Zilda Arns, a life dedicated
to others
 

The heart-breaking earthquake that affected Haiti last 12th, causing massive destruction and thousands of deaths, also took our dear Zilda Arns back to the spiritual nation. Zilda, nominated three times to the Nobel Prize in Peace, dedicated her life to others. This notable woman, sister of Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns and born in 1934, integrates the team of active sowers of Christ in the planet: a life dedicated to education, assistance to children, pregnant women and elderly people. She died in the cause she has always believed, said Cardinal Arns.

As many people know, Zilda Arns, pediatrician and sanitarian doctor, was the founder and director of the Children’s Pastoral and the Pastoral Care of the Elderly, Social Work NGO of the Catholic Church. The Pastoral estimates that around 2 million children and over 80 thousand pregnant women are assisted every month by the entity with basic actions within the areas of health, nutrition, education and citizenship. Is it necessary to speak more about the importance of her work?

This fertile activity of good, usually in favor of the needy population of any kind, such as abandoned and malnourished children, needy pregnant women as well as elderly people or even marginalized ones, is the great mark of the sowers of Christ, who are inspired by Jesus’ examples, despite the human weakness and limitations. They don’t waste time with disputes, complains, excuses, charges or difficulties. They simply work. They work because they recognize the difficulties waiting for a human decision, work because they trust in the goodness, and because the Master of the Humankind expects our decision to love the neighbor.

We shall remember that. The same behavior was adopted by Gandhi, Sister Dulce (or Irmã Dulce, Brazilian Catholic nun), Mother Teresa, Chico Xavier (Brazilian medium) and other valuable personalities of the History of Humankind during their passage through the planet, although many individuals remain anonymous, unknown or even, and usually, misunderstood and marginalized. Each one has its own level of development and responsibility, but all of them are dignifying the human condition.

There is, however, in this and other similar tragedies that have occurred in the world, a detail that shouldn’t be forgotten: we’re all immortals. Regardless if through earthquakes, diseases, accidents, aging or other causes, we must all return to our primary condition: immortal beings. Therefore, Zilda will carry on her faithful and productive effort for the goodness in spite of the destroyed physical body, as many ones do, although invisible to the limited human eyes.  The body isn’t the soul; the body is a mere temporary instrument. The soul was already alive before incarnating and keeps living after desincarnating, because it’s immortal.

In the case of Zilda Arns, it’s not the death that will stop her love and dedication to the cause of the goodness. It will neither affect her faith, trust in God, determination nor perseverance for the ideals she embraced. The death has only transferred her to another sphere, but the relations of tune and care continue. And, for us, the example of solidarity and humanity remains. The example of a great soul, who has also departed while working and leaving the mark of the goodness with her bright steps.

Regarding the earthquake, it keeps the challenge of trying to figure out: Why? How to conciliate the goodness and the greatness of the Creator before so much violence and suffering?

Apparently, such facts are incompatible with the goodness of the Father, making us to understand by force that they have to do with a previous cause that determines those events, whose logical explanations we can find in the plurality of existences, one of the principles of the Spiritist Doctrine.

The subject is very vast, though, and it needs to be researched, studied, to be entirely understood. Because of that, we initially suggest the reader to study the theme in The Spirit’s Book, especially the questions 737 to 741, which are related to the questions 166 to 171 and 222, among others.