Jo Bower's Blog

I play a computer game … don’t worry, it’s one of those “good for your mind” games… well they say it is anyway. Face it, I play it while I watch television since I can’t do just one thing at a time. After confessing I both play computer games and watch more TV than I should, shall we get on with it?

This game is one of  those grids where you move patterns around so three tiles of one pattern fall together in straight lines. As three of the same pattern converge,  they are removed from the grid. New tiles drop down and points are awarded.

The more I play the game, the more fascinated I become with its applications to my life. Sometimes it’s easy, and everything drops in place, and I play a long time without even realizing how long I’ve played. Sometimes, there is one match and the game is over! Sometimes there is only one match left, and if it is in just the right spot, it reinvigorate the game, allowing the game to continue a long time. Sometimes when you make a match you hear just one click. That one match didn’t influence any other pieces enough to cause any other pieces to match. And sometimes with one match, the board clicks and flashes and changes. Sometimes everything is all lined up, but all the tiles are going the wrong way – slanted instead of on the grid.   

Let’s say the tiles symbolize decisions, opportunities or life events. You can come up with all sorts of symbolic applications to your life.

 But I’ve learned the best way to have a long, enjoyable game is to concentrate on the lower half of the grid. When I decide which tiles to use or move, looking toward clearing out the lower tiles, it gives space for new tiles to drop into and keeps the entire grid changing. If, however, I concentrate on the upper tiles, eventually there are no spaces for new tiles to drop into, and everything locks up.

If we say the lower half of the grid represents that part of our life not always visible, it can be neglected as we concentrate being what we think people will approve of. Concentrating on what people will see.

I’ve come to think of this lower part of the grid as symbolizing my relationship with God and the basic ‘why’ God has given my life. If I neglect that basic relationship with God, things go on fine for a while, and new things come to keep me. But sooner or later, the bonds of the relationship weakens, then gets all clogged up with no place in  my  life for new ideas or spiritual growth it drop into. I fall into a locked, unchangeable place. And new ideas, new methods, new ways of doing and looking at things haven’t got a chance.

 And if I neglect the God-given ‘why am I doing this?’ in my life, I eventually become disoriented. I no longer know what direction God has for my life. If there comes a time I no longer why I do what I am doing, I face burn out.  And I become gridlocked.

So, I pray, God remind me why I am doing this. I pray God to remind me why I play piano, why I study, why I write, why I work with children. And God faithfully reminds me. Why God? The prayer is no longer a ‘Why did this happen to me, God?’  It is ‘ Remind me God, why I live my life for you!’