Games People Play

Seeing God as the Grand Master Chess Player

07/12/2017

Genesis 41:55-57 When hunger came to be felt throughout the land of Egypt and the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, Pharaoh directed all the Egyptians to go to Joseph and do whatever he told them. When the famine had spread throughout the land, Joseph opened all the cities that had grain and rationed it to the Egyptians, since the famine had gripped the land of Egypt. In fact, all the world came to Joseph to obtain rations of grain, for famine had gripped the whole world. The sons of Israel were among those who came to procure rations. It was Joseph, as governor of the country, who dispensed the rations to all the people. When Joseph's brothers came and knelt down before him with their faces to the ground, he recognized them as soon as he saw them. But Joseph concealed his own identity from them and spoke sternly to them.

            I came across a maxim lately that I think carries not only a social lesson, but also a spiritual one. The maxim is “he’s playing chess while others are playing checkers.” Have you heard that before? Even if you are not a “grand chess master,” you probably know the enormous difference between chess and checkers. Checkers is fairly straight forward; red pieces battle against black pieces, and move only in one direction, until they are fortunate enough to become kings. Checker games are short and sweet. Chess, on the other hand, is quite complex: two whole kingdoms wage war, the pieces move in different directions – pawns, castles, knights, bishops – and the most powerful piece on the board is the queen. Women instinctively love to play chess, and wish more men would learn.

            An illuminating illustration of this maxim – he’s playing chess while others play checkers – is the movie, “Casablanca.” Do you remember what Humphrey Bogart is doing the first time you see him? He’s playing chess. But most people do not see the delicious detail that there’s no one on the other side of the table, no opponent, which means he’s playing chess by himself. If you play close attention to the plot of “Casablanca,” you’ll quick catch how Bogart moves through the movie anticipating other’s moves and is always two or three steps ahead of Major Strasser, Captain Renault and Victor Laszlo. In other words, they’re all playing checkers – Major Strasser, the Nazi, is trying to take over the world, Renault is trying to make more money, or Laszlo is leading the resistance – while Bogart is playing chess – trying to help all of them moved by love, but most especially Ilsa Lund, his queen, clearly the most powerful piece on the board. The movie helps us see how many people play checkers, but only a few play chess, indeed, sometimes, only one.

             In the reading from Genesis, this maxim helps us see which “games” Joseph and his brothers are playing as well. I would suggest to you that Joseph is playing chess, while his brothers are playing checkers. How so? A famine has spread over the whole world, and Jacob’s family comes begging for bread from Pharaoh. Joseph has become “prime minister” in Egypt, second only to Pharaoh, and tests his brothers, asking them to bring their youngest brother, Benjamin. The brothers just play checkers – they want food, basic necessities of life – while Joseph plays chess – he desire God’s justice and love, higher and holier ends. Like Bogart, Joseph, masterfully maneuvers everyone to fulfill God’s will – installing the Israelites in the most prosperous part of Egypt (Goshen), helping the people to become fruitful and multiply, but only to reveal how God has stayed two or three steps ahead of them. Most play checkers, but only a few play chess.

             My friends, what game are you playing? Are you simply laying a sort of “checkers” in life – chasing after money, sex and power – missing how magnificent the drama of life really is? How sad it is to see so many people think that the purpose of life is to maximize pleasure and to minimize pain. They merely play checkers. On the other hand, if you look through the eyes of faith, you’ll see laid out before you a spiritual and supernatural chess board, where two kingdoms wage war – the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan – where history unfolds not because of political or military or economic forces, but according to the will of God, who like Bogart is always two or three steps ahead of everyone else. And who’s the most powerful piece on the board? It’s the queen, of course, Mother Mary, and that’s why all Catholics love chess!

             This vision of faith and this interpretation of life, prompted Paul to pen to the Romans: “All things work together for the good of those who love God” (Romans 8:28). Most people play checkers, but few – the few who have faith – play chess. They see what God sees and can stay two or three steps ahead of everyone else.

            By the way, did you know that in real life, Humphrey Bogart, the actor, was an accomplished chess player? He held the rank of 2100, which is outstanding. When you see history through the eyes of faith, you, too, might feel the confidence of Christianity, like Bogart did in Casablanca, and raise the toast, “Here’s looking at you, kid.” That’s a toast to Mary, of course.

Praised be Jesus Christ!