• About

Reflexões para a vida – Reflections for life

~ Rev. Dr. Honorio Theodoro

Reflexões para a vida   –  Reflections for life

Monthly Archives: August 2015

And if the lawn mower does not work…

09 Sunday Aug 2015

Posted by Rev. Dr. Honorio Theodoro in English Articles - Artigos em Inglês

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

alternative and viable solutions, being persistent, civic duty, dogged pursuer of results, dreams, functional solutions, good life lessons, King Solomon, Murmuring and pessimism, old friendships, old lawn mower, supernatural care of God, sweet scent of nature, Thomas Alva Edison, unresolvable situation, Unsuccessful attempts, weekend task

She is already a middle-aged lady. She needs some repairs and is no longer like she was when she was young. I have thought about replacing her, but it is no use.  She is an old love.  It was a gift from a close friend, whom I admire so much, Dr. Peter Heslin. He gave it to me years ago when he moved to Sydney, Australia. She has accompanied me all these years since.  My old lawn mower has shown signs of fatigue and seems to insist on asking for retirement. I insist on having her with me, not for economic reasons but above all, out of affection.  I like old friendships. I like to take care of old friendships and invest in new ones. So she has endured all these years as my partner in caring for my lawn.  If we do not take care of our lawn, the city government will, and then sends us the bill. Taking good care of our lawn, then, is almost a civic duty. Sure it’s not easy, but I like doing it, unlike most Americans who pay $25-$30 each time that someone mows their lawn. PersistênciaGratification comes at the end of the task when we smell the sweet scent of nature. It is an enjoyable feeling seeing the lawn well manicured, seemingly thankful on the following days, when it shines a very special green, appearing full of life. To prepare the machines and follow an ordered and organized sequence for this weekend task is a very pleasant ritual for me.  Days ago when I was organizing the machines for my weekend ritual, something broke the harmony of my routine. My old lawn mower had suffered a breakdown, as result of a heavy rain that had fallen the previous days.   Probably the rain had drenched vital engine parts. However great were my efforts, I could not make it run. While I was trying to start my lawn mower, my friend Luciano Silveira arrived, along with my son-in-law, Celidio. We three insisted on cranking her up, without success. Finally, Luciano sentenced the end of my old lawn mower, supported by my son-in-law: “Pastor, this one can go to the junk yard.” Still hopeful to see my old partner back up and running, I decided to store it to try another day. When I was placing it in the storage, I decided to make one last attempt, and to my surprise, it started. I cut my grass, and my old partner seems to have much life left in her. My experience that Saturday morning made me think about how important persistence is. Victory may be only one attempt away.  I wondered how many times we give up when we are so close. I have tried to guide my life using some principles that have helped me many times. I am no expert on the subject, so my perceptions on the matter on not based on scientific foundations, but rather anecdotal evidence.  Maybe, they will work for you, too.

1) Unsuccessful attempts should not be counted as losses.  They need to be seen as steps in the process of achievement.  The great men and women of world history did not become relevant just by being geniuses, but above all, by being persistent. Thomas Alva Edison was an inventor who accumulated 2,332 patents worldwide for his inventions.[1]  He improved and systematized the mass production of many inventions. He was a dogged pursuer of results, and always saw his unsuccessful attempts as steps in the path to achievement.  His personal convictions fed his persistence: “Many of life’s failures are experienced by people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”[2]  I have always pursued the principle that the last step is the step of conquest, and not the one of giving up. There will always be another attempt until the goal is reached. The last step should never lead us to giving up. The last step must be the step that puts us on the podium.

2) Murmuring and pessimism compromise the spirit of persistence and postpone achievement. That Saturday when the first attempts to make the lawn mower run signaled that she seemed to have come to an end, I began to murmur. Immediately I remembered a message I had received that morning. A good friend asked me to pray for his missionary trip to San Marcos, TX, where 2000 people had lost their homes due to heavy rains during the week. I felt deeply ashamed to be muttering against something so basic. I murmured just because my old lawn mower was not working, while thousands of people not far from me, were suffering the misfortune of having lost their homes. Most often we murmur about something insignificant while people around us face much greater problems.  Paul encourages us to be thankful in all circumstances: “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”[3]  To give thanks to God for all is to recognize that God is in control of our lives and that He takes care of us all the time.

3) A pause in our attempts allows our brains to work on alternative and viable solutions. Though I cannot cite scientific study, I believe that when we occupy our minds with other things that are not the focus of the problem that we are experiencing, whether we disconnect, sleep, or rest, our minds are working in the background, a kind of unconscious reflection, seeking solutions to the problem. There have been many times that I have put something that I was working on in standby mode.  When I returned to think about it, clear and simple solutions flowed.  Often I have lain down with what appeared to be an unresolvable situation in my mind, and surprisingly upon waking in the morning, the solution came as clearly as the daylight. I like to think that this is related to the statement of wise King Solomon: ” It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep”[4]. It seems to me that most of the gigantic daily challenges of Solomon’s Kingdom were solved because of this extraordinary ability of our minds to work while we sleep. Of course, besides the “overnight” supernatural care of God with us, we can still rely on this awesome power of our minds, created by God. I have a feeling that when we relax and loosen the pressure on our minds, it begins to form and shape things creatively, bringing simple and functional solutions to our challenges. I wonder how many times in life we give up of things that we were on the verge of conquering. The great inventor Thomas Edison was obsessed with trying again. He said, “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”[5]  Giving up is the disastrous way to definitively bury our dreams. Persistence is the only way that leads us to reach them. If you have tried many times, try one time more. Maybe this will be the last and decisive step to achieve your dream. Our day-to-day is full of good life lessons.  We only need to be tuned in to see them. There is always an old lawn mower near us, teaching us great lessons. God bless you!

