One of my favorite musical artists in John Legend. We’re around the same age, which doesn’t matter at all, except to say that it feels good to have a favorite artist who still is active and relevant in music. In his famous song, “All of Me”, John croons a line, “All your curves and all your edges; all your perfect imperfections.” While being sung to his partner, Chrissie, these words strike me in a different way; a way that Legend—the son of a pastor—may have meant, but probably didn’t. I will get to that in a moment.
All too often I look in the mirror and dislike what I see. Sometimes, it’s the physical that disturbs me; I wish I carried a few less pounds, and that my eyes saw a few more hours of sleep. Both of those are things I can do something about, yet I don’t. I continue wishing. And then, there are some moments of mirror-gazing (sheesh, I sound like I stare in the mirror a lot) that I see something deeper that I dislike. The eyes staring back at me reflect a memory of something I’ve done or said that hurt someone else. That gaze also accuses me of personal sins and misdoings that I wish I hadn’t committed.
And then there are days where all I see is me.
Just a dude.
Staring at a mirror.
Making sure I didn’t forget to put on pants.
But mostly it’s the former; I usually remember pants. Legend’s words echo in my heart quite often when I start to see things about myself that disturb me. “All your curves and all your edges…” God chiseled me out of dust into a beloved creation. Sure, God wants me to be healthy, so more sleep and less Chick-Fil-A (not endorsed by them yet) are probably in order. But God loves me through it. Every day, God just sees me. Not the me I want to be, the me I am, or the me I’ve been; but the soul of me. God sees all my perfect imperfections, made perfect again in Jesus Christ. And God loves every inch of my soul and my body. I hope you know that this applies to you, too. With so much body shaming going on in our culture, it’s hard to feel beautiful…to feel seen. And with so much turmoil in our lives at points, it’s hard to feel our worthiness to even speak to God, much less deserve God’s grace.
And yet…
God loves us, big or small, sinner and less sinful. God doesn’t care for what we see, God cares for what GOD sees. A creation made from love that knows no ending or beginning, that keeps no account of wrongs, which pierces through the shroud of darkness that we find ourselves in at any given time. A perfect love, from a perfect God, to an imperfect soul.
So today, love yourself as you are. Continue trying to be better, but love yourself as God does. See yourself with new eyes and live in the knowledge that God created you to be loved and to love, to be a perfect imperfection that will one day transcend into the true image of God.
Faithfully,
Fr. Sean+