Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Irreverin

Home
Progressive Christian
A Handful of Change

A Handful of Change

Last updated on: February 10, 2013 at 11:06 am by Erin Wathen

A Handful of Change 2013-02-10T11:06:19-07:00 Erin Wathen

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Recession, re-shmession.

I know it’s tough out there. I know people have lost jobs and healthcare coverage. I know firsthand that, practically overnight, some of our homes were suddenly worth nothing. Not even what we spent on new landscaping. I know that people have been displaced, heartbroken, cheated, and kicked around in general by the economy these last few years.

But people, we spent $1.5 BILLION on lottery tickets this week. You and me. And only 3 of us won.

Now, lottery is all in good fun. Most of us spend a few dolloars on tickets knowing that we probably won’t win. But we buy into the frenzy for the sense of commaraderie, for the few days of dreaming with our family and friends, and for the momentary escape of the ordinary. We like to think, yes, that we would do SOOOO much good with it, and give SOOOO much away, and the universe should bless us with this win because we would be such great stewards. We like to think about how humble we’d be, and how little we’d change about our circumstances. But i’ll be honest. I was also thinking about what a beautiful house I would buy, and how i would never–as long as i lived– ever clean a toilet again. Why not spend a few dollars to have that dream for a day? Sure, some people blow harmful chunks of their savings to make their chances seem a little more real, most of us spend a few dollars that won’t break our bank.

But my $5 and your $5, and somebody else’s $25, and somebody else’s $200…this week, it all added up to $1.5 billion. So again i say…recession my foot.

We are still rich.

On the tiniest, fraction of a hope of changing our own lives, we came up with enough money to dramatically transform the world. $1.5 billion could develop sustainable agriculture projects in broad, sweeping areas of the developing world. It could provide clean water where people die every day for want of it. Were it organized and mobilized, that would be a heart-breaking amount of cash down the drain.

I’m not naive. I realize that your $3 and my $5 would rarely, in this lifetime, get funnelled to the same place, even if you and i got together and decided that we cared about the same starving corner of the planet. The world is broken, and no government or organization has the infrastructure in place to do what the lottery does–and that is, to get all those little pockets of change funnelled into the same place and working for the same purpose.

We can blame the broken system if we want–but it being Holy Week and all, i think we must acknowledge the painful truth: that we are far more likely to spend our few dollars of hope and dreaming money on a chance at changing our own lives. Even if it is a small chance, and even if it is only for fun.

I spent $5 on a lottery ticket this week–but i know that i could have spent $500, or even $5000, and still had a place to sleep and food to eat and even a car to drive and a television to watch. (I may not, however, have a husband, if i made a habit of buying $5000 lottery tickets. Then again, that would cut down on the grocery bill…) Anyway, in gratitude for my relative comfort and safety, I’m giving an extra $10 to Week of Compassion this week. It isn’t much, but it is more than i spent on my long shot at uber-wealth and luxury.

If nothing else, let this week of hopeful, frenzied spending remind us that we are rich. We are powerful. And if anybody ever got our hopeful dreaming and our selfish spending organized and mobilized, we could truly change the world.

Whether you are a Jesus person or not, it is a good week to think about what it means to be sitting at a computer right now when half the world suffers for want of the most basic, life sustaining things. It is a good week to realize that our comfort is costly, and that some of our hopes and dreams are ultimately foolish and utterly self-serving. Still, it is a good week. It is, in fact, a Holy Week. And we get to choose, every single day of it, whether our hope rests in the motorcade, in the long shot, or in love that rides in on a donkey.

faith and community

Lent and Easter

Spirituality in Culture

progressive christianity

social justice

spirituality

Previous Post

March 29, 2012

Louder and Less Polite

Next Post

April 4, 2012 A Sacred Discomfort

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category a good week for progress Advent and Christmas Being a Person desert life faith and community Good News for Progressives Lent and Easter Marriage and Family S*^! Jesus Says sabbatical road tripping Spirituality in Culture Talking to Strangers the "Best Stuff I Ever Ate" diet travel Uncategorized writing Writing Prompt Wednesday

Select a Month January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 February 2011 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian denomination is the largest in the United States?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Catholic Pentecostal Methodist Baptist