Money as Spiritual, not Profane
Almost everyone has heard the misquote of the Bible phrase, “Money is the root of all evil”. The correct quote is, “The love of money is the root of all evil”. I’m going to refine that quote further, “The love of money to the exclusion of everything and everyone else is the root of some evil”. In other words, when someone values money in and of itself as opposed to a vehicle by which to create positive change in the world, the door to negativity and mismanagement is opened. So what are some nuances of this idea? For one thing, other sources of “evil” can be revealed: fear of loss, belief in scarcity, etc. When we allow fear to rule our thoughts about money, we collude with negative forces in making money a profane entity. The opposite of this would be exercising faith that we will have enough which allows us to rethink our view of money as an energetic force that can foster spirituality.
In the book, Money is Love, by Barbara Wilder, she states “Money may have begun as a form of exchange infused with the sacred energy of a divine creator, but it has gotten pretty damned polluted. Today, money carries with it all the fear, anger, and greed that every individual has felt about it as it passed through their hands”. Much as with the advent of Medicare, it doesn’t take long for people to expect something to be a certain way and for that expectation to heavily color their view. Medicare has only been a part of the U.S. landscape since 1965, but in that short amount of time, people have shifted their viewpoint of it as something to be relied upon and to fear losing. Imagine how our view of money has changed since the times when it was viewed as a sacred exchange! Particularly in light of the major events that led to struggles with money such as the rise and fall Great Depression, recessions, economic downturns, etc, it is not hard to see how money has morphed in our eyes from something sacred to something filthy, dirty, scarce, acquired in dishonest ways, and more.
Wilder states “Money is energy that should flow freely through our lives and throughout the world. But fear blocks the flow. Fear is like a dam. Hoarding, greed, belief in lack and scarcity are all elements of fear, and together they create a huge dam that backs up the flow.” And that fear also creates conflict between people, wars over assets, murder, mayhem, and more.
She further states “So if we human beings have infused money with all this negative baggage, it only stands to reason that we should also be able to clean and infuse it with positive power”. “To clean money, to redirect it from the profane to the profound, will take concerted and conscious effort on the part of many individuals. This will happen with one person at a time joining the effort. It is hard work. But the reward is living an abundant life, free of money worries. Sound impossible? It only requires changing our minds”.
On that note, I want to encourage you to consciously change your view of money. View it from a perspective of sharing, abundance, joy, and love. When it passes from your hands into the hands of another, bless it on its way to doing great things for them. Frame it as a vehicle for doing good in the world. Have a light touch with money, believing that there is an abundance, that what you need will come to you, and that the way to foster good in your own life and the lives of others is to move the money energy around.
Here is a simple way to experiment with the ideas in this blog post: take a paper bill of a denomination that feels large to you. It could be $20, $50, or I tend to use $100 bills. Put it in an envelope with no return address and send it to someone you think will benefit from receiving it. Stick a little note in there that says “Use this for good”. No signature. No way to identify who sent it. I usually had one of my kids write the envelope out and the note so nobody would identify my handwriting. Bless it on its way and mail it.
Then pay attention to a couple of things. First, do you fret over how they will choose to use the money? If so, practice the fine art of detachment. It is not your job to dictate how they use the money. It is only your job to send it on its way with blessings for doing good, whatever that may mean to the recipient. Second, pay attention to unexpected blessings and abundance that come your way. I have often found that when I signal the Divine that I have faith in abundance by blessing some money on its way to do good, many times that amount comes my way, often in highly unusual ways.
I would love to hear what your experiences with this are and have been. Feel free to email me so we can begin to share the positive energy of money and how it can serve the world.