The history of humanity is a history of perpetual puzzle-solving.

Who are we? Why do we exist? Where do we come from? Where are we going?

And those are the more profound questions. Before we even get that far, we are on a continual quest to understand the world we live in, and the mechanics of that world.

The questions are so complex and inter-connected that we have broken them down into sub-categories, each with its own group of specialists that labor to answer their portion of the grander question.

We have chemists who research the interactions of chemical compounds and how to best apply them to human life. We have doctors and biologists who work to understand how human and animal life functions and how to correct malfunctions. Physicists struggle to understand the mysterious forces that govern our world and beyond. Astronomers peer into the heavens, looking for answers to the secrets of the universe.

All of these disciplines, and many more, strive to solve the myriad of questions about our existence and the existence of the universe itself. All of them focus their efforts on their specialty.

None of them even begin to grasp the totality of the grander question – a question so profound and complex that it defies description. It is a question so complex that it can only be considered by breaking it down into those various components.

That grander question cannot be answered in human terms because it involves concepts, energies, and forces outside human experience. It also involves the incredibly complex interaction of all the elements, known and unknown.

Imagine a huge jigsaw puzzle that requires all the pieces to fit in a precise pattern in order to complete the picture. Imagine further that each piece was, in itself, a complete picture of its subject. Imagine that each piece required adjacent pieces to “cooperate” in the fitting process.

Now imagine the process of assembling the puzzle to require eons of time and effort. Imagine that there is always a search for that critical missing piece.

That might begin to describe the human efforts to understand our existence and the existence of all that we experience. It also provides a glimpse into the mind of God and His gift to all of humanity – the gift of perpetual hunger to understand.