Pascal's Wager, Revisited

Perhaps you've heard of Pascal's Wager. Here's a summary: "If I believe in God and I'm wrong, I've lost nothing. If I believe in Him and I'm right, I get eternal life. If I fail to believe and there's no God, I've lost nothing. But if I fail to believe and He exists, I've REALLY missed out." The moral: "Believe in God -- for you've got nothing to lose, and everything to gain."

Perhaps the choice to believe in God is one of the hardest choices that exists. It certainly throws a lot of people for a loop. But an equally difficult choice is the choice over whether to work hard or not.

They say that man on his deathbed never wishes he spent more time at the office. I'll buy that. But if one has the opportunity to work really hard at the office for the next 10 years in order to be very successful and not have to go into the office AT ALL for the 20 years that follow ... might that be a really good trade?

Not if, I suppose, at the end of that 10 years, one croaks. So ...

The only wager on work I'll make is one that lets me spend terrific moments with my family, every day, no matter how hard I'm working otherwise. Burnout is not an option -- it's not very productive in the long run anyway.

For what it's worth, I do believe in God. It's not easy sometimes, but it's sure better than the alternative.