The
Spiritist psychiatrist Alyrio de Cerqueira Filho, in the great and fantastic
book Therapeutic Parables, dissects with mastery the meaning of the many
parables of Jesus. He also takes the opportunity to speak about the Blisses,
with which the Christ begins the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the poor in
spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for
they will be comforted, etc. There are nine in all.
According to Alyrio, the text of all of them refers to passivity. Are we going
through difficult times? Is the world bad? It does not matter. Let's wait
without reacting, let us suffer quiet and wish for better conditions. The reward
will come after the death of the physical body.
Only, according to the Therapeutic Parables, Christ's proposal is quite
different, since passivity does not exist in the Universe. Everything is life,
movement, dynamism. After all, as Jesus himself said, My Father works until
now, and I work too. (John 5:17)
Are
there contradictions in the Sacred Texts? No, it is just a matter of
translation.
As
Alyrio explains, in the Hebrew original of the Gospel of Matheus, the
word used by the Master is ashréi, derived from ashar. Meaning:
righteousness, joy and security of one who marches toward the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, there is nothing of passivity or inertia.
The
Sermon on the Mount begins by giving us nine ways to march toward the Kingdom of
Heaven, which is the state of wholeness, unconditional love of neighbor, a sense
of duty fulfilled, a clear conscience, and deep realization, for we are feeling
more and more in unison with the greatest force called love, which rules the
Universe.
To
give substance to this chapter, I decided to take a Blessing. The one which, in
my point of view, calls us to go on the march: - Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for justice, because they will be satisfied (or satiated, depending
on the translation). Or, from now onwards:
In march those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness for they will be satisfied.
We
are all thirsty and hungry for justice. And I am referring not only to the set
of laws and rules of coexistence and harmony that characterize human justice as
Divine, but a feeling of restlessness that leads us to struggle for solidarity,
fraternity, health, well-being, prosperity, quality information, freedom,
ethics, transparency, education, equality, knowledge and the alike, so that we
are in fact a fair society with everyone.
If
we are thirsty and are hungry for that justice, what must be done to satisfy it?
Let us immerse ourselves in the causes of injustice - whether they are within us
or around us - and move so that they cease to exist. Thus, we will change for
the better the social landscape of the planet. This is the march to be
undertaken: let us start working and, with our own effort, we will satisfy the
hunger and thirst that destroy us.
The
world has always offered us active people in search of this satiation. This is
the case of Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Gandhi, and other
Spirits who have come to Earth to show that it is possible - often with few
resources - to march to satiate personal and collective needs. But there are
also wonderful stories being put into practice by the crowd, i.e., people like
us. In the book Words of Light, the medium and tribune from Bahia,
Divaldo Pereira Franco, tells the life of a woman who went marching and was
satiated. I will talk about her and about other people whom I read about and who
fascinated me.
United States, late 19th century. A young black woman named Mary Jane Mac Leod
Bethune (1875-1955) finishes a teacher’s course thanks to a scholarship she
earned from a Quaker seamstress (a religious group from British Protestantism).
In a country that was then strongly racist, no school accepted her. She
improvised a school under a tree, in the background of a garbage dump, having as
working material three onion crates. In this place, Mary Jane began to
alphabetize the children of the slaves.
It
was necessary, however, to go further. What did she do? She marked an interview
with Henry Ford, founder and president of the Ford auto industries. He was
staying at a local hotel. Only, because she was black, she was barred at the
entrance. Mary Jane did not hesitate; she climbed the fire escape to the ninth
floor, jumped from the access window onto the hallway, and rang Mr. Ford's
apartment doorbell. The butler, who was also black, said that the boss did not
receive blacks. She replied loudly, saying that she had marked the interview.
Ford heard her and told her to come in.
According to Divaldo, Henry Ford, who was a
humanitarian and reincarnationist, said he did not know the visitor was black.
She then countered, saying that she doubted he knew someone with whiter teeth
and eyes than hers. Ford thought the answer was fantastic. This was a woman who
deserved to be heard because she was above pettiness and preconceptions. She
then spoke of her dream of expanding the school and took him to the garbage
dump. Surprised, Ford was shocked with the place. Mary Jane then said:
I always forget the details! In fact my school
is in my head. I want you to – with your money – take it from here (and pointed
her head) and put it there”.
After such an extraordinary argument, Ford gave her $ 20,000. And there was Mary
Jane, from school to school, being responsible for the training and education of
thousands of black citizens (mostly) and whites too in the United States.
When
the United States entered World War II, the then President Franklin Roosevelt
canceled the school grants. Mary Jane went to the White House to confront him.
"You will not cut the subsidies from my schools. He said, "Do not forget that I
am the President." "Do not forget that I'm your voter, and I'll remember. Her
schools were the only ones that did not have the subsidies suspended at that
time. For sure, Mary Jane is still marching.
There are many episodes that highlight the strong personality of Mary Jane, a
remarkable woman who also became an UN and Unesco counselor for racial matters.
In Divaldo's opinion, her story is one of the most beautiful of the 20th
century. Let's move on to other stories.
The
Rio de Janeiro’s newspaper, O Globo, in its Sunday edition contains the
Globo Magazine. In it, the column Two Coffees and the Bill, in
which the journalist Mauro Ventura chats and has a coffee, a juice or something
alike, with people who left in march towards a better world. Rodrigo Freire is
one of them.
Young, handsome, a lawyer who lives in the Southern Zone of Rio de Janeiro,
Rodrigo had everything to be just another goer to the beach, the kiosk or the
juice bar. Like all good “cariocas” (name given to those who are born or live
in the city of Rio de Janeiro), Rodrigo marks his presence in all these
places. But he also frequently goes to the dump at Jardim Gramacho - a suburb in
the municipality of Duque de Caxias, within the area called Grande Rio.
