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Have you noticed that people say
things like,
“Open communication is the lifeblood of this organization” or “A
reliable fuel
supply is the lifeblood
of this
airline?” But they seldom say
“New members are the gall bladder of this club” or “Busy
bureaucrats are the big toe of government” What is so special about
blood?
Like Superman swooping in to the rescue, here comes Ancient Jewish
wisdom with the answer.
Regular readers of Thought Tools know that in the Lord’s language,
Hebrew, when one word is used for two apparently separate concepts,
those two ideas are really very connected to one another.
The Hebrew word for blood DAMIM is identical to one of the words
used throughout the ancient writings of Jewish wisdom to mean
money.
Blood = DAMIM = Money
What are the similarities between
blood and
money?
Both money and blood are most useful in quantity. The
singular of both words is seldom used. “I need some blood”
but never “I need a blood.” “Can you lend me a
money?”
No, I don’t think so.
Blood and money both comprise countless individual elements, each
one identifiable, but needing to be aggregated with many others to
be useful. Blood is made up of countless units called red and white
cells and money is made up of countless units like pennies or
dollars.
Both blood and money are relatively fungible. When you borrow
my car, I want that car returned, not a similar one. When you
pay me back the ten dollars I loaned you on Friday, I really don’t
care that it is not exactly the same $10 bill I gave you. In fact,
you can even write me a check.
Organs like a heart or liver often
get rejected
when transferred from one person to another, which makes
transplants very challenging. Blood, however, can be moved
from person to person with comparative ease just like money.
Both blood and money need to circulate in order to be effective.
Bags of blood can contribute to human health; but merely sitting on
the shelf in the blood bank they aren’t doing their job. It is just
the same for bags of money. They are not doing anyone any good
merely sitting on the shelf in the money bank. That is why
when people fearfully hoard their dollars rather than spending or
investing them, our economy totters.
Finally, both blood and money carry nourishment to the furthest
reaches of the organism whether a country or a body. If blood is
cut off from an extremity of the body, like a toe, the toe will
die. When a customer in Maine buys goods from a seller in the
remote foothills of the Rockies, the entire country
thrives.
The medium
of exchange necessary for that transaction is money. When a
craftsman in Africa sells a bracelet to a teacher in England, money
has made that craftsman healthier just like a blood transfusion
would.
By using the identical word for blood and money, Ancient Jewish
wisdom teaches that our money is indeed our lifeblood and must be
treated every bit as seriously as our real blood. For instance, a
hemorrhage of either entity must be stopped and treated
immediately. Tainted blood and tainted money both have the power to
destroy life. Unfortunately, many of us fail to take financial
first aid as seriously as we do medical first aid.
Wrapping your inner soul around the idea that your money IS your
lifeblood is step one in becoming fiscally healthier. How we
think about money very much impacts our ability to create it.
I wrote and recorded my audio CD, Boost
Your Income: Three Spiritual Steps
to Success (E-Book)
with genuine passion because I was fired up with the possibilities
of helping people add to their life-blood. This program is
very effective either alone or in conjunction with my book
. "Thou
Shall Prosper: Ten Commandments for Making
Money" (E-Book)
You will gain many practical ways to think about increasing
income.
This powerful money/blood principle of viewing your money as almost
as important as your blood is one of the keys to why throughout
history, Jews have been disproportionately good with money.
Fortunately, this key is now available to all regardless of
religious heritage.
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