“The storm… took my home away.

The night…my sight.

The rain…my clouds.

The winter…my heart.

Without a home…land… or property.

Without a heart…a life…or horizon.

I looked up at the sky…and the stars guided me.

The oasis was near.

The sky…turned golden.

The river…calmed itself in the sea.

Flowers…in the sand of the desert.

After nightfall;

The day always comes…supreme.”

How can we be strong in the face of so many life adversities?

How can we keep the strength and energy before so many harsh obstacles?

What does it mean “to be strong”?

To be strong is to love someone in silence;

It is to radiate happiness when you are unhappy;

It is to try to forgive someone who doesn’t deserve forgiveness.

To be strong is to wait when you don’t believe it will be returned;

It is to stay calm at desperate moments;

It is to demonstrate happiness when you don’t feel it.

To be strong is to smile when you want to cry;

It is to make someone happy when your heart is torn in pieces;

It is to remain quiet when you want to shout away your distress.

To be strong is to be certain that everything passes - sometimes, faster than we think;

It is to suffer, often in silence, trying not to spread suffering to those around us;

It is to stand pain, always learning from it.

To be strong is to have honesty as a principle and flag- no matter what happens;

It is to speak the truth with psychology and delicacy, concerned about how the other will take it;

It is to acknowledge the mistakes and say “I was wrong” and then say “I’ll make it right.”

To be strong is to have the courage to be different, and not to surrender to the materialistic appeal of the world;

It is to have courage to come across as a coward, avoiding any type of aggression or revenge;

It is to offer the face of love to those who strike you with their ignorance.

To be strong is to find a compliment when you feel like cursing;

To be strong is to console when you need consolation;

This is what the true strength is all about…

These are the tracks offered by life to support us in our journey…

This is the way to resist dejection, despair and disbelief: to love life, and to be strong.

Text written by the Spiritist Moment Team, based on the poem Nascer do Sol, extracted from the book Pérola, by Bárbara Brasileiro, edited by the author; and text by anonymous author. Translated by P.H.Medeiros.