Here’s a deck of playing cards I created for my family this past Christmas. The featured characters – Funchy, Punjee, and Bob – were originally created by me and my brother and later fleshed out in my college newspaper strip by the same name.
In case you’re wondering, Funchy is the older gentleman with glasses. He’s the father of Punjee (green shirt) and Bob (maroon shirt). The former is a tremendously naíve – yet charming – young man with an unflappable upbeat demeanor about life. Bob is more serious, calm, and collected – closer to what you might call “normal”, though he’s got his own quirks. After all, he and Punjee are brothers. Of course, the two of them get their traits from their father.
Funchy, however, is far from naíve. In fact, he’s a rather knowledgeable chap. He’s an avid reader, knows many languages – ancient and contemporary – and has a somewhat obscure past. Whenever a teachable moment arises, he’s quick to pull out a long-winded, often complex and/or ridiculous anecdote that inevitably digress into rambling rabbit trails. That is, in fact, one of his many subtle flaws…
But such “flaws” or “quirks” don’t always have to be a negative thing. In fact, how we use and respond to our own flaws can go a long way in building wisdom, character, and overall self-esteem. And, let’s face it, none of us are perfect. God built us all from the ground-up, and he knew full-well before we were even conceived which strengths and which flaws we would have (Psalm 139:13-16). He also knew what he was doing when he set us into motion (Jeremiah 29:11 – God speaking to the exiled Jews in Babylon).
Heck, even the apostle Paul had a flaw – what he described as a “thorn in his flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). But, rather than responding to it (whatever it was) with despair, he instead viewed it as God’s way of keeping him humble. So it ought to be with us. We’re not perfect beings, nor should we pretend to be. How we respond to our inherent flaws will determine who we become as people. And, as a Christian, I firmly believe that we cannot truly redeem our flaws without the aid of God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9).
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So, speaking of rambling and rabbit trails, I seem to have pulled a “Funchy” – so to speak. In any case, I hope something I wrote meant something to you. Or, at the very least, I hope you enjoyed looking at the deck of cards I designed.
Until next time…
God bless, and good night!
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