Faith | Toys offer a metaphor about reconstructing our inner selves

What is it about toy trucks and toy construction equipment that fascinates little kids?

Along with dinosaurs and actual big rigs (including garbage trucks), kids can’t seem to get enough of these toys.

They know all their names and functions, will play for hours indoors and out, will watch countless related videos, and are eager to describe them in detail to all who will listen and even to those who won’t.

While I am no child psychologist, you will understand as I turn my attention to four toy rigs suitable for children under 5: an excavator, a bulldozer, a front-end loader, and a dump truck.

Forgiving any insult to your intelligence, please bear with me as I briefly review each function.

The excavator excavates, duh! The “digger,” in a child’s parlance, digs holes and trenches of all shapes and sizes.

It removes the undesired materials to prepare for the desired construction of building, wall, road, or what have you.

The bulldozer (“pusher”) does just that: pushes the excavated materials into piles and can also level off the ground to facilitate the new base or foundation.

The front-end loader (“loader”) also heeds its name, loading up the piles of materials in preparation for removal from the work site by the last and best-known piece of equipment.

The mighty dump truck (“dumper”) completes the job by hauling away the excavated, piled, and loaded stuff that is no longer useful at the present work site. “Dump” is a great descriptive, easy-to-pronounce name, an onomatopoeia with two hard consonants.

What child doesn’t delight in repeating “Dump!” over and over ad infinitum, ad nauseum? But I digress.

Allow me to apply my observations. I think these four toys present a terrific four-part metaphor for the necessary inner work we all need to do on occasion to stay healthy, vital, and functional.

Which of us, when faced with non-functioning beliefs or toxic relationships, or needing a new way forward in life, does not need to first do some reconstruction of the old way?

This is spiritual or soul work because it is dealing with what is deep down, dealing with what matters most to us as human beings. Perhaps the biblical prophet Isaiah moonlighted as a spiritual construction engineer—check out Isaiah 40:3-5.

What metaphorical dirt, rock, roots, and old unstable foundational things need removal? What needs to be dug up and maybe also leveled off? Applied here, what in your mind, heart, and soul needs reconstruction?

There may be physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual aspects of life that require serious release and redo.

Such inner work takes hard sustained attention; it is not a casual random weekend project with a small shovel and rake. When necessary for new life and growth, only the right equipment and commitment will do.

And just as trained workers rather than kids operate the big rigs, so too does much of this soul work need to be guided by professionals trained in psychological, theological, and spiritual workings. So, with God’s grace, let’s get digging!