Category Archives: Food for thought

French Church Notice

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This notice can now be found in French churches:

En entrant dans cette église, il est possible que vous entendiez l’appel de Dieu. Par contre, il n’est pas susceptible de vous contacter par téléphone. Merci d’avoir éteint votre téléphone. Si vous souhaitez parler à Dieu, entrez, choisissez un endroit tranquille et parle lui. Si vous souhaitez le voir, envoyez-lui un SMS en conduisant.

Translation: It is possible that on entering this church, you may hear the Call of God. On the other hand, it is not likely that he will contact you by phone. Thank you for turning off your phone. If you would like to talk to God, come in, choose a quiet place, and talk to him. If you would like to see him, send him a text while driving.

Playing Cards

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The Chinese invented playing cards in AD 1000.

Did you know that the traditional deck of playing cards is a strikingly coherent form of a calendar and as a religious form?

There are 52 weeks in the year and there are 52 playing cards in a deck.

There are 13 weeks in each season and there are 13 cards in each suit.

There are 4 seasons in a year and 4 suits in the deck.

There are 12 months in a year so there are 12 court cards (those with faces, namely jack, queen, king) in each suit.

The red cards represent day, while black cards represent night.

If you let jacks=11, queens=12, and kings=13, then add up all the sums of 1+2+3 + all the way to 13, you get 91.

Multiply this by 4, for the 4 suits, therefore 9×4 = 364, add 1 that is the joker and you will arrive at the number 365—being the number of days in a year.

Is that a mere coincidence or a greater intelligence?

Of interest is the sum of the letters in all the names of the cards, e.g., add up the letters in “one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, jack, queen, king”=52!

The spades indicate plowing or working.

The hearts indicate love and the seasonal crops.

The clubs indicate flourishing and growth.

The diamonds indicate reaping the wealth.

Also, in some card games, two jokers are used, indicating the leap year.

There is a deeper philosophy than merely playing cards.