In 1347, the Black Plague was raging through Europe and thousands of people died. Many people saw it as God’s judgment; so, hoping to appease Him, the citizens of Lubeck, Germany surrounded the monastery of their city and offered the monks enormous amounts of money and such in order to protect them from God’s wrath.
The monks though, fearful of contamination, barred their gates and didn’t allow the citizens to enter. The persistent crowd started to throw their gold and jewels and resources over the monastery walls… and the frightened monks threw all of it back. Money and valuables were thrown back and forth over the walls for hours until the monks finally gave up and allowed the riches to remain. Piles of money rose 3 to 4 feet. And for months the money went untouched.
Why did the people of Lubeck want to give the money? They thought it would bring them life. Why didn’t the monks want the money? They thought the money would bring them death.
This historic event that occurred in 14th century Germany illustrates two basic views of money )both wrong): one – it can make them happy; two – that it will bring troubles. But neither are TRUE...
