I don’t think that I was spoiled as a child, and one of the main ways that I can tell is that I was deprived of some of the basic necessities that every other child in 4th grade had back in the early 90’s: an original Nintendo. We were a computer family beginning with the Commodore 64 and working our way up through the 286, 486 and then to the Pentium 75, which was a big thing back in those days. So anyways, back to the main point of the message. I was deprived of the NES except for when I went to visit friends who were privileged enough to have one. So when the game Super Mario 3 came out, I was in awe of everyone who could go through all 8 worlds repeatedly beating up the koopas and various other mutants that were thrown at them. Envy ensued.

That was until this summer. This summer marked a new chapter in my life. I was bored seeing as I had 6 weeks off between school and when my job at a call centre started and was sick of watching hours of HGTV and TLC daily (not that there’s anything wrong with those channels). So I petitioned my brother in law to borrow his NES for a while, and lo and behold the next day it was in my possession. So I was in a paradise that I hadn’t experienced until now at 23 years of age. I was doing amazing. Losing 20+ lives per level and experiencing a frustration that I had never experienced before as the same stupid mistakes cost me the level repeatedly. I was seeing my next move every time I closed my eyes and plotting a new way to get through Ice World in my sleep. Then it hit me: I was addicted to the Nintendo and not really interested in doing anything else. Something needed to change…

So I unplugged it and put it away. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to do something like that. I’ve deleted all games off of my computer. I’ve grounded myself from television. I’ve kept myself away from the things that pushed me into this craze that I wouldn’t survive if I didn’t get more.

It’s easy to get addicted to something. Anything really. Some people find solace in drugs or alcohol, but others find it in the mundane things of life such as Mario, or surfing the Internet, or sometimes even exercise. Many things can become so necessary in our lives that they take away from the things that matter most; like God, family, friends, and living in community. Notice that the items in the aforementioned list are all about relationships. And notice that if you’re addicted to something it can detract from those relationships and leave you as lonely as you would feel in the depths of the earth?

So it comes down to this. Keep up with relationships this year at EBC, and further into your life. Don’t let silly, unimportant things get in the way of helping you grow as a person and grow in community. After 8 months of allowing relationships with God and others to help form who you are, see how it feels to be changed a bit, if not wholly transformed. Give it a try.

* Originally Published September 21, 2005 at http://voiceofebc.blogspot.com