During the North African campaign a group of Soldier boys had been on a long hike. They came to a town called Cassino. The next day, being Sunday, some of the boys went to church and after the Chaplain had prayed a prayer, the text was taken up next.
Those of the boys who had prayer books took them out, but this one young boy only had a deck of cards, and so he spread them out in front of him.
The sergeant saw the cards and said, "soldier, put away those cards."
After the service was over, the boy was taken prisoner, and brought before the provost Marshal. The Marshall said, "Sargent, why have you brought this man here?" "For playing cards in church sir." "And what have you to say for yourself son?" "Much sir," replied the young Soldier. The Marshall said, "I hope so, because if not, I shall punish you more than any man was ever punished in this court."
The soldier boy said, "sir, I have been on a long march for 6 days. I have neither Bible, nor 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 in my deck of cards, it reminds me that there is but one God Almighty Creator of the heavens and the Earth.
And the DEUCE, tells me that the Bible is divided into two parts, the Old and the New Testament.
When I see the THREE, I think of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
And when I look at the FOUR, I think of the four evangelists who preached the Good News of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. 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 10 of them, five were wise and were saved and five were foolish and were shut out.
When I look at the SIX, I know that in six days God created this great Heavens and Earth.
And the SEVEN tells me that on the seventh day He 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 this Earth with the flood. There were Noah, his wife, there three sons and their three wives.
And when I see the NINE, I think of the lepers our Savior cleansed. And nine of the ten didn't even thank Him.
And of course when I see the TEN, I always remember the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments etched in stone that God handed down to Moses on tablets of stone.
And of course, the JACK reminds me of Satan the devil causing all the chaos, deception and darkness here in the Earth today.
And when I see the QUEEN, I think of the blessed Virgin Mary who gave birth to Christ our Lord and savior.
When I see the KING sir, I know there is but one King of kings, Jesus Christ our Lord and savior.
When I count the spots in a deck of cards, I find 365, the number of days in a year.
There are 52 cards in the deck, the number of weeks in a year.
And there are 13 tricks, the number of weeks in a quarter.
There are four suits, Heart, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs, the number of weeks in a month.
And 12 picture cards, the number of months in a year.
So you see sir, my deck of cards serves me not only as a Bible or almanac but also as a prayer book."
