The way out of this is through it.
Jessie Waters.
I have several friends who love to do jigsaw puzzles. I do not. However, I see analogies between thinking and jigsaw puzzles.
It is estimated that the human brain has 100 billion cells, which are interconnected by extensions of their neural tissue. Picture an octopus with a body and eight legs. Now imagine billions of nerve cells, each with dozens if not hundreds of cellular extensions reaching out and touching the “legs” of neighboring cells. And when these brain cells send out electrochemical signals that reverberate through the network, the thought process occurs allowing humans to write essays, books, poetry and to interact with billions of other humans on this planet. As the Psalmist wrote, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).
We hear much these days about AI (artificial intelligence), yet the human brain is the pinnacle of creation on planet Earth. Some areas of this complicated organ control basal functions like digestion, circulation and breathing. Other areas conceptualize (praxis) and then initiate motor/muscular functions, while other areas make movements fluid and control balance. And in the area above your ears, there is a repository of the stored data, which we call memories. However, the frontal cortex of the brain above your eyebrows is where the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are connected to produce thought.
Have you ever observed that cats do not have as high a forehead as a dog and certainly less than humans? Cats and dogs are good at being cats and dogs, but don’t expect them to think deep thoughts because the frontal lobes of their brains are much smaller than ours. It is in the frontal lobe that abstract (general) concepts like love, freedom and justice are conceived. My dog thinks in concrete terms (particulars) about the food in her bowl, whereas I can consider her nutrition.
And it goes further. Some weeks ago, I wrote about the difference between the brain organ and the mind. The brain can be seen and touched. The mind is a composite of our thoughts and is elusive. While considering the differences, 17th century scientist and philosopher René Descartes went into a darkened room alone to limit external influences and concluded, “Cogito ergo sum,” (I think therefore I am). This difference between the brain and mind is known as Cartesian dualism. Our mind, our essence, our soul transcends the organ and body.
I was drinking coffee with a friend recently when the notion of jigsaw puzzles as a metaphor of thought came to mind. We were actually discussing my essays and the writing process. He was surprised to learn that my writing avocation began with daily spiritual journaling after 9/11.
Since I was a science guy, writing was only what I had to do to get to the next educational level. (My English teachers would attest to that.) Although early in my medical career, I had published a half dozen medical articles, everything changed when I began organizing my thoughts in written conversations with the Lord. I began to have insights that I had never had before. Clarity of thought might be another description. Additionally, writing my thoughts/prayers helps me to stay focused.
I don’t read what I’ve written over the years. I don’t even know where my old journals are. I think they may be in the attic somewhere. When I’m dead, my kids may run across them and have to throw my musings away. Times have changed since 2001, and I now use my iPhone and the notes application as a digital journal, which will be a lot easier to delete! It doesn’t matter. The Lord knows my thoughts, whether they are ever recorded. Writing my thoughts brings me clarity and focus. You should try it.
I’ve read a number of books by the celebrated Christian author Philip Yancey. I’ll share two of his many insights which have been helpful in journaling. Intrusive thoughts, like grocery items, can be dealt with by jotting them down. Secondly, don’t chide yourself when your mind wanders because, like a trapeze artist, there is a safety net of grace under each of us.
As a writer, I’ve come to believe that you can write about something only if you have more than a passing knowledge of the topic. An example is Walter Isaacson. I’ve read his books about Elon Musk, Benjamin Franklin and innovators of the computer age. His prose reflects a gauge of his understanding. Perhaps an even better example is helping children with homework or homeschooling them. You cannot help someone or teach until you have more than a basic understanding of the topic. In medicine, we said, “Watch one, do one, then teach one.”
Perhaps this is what’s wrong with TV pundits and Congress. They seem divorced from the real world of experience and common sense and are instead motivated by prestige, power, politics, party and money. Take, for instance, the United Nations. United by what? Certainly not by anything common-sensical or measurably worthwhile for America or the world.
Or consider NATO, whose members refuse to help us protect Persian Gulf shipping, which supplies their oil and LNG (liquefied natural gas). I guess they would rather buy energy from Putin, whom they apparently despise less than President Trump.
Like the UN, NATO is useless. You cannot depend on frenemies who take your money and snicker behind your back. They are feckless and untrustworthy. America’s foreign policy should be to secure the western hemisphere, declaw Iran, stop funding the UN and withdraw from NATO. Since the Euros are so wise and despise us, let them fight Putin.
After all, we’ve got enough on our plate fighting the apocalyptic mad mullahs of Iran and our deranged Democrats who won’t even fund the Department of Homeland Security during a time of war and terrorist attacks in the homeland. And how can affordability have any relevance if you’re dead? Like the deranged Captain Ahab who pursued the great white whale, Democrats will get us killed with their obsession to destroy the great orange man.
Perhaps the Trumpster should educate the Euros and our Dembos about Iran’s Shia Mullahs’ belief in the Mahdi, the “occulted” 12th Imam of the 9th century AD, who can be brought back by their chaos to lead worldwide jihad. Look it up or ask Grok if you doubt me.
