Page 14 - My Faith Mag MARCH 2016 web
P. 14
OPINION
Lessons
FAronm gry Birds
BY WALDO MALAN
I have been playing the mobile game, Angry Birds, for about two years single pig in a mighty swoop!
now. It may be longer, but I cannot really be sure. Since my first pull on The player must use the birds strategically, aiming an accurate trajectory
the slingshot to eradicate one of those pesky little pigs I was hooked. by launching the birds from a slingshot to kill off the pigs.
Currently I am busy studying, analysing, strategizing and working on
perfecting the levels in Angry Birds 2™, the latest addition to the stable I think by now most of you have already seen the spiritual metaphor
of games from the developers Rovio. emerge just by looking at the game. We often quote the famous
portion out of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in which he describes the
It was during one of the levels that I suddenly made a weird connection spiritual weapons at the disposal of believers. Let us pause briefly here
between the game and my own spiritual walk. The more I thought and look at the description given to those who follow Christ: believers.
about it, the more I started making connections that seem to reflect my It may seem like common sense, but a ‘believer’ must ‘believe!’ A belief
daily struggle with piglets that pop up all over the place. is simply confidence in the truth or existence of something not immedi-
ately susceptible to rigorous proof. This means that even in the face of
For those of you not familiar with the game, allow me to give you a vigorous opposition or different opinions, a personal belief is unshak-
brief introduction. The basic strategy of the game is that the player gets able. Therefore, if one is labeled as a ‘believer’ then in our spiritual
a number of birds that are launched by way of a slingshot to kill off pigs context it means that Christ is immutable and unshakable.
of all shapes and sizes that are hiding behind walls of stone, glass and
wood. Some of the pigs are clever and try to escape by way of air bal- Now, a result of a believer’s belief is an arsenal of spiritual weapons to
loons or umbrellas. One also finds really huge pigs (chief pigs) that will help protect and preserve that belief – and the basic tenet of this belief
require two or more direct hits from a bird to eventually be “popped!” is that Jesus is the Son of God and the Way and Door to the Creator
Father. The most aggressive opposition to this belief comes from the
Each player gets different birds with different abilities: there is Red who chief enemy of God, Satan, who will use every sneaky strategy to infuse
has an awesome loud shout that can topple complex structures, Chuck disbelief and doubt into the life of a believer. Since Satan is not omnis-
with some super-speed abilities to crash through wood, Matilda who cient or omnipresent, he employs other spirits in his army to assist him
lays an explosive egg, Terrence whose strength lies in his size and can in spreading doubt, fear, hopelessness and despair. I never realized just
bulldoze just about through anything, the Bluebird triplets – Jay, Jake how strong a competitive spirit I had until I tackled Angry Birds 2! Usual-
and Jim – who combines their abilities threefold, the exploding Black- ly, playing games are meant to be relaxing and a ‘time-out’ from reality
bird who is a flying time bomb, Hal can reverse in mid-flight like an ace – in essence a simple means of escape from the doldrums of life. How-
aviator, Bubbles who balloons up, pushing obstacles and threats aside ever, in my attempts to blast those little green pigs off the face of the
when threatened, and lastly, the Mighty Eagle, who can clear every game, I often find my blood pressure rising and my heart beating faster!
14 | MARCH 2016 CLmyfaithmag.com
