Article August 17, 1998 Issue

How to be a winner, every time

Don't trust your prosperity to chance.

By Richard C. Bergenheim

The other day, a multistate lottery offered a jackpot of $116 million. No one matched the correct numbers. My morning newspaper reports that the jackpot has now increased to $150 million. Would you be surprised to hear that sales of lottery tickets went through the roof?

Millions and millions of tickets will be sold, and possibly one to ten people will win. And despite the extremely remote odds of winning, there will likely be no flagging of interest in the lottery. As someone interviewed in Iowa said: "That means I can still win. I'll spend at least one more dollar."

In some ways, many people feel the same way about prayer. They pray regularly and earnestly, but there's a general feeling that the odds that prayer will be answered are slim. Yet people continue praying because it's possible that one's prayer will be answered.

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