La certeza del camino (The True Path)

About the Misfortunes Which Wealth Brings to the One Who Does Not Know How to Make Proper Use of It.

Great hazards of the world are these rational brutes, the avaricious rich, as they are full of so many miseries and of such powerful enmities, crafty tricks, smooth stratagems, deceitful arguments; they provoke continuous wars, fierce attacks, and false peace. Thus, only he who can retreat is able to triumph: “Flee and you have won” (said a wise man), because to await the unbridled blows of avaricious wealth with such feeble strength, to try to resist it or to overcome it, is imprudent. And so, some wise and enlightened men live voluntarily withdrawn [from the world], knowing how many miseries are brought to the soul by possessed riches, only from its master, thieving the gifts of virtue and filling the soul continually with shocks, worries, and anxieties. This can all be explained in a short, simple manner.

Here is the [Atlantic] Ocean, there is the Mediterranean, and over there, that of the South [the Pacific], on whose immense spaces sail three ships loaded with all kinds of riches, acquired with incredible toil as well as through dangers of the conscience. The sea is smooth like milk and the wind favorable, because spectacularly, in imitation of the water, there flutter streamers, pennants, and standards. How lightly hang the studding sails! All the sails billow and, to the sound of trumpets, fly over the crystalline liquid. But, O fickle weather, O false calm, O treacherous sea! The wind changes, others arise, the air darkens with thick clouds that hurl new torrents of water, the flashes of lightning dazzle, the bursts of thunder deafen, the sails collapse, the masts break, the crew scurries about vainly working at the pumps, the pilot panics, the compass is lost, the helm abandoned; the trumpets turn into tears, cries, and vows. Great misfortune: one of the ships sinks, covered by mountainous waves. The riches go down with it and the wretched castaways plead in vain for help; all of them drowning in the end. But the weather has already calmed, and the desperate ships which teeter upright, have regained their splendor, revive with sure hopes, recover from the recent fate, and continue their voyage joyfully.

But there is no enduring contentment and even less in the fickleness of the sea; the two unfortunate ships fall into the hands of a squadron of enemies. Fleeing, one of them escapes and the other one is pursued; it defends itself for a brief moment and then surrenders; at last, the victors come aboard it, seize its riches, and kill some of its owners and enslave the others; and, carrying the vanquished ship to their port, the pirates celebrate their joyous triumph with music. The fortunate ship that got away reaches the happy port; the passengers go ashore and visit the land in peace, eager for peace; its arrival agreeable to all, they recount their good fortune and thank the captain of the ship who, by means of his care, enabled it to escape so many perils. The merchants unload their riches but are not free from misfortunes, as some of them were waylaid by thieves and their riches were stolen; others succumbed to death and could not enjoy their wealth, whereas yet others had more a favorable fate and were able to enjoy their wealth for a few years, and had they not prepared for death, they would die with wounds and pangs of conscience, which will be inherited by their children who, within a few years, some through ill luck and others through poor management, and still others, engulfed by vices, will lose their wealth, so that riches of this nature are more of a misfortune than an asset. Wealth is only wealth if, by aiding the poor, it is deposited in the hands of the Lord, where it remains secure from the vagaries of time and the vicissitudes of fate.

The aforesaid is only a brief sketch and depiction of what happens to those who base their happiness on worldly riches, which they venerate to such an extent that they are avaricious even to their own body and soul, idolaters before this idol to which they bow down and worship, and which sweetens this very bitter life for them, making them forget death. On the altars of wealth, in place of burnt-offerings, they consume precious time, failing to exercise the virtues which the divine precepts exhort us to keep, namely, to recognize that wealth has to be distributed, to help fortify the powers of the soul, magnify the divine law, zealously rescue the poor, a means whereby what is by its nature terrestrial and fleeting we will make eternal and celestial and, instead of being subject to the fickleness and vicissitudes of time, will be in every way superior to it.

Three things are essential in order to attain this proper knowledge of worldly riches: to suffer poverty respectably, acquire wealth honestly, and enjoy it modestly, bearing in mind that our true assets consist of virtues. And so, whoever possesses them shall achieve true wealth because it is a worldly deception to call men rich who are poor in virtues, and to call poor those who are rich in merits.

It is a very well-known maxim that no one is born so poor that he does not die still poorer, and so it will appear paradoxical to say that all are poorer at birth than at death. Let us qualify this: the one who is born brings nothing into life, and the one who dies leaves it all, and except for the good he has done in between, he takes nothing. He is born, he needs what he does not possess, he dies, and no longer needs what he leaves behind; thus, what is a necessity for the former is a relief for the latter; the former begins to be in need of everything and the latter stops being in need, so what he leaves he no longer requires. The one who is born is beginning the journey and so is in need of everything that he does not possess, and the latter has finished, and because of this he has no need of what he leaves behind. The one is born to live a mortal life, and the other dies to live eternally, if he was able to earn it through his struggles on earth. Is a newborn, who lacks certainty, not poorer in fortune and prospects than someone who dies having found it? Being born is more miserable than dying: the former asks for everything, while the latter, if he is wise, gives away all that is beyond his needs, since he alone is rich who is content with his portion. The Lord gives him assets on deposit, and so he must repay Him with part of the revenue, with the part that is not his to keep but is owed as alms. And so, by usurping that part, a man robs his neighbor, and God will make a strict accounting of his bad administration, because He gave him the assets on deposit to share with beggars, and this not in order to take away what He gave him but to let him increase it still more through the merit of charity; because his divine majesty assumes a debt to the one who helps the poor man, promising to repay him in double measure. He that is gracious unto the poor, lendeth unto the Lord (Proverbs 19:17) says the wise king. And so, he who does not wish for this payment is already poor, and the one who doubts its existence is incredulous and unfaithful. Wherefore, O mortal, do your thoughts aspire to the greatest things when your lack of faith costs you the least ones? O wretch unworthy of compassion, you can acquire eternal glory but instead you sigh over the little that you give to the poor, and resent not only giving shelter but even giving a piece of bread left over from your table!

Other work by Pereyra: Espejo de la vanidad del mundo (1671).