A Deck of Cards
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During the North African campaign, a bunch of
soldier boys had been on a long hike and they arrived in a little town called
Cascina. The next morning being Sunday, several of the boys went to Church. A
sergeant commanded the boys in Church and after the Chaplain had read the
prayer, the text was taken up next.
Those of the boys who had a prayer book took
them out, but this one boy had only a deck of cards, and so he spread them out.
The Sergeant saw the cards and said, "Soldier put away those cards." After
the services was over, the soldier was taken prisoner and brought before the
Provost Marshall.
The Marshall said, "Sergeant, why have you
brought the man here?" "For playing cards in church, Sir." "And what have
you got to say for yourself, son?" "Much, Sir." Replied the soldier.
The Marshall said, "I hope so, for if not I shall punish you more than any
man was ever punished."
The soldier said, "Sir, I've been on the
march for about six days, I had neither Bible nor prayer book, but I hope to
satisfy you, Sir, with the purity of my intentions."
With that, the boy started his story:
You see Sir, when I look at the "ACE", it reminds me that there is but one God;
And
the "DEUCE" reminds me that the Bible is divided into two parts; The Old and the
New Testaments;
And
when I see the "TREY", I think of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost;
And
when I see the "FOUR", I think of the four Evangelists who preached the Gospel.
There was Matthew, Mark, Luke and John;
And
when I see the "FIVE", it reminds me of the five wise virgins who trimmed their
lamps. There were ten of them, five were wise and were saved. Five were
foolish and were shut out.
And
when I see the "SIX", it reminds me that in six days, God made this great heaven
and earth;
When
I see the "SEVEN", it reminds me that on the seventh day, God rested from His
great work;
And
when I see the "EIGHT", I think of the eight righteous persons God saved when He
destroyed this earth. There was Noah, his wife, their three sons and their
wives;
And
when I see the "NINE", I think of the lepers our Saviour cleansed. And
nine out of the ten didn't even thank Him.
When I see the "TEN", I think
of the Ten Commandments God handed down to Moses on a table of stone;
When I see the "KING", it reminds me that
there is but one King of Heaven, God Almighty;
And when I see the "QUEEN", I think of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, who is Queen of Heaven;
And the "JACK" or "KNAVE" is the Devil;
When I count the number of spots on a deck of
cards,
I find 365, the number of days in a year;
There's 52 cards, the number of weeks in
a year;
There's 4 suits, the number of weeks in a
month;
There's 12 picture cards, the number of
months in a year;
There's 13 tricks, the number of weeks in
a quarter;
So you see, Sir, my pack of cards serves
me as a Bible, Almanac and Prayer Book.
SOUND BY RED SOVINE, VIETNAM WASN'T
THE LOCATION |
I FIRST HEARD THIS, BACK IN THE LATE
FORTIES READ BY TEX RITTER
IT IS STILL A GREAT TRIBUTE! .
. . Texas Bob |
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