THE MISSING PIECE

PUTTING TOGETHER A PUZZLE

You open the box of a 1000-piece puzzle and dump the contents out on a table.  The pieces fall into a chaotic pile, and you begin to spread them out and turn them face up, working to establish some order to the mess. 

You grab each piece without giving much thought to them… they’re all just one of many, right?  In fact, we give little thought to the importance of each piece because to the eye, none really stand out…they’re all just one of a thousand different pieces.

You begin to tackle the process by searching for the edge and corner pieces…after all, they have an elevated importance to the start of the process.  As you connect the pieces together, the picture starts to take some form.  You begin to have an idea of how large the picture is going to be.  Once you find and connect all the edge pieces, you have your frame in place and the hard work begins… putting the pieces together to create the big picture.

Fast-forwarding here…

You’re now down to a hundred or so remaining pieces, the picture is coming together.  You’re feeling encouraged about the progress.  You grab a piece, then another; little thought is given to each piece because, after all, they’re each just one of many and other than the corner and edge pieces, none really stand out all that much. 

You’re now down to your last 20-25 pieces… it’s easier to place each piece now. You’re moving faster, the task is almost done.

10 remaining pieces…

5 remaining pieces…

Wait!  There’s one remaining spot open!  Where’s the last piece?  It’s no where to be found. You check the empty box, you look on the floor surrounding the table… nothing.

MISSING ALL ALONG

When we began the task, we only had 999 of the 1,000 pieces.  The missing piece was never there in the pile, we simply didn’t realize it at the time.  It wasn’t until we saw the larger picture, put every piece in its spot, that we realized one was missing.

The missing piece had the same value as every other piece, and yet, because it was nowhere to be found, it’s absence somehow made the picture incomplete.  As much as we want to enjoy the satisfaction of our accomplishment, we cannot help but be drawn to the empty spot where that missing piece was to occupy.  The 999 are somehow less because of the absence of the 1.

As I considered this metaphor, I could not help but see each of my probation clients as that missing piece in a larger picture…

• A picture at a family celebration.
• A picture at a class graduation.
• A picture of a group of coworkers.
• A picture of a group of friends that formed a softball team.

On and on I could go describing various examples of pictures my client’s missing piece somehow impacts. Ultimately… the picture of my community is somehow diminished. 

THE POINT IS BIGGER THOUGH

This thought originated as I thought about some of my clients, but the point is so much more inclusive of all of us.  When we fail to live our best lives; when we fail to climb those mountains and accomplish those goals that burn within our heart, we fail to occupy a place… a position that we were made to operate in. 

Our communities are so much less because of the homeless person, the addict, the person occupying a jail cell, who had the ability and the giftings to become something so much more… their absence somehow diminishes that larger picture we are all standing in.  The absence of the 1 somehow diminishes the place of the remaining 999.     

But I’ll repeat the point here… It’s not just about the person on someone’s probation caseload… It’s not just about the person sitting in a jail cell or occupying a bed in a rehab setting.  It’s about you and me as well.  If we’re not pursuing those mountaintops that stir our hearts, somehow, we are living below our best… and not only do we lose something by that choice, but so does the community that occupies the picture we were supposed to be in. 

Let us never become calloused to the broken people around us.  They must always be accountable for their choices… but let us always be searching for the diamond within.

But let us never be satisfied with mediocrity or “average” in our own lives… let us always be up for the challenge for adventure, regardless of what direction that trail takes each of us.