'Til It's Gone

NYS Lottery Commercial

There is a commercial for the New York State Lottery where a woman is walking in her meticulously manicured and immensely spacious garden thinking about pizza shapes and the announcer asks, "What will you think about when you don't have to think about money?"

It is an intriguing question.

What would I do if I had no worries or concerns, if I didn't need to make a living, work to make ends meet, and there was nothing I needed?

They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. - Genesis 3:8

At the very beginning of The Bible, we get an answer to that question.

My grandfather used to say that you don't appreciate something until it's gone, and it may seem odd to think that I might pine the loss of work, but just as we may long to return to that place where worries and cares are not our concern, we get to a point in our lives where we need a purpose, an identity.

Am I saying that I would not want to win the lottery?

No.  I don't know what it would really be like to have so much more than I need.  But I don't think I wouldn't be concerned about the money.  It all goes back to that purpose - what would I want to do with it?

My wife and I were talking about what we would do if we won the Mega Millions jackpot.  It had reached a record and was on its way to be a Billion Dollar Prize, an unheard of amount by any means.

We came up with some very good ideas including starting an endowment to maintain all the landmark buildings owned by the church.  The dream is to keep these beautiful buildings open and let the congregations worry about helping the people rather than keeping the room from falling in.

We didn't win.  We hadn't even bought a ticket, but that shouldn't stop us, should it?

The inhabitants of that first garden hid themselves from God after failing to do what was expected of them, a task that seems simple to us - live without worry, and avoid one thing.

They couldn't do it.  They wanted more.  They wanted to know what it was like to be like God, and that cost them everything.

When it comes to my life, what is it that is that is pulling me away from being the person I could be, from doing the things I could do?

It is easy to say, "If I win the lottery, I will do it."

The real answer might be, without winning the lottery, how can I do it?

My grandfather wanted me to know that things don't last.  That is true, and as he used to tell me, we don't either.  Whatever it is we think we could do, we should do now, because now is all we have.

So, when I walk through my garden, I need to think about something other than the fact that pizzas are round, they come in square boxes, and they are cut into triangle slices.

I need to be planning the next steps so the dream I have can come true and the purpose will be realized.  I need to do it now, and not wait until it is gone.