April 21, 1999
DOWN HOME:
They set the perfect trap
for a nit-picker like me
___Joanna and the girls laid a video trap for me last week.
___"Honey, we taped 'Oprah' for you today," my wife told me Tuesday night after dinner.
___"Uh-huh," I replied, noncommittally. This didn't sound so great. Jo and the girls talk about Oprah Winfrey from time to time, but it's not like she's part of the family, even a distant-distant cousin. I hadn't paid much attention to Oprah since the Great American Hamburger Trial ended and she left Amarillo.
___"What's the deal?" I asked, taking the bait.
___"Her show today's about perfectionism," Jo said,gleefully. I think I heard Lindsay and Molly both giggle.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___For some reason, they thought I should see this show. The special guest was Monica Ramirez Basco, a psychologist from Bedford who just wrote a book, "Never Good Enough: Freeing Yourself from the Chains of Perfectionism."
___So, what's their point? Just because a guy has strong feelings about how the toilet paper is mounted. (The end runs over the top, not down the wall.) Just because he has opinions about the kitchen. (If God intended for dirty dishes to sit on the cabinet, he wouldn't have invented dishwashers.) Just because he cares about his closet. (If every shirt and pair of slacks is in its place, you can dress in the dark.) Just because his mama has been accused of potty-training him at gunpoint. Just because his tombstone will read, "If a little soap's good, a lot is great." That doesn't mean a guy needs to see a shrink. Or watch one on TV.
___Actually, watching Oprah made me feel better. Compared to some of the guests on her show, I'm as common as all that electromagnetic dust that collects on the TV screen. (Yew!)
___At least I haven't had nine plastic surgeries. I haven't labeled the pantry shelves. Yet. And I don't re-fold the laundry. Even when it needs to be re-folded.
___So what if I like to (OK, feel compelled to) clean the kitchen and pick up the den before I go to bed at night. If a cat burglar comes, we'll have the tidiest house he ever robbed.
___During the show, Oprah gave a perfectionism test. Possible scores range from zero--sensory-deprived Neanderthal slug--to 120--obsessive-compulsive wacko nutcase.
___While Basco advised people like me to buy her book, I'm pleased to say lots of (OK, a few) folks in the audience scored higher than I did.
___Jesus said, "You are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." That's a divine command.
___But in my sane, sensible moments, I realize nobody can be perfect enough to deserve salvation. We're saved because we receive unmerited favor from God. We call that grace.
___Isn't it perfectly amazing?
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