Spontaneous Good

Good examples inspire others and make a big difference for all of us

Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash

It is common today to hear about indifference, selfishness, greed and misery.

However, if there are those who only think of themselves ignoring the well-being of others, more and more there are movements of solidarity happening around us.

It was a spontaneous initiative that saved the lives of nine people on a beach in Florida.

Roberta was in the company of her mother, husband, children and nephews. After diving in the sea, she was surprised to find her family members very far from the shore. The children cried and everyone shouted that they were being pulled away by the current.

Desperate, thinking of saving them, she entered the water again. A bather noticed and soon realized that people were drowning. Immediately, she picked up a bodyboard she found on the sand and swam towards the family. Meanwhile, her husband also entered the water, with some people, starting to form a human current.

And, while Jessica was rowing, the chain increased, with eighty people joining hands, reaching a distance of one hundred meters.

Thanks to this, it was possible to save all the family members, bringing them to the sand one by one.

Roberta later commented that she did not even remember being rescued. She just remembered waking up on the beach after passing out. Her mother had to be resuscitated and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Deeply grateful, she said she owed her and the lives of her family members to this great bond of solidarity that was formed when she discovered people in danger.

Good Examples

The spontaneity of this example is noteworthy. It shows us that there's always support for good, everywhere. It also shows us how open we are ready to help others when they need.

And this example teaches us another important lesson - good examples that inspire others make a big difference.

Difference between poverty and hunger. Difference between misery and acceptance. Difference between ignorance and instruction.

Final Thoughts

In essence, this story teaches us that it doesn't matter who we are, what country we come from or what language we speak. We are a single family living in the same world and our good actions not only benefit others but ourselves too.

Think about it.

Adapted from Momento Espírita, originally published on August 22, 2017.

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