“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”Matthew 4:4
Is it ignorance that one does not listen to certain news? Is living on the margins of events and experiences in the world the conduct of avoiding demeaning, degrading news or that brings information about calamities of all kinds?
It seems that the world is upside down and that success, today, depends on the size of the scandal produced, the noise created, or participating, at any cost, in newspaper news. People no longer know how to distinguish between truth and lies and fail to notice how they are manipulated by the news and by the sensationalist or self-interested media, which take advantage of certain facts and elaborate their version about them, guaranteeing, for the mass communication vehicles, the crowd audience.
As a result, society begins to experience moments of anguish. Many are alarmed by the world situation, which is painted in stronger and more drastic colors than reality shows. My God, how I would love to see the news broadcasting generous actions by candidates for good! How much happier I would be watching television and the internet showing news of volunteer workers in Africa, India, or, who knows, Haiti. Perhaps, people still need to mature a lot, to become more lucid. Who knows that my desire to see the media divulging, someday, the good achievements that are being promoted will only occur in a new and renewed world?
In this current world, in the current conjuncture, talking and disclosing shocking things, and manipulating people’s emotions and minds through documentaries and telejournalism, mainly, has become a much sought-after and valued specialty. It happens that Christians and other candidates for servants of Christ forget that, despite the announced difficulties, and even in the face of the gloomiest panorama, outlined by renowned and respected specialists, Christ remains as director and conductor of the cosmic ship called Earth. Ahead of the work we represent and our institutions, stands out the figure of the one who inaugurated the Kingdom 2 thousand years ago.
Furthermore, there is something else that Christians should bear in mind, for it has already been written in the pages of the holy Gospels. It’s just that Christ never said the walk would be easy. Or did He say this and the apostles forgot to write it down? For me, who is not used to facilities, any possible crisis will only serve as a challenge to continue the tasks entrusted to me. Therefore, before the picture presented by the media or before the repercussion of distressing situations resulting from the mistakes of governments and peoples, we cannot forget the words of the psalmist: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”. [1]
I keep imagining the modern followers of Christ, when they find themselves in despair, without confidence in the future, often like a grafted branch of a tree that soon falls from the main trunk. They don’t pray, they don’t put themselves in harmony with the source that inspires our journey. They claim a way out of the various situations that seem distressing to them, yet they seem to avoid the generous source of all grace and goodness, wisdom and inspiration. For us, those who intend to qualify ourselves for the service of Christ, however much we consider ourselves experts in strategies, however much we have our point of view on something we do in the name of good, it is essential to connect ourselves to the source of wisdom and intelligence through prayer.
So for those of us who are in the midst of this period of intense transformation that we call a crisis, it is wise to pray. Praying together, praying in silence, rediscovering the value of heartfelt prayer, and, above all, accepting God’s response, which often responds to us in silence. In others, telling us: “Not like that, my son”. On more than one occasion he announces, “Not now.” Let us be careful to perceive the subtle answer that points us to a path different from the one we think is the right one.
In times of emergency, we know how to value faith, and hope and invest in optimism, because often the situation around us is just a reflection of our intimate despair. The thing is even more accentuated when we are temporarily directing some activity, as this will reflect, to a great extent, the intimate panorama of the leader.
So let us stay connected to the supreme and inexhaustible source of wisdom, asking for guidance, but not rejecting it when it comes, however much it may contradict our point of view. Let us learn that, with Christ, mathematics is different, the results depend on faith. When we believe and cultivate faith — or, using more modern terms, when we exercise thought in creating positive images, when we visualize the results we expect — the universe tends to conspire in favor of our projects. This is faith in action. Without faith, people annihilate themselves in the face of scandalous news, whether they come from the press or wherever they come from. Without faith, the believer in Christ ends up succumbing to the anguish, the fear incited by documentaries and news from around the world, or even by the apparent or real vicissitudes and failures of his daily life. Without faith,
Although Christ stated that his follower’s journey would not be easy, [2] it is necessary to observe that, while some of his words emphasize intense challenges for the establishment of renewing ideas on the face of the Earth, He also assured that he would be with us until the end of time. end. [3] And this promise he fulfills every day, even though we are stubborn in not connecting with him through prayer, which is the only way to drink the sap that flows from the genuine vine.
We distract ourselves with fantasies, mirages, and deceptive landscapes, which dissolve in the face of the slightest difficulty. We allow ourselves to be lulled by deceptive sleep, which obscures the true scope of our work from our vision. And, in the natural rebellion of our being, we want things to be different, according to our way, forgetting that we are in a state of permanent struggle. In this spiritual warfare, we enlist in an army whose commander is Christ himself. As allies, we often wake up dissatisfied for not being able to use our time as we wish. Or else we disagree with the methods and life projects presented by our general because we don’t have time to enjoy life. We rebel and take refuge or escape from the hard and raw reality. We think we have our rights, and those rights usually they represent partnerships with things of the world and with situations that distract us from the main focus of our time and service. My God, how rebellious we are!
And our rebellion comes at a price. As much as we have a different philosophy, as much as we disagree with the situation involving the legitimate representatives of Christ, unfortunately, I now have to be the messenger of reality. You, my dear brother, who is in some way connected to Christ’s projects, which aim at the renewal of the world, will not find any other way than the one predicted by Our Lord. If we persist in the route of rebellion, we will certainly encounter anguish and nonconformity; we shall be desolate, we shall depart from faith, from prayer, and our flight will lead us to instances a little too far from the ways of Christ.
Hear my warning. And be aware that, accepting the difficulties inherent in the implementation of the Kingdom’s renewing ideas, we cannot submit to the hypnosis generated by the alarming news of this beginning of the millennium. After all, someone more experienced has already said that our task, in this millennium, will consist of rebuilding the Earth, from every point of view. And rebuilding anything takes dedication. If you think that this moment of reconstruction is a time of crisis, I am sorry to inform you that crises can only be resolved with work and a lot of work. We have to give up different situations and facilities, yes. It is necessary to keep in mind that we are called to help the world, to get involved with the world, in the sense of bringing the yeast of optimism, work, and quality in everything we do. We need to be smart enough to know the right moment to advance or retreat, in this context in which we find ourselves.
The cultivation of faith, prayer, and hope is essential to keep us alive and closely connected to the source of inspiration that sustains our path. Therefore, in light of the alarming and disastrous news at the beginning of this millennium, how about adopting an attitude that is, at the very least, inspiring and intelligent, considering the future that seems uncertain to you? I suggest emphatically: don’t believe half of what you hear, don’t repeat half of what you believe. When you hear negative news, divide it by two, then by four, and say nothing about the rest of it. I believe that, in this way, we will be in better conditions to proceed with optimism toward the target proposed to us by Christ, that is the victory of good.
Text extracted from the book On the Streets of Kolkata, by Robson Pinheiro by the spirit Teresa of Calcutá. Pages 208 to 216.
About the spiritual author:
The 1979 Nobel Peace Prize needs no introduction. Born in the Balkans, he had a lifetime of struggle to live out his religious vocation in a way that seemed truly Christian to him, leaving a legacy that far surpasses the insistence of his critics. “There was no stopping the tears”: this is how Robson Pinheiro describes his first contact with Teresa de Calcutá. In more than 40 mediumistic books, it is the first to bear the signature of a spirit with such projection. In one of the phrases attributed to her, when incarnated, and commented on in the book, she says: “ You wouldn’t bathe a leper even for a million dollars? Me either. Only for love can you bathe a leper ”. Disconcerting: this is Teresa.
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[1] Sl 46:1.
[2] Cf. Mt 7:14.
[3] Cf. Mt 28:30.
