The Board Game Faith Newsletter, Issue 32
Hello, Board Game Faithful!
Kevin: It’s Lent, folks, meaning it’s springtime in the Northern Hemisphere. Crocuses and tulips and buttercups are popping from the ground like weird vegetarian Venus Flytraps with their mouths sewn shut.
Daniel: In some Christian circles it is a tradition to “give up” something for Lent. I have to admit that my practice of letting something go for Lent has been hit or miss over the years: my experience has often fallen more along the lines of the old quip, “giving up food for Lent doesn’t make me think of God more; it just makes me think of food more.” But this year, thanks to a friend’s encouragement, I’ve decided to try to give up work email on my phone. I deleted the app yesterday! It doesn’t seem nearly on par with the ancient monastics who would fast for days on end, but I guess it’s not a competition.
Behind the Episodes
Kevin: I tried out the side by side format for our recent YouTube video. I always thought I preferred the one speaker format because it was more like traditional TV or video interview, but I think I’m wrong. For something like BGF it creates a bit more of a community feel if we are on screen at the same time. It’s like two Dionysian gods, glowing, on a Canadian tundra.
Daniel: I really like the new format too! Plus, the next time we release a video, you might catch a glimpse of the new podcast mic my wife Kristen bought me for my birthday. It’s the same kind as Kevin’s, so I’m hoping it can cover up some of my vocal amateurishness and create at least a partial illusion of something a little closer to Kevin’s masterful podcasting skills. We shall see…
Coming Up
Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals! After talking about this amazing book for weeks, we are really looking forward to diving into it next episode. “What does a time management book have to do with games and faith?” you ask. Good question! Please check out the next episode to find out.
Games We're All About Right Now
Kevin: ISS Vanguard is so cool! It’s like Gloomhaven if it involved space exploration, dice and risk management, and a notebook for the homework between sessions. And if that homework was actually kind of fun because of the notebook and cards and upgrades, because it was always a bit lame in the town of Gloomhaven – get a town event and then figure out your stats. With Vanguard you get to start Research Projects!!!!
Daniel: Switch & Signal is a great cooperative that doesn’t feel like anything else in our collection. By making joint decisions about which track switches and signals to flip, you work with your teammates to try use your fleet of locomotives to pick up and deliver goods across Europe as efficiently as possible before the game ends. I really like it!
Spirituality
Kevin: James Clear’s Atomic Habits is great. It traces the science and current thinking behind human behavior and change. He argues that small (atomic level) changes will yield long term changes in who you are and your identity. I especially appreciate his words about identity. "What you do is an indication of the type of person you believe that you are—either consciously or nonconsciously." "Your identity is literally your 'repeated beingness.'" It makes me think of Dante and how he stressed that our desires, when twisted by sin, become vices, sins, and then our final doom. No one starts out wanting to be difficult, negative, angry, or unpleasant, but over time we can become that person if we do not guard carefully our hearts, actions, and habits. As Christians, we are constantly practicing the habits of being Christian and being like Jesus: the small things that yield, over time, great changes.
Daniel: This past week we celebrated Ash Wednesday at our church. For those of us unfamiliar with it: Ash Wednesday is the start of the season of Lent in the Christian church, and worshippers typically observe it by receiving a mark of ashes in the shape of a cross on their foreheads. It is hands down one of the most bizarre observances of the Christian year. And also one of the most meaningful. It may sounds like a downer to be reminded of our mortality, but there’s something actually very liberating about it. When we let go of our need to be God and embrace our limits, it’s easier to find a kind of freedom and permission just to live our lives being who we really are.
Media We're Digging Right Now
Kevin: I somehow missed The Visit (HBO Max) from years back. Holy cow is M. Night Shyamalan at his genius best here. It’s so genuinely creepy but you’re not quite sure why. The kids are so great; Night is so amazing with filming kids and getting such believable performances. If you like horror movies then this is an absolute must. In literary matters I’m reading C.S. Lewis’ Till We Have Faces, his very beautiful and moving novel about the Greek myth and love story of the human Psyche and the god Cupid.
Daniel: Joe Pera Talks with You might just be the greatest television show ever made. As a friend described it, it’s like Mister Rogers, but funny. And yet, it’s funny not by mocking Mister Rogers’ style, it’s funny by fully embracing and celebrating and delighting in it. Plus, the show is more than just funny. It also aims at celebrating gentleness and kindness and a slowed-down life. It is sublime.
Though I recommend watching the episodes sequentially, I especially want to lift up Season 1 Episode 6, “Joe Pera Reads You the Church Announcements.” That episode could be the greatest 11 minutes of television I have ever watched. The show streams in the U.S. on Max.
Special Announcement
The newsletter is going monthly! After this edition, the Board Game Faith newsletter will be coming out once a month, rather than every two weeks. We’ll see you back here in 4 weeks! Thanks again for all your support - we appreciate it more than we can say.
Thank You!
Thanks so much for being a part of the BGF community. We are grateful for each of you and the ways you make the world more awesome. And if you haven’t had a chance to tell us a little about yourself yet, we would love it if you could fill out this form please!