This is one of my favorite jokes:
One day, Bernie hears a voice. The voice says to him, “Tomorrow, don’t park your car where you normally park your car at work.” Bernie heeds this warning, and parks his car in a different spot.
At lunchtime, he hears a terrific boom – a giant meteorite has just smashed the car where he normally parks! But his car is safe, because he parked somewhere else. He thinks to himself, “Wow, what are the chances?”
The voice comes to him again. This time, it says, “Bernie, go to Las Vegas. Put $1,000 on the number 22 on the first roulette table you see.” Bernie does. He goes to Vegas, puts down the $1,000, and says aloud as the ball settles on 22, “Wow, what are the chances?”
Then the voice says, “Take all the money you’ve won and all the money you have, and put it on the next hand of high stakes blackjack.” Bernie does as he’s told. He’s nervous, obviously, as the dealer turns over a 10, then an 8. The dealer’s showing a 6, and Bernie can’t believe his luck. He’s got 18, the dealer’s got 16.
He says, this time just audibly to those around, “Wow, what are the chances?”
The voice comes to him and says, “Take another card.”
What?!
Bernie does as he is told, takes another card, and gets an ace. He now has 19. He can’t believe it. The voice again says, “Take ANOTHER card.”
Bernie anxiously takes yet another card and gets another ace – he now has 20. He can hardly breathe. He is elated. He can’t believe it. He jumps up and shouts, “Wow, what are the chances?”
A crowd has gathered around; insanity is breaking out throughout the entire casino. Once again, the voice comes to him and dictates, “Take another card.”
Bernie can’t believe what the voice is telling him. He motions to the dealer to hit him. People are fainting at this point. Everyone’s hysterical.
The dealer deals him the 4 of clubs.
Shocked, Bernie is beyond words.
He’s just lost big-time.
“What was that all about?” he asks aloud.
Bernie hears the reply: “What are the chances?”
Wow, I love that joke.
What if God doesn’t know much better than we do?
What if God’s omniscience isn’t perfect?
What if God doesn’t understand everything either?
This week’s spiritual-religious advice:
Play your cards as best you can.
With love,
It’s o.k. to seek love.
November 6, 2025
Beloved reader, I am redoing the rotb.org website. Again. Why am I redoing the website again? Because a website older than (blank) years is (blank minus one) years overdue for a facelift. (The standard is three years for small sites and six years for large sites.) ✧✧✧ While placing into the background a composite grid, 15 wide by five tall,
