A Surprising Reality - Blog on Source 1

We all dream and hope for things like good fortune, success, and happiness. But do you believe that dream come true could turn into a living nightmare? The façade of something that seems so positive having an absolutely destructive impact on your life. For the people in this source for my research paper, this scenario is a reality.

This source outlines “10 People Who Won the Lottery – Then Lost it All.” The first case is of Callie Rogers who at 16 years old won 3 million in a UK lottery. She is now a single mother, working as a maid to pay off debt. (B.P.)

           
Another alarming case is of William “Bud” Post whose brother hired a hit man to kill him when Post won 16.2 million. This was not his only lottery induced complication. He also invested in companies that failed, got sued by his ex-girlfriend, and was thrown in jail when he shot at bill collectors. (B.P.)

           
Even a just cause can lead to the detriment of lottery winners. This can be evidenced by Janite Lee. She found herself filing bankruptcy after donating almost all of her 18 million dollar winnings to different philanthropic organizations! Good for her! (B.P.)

           
It’s hard for me to imagine how something that seems so positive could have such a deeper negative impact in the long run. This article has opened by eyes to the negative impact the lottery can have. When the average person things of negative effects of the lottery, they usually think of the poor ticket buyers who waste there hard earned savings. But, as it turns out, many people find winning the lottery hard to deal with, and it leads to some level of difficulties for most of them.

Business Pundit. “10 People Who Won The Lottery – Then Lost It All.” Business Pundit. 9 Sept. 2009. Web. 25 March 2011.

The Simple Solution

“If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than seventy five percent of the people in the world.”

“If you have money in the bank, in your wallet and spare change in a dish, you are among the top eight percent of the world's wealthy.”

Most of us live in ignorance of how well off we are. It is shocking to see that what we view as the most basic necessities, most of the world is without.

That leaves us with a problem. How do we reverse the disjoint between the wealthy and poor, the starving and the full, the homeless and the owners of multiple homes?

The solution is simple. We must level the playing field. We can do this by the wealthy giving to the poor until everyone has the same amount. Everyone can have the same amount of food, the same amount of clothes, and the same living arrangements. This will eliminate the pain of some living with less than others.

Some may say this will be boring and lead to cookie cutter lifestyles. However, would you rather have a world where people die from malnutrition while others throw away scraps at every meal? The answer is obvious. This proposition will eliminate all hurt and struggle from the world. Further, it will eliminate poverty in total.

Disclaimer: This is a satire solution for a problem for my Freshman Writing Seminar class.

You can read the whole article that the statistics came from here:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/427479/are_you_richer_than_75_percent_of_people.html

Sticks, Stones, and Broken Hearts

It is a classic childhood scenario.

 

“Mom, Justin called me a name!” I’d whine.

“Craig, don’t let your brother get to you, ‘sticks and stones will break your bones, but names will never hurt you.’”

But is that really the case?

This phrase has always been a commonplace that has been generally accepted, but one that I feel that many of us have never wholeheartedly believed. It is especially hard to embrace when you are the victim. We all like to tell each other this when we are experiencing difficulties, but oftentimes do not like to hear it ourselves.

Of course, it is a noble idea to attempt to remain unaffected by ridiculing, torment, and verbal bullying, but it is much easier said than done.

Words are very powerful. They comprise almost all of our communication, whether through written word, dialogue, or other methods of interaction. We express our emotion and thoughts most clearly through words.

Therefore, when someone insults someone else, the insulter expresses his or her negative feelings towards the victim. When boiled down, I feel that this can be even more impactful than a physical attack. After all, most wounds will heal, but damage to someone’s emotions can manifest itself in many disorders and take much longer to heal, if it even does.

Think of it like a hamburger...

It all started with hamburgers in kindergarten. “Now kids, the intro is like the bun, the meat is in the middle. Those are the details on your topic. The bottom bun is the conclusion. The hamburger will help you form your paragraphs.”

Like it or not, writing format has followed us students all through our schooling. From the Jane Schaffer method, to the 5-paragraph style, we have always had some kind of structure to direct us in our writing.

