--Permian Odessa (Texas) coach Gary Gaines, played by Billy Bob Thornton, in "Friday Night Lights" (2004)

I remember leaving the theater not thinking much about football. The remembrance of it even now allows air to rush back in over stoked embers. The longing for perfection founded in truth is lofty & daunting to say the least, but drives all the same.

Thank God we're not left alone in this, for He's there through every moutaintop & valley. The stands are filled w/a mighty host of witnesses urging us on too. Only our disillusionment allows for us to loose sight of it all.

A toll is taken all the while punishment is taken & given. Through it all we aren't to loose sight or hope. The struggle forces some to the sidelines or worst yet, out of the stadium. Eyes unclear...

"I don't describe faith as an influence in my life--faith is life. I don't think it's fair to describe faith as having a role {in my life}," he says. "It kind of limits the character of faith & the relevance of faith. It's all encompassing; it's submitting yourself to a divine being. You can't see the function of that belief. It's kind of logically awkward. So when you're doing that, it kind of disrupts everything about your life."

--Sufjan Stevens in Relevant Sept/Oct 2005

13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.