On last night’s local news – a lady who lives just outside Ipswich has won a million pounds on the lottery. This very pleasant, ordinary, dinner lady at a local school was interviewed with her husband.
The questions were predictable – how she discovered she’d won, how she felt, what they were going to do with the money. The interview ended with the reporter saying, ‘You’re just the sort of people who deserve to win the lottery’.
What makes them deserving? A TV advert encourages us to book ‘the holiday you deserve’. What makes someone more deserving of a luxurious holiday? How do I know if I deserve it?
I understand the call for justice for the murderer of Sarah Everard, for those responsible for violence and destruction in the Bristol riots – that those guilty of crimes should get what they deserve.
I understand the debate about NHS staff being paid what they deserve Their dedication and selfless service continues to demonstrate that they deserve our respect and gratitude – that should be reflected in their pay.
How you put a monetary value on their work – or their value relative to the police, teachers or other public servants is another matter…
A lovely lady we know, in the late stages of Alzheimer’s, has been cared for her husband for many years and has finally been take into a home for palliative care. Does she or her husband ‘deserve’ that?
Will struggling local businesses, my grandson on his birthday, my friend taking antidepressants, my neighbour awaiting a knee replacement all get what they deserve?
…Musing on Jesus words blessing those who get what they don’t deserve – the poor will be rich, the mourning comforted, the hungry satisfied and the persecuted will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
He’d say that blessing and contentment isn’t related to winning the lottery or enjoying the holiday of our dreams – however much we may think we deserve them!
malcolmsmusings.org 