Hello,
I am sorry to say, but I have become antisocial.
A couple of years ago, I was visiting my son who lives in
NYC, and every time that I hopped on the Subway I noticed that a large number
of the people who were riding with me had no desire to see who was on the train
with them. They were locked into
their “smart phones” playing games.
It seemed very anti-social to me.
Alas, I have joined them. This past summer when my previous “dumb phone” was up for
upgrade, I found myself upgrading to a “smart phone”. (I am not quite sure why they call it a smart phone….it
hasn’t made me any smarter, but more reliant on technology.) Although I didn’t want a smart phone
because I am too cheap to pay the extra internet hookup, I was told the only
dumb phone that I could get was the same one that I was turning in, and I
didn’t like it for a variety of reasons.
So now I carry a smart phone….and I have become anti-social, pulling it
out as I wait at doctor’s offices, relaxing at home, drinking a cup of coffee
at a coffee shop, and I probably would pull it out on the subway except for the
fact that there is no subway between Stahlstown and Greensburg, Pa. And when I lock myself into my cell
phone, my game of choice is Solitaire (I know….how boring!). But for me, that is the point of it
all, to do something to pass the time that requires little to no brainwork or
dexterity…..thus Solitaire.
My same NYC son said some years ago that he couldn’t
understand the attraction to playing solitaire, because it is a game where
winning is totally dependant upon the luck of the draw….no skill needed, no
strategy to implement, just taking the cards you are dealt and flipping through
a deck and making the best of it.
Although I don’t usually get very philosophical about
Solitaire, it occurred to me that Solitaire mirrors life. Sure, just like Solitaire there are
some strategies, like clearing spots for kings, that can lead toward
winning…but sometimes the cards, no matter how you play them, leave you
short….and my phone is quick to rub it in my making this nasty musical sound
that reminds me of water being flushed down the toilet.
I don’t know.
Does playing Solitaire help me to deal with the lack of control that
comes with living life? Maybe in
some small way. Maybe it reminds
me of the truth of which “skill” games belie, and that is that in the end life
really isn’t a matter of strategy and brains….in the end life has more to do
with things completely outside of our control.
But there is something, that I believe, about life that
Solitaire also belies, and that is that life isn’t ever solitary…it is always
“dual-itary” ( I know, that isn’t really a word.). That is the essence of the Christian faith, that the one who
is behind all that we will ever know about the universe has joined us as we
take the cards that are dealt, and adds a rule of his own to the game, and this
is it: no matter how the cards are
played or the outcome of the game ( that is, one’s life ), his word, “I am with
you” is the final word. Not,
“you’ve won” or “you’ve lost”, but “I am with you”. This rule…this rule that God adds…was shouted from the cross
for the world to hear when Jesus said, “It is finished”…. was spoken with the
splash of water in Baptism for you to hear in the words, “I baptize you in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”….and is whispered to you
when you come to the table, “This is my body given for you….this is my blood
shed for you,”…and on the day that you die your dead ears will hear, “come to
the place that I have prepared for you, for where I am, you will be also.”
When we find ourselves soloing Rich Mullins song, the song
of Solitaire, “We’re not as strong as we think we are (check it out on youtube)….God
adds God’s voice and sings along, the song of Dual-itaire, “I’ve got you in my
hands, and I’m not letting go!”
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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