Store Up Treasures in Heaven

Many of you know that we had our front bumper completely replaced and marks removed from the rear bumper 1 1/2 weeks ago after an encounter with a ditch.  Our front bumper had actually already been damaged, so on the whole, paying the insurance deductible to get the whole thing replaced and finally looking good again wasn't so bad.  I picked it up from the autobody shop and thought, "Ooh la la, it looks better than when we bought it!" 


Suddenly I have pride in my vehicle again.  I like it to shine.  It'll be clean.  We'll ride about in style.  While we're at it, maybe we should get the carpets in the house cleaned and upgrade some of the furniture and...and....

And after about a week of that subtle materialism creeping in on account of our slick Honda Odyssey, I re-dented and scratched the front bumper this morning. That photo is from after the accident not this morning, so the van is still significantly improved.  It doesn't looked like a cracked eggshell, just a dent and some unattractive scratches.

 Backing out of the library parking lot, I turned to sharply and hit a boulder that was "protecting" the grass but that I couldn't see (I assumed I was clear there and turned right into it).  Bang.  Dented again.  I would have thought bumpers were more resilient since I was only going 3 miles an hour!  But anyway, it struck me as a sort of cosmic chastisement against the subtle wiles of the world.  Count me chastened.  I will store up my treasures in heaven.