Thinking Out Loud, Volume CCCLXXXIX

I listened with interest as a friend explained to me what her mom does for a living. She is employed by a prominent American university, and she works eight hours a day, five days a week, attempting to improve our nation's streets and highways. Most of her time is spent experimenting with different formulas that would upgrade the quality of asphalt and other pavement compounds. Her goal is to make it quieter, less slippery when wet, less likely to develop ruts that would hold water on rainy days, easier on tires, and helpful in improving fuel economy. So....what does she do when she achieves success attaining some or all of those goals? She goes back to work the next day and continues working on her projects as if she was just beginning. Until the day arrives when there are no more accidents, and highway deaths are just a memory, she still has a mission to accomplish.  If absolute perfection has not yet been achieved, there will still be a work for her to do. In one respect, I can see how that could be discouraging as she considers the fact that she will likely never be able to sit back and say, "I have finally arrived.  There's nothing more that needs to be done."  On the other hand, she should find tremendous satisfaction as she looks back and observes just how far she has come and how much progress has been made. Not only that, she can also find pleasure in the knowledge that her life still has purpose and she still has a goal to pursue. As I contemplate her situation, my mind takes me to the similarities with her life and mine. Every day that I live, I'm striving to perfect all the different areas of my life....a goal that I will never attain, because complete perfection can never be achieved.  That brings me to the questions, "Why try so hard to achieve a goal that is out of reach? Shouldn't I have the option of one day just sitting back and saying, 'This is as far as I'm going'?" Well,that may work for some people, but not for me. The way I see it, I still have too far to go on this journey with no end. I still have too many flaws and make too many mistakes. Again I ask, "Why even try for perfection when everyone knows I'll never get there?"  Here's why:  Since the day I began this task, I have made tremendous progress. By this world's standards, I never was a bad person, and chances are, you weren't either, but as I look back on my past, I'm amazed at just how much I've improved over the years. Although this trip has had its share of ups and downs, hills and valleys, victories and defeats, over the long haul, I have become a much "higher quality" individual, and that's what keeps me going. I'm a better man today than I was yesterday. Tomorrow I will be a better man than I am today. As I continuously grow older, I'm constantly being made new. As long as our highways have room for improvement, my friend's mother still has a reason to go to work every day. As long as I am so apt to mess up and make mistakes, I still have a job to do. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, however. When the day comes that I take my first step onto the streets of gold, into His presence, I will become like He is...and He's perfect. Preston