In Money We Trust - Using Faith To Create Riches
Here's an exercise I used when teaching economics to people: I took out a dollar bill, and asked for a lighter. As I started to burn the dollar bill, the outrage began. They recoiled in horror and yelled, why are you wasting a good dollar bill? Disgusted, they said they could have used that buck for a cup of coffee or something useful. It could have been given to the poor.
This was perhaps dramatic, (and also illegal, but you can get the same effect by soaking a bill in alcohol and water and lighting it; it won't really burn!). It was, however, the perfect technique to illustrate a core tenet of economics. What gives this dollar its value? Does it have any inherent value?
By getting the people to pay attention, I was able to illustrate that our financial system is based on one thing: FAITH.
To the religious person, this may sound blasphemous, but look at the facts of our economic system. The dollar bill is just a piece of paper. Your bank account and credit cards are composed of abstract numbers. What gives power to that check you write is that you, the bank and the person receiving the check trust that this piece of paper is what you say it is.
So why don't we use this faith when to try to increase wealth in our lives? Instead, we worry, our anxiety builds and we begin to feel ourselves sinking. Isn't this replacing a system of faith with the power of fear? The disaster we're planning is no more real than the dollar bill we set fire to. It's what we create with our mind that has the reality.
Why shouldn't we explore the possibilities of our mind's economy? If the stock market crashes, it's usually due to a critical mass of people getting anxious about what MIGHT happen. It's not that there is necessarily anything real happening. This is the power of manifesting a reality in a negative way.
Your Spiritual Workout
When you go to the gym, you could work on one set of muscles every day. Not only could you injure yourself, your other muscles would become unusable. Why follow the same belief about lack every day?
You can set your goals and determine where your energy goes, since energy naturally follows intention.
- Make your decision each morning that wealth is coming to you, has started coming to you, and will continue to build.
- Take the next right step. Ask yourself, is this thought, action, belief, etc. going to bring me closer to my wealth, or take me farther away from it?
- At the end of the day, renew briefly what you did to increase your wealth, no matter how insignificant it might seem.
So, you could either make that faith work for you, or you can set a bonfire of anxiety and fear, and burn the dollars you've got left! The choice is yours.
This was perhaps dramatic, (and also illegal, but you can get the same effect by soaking a bill in alcohol and water and lighting it; it won't really burn!). It was, however, the perfect technique to illustrate a core tenet of economics. What gives this dollar its value? Does it have any inherent value?
By getting the people to pay attention, I was able to illustrate that our financial system is based on one thing: FAITH.
To the religious person, this may sound blasphemous, but look at the facts of our economic system. The dollar bill is just a piece of paper. Your bank account and credit cards are composed of abstract numbers. What gives power to that check you write is that you, the bank and the person receiving the check trust that this piece of paper is what you say it is.
So why don't we use this faith when to try to increase wealth in our lives? Instead, we worry, our anxiety builds and we begin to feel ourselves sinking. Isn't this replacing a system of faith with the power of fear? The disaster we're planning is no more real than the dollar bill we set fire to. It's what we create with our mind that has the reality.
Why shouldn't we explore the possibilities of our mind's economy? If the stock market crashes, it's usually due to a critical mass of people getting anxious about what MIGHT happen. It's not that there is necessarily anything real happening. This is the power of manifesting a reality in a negative way.
Your Spiritual Workout
When you go to the gym, you could work on one set of muscles every day. Not only could you injure yourself, your other muscles would become unusable. Why follow the same belief about lack every day?
You can set your goals and determine where your energy goes, since energy naturally follows intention.
- Make your decision each morning that wealth is coming to you, has started coming to you, and will continue to build.
- Take the next right step. Ask yourself, is this thought, action, belief, etc. going to bring me closer to my wealth, or take me farther away from it?
- At the end of the day, renew briefly what you did to increase your wealth, no matter how insignificant it might seem.
So, you could either make that faith work for you, or you can set a bonfire of anxiety and fear, and burn the dollars you've got left! The choice is yours.
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