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I have had a recurring thought now and then that I would like your help to flesh out. I remember reading an article in the BYU alumni magazine that showed a gap between two points. Overlaid over this, were some puzzle pieces of a suspension bridge but considerable portions of the puzzle were missing. Where the missing pieces had been there was a pencil drawing of the bridge.
The moral of the story is that even if I am can’t fit all the pieces together right now, I can be confident that there is a “plan” that does fit all the pieces together.
I was unable to re-find the exact article but here is a similar description:
Quote:A Puzzle
Maybe another metaphor will help—that of an old jigsaw puzzle. The picture on the box is a broad, or holistic, view of some reality given by revelation; but the picture on our box is incomplete (see Article of Faith 9) and unclear in spots (see 1 Corinthians 13:12). Moreover, we are also missing several pieces of the puzzle, and we are not even sure how many are gone. Some of the pieces in our box do not appear to belong to our puzzle at first, and others quite definitely are strays. The picture on the box becomes clearer to us, however, with greater study of its details. The more closely we examine the available pieces and the more use we make of our minds, the more we are able to put together a few pieces of solid truth here and there. We may, of course, put some of the pieces in the wrong place initially, but as other pieces are put into position and as we continually refer to the picture on the lid, we are able to correct those errors. As our understanding of both the picture and the pieces progresses, we gain greater respect for what we know, for how it all fits together, and for what we yet do not know.
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/books/?bookid=8&chapid=60 There is a similar metaphor of a tapestry that is sometimes used to explain adversity. The idea is that, from where we sit the jumbled, chaotic, and painful experiences are as the loose threads hanging on the underside of the tapestry. If we could but see from the Master’s perspective we would see how each thread fits into the master plan (the Hugh B. Brown illustration of the currant bush is a famous LDS equivalent).
These ideas seem to indicate that there are not only plans for humanity as a whole but also individualized plans for each of us. When tragedy struck me, I pondered whether this was part of a grand design for my life based on this understanding. Was such a horrible event fated to bring about the maximum divine potential for everyone involved?
This idea did not resonate with my internal compass and I had to discard it. It didn’t seem to make sense that God would smash my beautiful glass and steel structure only to say, “You’ll thank me later.”
A Mosaic is different than a puzzle. A mosaic is a work of art. It may be from pieces of broken glass. It may be of puzzle pieces that were never intended to go together.
Elder Maxwell used the metaphor of a mosaic in one of his talks:
Quote:The finished mosaic of the history of the Restoration will be larger and more varied as more pieces of tile emerge, adjusting a sequence here or enlarging there a sector of our understanding.
The fundamental outline is in place now, however. But history deals with imperfect people in process of time, whose imperfections produce refractions as the pure light of the gospel plays upon them. There may even be a few pieces of tile which, for the moment, do not seem to fit.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1984/10/out-of-obscurity?lang=eng But it seems to me that he is still using them as puzzle pieces – that there is a master plan and eventually we will so clearly what now we can only see the outline of. He seems to use the refractions of gospel light through the “imperfect” pieces as a degradation of the “pure light of the gospel.” I guess in his context he was talking of being tolerant of imperfection in our leaders – but there is beauty in divine diversity.
The following is an excerpt from a talk I gave some years ago.
Quote:I can’t speak with any degree of certainty about others, but as I analyze my testimony. I see that the fabric of it is literally made up of thousands of experiences that combine together to form a “witness.” I may not be able to remember most of the moments that have shaped my testimony. Still, all of these instances have left their mark and contributed to the whole. (see also Testimony as a Process, Elder Carlos Godoy November 2008) I am left with a tapestry in progress, adding line upon line and thread upon thread, to discover as Jesus said in the Pearl of Great Price – that all things testify of Him (Moses 6:63) Each little strand in its own way and the whole mosaic together bear record that He is the Christ.
