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Spirituality

True Citizenship Starts in Heaven

Source: A Reflection of Goodwill taken from the book “Jesus e a Cidadania do Espírito” [Jesus and the Citizenship of the Spirit], October 2019.

Most times, peoples and their countries have skillfully succeeded in subsisting despite the lack of education, the lack of charity, famine, pestilence, or wars. And that is a result of the Immortal Spirit that inhabits all citizens, whether they are aware of it or not. It is crucial that we understand that true citizenship starts in Heaven, from where we originally came, since there is Life before life.

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The Holy Gospel of Jesus reveals, as in John 1:1 to 5: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made: Jesus Christ. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all humankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Tela: Ivan Aivazovsky (1817-1900)

That divine beginning is reflected in the concern and in the respect that spiritual traditions have towards the celestial existence, which precedes and goes beyond matter.

José de Paiva Netto is a writer, journalist, radio broadcaster, composer, and poet. He is the President of the Legion of Good Will (LGW), effective member of the Brazilian Press Association (ABI) and of the Brazilian International Press Association (ABI-Inter). Affiliated to the National Federation of Journalists (FENAJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Union of Professional Journalists of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the Union of Writers of Rio de Janeiro, the Union of Radio Broadcasters of Rio de Janeiro, and the Brazilian Union of Composers (UBC). He is also a member of the Academy of Letters of Central Brazil. He is an author of international reference in the concept and defense of the cause of Ecumenical Citizenship and Spirituality which, according to him, constitute “the cradle of the most generous values that are born of the Soul, the dwelling of the emotions and of the reasoning enlightened by intuition, the atmosphere that embraces everything that transcends the ordinary field of matter and comes from the elevated human sensitivity, such as Truth, Justice, Mercy, Ethics, Honesty, Generosity, and Fraternal Love.”