“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
~ Helen Keller
There was a certain phase that my father went through and the same phase that my aunt went through a couple years ago, for that matter. I call it “the jigsaw puzzle phase.” He used to purchase jigsaw puzzles to put together. This was after he began having a harder time going outside and wanted to have something to occupy both his mind as well as his time. He began with some rather simple and easy puzzles and graduated to elaborate and extremely difficult puzzles.
Some of the latter puzzles had a lot of the same color in many areas. It was hard to find the right piece to put in. He would spend hours and days and weeks on some of those puzzles. And I, being the nut that did not fall far from the tree, would always contribute my own special brand of chaos: early on, I would sneak a piece and put it in my pocket and take it home with me. As he got to the end of the puzzle, he would look for the missing piece. Sometimes smack dab in the middle, sometime off to the side, there would be a small piece missing. Somehow, it looked like a gaping hole.
He would always get mad when I gave him the piece. Mad, at first, that I had taken it. Then, more angry, later on, that he did not figure out that I had done it yet again.
But, when that piece went in, there was an incredible sense of accomplishment that he felt. The puzzle was finished. The picture was complete. He could rest knowing that he had accomplished what he had set out to do.
I always felt that I had a part to play in that accomplishment. I kept his mind searching for the piece that would go in place. With a lot of other pieces on the board, he could not see it. Of course, he could not see it because it was gone. But, he kept up his search even as he completed other portions of the puzzle. Contributing my one small piece, I felt a bit of accomplishment along with my dad. Of course, I did none of the big work; yet, the piece I withheld was the piece that was needed.
God has entrusted to each and every one of us a piece of His Kingdom. God sees the big picture. He knows what it is supposed to look like. He knows what pieces are still missing. And He waits for us to take them out of our pockets and put them on that ol’ board of life. If we do not contribute our piece, the picture will never be complete.
We may not have everything. We may not have a significant amount. But, we have, at least, one piece. Do not feel ashamed. Place that piece proudly and know that you are an integral part of the puzzle that, once completed, is the Kingdom.
FAITH ACTION: Do one small act, one kindness, for someone today.