There, it's out in the open. When I made this Lenten vow I thought that it would be a good exercising in purging some toys that I have been hoarding but not really enjoying - 40 days and 40 Transformers that I should have gotten rid of long ago - and along the way I'd seek to learn a lesson about my own propensity to amass unimportant (and it pains me greatly to use that word here) stuff rather than focusing on the eternally important issues of personal righteousness and social justice. I have always been serious about the commitment (and frankly the daily blogging of this adventure has been much harder usually than parting with the toys) but I didn't think that it was going to hurt as much as I realize that it's now going to.
That's because my auditing skills leave much to be desired. I'm only now realizing that I'm down to the final three figures in the "I'm prepared to part with these pile" and I'll have sixteen days to pick away at the "I have no intention of getting rid of these" section. I'm going to have to sift through sixteen of my most favoured toys to part with to keep up my Lenten commitment. That means that it's likely that every single Transformer in my house could be gone by the end of Lent (Many of my most treasured figures are all on display in my office at church - but a significant number are at home) - my wonderful wife will be struggling to hold back her excitement and demonstrate a modicum of sympathy but I'm feeling crushed.
Perhaps that's a fair result. Perhaps despite my best intentions to straighten out my priorities I was still giving God leftovers. When we were in Guatemala, the team was getting together every night and working our way through Francis Chan's Crazy Love; and one of the chapters in that book was entitled Serving Leftovers to a Holy God. Many of us on the team talked about how convicted we felt by the accusation that we were holding back our best from God and instead giving him what we thought we could afford to part with - whether it be financial, in our time, with our energy, our relationships or our own level of comfort and security. We gave God that which we didn't think we needed and many of us talked about how that was something we needed to change. Consider what Malachi says:
“But when you present the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly?” says the Lord.Malachi 1:8
Perhaps I'm starting to realize that although my intentions were good, that I haven't been going far enough. If I'm not willing to give to the point that it hurts am I really willing to give at all or am I just interested in clearing shelf space for future frivolous purchases? Perhaps this is God's way of testing my resolve and the seriousness of my commitment? Well I know what the answer will be - and that answer must be "yes Lord".
So rather than delay the inevitable and stretch out my collection as far as possible by listing the following figures individually (something that falls well within the scope of my original pledge) I'm going to be listing the final three second class collectibles all at once. So I present to you the end of my "B" collection and beginning next week for the remaining 18 days of Lent I'm going to be giving God of my best.
So here today I present to you Legends Class Universe minibots Wheelie, Cosmos and Warpath. These figures are modern reinventions of the classic G1 minibots. They are about the same size as their namesakes but the engineering has come leaps and bounds since the early 80s and the transformations (well except for Cosmos) are wonderfully intricate. Next week we dive into the really good stuff beginning with one of the only remaining authentic Generation One figures in my collection.
Until Monday,
Chris
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