iPhone Dots And Duet: A Desultory Ditty

So I finally broke down and got a smart phone. So far I've kept most of the eye candy off of it, but I do have two games now: Dots and Duet.

Both games are quite addicting, but I think I'm on the recovery path. Here's how it played out. (Pardon the pun.)

I sat down to pray this morning in my regular place, but made the mistake of checking email on the iPhone. And saw Dots.

And decided to play "just one game."

Drive: (Keep Playing Until You Win.)

A number of games later, I had begun my own personal psychoanalysis.

I was starting and restarting the game. Repeatedly.

Why? Because my experience has been that only a good starting position will get you an awesome final score.

(Then again, maybe I don't understand the game very well.)

I want an awesome final score. So I'd restart dozens of times until I got a good opener. That made the game a bit more fun.

Until I started to feel like a despairing gambler staring with glazed eyes at a well-lit one-armed bandit. This got me thinking about life.

Delusion: (If I Can Restart, That's Better!)

Most people are not born at the top. If babies were cognizant at birth and had the choice, perhaps they'd play life like I'm playing Dots.

African sub-sahara. Restart.

Alcoholic and abusive parents. Restart.

Inner-city single mom. Restart.

But in God's sovereignty, it doesn't work that way. Good? Bad?

Despair: (Is There Nothing More?)

Interestingly, Dots affords me (and the rest of the 99%) a chance to experience the despair of inherited wealth first-hand.

I read a book once, titled "Navigating the Dark Side of Wealth: A Life Guide for Inheritors". I didn't need to. I'm not in the 1%. However it fell into my possession for free (which is a big deal for us 99%-ers...)

So I read it. It's a very good book. In it, the author points out something I had never really thought about before. It goes like this:

American society is well-structured for those who are seeking to become wealthy, but it has no guidance for you once you get there.

It was worded better than that, but that's the gist of it.

Dots helps us 99%-ers because we have the luxury of hitting restart until we get a winning game. And if Dots were rejigged a bit, it'd give us a winning game right from the start, every time.

And as soon as you realize that you're always winning? Despair.

What's the point of this stupid game? It's just a bunch of dots.

Welcome to the dark side of wealth, my friends.

I know. We all sing the same chorus: "Punish me that way, God."

But reality is brutal. Once we have dots, wealth and everything else... we discover they were not enough. Is this all there is?

Degradation: (This Game Is Taking Me Down...)

So that's the morning story on Dots. But last night I was playing Duet. (Just one game, you understand.)

Duet is unlike Dots in that Duet leaves no room for excuses. Win or lose, the results are directly attributable to your own actions.

Duet is to earned wealth as Dots is to inherited wealth. For the first few days, Duet was fun. It felt good to strive, improve and overcome.

But last night a gnawing feeling arose in me: "This is pointless." Dots and Duet had taken me to the same place by different routes.

Speaking for myself, No matter which game I play, I end up feeling like a slug. Like my soul needs a bath.

I was supposed to be praying this morning. Half an hour later, I have only this to say: "There went 30 minutes of my life I'll never get back."

Last night I could have been praying or reading a good book. Half an hour later? "There went 30 minutes of my life I'll never get back."

There is always a place for little mindless Diversions and Distractions.

The problem is, here in America we treat Dessert like it's Dinner.

Deliverance: (Returning to a Life of Prayer)

What am I trying to say? I guess it's this. Video games and other forms of entertainment consume whole lives here in America, leaving slugs on sofas to mark what never happened.

Prayer, on the other hand, rarely consumes whole lives. But when it does... oh my! Life in close communion with God is rich and fulfilling beyond what words can express.

Ironically, that's most of us want. But our choices take us far astray.

How sad that in search of excitement this morning I turned down my best option (prayer) and chose instead the shortcut to despair.

Tomorrow, I hope to choose more wisely.

Denouement...

No deep conclusions here. Just a reminder to myself to not let Dots, Duet or other Distractions get in the way of my Devotions.

Psalm 37:4
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.