Rubik’s Cube

I know that even asking this question will date me, but how many of you have ever owned a Rubik’s Cube? Now, be honest, how many of you ever solved one? I’m told that there are those who can solve the puzzle in less than a minute with only about 100 correct twists. That’s amazing, considering there are more than 43 quintillion (43,252,003,274,489,855,999) possible wrong turns. Compared to the number of possible wrong turns you can take with your life, solving a Rubik’s Cube is a snap.

Simon Peter obviously had made some wrong turns in his life, because, when the miraculous catch opened his eyes, he saw not only who Jesus was, but also who he was. “Falling down at Jesus’ feet, Peter said, ‘Go away from me, Lord for I am a sinful man.’”

Perhaps, that is the point of the extraordinary events in life we call miracles. Although they are not really magical, we all have moments that leave us shaking our heads in wonder or confusion, mystified that, just when we thought we had it all figured out, something happens that just doesn’t fit neatly in our little scheme.

These surprises, interruptions, interventions may open us to experience God, but they also allow us to see ourselves. These moments may allow us to admit what it true about us and let go of some of our sense of control, arrogance, and presumption.

We all are broken, wounded, imperfect people. Despite all of the pretense and the façade we keep up, we spend half our lives tuning and the other half playing out-of-tune. In our more honest moments, we know the truth, though we are rarely brave enough to admit it even to Jesus.

By randomly twisting a Rubik’s Cube once a second, every second of your life, it would take 650 billion years before the odds favor you solving the puzzle accidentally, yet we seem to believe we can accidently get our life right in a mere 70 or 80 or 90 years.

By Michael Piazza
Co-Executive Director
The Center for Progressive Renewal