One More Move. The Story. What is at Stake?
"Checkmate." Painting by Moritz Retzsch(German painter)
At onemoremove.com, we have always been fascinated with this painting.
Here's how the story goes (as we see it).
Two opponents are facing each other across the chessboard. On one side of the painting is the enemy and on the other side is a young man.
The young man is sitting there with his head bowed. He is ready to give up.
The stakes are high: The enemy wins his soul if the young man loses.
(Moritz Retzsch was fascinated by Faust).
In the background, an Angel watches over the young man, ready to intervene.
“Chess is life in miniature. Chess is a struggle, chess battles.”
- Garry Kasparov. Chess Grand Master.
The chessboard represents our human journey, love, betrayal, hope, frustrations, victories, defeats, mistakes, course correction, happiness, sadness, crescendo, decrescendo, second chances, and achievements.
The spider crawling onto the table is getting ready to set a trap.
The young man will need to spot and outsmart it.
One More Move In The Game
One day a Chess Master (the mentor) studies the painting in the Louvre Museum in Paris. He looks at the arrangement of the pieces left on the chessboard.
He feels sorry for the young man and that the enemy should be defeated.
Suddenly, he realizes that there is one more move.
"Not Checkmate!"
We can imagine the Chess Master saying, "the young man should stay in the game because he is not checkmate. The King has one more move, and he will win".
One More Move. The way of thinking and acting that changes everything.
The concept of One More Move has appealed to audiences in every corner of the world because it is a message of hope, a state of mind encouraging us to create a better future.
Billy Graham wrote a famous Sermon (1955 Sermon: Is There An Answer?) about this painting:
"But I believe there is One looking down from above who looks upon the board and says to you and me: There is a move, there is one move that you can make, and you can win!"
In the words of Nelson Mandela, "It always seems impossible until it's done."
Think of One More Move as the ace in your back pocket when life happens. It's your comeback power and clear path forward.
What is at stake?
Getting what you need, your well-being, and the happiness of the people you care about.
What is your ONE MORE MOVE, tonight at home and tomorrow at Work?
Now is the time. Take it.
Stephan Mardyks
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