Opus 2026-478: Jigsaw Puzzle or Cordon Blue Recipe

How do you describe how we fit into God's plan for the universe?  What kind of metaphor could you use?

One approach would be that of a jigsaw puzzle.  A jigsaw puzzle requires that every piece be designated for its precise point.  This kind of puzzle can only go together one way.  You can force it.  I found that I sometimes have pushed pieces in where they don’t belong.  It ruins the puzzle.  It doesn’t work.  There’s only one way to put it together.  There is a theological approach that kind of looks at it that way.

I think that a better picture is that of a Cordon Bleu Chef.  I’m sure that he has a recipe.  He knows what spices are available.  He knows what’s going to be the main ingredient.  He may have even made it before.  But I can almost guarantee there are going to be slight variations no matter what you do.  He uses a recipe that mixes all the savors together with each one influencing the others.  A recipe is open to endless variation and modification.

I think of a Mexican restaurant that we used to go to.  One of the great questions of the day was, “How hot will the salsa be?”  You never knew.  It was always good.  Sometimes it burned more than others.  You still look forward to that salsa.  When you go to other restaurants, it’s like it just came out of a huge vet that was fed with microscopic accuracy.  It may be tasty, but it is not original, not a living dish.

My personal view of God is that He is the Lord and Master, Creator of the universe.  He is sovereign in every way.  And because I have that kind of a high and lofty view of who God is, I grant Him my permission to do things whatever way He wants to do them, today and tomorrow.  Because of His character and His attributes, there are certain variations that will never happen, but also because of His character and His attributes you can count on things being different in ways that enhance and enrich life.

If you want an evening, sitting around a table and enjoying the fellowship, get a jigsaw hustle.  If you want a unique experience that brings out all the variety of life, experiment with a little bit of unknown spice.

homo unius libri