Let’s accept for the moment that Life can be viewed as a Game.
The rules of any game define its play and determine the rewards possible. Kids are real good at trying to change the rules mid-game to adjust the play and, hopefully, make the rewards favor their position (and, sometimes, they’ll want to change the rules just to see what happens—flexing their creativity).
Before I present some of Life’s Rules, I want to mention just a bit of game history:
There are two games that could claim the oldest tag: The Royal Game of Ur and Senet. Both were found in tombs since the respect afforded games back in the 2000-3000 B.C. era was so high—spiritually powerful in some estimations—the rulers were given a game to play while they roamed the realms of the afterlife, helping them cope with the dangers of the Journey.
Some links on game history:
Astral Castle
Senet
So, if Life can be viewed as a Game, what are the Rules?
It used to be said that Life doesn’t come with Instructions. Some rely on the old (and generally true) adage, “Mom knows best.”
It can be difficult to discern the Rules of the Game of Life. There are so many Players, each hoping the Rules they’ve been using will help them reach the Rewards they seek—so many different sets of Rules, so much disunity—that we witness in our Family’s history conflict after conflict, all based on particular rulers’ sets of Rules, all played to secure material rewards (even those that claim a spiritual purpose).
If you believe there’s a spiritual foundation to Life—if you think there are Principles that can help the Rider of Soul control the Horse of Body—you will eventually discover that Life is a Game that demands Sacrifice, Compassion, Courage, Honesty, and many other virtuous Rules.
We struggle to stay in the Game, we change the Rules when we feel we’re losing, we play with fervor when the Reward is within reach. Let’s hope we all can learn the Spiritual Rules of Life—learn them so well we don’t make others run from our Game, know the Rules so well we don’t abandon them when the Rewards seem far away and our poor physical Horse gets frustrated and tries to throw off the Soul-Rider…
Spiritual Quotes:
“O ye beloved ones! It is the moment of the ecstasy of the soul and consciousness and the season of running in the arena of sacrifice! Show ye kindness to all; be ye engaged in the refinement of the souls. Become ye as ignited lamps and adorn ye the orchard of being! These days are swiftly passing and this mortal life will remain fruitless and without result. Therefore, while there is yet time and the arrow is in the bow, enter ye the chase and strike ye the game. This game is the good-pleasure of God, and this chase is the merciful Providence; that is, living in accord with the divine instructions.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá v3, p. 573
“The young prophet from Nazareth was indeed asking of His auditors a great deal. He was asking them to give up usages and customs, ways of thought and habits of belief which had been honoured among them for centuries and which had become firmly entrenched in the hearts and the lives of all. He called upon them to trust themselves, soul, spirit, and body too, to the new teaching of one who offered them no recognised human credentials whatever. The crisis was indeed a test of spiritual faith and of moral courage. It was meant to be so. It was designed to separate the true-hearted from the insincere, those who genuinely believed in God from those who played a game of make-believe.
George Townshend, The Heart of the Gospel, p. 118
The next post will explore how we actually play the Game of Life…
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