By telling you anything at all I'm at least believing in you, I believe you're there, I believe you into being. Because I'm telling you this story I will your existence. I tell, therefore you are.

Debt . . . . that peculiar nexus where money, narrative or story, and religious belief intersect, often with explosive force.

By telling you anything at all I'm at least believing in you, I believe you're there, I believe you into being.

Had she believed all that? Old Pilar's folklore? No, not really; or not exactly. Most likely Pilar hadn't quite believed it either, but it was a reassuring story: that the dead were not entirely dead but were alive in a different way; a paler way admittedly, and somewhat darker. But still able to send messages, if only such messages could be recognized and deciphered. People need such stories, Pilar said once, because however dark, a darkness with voices in it is better than a silent void.

Though as he'd say, what is 'belief' but a willingness to suspend the negatives?