Minecraft - Stay Out of Caves or Bring Torches

Last night, I had the opportunity to introduce my mom to Minecraft. I wanted to show Mom that Minecraft is a clean game, one that she could approve of, and one that I would be totally comfortable playing in front of her, which I was. I'd even be comfortable playing it on Sunday, even though I wouldn't be comfortable playing a game as violent as Mario on Sunday, and Minecraft has monsters in it. The reason for the difference is that the monsters in Minecraft are easy to avoid - you just need to stay in the light.

In Minecraft, monsters only spawn in dark places. During the day, you're safe from monsters as long as you don't go into caves or linger near them. But during the game's night cycle, monsters can appear almost everywhere. To protect yourself then, you need to have a shelter - a place where the monsters can't get in, and fill that area with light.

Similarly, there are certain places in the world where evil thrives. You can avoid much of the world's evil by staying away from those places, but there are also times or seasons when evil is more abundant. During such times as these, we need to create shelters and stay in places of light. Like temples, other church buildings, or our own homes.

But we can't stay inside forever. In Minecraft, you need resources that can only be found underground, so you frequently need to risk exposure to monsters. And in life, we need to leave our houses in order to go to school and work and to fulfil our other obligations. However hard you try, you do have to encounter monsters, both virtual ones and spiritual ones, though preferably not on Sunday.

The good news is that we can turn dark places into places of light. You can bring light with you in the form of torches or a strong testimony, to defend yourself even when dark places are unavoidable. In Minecraft, and in some cases in real life, you can permanently change dark places into light places, changing them from from dangerous places into places of safety. It's not as easy in real life as it is in Minecraft, but it's often possible.

One of the greatest things about Minecraft is that you can change your surroundings. You can do that in reality, too. You can improve the world around you and bring light with you wherever you go. You can't always avoid facing darkness, but by bringing light with you, you can always dispel the darkness around you.