Maurício de Queiroz Curi (photo), was born into a Spiritist family in the Brazilian capital, Brasília. For this reason, he had solid education during his childhood and youth, learning Spiritism through the arts (theatre, music and literature). He has worked as facilitator in several study groups and at a very young age began working as a volunteer as a Spiritist speaker, columnist and medium. He currently works as a volunteer at the Atualpa Barbosa Lima Spiritist Centre and at the Federal District Spiritist Federation, where he is a research coordinator. He has written articles and poems to Spiritist publications and has been part of the Café com Luz (Coffee with Light) programme since 2015 – as a presenter as well as producer. Maurício Curi works professionally as an architect and designer in Brasília.
What has led to the creation of the Café com Luz programme?
I first had the idea after working on a video with friends from the Federal District Spiritist Federation. I thought we could do more to disseminate Spiritism, using videos, television and Internet, which are invaluable resources. In 2013, after recording a video with the well-known Spiritist speaker Haroldo Dutra Dias, we talked about the need to improve the format of Spiritist television programmes to make them more “palatable,” attractive to a wider audience, as Spiritism provides such rich content. Haroldo said it would be a good idea to produce a talk show, in a farm kitchen, by the wood-fired oven, where a host chatted with guests and friends from inside and outside the Spiritist Movement. Anyone committed to enlightening activities in line with the Christian ideals should be welcome. I kept that at the back of my mind until in 2014 I came up with a proposal, which was well received by my friends at FEBtv [the Brazilian Spiritist Federation’s TV channel]. But we could only go ahead with the project in April 2015, during the III Spiritist Congress of the Federal District, when we recorded 12 episodes of the programme in a room assigned to the speakers at the event. From then on we have recorded more than 70 programmes, in six seasons. They are all available on FEBtv’s web pages (1) and on YouTube.
What is the programme’s proposal?
The project’s name – “Café com Luz” (Coffee with Light) – comes from the fact that I like so much sitting down to have an informal chat with good friends. And, of course, that chat must come with good cup of coffee! There is a reference also to the history and routine of so many Brazilians, including our beloved Chico Xavier, who appreciated a friendly, productive chat with friends, drinking a coffee or having a snack, in a plain kitchen or dining area, at the end of the Spiritist activities. Another reference, a symbolic one, is that of Christ, leaning on the table with his disciples sharing the food in a fraternal and warm fashion, as described in many extracts of the New Testament. We wished people could understand that a welcoming Spiritual atmosphere forms around us when our hearts “feast” and we treat the Gospel without sentimentality, proselytising, selfish interests and the cold formality that often surround it. The image of Christ on the cross is in our churches, our homes, our workplaces but it often fails to enter our hearts and is kept away from our daily lives.
What are the main challenges to be overcome?
We believe strongly in the power of each Spirit, their ideal, their strong will to achieve something and their love to the cause. When love is present in our activities we learn to overcome our adversities, the problems in our relationships and material problems with Jesus Christ. I honestly don’t believe that money and material resources are really essential. They are important, but what is essential is the “quantum” of true love involved in the process of production of any noble project. When we really love the task we do, we are persistent but not stubborn. When we really love the work, we will not falter in the face of internal and external adversities that always come up. We will soldier on without playing the victim. When our love for the task becomes possessive (my project, my programme, my idea, my role, my post…), that is not love. That is selfishness and internal conflict. In the words of Emmanuel in “Fonte Viva”, the “Me Curtain” imposes the greatest obstacles to any project, including those aimed at doing good.
Leave us with your final thoughts.
May all our brother and sisters, Spiritists and non-Spiritists, find the joy of working for good causes, something that can be achieved through big as well as small gestures. May our biggest goal become that of learning to love, giving another meaning to our lives in order to reach plenitude, even during a simple chat, having a cup of coffee and sharing our love with our brothers and sisters.
