Letter: October 2011

Much has been written about the pursuit of excellence. Just the thought can make one feel inadequate or overwhelmed. However, it is not from the achievement that we grow but from the pursuit itself. Further, it should overwhelm none of us to express all of our energy attempting to make only one moment excellent. If we focus on our life, one moment at a time, it then becomes a lifetime spent in pursuit of excellence.

In the moment is where we often lose our way. We tend to depreciate the value of a single moment often feeling it is worth very little effort. Consider that we have never lived in anything other than the moment. It is all we have, and all have had. The present moment is all that is available to us in which to experience this magnificent adventure we call life. It may well be helpful for us to learn from the past, as well as plan for the future, but only so we can spend our understanding on the present. To live fully in the present is the prime requisite for a soul in pursuit of excellence.

We misunderstand when we believe we must be excellent, for if we were we would have no need to be embodied in flesh and bone. Is a young child any less precious to us because he or she does not have the intellect of an adult? To see the wonder in the eyes of a child in the process of learning is an awesome experience. Our failure to express excellence in any moment is likewise no cause for shame or regret. However, when we fail to try, we squander the opportunity for which we awoke this day.

Let us be assured in the knowledge that we are the perfect us. There is no one that ever lived that is a better us. We are not meant to be anyone else but ourselves. We cannot measure our worth against anyone else because we are unique. If we need a means of measure it may well be in our ideal of excellence, and it is in pursuit of this ideal we may enjoy a spectacular journey. Life is indeed a voyage, moment by moment; it is a means of expressing our divinity. Because of this each moment is worth our undivided attention, for here is where we have been given the opportunity to be a blessing in the earth. We are not in search of holiness, we are already that. We are instead in pursuit of the opportunity to express our holiness. Here in the moment, we may express our divinity in our mundane affairs so we can make the holy commonplace and the commonplace holy. And this alone is worth pouring out our heart and mind, upon the moment, in pursuit of excellence.

May God bless you this day, and awaken within you an awareness of your indescribable goodness.