My Wonderings

I probably should have anticipated that playing Zelda: Twilight Princess on the family Wii was my slippery slope into Geekdom. But I never would have guessed that the very technology that provided my indulgent and magical escape from the real world would also help ease me out of my isolating funk and to reconnect with friends, family and my vocation. And, as seems to be the predominate pattern of my life, this change came about through the dry, witty ways of God, Fate, or Mother Nature.

I am the mother of a kid who came of age during the extraordinary boom of the gaming industry.  His world was the World of Warcraft; he ignored family time to answer the Call of Duty. I nagged him about the anti-social effects of his obsessions and worried that he would not gain the skills he’d need to function as an adult in the real world.

Make Love, Not Warcraft

Nelson: Is that a computer game?
Randy: No, r-tard, it’s an MMORPG. These are real people I’m playing with. See, I’m a hunter, level 2. I can chat with all these other people. I can even wave to this guy, see? Hello. (his character waves to another character, who waves back). In the outside world, I’m a simple geologist, but in here… I am Valkorn, Defender of the Alliance. I’ve braved theFargodeep Mine, defeated the bloodfish at Jerod’s Landing–

Southpark: Make Love, Not Warcraft

A year ago, my son, then 19 years old and functioning remarkably well in his second year at the University of Texas as an electric engineering student dragged my dysfunctional butt to the local Game Stop and suggested I try Zelda to get my mind off my own belly button. Slowly, so very slowly, I learned not only how to transform Link into a wolf but how to find  the woman in me who could run with the wolves.

Sarah Bennett is an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Texas. She is an avid evangelist of social media and honest, authentic conversations of the spiritual journey.  Gregg and I have been married 24 yrs with "narry a ripple in the sea of matrimony." We have a daughter, Megan (22) and a son, Gregg (20). I am an Episcopal priest exploring the theological and ecclesiological implications of social networks. Read more from this author