Journey...

Growing up, one of my favorite video games was one we borrowed from cousins. It was for the Nintendo and had a gold cartridge. It was titled "The Legend of Zelda". The premise of the game was that you were a lowly farm boy named link who was to become the Hero of Legend. As you progressed through the game solving puzzles, the main character, Link (or whatever name you chose for him) would gain skills, find tools, upgrade tools, and eventually the transformation would be complete. Since the original, there have been many Zelda games, each starting on same premise - Link is a relative nobody and he has to develop into something special. Some of the games do contain a bit of mysticism and on occasion there are pagan gods and goddesses mentioned, but the overall premise is the battle of good vs. evil, light vs. dark, etc.

Most recently, I've been playing the newest release in the series - "Skyward Sword". I find these games to be a great mixture of puzzles and action and enjoy spending a little of my spare time on them. This probably seems a little off my usual topic lines, but I'm getting there.

You see, in many ways, we are like Link. We start life as nobody special, except to our loved ones. We are born completely helpless. Then we begin to grow. We learn new skills and acquire tools that we can use in life. We solve problems and overcome obstacles. I know that very few of us will have the skills we acquire include sword fighting, and even fewer will ever find a special sword or shield as a part of our development, but just as these tools were vital to Link completing his mission, our tools will be vital to our mission. Being a software engineer, I had to come by the knowledge of writing software, a skill I continuously update through learning newer and better technologies. I had to acquire tools, such as the programs we use to write code. Finally, I had to learn to apply these skills to the new tools and those I'm not defeating a boss, I am solving puzzles daily.

Similarly, I had to learn skills in parenting (the art of discipline, patience with a small child, and knowledge of what was good for them). I had to acquire tools as well, such as diapers, baby clothes, and a crib. Marriage is much the same. We have to learn about our spouse and become better husbands/wives. We get tools that help our marriages thrive.

In short, the point I am trying to make is that our lives are journeys. God tasks us with solving the puzzles, by gathering the knowledge and tools, in order to get to the ultimate goal that he has set out for us. In essence, much like Link rescuing Zelda from whatever trouble she is in, we are tasked with doing the mission God asks us to do and in so doing beating the game of life to get to our heavenly goal.

And now, I'm back to my mission...