Notes Towards a Theology of the Jigsaw Puzzle
1. …. anything natural has an inherent shape
and will flow towards it.
And a life is as natural as a leaf.
That’s what we’re looking for:
not the end of a thing but the shape of it.
Wisdom is seeing the shape of your life
without obliterating (getting over) a single instant. (Albert Huffstickler)
2. Every puzzle piece is important in a basic sense.
3. Depending on what you are working on at any given time, only certain pieces are going to get your attention, and the others will remain in a heap.
4. Everything we need is already within our possession–the only challenge is finding the right combinations of pieces–pieces finding their right fit. Sometimes the piece is right before you, but you don’t see where it goes. So many times we try to fit the wrong piece to another–but this is progress too.
5. The pieces that remain in a heap: sometimes they hide the pieces you need. So, you sift through the heap and get glimpses of stuff that looks interesting but is not necessary at the moment.
6. There’s never enough time in one life to fit all the puzzle pieces together.
7. It is an absurd puzzle that cannot be put together completely.
8. You work and work with pieces that have the right basic coloration but they don’t fit together. Yet you can’t completely ignore them, since when you find the piece you’re actually looking for, the others instantly are in play.
9. Be sure the table you are working on is big enough.
10. You can look at the pieces too intensely and lose perspective. Sometimes your eyes need to be soft; other times they need to be hard. An extra pair of eyes is often immensely helpful.
11. The process is sometimes fast, sometimes slow.
12. Sometimes you find puzzle pieces that don’t belong to this life.
13. Doesn’t matter how many times you’ve searched for a certain piece and not found it. Keep looking–it’s there.
another thought…
Puzzles as a team sport: dump the pieces on the coffee table at the beach house, and everyone who wanders by fiddles with a few pieces, sometimes finding a match before they wander off again. By the end of the week, it’s done…
Anthony – I want to use this Puzzle Theology it is wonderful! I will credit it to you. May I? I am supposed to bring an example of my theology to a staff meeting and this is perfect, filled with Process Theology. The whole blog is wonderful. I really enjoyed reading each entry. I love your use of poetry and the way you tie in stories. The Puzzle Theology is such a fitting last read to this set of sermons. I will read the others. Thanks.