Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Holy Week Puzzle



It’s Holy Week, and for some reason, I am spiritually tired.  This is inexplicable because this year I haven’t even had to deal with the spiritual overload of simultaneous Lent and Passover prep, with all its egg-whipping and matzo-soaking.  Passover is still a month away. 
 

If a mere layperson like me is feeling this way, I can only imagine how clergy must feel.  And then, think of how spiritually exhausting a week it must have been for Jesus, back during the Original Holy Week.

So to counteract spiritual malaise, I continue to look for beauty.  Here is something I find beautiful and which is, at least tangentially, related to Holy Week.  This is a jigsaw puzzle painted by Older Daughter, and given to us as a Christmas present. 

Older Daughter is very creative, and God is very creative, and, so, holiness is to be found in creativity. 

It is a puzzle; the events of Holy Week are puzzling (to say the least). 


We had this puzzle on our dining room table since Christmas.  Just last week I discovered that it is missing a piece.  This makes me very sad, as my darling daughter made it, and I wanted to frame it.  (That’s what I get for being such a procrastinator!) But the missing piece is indicative of Holy Week, too, in that despite all the goodness of God that Christians believe comes from the Original Holy Week, there are still so many unanswered questions about this world and our lives.  I’m not sure I’m even making sense, but I stumble along and lean on my hope that God is not finished yet.


This is what the world looked like at the beginning of creation,
before it was missing a piece.

6 comments:

The Crislers said...

That painting is BEAUTIFUL. And a painting as a jigsaw puzzle? I feel like I need to take gift-giving lessons from your daughter, as I generally suck at gift-giving.

Spiritual malaise. *deep sigh* Yeah. How many times a week (day, hour, minute) do I say, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" particularly during those tough, I-don't-understand times. I love the idea of looking for beauty in those seasons, and I know it also helps me to remember that I've been here before, and came out the other side, bright and frisky and excited again.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

You are making perfect sense, your daughter is talented in both art and gift-giving, and while I am not spiritually tired, I am tired because it is Holy Week and I work in a church. (Maybe I'd be spiritually tired if I had time to consider things more deeply than trying to remember which details go into which service and when to change the parament colors.)

Anonymous said...

This post is a balm to me. So much can make us weary, and God reminds us all the time to BE STILL AND KNOW I AM GOD. Your daughter's lovely puzzle shows his gift of creativity. And beauty.
Happy Easter!

Cassi said...

What a wonderful painting and gift --your daughter is talented indeed :-)

Angie said...

Beautiful painting! Clever idea to turn it into a jigsaw puzzle.

Patience_Crabstick said...

It's lovely! I hope the missing piece turns up. You never know.