The Soldier and the Deck of Cards

When I was a teenager, a major share of the world of Pop music was taken up singers like Cliff Richard, The Beatles, Jim Reeves,The Everly Brothers, et al. Later came Nancy Sinatra, Englebert Humperdinck, Simon and Garfunkel and several others whose many songs still stir up nostalgia of days gone by. Those were the times when my friends and I listened to our favorite pop music programme every evening on Radio Ceylon, when songs were played by request. The next day at school these became our topic for discussion.
When in school I learnt Indian classical music and my parents found it pretty strange that I had taken to Pop Music, despite my Indian classical music training! I always monopolized the radio each evening at 7.00P.M. Being the youngest, was quite pampered and allowed to listen without any admonishings, despite school homework being relegated to a side activity! Not many in my family joined me then, except when a certain song was played. That was when my father who never had so much of a ear for Pop music, also joined in and we all sat round the radio silently listening to this soul-touching lyric. The song I am referring to was a lesser known song and one of my favorites: The Soldier and the Deck of Cards sung by and American Country singer calledTex Ritter.
It was a touching song about a soldier in World War II who is in a church without a Bible to pray with. He opens a deck of cards. The Chaplain conducting the service is puzzled about his strange behavior and takes him to the Major. The Major asks the soldier for an explanation. He sternly tells the young soldier if it is not convincing enough he would have the bear the consequences of punishment. The soldier explains he has no prayer book or Bible and proceeds to explain why the deck of cards reminds him of the Bible.
This is a very thoughtfully written lyric that corelates the Bible with each card in the deck. Read the song at the following link and enjoy the lyric. You are sure to be touched by the words. Here is the link: http://www.creativeyouthideas.com/blog/music/deck_of_cards.html
The lyric is a reminder how the seeker in each one of us is able to find his divine connection in any situation however hopeless it may seem, with just an open heart to steer us through, so that divine love can flow in and take charge!