The Spiritual Meaning of Debt – Part 2 – Money

By Jenny Griffin

‘Money, money, money, must be funny, in a rich man’s world.’

This is the second in a three-part series on debt (see Part 1 and Part 3). This article focuses on your relationship with money itself, and as in the first part, asks you to examine the story behind your beliefs.

How is your relationship with money? While tied into your Debt Story, it is not one and the same. Do you respect money? Hate it? Feel that it is the root of all evil? Believe it will solve all your problems? Do you, like ABBA, wonder about all the things you could do (if you had a little money), and lament that ‘it’s a rich man’s world?’ Do you lust after it, feeling that it will bestow on you some magical power and charisma, and open doors that until now had been closed?

Money is, at its most basic, a concept. It is a recognized means of exchange that has become something of an obsession in our world; the attainment of it, the hoarding of it, the using of it as a means to oppress and control others, the using of it as a tool to demonstrate our philanthropic natures (or ‘our inherent goodness’), wars have been fought over it, people have been imprisoned and killed to defend it, people have been purchased by it, it has been cited as the ruin of some people and the savior of others. But it is a concept. It exists in the physical world as one expression of the concept of exchange. Value for perceived value.

There are many societies that still prefer the barter system, and many groups of people around the world who have decided to live ‘money-free’ by offering their services in exchange for food, shelter, medical care, etc. You might be amazed by how many people are willing to work on a system that honors exchanges other than money. So why do we all value it so highly? Why is it a tool used to marginalize some and give preference to others? And why do we continue to believe that it simply is the way it is?