70 Chess & the spiritual life

chess spiritual life lessons

The game of chess can teach us much about life, especially the spiritual life! Dive into the spiritual principals behind (1) controlling the centre of the board (2) knowing your enemy (3) valuing the smallest piece, and (4) strategizing with the final objective in mind.

Excerpt from episode

“… It is pretty clear from looking at chess that it is a war game, with two sides lined up on opposing side of the board, with complete opposite colours. As such, we should approach the game of chess with the general’s hat on, rather than just going about things haphazardly and randomly. No military general rushes into battle without knowing both his own army and his enemy’s. But what about the spiritual life? Whether we recognise it or not, we are all of us caught up in spiritual warfare everyday, and the devil on the opposite side of the board is very intelligent, cunning and shrewd … much more than us. We may sincerely want to ignore him and just strategize on how to grow in virtue and holiness, on our own terms. This of course is important, but the moment we lose sight of what the enemy might be trying to do, you will soon find your own efforts thwarted, you may soon find yourself GG… checkmated by the devil and his minions…”

Soundtrack credits for this episode: Scarborough Fair (London Pops Orchestra), Tetris theme (Harzy1HourMusic), Tension (Pink Zebra), The Imitation Game (Imitation Game, James Horner)