The Missing Piece

I was strolling through the neighborhood on my way to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf for my fix of Ice Blended Mocha when I saw something in the middle of the street. It was a solitary piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Nothing else was around it, just the irregular angle of a puzzle part. It glistened in the sun against the dark and dirty asphalt street. I picked it up and carried it with me like I was rescuing a puppy from the pound. I had never seen a single jigsaw puzzle part on the street before and it captured my attention. It inspired me to think about a lot of things.

First, in and of itself it had no importance. I could not tell if it was part of a picture, a design, a sampler or what it was. One of the edges showed a blue line across it, but the rest was solid white. To me it had no meaning nor any particular value. Had it just been a piece of cardboard or paper lying in the street it would not have grabbed my attention; I would have passed it by like so much trash. But its shape was unique, not trash, obviously made for a reason. The very nature of its individuality made me stop and ponder the discovery. This was a unique individual part of a whole with a very specific purpose. I knew it would fit no other puzzle but the one it was cut for but unimportant to a casual observer like me. However, to the person with the puzzle it was very important. It was the most important piece of the entire puzzle, because without this one tiny part, the picture would not be complete.

I was thinking how I would have reacted if it had been a homeless person on the street. I doubt I would have picked him up and rescued him like I did the puzzle part. Would I have seen him as a valuable part of some picture I could not see? Or would he just be a piece of trash not to be thought of. How could I tell what puzzle of humanity he belonged to just by looking at him? Yet people, all people, are individual parts of this life puzzle. People are not just objects, they are uniquely designed individuals, and everyone has some purpose. I need to recognize the unique quality of everyone I come in contact with, like I did with the puzzle part. Because sometimes parts get lost, it isn't always their own fault, they just fall through the cracks, but without them, and their uniqueness, the picture will never be complete.

As you were,

Jay