The Better Wealth Beyond

Once a young man found a golden coin and he was going to pick it up when he heard a voice saying to him,

“Forget about it. You shall have better. Just wait. You shall have better”.

And so he left the coin where it was and carried on his life.

Then one day, he came across a box full of gold coins and, thinking “This must be the better that the voice spoke of”, he bent down to pick up the box of gold coins.

But then he heard the voice again, saying to him,

“Forget that. You shall have better. Just wait. You shall have better”.

And so he waited and the years passed and one day he was out walking and he passed a cave of treasures, so filled with gold that gold was spilling out of its mouth.

“This surely must be it”, he thought, rejoicing to himself, “The better that the voice has promised me”.

But then, as he was about to enter the mouth of the cave, the voice spoke to him again,

“Do not enter”, it said, “The wealth within that cave is nothing compared to the wealth that awaits. Be patient and you’ll have something much better than that”.

And so the man forgot about the cave that spilled out riches and continued on his way.

But now the years went past quicker than the flickering of a bees wing and the man grew old and grey and so weak and tired that he could not get out of bed and yet the promised fortune had still not appeared and he grumbled to the voice that had spoken to him bitterly,

“You promised me riches greater than a cavern full of gold and yet they have not come”

Just then however, the man felt his old, weak heart start to give way and, breathing out, he took his last mortal breath; his eyes closing tightly forever and his body becoming lifeless as stone.

But then another pair of eyes; the eyes of the man’s eternal spirit opened and, when they opened, they saw an entire shimmering world of gold and a sun above made of burning gold; skies made of sapphire and an earth of emerald.

“This”, said the voice, “This is the better that I promised”.

“Oh!”, said the spirit of the man becoming a spirit of joy, “This is wealth; this is wealth, indeed!”.