You see them everywhere.  Most of all, thrown away on the street!  Perhaps that’s because of a natural reaction to immediately get rid of disappointment.  In England one company calls their “scratch cards” INSTANTS - and that may say more than they mean.  It’s supposed to emphasize the INSTANT win.  But reality is that they provide INSTANT disappointment, and so in that INSTANT they are thrown down in disgust.

But more relevantly, they speak of the desire for INSTANT satisfaction.  You want it when?  NOW!  “If I have to wait, I’m not interested.”  The quick fix.  The rapid reaction.  The immediate pleasure.

As if pleasure is only worthwhile if you can have it straight away.  A reflection on the world today.  A scratch-card culture.  Not that I’ve looked for such “success”.  (The best I’ve ever had is 15p off a can of rice pudding!)  And on principle I’d never buy such a card.

But many do.  Far more than was expected when these cards were introduced.  Millions of pounds are wasted on them each week which says much about the way people’s minds work.  One definition of a lottery I saw was: “A lottery is a tax on people who are bad at maths.”  But the desire is still there.  Wanting to win - and as soon as possible, as if the magic solution to all your problems is a huge amount of cash.

You don’t have to look far to find out that’s not true.  You may think it would be wonderful, but so many stories show that instant win is often a disaster.  Broken families.  Friends turned into enemies.  Marriages destroyed.  So, why?  Because the winning is more than money.  Or the expectation is.  The Thrill.  The anticipation.  The buzz of excitement.  The gamble ends up being the answer.  Life as a gamble - the throw of the dice.  And that can almost turn into a life-philosophy.  A gambling mentality.  A fatalistic attitude that all is dependent on the turn of a card.  Or “if my number’s up.”  So what’s the point - just leave it to fate.  Or look to your horoscope.

When God is thrown out, then all that’s left are scratch-cards.  That kind of mentality.  For if there is no God, then only human principles and desires are left.  For the majority, that’s what the world is all about.  Sum up the goals, and what you get are:- “To have a faster car/better house/higher position.”  Even the less materialistic will say “To have a happier family/better relationships/more successful career.”  And if there is little to hope for, if life’s meaning and purpose seems unknowable, then the scratch-card mentality is all you have.

A sad reflection.  To be looking for what you can get out of the situation.  To be concerned about “having fun” - when “fun” is about as “exciting” as scratching off a card.  To be concentrating on money, pleasure, self-satisfaction - all in an INSTANT.

An old story goes something like this:

One day, as a young man was walking along the street, he noticed a coin glinting in the gutter. He bent down to pick it up, and was amazed to find a gold sovereign--worth more than a year’s wages. He was delighted, and put it in his pocket. He looked around to see if there were any more, but was disappointed.

But having found one coin this way, he was determined to search for others. He spent his time looking down at the ground, searching the gutters. But only found the odd copper coins, nothing valuable at all, while his back became bent and he walked with a stoop. Never happy, always searching for the glitter of gold, he grew old. A sad figure of a man, bent double, his eyes fixed in the dirt and the mud.

Until one day when his eye caught a gleam in the gutter again. He rushed over, excitedly, only to find a piece of broken mirror lying in the dirt. But as he looked, he saw the sky and the sun above reflected in the glass. Painfully straightening up, he stared in wonder at the bright world around him and the glorious sky above. And forgetting his futile quest for coins in the gutter, he found life again in the real world.

As Solomon made so clear, having tried all that this world calls fulfilling: “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 1:14 NIV). And as Jesus so dramatically declared: “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15 NIV).

What is true life, and its ultimate meaning? Jesus says,  “I am the way the truth and the life.” “I am the resurrection and the life.” “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 14:6; 11:25; 10:10 NIV).

So what would Jesus have done with a scratch-card, I wonder?

© Jonathan Gallagher

-end-