Sudoku

Most mornings I pick up a Metro newspaper on the way to work. It's a free newspaper, distributed at the railway station for commuters to read. It doesn't have a crossword to complete (shame!) but it does have a series of Sudoku puzzles, and I seem to be getting quite good at these, managing to do the easy and intermediate ones, and 'still being challenged' by the tough ones. Yes, it's a waste of time, but a distraction from commuting (which I dislike intensely). I also use the games page in the Metro to jot down any stray thoughts, usually things I recall from an earlier sermon, bible study or worship song, that's still kicking around in my head. Sometimes I find that this helps centre my mind.

When starting today's puzzle, I jotted down the words 'God Can Do Anything' on the page, a stray thought from another blog that I had read over the weekend. If that's true, He can even talk to you while you're doing a Sudoku puzzle, if you're open to Him. This is what struck me today:

• The puzzle cannot be solved by maths, science or by trial and error. It can only be solved by application of logic.
• So many people fail to see what it's all about. They only see a jumble.
• If you do nothing, you won't get any clearer view than you already have, you'll be no nearer to a solution.
• There is a perfect symmetry, a pattern, which it will take you time to find.
• Depending on the situation that you find yourself, there will be certain elements missing. It's only by working out and adding the missing parts, that the puzzle itself will start to become clearer.
• Solving a problem in one part will reveal a way forward in another part.
• Once you've completed one puzzle, they'll be another that you need to solve...

"When we can't piece together the puzzle of our own lives, remember the best view of a puzzle is from above. Let Him help put you together." Amethyst Snow-Rivers