perfection

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Am I wrong or is it true that the word "perfect" carries with it some unfortunate baggage ... to wit, that it means 'the end' in some sense. The perfect race, the perfect game, the perfect ... well, pick a "perfect." The perfect is the apex, the apogee, the top beyond which there is not top, the complete, the woo-hoo among all woo-hoo's.

In the 1998 movie "The Mask of Zorro," the now-aging champion of the people, Zorro, trains a young replacement. The young man has spirit but no discipline. Bit by patient bit, the older man trains him. Swordsmanship, athletics, manners ... patiently. And at one point, after the young man has negotiated a series of irregularly-placed ropes -- swinging from one to the next with ease and dexterity -- the old man comments mildly, "That was perfect. Do it again."

Does "perfect" ever end?

Is there really a 'z' at the end of the alphabet?

Does it ever begin?

Is there really an 'a' at the beginning?

I doubt it.

But that doesn't mean there is no perfection.
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