Friends, this is Reggie Kniphfer, with a strange story about a soldier boy and a deck of cards. During
the North African Campaign, a bunch of soldier boys had been on a long hike and 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 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 service was 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." The
sergeant replied. "And what have you to say for yourself son?" said the marshal. "Much, sir," replied
the soldier. The marshal said. "I hope so for if not I shall punish you more than any man was ever
punished."

The soldier said, "Sir, I have been on the march for about 6 days. I had neither Bible nor prayer book but I hope to satisfy you 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 Testament. 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."

He continued, "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 eight righteous persons that God saved when he destroyed this earth, There was Noah, his wife, their three sons and their wives."

He continued his story saying, "And when I see the nine, I think of the lepers our savior cleansed and nine out of the ten didn't even thank him. When I see the ten, I think of the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on a tablet 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 queen of Heaven. And the jack or knave is the Devil."

Sir, "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 are four suits; the number of weeks in a month. There's 12 picture cards; the number of Months in a year, and there's 13 tricks; the number of weeks in a quarter."

"So you see sir," concluded the soldier. "My deck of cards serves me as a Bible, almanac and prayer book."

And friends, this story is true, I know because I was that soldier.