It's All In the Game

When I was a kid, I used to play board games with my cousin Larry all the time.  We had a consistent pattern in that I rarely won.  In college, I met my best friend Ron via a love of Monopoly.  Whenever we get together, the board games come out.  Ron's visits are the only time I can be sure my nephew will come to see me, as he always wants to beat Ron.  My college roommate Paul and I decided to room together in order that we could play Strat-O-Matic Baseball.  After college, we would get together every Christmas for a tournament, which he won with regularity.

Yes, I like games.  Some of them I'm good at.  Others . . . well, I won't say I stink, but there's an aroma permeating from the area when I play them.  But I try.  I have several versions of Monopoly, ranging from Chicago Cubs to Batman and Robin.  (The Mega Monoply is a blast.)  As a matter of fact, we're in the midst of creating two different board games.

But the most interesting game that we play is life.  Yes, it is a game.  In O.B. Rozell's "Of Winners, Losers, and Games," we observe how people are pawns in this game.  Good and Evil battle it out, with their minions aching to be used.  Good has Peace, Patience, Love, and Joy.  Evil has Hate, Anger, Greed and War.  Whoever gets their minions used first in our daily battles first is the winner of the game.

Now, merely because Rozell's work is a one-act play doesn't mean one shouldn't take it seriously.  While this thirty-minute play is entertaining, it reminds us of how we should act during our trails.  Which four are we going to choose?  Sometimes we choose a few from each side.  But which of the sides are we going to allow to emerge victorious? 

The winner of the game is up to us, and no one else.