Rodrigo, who always liked volunteer work, heard about the dump and went there
with two friends. Purpose: to take toys for the children. They packed the car
and drove off. When they arrived, they were surrounded by armed drug dealers. -
We came from Ipanema to distribute toys. One of the drug dealers said: -
I like what I see. Then the drug dealers themselves organized a queue. In
less than ten minutes, the toys were gone. There were children that did not get
a toy.
In
addition, elderly people came asking for food and clothing. The boys had none,
but Rodrigo promised that he would always return. He came back and never
stopped. And not just in the dump. He also goes to various “favelas” (shanty
towns all over Rio de Janeiro and suburbs) and choses the most miserable spots,
preferably where no one goes. Not to mention the visits to nursing homes, day
care centers, orphanages and also the many kilometers that he drives to pick up
toys, food and clothes. Rodrigo does not stop. He takes furniture and even
manages to take material to build burnt down houses. And since he has no
sponsor, he organizes bazaars, charity lunches, funds raising campaigns. The
sentence with which he ends the interview is exemplary. Rodrigo says: - I
have to unfold myself, but we always find time to do well. Keep marching,
Rodrigo Freire!
The
following week, the column provided the readers with the story of the dentist
Marcelo Schettini, founder of the NGO SOS Dental, which provides dental and free
emergency care in favelas. Winner of eight awards, the NGO has as main project:
the “Dentist in the Favela”. In this project, local merchants pay R$ 2.00 (two
Reais – an insignificant amount) per month and earn cards to be distributed to
whomever they want: relatives, clients, employees, neighbors, etc. If one of the
beneficiaries has a toothache, they just have to call a 0800 number and receive
a home visit from a dentist with a mobile dental office.
Usually the NGO takes care of simple cases, such as sutures and replacement of
broken teeth. But since the most serious cases do not always find adequate care
with Public Health, Marcelo launched the campaign "Adopt a Smile", in which a
sponsor pays R$ 110.00 for a patient's smile. There, procedures are performed
such as filling, gum treatment and restorations.
Marcelo also organizes “mutirões” in which groups of dentists attend patients in
places that make available the necessary space, such as evangelical churches and
Spiritist centers. He has already done this work abroad, in countries like Haiti
and Honduras. His childhood as a poor boy doing odd jobs to pay for his dental
treatment made him love his profession. He almost stopped college because he had
no money to pay his studies. This did not happen, because the Dean issued a
personal check to guarantee his studies until the educational credit was
granted. Marcelo, himself, felt how difficult it is to maintain his own oral
health. Today, he has ten popular clinics in the Baixada Fluminense, where he
first treats the patient and then he asks if the patient can afford it. Keep
marching, Marcelo Schettini!
One
of the most respected Brazilian writers is Graciliano Ramos (1892-1953), author
of classics such as Vidas Secas, São Bernardo and Memórias do Cárcere.
But the book I now mention is not written by him, but it is about him. Title:
O Velho Graça (The Old Graça), the author of which is the journalist Denis
de Moraes.
The
work - a biography - reveals remarkable facts about the life of this great
citizen who was Graciliano Ramos. Born in the town of Quebrangulo (AL), Graça,
as he was known, was the eldest son of a cloth merchant who settled in another
Alagoan city: Palmeira dos Índios, of which Graciliano became mayor.
Once
he fined the merchants who displayed their merchandise on the sidewalk,
disturbing the flow of pedestrians. One of those fined was his own father, who
went to complain to his son. Graciliano replied that politicians have no
relatives. If the father had received the fine from the City Hall, it was
because he was in an irregular situation. So he should pay it.
Years later, Graça became the Secretary of Education of the capital, Maceió. One
of the municipal schools had not started classes at the beginning of the school
term. The school, according to the principal, had not received funds for the
students' uniforms and shoes.
Graciliano started a march. As the son of a fabrics merchant and with influence
in the area, he explained the situation to some suppliers. He needed fabrics to
make the uniforms, but since the money had not yet been granted, he gave his
word as a guarantee. Once the money was released, he would pay for everything.
He did the same with shoe traders. They all provided the necessary material.
When the fabrics were delivered, he cut them himself; he had learned from his
father. Then he took everything to seamstresses of his confidence, who began the
work. Soon, the uniforms and shoes were delivered. The school could finally
start classes. When the money was released, merchants and seamstresses were
paid. This is to be hungry and thirsty for justice and marching to quench it!
The
journalist and environmentalist Andre Trigueiro (Hello there), in the book
Sustainable World, tells the story of Kenya's Wangari Maathai (1940-2011),
the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize (in 2004) thanks to the
Green Belt Movement, which reforested both Kenya and several neighboring
countries. For that purpose, Maathai recruited black and poor women. Kenya,
because of a poor infrastructure in the area of
energy,
leads people to use firewood to cook and heat their homes. As a result, only 2%
of the territory in 1977 was covered with forests. The Green Belt reversed the
process and promoted the planting of 30 million trees, ensuring the return of
the green and ending with the desertification of the soil, loss of biodiversity,
death of rivers and springs and loss of animals.
Maathai, a woman like few, trained 10,000 people with her training courses. In
addition, she created the African Green Network, which disseminated sustainable
practices throughout Africa. "When we plant trees, we plant seeds of peace",
she said. And we plant much more than this! We plant an economic gain helping
towards environmental and sustainable gains, which reduce poverty and violence
rates.
Wangari Maathai, a seeder who went out to sow! It is a march in various shades
of green.
These are marches that inspire us; marches of people like us; marches that can
be the march of each one of us. Let us march too!