"Old sayings" become 'old' by virtue of the timeless truths they convey.
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts", is one such 'old saying'. A jigsaw puzzle perfectly represents the meaning of that saying. Although each individual piece of a puzzle is unique in terms of its size, shape and color, yet, when those pieces are properly joined together, an image thus becomes visible which it is not otherwise possible to perceive. The one 'missing piece', in the above image, obviously suggests a cat. Yet, the larger picture--
which can only be seen when all the other pieces are properly assembled--suggests another, far deeper meaning associated with the missing puzzle piece. The cat is thus transformed into something else, as it now becomes a symbol representing
something other than itself, namely: it represents a little girl's
heartfelt longing for companionship of a certain kind. That single piece of the puzzle is such an integral and important part of the larger story. But that story, as such, cannot be 'told', as it were, by any one piece alone (not even by the 'cat' piece, as important as it is),
but only by all the pieces working together.
So is the 'story' of Christ and the Church.