This can be both a blessing and a curse.

Structure can be very helpful for writing. It definitely helps to channel the thought process. When writers are taught to pick out the most important ideas and focus on them in produces very effective and coherent writing. Not to mention the logical progression is easy for a reader to follow. One solution for a struggling writer could be to write freely on the topic assigned, and then formulate and organize the thoughts later. This can allow the writer to get ‘the best of both worlds.’ They will have the benefit of getting all their thoughts out and their mind flowing, but also the clean, formatted product at the end.

However, as Professor Allbaugh of my Freshman Writing Seminar from Azusa Pacific University mentioned in his book Pretexts for Writing, this can create limitations as well. What if the form requires no more than 3 body paragraphs and the writer has more to say than that allows? This dwarfs one’s ability to express everything they want to. Similarly, what if a writer is using Jane Schaffer method, which dictates individual sentences? Professor Allbaugh pointed out that when the format requires a commentary on a quote used, the teacher might be forcing the student to make an addition that does not provide insight or benefit the paper in any way.

So 5-paragraph form, as with all writing structure, can be advantageous to the writer in certain situations and detrimental in others.

Thoughts on Heaven

A common controversy among the church has always been the question, “Who gets into Heaven?” As Christians, this question is fairly important to us, one of our main concerns. I will do my best to speak intelligently on the subject, and guide the reader through my ideas on the subject. I cannot expect to arrive at an answer or any sort of positive explanation, but I can hopefully provide some insight and a deeper understanding for the reader and myself. I have also asked a few friends their views and alternate answers. I will discuss those as well.

            The most common response is to point out that in the Bible, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” This is a very straightforward answer, which I completely agree with. Well, partly. I think that as believers, there is no substitute for the grace that Jesus gave us with his sacrifice on the cross. However, I do not think that this necessarily means that everyone who does not accept Jesus is destined for eternal damnation. After all, this Bible verse’s purpose could have been to steer people away from the idea that good works or other alternatives could help you earn your way to Heaven. God’s love is something we could never deserve or earn. That’s why we need Jesus. This is also why I believe someone can genuinely accept Jesus as their savior on their deathbed and be just as saved as someone who accepted Jesus and did good works their whole life. And, more saved than someone who did good works but never accepted Jesus.

            Now, as I first began to think through my ideas on this seemingly unanswerable question, I arrived at this conclusion. Heaven is described as a ‘perfect’ place, one characterized by no suffering, no pain, and no hurting. If Heaven has all these attributes, then how could anyone be missing when I get there? That would lead to pain for me, knowing that I would spend eternity away from them. That can’t happen in Heaven, so therefore no one will be missing.

            I have a friend who is a full-blown atheist; he prides himself on denying the existence of a God and claiming that the miracles Jesus performed were just magic. One possible solution is that maybe non-believers will be in Heaven for us, but not for them. Let me explain what I mean by that. Basically, that I will be able to experience my friend’s spirit in Heaven to keep from missing him, but he will be experiencing Hell. To further explicate, I can see him and enjoy his presence, but he is experiencing Hell because he did not accept Jesus on Earth.

            Thinking about my atheist friend brought me to another question. How will God deal with those who never heard the gospel and therefore never had the chance to accept Jesus as their Savior? I believe that the Bible says that God will judge people that have rejected him more harshly than those who have not heard the gospel.

            After talking to my friend Chad who is a former pastor and served in outreach ministries for over 5 years in Mexico. He suggested that the church might have over exaggerated our concept of Heaven. There will be perfection in many ways, but that does not mean that Heaven will be the “happy go-lucky” place we make it out to be. He says there will be no suffering or pain as far as, for example, personal failure, but there might still be the ability to miss someone and feel pain in that sense.

            We can never expect to fully know what will happen when we die; who will go to Heaven and who will not. But, we can use the Bible as a resource in order to provide us with direction and insight on the subject. After all, if we knew everything there is to know about Heaven, it would take away the excitement of going there when our time on Earth is done.