Mr. Peasant on Toys and Tools

 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I became a man, I put away the things of a child.

1 CORINTHIANS 13:11 DOUAY-RHEIMS

Children love to play. They will play games or just make noise or do whatever will grate on their parents' nerves. Children also love toys. These toys can be bought from a store, or they will make toys from sticks and trash. When I was a kid, many sticks in the woods would magically transform into six guns or pirate swords. Playing with these things and in this way helps to spur development and growth.

Many of the toys of children resemble the tools and equipment of adults. It could be a fire engine or a train set. It might be a plastic hammer and a screwdriver. Children aren't mature enough to play with the real things, but their toys point to a future adulthood filled with tools. This is a good thing.

When boys become men, they put away their toys, and they pick up their tools. The police officer has his gun and baton. The soldier has his pack and his rifle. The farmer has his tractor and his rake. The mechanic has his wrenches. The carpenter has his saws and hammers.

When the toys turn into tools, this may make the fun come to an end. But there is satisfaction in using tools. Tools are how men get work done and make the world a better place. Tools are how a man provides for his family and feeds his children.  A tool is an extension of a man and his being. Tools are serious things.

Some men prefer not to grow up. They want to return to their childhoods playing with toys. So, they rob from their families and buy sports cars that are impractical, so they can pretend to be James Dean. They buy Harley-Davidson motorcycles in order to pretend they are rebel outlaws. They buy private planes to pretend to be pilots when it would be cheaper to drive or fly on a commercial airliner. They buy boats to pretend to be sailors or sport fishermen. Or, they buy a set of golf clubs to pretend to be Tiger Woods. They buy guitars to pretend to be Jimi Hendrix. Or, they buy rifles and bows to pretend to be hunters.

These toys for men are ridiculous. They cost a great deal of money and are usually bought on credit. They take away time and money from the family. Then, they end up collecting dust in the garage after the fun has worn off. Meanwhile, the family car remains parked in the driveway because it won't fit in the cluttered garage.

Men shouldn't buy toys. They should buy tools. They should be practical focusing on doing work instead of playing. Men will tinker on the motorcycles or their boats in the garage, but they take the car in for oil changes. They will justify hunting and fishing by claiming to eat what they kill or catch, but they won't spend a minute planting or weeding a garden. They will spend entire weekends with their recreational vehicles, but they pay a service to come mow the lawn.

There is a time and a place for playing. This would be shooting hoops with the kids in the driveway or tossing the football on the front lawn. This would be spending the day hiking with the family at the local state park or playing board games at the kitchen table. These things are fun, inexpensive, and foster greater family bonds than spending thousands of dollars at the country club pretending to be a golfer instead of a drinker with a set of golf clubs.

Many men aspire to buy a Corvette or an RV. Precious few decide they should get a tractor or some woodworking tools or even a decent shovel. What a man chooses to spend his money on says a great deal about his character. A man who spends his Saturdays in a bass boat is very different from the man who spends his Saturdays in the seat of a tractor. The difference is that one of these fellows is still a child. The other one is a man. Be a man not a child.