Why I Feel Bad for the Next Powerball Winner

Mike Leake

The Powerball is now up to 1.4 billion dollars. And within a few days some unlucky person is going to win the thing. That isn’t a typo. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning than winning the lottery. And if history tells us anything you might want to choose the lightning.

Consider a few facts:

  • About 70 percent of those who win spend or lose all of their money within five years.
  • Your relationships will inevitably suffer
  • Most lottery winners are never satisfied. They keep playing the lottery and trying to hit it rich again.
  • There are real cases of people whose lives have been ruined by winning the lottery. (See here)

One of those people who was ruined by quick earnings was Michael Larson. Though he didn’t win in the lottery his story is similar to those who have. Back in 1984 Larson figured out the pattern for the game show Press Your Luck.  He won an unprecedented $110, 237.  That was serious jack for ‘84.  It was over 5 times a persons annual income.

CBS found out pretty quickly that he was cheating.  But they couldn’t do anything about it.  They paid him his money and parted ways.  For Larson, everything went downhill from there.  His ex-wife noted that his obsession with making a quick buck absolutely consumed him.  On one occasion he withdrew over $40,000 in one dollar bills to try to win a $30,000 prize.  Unfortunately for Larson somebody broke into his house and made bank with all those 40,000 $1 bills. 

Larson is a perfect illustration of Proverbs 20:21.  Quick growth in the beginning (though not always) usually leads to a bitter taste in the end.  Good growth tends to happen slowly and steadily over a long period of time. We aren’t meant to gain wealth so quickly and so it ends up destroying our souls.

What good does it do for a man to gain the whole world (win the lottery) and yet lose his soul?

There are many reasons why I don’t play the lottery. (This being one of them). But another big reason is because I don’t want to win. I’m convinced it would destroy my family and make shipwreck of my soul. I feel bad for the person who wins this lottery. It will be life changing and probably not in a good way.

Those of you who are buying a Powerball ticket probably don’t know what you are signing up for. $1.4B seems like a great thing. Even with taxes you’d be sitting pretty. But what would it cost your soul? You don’t need this temptation. You’ll be far happier plodding along and earning every dollar you make.

Today in Blogworld 1.12.16

Mike Leake

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5 Historical Biographies I’m Reading

Mike Leake

Though I’d really like to start reading more fiction, I can’t seem to pull myself away from historical biographies. Here are five of them that I’m either currently reading or that I’ve just finished.

1. A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War. Joseph Loconte looks at the epic fantasies of Tolkien and Lewis in light of World War I and the culture it gave birth to. I haven’t studied a ton on the period of the first world war, especially from the perspective of Great Britain, but this is wonderfully interesting.

2. Creativity, INC., Ed Catmull is the co-founder of Pixar. I suppose this isn’t technically a historical biography but this book covers the history of Pixar and gives lessons on creativity and business along the way. I’m going through this one slowly but I’ve really benefited from this as I think about pastoral ministry.

3. Lincoln’s Melancholy. Though I don’t share the authors view on humanity and the behavioral sciences I am still finding his take on the depression of Lincoln to be fascinating. I’m not too far into this book but I’m having a hard time putting it down so I will probably finish it soon.

4. Andy & Don. Watching TBS reruns of the Andy Griffith Show was part of my daily routine as a child. This book presents itself as a sort of “tell-all” and a behind-the-scenes look at the relationship between these two superstars. It kind of disappoints a bit on that end but it was still a very fun read.

5. The President and the Assassin. I just finished this one a little over a week ago. I really had never learned much about William McKinley or the landscape of America at the turn of the century. This book was an informative and highly enjoyable read. Not only do we learn about McKinley and turn of the century America but we also are introduced to the world of anarchy and the presidents assassin.

Today in Blogworld 1.11.16

Mike Leake

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