Gaming in the "Good Ole Days"
Gaming is gambling and seemingly has been around forever. Psalms 22:18 prophesied that the garments of Jesus would be parted and the fulfillment is recorded in Matthew 27:35 when the Roman soldiers who crucified Jesus cast lots for his inner garment. My uncle who refused adamantly to donate to gaming institutions relay a tale of a gambling event he witnessed as a young lad.
Granddaddy had a little money since the crops had been harvested and sold. There was feed in the barn, there was plenty of firewood for winter so he sent my Uncle Mike to buy some shine and home brew. Jack came out of his house eager to make a sale. He drew two jugs from the well where it was hidden. He had been raided before, but they never thought to look in the well. Uncle Mike paid him in silver, ran a small rope between the two glass jugs, and balanced them across the back of his horse, Ned. Then they went through the woods and crossed 43.
Not far across, he spotted a man easing through the woods so they stopped, dismounted, and remained in place for what seemed an eternity. Then he saw three men shooting craps on the smooth stump of a huge oak tree, which had been felled with a crosscut saw. Earlier he had seen these men outside the country store when he passed by. They were puffing and shooting the breeze. The man walking toward them was a constable from Thomastown. Getting a little closer, he pulled out his revolver and told them to put up their hands. They complied, but the cylinder fell out of his gun. All of them started to flee, but the constable was able to grab one of them and hold on until he quit struggling. Then he heard the man tell his prisoner that they were going to walk to T-Town, and he would call the sheriff in Carthage to pick him up.
After they got out of sight, Uncle Mike hopped back on Ned, and they headed to the home place. Granddaddy wanted to know what took so long, and he was amused when he heard the details. This did not deter him from sending them back for more.
One of my elderly friends told me about playing hooky when he was a child. He and two of his pals decided to skip school and play in the woods until time to go home. Each one of them had a few pennies, and one of them had marbles so they drew a circle in the dirt and started playing. Naturally, they progressed into wagering bets on their skills. Pretty soon, they started getting thirsty and hungry, but even if they pooled their money, they did not have enough to buy much at Mrs. Ruth's nearby store. They knew that she bought eggs from her patrons, so they went to her chicken pen and stole a dozen eggs. Then one of them took the eggs into the store and sold them. Now they had enough for some pops and a little candy. She said it was bad that he was selling his momma's eggs not knowing that they were actually hers. He did not say if they repeated this stunt or if they were caught. I hope that they saw the error of their way and walked the straight and narrow.
Compared to today's environment, these two events were clandestine in nature as opposed to the transparent nature of gaming that is a heavily advertised business. Gaming is proclaimed as an entertainment venue, and the lottery is portrayed as a revenue source for such things as road repair. Gaming is not forbidden in the Bible, but it is hard for me to see how the good outweighs the bad. Even so, it has been said that if Baptists did not frequent the casinos, then they would probably have to close their doors.
Jimmy Williamson
