Survivor

I'm watching the new Survivor program. It's probably not the most spiritual thing for a pastor to do, but it is an amazing study of human behavior. On one hand, each player is playing for himself/herself, trying to win the million dollar prize. On the other hand, no one can make it through the game alone. They have to work together and that requires a certain level of trust. But how do trust someone when you know that in the end, they want to be the last player standing?

I think the show is a microcosm of the world at large. At some level, everyone lives for themselves. We are born with a mechanism for self preservation. But we also realize that we cannot make it through this life without the aid of others. From the beginning we had to depend on others (parent's to feed us and clothe us, teachers to educate us, etc). Without the help of others, we would not have made it past day one. Yet as we grow, we become more self-sufficient and independent. Some people reach a point of believing they don't need anyone else, and they may isolate themselves or withdraw from others.

I was reminded of that this week. I was asked to speak at a funeral for a person who had withdrawn from the community at large. He had never married. His parent's were deceased and his siblings had nothing to do with him. He spent the last days of his life in a nursing home with only 1-2 friends who occasionally visited him. In the end, only 10 people attended his funeral. He had no church family or circle of family and friends to mourn his passing or celebrate his life. He did things his way, but in the end, did he win the game of life? I don't know his spiritual condition. From what I could gather he didn't show any evidence of a relationship with God. But even from a secular standpoint, I don't think I could say he succeeded at the game of life. You can't win by living only for yourself.