Play in Process: A Place Called Home

Each week in Play in Process, Richard Clark shares what he’s been playing and why it means something to him.

The other day, Drew mentioned playing Minecraft with a few friends of his. HOT SCOOP: I am one of those friends. I love Minecraft for all the reasons Drew mentioned, but I think the primary reason I love it so much is something that Kirk Hamilton articulated in a column over at Paste:

After a few (real-world) evenings’ worth of work, I sat back and realized that my cave had become a home. What’s more, I felt a stronger bond to this collection of bricks and blocks than just about any videogame home I’d had. Although I have branched out since then and begun to develop other corners of my Minecraft world, my first house will always hold a special place in my heart.

This little home I built in Minecraft is something I can come back to regularly, every day of the week, and improve upon. I can hang out with my friends there – we can magically hear one another from across the ocean. Things can go wrong, but the problems are easily solved.

Minecraft came along just at the right time – just as I began what would become an incredibly difficult and internally tumultuous week. As the real-world days continued and I continued to struggle with a reality that seemed to conspire against me, I found myself growing increasingly fond of my Minecraft home and all the feelings I associated with it: safety, security, friendship, productivity, and peace. A little glimpse of Heaven, maybe?

Obviously, there’s a danger that I will retreat to Minecraft at the expense of real-world living, and that I might view Minecraft as the source of my peace rather than a relationship with God through Christ. That is not happening to me. I know this because every single time I log in to Minecraft I feel compelled to say a little prayer. I thank God for Minecraft.