I don’t know where the fascination started exactly. I’m assuming it had something to do with a few family members driving them around at the time our dynamic duo came into the world, but they are unexplainably fascinated with the Jeeps wrangling around their neighborhood and beyond. It seems to be the most important part of our processing-the-day discussion with them as they start to cave into bedtime: if either of us parents went to work that day…“Did you see any Jeeps?!?!?” But it doesn’t stop there, for the details are essential for their curiosity fascination’s sake. What was the color (exterior and interior, by the way), were the doors on or off, and most importantly, were there any duckies on the dashboard (and of course, how many and what color were all those duckies), must all be covered to satisfy the toddler Jeep enthusiasts (who already have their exterior/interior colors picked out for their future adulting purchase).
[For a background story to those Jeep duckies, feel free to read this article from The Charlotte Observer: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/know-your-704/article279381184.html]
Part of that growing fascination was a red and blue Jeep that “lived” on our street. They seemed to make or break the success of any walk around the block. If the red and blue Jeeps were home, the smiles and giggles were seemingly capable of captivating an entire neighborhood with their giddy-ness. Evidently, the little things can still matter in this world, I suppose.
Of course, in recent weeks, those red and blue Jeeps seemingly vanished: a “For Sale” sign almost depressingly emerged in front of their home. There was immense disappointment for our dynamic duo, to say the least…but not too much, surprisingly enough. After all, there are still plenty of other Jeeps wrangling around their neighborhood and beyond. And there are many other items of interest for toddler curiosity fascination’s sake: gnomes and cats and rock gardens, among other things. Evidently, there are plenty of precious little things that matter in their world, which tends to carry over to the parental view on the world as well.
It also leads daddy to wander into the theological side of our human fascination. Not just about where our fascination with God starts exactly: whether that’s Holy Spirit or we’re born with some kind of God-gene or it comes through baptism or whatever else. I’m more so interested in what exactly fascinates us about God now, and if that changes drastically or more…subtely over our respective faith journey.
For instance, there was a time I was fascinated with God being the eternal ticket to golden arches and streets of heaven. And even though my understanding of post-earthly living has changed, there was still that fascination with the finale of it all. At other times, I was more so fascinated with God being the One who was furious with the most vulnerable being treated with disdain, and insisting the rest of us do better in ensuring that all children of God are on the receiving end of love and compassion and hope (but that insistence being a gracious empowerment as opposed to guilt-ridden judgment).
But now, I’m more fascinated with Jesus’ weeping (John 11). I’m fascinated with God being human. I’m fascinated with God being so incredibly Almighty, yet more than willing to being so incredibly broken, and not just on Calvary, but today, alongside us too. I’m fascinated that God can be so in the depths of our brokenness, but still possess the same power that annihilated sin and death. I’m fascinated in that holy both-and.
I’m fascinated how that can carry over to being appreciative of the…not-so-little-things anymore, to the point that such an outlook on the world shouldn’t be overly cliché-y. That there can be Resurrection-esque power in smiles and giggles over certain vehicles with duckies wrangling around our neighborhoods. After all, there’s plenty of death and sin still wrangling through our lives, to say the least. In certain instances, to be sure, that should make us downright furious, leading us to further clinging to the hope-filled God who will insist on gracefully inspiring us to bring more love and compassion to life. And well, if fascination over a few duckies on some Jeeps helps some (of any age) to spread a little more of those…not-so-little-things of hope to life; well then, amen (so let it be)!
In Christ,
Pastor Brad