by Robert M. Smith
Strolling through
the toy department of a large store can be tremendously enlightening to
even the most dispassionate shopper. Toys of every shape and description
compete for the attention of both child and adult; board games spread
out virtually endlessly across shelf after shelf; sports equipment lines
the aisles and clutters the floors; electronic gadgetry, too expensive
to be left unattended, locked behind rafts of glass counters; computer
programs of every conceivable and inconceivable creature lying dormant,
awaiting the customer who will set them free; dolls, vehicles, aircraft,
puzzles, bicycles, tricycles, wagons. The list grows monthly. The list
is a testimony … and the testimony is not flattering.
Believe it or not,
there was a time when a mere fraction of these things was considered
overkill. Believe it or not, there was a time when most games served a
respectable purpose. They were once used to hone the skill of the
participant. Watch any child, or any young creature for that matter –
birds, cats, dogs, bears, otters – and it is evident that training and
games often go hand in hand. Today that is seldom the priority, yet ours
is an era of unparalleled preoccupation with games. This degree of
concentration, of course, influences us to a far greater extent than we
are prepared to admit however. North American leisure time is bulging
with a variety of games; some of which we do not consider games, and
some into which we place a great deal of value. Because of our attitudes
toward work, personal rights, pain, ecstasy and life in general we have
inundated ourselves with these release mechanisms. Once the
difficult workaday world of responsibility and pressure can be left
behind we may focus our lives upon these all-important fun activities
because they help us to unwind and to forget. They allow us to jump from
the relentlessness of reality into the ethereal and timeless world of
fantasy. Quite a difference from the original intent of games, I might
add. Most of the department store games fit this description but there
is more to the North American game-market than this.
We have allowed
some games, in particular, and most games, in general, to become far
more important than they should ever be. What were initially started as
health-promoting physical endeavors, providing interpersonal challenges
during one’s developing years and during one’s spare time, have morphed
into big, multi-million dollar enterprises. Football, hockey, baseball,
tennis, golf and soccer are supported by eager spectators who often lack
the discipline and determination to play any of these sports themselves.
Men – and increasingly, women – who display specific skills in these
areas are wooed and lured into providing their services for incredible
sums of money. They are paid to play games!
The basic attitude
seems to be that, if one cannot play a certain game to his or her own
satisfaction, the proper thing to do is to pay someone else to play for
you. Thus, on one hand we have a vast audience looking to identify
itself with an individual or a group of individuals who play a specific
game. On the other hand we have the high-priced participant looking to
become “the best” in order to acquire fame, fortune and prestige. All
this from nothing more than a game!
Actually this
should not be surprising for there are many other games that demand and
exemplify the ludicrous as well. Have you ever heard of those great
financial wizards who play the stock market? This is a game that
can cause a lifetime of sorrow by erasing any and all of one’s savings,
earnings or investments in a single “plunge”. Admittedly, some people
have much success at this game but the greater majority is lost in the
dream of stumbling across some windfall. If you do not know your
ponies, your prize-fighters or your greyhounds well enough to bet on,
and if you lack the mental and manual dexterity required in handling
cards, you may possibly gratify your gambling urges by playing with
stocks.
If the stock
market seems a bit too hazardous, with its sudden crashes and daily
swings, any citizen of our country may choose to squander life-savings
on lottery games. The appeal of lottery tickets and the hopes of a fast,
easy million or multi-million-dollar prize have soared to prominence
within the last couple of decades. Along with them, many families,
marriages, homes and lives have found their way to the trash heap.
Lotteries are not only allowed by governments in many countries but are
shamelessly supported and promoted through government funds and
involvement as well. Now national coffers are brimming with blood-money
obtained through what was formerly called racketeering. This type of
gaming chips slowly and steadily away at those who are intent on winning
a lot for a little. It also feasts upon those who are afflicted with
covetousness. With the illusion of the next ticket or the next group of
tickets containing that special formula that has the capacity to
transform a person into the next multi-millionaire in the country, the
dream is kept alive and just within reach. Consequently addiction to the
system is quite easy to contract. If one hears about the odd winner or
two, he/she will likely choose to continue buying tickets regardless of
what our previous experience has been. However, if any ever stopped to
think of the millions who lose with every “draw” and if any ever stopped
to think of the ruination left in the wake of this one-time gangster
related activity, they might react differently.
