John McCain used a term today in responding to criticism that inspired me. He said “I am an imperfect servant”. Mr. McCain went on to state that even though he was imperfect, he loved this country and would serve it to the best of his ability if elected president.

What a wonderful term, “imperfect servant”. We are all imperfect, but yet we expect our leaders to be nothing short of perfection. In my experience, the best leaders strive for perfection (as many of us do), even though it may be an unreachable goal. We must learn to be tolerant of imperfection, to some degree, of our imperfect leaders.

All of us can learn to forgive some degree of imperfection in our leaders. Perhaps imperfection is the ultimate in perfection? May we learn to be discerning and to withstand the ambiguity and complexity inherent in leadership – and be grateful that, after all – our leaders are only human.