When years pass by

What's more important? The possession of material things or be surrounded by family and friends?

Photo by Abigail Keenan on Unsplash

I remember how I was, spoke a lady in the circle of friends.

Impetuous, I'd speak without thinking. I'd said what came to mind and thought she owned the world. Capriciously, I wanted things my way. And screamed over and over when they weren't. Meticulous, I'd keep everything to the smallest detail. A picture that was one inch askew on the wall, or the ornament on the table.

I would enter the house with my eyes looking for something out of place just for the pleasure of putting them in place. And would complain about whoever didn't put it exactly as she wished.

My closet was impeccable. All clothes lined up, divided by season, by colors. I could look for clothes in the dark and find them. But, would shout to anyone who dared to fiddle with the closet. I'd know if anyone had even opened the closet. And it was a reason for a great discussion.

The books were separated by author, by subject and in alphabetical order to facilitate the search. Naturally, no one could touch them unless I picked it up handed it over recommending: "Watch the cover. Don't knead. Wash your hands thoroughly before opening the book."

Yes, I was like that. Nothing anyone did was good enough for me.

I cleaned the house, because nobody did it like me. And it consumed the hours in ordering, aligning, grouping, adjusting. Everything always had to be impeccable.

Time has passed

But time has passed and I found out that I was wrong in many things.

When my sister abruptly left in a car accident, I felt my heart break. Looking at the empty house, I wondered what it was worth to be in order, impeccable? I would give anything for her to be there so she would come in and mess up my books, my dishes, my things. I wanted to see her opening my closet, choosing clothes to wear, messing up with the order that was standing there, unused.

Then my brother and my mother died too.

With each death, I discovered that the best thing is to have a home for people to come in and feel good, not being suffocated. I found that more important than anything, those people, not the stuff, were the meaning of my life.

And then, I changed.

I still like things tidy, in order but without exaggeration. My nephews come into my house and play. And they jump and I sit with them on the floor to read stories, look at pictures. And while we read, we eat popcorn, chocolate and drink juice. How good it is to taste stories with someone eager for curiosity even if your fingers are dirty with chocolate or greasy with popcorn?

My closet is no longer untouched. The nieces love to look for something different to use. Even if it is for the costume dance with their friends.

I learned to accept and respect the work of others, thanking them.

The hours I would spend washing, cleaning, polishing, I now dedicate to children, young people, my loves.

Yes, I have changed a lot. Life taught me.

Too bad I had to lose so many loved ones in order to learn. I could have been much happier, a long time ago. However, there's always time and I thank God, however, that I woke up in time to still enjoy many joys on Earth.

I sincerely hope that none of you need to go through this to learn.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on May 28, 2014.

See Also

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

When we get old

Unless an unpredictable event happens, you are getting old. Are you ready for it?

Photo by Bruno Martins on Unsplash

Living on Earth is a great challenge. Every change that occurs to us in life, needs adaptation.

But nothing compares to the clash of watching the drama of some of our loves getting older. Especially those who saw us being born, growing up, who taught us so much.

One day, they need help for everything. They can no longer bring food to their mouths. Steps become difficult, indecisive. Yet, even more challenging is accepting this new reality. Accepting that they now need support. Accepting that they can no longer be totally alone.

Yesterday, they ran their own lives. They decided when to get up or go to bed. They could go for a walk alone or with friends. They could go shopping, to the church, to the club or to the park.

But now, all steps are monitored. They can no longer go where they want, whenever they want. No talking with friends or taking the dog for a walk. Rules are now dictated to them. They need to wake up when they want to sleep and sleep when they'd like to stay up a little longer. The food is not what they want but what's prescribed to them.

Life became a real drama.

A real drama

To better understand an elderly person, let's put ourselves in their places. Let's imagine how difficult it would be if we faced of so many difficulties including losses of so many loved ones.

Remember that their souls remain active and willful, although the physical machine is failing in some places. Knowing how to take advantage of this wisdom of the years lived is healthy for us and for them.

Asking them about past events, the history of the country, the world they lived in, will encourage them to remember. Remember them how important they still are to us, to our children, to the generations that are coming. After all, they are living history.

Final Thoughts

Let us honor our elders, whether they be parents, relatives or simply those we live with. Much more important than being placed to take the morning sun, it will be to enjoy, every day, the beneficial rays of affection.

Keep in mind that our children watch us and will learn from us how to treat those who have accumulated wrinkles in the effort for the good of the family, for the progress of the country.

One day we will be there. And we will want to be accepted, understood, respected, loved and met in our needs. And only the Father knows if we will be healthy, lucid or if we will need, intensely, the cares of others.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on October 20, 2018.

See Also

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

When death arrives

No one can escape death. So why we avoid so much thinking and preparing for it?

Photo by Veit Hammer on Unsplash

Death is something that no one escapes. Rich, intellectual, poor, ignorant, good or bad, we will all die one day.

