The Wealth of Man
Authors Note: Is money
the root of all evil? Money does tempt us into the follies of evil but it's not
the root of all evil. Our greed is the culprit; we greed with the money we
hold. We forget that money is meant to be used to make good of life and that
includes others. If we were to look beyond the value of money to us, then maybe
we would have been better people.
But we are not, as
seen in my tale. Not many of us would change his views to suit the one I wrote
here as to them, "it's my bloody money, mate. So frag off if you think I
would share it with you".
It's true what was
spoken but what you hold would be lost when your soul leaves this world. Then
when you stand next to the poor man who held another worthy wealth, do you think
he would part it to you when your turn comes.
God gave us the
Age of Man but he told the Devil to test us and many times we fall. Even with
his Son's sacrifice, we still failed to see the real journey of life. it's not
about one's effort but how you share your effort with others. Just as I spent
my time doing the tales here, for many to read as I read theirs too. It's all
about sharing.
I liked the movie "The name of the Rose" and watched
it many times. So here is my effort to share the movie with you with my sequel.
Contests rules:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"William of
Baskervilles, thank the Lord you are safe. Come in, my dear friend from the damn
cold. My fireplace awaits your return for many nights." The man who
offered me sanctuary in his humble home is the Abbot of Turns and a very old
friend. We studied together in the great Library of Canterbury before we part
for our humble postings to different parts of the island. I stepped into the
home of his alongside with my assistance; the novice Adso of Melk who was
unloading our mounts of their weight of the burden.
"My apologies
as this is my good man, Adso of Melk who tags with me to learned more of the
Franciscan works." I introduce my young novice as he brought in the bundles
to the house. The abbot in turns pulled the heavy loads into his living area where
the fire was stoked to give out its warmth to two weary travelers. Suddenly
Adso lunged forth to pulled the bundles from being too near the fire. He
grabbed them by the lashings which they were tied by and carried them to the
far colder corner.
"I am so
sorry, but these items are not too near the fire." The novice bows his
head and proceeded to unload the remaining bundles. He placed each one of them
ever cared to the flooring and stacked them by their size and weight.
"Are those
the scrolls and books you saved from the fire?" The abbot turned to look
at his visiting friends of his. William nodded his head and the abbot made a
holy sign on his body. He mumbled a prayer not for the dead but the thanks of
God for this recovery. Just as Adso had relief the mounts of these weights, the
yard to the abbot's home was soon sounded by the arrival of a drawn carriage.
As the carriage pulled to stop by the entrance of the abbot's home, a figure of
a man was soon to be seen to dismount from the carriage and he comes into the
abbot's home without any greetings.
"Father
Timothy, is this the man whom we spoke of earlier?" The newly arrived man
was dressed in fine clothing and dashing headgear that befits a rich manor or
maybe a squire from the countryside. He also carries a large bag with him which
he deposited next to him as he removed his gloves. "Be haste, Father. I am
a busy man and time is precious to me as its means more gold would be deposited
into my vault as I speak. Tell me, William of .... Baskervilles, how much for
your books?"
"Pardon me,
sir. We were not introduced nor am I privileged to hear of your name
before." I was taken aback by this man who came in barging in to seek his
purchase of my carrying. Adso who was at the door to take the mounts to the
stable now has returned with his chore undone. He choose to stand beside me and
looked at his care of his since we left the Benedictine Monastery some weeks
back.
"Waste not my
time. Herewith is a thousand guineas for the restoration of the Monastery in
exchange for the books." The rich man took up his bag and dropped it in
front of us to reveal the rich content. "If it's not sufficient then I can
give you double of that for the books. But you would need to take a promissory
note of mine for tonight."
"I am afraid,
my dear sir; the bundles are not for sale. I am taking them back to the Church
to be presented as a gift by the Monastery. I cannot betray that trust bestow
on me. Please do keep back your money as it's not a bargaining tool here."
I turned my back to the man and speak to Adso in whispers; "attend to the
poor mounts as I would handle the situation here." Adso on my insistence
made his way to complete his unfinished task.
"Your
unworthy novice is not here now. Name me your price and I would consider."
This man thinks I am called away my novice to cover for my dealings on the
matter.
"I apologize,
sir. The bundles are not the sale. Please do not flaunt your wealth of money on
this evening, as we seek not your exchange but only the warmth of this fire."
I turned to the fireplace and reached for a small log to keep it burning warm.
"William of
Baskervilles, you stand before my fire and the log you burned comes from my
forest. I am the rightful owner of this land, and the abbot lived here on my
permission. Why do you shun my offer when all I am giving is money to do good
for your monastery? Those are hard-earned money of mine which I toil with my sweat
and blood. All I asked for is the exchange of it for the bundle of old books.
Is that too much of what I asked?" The squire has now looked enraged and
tries to exert his influence of material wealth on my humble self.
"I begged
your pardon, sir. No exchange of anything would be entertained. But before I am
to explained; tell me why you need the books when you have the means to acquire
more of others in similar contents from the willing trading parties?" I
moved to stand between my bundles and the squire for I feared he would do hasty
things in the emotions of his.
"Books I have
aplenty, as much as the wealth of money. But I desire those you hold dears as
they are not any books but coveted treasures of the Church. I want them to buy
favors with the clergy perhaps but actually to be seen to closer to the faith
by having them in my possession. I meant no harm to them, but to enhance myself
with it. As I am not privileged to the findings of such treasures, I am now
offering to acquire them by the means of my other wealth. Forgive me, William
of Baskervilles. These treasures have troubled my mind since the reports of
your findings. I seek them so I can appease myself of that troubling thoughts.
Please spare me your mercy to grant them to me." The squire was now openly
declaring his wanton to me but I am annoyed.
"Sire, you are
a man of wealth which I salute you as you acquired them by hard work and pain,
but you have fallen into its trap as it now uses you to drive your other
desires. 1 Timothy 6.9 People who want to get rich fall into temptations and a
trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and
destruction." I quoted from the Bible of this man use of the wealth of material.
"Remember this, sire; we come with nothing and we would return with
nothing."
"Tell me then
of what can I do with the wealth of materials which I hold now?" The man
challenged me to his means to the end.
"Do as your
heart and mind tell you but on noble causes. Look to your man sitting out there
in the cold night; invite him in and sit down by this fire. He is a human like
you and me, but your blindness to the riches of wealth has made him a servant
in your eyes. There are no servants among all of us in the blood and flesh. We
are the only servant to HIM whom we have placed our faith. He gave us the
freedom of choice to work on our journey here, and how we do it determined our
understanding of this ongoing journey. If we are ahead in some ways, remember
the ones before us who may need a hand in catching up. Offer it to them and let
them come up with you. In life's journey, there is no winner but participants
to complete it altogether. You may have more of one of the wealth's of life,
but he who is beside you holds the other parts of wealth. Share and both of you
would be stepped into the end of the journey together."
Soon I find myself
sitting with a company of five people in front of a fireplace perusing some
good books of old. The writers of these books left behind a wealth which money
cannot buy but a love for it would open it pages to all. I am just sharing my
wealth of knowledge to explain these words to the new readers.
No comments:
Post a Comment