Game Over

I really do not like the thought of a God that makes things happen Call it destiny, call it fate, call it pre-determination Call it God’s grand plan or deity intervention Call it whatever you want to call it – I don’t like it When people say, “I want to thank God for helping us win a game” Or, achieve a goal Or, beat a disease Well, it implies that God also made the other team loose Or made someone else fail Or selected others to die from the disease I hope God is not playing favorites I hope God is not sitting at the controls of a video game in which we are simply the characters This does not mean I do not believe in God, because I do I just do not believe that God is playing us like a video game God created the universe in which we live But, God did not select us as an avatar God does not move us and those around us with a remote control device Perhaps God works in mysterious ways Well, so too does my son at the controls of Mario Kart, I hope my actions are not the result of pressing Control A and rotating a toggle I do not want to be in God’s video game I want out of God’s wii world and into a world where I can control my own movements I am not Mario; you are not Luigi; and no one, no God, no snot nosed kid sitting in his pajamas at four o’clock in the afternoon on a gorgeous sunny day playing video games in a dark playroom has control over my actions, my feelings or my decisions! Let your religious beliefs guide you as you will – I refuse to believe I am nothing more than a character in some grand video game conceived by a game-playing God. I am real and I defy my programmer – whomever or whatever he/she may be!! GAME OVER … wah, wah, wah … boink