Cribbage Catechesis

 Today, in cribbage, I had a chance to catechize.  I was playing with this lady who was wearing a bracelet, that had a cross dangling from it.  I asked her if her bracelet was a rosary bracelet.

She said, she didn't know; she liked the cross, so she wore it.  So, I took her wrist and counted: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.  This is a rosary bracelet.  She then said her friend brought it home from Rome, as a gift.

It was beautiful.

I explained that a rosary had ten beads on which to pray a Hail Mary.  Then the man next to me, said, "I don't have to pray because I don't sin."

"Oh, so you were immaculately conceived?" I responded.

"Huh?"

Thanks to the Holy Spirit, I could explain that the only person to have never sinned was the Virgin Mary.  Since she was chosen to be the Mother of God, she was born free from sin, right at her conception.  The Mother of God had to be pure. Think about it.  Jesus is God; His Mother had to be pretty special and not like every other woman. This is why Catholic tradition says Mary was immaculately conceived.

Two people left that cribbage game with something to think about.

Champion of Humility

 Remember when I won this tournament?  Well last night and today I haven't won a game.  Last night, I played six games and won a string of pearls--"0".  Today, I play two games and lost both.

Cribbage is mostly luck.  I'm proof.  So now my plaque is an embarrassment.  How can a champion be such a looser?  I'm keeping this plaque in a place of honor, not to show off, but to keep me humble.

T'is Better to be Lucky

 

Cribbage players always say, "I'd rather be lucky that good."  By that they mean that being skilled in the game of cribbage isn't a guarantee of winning.  It takes luck.  

  

I couldn't believe I was winning.  I barely breathed.  I was hot but didn't want to change my luck, so I kept my sweater on.  I wanted to put my glasses on, but I was winning without them.  I needed to go to the bathroom, but I didn't.  I made it.  I didn't win by a large margin on any game, but I won every game I play.  And you and I know, it's just plain ole dumb luck.

Sometime When You Lose, You Win

We played cribbage tonight.  I lost every single game.  It must be a record.  It's a good thing I wasn't playing seriously.  I didn't put any money up.  I just joined the recreational table because I didn't want to play for hours.  I wanted to get home to watch Boston College play Notre Dame.

Even though I lost, I had a good time and I met some nice people.  I even met a neighbor, who used to "trick or treat" at my house; we even rode the same bus to see the pope. It really is a small world.

Our little "recreational" league laughed much more than the serious players.  We were nicer to each other and we finished playing sooner.  

Luck v. Blessings

Boy! Am I in a good mood!  I just won three games out of three playing cribbage this afternoon. All three games came down to the wire and in all three I counted first.  That's pure luck.  And I had good hands.  That's luck too.

And that!  Boys and girls, is the difference between luck and a blessing.  A blessing is a grace from God.  Luck is the card hand you're dealt.

Sometimes When You Lose, You Win

Artist -- MEK

My friend, Donna and I saw an advertisement about a cribbage night at a nearby church, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus.  Donna and I have been learning to play.  The ad had a category for "recreational players", so we signed up.

It was a very small group. And Donna and I were the only recreational players.  So we played with each other.  She won once and I won once and we started a third game to break the tie but we got involved in a long conversation with someone and when we got back to the game we couldn't remember whose turn it was and we didn't care.  (You can tell we're not serious players.)  So we quit.

The people were so friendly.  It was not a cutthroat atmosphere.  I knew three people from town or church.  I made friends with two others.  Everyone else was nice, too.

And!  I won free ice cream and a gift certificate. Donna won some flowers and free ice cream.  They actually had more prizes than people, so everyone got something.  Everyone was a winner.

Zombies Play Mercilessly

Today I went to Senior Center to play cribbage.  I thought I'd have an easy time of it.  The old timers limped, stiff-legged, wheel-chaired, hobbled, etc., in.  They looked spacey.  They weren't alert.  In fact, they could barely see.  They could hardly hear, too.  It looked like we were experiencing an invasion of zombies.

Huh!

Don't let the zombies fool you.  True they can't hear; that must help them focus.  They're not responding to jokes, not because they're facial muscles have fossilized, but rather because they're centered in on whom holds what cards.  They're not with it, like a cat isn't zoned in on a mouse!  Ha!  They know where every single card in the deck is.

I got skunked!