Puzzles

One of the traditions that sort of evolved in our house was working puzzles over the Christmas holidays. I don't remember when it started but as long as I can remember, we have set up a table during the holidays with a new 1000 piece minimum puzzle to work on. Everyone would work on it some and the harder it was, the more we liked it. It was a kind of mindless activity but at the same time a great thing for goal-oriented people!

So, when we returned to Mozambique and with the increasingly stringent luggage requirements, we brought back some children's puzzles to give as gifts to some of our 'grandchildren'. They are the 25 piece variety and didn't weigh much!

We have given away quite a few but it has been extremely interesting. The children have never seen anything like it and so it overwhelms them at first as we work together. The adults end up working the puzzles but because they have never seen them before, we have been extremely surprised at how hard they are for people to do; extremely surprised. Little things that just don't seem to connect - yes there is a picture on the box to help you, yes each piece can be placed four different ways, there are shape cues, there are color cues, straight edges, corner pieces. We went through this several times but it wasn't easy. I think about this and the difficulty we see with math and science here and some of the abstract thought required in those disciplines. It could be related to that lost generation I have talked about in the past not having the opportunities they needed when they were young because of war, hunger, displacement, and the like. Or, it could just be having not ever seen one before. Like the first time I saw one of those rubics cubes or whatever they are called.

So, as I have thought about this, we went to language class today and it was horrible. Our teacher got very fustrated with us, pounding his hands on the table a few times and speaking quite strongly about our not remembering things well, not spending enough time studying (which is true - we have been buried with administrivia and unplanned groups since we've returned) so we are right back where we were, not being able to continue language - extremely fustrating.

But, I digress, my point is that we come from a culture where you write things down, you use computers with spell check, day-timers, watches, calendars, alarm clocks, and reliable mail systems. Here, it is all oral - and everyone remembers everything - tell people once or twice and people remember. We want to look it up, make a list, check a dictionary. Our professor was very angry with us today, fustrated, and looking at us - WHY CAN'T THEY WORK THE PUZZLE?

It depends on they type of puzzle, doesn't it? Or maybe whether you are watching someone work a puzzle you are already familiar with or maybe trying to work one you've never seen. Isn't life like this and isn't it easy to make unfounded judgements?

I am so glad we serve a God who knows how all the pieces fit together. I certainly don't know how the pieces fit!

"For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things." 1 John 3:20