Money and The Spiritual Meaning of Debt
Money is not equivalent to power. It’s not equivalent to love. It’s not equivalent to charisma, charm, goodness, kindness, value or any other concept. In the same way, money is not equivalent to evil. It’s not equivalent to terror or despotism or hatred. It has been used as a tool in the pursuit of some horrific activities, but it is not the problem. It’s by attaching this inert concept to specific characteristics that it takes on a life of its own.
What if there were enough for everyone on the planet to thrive, enough of everything that we truly needed to be happy, fulfilled and vibrant? Not the stuff we’re told we need, like a house with seventeen bathrooms and a new car every 2.5 years and security systems to make sure nobody else tries to take all the stuff we’re told we need… but enough food, enough love, enough inspiration, passion, work, water, and air that we could all live long and healthy lives unimpeded by the need to compete for the dwindling resources that we’re told are on the brink of exhaustion. Poverty is rampant, but what is poverty? If you’ve ever spent any time living below the ‘poverty line,’ you’ll understand what I mean when I say that the idea of a line is a randomly designated figure placed by someone whose concept of poverty comes nowhere close to the truth. And it certainly doesn’t mean there is no happiness, no fulfillment to be found there. If what you find in poverty is that the things you value most in life don’t have a price tag, then you may be richer than some of the wealthiest people on the planet.
Think about how you feel about money, and if you need to, change your story. Try writing a story in which money is simply a tool to help you provide even more value in the world, and which helps you to spread the word of what it is you are providing. Or how about a story in which everyone in the world is equivalent, one in which we all have equal value simply by virtue of the fact that we exist; you, me, Mother Theresa, an ant, a serial killer. Who makes the rules as to your worth and why do you allow ‘them’ to?
