Faith like a Child’s … Toy: The Ring Stacker

Here is a common toddler’s toy, the ring stacker. This particular stack has four rings to it. The blue ring is the smallest, followed by the orange ring as the second smallest, then with the yellow ring as the second largest, and finally the green ring is the biggest. As with any child’s ring stacker, you would expect that the rings only fit right when placed in the right order. While it is great when a child learns how to get a ring on the post, the learning is not done until they learn what order allows all the rings to fit.

Take a look at the picture to the far right. Ask yourself for a moment if that is the right way to stack these rings? You may notice that there is an order to how the rings were stacked, in increasing size, but the rings don’t all fit on the post when the little blue one can only go down about half way before getting stuck. I would expect any parent to be proud of their child if they continually came up with this order, because it shows reason and effort, but that does not mean the child has learned how to correctly stack the rings on the post.

Here is another example. Are these rings accurately stacked on the post? You might think based on the picture that all of the rings fit on the post, but the yellow ring does not get all the way to the base. You may notice that the rings are again logically stacked on the post though, this time in alphabetical order based on the names of the colors of ring; blue, green, orange, yellow. Again this would be another noble effort by a child, again proving the use of reason and effort, but still not meeting the intention of the toy.

So what am I getting at? Well, this ring stacker is proving two truths about life simply through these pictures.

1) There is indeed absolute truth in the world! Regardless of your religious persuasion, everyone would agree that the first picture was the correct way to stack the rings on the toy. Even though a child can use logic and reason to create what they think to be the right order of the rings, the right way to get all the rings on the post is by putting them on starting with the largest, and then following each ring with the next biggest ring. I would not be surprised to have some people disagree with my reasoning here, but in regards to this toy, there is only one right way to make the rings fit; one absolute truth. If there is an absolute truth in regards to this simple toy, what other absolute truths are out there in the world?

2) A Creator has the right to establish absolute truth! With regards to this ring stacker, the right way to stack these rings was determined by the company that made the toy; Funtime Toys Inc. Anyone has the right to protest and challenge what the correct way to stack the rings may be, but the creator designed the toy with just the one way for all the rings to fit right.When the toy was created, it was not intended to be stacked in any order the playing child wishes, nor does a wrong order suggest that there is something wrong with the child’s effort. Simply, there is one way to be right, regardless of any other thoughts or plans.

So before I conclude this post, allow me to relate this to something much more important than playtime. There is absolute truth to life, and the author of life, the Lord God himself, established these truths at the dawn of creation! One of these truths is that if we disobey the will of God, we are guilty of sin. Romans 6:23 establishes another truth for us, telling us that the wages of sin is death. However, the verse does not end there. The passage tells us that the gift of Christ is eternal life! We could spend plenty of time debating numerous issues related to these truths, but as the ring stack illustrates, truth can indeed be absolute, and the creator of life, The Lord, has determined what those truths are. I encourage anyone who gives this post a read to consider what has been written, and if you would like to understand more about God and his truths, find a Bible and start reading.

Written by Timothy Hegerich

There is truth in our world, and it lies within the word of the One who created the world.  It is my prayer that my thoughts and writings echo this truth and inspire you to seek it for your life today!