The braided pretzel

While eating some miniature pretzels this afternoon, I couldn't help but think how life sometimes resembles a pretzel, whether it is shaped like a stick or like the photo to the right. But, I pondered, is there anything more twisted than the photo to the right? And then it came to me--a braided pretzel. I'll point out some characteristics of each shape and let you create the meanings of each for yourself.

A pretzel shaped like a stick has a distinct beginning and end, though it can be difficult to determine which is which.

A pretzel shaped like the photo to the right has multiple paths with a couple of distinct ends. However, it you nibble off the protruding ends, it becomes an endless shape of turns, kind of like the symbol for infinity only much more complicated.

And then there is my concept of the braided pretzel. A shape where everything is so intertwined that each part of the braid continues along the same path, even through all of the twists and turns. Once it seems like you've found the end, you actually end right back up at the beginning.

After making up my own mind about the pretzel, I then decided to do some legitmate research about the history of the pretzel, finding that there are many claims of origin, but many historians consider them apocryphal. What I found interesting is that the pretzel is often considered a religious symbol for Lent, which is the 40 days leading up to Easter. Apparantly in the old Roman Empire circa 4th century, fasting christians shaped their breads to resemble arms crossed in prayer, using the Latin term bracellae, meaning "little arms." From that, the word bretzel was used and then it turned into the word pretzel.

I would be interested in learning my readers thoughts as to what I mean by the different shapes of pretzels and how they pertain to life.