Pokemon

If I adopted an approach in my spiritual life that were a little more like the approach my second son took with Pokémon cards, then I might actually (one day) have something of merit to present to Our Lord…

Madonna (Man Ray)

From a very very young age, my children collected Pokémon cards.  I never really saw any harm in it.  I would buy the cards cheaply online and then I would keep them packed away.  When I wanted to incentivise my children into behaving well, I would promise them a Pokémon card at the completion of the behaviour and the y would have great pleasure in going through the whole pack and choosing the card that they wished to use.

They would then be allowed (as they grew older) to take those Pokémon cards to school and to trade them with their friends, they also chose to trade the cards with their cousins when they caught up with the family.  In this way if they had duplicate cards, they would be able to trade those cards with others so that they could collect different cards.  And the children traded to cards for different reasons.  Some had cards that they wanted because they liked a particular character.  Others had cards that they wanted because they were shiny or textured or rainbow coloured.  Other times the trade was made because the card was in good condition.  And then, there were the trades for money and value.  As the children grew older, they wished to trade cards so that they would be able to “invest” in cards that were more rare and therefore more valuable than other cards.

Once, my second son, traded a whole pile of cards for just one card because he considered that card extremely precious and wanted to add it to his collection.

Over the years my older son and my younger daughter decided that Pokémon cards were no longer interesting to them and over time they gave their cards away – to younger children (to start them on their own Pokémon journey) or to my second son.

Now, my second son is on a mission to sell his Pokémon cards.  They are sorted and categorised in order of value, and he is working to sell them one by one so that he can invest his money into other things.

And I have been thinking about that.  You see, that child has the most valuable collection to sell because he was always driven by the underlying value of the card.  Therefore, he acquired a collection of Pokémon cards that were more valuable than the collections of others.  And it occurs to me today that this understanding of true value is something that applies equally to our spiritual lives.

Just as my second son saw value in cards whether he liked the character, colours, texture and/or design or not, so too does God expect us to see value in the things that He sends to us, whether we like them or not.

Suffering – for example – is incredibly valuable to us.  And yet, most people (including myself) flinch at the idea of suffering and try to reject it).

And  it occurs to me today that if I adopted an approach in my spiritual life that were a little more like the approach my second son took with Pokémon cards, then I might actually (one day) have something of merit to present to Our Lord…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.