Ally Ally In Free

Posted: November 9th, 2011 Category: christian, Christianity, Common Sense

When I was a kid, a day came along when our neighborhood collection of friends and collaborators got bored with our traditional activities. One of our neighborhood moms suggested that we play a game called “kick the can”! Yes it even sounded antiquated back then but we gave it a shot and it caught on. The concept is simple, draw an 8′ chalk circle, with another 1′ chalk circle in the middle. Place an empty can (ideally open end down ) in the smaller circle. Using some selection process (like; one potata, two potata) where the one who loses is designated as being “it”. That person shuts their eyes and quickly counts to 100 while everybody else hides within defined boundaries. Then the “it” has only to spot or see someone, to capture and jail them in his or her larger circle. The captured must sit or stand and wait … while the “it” pursues more hidden prey. Once all the hiders are captured, the “it” wins the game, but if an undiscovered hider should get to and kick the can out of the circle without being seen by the “it”, all the captured prey are free’d and it starts again. This game is filled with silent waving hands, sneaky diversions, stealth pursuits and fun. In it, there is only one way to ally ally in-free, and there is no arguing about whether the “it” really saw us. That may be the first time in my life that the concept of ally ally in-free ever really clicked for me. Years later it dawned on me that the origins of this children’s game may have been mirrored after the life of Jesus Christ, where one person could conceivably save everybody in the game who followed the rules. Break the rules and you were out. The “it” is the bad guy, like Satan in our world, actively pursuing every hiding soul to be lost to His prison. In kick-the-can, everyone works together to defeat the “it”.

The “it” is still roaming around searching for souls. “The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” (Job 1:7 NIV). Our friends try to save us from the unforeseen consequences of our behaviors, but there is only one Savior who can free us all. Our Savior has already kicked the can (or cross) and proclaimed ally ally in-free. It’s left up to us to follow the rules and come out of hiding. Children’s games are modeled after life, the after-life is determined by how we play the game. Let’s kick-in and help our Savior instead of just ignoring those who’ve gone missing.

JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE