Tag: poetry

The truth knocks on the door and you say, go away, I ‘m looking for the truth, and it goes away. Puzzling…

Robert M. Pirsig

It took some time before the public learned that to appreciate an Impressionist painting one has to step back a few yards, and enjoy the miracle of seeing these puzzling patches suddenly fall into one place and come to life before our eyes.

Ernst Gombrich

Why wouldn’t an Intelligent Designer place signposts along our evolutionary path if he/she/it truly cares about what happens to humanity? Otherwise we are left to die out over and over again as we persist in taking the wrong path, lane or road.

Many of us have come across a sign on the side of the road saying Road Closed Ahead. There have been times when I hoped that perhaps the closure ahead was beyond where I wanted to go, especially when travelling the small lanes and an alternative route is hard to imagine because this was the only road I knew. And without a doubt, if the road sign is not the usual standout official signage, few of us would take notice. The signs rarely give more information, like Bridge Ahead Collapsed, or Road Ahead Impassable. You could say that Free Will needs to be involved in the mix if we are to believe that God has an unfathomable and long term plan for us. And according to all the great religions of the world, their mystical writings indicate that there most certainly is one. 

When puzzling recently, something profound in its simplicity came to me. As a starting point I need a puzzle that appeals to me emotionally and visually. Then I need courage, some self belief, and a plan. My plan is always to look for the boundary pieces, and I won’t continue any further until I have the stabilising edge pieces in place. There is no need to describe how I continue because I am sure all puzzlers worth their salt have a good plan going forward.

I am currently working on a beautiful V&A offering of birds of a wondrous plumage. The profound moment relates well as a metaphor: the more ‘dots’ I put together the easier the picture begins to take form. As the picture develops beyond the half way mark I am able to pick up a piece and know exactly where to place it. I am now at the point of closing in on completing it, and the pieces left are virtually the same colour. At the outset I had separated them and placed them in a little pot for later. They may be of a similar colour but will fit nowhere else other than in their correct position. Only for a moment did I consider not completing the puzzle now that the interesting bits were behind me. If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well. Haha—no gain without pain. It is not different really from joining up the dots scattered in all the subsets of life. Knowing that the world requires a lifetime of me continuing to attempt to join up the dots has made my days easier in some crazy and puzzling ways.

There have always been visionaries who place roadsigns on our evolutionary path. Many of them were later recognised as prophets as we saw that the knowledge they whispered or cried out to us came to pass. But there are so many more amongst us that blocked our ears, closed our eyes or turned our backs on their well judged roadsigns. How much angst might we have saved ourselves from had we only heard them. But equally, through our obstinacy what opportunities we received to gain deep insights and wisdom. We may have overlooked the mystics and visionaries throughout time, and still do so today, because perhaps they were perceived as lacking the correct birthright or the right education, they were the wrong colour, or simply too primitive. It is often not our way to conjure up our imaginations, strike out the band, and go out and to meet them—to pit our intuition against their words.

Few would disagree with the following: that we are at a crossroad that holds immeasurable significance to our future well-being and survival. Also that our planet is soiled, creatures are dying, and the health and welfare of all living things is heading for a critical level. What kind of a world are we bringing to fruition by handing over responsibility for it to those with great wealth and a will to power to carve it up to their Ahrimanic ways? What should we be doing? Puzzling is a good start.