If somebody told you that your city was going to be destroyed in a matter of hours, you certainly would try to get away as fast as possible. What would you take with you?

        When Cyrus the Great and his soldiers were about to invade the city of Priene, in Ionia, the population was preparing to run away.

        Men and women, young and old, all running around, trying to save whatever was most precious to them.

        Only one man kept his serenity. It was Bias, the philosopher, famous for his knowledge of culture, moral and virtue.

        He was considered one of the seven sages of Greece, so great was his integrity.

        Watching him, so calm and serene, people worried and asked if he would not gather his belongings to what he answered with serenity: I have everything with me.

        That noble citizen had with him the most precious virtues: integrity, intelligence and righteousness, qualities that nobody could take away from him.

        These same values allowed him to be above those restless moments and to be indifferent to the worries about ephemeral material goods.

        No doubt, only people who have such virtues and cultivate their faith in God can keep calm when facing these situations, no matter how serious they are.

        Let us suppose we got news of a nuclear war, capable of annihilating the human race. Most of us would be lost in despair, and chaos would be established in a short period of time.

        Only the ones who have built imperishable values in his or her own intimacy would be capable of keeping calm.

        These ones would be certain of the Divine Providence and the soul’s survival. Logic and reason would convince them that, even if everything around was destroyed, we would still live, as we are immortals.

        They would be sure that God would not abandon them. If there were no conditions of life on Earth, our Lord would give us another place to live, as in His house, which is the infinite Universe, there are many dwellings.

* * *

        Fear, insecurity and the desire of material things have been responsible for despair and depression for many creatures.

        Insecurity, daughter of lack of faith, generates a kind of anxiety that easily leads to depression, killing any hope left.

        The unbalanced desire of possessions is a component of the birth and the perpetuation of violence and despair.

        Our frantic day-by-day, material hardships, moral afflictions, family or social conflicts, all these difficulties will only be surmounted with tranquillity by those who cultivate inner peace.

        These people, and only them, are the ones who will keep calm when facing any sort of situations, regardless of how serious it is. Just like the philosopher Bias, they will say: I have everything with me.

        This state of mind is the one that Jesus meant when He said there are treasures that no moth will eat, no rust will destroy and no thief can steal. They are eternal, indestructible treasures.

* * *

        You are a human being created for eternity. You are like a flame that will never burn out.

        Try to cultivate the virtues that will liberate you from your own misery and from human inferiority.

        In addition, remember: You are God’s heir. The Universe is yours.

        To conquer it you just have to do what you are supposed to do in this place called Earth, which is like a grain of sand, comparing to the Infinite.

        That is why it is worth starting to cultivate moral treasures right now, treasures that will allow us to take the final flight towards the great light, towards the mountaintop, where happiness already is.

        Think about it!

Spiritist Moment Team, based on the chapter
Depressão, from the book: Temas de hoje,
problemas de sempre, by Richard Simonetti,
Publishing House:  Boa Nova.
March 31 2008.