There Once Was a Boy

There once was a boy who had plenty of toys. These toys kept him interested only for so long for he figured them out in a few touches and a few times of playing with them. What seemed like the most interesting toys only lasted so long once he began to play with them. No toys would satisfy his curiosity nor be capable enough to entertain him. One day, that boy saw a toy lying there and it was shimmering. Something different, something spectacular in that toy drew him to it and so he went. And the boy spent just a few minutes with that toy and realized he wanted it for Christmas! Or his birthday! "Please God I want that toy!" said the boy in his prayers. But another boy came and claimed ownership of the mysterious toy that was once lying there so lonely. The boy gave the toy back and watched from the sideline as the other boy spent time with the one of a kind toy. One of a kind it was. This toy was nowhere to be found, no matter how high or how low the boy searched. Turns out, this toy was a special toy. It had to choose who it wanted, not the other way around.

As the boy grew older, he went to find more interesting toys but they were never like the one he had set his eyes on. Even when he found the bestest of them, better than the special one, inside...deep inside, he wondered if it would be like it. How that one is doing? Is it well polished? Taken care of? Is someone spending time with it so that it is not wasted? Although he gave all his love and attention to his most treasured toy when he played with it, it could never ever be 100%. He told his toys that and they knew. Unfair to his most treasured toys, he found himself feeling guilty at times. That one toy, that special toy which was never his, clung deeply to his desire to see it again, touch it again, spend time with it again. And so time went on. Nothing changed.

Then the boy grew into a man. Now with more life under his belt, the man has clearer eyes to see the world and all that is in it. That special toy, what does it mean to him now? The man thought and thought and finally came to a conclusion. A conclusion that is dark and bitter yet truthful. It destroyed the dream of the boy - to see, touch, and spend time with the toy he never had. The man realizes the foolishness of that dream. What did that toy do to deserve such high praise in the boy's eyes anyway? Nothing at all. The man wise from God realized that his mind is a powerful tool. If he places emphasis on a subject then it can and will become important, meaningless, drive for success, cause of failure or a deep desire. He had realized that all along, when he was a boy, he placed an unfair love onto that toy he couldn't have for no reason. And just like that, the special meaning of that toy is no more. The once shimmering special toy that held so much interest to the boy is now just any other toy to the man. The man with eyes of reason is not blinded by the amusement of the toy anymore. Overlooking the toy has never been so easy. Yet the man continues to search for the perfect toy - this time a toy that means something real not just perception: a sturdy, interesting, thought provoking, useful, beautiful, and unique toy. The man found that toy once...but it broke because he was careless with it. Broken toys are never revived. They're left there for someone else to pick up and fix. All the man could wish for is that another man, greater than himself would find that broken toy to piece it back together.

This time, the man sits patiently waiting to see which toy God will decide to drop into his lap. This time, the man promises God that he'll take good care of this toy. This time, the man can give his whole heart undivided to the toy because the once special toy no longer holds a dividend for his love. This time, it will finally be different.