“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! “
(Psalm 133:1)
There is a unique frustration known to nearly every online gamer. It has many names. Some call it solo queue. Some call it matchmaking. Some call it rolling the dice.
Whatever the game, the experience is often the same. You enter a match with strangers. Nobody communicates. Nobody agrees on which strategy to use.
One player ignores the objective. Another blames everyone else. A third quits trying after the first setback. Soon the team is fighting itself more than it is fighting the enemy. What often surprises new players is this:
The losing team usually does not lose because of mechanics. It loses because it stops functioning as a team. The players may have excellent aim. They may have excellent reaction times. They may know every strategy.
But if they cannot cooperate, their individual talents become almost worthless. There is a spiritual lesson hidden in that experience. Many people approach life exactly like solo queue. They want all the benefits of community without the responsibilities.
They want encouragement without offering encouragement. They want support without supporting others. They want to belong without commitment. Then they wonder why they feel isolated.
The truth is that the Lord did not create us for isolation. The Word states:
“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
(Psalm 133:1)
Notice that the Psalm does not merely say unity is useful. It says unity is good. It says unity is pleasant. It says there is something beautiful about people living together in harmony.
This is because unity reflects heaven itself. When many people think about heaven, they imagine individuals enjoying private happiness. Some picture endless rest and comfort.
But Swedenborg paints a very different picture. Again and again throughout his work Heaven and Hell, he describes heaven as a living society. A community, a kingdom. A vast network of relationships united by love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor.
Far from being isolated, the angels experience deeper relationships than anything we know on earth. In fact, Swedenborg writes that heaven resembles a single human being, which he calls the Grand Human or Divine Human.
Every angel corresponds to some function within that heavenly body. Some serve roles like eyes or ears. Some like hands. Some like lungs. Some like the heart. Each performs a unique use. Each contributes something different.
Because every use serves the whole, the whole flourishes. Anyone who has played a team-based game can appreciate this idea. Imagine entering a championship match where every player insists on playing exactly the same role.
Everyone wants to be the damage dealer. Nobody wants to gather information. Nobody wants to defend objectives. Nobody wants to support teammates. Nobody wants to make sacrifices.
What happens?
The team collapses. Not because the players are untalented. But because they have forgotten the purpose of teamwork. The same thing happens spiritually.
Many of the conflicts that arise in churches, families, and communities begin when people focus more on themselves than on the common good. We begin asking the wrong questions.
Instead of asking: “How can I serve?”
We ask: “What do I deserve?”
The moment this happens; unity begins to weaken and whenever unity weakens, heaven becomes harder to see. The Lord Himself said:
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”
(Mark 10:45)
Think about that. The Creator of the universe entered the world as a servant. If anyone deserved honor, it was Him. If anyone deserved recognition, it was Him.
Yet His life became a continual act of service, and He calls His followers to walk the same path. This teaching appears repeatedly throughout the Gospels.
When the disciples argued about greatness, the Lord taught humility. When people sought status, He taught service. When people focused on themselves, He redirected their attention toward others.
Why?
Because heaven is built upon being useful to others. Swedenborg writes that the joy of heaven comes from performing useful activities for other people and contributing to the happiness of the whole. Not from being admired, possessing power or controlling others.
That idea sounds strange to the natural mind. The world tells us happiness comes from receiving. Heaven teaches us that happiness comes from giving.
The world teaches self-promotion. Heaven teaches usefulness.
The world teaches competition for status. Heaven teaches cooperation for the common good.
This brings us to an important question. If heaven functions this way, how do we prepare for it?
The answer is simple. We begin practicing now. Every relationship, conversation, opportunity and even every gaming session becomes practice. Many people are surprised to hear that.
Yet think about what happens in a healthy gaming community. Players learn communication, patience, leadership, forgiveness and self-control.
They learn how to recover from mistakes. They learn how to encourage teammates during difficult moments. They learn how to pursue a common objective.
These are not merely gaming skills. These are heavenly skills. The True Christianity League exists because we believe these lessons matter.
Not because games are more important than faith but because faith can transform every part of life, including gaming.
We want Christian gamers who learn to treat one another differently. We want communities where people are encouraged instead of mocked. Where mistakes become opportunities for growth rather than opportunities for humiliation.
Where competition remains friendly, victories are shared and defeats are met with grace.
In short, we want to build something that resembles heaven a little more than the internet usually does. Because the internet often resembles solo queues. Heaven never does. In heaven nobody is playing for themselves alone. Everyone understands the objective, the mission and that success contributes to the happiness of all.
That is why heaven is filled with joy. Not because everyone is identical. But because countless differences are united by love. The Lord delights in diversity united by charity.
That is why every person matters. That is why every gift matters. And that is why every soul matters. Heaven is the greatest team ever assembled.
The Lord is its captain. Love is its strategy. Being useful to others is its objective.
Amen.