Playing the Game
I am an avid player of the game Bejeweled, the whole series, be it Bejeweled 1, Bejeweled 2, or the latest installment, Bejeweled Twist. I find the game very fun and mind challenging, especially Bejeweled Twist. It also challenges one’s ability to observe quickly.
The goal of the game is to match at least three jewels of the same type and colour to eliminate them from the playing board. The more the number of jewels matched, the more special the outcome will be. You get special gems for combining more than three jewels, as well as long combos. Points are awarded for matching those jewels, more if in continuous chains. There are also bonuses here and there if performance is maintained.
But this is what I’ve notice after some time of playing. Because of the goal of the game, I have become conditioned to see the patterns of the arrangement of jewels in the game, patterns that enable me to make moves. It helps me to be able to make moves faster, where you see the pattern and immediately you react by making the move. Over time, you will get used to seeing those patterns, and speed increases. The downside, however, of this conditioning, is that you loose the ability of being more creative. You lose the ability to make different kinds of moves, moves that can score even more points. You get so used to a certain style of playing that you do not see new possibilities present on the game board. And when this happens, you reach a plateau, a maximum point in which you will be able to play the game, no longer able to be better.
Can we get so used to playing the game a certain way we lose creativity? I think so. Now what about the game of life? I know, life isn’t exactly a game. But in the same way that we get conditioned in games to do things a certain way, we can also get used to doing things a certain way in life that we lose creativity in life. We become bound by routines and habits. We take the same paths each day, greeting the same people, doing the same things. There's no room for deviation or exploration. Nothing new is done. Life becomes a boring routine, with little or no life in it. No longer is there the adventure in life, the one we had when we first begun as kids. We no longer see new ways of doing things, ways that are better and more efficient, and more effective in those specific applications. New possibilities are not explored. And so we can no longer push forward as well.
This also applies to our faith. Now there are absolute truths that we cannot deviate from. The message of the Bible, who God is and His attributes, these things cannot change. However, the way in which the message of the Bible, the Gospel, is conveyed can. You see, we get so used to doing it one way, we become stagnant. We are no longer able to move with the times, and be relevant anymore. When God wants to do new things in our lives and in our communities, because of our adherence to routine, we are unable to move with God. Sometimes we even refuse to move in the new ways God want to move. Then in our personal walk with God, we get so used to seeing Him one way, we cannot see the other parts of God, which He is trying to reveal to us. We have gotten the mindset that He is a certain way, putting Him in a box, when God wants to smash that box to pieces and reveal His awesomeness. Again we arrive at a plateau, stuck there unable to move, until we break those things that bind, our mindsets, and release God's creativity in our own lives.
So the question is, have we gotten used to living life a certain way, losing the adventure of life, changing it into a boring routine? Have we made our spiritual life a routine as well, never exploring the numerous possibilities with God?
Like
