by Pastor Ken
Recently, I watched some YouTube videos about abandoned storage units being auctioned. After the purchase, the buyers dug out the contents one by one to check if there were things of value. At times, I saw the original owners’ collectibles. Whether they are Star Wars products, Barbie dolls, or baseball cards, the owners must have cherished and treasured them. It was sad to see them being abandoned and auctioned off.
Reflecting on my childhood, I loved collecting stamps. I carefully cut stamps from envelopes, soaked them in water, and air-dried them. Then I sorted them and put them on the stamp album. My father noticed that and handed over his collection to me. My mother sometimes corresponded with foreign friends and gave me those stamps. Eventually, I became the family philatelist. I counted we had stamps from 108 countries in the world. As of today, I still keep more than a dozen stamp albums.
For a while, I collected the spin tops. When traveling around the world, I always paid attention to locally made spin tops. Later, I found that there were too many varieties. So, I concentrated only on the wooden ones. To play them, you either pull strings off them or turn them by your fingers.
I also collect teapots. I started off by using a different teapot for a designated tea, mainly for pleasure. Gradually I acquired more and more. After my friends and family learned that I like to drink tea, they gave me teapots from time to time. So now I have accumulated a few dozen of teapots. Together with numerous teacups and accessories, those items take up quite a lot of space.
In fact, the meaning of collection is about the process. Every item has a story behind it for us to learn. We need to spend time appreciating them. Each stamp represents a certain era in a place and its currency value at that time. For each spin top, it’s the memory of the city and the local shop from which I made the purchase. Regarding each teapot, the story is about its materials and manufacturing. It is about why this pot is suitable for brewing a certain kind of tea. When I can no longer remember what I own and the story behind each item, it’s a signal for me to stop collecting. Enough is enough. There is no point in adding more to that collection.
Some people collect to make a profit. However, when you try to sell it, the price may be lower than you expect. Other people collect things to show off, but personal collections are rarely comparable to museums. After all, the significance of a collection is that when you still have energy, you can take time to enjoy it. After you leave this world, outsiders or even family members probably only want to know whether the items have any value. If there is no value, most likely your once cherished collection will end up in Goodwill or in a landfill.
