We all hope for Perfection. Some of us even do something about it.
For many years he has worked. A dreamer by trade, an architect by necessity. He has built and built: brick after brick, layer upon layer, bit by little bit – and now, today, out of a bottomless pit it has risen: A result so alive all those who come near it know its pulse and cannot help but become alive as well.
But let us backtrack a bit, to a time when things were less constructive and a place where things were less constructed.
He was confused: he had feelings, dreams, wants, ambitions – but he really didn’t know what to do with them: sure, he wanted a perfect world, a place where he could walk the streets and recognize every face as an expression of the Divine image, see within every leaf and fire-hydrant the vibrant, Pure energy that makes it be.
But how – how to see Perfection in an imperfect place? How to know what is True in an environment false?
So he began.
He began building, a perfect home for a perfect dream. Of course, Perfect here does not mean without challenges – that would be Safe – Perfect here means the challenges are seen as bricks with which to build: the harder the challenge, the harder the brick; the greater the task, the greater the result.
And so, slowly but ever so surely he built. From nothing, something. From something, anything. From anything, everything.
He began by knowing that within him there is a dream, a dream that has to be built: no matter what people around him may or may not say – because, trust me, they most certainly may – there is a vision here that has to be fulfilled; regardless of what the voices outside of him beseech him to or not to do – because, once again please trust me, they most certainly will beseech – the voice within him, the voice that says you have a Reason and a Purpose which no one but you can fulfill, that voice resonates deeper and truer then anything else.
Of course, all we have to do is be honest enough to listen.
Now here we are. Brick after brick, layer upon layer, bit by little bit – and now, today, out of a bottomless pit it has risen: A result so alive all those who come near it know its pulse and cannot help but become alive as well.
We all hope for Perfection. Some of us even do something about it.
Mendel Jacobson is a writer, poet and journalist living in Brooklyn. His weekly poetry can be seen at jakeyology.blogspot.com
The words of this author reflect his/her own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Orthodox Union.