Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Hi again. Yes, it has been a while. I'm sorry, ok? :(
That's what this post is about, actually. You see, I haven't been around much lately because I've had my head buried in books, or taking notes, or just generally mulling over a bunch of stuff. And not my usual, aetherial, God-related, head-in-the-clouds sort of stuff like soteriology, missiology, culture, philosophy or any of the -ism's, either. Nothing even nearing the (oft-lacking) usefulness of these subjects, unfortunately.
What *have* I been doing, then?
At the risk of sounding like even more of a nerd (or a devil worshipper, to some...), Richard (go to RichardSpace) and I have gotten back into an old highschool pasttime... roleplaying. Yes, I said it, and on the IntarWubs for all to see, too.
And even worse, we've subverted the potentially indie-cool Brad (who lives here and here) and lured him into the coolness-sapping world of RPGs. It's over for him now, even though he still trucks with the terribly cool Annie Shannon. I think I deserve a +2 halberd for that, or at least some extra XP. (note: the preceding line was a really terrible DnD joke, and if you don't get it, you should count yourself lucky)
Beyond the damage that this does to my already fragile social standing, I am aware of a danger in all this stuff, despite the fun.
What the problem is not...
First, I want to say very clearly that I don't believe any of that Jack Chick crap about Dungeons and Dragons luring people into Satanism or roleplaying games prompting suicide. Just as listening to rock music or having a glass of wine doesn't invite demons to eat your soul, playing a game does not open you up to "dark forces". I don't think that I even need to go into all the reasons why Chick is a wackjob. At least I hope I don't.
The problem that this stuff poses for me is of a different variety...
What the problem really is...
As you may know, I am a bit of a "thinker". I think a lot, I dwell a lot. I think that I have an obsessive personality. When I find something that grabs my attention, I think about it until I can't think about it anymore, often leaving other stuff (maybe the last thing that grabbed my attention) by the wayside. This may sometimes be good (being obsessed with learning more about God, or investigating how culture really does interact with current expressions of Church), but at times it becomes nothing more than delving into a fantasy world as a way of escaping the humdrum tedium of "real" life.
There's the problem, though. The fantasy world of roleplaying is not real. The real world is. The real world is where we are now, where God is, where people are suffering and dying and needing help. The real world is where we are called to go, where the harvest is waiting, and where we are needed. It's fine to read books. It's fine to write books. It's even fine to make up a character and play them in a roleplaying game (which is almost the same, in my understanding.)
There's nothing wrong with being entertained. But we must, must recognise that we're not here to be entertained. We are here at the desire of a sovereign God. We are here at the command of our King whom we love. We were born for him, we were saved by him and for him. He is the "author" of our story, and it's not right that we whittle away our time on someone else's creation while we neglect our place in God's creation.
So yeah, this is preachy, but at myself. I am fasting roleplaying games, not as some sort of "I'm so holy because I'm not reading a certain book", but because time is a precious, fleeting thing, and I don't have enough of it to go 'round. God needs more of my time. The family that God has gifted me with need more. The wife of my youth needs me to be there for her. The Church needs me to present. My friends need me to listen. The world needs me to act. And God commands that my priorities be in order. There will be no other "gods" before him, no idols of pleasure and entertainment. Nothing else which pleases me like him.
"Thou and thou only, first in my heart
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art"