It’s nice to be part of a group of people who are working toward a common goal and who actually care about one another’s success and happiness.
As a boy growing up in Texas, I used to play a game with my friends called King of the Mountain. Other places, it’s called King of the Hill or King of the Castle. All you need is a small group of people and a slightly elevated location, representing the “mountain,” where the “king” stands. The object of the game is to knock the king off of the mountain and take his place as the new king. There are no teams, at least not the way we played it. It was always the king against everybody else.
It’s a pretty dismal game, of course. There are no winners, only the loser who temporarily occupies the leadership post and has become public enemy #1.
A man named Jared learned this lesson the hard way. He organized a coup to dethrone his father. (See Ether 8:13-14.) The plan was successful, and Jared became king—briefly. However, his co-conspirators concluded, reasonably, that what worked once might work a second time. This time, Jared was the one who lost the throne. (See Ether 9:4-6.) Of course, his replacement, Akish, didn’t have much fun as king either, because he was constantly in danger of being dethroned himself. He was able to hang on to his position of authority until his people had entirely destroyed each other, so that’s an accomplishment, I guess. (See Ether 9:7-12.)
Jesus said, “All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matthew 26:52). A variant of this principle might be: If you gain power by dishonesty and treachery, you’ll likely lose it the same way.
How much better it is to surround yourself with trustworthy people and to work together toward a common cause, to worry more about accomplishing something meaningful and to worry less about who’s in charge, to find the joy of being part of a well-functioning team. No wonder Jesus said, “Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:26-27). If we’re all supporting one another instead of trying to knock each other off the mountain, we will all be better off.
Today, I will strive to be a contributing member of a team instead of trying to be the “king of the mountain.” I will remember that we are all happier when we work together and support each other instead of trying to obtain and retain power over one another.
We played that game on the school parking lot snow piles. I think i did it once and told myself that game was stupid.
You were wiser than I was. I remember playing it many times. I’m glad to hear you were able to relate to the post. Thanks for the comment!