In the past 2 months, during our shelter-at-home precautions for the coronavirus, I’ve done three separate 1,000 piece puzzles. So it won’t come as a surprise that I’ve been reflecting on puzzles, the metaphors they hold, and what it means to me to be puzzling through this pandemic. So instead of a guest today, I want to share with you some of my puzzle thoughts and the insights they have provided me.
I know I’m not alone in puzzling through this pandemic. Those of you who are fellow puzzlers, those of you who are lukewarm about doing puzzles and even those brand new to puzzles, have opened a box and at least attempted to sort through those little fragmented puzzle pieces. Now more than ever, I have been struck with the metaphors of doing a puzzle. Like the coronavirus, a puzzle causes us to feel confusion, as we try to understand and make sense out of it. By definition a “puzzle is a game, toy or problem designed to test our ingenuity and knowledge.” Certainly Covid-19 has tested our ingenuity and knowledge. And in the face of this puzzling virus, that confuses us and throws us off from relying on what we once knew, we’ve had to tap into our ingenuity, as well as the ingenuity of health professionals, scientists, researchers, political leaders, and humanitarians. We’ve also been invited to delve beyond factual knowledge and explore spiritual wisdom to make sense of this pandemic.
Blessings for all the forms of puzzles you intentionally and unintentionally engage in. By all means enjoy the activity of doing some puzzles. And know that your own actions can serve as an important jigsaw piece to the mystery of solving some of life’s unfinished puzzles. Let’s trust that resilience, going out of our way for others, hope and a belief in the power of goodness will be important puzzles pieces that will continue to guide us through this pandemic. Enjoy the podcast!