I Think I’ve Lost My Marbles

Three Crosses Ministries

Growing up I have always been puzzled by the games people play. No, not the Joe South kind of games people play. But the games I watched the adult relatives play around the kitchen table on Sunday afternoons at Grandpa and Grandma Jones’ house in Bernardo. According to Aunt Marion the card game was Rook. It wasn’t just any Rook, I suppose. It was the slammin’ the cards down on the table with your knuckles after some grand feat! I’m not sure how that works but it apparently works at a game of dominoes, too. Domino strategies in games such as 42, 88 and something about “shootin’ the moon” escaped my tiny brain. My brain still must be tiny. My kinfolk played those games with vigor along with a cup of hot coffee by their sides. Pouring one’s coffee into a saucer before drinking it must be somehow related to how one plays adult games. Ah, the simple games of childhood can not be overstated here.

One such simple game I really loved to play, but was not much good at, was marbles. I usually played it on the school grounds because the dirt had to be packed just so hard. A little stick could be used to dig out holes with strategic diligence. After all these years of post-marble playing I am amazed at the types and names of all the marbles that were made. I can remember the Shooter, the cat’s eye and commie’s. These commies are also called commons. Look it up on Google and be ready to be amazed at all the marbles you may still have in your attic. My father-in-law had jars of marbles which I am looking at right now. I know I had marbles. I had lots of marbles. Mom and Dad bought me marbles by the bags full. I must have lost my marbles. Like Tootles in the movie Hook, he really did lose his marbles! Life was simple back then. Anyone who says that they wished they wanted to be grown up must have been said by a kid. As adults we messed up simple games by inventing confusing games such as 42 or 88. Take chess for instance. Chess is an ramped- up adult version of checkers. To be a child is a blessing. To remember what it is to be a child is to be so trusting and loving, throwing the day’s worries into the wind and loving the Lord with all our hearts with not a care or concern. Our Heavenly Father welcomes us no matter who we are, what we are or where we are in life. Matthew 18:3-4- “And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”