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

Jesus' Christmas

Every time Christmas returns, His figure is remembered with greater vigor.

Photo by Jasmin Ne on Unsplash

Every time Christmas returns, His figure is remembered with greater vigor.

Some remain in an attempt to deny His existence, claiming that everything is the result of legend. Others, who believe in His existence, get lost in dates and numbers, trying to find out when He was truly born.

What is known is that until the 4th century, the Christians of the world celebrated His Christmas in different months and days, which is why the Church chose to determine the date of December 24th, so that all His followers would unite for the same event, as a single heart.

Some think that everything that refers to the human figure of Christ is so obscure. It is not known exactly when and where he was born, almost nothing is known about His childhood and adolescence.

Even after His death, He left us only an empty tomb. His body having disappeared, buried in a place unknown perhaps. Precisely because, from the first day among us, He, Jesus, insisted that the message is more important than man.

However, there is something no one disagrees. He bequeathed to Humanity the most beautiful treasure of all time: His lesson of love. From His birth in the dead of night to His infamous death on the cross, His was the life of those who love in full.

That is why we do not have the news of Jesus in the bosom of His family, living with His own. His family was the whole humanity - ourselves.

He loved the crowd and served them. He spoke of profound things, using figures and language accessible to the people, who wanted a message unlike any he had heard before.

His voice had a special intonation and when he began to recite the poetry of Heaven, he entranced souls. The simple followed Him, the eager to learn and those who longed for the comfort of their moral wounds listened to Him attentively.

His message was addressed to all beings, in different evolutionary stages, for different ages. He went to the child, invited the boys to follow Him, gathered men and women in full maturity, encouraged old age.

His life was a continuous service. Nobody before Him and nobody after that carried out such a revolution in the field of ideas, sowing in the land of hearts, in such a short time, less than three years.

His message, impregnated with the fragrance of His presence, continues in the world, gathering souls.

Defining himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life, He is also the comfort of the afflicted, the light for those who walk in dense darkness, the protection of those who feel discouraged and alone.

His name is Jesus. His message is that of perennial love. His sayings and deeds constitute the Gospels.

The celebration of His Christmas to all motivates us to love, give and forgive. And there is only Christmas because He came to His brothers, to us and bequeathed to us the Divine message that speaks of peace, harmony and spiritual beauty.

Final Thoughts

Let us take advantage of the Christmas days we are living to meditate on Jesus' teachings.

Let's get more out of it: put at least some of them into practice. And among the gifts and treats that we will distribute in His name, let us not forget to place a portion of our heart.

Let's not forget: it's Christmas.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on January 09, 2014.

See Also

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

Ryan's Well

How far would you go to help those in need?

Photo by Amevi Wisdom on Unsplash

He was only six years old when the first grade teacher spoke of the sad fate of children living in impoverished and disease-ravaged Africa.

Ryan shuddered to learn that hundreds of thousands of African children died each year from drinking contaminated water. His school was raising funds for Africa and he knew that seventy dollars would fund a well.

When he got home, he asked his mother for the money and said why he needed it. The mother suggested that he do extra chores to get the amount.

He took a sheet of paper and drew a diagram containing thirty-five lines. For every two dollars received, Ryan filled a line and kept the money in an empty cookie tin.

He washed windows, collected pine cones that fell in the yard, worked as he could.

One day in April 1998, Ryan handed over his seventy dollars to an international organization. The lady who answered, thanked him and explained that a hand pump cost seventy dollars, but it took almost two thousand dollars to drill a well.

So I'm going to work harder, said the boy. Parents got involved and started a donation campaign. At the age of seven, Ryan had managed to raise a little over seven hundred dollars, and the missing amount was completed by the Canadian International Development Agency.

Ryan and his parents were invited to a meeting with the Ugandan representative at the Canadian Doctors' Association for Aid and Assistance, a group that collected the funds raised and, with the help of the villagers, built and maintained the wells.

Ryan was hugged by representative Shibru, who confirmed to the boy that the well could be located near a school in Angolo, northern Uganda, but he said it took twenty people working ten days to build a well with a manual digger. A small drill cost twenty-five thousand dollars.

Willing to get the money, the boy had his story published in a Canadian newspaper and, in two months, had inspired $ 7,000 in donations.

Already in the second grade, Ryan and his classmates began to correspond with the boys of Angolo. Meanwhile, Ryan would spend hours writing letters asking for money from various organizations. Finally, he got the amount due for the purchase of the equipment.

On July 27, 2000, a truck, carrying Shibru, Ryan and their parents, went down the dirt road near Angolo. About three thousand children were waiting by the side of the road, clapping their hands. The village leaders received Ryan and took him to the well, next to the school's vegetable garden. On the concrete base it was written:

Ryan's well. Built by Ryan Hreljac. For the Angolo elementary school community.

That night, in bed, Ryan said to his mother: I'm very happy. That unforgettable day ended with the prayer he said every night: I wish that everyone in Africa has clean water.

Conclusion

Fraternity knows no boundaries and love knows no limits.

Let us allow the contagion of the good, with this willingness to help, with this feeling of caring for the other, even if we do not know the name. Even if all he needs is a glass of fresh, clean water to keep him alive.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on November 27, 2013. 

References

• Ryan Hreljac 
  
• Ryan's Well Documentaries & Book | Ryan's Well Foundation

See Also

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