The Stacking Doll by Gail Purath

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23).


When I visited Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1992, new signs of life and liberty were everywhere. After forty years of oppressive communism, the Czech people were learning how to express their new found religious, artistic, political, and financial freedoms. New capitalistic ventures cluttered the beautiful city—artists doing portraits, musicians performing for donations, historians hawking guided tours and others selling handicrafts.

Russian things were despised in the city because they represented the former oppressors, but there was one obvious exception: the Russian stacking doll. These were on sale everywhere because of their popularity with tourists. I had collected these nesting dolls for years, but the ones I owned from the communist era looked like they were wearing uniforms—simple swirls of red and yellow on lacquered wood. Eastern Europe’s former oppressive lifestyle left little time for art, and the dolls I owned reflected the bleak monotony and conformity of communist control.

Thankfully, freedom breeds creativity. Now that the hearts and hands of the people were free, the once plain dolls were taking on a variety of personalities. Some were finely inlayed, some wood burned and carefully painted, some minutely detailed with exquisite depictions of Russian fairy tales. Others were adorned with cheesy caricatures of pop culture idols—politicians, athletes or recording artists. There were dolls crafted by gifted artisans and others slapped together by amateurs hoping to make a quick buck.

I planned to buy one new doll for my collection, and the hunt for that perfect doll was half the fun of owning it. When we travel I always try to do some flea market shopping because it gives me a chance to see a side of the local people that I would miss otherwise. And downtown Prague in 1992 resembled one big flea market. Little did I realize that during my shopping trip I would also see a side of myself I might otherwise have missed.

Stacking dolls beckoned to me from everywhere--on makeshift tables and carts and on pieces of cloth spread on the pavement. After looking around for half an hour, I saw one with bright green and pink accents and bent to pick it up from its sidewalk display. Closer inspection revealed that the doll was not especially well painted, but as I lowered it back to the sidewalk, the bottom section fell out and rolled across the pavement. I chased it down and picked it up to find that the fall had slightly chipped the doll’s finish.

“OK?” the Czech seller asked a bit nervously (OK is a universal expression). I nodded yes, and quickly returned the doll to its display with the chipped section away from the dealer’s vision. But as I walked away my heart sank. I was shocked at the ease with which I concealed the doll’s damage, and an Old Testament verse from Jeremiah popped into my mind: “The heart is deceitful above all else…(17:8).”

In truth, the chipped doll was not my fault. The bottom of the doll must have been loose when I picked it up, but that was not the point. The point was that I’d seen the chip but told the dealer everything was fine. I had always prided myself on being an honest person. Even before I was a Christian, I had a strong conscience. Growing up, I rarely lied to my parents even when the truth brought punishment. I always corrected store clerks who made mistakes in my favor and avoided even those lies we call “white lies.” So why had I so easily and automatically lied about the damaged doll?

As I thought this through, another passage came to mind: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Cor. 10:12,13.)

I turned around that day in Prague, went back to the unsuspecting salesman and bought the most important doll in my collection. It’s not an especially pretty doll, nor was it worth the price I paid, but it is an important reminder of my ability to slip into sin if I do not constantly guard my heart.