"Hic-Hac-Hoc!"

How do you decide on something? How do you make a decision? Do you toss up a coin yelling "heads" or "tails?" Do you pull off daisy petals one at a time. . ."she love me, she loves me not." Do you use "eeny, meany, miney, mo?"  In Judaism, the high priest had a pouch on his ephod that held the "Urim and Thummim," Exodus 28:29-30; Leviticus 8:8. Some authorities believe that these "stones" were "white" and "black." Whenever an inquirer of God wanted to have a yes-or-no answer, the priest drew out two. If both were "black" the answer was "No!" If both were white the answer was "Yes!" If one was white and the other black, the answer was "the Lord God has not answered," see 1 Samuel 28:6.     

 

Did you ever play hic-hac-hoc? When I was in high school, we students amused ourselves during the recess by playing rock, paper, scissors. With a closed fist, two or three players would beat out their challenge while calling out "hic-hac-hoc!" On the hoc stroke, each player threw one of three images. The closed fist represented the rock. The flat hand extended straight out was the paper. The V-sign made with the index and middle fingers represented the scissors. Paper beats rock [because it can cover the rock], scissors beats paper [because it cuts the paper] and rock beats scissors [because it dulls or wrecks the scissors]. If the competing players throw the same symbol, it is a tie and they have another go. Eventually, the winner is the one who wins the most individual contests. It is not hard to imagine how, sooner or later, this quaint game would be used to make decisions.

 

On a cold, wintry night in 1995, two Canadian brothers, Graham and Douglas Walker, used fifteen rounds of rock-paper-scissors to decide who would go for more wood for their fire. So fascinated were they by the game, they established a world championship in 2002 in Toronto. First prize went from a modest $800 then to a mind-boggling $50,000 in 2006 in America. When a Japanese art collector wished to sell off some of his priceless paintings, he couldn't decide between the world-renowned auctioneers Sotheby's and Christie's. His solution was that they should play a round of rock-paper-scissors. Christie's scissors beat Sotheby's paper. Christie's obtained a fabulous commission of the auction price of $17.8 million. That is the way to hoc (hawk) a painting!

 

Never play hic-hac-hoc with your soul! Make a rational choice based upon the facts and merits of the case. The Bible is the source of authority for that judgement. There are facts to be believed, commands to be obeyed and grace to be appropriated. Joshua issued a challenge, "Choose ye this day whom ye shall serve..." Joshua 24:15. Moses urged his followers to "choose life rather than death," Deuteronomy 30:11-20. Elijah urged the people of God to make up their minds when he asked, "How long go ye limping between the two sides?" 1 Kings 18:21. Jesus said, "Come to me all who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest," Matthew 11:28-30. There are just two options--heaven and hell--the choice is yours and mine. It is not open to chance but it is open to choice. Choose with eternity in mind.

 

Love you all,

 

Al--"the Horne of Africa."

 

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