THE MISPLACED ENVELOPE

Money is a curious thing. By itself, it is nothing more than paper, ink, and numbers.  It has no morality. It cannot distinguish honesty from theft, truth from deception, or virtue from greed. Yet few things influence human behavior more.  Money can inspire generosity and kindness, but it can also cloud judgment, persuading otherwise decent people to see not what is true, but what they wish to be true.  And once a person’s wishes and desires become entangled with his conscience, those wishes can slowly become a person’s ethics, excusing a crime as justified, and even convincing himself that Heaven approves.