Uno!

Uno is one of the few card games I actually know how to play. You don’t care if the cards are bent, greasy, ripped, or have teeth marks of various sizes on them because the game is too fast-paced to really think about what that strange spot on the blue reverse card is. Growing up, I felt that the Lord had dealt all the right cards to me, and I was more than ready to win the game. I’m not really sure what I wanted when I was applying for colleges, I just knew that after over three hundred hours of volunteer service that I must have been close to my last card.

“Uno!” I shouted as I checked community service off my bucket list. At last, I didn’t have to help people anymore so a college admissions officer would think I’m a decent person. But in my celebration, I didn’t notice that the Lord had casually laid down a draw four wild cards.
I forgot who I was playing Uno with. The Lord isn’t just the wizard who knows how to shuffle the cards with the fancy waterfall technique or the quick dealer who never loses count. He’s not just a pro player or that lady who knows all the rules, but in fact, He is all of these and more. He literally invented the game. He wrote the rules, cut out the cards, and even put them in a cute little package for me.

But the crazy thing is that He didn’t stop there. He even went so far as to sit on the floor so He could play the game with me because He knows that since I don’t buy the required textbooks for my classes I probably didn’t read the instructions on the back of the box. The Lord wants to show me how to play the game so I can have “Uno” with others, that we may be one.

Just before Christ was crucified, one of the last things He wanted to do was to “pray not only for them but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (John 17: 20-21). This is no mere game. “Uno” is what we were made for, it’s what Christ came to redeem. It’s so important that the Holy Eucharist can be called simply, "Communion".

Weaving through the UVA first week activities fair, I was a little disappointed in the available clubs. Sure, Indian Beatboxing and Duck Watching sounded interesting, but I wanted to be a part of something deeper. Somehow I walked through what appeared to be ten different Christain fellowships packed in one row, each trying to get me hooked in a Bible study. I couldn’t find a way to say no, not because I’m a nice dude, but because the person in front of me stopped walking and the aisles were too thin to walk around. Trapped for a solid twenty minutes, I figured I would talk to some of the other campus ministries.

At first, I was hesitant to join any Protestant groups, but I decided that we had more commonalities than differences. I started going to a couple of different Bible studies, but one group instantly got me on board after the small group leader said, “If God is your everything, and God is their everything than you have everything in common.” I drew my four cards.

After months of “fellow-shopping”, Halloween rolled up in C-Ville. My small group leader invited me to participate in Trick or Treating on the Lawn with the fellowship, where I had the opportunity to experience “Uno” at UVA. We dressed up as Vikings and sword fought children for candy, occasionally posing for pictures along the way.

I’m not sure if it was the kids laughing, smiling parents, or the scruffy beard but something in that moment helped me see the oneness of the kingdom of God present among us here at UVA. Carrying the wooden ship down McCormick road while rocking traditional Viking garb was not something I had anticipated in my spiritual journey at college, but clearly, the Lord had better plans.

I’m going to conclude by plagiarizing one of Father David’s homilies but subtly adapting it to fit my theme: When you play Uno with the Lord, He wins. And when He wins, you win. Even if you don’t think you have a good hand, the Lord always provides you with all that you need, even if He has to drop a draw two cards to give it to you