Texas Hold ‘Em or Playing Poker in the Universe – Revised

(Dedicated to the fearless and fabulous Molly Ivins, 1944-2007)

The following essay was written in the spirit of the incomparable Molly Ivins. Y’all will have to imagine her Texas “twang” but not the openness of her heart which she wore on her sleeve and which was as big as the state from which she hailed. Molly found her fellow Americans and especially her fellow Texans fascinating and they always provided grist for her mill which could grind exceedin’ fine.

Look! We all know we ain’t gonna make it with this hand. We have three choices. Bluff—but remember that you can’t fool the universe. Fold ‘em and hope for better cards in the next hand which feels like wishful thinking only a fool would count on. Or wait for the rapture. Yeah I know some of us have tried that rapture thang before. We’ve followed some charismatic “special soul” to the top of some God-forsaken (and I mean that literally) hill in the desert of southern New Mexico and waited for the UFO or the Archangel Michael to give us a “lift.”

Some of us have waited on a cold, dark and windy night full of hope. We had given the money that we would no longer need to “you know who.” Some of us sold our houses and gave away all our stuff which, of course we would no longer need, to the less fortunate or our next-door neighbors. They were really less fortunate because, of course, they were going to burn in hell. Oh well! At least they could enjoy our hot-tub during the little time that they had left. As for us, we couldn’t wait to get off this planet of iniquity.

Well we must ‘av dozed off because there it was, the sun coming up and that sinking feeling in the pit our stomachs that we’d been had. It was “dawning” on us that we were not the chosen people after all. Oh! Uhhh……We had been chosen alright but that sucker that had chosen us wasn’t God’s representative and he was nowhere in sight and I don’t think that the vehicle that was taking him away was headed for heaven—at least not the heaven that we had all imagined.

So we can all tuck our tails between our legs and head back to the poker table of life more humble—and wiser—well at least more humble. We now know that we have to play the cards that we’re holding right now—the ones that we’ve been dealt. No one else can play them for us or get us out of the game. It’s not over ‘til it’s over. But at least now we have learned the difference between “Hold ‘Em” and bluffing.

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References and notes are available for this essay.
Find a much more in-depth discussion in books by Roy Charles Henry:
Who Am I? The Second Great Question Concerning the Nature of Reality
Where Am I?  The First Great Question Concerning the Nature of Reality
Simple Reality: The Key to Serenity and Survival