Because our individual testimonies come through varied experiences and at different stages, it is to be expected that there should be some variation and nuance in how each of us experience the Restored Gospel. (See also Elder Donald L. Staheli of the Seventy Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004 ) Elder Uchdorf says, “A testimony is very personal and may be a little different for each of us, because everyone is a unique person.” [The Power of a Personal Testimony (Oct 2006) Uchdorf]
I feel like I am constructing a mosaic and not a puzzle. I am putting pieces together not because this is where they must fit but because how they look together “speaks to me.” What I’m building is not a map to “what’s out there”, it is a reflection of what is inside me.
I like the idea of “refractions.” I can imagine divine light shining through my personal mosaic. What a glorious sight. Mine is unique and special but it is still a valid expression of divine light. Sometimes I feel like a mosaic person in a puzzle church. Sometimes I feel like others are not comfortable with me because I might “color outside the lines” or put my pieces together in non-traditional ways. It doesn’t matter that my mosaic doesn’t look the same as someone else’s.
I do not believe that God planned out the early death of our daughter. But I do believe that he came to me there, amidst my internal pile of crumpled metal and shattered glass to offer comfort. I believe that He is encouraging me to rebuild as a mosaic. This new structure has no architectural drawing and must be grown organically with heart and mind and spirit. I make no claim that my internal structure is perfect or that I will ever be done building it. I believe that God is willing to bless my mosaic and breathe into my imperfect structure His breath of life. God can work with the imperfections and fill the whole of it with the “pure light” of his immeasurable love. Like light flowing through a stain glass window, the human and the divine come together. This has become my chapel.
I would appreciate your thoughts and any quotes etc. that might be added.
Very beautiful, Roy. I love the idea of a mosaic as opposed to a puzzle – largely because it puts the ability and the responsibility on us to create something uniquely our own. Having said that, I understand totally why the idea of a puzzle works so well for lots of people – so I can’t dismiss it for them. In the end, we all (hopefully) will have pictures we see as beautiful.
Part of me would like to give this as an SM talk but I fear that it would result in backlash rather than understanding. There does not seem to be much in the way of GA qoutes that I could lean on. Even the Maxwell qoute uses the term mosaic but then treats it as though there is a predetermined pattern that must emerge given time and patience. It will probably remain as a personal metaphor to help me understand (and explain to some select individuals) how my faith has changed. Mosaics do form patterns and pictures, but the picture they form is not static. One could form hundreds of patterns from a given pile of mosaic tiles. It is more of an art than science.
I think it would make a wonderful talk, as long as it was focused on different metaphors that work for different people and in no way appeared to dismiss or reject the puzzle approach. If you said something like the following, I think pretty much everyone would agree and not take offense: Quote:I’ve thought a lot over the years of how differently we look at life and what images and metaphors work for each of us.
I have friends who view life as a puzzle. They (add descriptions and quotes). I have other friends who view life as creating a mosaic. They (add descriptions and quotes).
I personally find that the mosaic image works best for me, but as long as we all end up becoming people who are pleasing to ourselves and to God – as long as the images in our puzzles and mosaics are Christ-like and godly, I don’t think it matters all that much how we got there. I think God values us as His developing children and our sincere attempts to return to His presence and be like Him and that he allows us to reach that state in whatever way is best for us – whether we put together a puzzle or create a mosaic. In the end, I think we will be judged on whether or not we have received his image in our countenances, not by how that image got there.
The puzzle metaphor has a problem. What if you draw the wrong picture into the blank (missing) pieces? Say you get an ancient papyrus puzzle, and part of the papyrus is missing. You look at the box (revelation), and think you see what the missing part of the papyrus is, so you draw in the missing piece, and live your life (and write a book) based partly on that drawn in piece. But then years later, somebody finds an original box top to your papyrus puzzle, and the missing pieces you drew in where nothing like what the original papyrus shows. You have based some very important aspects of your life on that fact that you could come up with the missing pieces, and now you find out it is all wrong. Big problem for you, and everybody that believed in your puzzle interpretations!
Fwiw, Sheldon, that’s why I love midrash. It solves a whole host of problems like that one. 🙂 On Own Now wrote:DevilsAdvocate wrote:If you have a puzzle with half the pieces missing then of course people can imagine whatever they want to fill in the blanks but as more of the pieces are included it will become increasingly difficult for the average person to see anything other than the original image.
