After the game is over...

I was driving to a New Year's Eve celebration last week...a low key affair, just a small get together with family members.  While channel surfing for some nice music, I stopped momentarily on a church service being broadcast...I remember these New Year's Eve services being called Watch Night Services, and I have never been to one in my life.

The pastor was talking about how much fun we can have playing Monopoly...hours of fun.   I enjoy Monopoly, so the topic caught my interest enough to leave the radio dial alone.  I was curious where this discussion of Monopoly was headed as the centerpiece of a New Year's Eve sermon.  I confess that the ending caught me by surprise!

Monopoly isn't everyone's favorite game, in part because of the competition...in part because it's one of those games that usually takes hours to play.  I can remember many times when we didn't really finish at all...we got tired after a while and just quit.  But there were times when we finished.  Some players went bankrupt along the way, others hung in 'til the bitter end, and there was a winner who ended up with most of the property and houses and hotels, and lots of money.

But then the game was over.  We put away the real estate cards and Community Chest and Chance.  We separated the money into its proper denominations to put back in the box, along with all of our game pieces.  We scooped up the hotels and the houses, folded up the board and put it all in the box.

Here's the twist that really struck me, and not in a maudlin or negative way at all...Monopoly is very much like my life...and like yours.  We play the game, go to school, buy properties and pay our utility bills...and then eventually, it's over.  All of the things we've collected over the years are put away...sold at an estate sale or inherited by family...and they put us in a box, because our game is over and the playing is done.

I thought it was a profound and healthy reminder on New Year's Eve...   I've said it before and I'll say it again; I'm more of a philosopher than a party animal, so I understand that most people wouldn't be enamored of such a story on the biggest party night of the year! 

Still, it's a reminder to play the cards you've been dealt.  Roll the dice and keep making your way around the board.  Buy properties and enjoy the game.  Take things in stride and remember that someday soon, your game will end and they'll put you in a box. 

It's a good and wise lesson to keep all things in perspective, and to live the present with your ending in mind.