It’s been difficult to go a day without seeing a news story about the Pokémon Go craze sweeping smart phones across the country. I confess I’ve never played the game but feel I have read enough to be well informed about the basics. For those wondering what this could possibly have to do with living a Jesus-centered life, please hang with me; we’ll get there! If you don’t know about Pokémon Go, it is what’s called an “augmented reality” game. Augmented reality blends the real world with things that are superimposed on top of it.
You look through the camera on your phone and see the world around you, as you would expect. The game then layers additional objects onto what you see, in the form of Pokémon monsters. The goal is to find and collect them by capturing them in the same way as you would take a photo. As I marveled at the craze, it occurred to me the game has profound implications for how we live our lives in a manner pleasing to Jesus each day.