DA, I really like your analogy of the puzzle and I think it helps me understand where you are coming from. Let me try to use the same analogy to express another point of view about the topic.I think the puzzle analogy works very well for outsiders who have never seen the picture that the puzzle depicts. In that case, yes, they will imagine the image that will be produced and as more puzzle pieces are added, they refine their mental version of the image. As more pieces are added, people who have never seen the box that the puzzle came in, can agree on more an more of what the image will be. But that’s not what we are really talking about when we talk about the Church, its leaders, and its believing members. They have the lid of the box that the puzzle pieces came in… at least they think they do. You and I would probably say that while the picture on the lid is vaguely similar to what the puzzle pieces will eventually produce, it’s not the same, and in significant ways. So, they are trying to put the puzzle pieces together in a way that reflects what they already believe to be the master image. There are many puzzle pieces that fit well, much that is simply missing, and a growing number of puzzle pieces that seem to be outliers: they don’t really seem to fit the image that they have on their box lid. From my own experience in the Church, from my interactions with other Church members, and interactions of members of other churches, I will say that I believe that faith or belief is the trump card that makes all the outlying puzzle pieces just not matter. People set them to the side either to come back to them later or to determine that they must have been misplaced puzzle pieces. When they think they know the image that will appear, anything that doesn’t fit that image has to be discounted. So, they aren’t necessarily ignoring these odd pieces, they just don’t give them any value. Faithful people will excuse these things by saying that “God moves in mysterious ways” or that “my ways are not your ways” and will overcome them by trying to “live by faith”.
The BofA is a great example of this. I have no doubt that to the top leaders of the Church, the BofA is an inspired work. How it came to be is unclear. Some probably still believe it is an actual translation, and there there is a logical explanation for why the papyri contain an unrelated funerary text. Others likely have accepted the catalyst theory as the most logical explanation. You and I think the most logical explanation is that JS made it up. But that is because the image that we think should be on the box lid is that JS was not a prophet and that the BofA is not inspired. If their box lid says he was and it is, they will draw different conclusions.
This is an excellent analogy from another thread that reminded me of this comparison. Suppose that we have a desk in a box that requires assembly. We have some incomplete instructions appearing in different languages. We are missing some pieces and have some outlier pieces from different sets. Some faithfully try to assemble the desk. They know that it is supposed to be a desk based on the labeling (no picture) on the box. They attempt to interpret the instructions and separate out the desk pieces from the outlier pieces. They then must improvise to overcome the challenges presented by the missing pieces. With time, patience and dedication some individuals can build a pretty respectable desk. Some others, less handy in nature, might be stuck surrounded by mismatching pieces and banging their heads in frustration. Finally, there are some on the more artistic and imaginative side of the spectrum (the mosaic builders) that took all the pieces and made an end table, or a shelf, or just a pretty art sculpture.
Perhaps to the first group of successful desk builder, the last group is cheating. “The task was to build a desk. It says so on the box. They should be disqualified.” Perhaps they may lend encouragement to the second group, telling them to “keep at it” with patience and faith.
Are the mosaic builders to be punished at the final judgment for not following the directions? Are they to be given special bonus points for finishing with creative solutions?
Perhaps there is no final judgment and all that matters is that each of us build something that is useful and purposeful to us individually. From this perspective, some in the middle group may be needlessly struggling and perhaps the successful desk builders where only truly successful if they had an actual need for a desk in the first place.
This also reminds me of the “Iron Rod” and “Liahona” approaches described by Richard D. Poll.
Sheldon wrote:You have based some very important aspects of your life on that fact that you could come up with the missing pieces, and now you find out it is all wrong. Big problem for you, and everybody that believed in your puzzle interpretations!
If the goal was to build a mechanical device that was designed for a specific purpose I would agree. I don’t see the purpose of our personal lives in that same light. In fact such a pre-determined life goes against practically everything that I believe. Agency and experience are the primary reasons for our human condition. I love the idea of mosaics, it fits perfectly. Thanks for that Roy.
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