[1] Accessed on July 4th, 2015, https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison#Inven.C3.A7.C3.B5es

[2] Thomas Edison, Accessed on July 4th, 2015, http://pensador.uol.com.br/autor/thomas_edison/

[3] Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)

[4] King Solomon in Psalm 127: 2 (NKJV)

[5] Accessed on July 4, 2015 (http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/90198-our-greatest-weakness-lies-in-giving-up-the-most-certain)

29.844997 -95.721964

Facebook: será que isso presta?

06 Thursday Aug 2015

Posted by Rev. Dr. Honorio Theodoro in Artigos em Português - Portuguese Articles

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

C. G. Jung, facebook, Lindos pensamentos do Facebook, melhorar o mundo, mudanças, mudar o mundo, mundo pós-internet, rei da rede, virtualidade

O meteórico avanço do mundo virtual nos últimos 30 anos mudou o modus operandi das relações sociais, políticas e até mesmo econômicas do mundo. Os parâmetros que determinavam as relações humanos até os anos 80, tornaram obsoletos e são apenas lembranças históricas de um tempo que já se foi. Hoje o mundo virtual determina as normas. O interessante é que esta nova realidade vivida neste mufacebookndo pós-internet é amoral. Com isso, não estou afirmando que seja imoral, mas que é desprovida de referência de moralidade. A virtualidade pós-internet abriu uma imensa, ágil e eficaz rede de comunicação do mundo com o mundo. Tornou-se um imenso espaço democrático em que todos, praticamente sem exceção, podem expor seus pensamentos e opiniões. O momento agora é do Facebook que com toda certeza passará o pódium de “rei da rede” para outros e outros que virão após ele.

No meio dessa enxurrada de coisas que transita na rede, especialmente no Facebook, podemos garimpar grandes pérolas e conceitos e valores para a
vida. Não é difícil, temos muitas coisas boas circulando na rede. No entanto, algo me incomodo. Parece que a farta exposição dessas coisas boas empanturrou a galera, tornando-nos apenas contempladores e admiradores destas pérolas. Elas apenas nos impressionam, mas não nos impactam a ponto de produzir mudanças.

Estes dias me peguei numa dessas. Repliquei no meu timeline uma interessante frase de C. G. Jung, o famoso psiquiatra suíço que reinventou os pensamentos de Freud, desenvolvendo a psicologia analítica. Dias depois me vi diante de uma situação que me colocava no grupo dos que apenas contemplam bons pensamentos, mas não permitem que eles produzam mudanças.

Em algumas de nossas casas aqui no Texas, os banheiros sociais são compartilhados com dois ambientes. Em geral, um acesso para a sala de estar ou corredor que leva às áreas sociais da casa, e outro acesso geralmente para o escritório, o que é o nosso caso. Acontece que quando usamos o banheiro, temos que trancar a duas portas e é de se esperar que ao terminarmos, destranquemos as duas, permitindo o acesso de ambos os ambientes. Mas nem sempre na prática isso acontece. Quase sempre destrancamos apenas a porta pela qual estamos saindo. Inúmeras vezes que tentei usar o banheiro enquanto trabalhava no escritório, encontrei a porta trancada por dentro, obrigando-me a dar a volta pela porta de acesso da sala de estar. Numa dessas vezes, sentenciei para mim mesmo: vou começar a deixar trancada a porta de acesso da sala também, assim eles aprendem a destrancar a porta de acesso ao escritório.

Dias depois me deparei com a frase de Jung postada no meu Facebook, que me fez refletir: “Tudo que nos irrita nos outros pode nos levar a um entendimento de nós mesmos”.[1] Imediatamente a ficha caiu. Eu estava redondamente equivocado com aquela reação. Não podemos irritar os outros com aquilo que nos irrita, isto não nos leva a lugar algum.

Jung parece expressar em outras palavras o que o Mestre nos ensinou há dois mil anos: “Portanto, tratem as outras pessoas da mesma maneira que gostariam de ser tratados por elas. Este é o real significado da lei de Moisés e do ensino dos profetas”[2]

É tão simples e direto o ensino de Jesus. O mundo seria outro se vivêssemos este princípio. Eu e você não podemos mudar o mundo, mas podemos melhorar o mundo que orbita ao redor de nós. Antes de reagir, fazer e falar, pergunte-se “é isso que eu gostaria que fizessem comigo?”

Por fim, quando você curtir, replicar, ou compartilhar um lindo pensamento no seu Facebook, pergunte-se: “como isso impactará e mudará a minha maneira de ser. Talvez essa nossa atitude fará do Facebook um instrumento de boas e agradáveis mudanças nas nossas vidas. Que Deus te abençoe!

            [1] Acessado em 6 de agosto de 2015 às 9:45am, http://pensador.uol.com.br/frase/NDMxMzk/

            [2] Evangelho de Mateus 7:12 (VFL)

29.760427 -95.369803

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • January 2021
  • October 2020
  • August 2020
  • April 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • December 2017
  • October 2017
  • July 2017
  • October 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015

Categories

  • Artigos em Português – Portuguese Articles
  • English Articles – Artigos em Inglês
  • Igreja e seus assuntos – Church and its issues
  • Lições da VIda
  • Lições da Vida – Life's teachings

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×