I have a rule. Most people around me know my rule. But this rule only comes up once a year for about a month and a bit. My rule is this: if I pay for the coffee, the big prize is mine. I don't really care about the small stuff... winning a coffee or a donut. You can keep the small stuff. The plasma TV or even the $1000 prize I won't really complain about not getting. But the Rav4? If I paid for the coffee, and it rolls up to be a Rav4, it's mine!

But you know what, if you buy me a coffee, my rule changes a little. I keep whatever prize I roll up. Makes perfect logical sense in my mind. OK, I know it's not really fair. And deep down I guess the rule should just be that no matter who pays for the coffee, whoever actually drinks the coffee and rolls up the Rav4 should be able to keep the Rav4. Better yet (if the winner is extra gracious), he should sell the Rav4 and give half the money to the one who bought him the coffee in the first place. But really, he is not obligated to do so.

Did you read about the story in the news the other day about the 10 year old kid who found a cup, couldn't roll up the rim, asked for help from a 12 year old standing nearby and it turned out to be the Rav4? The 10 year old's dad got there and figured that he would sell the Rav4 and give the 12 year old's family some of the money. But noooo... the 12 year old's parent figured that they were entitled to the Rav4, because without the 12 year old kid helping, the 10 year old would have given up and not rolled up the rim. And so they are going to court. Does any of this make sense to anyone? Maybe a contract should be signed before anyone rolls up a rim so there is no discrepency as to who actually gets to win the prize!

My guess is that if that cup was only a winning coffee, there would be no argument. The 10 year old kid would be taking home a nice free coffee to his/her dad. No questions asked. Why is it that as soon as we enter a significant amount of money into the equation does the formula change? I could get on my high horse and look down at the parents of this 12 year old kid and say, "c'mon, you have to be serious... just look at yourself... everyone is reading the greed all over you... get over it... it's the 10 year old kid's Rav4 fair and square". But in reality, if I was that 12 year old parent, while on the outside I would probably just let the other family have the prize, on the inside this nasty little voice would be saying to me... "you deserve that rav4, it's yours, forget being nice, we're talking $27,000 here! you derserve it more than them".

No wonder this world is full of poverty. It's because we all have this notion that we deserve better than the next guy. And frankly, millions and billions have been killed over the centuries because of this notion. I'll be honest with you, Jesus lived a rather different way. He wouldn't serve money... and said it had to be either serve God or serve money... can't do both. I don't want to serve money. Maybe if we all stopped serving money, then millions of people wouldn't be starving.

Something dawned on me about a month ago while I was listening to Bono's speech at the US National Prayer Breakfast (watch it here...). Eliminating poverty is not just a good thing to do. It is right and just. We deserve to eat no more than the people who are starving all over the world deserve to eat. I think it all boils down to this point... not gonna eliminate greed and poverty while we are serving money. According to Jesus I guess that leaves us with one alternative...

rob