Candy Land

Candy Land is heaven, of course. And I lately had the privilege of being the one to introduce it to the latest 3-year-old in my life. The goal is to get to the King and all his delights, I tell Nassia, but in order to arrive, we must go on a long journey. Parts of the journey are happy, but parts are not. At every bend in the road, Lord Licorice will try to stop you---trip you up, bog you down, catch you in a sticky wicket. Just keep playing.

Any resemblance between the Hasbro game and your life is strictly hard-wired: "He has put eternity into man's heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). I did not have to explain much: The concept of beginning and end, of pilgrimage and danger, of good and an evil nemesis on the way were all already known to Nassia somehow. Very little pre-evangelism is needed.

As I say, she's 3. So I went easy on her and didn't divulge all I know about journeys. Sometimes you think you want to draw a card that will advance you farthest down the road at one time, and you are disappointed when you don't achieve your wish. But little do you know that that little setback, two turns ago, has set you up for a card this turn that will land you on the yellow square, which happens to be a doorway to a shortcut, Gumdrop Pass. Rainbow Pass is even better, propelling you 54 squares at a go, saving you all manner of unknown grief.

And that's what I like best, Nassia, when the Lord of the Game turns a setback into a shortcut. Just keep playing. Don't give up.

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