Play out your hand

       Every now and then we we run across a saying that puts into just the right words some idea or insight that we have been pondering. One such, for me, was Robert Lewis Stevenson’s, “Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well." I may have been aware of it before, but suddenly it came into sharper focus when put in the  context of how some people are being victimized by the current state of society. It is held that because some segments are better off than others, there must be something unfair going on. Those who consider themselves victims claim that, since “all men are created equal,” such social  inequity ought not to be.
       Stevenson would not agree. His axiom acknowledges the existence of inequality – one person may have a good singing voice and another the physical structure necessary for professional football – but genuine equality has to do with the freedom to make the most with whatever we were given by God.  We are not “equal” in terms of gifts and natural endowments, but we are where it really counts. We are free in our opportunity to deal successfully with what we were given. It is interesting that the current call for “social justice” is spearheaded by a group whose average salary is over $2,000,000 a year. I believe that the equality that counts is the freedom of everyone to make the best of what was given to him.
       A person's worth is not determined by what they have or what the have done, but by how well each has handled what they were given.  Stevenson might put it this way, “At the card table of life you get the hand that was dealt to you, so if yours is a “lousy 2, 4, and 6 of hearts along with a 7 and jack of spades, simply make the most of it.” Think of it as an exercise in character building. How you play your hand will exhibit the quality of your character. I know a man who has really made it in the material world, but, sitting in the midst of his luxuries, he is dismal. I know another man –  this one with Downs syndrome who exudes joy after an expressive display of Christian dance before his family and friends. He plays his hand well and is rewarded appropriately. Both men are equal; one took the high road.
       One additional word: If we who believe keep in mind that our life is a mere stepping stone to the endless joy of heaven, we should certainly rejoice in the “hand” that God has dealt us, no matter what it is. So, while most of us may never become filthy rich here on earth, I ask you, “Would you trade heaven for whatever could be yours down here?"