Finding an Ace that I Could Keep

As I am quickly approaching 20 years in ministry, I have been reflecting a great deal on advice which mentors have shared with me over the years. Some of what people have said has been truly “priceless.” Some of it has needed several years to play-out and process.  And yes, there has been that advice that I have had to simply forget or ignore. 

One piece of advice has been with me since before I even knew I needed a mentor (or advice for that matter). Actually, I heard it several times going to concerts with my family, on the radio in the car, or the hi-fi system at home. That advice came in the words of a popular song. 

Ironically the song is not a great hymn or worship anthem, rather it is a song about gambling and the lifestyle that accompanies it. I can name a handful of mentors, not one, or two, but about five, who at some point have said, “Remember that old Kenny Rogers song, “The Gambler?”  “Boy, do I ever!” I would respond. See, I had that song on a 45 rpm record. I played it over and over in my room on my record player (boy, does that date me). 

Today, I can’t fathom what I, as a kindergartner, found so appealing about that song. Maybe it was because my parents loved country music. Maybe it was the made-for-TV movies that would air in the coming years (all of which I watched). Or maybe it was Kenny Roger’s grand appearance on The Muppet Show singing The Gambler with those friendly Muppets that made it all okay. 

Whatever it was, that song has journeyed with me over the years. It has almost become a canticle of wisdom. I would probably put it in my Hymns that Speak to Me but I Can’t Sing in Church book, right along Ironic by Alanis Morissette, Amazing Grace (to the tune of The House of the Rising Sun) by the Blind Boys of Alabama, and Whitesnake’s Here I go again.

I find it interesting that almost every one of my mentors have cited “The Gambler.”  There is a point when they chuckle, lean in, and say, “You remember those wise words of wisdom don’t you… ‘You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and know when to run.’” I sure do!  I have been hearing those words since I was in kindergarten (and you know what they say, “Everything you need to know in life you learned in kindergarten!") 

The wisdom of “the gambler” has traveled with me.  I’ve learned:

• Life is often like a “train bound for nowhere.”   I have said it more than once, life is more about the journey than it is about the destination – seemingly a train bound for nowhere.
• Ministry often leaves you “too tired to sleep…starin’ out the window at the darkness.” 
• As a pastor, I can often say, “I’ve made my life out of readin’ people’s faces” –every week from the pulpit. 
•  I have learned over time to know when people are “out of aces” and what advice to give (I do need to work on the trade involved in this one though). 
•  "If you're gonna play the game [ministry], boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.” – SO VERY TRUE and probably the most important part of being aware.

And then comes the most famous line of advice:  “You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, Know when to walk away and know when to run.”  That is such good advice one might think it is right out of scripture, but I believe it is simply “common sense.”  Surviving in this world of ministry takes “knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep”…close to the heart that is.  Something or someone can’t consume us and take us away from our focus. Much like Jesus did, the song throws in the fact that “ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser” – people and situations can both seem bad and beneficial at the same time. Each person is both a “saint and sinner.” And I (as a pastor and a person) am no different than any one else – I too am both a “winner and a loser.”

So The Gambler has been the “ace” that I found that I could keep.  What song, that isn’t in your hymnal or your Sunday morning worship set, has spoken to you?