Dear Friends,
5, 28, 62, 65, 70 and 5
Those six winning numbers would have won $1.6 Billion in the Mega Millions Lottery. I am going to let you in on a little secret. My wife Bridget gets very excited every time the lottery hits these record highs. She loves to dream about how we would spend the money. And here is what is interesting, she doesn’t get all that excited about buying homes or cars or toys for us. No, what she gets excited about is dreaming about all the big puffy checks that she could give away to organizations doing important work.
$1 million to the NOAH Project to feed the hungry here in our community
$1 million to World Medical Relief to send crucial supplies around the world
$1 million to Church World Service to feed the hungry around the world
$1 million to the Methodist Children’s Home to care for boys in foster care
$1 million to Common Ground to help homeless teens
$1 million to Alternative for Girls to give young girls every chance to succeed
$1 million to Cass Community Social Services and the Redford Brightmoor Initiative to empower the poor
$1 million to the Southern Poverty Law Center to combat racism and hate crimes
$1 million to The United Methodist Committee on Relief to be on the front lines when natural disasters strike
$1 Million each for cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and multiple sclerosis research
And this is just the short list.
The truth of matter is that our odds of winning the Mega Millions are vanishingly small. We’re 400 more times likely to be hit by lighting. So why do so many people go out and spend two dollars on contests that they are almost certain to lose? Because, like Bridget, the moment unlocks our deepest hopes: How could I make the world better?
All this dreaming about how we’d like to make an impact made us realize something: this is why we belong to the church. This place takes our deepest hopes and dreams for a world without hunger and poverty and allows us to join with others in helping to make that happen. Even without having access to those millions of dollars, we are able to give what we can. With the generosity of others, and the grace of God, we can be a part of something bigger than ourselves and be a partner in changing the world.
At the end of day, we realized something—belonging to this place, and to people like you, we already possessed the winning ticket!
Together we are making a difference!
Grace and Peace,
