Broken Toys

 

Carol and I were up in Asheville a few weekends ago to visit with our son, his wife, and their adorable 16-month old son (or as we like to say, our adorable grandson.) Asheville has been one of our favorite places for many years, long before they ever moved there... in fact, long before our kids were even born. While there, they took us over to the River Arts District to walk through Marquee, which is a large artist's gallery/ antique mall. 

In one of the booths there was an old bicycle, probably from the 40s or 50s. I remember thinking that somebody must have decided long ago that this bike had value and, rather than just sending it to the junkpile, they kept it for all these years. Somebody found or bought it, cleaned it up a bit, and put a price tag on it that is many times more than what the bike sold for when it was brand new. I shared with Carol that, when I was a boy, my 3-year older brother had an old Rollfast brand bike which, well worn and largely beaten up, eventually got handed down to me and I promptly beat it up some more. It finally got replaced several years later when I purchased, with money I had earned one summer mowing lawns, a brand new Schwinn Varsity 10-speed. 

Rollfast

Both that old Rollfast and my Schwinn would probably be worth a lot now despite the fact that they were both well worn by the time I was done with them. I started to think about all the toys in my childhood that ended up discarded... considered to have no more value.

In 1991, I went on a mission trip to Panama to help construct a church building to replace an old raggedy tent they had been using for worship. It was shortly after Christmas (the dry season) and there were dozens of kids around the church site because that time of year was like their summer vacation from school. I remember one kid playing with some sort of stick toy for hours on end. When I finally went over to talk with him I got a closer look at his "toy." Picture a wooden stick with the cardboard insert of a toilet paper roll glued on the end and then a feather glued to the cardboard tube. (I asked AI to make me a picture from my description... see below)

AI's interpretation of it

At least that was all that remained of what his parents originally made for him as his Christmas toy. From a distance, I had been amazed watching him play with it for hours. I was humbled deeply when I saw up close what most of us would consider a sad, useless bunch of trash glued together. Despite its current condition, this "broken toy" was still very valuable in this sweet boy's eyes. He could not have been more proud of that toy. After all, it was a gift. But most of us don't have the same attitude as that little boy.

I think sometimes our attitude towards people can be similar to how we think about broken toys. Broken toys are no longer useful, right? But what about broken people?

People that battle with alcohol or drug addiction. Steer clear of these people. They're not worth the effort. Talk about broken.

People that have failed. Failed in school, failed in business, failed in marriage. Failures. Failure may be contagious. Ease away from these unsuccessful folks.

People that are struggling and their struggles make us feel too uncomfortable. Debilitating physical illness, mental health challenges, terminal disease, ambulatory problems. These toys are no fun to play with anymore. I mean, they don't even work right. Let's just play with the unbroken ones.

We live in a disposable world. In many cases, that disposability makes things easier and more convenient. I think some of that disposability has carried over into other parts of our lives, our relationships, and our society in general. Disposing of people can also be easier and more convenient rather than showing them that they still matter and have worth to us. 

People shouldn't be disposable or forgotten. Even the broken ones.

Maybe especially the broken ones. Broken toys still have value.

To the Main Page