In my youth, bright eyed and bushy tailed, I remember being an optimist. The world was wonderful, the good got the goodies and the wicked went to hell. At 65, I ask how I would have managed but for hope, belief and the sparkling eyes, that said I want to be.
I now know as most do: the fairy tale world we grew up in is just a fairy tale. Living life growing up, making friends, getting schooled, falling sick and recovering, seeing life begin and seeing it end, come and go, most get weary from the bumpy marathon on life’s pavement. The fairy tale fades into reality, equations of good and bad, reward and punishment do not apply; and as classical laws of physics break down at extreme temperatures, so we awake to a state where incomprehensible heavenly laws apply.
The religious adopt a belief that rewards await us in heaven, and punishment is usually a test. People realised way back that the business of life was transacted in Heavens and the method for ruling the world differs according to beliefs and creeds.
Moslems accept that one’s fate is written on their forehead at birth; it is then easy to accept what comes to pass as the inevitable, not for mortals to understand. Christians are urged to practice goodness preached by Isaiah and to expect their reward in Heaven. You can’t challenge that. Now Jews are different; they undertake annual audits for Heavens; the Heavenly Courts sitting over 10 days between New Year and Atonement, reviewing deeds, then inscribing judgement in the Book of Life. A believing Jew, engages in weeks of prayer before his court case, begs forgiveness in prayers, pleads atonement in deeds, and gives a bit to charity, to have the Court wipe the slate clean before the Court inscribes judgement in the Book of Life: to live or die, for riches or to poverty, to be perfect or saddled with handicaps; outcomes impossible to predict. And if nothing happens one year, the Jews come back the next to do it over again.
A variety of outcomes from the heavy case load, would make a bookmaker’s head spin; it is beyond earthly bookies such as Bet365 or Ladbrokes and others to make a book of that size. They would not be able to make prices with these outcomes. If odds were offered in heavens, these would be a big deal longer than the lottery odds. Few winners, amongst the 7 billion inhabiting the Earth, would scoop a jackpot in a $7bn Lottery! (They’re sure to do business in USA $’s up there!) . I’ve already got my ticket!
When odds are stacked against a baby born with severe handicap there is little it can do to help itself. Burdens might plague its life, so it is a struggle just to live. Thankfully many in society from all creeds and nations have goodness in their hearts who’d rather help than not. Empowering people to help others becomes vital as society struggles within pressurised ways of life in an increasingly materialistic world. This can happen with a human equivalent of a betting exchange, facilitating osmosis between the have and the have nots. Betting exchanges were first successfully commercialised by Betfair of the UK who are about to set upin the USA.
Oggs.com is proud to announce Oggs Good Cause Events as an aid platform for humanitarian Regulator approved charities without distinction as to race, colour or creed. Oggs means to give selected qualifying charities an online platform or a time to encounter a wider audience to induce giving and alleviate suffering.
It is not easy to work with Charities through gambling; some are reluctant to participate in events created to help them. Trustees and Governors can overlook that life is a series of gambles, and no facet of it less so business. Times have moved and new ways need to be found to even the odds; the credit crunch and Madoff depleted many endowments. Humans pass by osmosis, the blessings and fortune that fall in their lot, to the less fortunate. Giving is not without value to the giver and charitable drives meet that end.
Oggs start with WHIZZ KIDZ, a charity that gives disabled children the chance to lead a more independent life. Children are our future and they are entitled to a bit of Evening the Odds Heavens in their favour. I think it is a most suitable choice for the first Oggs Good Cause Event.
No human agency has been able to Even the Odds of Heavens, but charity can soften their impact. Our friends, and anybody else, can share in the blessings of those that give.
Solomon Balas (c) 21/8/2009
