I Am Perfect

Perfectly, persistently, and profoundly imperfect

Once upon a time I attended a church where there was a minister who often preached about one topic. The topic was wanting what you want when you want it and how you want it. Such behavior was presented as a negative trait, and I suppose the sin involved was impatience.

Being the naive, trusting soul that I am, I thought for some time that the minister was just trying to help his flock with a common failing. But as he kept talking about wanting what you want when you want it and how you want it, I realized something: he was talking about himself.

This came clear to me as I got to know him better. He was a fine gentlemen, but he had a strong personality. He wanted what he wanted when he wanted it and how he wanted it. There was nothing necessarily evil about that, but I guess he saw it as a personal fault. And because of that, he kept talking about that mindset.

It was as if he was trying to exorcise a personal demon. Not a literal demon, but a demon in the metaphoric sense of a personal fault. Or, to put it a bit more scientifically, perhaps he found some therapeutic value in talking about getting what you want when you want it and how you want it.

I suppose that is fairly common behavior, but it has made me wary of preachers and others who talk too much about the same human failing. I suspect they are talking about themselves.

Sometimes this can lead to a psychological behavior called projection, which is where…