I don't like to leave anything undone once I've embarked on it. Not a project, not a chore, not a paper. Not a puzzle. I knew when I started the puppy puzzle on my retreat that I would not finish it, but I started it anyway. Thanks to an assist from Anne, a schoolmate from Yale who is doing an internship at Holy Cross, we actually completed the border this morning, so at least it looked like it was well in progress when I left it. Maybe someone else will pick up where we left off and finish those puppies. They're all similar in color - 5 or 6 golden retrievers and yellow labs, shih tzus and westies, a couple of black labs. It's going to be slow going, but someone is sure to get the job done.
It seems to me there is a spiritual principle there. I know that if I should ever become a parish priest, setting frameworks and letting others carry out the ministry will go with the territory. In leadership development we call that "empowering others to act." But there's something even more basic here. Even now, at this point in my life as a student and a wife and mother and friend and sibling, others can pick up where I leave off. Tim and Lela can take care of everything at home while I'm in New Haven. St. James and St. Peter's are doing just fine without me. Friends can sustain our friendship without my being the instigator of activity. And it all will be just as good if not better than if I had stuck around and kept control of things. That's the great illusion in life, that we have control. For some of us, it's a bit more of a challenge to shatter that myth than it is for others. I'm one of the tough ones.
So, Anne, the puzzle is all yours. I hope you recruit someone to take over when you leave on Sunday. I also hope someone takes a picture of the finished product, but if not, I'm sure it will be beautiful. I can rest easy. Amazing what a puzzle can teach a person.
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