Deck of Cards
T. Texas Tyler.

During the North African Campaign, a bunch of soldier boys had been on a long hike.
They arrived in a little town called Casino.
The next morning being Sunday, several of the boys went to church.
A sergeant commanded the boys in church.
and after the Chaplain read the prayer, the text was taken up next.
Those of the boys that had a prayer book took them out,
but this one boy had only a deck of cards, and he spread them out.
The sergeant saw the cards and said, "Soldier, put away those cards."
After the services were over, the soldier was taken prisoner and brought before the Provost Marshal.
The Marshal said, "Sergeant, why have you brought this man here?"
"For playing cards in church, Sir,"
"Well what have you to say for yourself, son?"
"Much, Sir," replied the soldier.
The Marshal said "I hope so, for if not I will punish you more than any man was ever punished."
The soldier said, "Sir, I have been on the march for about six days.
I have neither bible nor a prayer book, but I hope to satisfy you, sir, with the purity of my intentions."

And with that, the boy began his story ...

"You see, sir, when I look at the Ace, it reminds me that there is but one God.
And the twos reminds me that the bible is divided into two parts: the Old and the New Testaments.
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 were 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.
When I see the six, it reminds me that in six days God made this great heaven and earth.
And when I see the seven, it reminds me that on the seventh day,
God rested from his great work and called it Holy
And when I see the eight, I think of the eight righteous persons God saved
when he destroyed the earth: they were Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives.
And when I see the nine, I think of the lepers the saviour cleansed,
nine of the ten didn't even thank him.
When I see the ten, I think of Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses
on a table of stone.
When I see the King, it reminds me there is but one King of Heaven, God Almighty.
And when I see the Queen, I think of the blessed Virgin Mary who is the Queen of Heaven.
And the Jack or Knave is the Devil.

When I count the number of spots in a deck of cards, I find 365, the number of days in a year.
There are 52 cards, the number of weeks in a year.
There are four suits, the number of weeks in a month.
There are twelve picture cards, the number of months in a year.
There are thirteen tricks, the number of weeks in a quarter.

So you see, Sir, my deck of cards serves me as a bible, almanac and a prayer book."
"And friends, this story is true.
I know ... I was that soldier."

 

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