The Mystery of the Cube

I've always enjoyed a good puzzle.  My dad was a big fan of puzzles.  We'd always have a puzzle that we'd be working on, using the card table to put it together.  Of course, throughout the years, little games like Wordle, Scrabble, Words with Friends and the like were always an occupation of my time here and there.  I fancied myself as an excellent puzzle solver.  I could usually figure out any puzzle that was put before me.  Expect one.

The Rubik Cube.

I was never able to solve the cube's secret - getting all of the colors on their own side.  I was never able to solve the progression - turning the cube this way and that until finally all the colors were on their own side.  Out of the blue, I suddenly decided that I was going to do this.  If there was one puzzle that I was bound and determined to solve, it was going to be this one.  I picked up the original Rubik's Cube from the nearest store and started to work on figuring it out.  I have no qualms about using Goggle to help me figure this one out either.  

But I ran into a little bit of a problem right away.  I could not figure out how to get the cube out of the package!  All of the writing on the package was in French (I think).  I took two years of French in high school, so I could tell that there were no specific instructions on how to "ouvrir le paquet" - the French translation for "open the package").  I twisted the package - no luck.  I looked for a tab that might spring the puzzle from its package - not happening.  I even Googled how do you open the package of a Rubik's Cube?  

Nice!  The first hit was the following: To open a Rubik's Cube package, simply locate the sealed edge of the box, usually a glued or taped section, and carefully peel it back to access the cube inside; most packages will have a designated tear line or tab to help you open it cleanly.  Well sure, that seemed easy enough, once I knew the answer.

Solving the Cube will be a different story.  It's complex.  It's not easy.  And don't let them fool you into thinking it's so easy a three-year-old can do it.  Lies!  Nothing but lies!  Even having all of the technological advantages of hundreds of digital clues, it is not that easy to solve the Rubik's Cube.

I think there is a parallel between my inability to solve a puzzle block to solving some of the great mysteries of life: What is the meaning of life?  What did I do to deserve this bad luck?   Why do I press harder on a remote-control when I know the battery is dead?  Why do I always forget where I put my keys?

Just joking on some of those, but it is true that some of the most perplexing mysteries of life may never be solved - in this life.  I've learned to be okay with that.  I don't have to know the answer to everything.  In fact, if I only know a few things, that's good enough for me.  I know my family loves me, even though I am clueless sometimes.  I know that the Vikings may never win the Super Bowl in my lifetime, but I still enjoy watching them each Sunday.  I know I am a better than average pastor, or so I've been told.  And I know that I am not perfect, but I'm not supposed to be.  

And one more thing - I know that Jesus loves me- this I know - for the Bible tells me so!