The Realness of Blemishes

So I was sitting in my boss's office this morning and I had a thought. There is a rather large plant in the corner of his office, sitting by the window. And as I looked at it for a second, I thought, Hmm... is that plant real? After looking over some of its leaves, I came to the conclusion: sure it's real. It is real because it has blemishes. I'm not sure why the term "blemishes" popped into my head, but that's just what I thought. Isn't that a funny statement in itself?— "It is real because it has blemishes."

My thoughts continued: If it was a fake tree, they would not have made it with with faults. And this is true. My parents have one of those fake Christmas Trees that they put up every winter, and man, it looks awesome. It is perfect. But it is not real. This tree in my Boss's office had little black spots on some of the leaves, places of dead cells or whatever. And if the tree had been manufactured in a factory, it would not have had these spots, it would have been perfect. But even in its perfection, something artificial is only artificially perfect. 

Consider diamonds. The only perfect diamond is a Cubic Zirconium. A real diamond will always have some type of imperfection or blemish—however large or miniscule that may be. 

As human beings, we can easily project some artificial image of what we want to be. This is so common to my own thinking that often times I even convince myself that I am "better," or "more perfect," or even "holier" than other people. These have been the times when my relationship with the Lord has been the most artificial. 

"And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, 

engaged in evil deeds, yet he has now reconciled you in His fleshly 

body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and 

blameless and beyond reproach."

Colossians 1:21–22

"Hear my cry, O God,

listen to my prayer;

from the end of the earth I call

to you

when my heart is faint.

Lead me to the rock 

that is higher than I,

for you have been my refuge, 

a strong tower against

the enemy.

Let me dwell in your tent forever!

Let me take refuge under the

shelter of your wings!

Selah

Psalm 61:1–4