Video games have
been the most popular item in department stores as of late. In fact,
they have become so all-encompassing that private shops have been
established to deal with them solely and specifically; with all manner
of creatures, vehicles and scenarios flashing across the TV screens and
computer monitors of North America, ready to stimulate and challenge the
individual on the “joy stick”. There are “arcades” springing up all over
the continent where avid fans can melt away countless hours of devotion
playing. This was done to such an overwhelming extent by
adolescents that the British government, in the 1980’s, had banned
arcades from England, claiming that they will arguably tempt the youths
of the nation to waste time, money and precious school hours in front of
them. Whether they have or have not maintained this amazing stance since
that time, I do not know … but that initial posture, in the face of an
oncoming juggernaut, is to be commended for its tremendous insight. And,
here in North America, we continue to provide ample proof of the
precision of that initial British speculation. The tragic aspect of this
particular obsession, however, is that now – in the twenty-first century
– such games have reached the status of role-playing. This
extremely dangerous ploy by major manufacturers of video games has led
to the callous desensitizing of youths who then take their games
to the streets and schools of our nations. With little to no discernment
between reality and fantasy adolescents now live-out the roles on the
computer screen in their everyday lives; all, of course, in surreal HD
colour!
Further
consideration of leisure activities will uncover many more areas wherein
games are found. The dating game that so many of us participated in
allows everyone, in all walks of life, to “play the field” as we have
appropriately coined it many years ago. In similar respects we have
known people who have played or toyed with another’s
feelings or affections. There are also such things as mind games
and playing the fool. Obviously, we could go far beyond the
department store versions into every facet of life with our subject.
However, one must realize by now that there is an overabundance of games
in our society, but the real issue is: how did we ever get to this
ludicrous point?
Well, as stated
before, we have a somewhat skewed perspective on life. The more we are
presented with ways of escaping our own drab existence, the more we sink
into the attitude or mindset of needing and depending upon the fantasies
created by the games of our lives. Our problem is one of
irresponsibility. Being responsible and resolute are presently
considered negative terms and thus to be avoided. We surmise that anyone
who maintains a serious outlook on life for more than forty-eight hours
at a time cannot be enjoying life. However, we often fail to see that
this life must be taken seriously and that our increasingly
game-oriented mentality suggests that we, of North America in
particular, are both negligent and ignorant. We are suffering from a
chronic case of terminal desensitivity. How dangerous and wide-spread is
this problem? Os Guinness provides some of the answer: “Moreover, it
implies the reduction of life to a game. If life has no meaning, then
all that is left, as Nietzche foresaw, is the game plan … Robert de Ropp,
recommending his meditation as a higher game beyond drugs, advises,
‘Seek above all, a game worth playing … Though nothing means anything
and all roads are marked “NO EXIT” yet move as if your movements had
some purpose. If life does not seem to offer a game worth playing, then
invent one. … Any game is better than no game.’
… Leary was once
asked if he would drop out of the drug scene and go to something else.
His reply was in the same vein, ‘I’m ready. And do what? You’ve got to
name me a better game. … I’m ready to give up LSD at a moment’s notice
if someone will suggest to me a game which is more exciting, more
promising, more expansive, more ecstatic. Tell me … I’ll take off my
shoes and follow you.’ Rimbaud had already seen where this game led. He
wanted God but could not find Him through mysticism. He was forced to
conclude: ‘Life is a farce that all must go through.’”[1]
Our
irresponsibility leads to negligence in that we deny the importance of
many essential aspects of life. We have transferred top priority to the
world of fantasy and withdrawn it from reality. Indicative of this
dubious displacement is society’s unhealthy fixation with “game shows”
where covetousness is whipped into a frenzy and greed is applauded. This
transposition has come about because of an insatiable love and desire
for the things that this world has to offer. We end up hoping that
through a massive dose of escapism we shall be able to live a much more
pleasant life. The question that we must contend with is “can such
subsistence be condoned?” Indeed, I am not clamouring for the complete
ban of all games and leisure activities, for they do assist us in many
ways: a) relaxation: it is no sin to relax from time to time; b)
teaching: there are a number of informative games on the market today;
c) preparation: remember the days of “playing house” in our formative
years; d) health: many sports, like badminton and squash are extremely
good for our bodies; d) fun: it is no sin to laugh and enjoy one’s self
– God has never been a killjoy. I am, however, questioning the absolute
obsession that North Americans have with such things; where the accent
placed upon life is fun at the expense of all else. That, my friend, is
not healthy.
Aesop had applied
one of his renowned fables to this fundamental fact of life: A
grasshopper played and danced the waning summer hours away while the
industrious ants worked diligently getting food and preparing for the
coming winter. As time wore on the grasshopper would not – indeed, could
not – change his ways. When summer finally departed, recognizing his
folly, the grasshopper began to plead with the ants for food and
shelter. He was, however, left to bear the brunt of his own imprudence.
The North American mindset is like that grasshopper. Our foolish
absorption with playing games of all kinds and fabricating games out of
every aspect of life leads us to inaccuracy in judging the finer
elements of life. We play around with things that must be handled with
gravity. In this regard we shall, with this book, examine one, specific,
all-important aspect of life: the spiritual side.
[1] Os Guinness, The dust of
death, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1973, Page 268