I know....what a cliche, Jeanne.
Sometimes, only a cliche will do. Sometimes, hurtful, scary things are best swallowed when overly simplified.
I like jigsaw puzzles.
I am currently working on a particularly difficult one. It seems to be all the same color. It is much bigger than I thought when I bought it. The light is not good in the room where I am working. There is a glare by day and a dimness by night. But I will keep at it. Probably will be "at it" for months.
Instead of getting discouraged and putting it back in the box, I am having fun with it. It is a challenge.
Instead of worrying about the fact that the ugly card table may still be in my den for Thanksgiving....I am going to stay with it.
Forrest Gump was wrong. Life isn't a box of chocolates!
It is a jigsaw puzzle.
Difficult to understand. A challenge to finish. Sometimes entertaining. Sometimes rewarding. Messy. Tedious. Imperfect until completion.
I don't know any person that is "whole". I think wholeness should be our goal and each and every one of us is searching for it. But some of us are being persecuted, some of us are being abused, some of us are scared, some are lost, some are sick, some are fragile, some are insecure, some are too poor, some too rich, too selfish, too tired, too angry, too addicted, too weak, too strong. We all have pieces missing. Me and you.
It is part of the condition of being human.
Some things about us are great....
Even the weakest - even the sickest - all of us - has hope for healing. The chance to overcome. Because the quest for wholeness IS, in fact, the journey of life. The puzzle is always being worked on.
Only God is perfect. Only God has it all figured out. Only God can fix it, judge it, forgive it, and reconcile it. This is good news, friends. It frees up a lot of time on your daily schedule when you quit trying to be God.
All we need is a willing attitude, a large dose of patience, TRUST, and a heart open to receive it.
This is the one thing I believe in. Without doubt.
Everything else is like quicksand. My marriage, my children, my perceived successes, friendships, goods, services, pumpkins....
Of course, we have responsibilities. We have to take the first step. And then another. And so on. One piece at a time. But life is fragile. And short - in the great "cosmic scheme" of things. Keep working the puzzle. Don't be discouraged. Don't expect it to be perfect all at once.
THE END IS NEAR.
HAHA!! That last part was kind of a joke. I can't be too serious for too long. I get uncomfortable.
I just needed to preach this today because I needed to hear it from myself. Weird psychology? Probably.
I started this blog with the proclamation that it was for the purpose of "putting me in touch with myself" (or some jargon like that). This was an attempt at that goal.
Tomorrow, I am back to shallow things like pasta.
~J