In a paradoxical way however, it is what we generally least think of. And sometimes, we don't even want to think about it!

However, we should keep in mind that if we inevitably go towards a certain destination, the correct thing to do is to prepare. As we would be if we were about to go on a long journey to a different country.

Not knowing exactly what weather we were going to find, we would take clothes for mild temperatures and clothes for very warm or very cold days.

We would also plan what we'd do when we arrived there.

So, how can we not think about the great and essential journey that we will take when we die, transferring ourselves from this world to another?

A world that is vibrant, where we will reunion with our ancestors.

Perhaps we should consider how to improve our wedding dress, the same one that the Evangelist describes in the parable of the wedding feast. Dress that is woven, in our day to day, by our way of thinking, acting, producing good or evil.

Perhaps it would be interesting to consider strengthening our links with the good God so that when that moment comes, we are ready.

And that prayer needs not be something memorized. It could be as spontaneous as this:

Lord, when I have to leave, allow me to be prepared. May there be peace in my conscience for not having done wrong to others.

May I be ready, with my bag of good deeds in an appropriate suitcase, without remorse for what has not been done and not done.

Allow the good Spirits to receive me and assist me in transposing the fragile vessel of earthly life to the immense vessel of Spirituality.

Who knows, Lord, you may even allow old loves to welcome me, bringing me hugs, flowers and smiles. Loves that left before, leaving a gap in my heart. Loves from other lives, always remembered by my immortal Spirit.

Allow, Heavenly Father, those who remain on Earth be in peace and accept my departure with the dignity of those who are aware that this journey is fast.

May they be able to restructure their lives, without my presence. May they continue in their journey of progress and struggles.

May I, now a pacified soul, enter the Spirituality eager to continue learning, working, as soon as I get over the tiredness of the earthly journey and any reflexes of physical disorders that have taken me the last days.

May I return to the home I left there, resuming tasks suspended for a while.

May I be allowed to travel through places I wished to visit, while incarnated so I can know spectacular places created by Your greatness.

Anyway, Lord, stay with me at that time.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on February 13, 2020.

Final Thoughts

Death is the only thing that no one can escape from. And since it's inevitable, will do we think so little about it? If we inevitably go towards a certain destination, the correct thing to do is to prepare. Prepare now with good actions. Prepare by choosing good over bad.

See Also

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

Bridge of Life

How one can transform darkness in life? Hopelessness in happiness?

Photo by Alex Azabache on Unsplash

An insurance company allied with the government of South Korea to start an advertising campaign on one of the most important bridges in Seoul, the Mapo Bridge, known as bridge of death to reimagine it as the bridge of life.

South Korea is one of the countries with the highest suicide rate in the world. Just the Mapo Bridge itself recorded an average of twenty-one deaths per year.

To solve the serious problem, the government studied two alternatives: building a wall or closing the bridge.

But a third alternative emerged - carrying out an advertising campaign in favor of life, in such a way that messages made people think twice, before taking the extreme measure of suicide.

An insurance company created a partnership with advertisers, psychologists and suicide prevention activists, so that inspiring phrases could be created. In the sequence, luminous led panels with sensors were installed over more than two kilometers, causing them to light up, as passersby walk across the bridge, allowing people to read phrases such as:

Go see the people you miss.
The best moments of your life are yet to come.
How would you like to be remembered?

The campaign started in September 2012. Until December of the same year, that is, in the three-month period, the suicide rate on the bridge decreased by 85%, deserving the special award campaign of the well-known Cannes International Film Festival.

When caring matters

Although the campaign may have its commercial bias, considering the involvement of an insurance broker, what stands out is the effect: many voluntary deaths have been avoided.

The demonstration that a human being cares about another human being, his brother, is what matters the most.

Suicide is one of the most serious crimes that a human being can commit. With that attitude, one  despises the life that was given from Divinity throwing away the opportunity for individual growth and moral development.

If you are on the verge of attempting against your own life, think for a moment: What is going on that makes you feel that way?

Learn to wait

If you lost your love, your job, a precious opportunity, think that nothing is better than waiting a little longer, because everything passes.

The hopelessness that shadows your hours, will soon dissipate.

After the darkness of night, there is always a splendid dawn. Soon, the sun will gloriously shine again, the birds will sing and the nature will thrive.

Let the night hours slip away, wait for the dawn and allow yourself to live a new day. Everything changes quickly: the weather, the situations, the difficulties and the problems.

Conclusion

Wait for tomorrow, confident. Do not abandon life today. Hope is at the window, smiling, waiting for your gaze. Life, however harsh, deserves to be lived to the full, a gift from the loving and good Father.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on May 2nd, 2014.

See Also

• The poetry of life
  
• Weighted observation
• Suicide: a global calamity
• A Thinking Power
• Poverty and Wealth
• Divine Poem