Typhoon Ondoy and the Arkansas Lottery

There hasn't been a great deal of coverage here in the US, but a typhoon in the Phillipines has hit hard and affected thousands of people. The water is not receding very quickly, so people cannot even get back to their homes and there is much concern over diseases that will begin to spread due to all that standing water. A friend of mine from Duesseldorf and her family are living in Manilla now. Fortunately, their home is safe, but just three miles from them people have had to seek shelter. Here are some of her pictures and a couple of links where you can go to help.







Presbyterian Disaster Relief

Red Cross Phillpines


The lottery in Arkansas began yesterday. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. If it works like it is supposed to and provides scholarships to Arkansas students, then I can feel a little better about it. But, seeing and hearing the coverage of opening day, it does indeed look like those scholarships will be funded off the backs of poor people. And I know nobody is ever forced to buy a lottery ticket, but for those who have so little, the potential of a big payoff is just too hard to resist.

The big powerball ticketing starts on October 31. I was thinking about all the things I could do if I won a large amount of money. I've got a list in my head about a mile long of all the groups and organizations I could help. I could replace my stained sink and get a microwave that works. I would buy a couple of pairs of outrageously expensive shoes. And then I thought about what a mess it would be to suddenly come in to a large amount of money. How would you pastor a church when you could buy the church several times over? Could my daughter still get on the bus every morning and go to school or would I worry about her safety? And how would we balance being able to afford anything we wanted and instilling good values about what's really important to our child? I think winning the lottery for a lot of people must be a real lesson in being careful what you wish for.