Rolling the Dice with Divine Mind: A Modern Take on The Game of Life and How to Play It
Published in 1925, Florence Scovel Shinn’s The Game of Life and How to Play It is a slender volume that nonetheless casts a long and enduring shadow across the world of metaphysics. It stands as a foundational New Thought text—predating and influencing much of today’s Law of Attraction philosophy. Through biblical examples and charming success anecdotes, Shinn presents the universe not as a battlefield, but as a divinely ordered game governed by spiritual law.
But is this game simply about positive thinking? Or does Shinn, when read closely, reveal a more sophisticated spiritual technology? Let’s look beyond the surface and explore the deeper rules of “the Game.”
The Board and the Players: Shinn’s Core Metaphor
Shinn’s central premise is elegantly simple: life is a game, and our job is to learn its laws. For her, the main elements in the game are:
1. You — The Individual Player
You are not a passive pawn but a creative agent. Your greatest tool is your word—your spoken declarations—which Shinn insists have the power to shape conditions.
2. The “Human Will”
Shinn describes the human, reasoning, fear-driven will as the primary obstacle. When you try to force outcomes through anxiety, pushing, or manipulation, you block your own good. She does not use psychological terms like “ego” or “lower self,” but she does warn that fear-based thinking leads to resistance and delay.
3. The Superconscious Mind (Divine Intelligence)
Your highest ally is what Shinn calls the superconscious mind—God, Infinite Spirit, or Divine Intelligence. This is the realm of intuition and effortless guidance. When you trust it rather than your limited human will, the “moves” of your life unfold with precision and ease.
The goal of the game is not perfect control, but perfect alignment: allowing Divine Intelligence to guide where human will normally strains.
The Rulebook: More Than Simple Affirmations
Although Shinn is often remembered for her affirmations—or “words”—her system is far broader. Her core rules include:
1. The Creative Power of the Word
Shinn insists that speech is not merely descriptive but creative. Words spoken with conviction impress the subconscious and set spiritual law into motion. Complaining calls more lack into form; blessing and affirming opens channels for supply.
“The words of my mouth,” she writes, “are always working either for me or against me.”
2. Nonresistance and Trust
One of Shinn’s most powerful teachings is nonresistance. When an obstacle appears, fighting it through forceful will only strengthens it. Instead, she encourages a calm, trusting attitude that allows Divine Intelligence to bring forth unexpected solutions.
This resembles what today we might call detachment or neutral trust, though Shinn herself uses the term nonresistance.
3. The Law of Cause and Effect
Shinn does not teach karma or past-life debts, but she strongly affirms a spiritual version of “you reap what you sow.” Thoughts, words, and deeds return in kind. Criticism returns as criticism; blessings return as blessings.
4. The Divine Design
One of her most beautiful ideas is that every person has a Divine Design—their perfect pattern of self-expression. Our role is not to manufacture a life through strain, but to listen, trust, and allow the perfect path to be revealed through intuition.
Trying to force the “wrong” path through human will leads to frustration; relaxing into guidance reveals the right place, right work, and right relationships.
A Modern Critique: Where the Game Gets Complicated
Shinn’s work holds timeless wisdom, yet a contemporary reader may encounter challenges:
1. The Problem of Pain
Shinn often presents cause and effect as direct and immediate. While empowering, this can feel oversimplified when applied to systemic injustice or childhood suffering. Her worldview does not meaningfully address trauma, generational disadvantage, or social realities that shape outcomes.
2. Miracle-Based Anecdotes
Her stories—charming as they are—tend to resolve perfectly and quickly. Real life is rarely so linear. Spiritual growth often includes long periods of uncertainty, silence, or “not yet.”
3. The Prosperity Emphasis
Although Shinn is not a prosperity-gospel author, her readers sometimes reduce her teachings to formulas for money, romance, or career wins. Her deeper message is that spiritual alignment comes first; prosperity is a byproduct, not the purpose.
How to Play the Game Today: An Integrated Approach
So how do we apply Shinn’s teachings in a modern, grounded way?
1. Witness Your Words
Start with simple awareness. Notice how often you state fears, limitations, or frustrations as facts. Shinn would say: your words reveal your inner law.
Awareness becomes the first move.
2. Practice Creative Replacements, Not Suppression
Instead of fighting fear-based thoughts, replace them with words reflecting Divine Intelligence. If self-doubt arises, rather than wrestling it, speak a higher truth:
“Infinite Intelligence guides me perfectly.”
This isn’t denial—it’s choosing the voice of the superconscious over the noise of fear.
3. Look for the “Divine Setup”
When plans crumble, Shinn would suggest asking:
“What is this making room for?”
This reframes setbacks as realignments, openings, or reroutings toward your Divine Design.
4. Bless, Don’t Block
Shinn insists that resentment blocks good, while blessing multiplies it. When someone else receives what you hoped for, bless their success—not as moral virtue, but as spiritual hygiene.
Blessing keeps your channel clear.
The Final Move
The Game of Life and How to Play It is not a recipe for a flawless life, but a guide to living from a higher center of trust. The game is won not by accumulating achievements but by shifting identity—from a solitary player struggling through problems to a conscious partner of Divine Intelligence.
Shinn’s ultimate invitation is simple yet profound:
align your words, release your fear-driven will, listen for guidance, and trust the unfolding of your Divine Design.
The next move is yours.