Part 1: Rags to Riches: Money That Comes with Pain

I went home early today and was intrigued by the TV guide listing for the Oprah Show today. I went to the web and found some interesting food for thought. The interviews began...

Person 1--Began a business and became an instant success. Got into drugs to make her feel like part of the "in" rich crowd. Lost her husband, children, business. Ended up homeless, imprisoned, and eventually in rehab.

Couple 2--Won the lottery. Got taken advantage of by friends. Had to create their own "witness protection program" by going incognito and beginning a new life where no one knew them.

Person 3--Plagued by guilt, she blew a large lawsuit that came from her father's inheritance.

Person 4--Story courtesy of Oprah:

In a controversial Showtime documentary, Reversal of Fortune by filmmaker Wayne Powers, cameras follow Ted Rodrigue, a 45-year-old who has been periodically homeless for the last 20 years. Wayne tells Ted his film is about what's it's like to be homeless, but there's more planned for Ted's story on film.

One day, Ted headed for the dumpster to search for bottles and cans, which he recycled for money. There he found a briefcase containing $100,000 in cash—placed there by Wayne.

While Ted received financial counseling to deal with his influx of money, his old habits died hard. Ted got a room but continued to sleep on the floor. He still collected cans and bottles, the primary way he'd survived for years. Ted also spread his wealth around—he says he paid off friends' debt, bought a friend a new car and himself a truck that cost $34,084.89. He also got married.

Ted says he not only spent or gave away all $100,000, he actually owes more money now than he did before. "I thought it would erase all my problems. I thought I would never be homeless again," he says. "But, like I said, I made a couple of bad choices."

...his marriage—which ended, he says, when his wife left him as soon as the cash ran out.

"It was a frustrating process, in a way, because I think that there were a lot of opportunities sent Ted's way," Wayne says. "And while you're with someone, and the closer you get to them, and the more that you kind of root for them and understand them, the more frustrating it gets when those opportunities are passed by. I think that it shows that, from a personal story, people that are homeless, there are certain demons inside them. … I think alcoholism plays a part of that. I learned that in providing somebody with the necessities to be able to turn their life around, a car, a telephone, a roof above their head, a driver's license, all the things that we hear is what somebody needs to be able to turn their life around, it still, unfortunately, in this particular case, was not enough."

Back living on the street, Ted says, "I'm not happy, but I'm contented."

"Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out."
-1 Timothy 6:6