This semester at college I am taking my second semester of Latin. One thing I have learned from my study of Latin is the different tenses. There are six of them: Future, present, imperfect, perfect, future perfect, and pluperfect. Turns out, the perfect and imperfect are very similar. They are both past tense, and can technically be translated in the same way. However, there is one subtle difference: the imperfect tense implies something that was continuous in the past, while the perfect refers to something that is completed. For example: “He was sailing,” as opposed to “He sailed.” The first is an ongoing action, while the second is finished.

This makes me think of my life: As hard as I try to be perfect, I can never quite make it. I am imperfect, but that’s why I’m here. I’m imperfect because I’m living. If I were perfect it would mean that my life was complete. Finished. There would be no point to it. Because I am imperfect there is always something to work on, to strive towards. Something to learn, some way to grow. And that’s why life is such an adventure – because the learning never ends.

It’s not just people who are imperfect: life itself is inherently imperfect. Even nature, gorgeous as it is, has its imperfections. But it’s these imperfections that make it so beautiful, for without the bad we would not appreciate the good. It is the contrast between the two that makes the good so breathtaking.

So despite the difficulties they present, I am grateful for imperfections.

I’m even more grateful for the Atonement, because that’s what makes all my striving towards perfection worthwhile.