Pleasures

How far can your pleasures take you? How much can they affect your life?

Photo by Gabrielle Henderson on Unsplash

Every man and woman seeks pleasure and well-being. It is a reflection of the conservation instinct, whose objective is to ensure physical existence for as long as possible.

Material life is essential to the intellectual and moral development of the human being and their immortal Spirit.

Sex is pleasurable and through it the species is perpetuated. If there were no satisfaction involved in procreative acts, Humanity would be extinct for a long time.

Food also involves pleasure. The physical body needs to receive fuels suitable for its structure. But meeting this need is not only due to the hunger but also involves satisfaction.

Meeting natural needs, whether physical or emotional, includes a certain amount of pleasure. As we human beings were not made to live alone, we rejoice in contact with friends and loved ones. The need for contact and recognition by others produces sweet sensations.

In balance

But evidently, wisdom lies in balance. Denying the pleasures of life without any noble purpose, should not be commended.

The mother who deprives herself of bread to feed her children shows signs of selflessness and nobility. But eating less than necessary to maintain physical beauty is not recommended.

The higher goals of existence are incompatible with small earthly joys. Jesus signaled this truth by saying that it is not what comes in, but what comes out of the mouth of the man who contaminates him.

If voluntary deprivation of the goods of life is not good, so is abuse. No one is born to eat, drink, sleep and procreate. Living right does not mean refraining from the joys and satisfactions common to the human condition.

Gluttony causes disease and shortens life. The misused use of genetic forces produces physical and emotional imbalances. Sleeping too much or resting too much is a waste of time. Thus, the important thing is to keep balance in the face of earthly tastes and pleasures. If they are not reprehensible, they are also not the purpose of existence.

Purity does not lie in abstaining from the gifts of life, but in using them with balance and discernment, without harming yourself and others. Wisdom lies in using everything in moderation, without becoming a slave to habits, things or sensations.

Final Thoughts

The purpose of our life on Earth is to promote our own intellectual and moral development. Everyone is reborn to overcome old vices, abandon selfishness, live and love. Do not deviate from that goal by a misunderstanding of life.

In the context of our immortal existence, there is little point in becoming an ascetic. It is unworthy to live like an irrational animal, in the relentless pursuit of pleasures.

Strive to be balanced, kind and supportive. It is very laborious, but it is the goal of your coming to Earth.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on January 13, 2018.

See Also

• The Power of Love
• Weighted observation
• The most important bridge
• Bridge of Life
• A Thinking Power
• Divine Poem

Planting in the Desert

Is it possible to transform an arid, desertic hearts in oasis of virtues?

Photo by Giorgio Parravicini on Unsplash

Is it possible to transform arid lands into productive regions?

Yacouba Sawadogo, living in the African country of Burkina Faso, was tired of seeing his plantations run out because of bad land. Even ridiculed by his neighbors in the 1980s, he decided to put into practice an old teaching, known as Zai.

Performing the opposite of the common sense, he began to prepare the ground during the drought period.

The technique consisted of opening small holes in the ground, next to each other, filling them with fertilizers and animal feces. These openings have the ability to retain rainwater and maintain a kind of reserve so that seeds of trees planted there, grow normally.

The fact is that, twenty years later, Sawadogo's land was productive and he had a thirty-hectare forest with more than sixty species of trees.

In solidarity, when realizing that his strategy was working, the African farmer started to organize lectures on his lands, in order to teach the technique to anyone interested. After the practice was disseminated, Sawadogo started receiving donations from all over the world to invest in his research and to foster the use of his techniques.

Sawadogo's quest was so impressed that inspired filmmaker Mark Dodd to create a documentary called The man who stopped the desert.

Our hears are like deserts

Like the desert lands, many hearts are dry in feelings. Emotions there do not flourish.

But still, they respond quite well to the African soil therapy. They just need to be made some holes and introduced the fertilizer of mercy and some seeds of love. And, without having to wait for decades, they could transform into a welcoming forest, with different species of trees:

• the tree of compassion: to look at those around us as brothers and sisters, reaching out to lift them from material and moral misery;
• the tree of sincerity: to stop creating intrigues and spreading slanders, denigrating people and institutions that do good;
• the tree of humility: to realize that they do not know (or can know) everything. That they are simply human beings and, like every human being, they have limitations and need help from others;
• the tree of generosity: as opposed to its greed, starting to sharing what they know, what we have with those who have less;
• the tree of patience: to walk less quickly and allow those around us to walk beside us, following our steps.
• And who knows, also help growing bushes of good will, gratitude, kindness, compassion, etc.

Final Thoughts

With time and patience, it's possible to transform a desertic heart into an oasis of blessings, full of virtues such as love, compassion, humility, patience and many other for the greater good.

Think about it.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on October 13, 2014.

See Also

• The Power of Love
• Weighted observation
• The most important bridge
• Bridge of Life
• A Thinking Power
• Divine Poem

Divine Poem

All that surrounds us is Divine poetry. Including ourselves.

Photo by Sergey Shmidt on Unsplash

Our Father, who is in heaven, on earth, in fire, in water and in the air. Our Father, who is in the flowers, in the song of the birds, in the beating heart. Who is in compassion, in charity, in patience and in the gesture of forgiveness.

Our Father, who is in me, who is in the one I love, in the one who hurts me, in the one who seeks the truth. Our Father, who is in the one who walks with me and in the one who has already left, leaving my soul wounded by longing.

Hallowed be Your name for all that is beautiful, good, just and graceful, for all the harmony of Creation. Be sanctified for my life, for so many opportunities, for what I am, have and feel and for leading me to perfection.

Thy kingdom of peace and justice, faith and charity, light and love, come to us. Kingdom that I am called upon to build through meekness of spirit, a reflection of inner greatness.

Thy will be done, even though my pleas cherish more my pride than my real needs.

Although I only hear silence as answer to my prayers, I do feel You say: son, wait, the eternity is all yours.

Give me our daily bread today so I can share it with my brother. The material comfort I now have are of no use if I do not remember those who live in distress.

Bread of the body, bread of the soul, bread that is life, truth and light. Bread that brings breath and joy, the Gospel of Jesus.

Forgive my offenses, my mistakes, my faults. Forgive when my heart becomes cold, when I allow evil to manifest itself in the form of aggression.

May I listen more than speak. May I seek to welcome others instead of judging them. May I sow peace instead of cultivating violence. May I be able to thank more than ask.

Forgive me, just as I forgive those who offend me, even when my heart is hurt by the bitterness and discomfort of ingratitude of others.

May I, Lord of Life, remember that no pain is eternal and that the only way to sublimity is the humble road of reconciliation.

Do not let me fall into the temptations of errors, addictions and selfishness, which make me a slave to my malevolence. Rather, may Your light be on me, illuminating me, so that I can find you within my soul, as part of my essence.

And deliver me from all evil, from all violence, from all misfortune, from all illness. Deliver me from all pain, all hurt and disappointment.

But still, when such difficulties are necessary, may I have the strength and courage to say: Thank you, Father, for one more lesson!

Final Thoughts

All that surrounds us is Divine poetry. There is a trait of God in every being. Let us seek Him in the blossoming of flowers, in the flow of waters, in the song of the wind, in the twinkling of the stars.

But above all, let us search for Him within us. We just need to close our eyes and feel Him giving rhyme to the verses of our lives.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on May 06, 2017.

See Also

• Weighted observation
• The most important bridge
• Bridge of Life
• A Thinking Power
• Divine Poem
• Poverty and Wealth