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Who I am is not how I am.

Any text or word is sacred if they are powerful enough to lighten the way. Of the many books that serve as a flashlight to guide us in this infinite and fantastic voyage, the Bible remains an inexhaustible source of wisdom and love, indispensable elements for our personal transmutation. Thus, little by little, we change the world.

In many passages of the four books, the evangelists say that Jesus, whenever he entered any home or building, composedly greeted everyone with the expression “may peace be with you”!

For some time, I believed the translation was wrong, considering that the Holy Scripture was originally written in Aramaic, then translated into Greek and only later translated into other languages. We all know how difficult it is to translate from one language into another. I thought the expression should have the time marked[1]. “May peace be with you now” seemed to me and many others to be the right expression, as I have read texts and heard priests using it. I was wrong.

I believe there is no mistake, or lack or excess of words in those pages, in view of the bright inspiration of the many writers whose texts were collected in a single book, a timeless and unprecedented editorial success for the good of mankind.

Jesus was a craftsman of words, and laid out his speeches and parables with such a wealth that new and beautiful interpretations are made to date, according to the new ways of people. I have no question that “may peace be with you” (without the adverb “now”) is the right and wisest translation.

We all long for heaven, a place where suffering is not known and happiness is plentiful. When asked where such a sanctuary could be found, He taught that we would not find it in any province or country, because we will carry our grief with us wherever we go, or, at least, as long as we allow it to exist. He explained that love and wisdom are the map and compass that point to the most beautiful cathedral of all, pulsating alive inside you. Life is treatment and healing. It is the divine living in you.

The Kingdom of Heaven is in the core of your heart. Its bricks are made of the essential peace to cross the long road of life mixed with the joy and composure that color the beauty that exists in everything and everyone. Including ourselves.

Peace is individual, and can be shared with no effort by those who have reached it; it is developed internally, in the core of our soul, using the engineering of understanding and tolerance.

The Portuguese verb “Estar” (to be – transient) is much different than “ser” (to be – permanent). Much different.

“Estar” is a station, “ser” is the trip itself.

“Estar” is transient, a passing moment that occurs by chance of an occasional situation, and, therefore, is frail.  “Ser” is a permanent condition, developed from experiences and perceptions that, for being bright, are unassailable and become incorporated in the way you look and act. Wisdom woven with love, cemented by itself like a cathedral that is constructed by stone over stone, which the fiercest storm cannot destroy because of the solidity of its foundation. It is an immaterial wealth that no king or judge will be able to seize, or a thief to steal. It is the infinite part of your soul, a real and eternal treasure. It will be with you wherever you go.

“Ser” is much more than “estar”.

“May the peace be with you” is a fine blessing, and priceless teaching of the Master.

 

[1] In Portuguse (and other Romanic languages) there are two forms for the verb “to be”: ser (Portuguese/Spanish), essere (Italian) meaning a permanent trait or feature, and estar (Portuguese/Spanish), stare (Italian) for transient conditions.

Translated from the Portuguese by Carlos André Oighenstein.

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