In the year of our Lord 2019, the makers of the classic card game UNO made an announcement that nearly broke the internet by challenging long held understanding of how the game was to be played. The official UNO Twitter account posted a meme with a red background and bold, capitalized white letters that read, “YOU CANNOT STACK DRAW 2 CARDS & DRAW 4 CARDS.” They explained further in the tweet writing, “If someone puts down a +4 card, you must draw 4 and your turn is skipped. You can’t put down a +2 to make the next person draw 6. We know you’ve tried it.”
The makers of the game were absolutely correct. Not only have I seen said move attempted, I’ve seen it practiced with great regularity and to great effect. Many’s the time that I have been on the receiving end as “friends” and family members, people who supposedly love me, stacked numerous Draw 4 and Draw 2 cards one on top of the other, passing all of the inconvenience, annoyance, and consequence on to me. And, if I’m being honest, the only reason the issue became mine was because I didn’t have the means to pass the mess onto whoever happened to be the next victim… I mean player, in line.
Players can’t pass the problem, they simply must play the cards as they come.
This practice has been the source of vigorous and passionate debate (and not a few tossed tables of cards). Interestingly enough, the positions taken by those participating in the debate were generally determined by whether they were on the giving or receiving end of the move. This is one instance where it was absolutely better to give than receive! But, UNO has now put that all to an end. We can choose to play however we want in our own homes, but the official ruling is that stacking Draw 2 and Draw 4 cards is not, and has never been, allowed by the rules of the game. Players can’t pass the problem, they simply must play the cards as they come.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “You have to play the hand you’re dealt.” While the idiom doesn’t exactly align with the example above, I believe it’s close enough to make a point. We are often confronted with circumstances and situations that are less than pleasant or that we do not prefer. And, more often than not, there is absolutely nothing we can do to avoid them. At times, however, we attempt to differ the difficulty. We don’t necessarily attempt to pass the problems onto others (though if that were an option, we’d likely take it). Rather, we simply push the issue down the line, figuring we’ll deal with it in the future. In this instance, we can stack the proverbial problem cards, but we’re only creating a bigger mess for our future selves to deal with.
Whatever situations arise, it is in our best interests to deal with them as best we can as soon as we can.
In Matthew 6:34, Jesus notes, “Each day has enough trouble of its own.” In context, Jesus is talking about not worrying about tomorrow, but inherent in His statement is the encouragement to deal with what every day brings in that day, as best as possible. In the book of James, we read a warning in the same vein. He warns of the issue of pushing doing what is good into the future, noting that today is all we have and tomorrow is not guaranteed. Whatever situations arise, it is in our best interests to deal with them as best we can as soon as we can.
Just as is true in the game of UNO it is true in life, we can’t stack the cards and pass things to another player. Whether it is dealing with the difficulties that confront us or making the most of the opportunity to do what is good, right, and beneficial, we must play the hand we’re dealt and deal with the cards as they’re played. Procrastination is not a virtue. It’s simply a means of passing one day’s issues and responsibilities onto the next. And, as Jesus noted and we all have experienced, each day has enough issues on their own without us stacking the struggles.
