Wanna Dice Your Life? Throw'em.

A die (singular. Dice: plural) is a very unique object. It has six faces with black dots numbering from 1 to 6. It is used in almost every kind of board games and gambling games. A small cube but yet no one has control over it.

Picture the classic game of Snake and Ladders in your mind right now.

In a board game of Snake and Ladders each player can only move his piece with the dice. A player picks up two dice in his hand and shakes it, says a little “prayer” and throws them on the floor. Whatever happens next is controlled by the faces of the dice. If it shows 2+4 then your piece moves 6 steps forward. If you are fortunate you might land on a box with a ladder going upwards and so your piece jumps a few boxes upwards. If you are not fortunate enough your piece might land on a box with a ladder telling you to descend.

Nothing is certain.

The winner of the game is not determined by how the player plays the game or how he throws the dice. It is not even determined by the strategies he uses to play the game. In a game of Snake and Ladders there is NO STRATEGY at all. You are not in control of the game, neither is your friend.

The dice is in control, not you.

In our daily lives are we playing Snake and Ladders? Do we hold the dice in our hand and throw them, and after that, it’s que sara sara, whatever will be will be?

The funny thing about the Snake and Ladders board game is that I used to think that I was in control of the game. When I was young I like to play it with my friends and cousins. I thought that since I was the one who throws the dice and moves the piece I am in control. Only now I realize that the dice is, not me.

Who is in control of your life?

In the Snake and Ladder game nothing is certain. In life, nothing is certain either. You do not know what tomorrow brings. You do not know what will happen if you do this or that. You can only guess. You do not know where you will be in 10 years time. You do not know what the consequences of your everyday actions may be, you can only guess smartly.

If you play with the dice, nothing is certain except uncertainty.

Where then is God in your life? Where then is God in your everyday’s decisions? Where then is God in your plans? Where then is God?

Or do you dice all the time? You dice your decision making. You dice your future plans? Are you dicing your life?

Play with the dice long enough and you might just find yourself playing Snake and Ladders with the Serpent one day.

Got dice? God or dice?
Zlwin Chew