Once a circle missed a wedge.The circle wanted to be whole£¬so it went around looking for its missing piece£®But because it was incomplete and therefore could roll only very slowly£¬it admired the flowers along the way£®It chatted with worms£®It enjoyed the sunshine£®It found lots of different pieces£¬but none of them fit£®So it left them all by the side of the road and kept on searching£®Then one day the circle found a piece that fit perfectly£®It was so happy£®Now it could be whole£¬with nothing missing£®It incorporated the missing piece into itself and began to roll£®Now that it was a perfect circle£¬it could roll very fast£¬too fast to notice the flowers or talking to the worms£®When it realized how different the world seemed when it rolled so quickly£¬it stopped£¬left its found piece by the side of the road and rolled slowly away£®
¡¡¡¡The lesson of the story£¬I suggested£¬was that in some strange sense we are more whole when we are missing something£®The man who has everything is in some ways a poor man£®He will never know what it feels like to yearn£¬to hope£¬to nourish his soul with the dream of something better£®He will never know the experience of having someone who loves him give him something he has always wanted or never had£®
¡¡¡¡There is a wholeness about the person who has come to terms with his limitations£¬who has been brave enough to let go of his unrealistic dreams and not feel like a failure for doing so£®There is a wholeness about the man or woman who has learned that he or she is strong enough to go through a tragedy and survive£¬who can lose someone and still feel like a complete person£®
¡¡¡¡Life is not a trap set for us by God so that he can condemn us for failing£®Life is not a spelling bee£¬where no matter how many words you’ve gotten right£¬you’re disqualified if you make one mistake£®Life is more like a baseball season£¬where even the best team loses one£third of its games and even the worst team has its days of brilliance£®Our goal is to win more games than we lose£®
¡¡¡¡When we accept that imperfection is part of being human£¬and when we can continue rolling through life and appreciate it£¬we will have achieved a wholeness that others can only aspire to£®That£¬I believe£¬is what God asks of us££not “Be perfect”£¬not “Don’t even make a mistake”£¬but “Be whole£®”
¡¡¡¡If we are brave enough to love£¬strong enough to forgive£¬generous enough to rejoice in another’s happiness£¬and wise enough to know there is enough love to go around for us all£¬then we can achieve a fulfillment that no other living creature will ever know£®
