I Looked!
My late husband Ray started a decades-long tradition when he gave me several pieces of Department 56’s Dickens Village for my birthday in December 1989. Ray added to the village each year until he passed away in 1997. I continued accumulating pieces until 2019, when I declared it was complete. With 100 lit buildings and almost twice as many accessories, the village occupies three rooms of my house during the holiday season and requires nearly 20 hours of set-up time over multiple days. Though it’s a labor of love and accounts for the vast majority of my holiday decorating, I realized there was no need to keep adding to it, especially at my age and knowing my offspring may want a building or two and the accompanying accessory pieces, but no one is clamoring to take on the whole village.
Hence, for three years, I deleted the emails I received from the store in South Dakota, where I’d ordered many pieces over the last decade, without opening them. There was no need to look if I wasn’t intending to buy. But one recent day, I was scrolling through emails, and “VIP sale, 25% off!” caught my eye. I opened the email and clicked the link. Surely it wouldn’t hurt to peruse what had been added to the collection since I last looked.
Wow! Turns out it was quite a lot. Just as the cost of everything else has gone up the past couple of years, prices of the lit buildings have sky-rocketed. I admired the new pieces but focused on the more reasonably-priced accessories, consoling myself with the knowledge that the village doesn’t have room for any more residences, churches, or shops. But accessories – that’s a different story! The village isn’t overpopulated – plenty of room to welcome a few more residents and pets.
I Bought!
Occasionally, I’ve added new pieces to the town merely because they were pretty, but usually, I choose items that have a special connection to a person, memory, or tradition. I scrolled through the offerings and started adding accessories to my cart, recognizing first one association and then another:
- “To Keep the Doctor Away,” a lady selling apples, speaks directly to my daily habit of eating an apple and sharing it with my grandchildren if they’re around.
- “Winter Game of Catch,” a little boy tossing a snowball to his dog, is reminiscent of Cash, my grandchildren’s pet, rushing to the refrigerator when one of us runs the ice maker in hopes we’ll toss him a cube or two.
- A couple of garden-related items – no explanation needed!
One by one, the items went into my cart. I removed several before I checked out – no need to go overboard – but seven items were still on the list when I clicked “Submit Order.”
As soon as I did, I thought, “This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t looked,” which immediately led me to think about the age-old pattern of temptation, which often starts with looking, followed by rationalizing.
I Pondered!
Eve wasn’t subject to mindlessly scrolling through email, but she had a wily adversary who directed her attention to the only off-limits tree in her garden paradise home. Reeled in by Satan’s assertion that she wouldn’t die if she ate its fruit, she looked and saw that the tree was good for food and a delight to the eyes. She even convinced Adam it would be ok.
Their eyes were opened alright, but they were no longer delighted as the gravity of their decision closed in on them. The consequences of their disobedience affect their offspring to this day and will until Jesus, the promised Seed, returns to conquer death once and for all (Genesis 3).
And how about King David? He decided to stay home while his men went out to do battle. Not being where he was supposed to be was his first mistake, but the real trouble began late one afternoon. Strolling about on his roof, he caught sight of a beautiful woman bathing. Did he do the decent, respectful thing, avert his eyes, and make his way back into the palace? Nope. He allowed his gaze to linger, igniting his desire. Even when his servant reported that Bathsheba was Eliam’s daughter and Uriah’s wife, it was too late. The king simply had to have her. Just like Eve’s decision began a series of woeful events, so did David’s, including adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11).
Then there’s Lot’s wife. Unlike Eve and David, she didn’t get another chance to repent and return to the narrow path. When she paused and looked back at the devastation God’s wrath wrought on Sodom, she turned into a pillar of salt right on the spot (Genesis 19:24-26).
Granted, purchasing a few accessories for my village won’t have such dire consequences. As my daughter Mary used to say, I wasn’t putting the grocery money at risk, plus my grandchildren happily made the connections as soon as I showed them the new pieces several days ago. However, the ease with which I gave in to this relatively minor temptation serves as a good reminder that heading down the wrong path in more life-altering areas generally begins with looking, lingering, and considering, a pattern James described in the introductory verses above. Before you know it, you can be many steps down a road you never intended to take.
Though our compassionate heavenly Father remembers we’re dust and removes our sins as far as the east is from the west when we repent and seek His forgiveness (Psalm 103:6-14), our wandering usually leads to consequences for us and those we cherish most. Thus, it’s best to stick to the narrow way to begin with, looking neither to the left nor right.
O Lord, we are surrounded by temptations, but Your word assures us that no temptation has overtaken us that is not common to man. Furthermore, You are faithful, and will not let us be tempted beyond our ability, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that we may be able to endure it (1 Corinthians 10:13). Please help us to avail ourselves of the means of escape You provide so that we won’t pierce ourselves or those dear to us with the consequences of our straying.
Several weeks ago my daughter, Mary, found her not-quite-three-year-old daughter, Emma, peering intently into a mirror. Curious as to the cause of her staring, Mary asked what she was looking at. Stoically, Emma replied she had no eyebrows. It was one of those moments when Mary most likely had to fight to control any laughter that threatened to erupt. After all, Emma was quite serious. Her light-blond brows are barely discernible and that, she realized, set her apart from the rest of her darker-browed family members.
Little more than a week had passed since Mary’s recounting of the eyebrow incident, when Emma approached me, tape measure in hand, and asked if I would measure her. I obliged, measuring around her tummy, a place or two on her legs, and both little arms. I knew her request was inspired by wanting to be like Mommy, her very favorite person. You see, Mary uses that same pink tape measure to periodically assess her progress since starting a strengthening and conditioning program last fall.
The incongruence between the old post and new mailbox continued to grate on me, so I gave in and contacted the HOA-approved mailbox supplier. He came to rectify the situation yesterday. Even though I returned home after dark last night, I breathed a sigh of relief when the new post-new mailbox ensemble appeared in the light of the street lamp. Ahh, the incompatibility was gone.
Of all the fruits and gifts of the Spirit, love reigns supreme.
I can still hear the pitiful meowing in the background when I answered a call from my daughter Mary on that fateful summer day. Mary’s first words were, “Please don’t say no, Mom!” Mary was a rising senior in high school at the time and was on the cross country team. After her initial plea, she went on to explain they’d found some kittens upon arriving at school for the morning run. The one I heard mewing had been extricated from a crack in the stairs by Justin, her then-boyfriend-now-husband, and Mary wanted to adopt her. I told her I’d consider it. She called back at the appointed time an hour later and, in a moment of weakness or perhaps temporary insanity, I said yes. What was I thinking???
Back 2 the Garden 