Quiet Time

scrolls1invertQuiet Time

A traditional lifestyle requires some sedentary recreation the same as a modern one does, but the means are quite different. The opportunity of choosing games which minimize our dependence on electronic devices should not be overlooked.
Board games, cards, and simple toys and games of skill like marbles, jacks, and building blocks can provide entertainment for both children and adults that live traditional life styles, but old school games and entertainment are especially important in the life of the single man.
Games which require logic, deduction, and strategy, are especially useful to us, who live a more traditional lifestyle, for the mental exercises we engage in during those times of peace and quiet available to us strengthen the inner man.
Games we can choose from could include dominoes, chess, poker, Chinese checkers, English draughts (American checkers), and backgammon.
Even simple commercial games like Stratego, Battleship, Clue, and Monopoly, and UNO can occupy many adult hours.
Also paper published puzzles like crosswords, Suduko, and word-searches can help clear the mind.
Jigsaw puzzles are cheap and easily found in stores and online as are wax crayons and coloring books which are very popular right now as stress relievers for adults.
The idea that games can help cultivate the masculine spirit is not new. The game “go” was considered one of four traditional skills of cultured men in China and the game was improved upon in Japan during the 16th century in which form it is preserved today.
In both the East and West gentlemen and generals play chess.
Although we should not use cards for the purposes of divination, as that is forbidden by God, the Italian and French card games of “tarocchini” and “tarot” gave birth to all the card games of today like poker, rummy, and gin rummy, and solitaire, which is of course a useful game for the single man with few friends.
Between battles simple games played with dice were popular during the American Civil war. The ragged soldiers made dice from their round rifle bullets smashing the lead flat on six sides with a hammer.
We need not sin by casting lots for the garment of Christ while enjoying our rest; for while gambling with actual cash and coins should be viewed as a waste of money which can become a harmful and addictive vice the gentleman does not need to use actual money to play these inexpensive games. In fact the low cost of these activities is primarily what makes them attractive to someone leading a responsibly simplistic and frugal lifestyle.
A deck of cards and a set of plastic poker chips is less than eight dollars. A plastic chess set is nine or ten dollars and there are many game sets which include checkers (English droughts and Chinese checkers) with backgammon and maybe some dice as well for around twenty dollars.
Commercial board games like Clue, Monopoly, and Battleship,  run from ten dollars to twenty with nicer games like Risk and Stratego being twenty five to thirty five and forty.
If you have the room for it you might be able to hang a dart board with six darts for something like twenty six dollars.
Surprisingly good adult coloring books can be had for less than five dollars or less and a box of sixty four Crayola crayons cost around eight dollars.
One thousand piece jigsaw puzzles are between fifteen and twenty dollars, but can be found for ten.
I personally do not recommend collector card games because they get pricey as they cost you more as you advance, but a starter deck for most of the games are ten to fifteen dollars. The games, although all essentially the same regardless of the theme, are very fun and if you and a friend both have only a starter deck you will start on equal footing.
I discourage indulging the imagination with pen and paper role playing games however there are board games with fantasy themes that are very good. These more sophisticated and well designed board games are very useful if you have a regular game night with friends who may be enticed to play these kinds of games which have slick graphics and sculpted pieces but they can be very expensive. Almost any pick from the from Fantasy Flight Games or Wizards of the Coast will cost you sixty dollars or more. Because they take so long to set up and play I do not feel that they are worth the time and effort unless a regular session can be arranged, especially not if space in your house is limited as a single session is unlikely to conclude the game.
Not only should we strive towards simplicity in the entertainment we choose, but also we should occupy as many hours as we can for the least amount of money possible and that is best done with traditional games.
When we consider that chess alone can occupy a master’s life and a poker deck lasts a long time we know that for about twenty or thirty dollars a few years worth of fun can be had. This is much better than the cost of electronic gaming considering the price of perishable electronic gaming systems.
The systems and the games for those systems is combined together with the cost of a monitor and a sound system and all these require power to operate so we can easily see that a traditional way of gaming saves money and avoids unnecessary complications like buying upgrades, accessories, and replacing parts so that by choosing tradition we keeps our stress lower and we avoid frustration and that means that we will rest better and we will enjoy our game time more while we play without any extra work in order to make our minds sharper.