| I am a great believer in prayer and thus belong to the "club" ! I had an amusing and unusual answer to my prayer to St. Jude, who is known as the patron Saint of 'lost' causes just yesterday. You see, in addition to being a devout Christian...I try to go to daily Mass, when I offer prayers for family, friends and causes espoused on this chat room page, I am also one of the country's top poker players( I finished 9th in the U.S.POKER CHAMPIONSHIP tournament recently in Atlantic City). I wear prominently my crucifix when I am playing as a small way of introducing God's Word to my poker 'ministry'. On Sunday, after Mass, I returned to the Taj Mahal for a couple of hours of poker before departing for my home in Delaware. I proceeded to be dealt the 5,7,8,9 of spades, needing the 6 for a straight flush against a player who had bet strongly the A-K-2 of spades. I closed my eyes and asked in a short prayer to St Jude to pray for me that I might be dealt the 6 of spades ...and you know the rest of the story. On the next card....6th street as we say in the poker world, in a 7 card stud game, I was dealt the 6 of spades!!(a 1 in 40 possibility). This is the second time in that exact circumstance where my prayer has been answered...the last time about 15 yrs. ago...The power of prayer, even in these less than serious circumstances, can NOT be underestimated. Many of my more serious prayers have been answered many times over. I try to spend as much time each day in prayer...in spiritual exercise, in spiritual nourishment.... as I spend eating food...physical nourishment...as I used to spend training for marathon running, physical exercise. I pray that you do the same if not more, Amen! |
