Finite Disappointment and Infinite Hope

I'm not the first to notice the jarring juxtaposition of celebrating the life & work of Martin Luther King Jr. on the same day as the inauguration of Donald Trump. I've written extensively about my concerns & fears about Mr. Trump's fitness for public office and his "moneychangers in the Temple" attitude toward the Christian faith. 

Let me share some thoughts on this day and what it means to those of us who claim a faith in Jesus Christ.

• "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." (MLK Jr)
• It may be difficult to hear those words over the noise of inauguration news coverage, but there is justice. It just may not be on my timeline - or in my lifetime. 
• "When the righteous are in authority and become great, the people rejoice; But when the wicked man rules, the people groan and sigh." (Proverbs 29:2 AMP)
• "Again, my loved ones, do not seek revenge; instead, allow God’s wrath to make sure justice is served. Turn it over to Him. For the Scriptures say, “Revenge is Mine. I will settle all scores.” (Romans 12:19 VOICE)
• You are not the first person of faith to cry out to God and wonder why injustice prevails...
• "How long, Lord, must I call for help and You do not listen or cry out to You about violence and You do not save? Why do You force me to look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates. This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted." (Habakkuk 1:2-4 HCSB)
• I found myself drawn to the book of Habakkuk this weekend - which is not unusual throughout my life. His struggles with evil and injustice - and how God chooses to deal with those things in real time - echo the battle in my own heart & mind.
• In 2020, I wrote the following words which ring true this morning: "The fact that I can't see how God is working in the world does not mean God has stopped working in our lives."
• Praying for our political leadership is not simply "God bless 'em" - there is Biblical precedent for accountability and justice.
• "The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live." (1 Timothy 2:1-3 MSG)
• "What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue unfair laws. They deprive the poor of justice and deny the rights of the needy among my people." (Isaiah 10:1-2 NLT)
• "Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows." (Isaiah 1:17 NLT)
• Whether you are mourning or celebrating today, your obligation as a follower of Christ is to do justice... to live out the path set before us in Scripture.
• "...people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8 NLT)

I'll let Martin have the final word today...

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

It's Still Personal: Mark's Five & Dime Games for 2024

Hey, campers... I may have stopped collecting the Five & Dime stats for everyone else - but I haven't stopped collecting my own!

Here's my own personal Five & Dime list (the games I played 5+ and 10+ times in 2024).

As always, I include only face-to-face games and games played with human opponents over apps/online. What that means is that games that I play only solo via an app or website (examples: Next Station: London, Ascension, Draft & Write Records, etc.) are not counted. (All three of those would be 50+ plays if I did.)

Games with an asterisk [*] were on my Five & Dime list last year. Each asterisk indicates another year... and each plus sign indicates five years! Believe it or not, there's actually one game that has been on this list for 14 years [++****].

If you're curious, here's the games that have been on my Five & Dime list for 5+ years

• Race for the Galaxy (14 years)
• 7 Wonders (9 years)
• Jump Drive (7 years)
• Unmatched: Batlle of Legends (5 years)

Dollars

• Memoir '44 143 **

Dimes

• 7 Wonders: Architects 21 **
• Heroscape 21 
• Race for the Galaxy 19 ++****
  
• Legendary: A Marvel Deck-Building Game 17 *
• River Valley Glassworks 16
• Unmatched: Battle of Legends 15 +
• Wild Tiled West 15
• Let's Go To Japan 14
• The Red Dragon Inn 14 *
• New Frontiers 13
• Path of Civilization 13
• Terraforming Mars 13
• Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar 12
• Faraway 11
• Jump Drive 11 +**
• Can't Stop 10 ****
• Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale 10
• Distilled 10
• Heat: Pedal to the Metal 10 **
• Stonespine Architects 10

Nickels

• Captain Flip 8
• Dune: Imperium 8 ***
• Lockup: A Roll Player Tale 7
• Lost Ruins of Arnak 7
• Pirates of Maracaibo 7
• 7 Wonders 6 +****
• A Gentle Rain 6
• Ancient Knowledge 6
• Dead Reckoning 6 **
• Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters 6
• Minigolf Designer 6 ***
• NEOM 6
• The Artemis Project 6
• Ark Nova 5 **
• Dungeonquest 5
• Everdell 5 **
• Fast Food Franchise 5
• Final Girl 5
• Imperium: Classics/Legends/Horizons 5
• Next Station: London 5
• Pioneer Rails 5
• Return to Dark Tower 5 **
• Roll Player Adventures 5
• Super Mega Lucky Box 5
• The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth 5
• Ticket to Ride 5
• Twilight Inscription 5
• Voidfall 5
• Xia: Legends of a Drift System 5

Just Missed (with 4 plays)

A caret [^] denotes that they were on the Five & Dime list last year... and a pound sign [#] marks games I'm pretty sure will return in 2024. A dollar sign [$] indicates that the game was on the "Just Missed" list last year.

• 52 Realms: Adventures
• Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig
• Clank! Catacombs ^#
• DC Comics Deck-Building Game ^
• Draft & Write Records
• Fantastic Factories
• It's a Wonderful World ^
• Monumental
• Mountains out of Molehills
• Scribbly Gum
• The Taverns of Tiefenthal
• Thunder Road: Vendetta ^#

After All These Years

These are games that fell off the list... after years of repeated play. I felt compelled to say a few words at their passing.

• Res Arcana
• My primary opponent graduated college and is working on a masters degree.
• Sentinels of the Multiverse: Definitive Edition
• This is really about the boys not being at home any more... since I don't own this edition.
• Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
• As much as I enjoy this mash-up of Terraforming Mars & Race for the Galaxy, I'd rather play the original board game and my game room is set up to make that easier to do.
• Trails of Tucana
• Lots of good roll/flip'n'writes out there now... this one just got crowded out this year.