I bet some of you folks thought I, like Elvis before me, left the building. Well, I kind of did. These past few months made up the final semester of my last year at West Virginia State University. Unlike most students who take it easy the last semester, I had to take seven classes to graduate this spring. As you can no doubt imagine, seven classes leave little time for gaming—or writing about said hobby, for that matter.

I planned to make my comeback shortly after graduation but things didn’t work out. A flood hit my home shortly before my graduation day, forcing me to rip up carpet, get rid of ruined furniture and appliances, and buy replacements. Then, to make matters worse, a second flood hit shortly after graduation. I had to rip up the remaining carpet, get rid of more stuff, and so on.

Doesn’t sound like a fun few months, eh? They certainly weren’t fun, but I did manage to squeak in some gaming time on the odd occasion. I’ll write up a what I’ve been playing piece in the near future giving my opinion on a few recent (and maybe not-so-recent) titles. But not having to play games is nothing compared to flood damage. I thank God that the house is fine, along with everyone living in it. You can replace a ruined couch, but you can’t replace a life. God made sure that I didn’t need to worry about that.

So I’m back in the saddle again, kids, armed with a BA in English (go ahead, make jokes about how useless it’ll be), new furniture, and enough free time to make a full-time return to my favorite hobby. Look for the aforementioned opinion piece soon.

It’s 9:00 in the evening. Jesus and his twelve closest friends walk through the door of their hostel fatigued and drenched from the rain, yet content. They feel happy to have spread the word of God to so many people today but their minds still stray to the pain, sick, and evil that they have witnessed. They talk quietly among themselves as they make their way down the long corridor that leads to the rec room. They breathe a simultaneous sigh of relief as they round the corner and realize there are only a few other residents in the room; they sit down comfortably along the large sectional sofa that faces the entertainment center.

Jesus picks up the remote and begins flicking through the channels: a news station highlights war and famine in third world countries; a drama makes light of the main characters’ adulterous affairs; a comedy finds it necessary to curse and make vulgar suggestions in every line of dialogue in order to provoke laughs. With a grimace, He sets it back down. Was there no way for He and His friends to enjoy a laid back evening together without being bombarded with all the issues that they had dealt with all day? Just as the group prepares to separate for the night – some may read, others may play cards, and still others may head downstairs to the small gym – Jesus spots a video game console tucked beside the television.

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