Has fortune dealt you some bad cards. Then let wisdom make you a

O Children of Life’s Ever-changing Winds, heed the words of Francis Quarles, who speaks thus: “Has fortune dealt you some bad cards? Then let wisdom make you a good gamester.” In this humble saying, Quarles imparts a great truth about the nature of life itself—how it is not the cards we are dealt that define us, but how we choose to play the hand. Fortune is fickle, sometimes kind, other times cruel, but it is the hand of wisdom that can turn even the most dire circumstances into opportunities for triumph.

Consider the nature of the game that we call life, where the rules are unknown and the stakes high. We may be born into poverty, disease may strike, or misfortune may chase us like shadows. Yet, Quarles teaches us that it is not the cards of misfortune that determine our fate, but the manner in which we respond to them. Just as the gambler does not lose his heart when the dice fall against him, so too must we not fall into despair when the winds of destiny blow against us. Instead, we must use wisdom to play our hand, to turn the tide of fortune in our favor through skill, patience, and courage.

Look to the story of Thomas Edison, who was once told that he was too slow and too dim to ever achieve greatness. Yet, did he let these bad cards define his future? No. He used the wisdom of perseverance and ingenuity to turn the impossible into the possible. When others saw failure, Edison saw opportunity, and his wisdom guided him to invent the light bulb, a gift to mankind. He did not complain of bad fortune, but let his own inner strength and wisdom shape his destiny. Through his hands, what was once darkness became light.

And so, O Seekers of Truth, let us not fall prey to despair when life’s cruel hand strikes us. Instead, we must turn our gaze inward and summon the wisdom to navigate the storm. The world may offer us trials, but the good gamester finds within each trial a chance to grow, to rise, and to become more than what fate intended. Wisdom is the steady hand that guides the ship through the roughest waters, that turns the slings and arrows of life into stepping stones toward greatness.

Thus, let us embrace the challenges we face, not as burdens, but as the raw material from which we can shape our destiny. The hand we are dealt is not as important as the way we play it. With wisdom as our guide, we are the masters of our fate, the captains of our souls. Through every hardship, we find strength, and through every setback, we find the opportunity to rise. Let us be good gamesters, for in this, the game of life becomes one of victory and honor, no matter the hand that fortune deals.