For What Shall it Profit a Man to Win the World and Lose . . . His Soul?

On November 15, the St. Petersburg Times reported that Gerald Fraller of Tampa is selling his soul. Really. The notion rose from a phone conversation with the man's only friend. Gerald was so miserable, he was willing to sell his soul in order to change it. A great idea . . . if he could figure out how to advertise this unique sale.

So he spent two months outlining an online sweepstakes. The grand prize? His soul. On Monday, the day after his 28th birthday, he quit his job as a computer technician and launched a web site: http://winmysoul.com.

For each dollar donated, you get one entry. The lucky winner will get a real lifelong contract entitling the owner to benefits including:

• a percentage of Fraller's taxable income for the rest of his life, guaranteed minimum of $500 per year.
• The power to choose the first name of all his children
• The power to make his new year's resolutions
• plan his wedding day
• and write the inscription on his tombstone.

Fraller says that since he's spent most of his life alone (he doesn't know his bio father, his mother couldn't care for him, he was in and out of foster care, his only marriage ended in divorce), he likees the idea of being bound to another person for as long as he lives.

By the second day of his soul-sale, he had gathered $404 in donations. By January 30 he'll set a date for the drawing, which will happen before Nov. 1, 2007. Oh, and he's also looking for a wife, if you're interested.

I don't know about you, but this is the kind of news story that spurs story ideas in me. What if a man really could sell his soul? What if the devil wins his sweepstakes? I could see a thriller, a chick lit, a romance, all stemming from this single idea.

But I find it sad to think that this man would sell his soul to someone for a dollar. Is that what he thinks his soul is worth? I also find it interesting that he wants to preserve his free will--unfortunately, that's what far too many of us want to do. We give our souls to Jesus, but boy, we only want to give him control over a few select things. Yet, if he is Lord, shouldn't he be Lord over all of our lives?

So . . . want to take a chance at winning a man's soul? You can find anything for sale these days.

~~Angie