The Perfect Cup

The Perfect Cup
Joyce Rupp

it is time for me
to see the flaws
of myself
and stop being alarmed.

it is time for me
to halt my drive
for perfection
and to accept
my blemishes.

it is time for me
to receive
slowly evolving growth,
the kind that comes
in God's own good time
and pays no heed
to my panicky pushing.

it is time for me
to embrace
my humanness,
to love my incompleteness.

it is time for me
to cherish
the unwanted,
to welcome
the unknown,
to treasure
the unfulfilled.

if i wait to be
perfect
before i love myself,
i will always be
unsatisfied
and ungrateful.

if i wait until
all the flaws, chips,
and cracks disappear,
i will be the cup
that stands on the shelf
and is never used.