Our daily cross
 

Besides the many meanings that features such as the cross on which Jesus was nailed, the word cross is also used by extension to denote grief, shame, misfortune. It is in this sense that it says: "Mary carries a heavy cross."

On a planet like Earth, it is obvious that almost all people, with the exceptions of habit, come to corporeal existence carrying a particular cross, which can be light or heavy, but it surely is proportional to its strength.

Remarking a particular Gospel passage, Kardec wrote:

"Lift up your hearts, Jesus says, when men shall hate you, and persecute you for my sake, since you will be rewarded in heaven." May well translate these truths: "Consider yourselves blissful when there are men who, by their unwillingness to you, you deem the occasion to prove the sincerity of your faith, because the evil that you do redound to your advantage - Wail their blindness, but not curse".
Then he adds: "Take up your own cross who wants to follow me," that is, endure bravely the tribulations that your faith leads you, as one that would save life and possessions, renouncing to me, it will lose the advantages the kingdom of heaven, while there are those who lost everything in this world, even life, for truth to triumph, it will receive in the future life, the prize of courage, perseverance and selflessness that gave proof. But those who sacrifice the heavenly things to earthly pleasures, God will say: "You have received your reward". (The Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter XXIV, item 19) (We accentuated.)

Once, a lady sought Chico Xavier, carrying a child on her lap. She said: "Chico, my son was born deaf, blind and without arms. Now he is sick and he needs to amputate both legs to be saved. Why is all that?". Chico, staring that suffered woman answered her, "My child, Emmanuel here tells me that in the last ten incarnations that being killed himself and asked, before being reborn in this present existence, which were withdrawn from him the possibility of another tragedy. However, as now, though blind, deaf and without arms, still looking for a place as a cliff, river, avenue to kill himself... there just cutting the legs, isn’t it?".

How to analyze such hard evidence? The suffering of the child, the anguish of the mother, a cruel fate that presents are justified in the face of a greater good, which is the salvation of a soul, the recovery of a being that got complicated in the past, however, it deserves the indulgence of the Father and a second chance.

It examined the fact under the materialist perspective, it is clear that, events like this are considered entirely without purpose. Although we are spiritualists and we must necessarily look at life with a wider and deeper sense, since the body is temporary, but the soul lives forever.

From many stories told by Humberto de Campos, we remember the case of a poor widow who, crowded with acerbic sufferings, appealed to God in order to modify the voluminous of her cross in her existence. Everything had failed in her fantasies of love, home and happiness.

- Lord, she said, why did you give me such a heavy cross? Draw from my weak shoulders this unbearable tree!

At night, steeped in the soft wings of sleep, the soul of the woman was conducted at a glittering palace. An emissary of the Lord greeted her in the porch, with his blessing. A bright and big room was assigned to her. All of it was filled with crosses. It was seen crosses of all shapes and sizes.

- Here - he told her - keep up all the crosses that embodied souls carry in the sad face of the world. Each of these timbers bears the name of its possessor. Given, however, to thy supplication, that God ordains choices here a cross lighter than yours.

The woman though surprised, examined the crosses present and, after some time, conscientiously chose the one whose weight corresponded to her possibilities. However, when it was presented to the Spiritual Messenger, she found that it was chosen the cross-which engraved her own name, then recognizing her impertinence and rebellion.

- Go – said to her the Emissary of the Lord - with thy cross and do not decry! God, in His merciful justice, could not macerate your shoulders with a higher weight to your strength.