The Dreamseller_ The Calling - Augusto Cury [67]
“When you mentioned that young millionaire’s enterprising spirit, I remembered that the largest shareholder at my university was precisely the Megasoft Group. After it became the university’s biggest booster, there was no shortage of money to underwrite research and theses.”
The dreamseller then asked Jurema a few questions:
“Did you know the young man who expanded that group so explosively? Was he free or a prisoner of the system? Was his philosophy to love money more than life or life more than money? What were his priorities? What values motivated him? Was he conscious of the brevity of life or did he position himself as a god?”
Jurema, caught by surprise, didn’t know how to answer, as she had rarely seen the young man personally. He was extremely busy, courted by kings and presidents, while she was simply a professor. But she said that her husband liked him a lot.
“Judging by the comments he made,” she said, “I believe he was a very good and well-bred person. But after my husband passed seven years ago, I heard little about him, except that some misfortune had struck his family. It appears he had mental problems. They said he passed away, but the press covered up the story. They say that if he were alive today he would have displaced the old magnates and be the richest man on earth.”
The dreamseller looked at us and said:
“My dear Jurema, you were very generous to that millionaire. I, too, have heard of his boldness, his story and his death. But we have the tendency to make the deceased into saints, to exalt their good qualities and conceal their defects. Someone who knew him intimately told me he was ambitious and had no time for anything except increasing his wealth. He forgot what mattered most in his life.”
Sadly, displaying the heavy air of one who disagreed with the path taken by that leader, he added some memorable observations:
“I don’t ask you to hate money or material goods. Today we sleep under bridges with the sky as our blanket; tomorrow, who can know? I ask you to understand that money itself doesn’t bring happiness, though lack of it can diminish it drastically. Money can’t make us crazy, but the love of it can destroy our serenity. The absence of money makes us poor, but its misuse makes us miserable.”
We all fell silent.
“Chief, being broke and happy is fine by me, but with money life’s a lot better,” said Bartholomew, drinking coconut water while the rest of us had French and Chilean wine.
The dreamseller smiled. It was difficult for him to have a deep conversation with those street “philosophers.”
As we moved from town to town and people recognized the dreamseller, people wanted to hug him immediately. Their eyes shone when they saw him. Some kissed him. Little by little, he was becoming more famous than society’s politicians, and that was stirring envy.
Seeing people gather around him in front of an imposing shopping mall, the dreamseller climbed a few steps leading to the main entrance and began one of his fascinating speeches. He gave a philosophical interpretation of Jesus’ most famous homily, the Sermon on the Mount.
He had told us he loved that text and agreed with Mahatma Gandhi that if all the sacred books of the world were banned and only the Sermon on the Mount survived, humanity would not be without light
“Happy are the humble of spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of wisdom,” the dreamseller shouted. “But where are the truly humble, those who have emptied themselves of themselves? Where are those who recognize their mistakes? Where are those who courageously admit their smallness and fragility to be found? Where are those who struggle daily against pride?”
After speaking these words, he stared attentively at the apprehensive, anxious faces of the crowd. He took a breath and continued:
“Happy are the patient, for they shall inherit the earth. Which earth am I referring to? The earth of tranquillity, the soil of enchantment with life, the terrain of simple love. But where are