When the Lord, not luck, guides the Powerball

When Neal Wanless of Mission, South Dakota, won $232 million in the Power Ball lottery, one of the first things he did was exude, “Thank the Lord for giving me this opportunity and blessing me with this great fortune."

Those who believe in sin call this particular one "taking the Lord’s name in vain."

Young Wanless might look to the Good Book for financial and religious guidance before doling out thanks to the Lord.

"For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" writes Mark.

Of course, logic suggests that Wanless’ gratitude should have gone to all those folks whose wallets were made thinner by his good fortune.

According to USA Today, the 23-year-old rancher vowed to use his wealth to help others. I suggest the "others" be the thousands who contributed to his fortune in the first place.

They, and Wanless, were, of course, duped by the state, the politicians and the odious lottery industry. The publicity surrounding the likes of Wanless only feeds the flames of ill-gotten gain.

For every Wanless story there ought to be dozens about gambling addiction and dozens more about the legions of lottery losers. And then there are legendary winners whose riches turn them into soulless losers.

But the news doesn't work that way. In the media, the fresh young face of the “Praise the Lord” cowboy will always crowd out the day-in-day-out plight of the faceless losing multitude, most of whom can ill afford to throw their money away on a remote dream.

The story of Wanless' fortune is not about the fulfilment of their dream; it is the story of the long-shot exception that proves the dream's remoteness.