Practical Stichomancy

While digging in the back closet for a book I wanted (books clog all our closets), I ran across a gag gift a friend gave me for Christmas a few years ago

It was a plastic Jesus action figure with flexible limbs for posing.

Seeing it struck a cord.

Once when Fred and Johnny, my two older sons from my first marriage, were little fellows, they had seen numerous tv ads pushing some army soldier action figure for little boys. Looking at the tv promotions you’d think these things came with exploding bombs, a flame-throwing tank, strafing jets, and real hand grenades.

The boys yearned for this thing. It captured their imagination and sparked dreams of battle, conquest and victory.

My first wife and I entered combat with mobs of other parents at the Toyzilla Mega-Mart and in only a couple of hours shopping we acquired two of these soldier action figures.

Christmas morning the boys unwrapped their presents.

One of the guys, I forget which one, said, “Dad, it’s only a doll”.

When I found that Jesus action figure in the closet, I remembered that incident with my older sons because so often I’ve heard things about Jesus, especially when religious meetings are being promoted, that made me expect Him to walk on water.

I’d build up my hopes and expect to see tongues of flame, showers of gold flakes falling on the congregation, souls gloriously converted, blind people walking, miracles happening, Jacksonville transformed.

But when I ‘d go to the event—It’s only a doll.

Other Christians seem to find edification in such an environment, in such circumstances.

I end up disappointed.

Oh well, I could not be disillusioned in religious meetings were I not operating under some illusion in the first place.

In my actually experience, walking with Jesus has been a quite affair. A slow daily progression of trial and error, failure and repentance, mini-deaths and mini resurrections of my soul.

Don’t get me wrong. Jesus is Lord. The mighty God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He died on the cross and rose, Prince of Life, from tomb. He lives and acts in today’s world. But in my experience, I’ve been most aware of Him in Hype-free religion.

Maybe that’s just me.

He meets each person at their own level. He does not run an assembly line. We each encounter Him at our own speed.

One of the ways I become aware of Him most often is through the Bible.

But reading the Bible often cramps my style.

Take the Friends Of The Library Book Sale this weekend.

Every year since the early 1980s Ginny and I have attended this annual sale where tens of thousands of books go on sale for one or two dollars each. The stock comes from old books culled from the public library’s collections as well as from thousands of volumes donated by anyone clearing off their own shelves. When I cull the eleven bookcases cluttering our house, I donate most of my discards to the Friend’s book sale.

When we go to the sale, we carry empty shopping bags to fill. We enter a trance-like state of coveting, materialism, book-lust, acquisitiveness, greed and glee…. Wow! Look What I Found!

It’s not unheard of for us to fill the trunk of the car (and the back seat) with new-bought used books.

I’ve looked forward to this year’s sale for months.

Yesterday, during my normal Bible reading, I ran across the phrases, “Godliness with contentment is great gain… Having food and raiment let us therewith be contend… Be content with such things as ye have”.

Struck a worrisome cord.

Be content with such books as I already have??? But Lord, what if I miss a real bargain? What if I miss filling a gap in my Florida History collection? What if there’s a Gutenberg Bible just laying on the table and nobody else sees it first?

Be content with such things as ye have.

The Lord God can be so unreasonable at times!

I’m a book person for Heaven’s sake!

Maybe I’m mis-reading the Scripture.

There’s got to be a loophole.

Can these isolated phrases from the Bible be a trustworthy guide in my practical daily life 2,000 years after they were written to some Greeks who probably didn’t even own eleven bookcases?

After all stichomancy is a pagan practice.

What? You’ve never heard of stichomancy? It’s a common enough practice among Christians. Scholars call the practice by a lot of names: sortes biblicae, sortes sanctorum, libromancy, or bibliomancy—it all essentially is the same thing.

It means the practice of divination by means of a sacred text. Most commonly in modern times it means standing a Bible on its spine, letting it fall open at random, and pointing to a verse with your eyes closed.

The idea is that the Holy Spirit will make your finger land on a text which God wants you to use to guide your life for that day or to tell you the future..

This practice uses the Bible as a voodoo fetish, crystal ball, or a rabbit-foot charm.

This practice kind of snuck into Christianity, maybe because of the high regard in which we hold God’s Word, but the practice is rooted in paganism.

Ancient Egyptians pointed to texts in their Book Of The Dead. Greeks used the poetry of Homer this same way. The Romans pointed to passages in the oracles of the Sybil. In medieval times, people used bibliomancy to detect a witch for burning.

But isn’t the Bible supposed to guide a Christian’s life?

Yes, but the Bible is not a rabbit’s foot. No magic charms or incantations here.

But can’t God use the pagan practice of stichomancy to speak to His children today?

Certainly.

When it comes to communicating His love and will for us God is unlimited and unscrupulous; He’s not above using things rooted in paganism to touch us today. Case in point—Christmas glitz and glitter and commercialism is about as pagan as you can get, yet it directs my thoughts to the manger, to the incarnation, to God’s coming into this world seeking to save the lost—especially me.

Pagan, smagan. Whoever said God is fair? He does what it takes.

But the stichomancy superstition doesn’t work for me.

This morning I opened my Bible at random, closed my eyes, pointed, and landed on the verse which says, “Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men”.

What am I supposed to do with that?

On the other hand, as I consistently read Scripture in order, I get a sense of the glory, character and nature of God—information which helps me fit into His plans…. And realize that in spite of everything He loves me.

That’s practical stichomancy.

Each book of the Bible was written by a specific person, at a specific time, to a specific readership, and with a specific purpose in mind. All under the breath and supervision of God’s Holy Spirit. And the Bible is a library of individual books, each originally a stand-alone volume.

Here 2,000 years later I read over their shoulders seeking the information that applies to me.

Unless, you are tracing a theme, such as women in the Bible or an overview of all the parables of Jesus, I think it’s wiser to read through individual books than to pick phrases here and there.

Do we expect God to speak only in ten-second sound bites?

We are not working magic here; we’re seeking the living Christ.

In my normal Bible reading Thursday morning, I encountered a phrase that struck my fancy; it was Daniel 11:32 which says, “The people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits”.

I thought that would be a neat verse to base my day on.

So, what happened?

First, I don’t know any more about God than I did yesterday… As for being strong, I felt so tried that I napped much of the afternoon… And my exploit for the day? Well, I made one phone call.

Does that count?

So much for stichomancy…

“Be content with such things as ye have”.

Ok, the Bible is not a magic charm… but do you suppose God could be dropping me a hint about buying any more books?

Maybe He wants me to clean out the back closet instead.

Oh well, The Lord makes sure we know what to do when time comes to do it.

The Lord is my Shepherd

He leadeth me…