Since I formally semi-retired from my writing career, I’ve developed a genuine enjoyment of doing crossword puzzles.
Where I formerly used my pen and pencil to jot down notes for stories, articles or research work, I now keep a pencil, eraser and game book close by. I’m not sure why I rarely do other types of posers but the thrill of finding exactly the right word to fit into the right space intrigues me.
Beginner versions of the game are easier but as the level of difficulty increases, so do the options. For example, a clue might read “dry” and two options immediately come to mind: arid or sere. My next move? Check out words going in the opposite direction – which of my initial choices would fit in with that or those words?
For you veterans of the game, that’s a no-brainer but it was a skill that I had to learn.
That was one of the easier obstacles; the greatest are those few spaces where absolutely nothing fits. Paper, worn nearly through with erasures, and my brain, weary from trying to find or make up a word, testify to the difficulty of some of those puzzles close to the end of the book. In frustration I often set the thing aside, go on to another then return the next day.
Sadly, I usually end up looking up the answer, only to discover a word I’d never heard of in my life or one so obvious that I groan.
What’s this to do with life or God? Everything. We can’t figure out all life’s mysteries, have no solutions to “spaces” that we simply don’t understand.
The Christian’s strength and hope is in the faithfulness and the wisdom of God.
“Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God.” Isaiah 50:10
