I have a vision and a fantasy of what a perfect life is, about what a perfect person is. And everytime I fall short of that, I castigate or even pity myself. If I sense a similar imperfection in others, I am liable to also grouse about that, or at least about their flaws.

But real, true grace comes when I realize that my little picture of how things should be is not real or accurate or life-affirming. This is it--this is perfection right here. This is the perfect life, and I'm I'm living under the laws of grace right now. And so are you.

Happy Holidays!