Pelé or Garrincha? Bandeira or Drummond? Independance or death? It’s a hard choicetomake!
Romário or Maradona? Mozart or Bach? Pink or blue? Do I really have to choose?!
Ah! The bride’s uncertainty on the eve of the wedding! Ah! The anguish of the young man on the eve of his priestly ordination! Why must we suffer so much in order to take a step in our lives?
It would be much more comfortable if somekind of fate just draggedus along every step the way, giving us the right or the excuse to justify our mistakes and madness: it was Fate who made it so…
It would be so much easier if a beam of pure animal instinct would orientate our behavior. This is exactly why they are looking for genes that determine our gestures and attitudes. The gene of jealousy, a laziness gene, the lust gene—ah! How practical it would be to live as geneticslaves!
Even our literature is full of texts that speak of the human heart which hangs in the balance between two desires (after all, man is a being of desires …). For example, our arcade poet AlvarengaPeixoto, 1744-1793, produced the sonnet “Estela and Nize“:
I saw Bela Estela, and lover
I made the eternal vow to pursue her;
but then I saw Nize, and found her so fair
and equally deserving of my care
Which shall I choose, if in this state
I cannot distinguish Nize from Estela?
If Nize comes here, I die for her;
If Estela comes now, I will be set ablaze
But, ah! That she despises me as lover,
for knowing that I am bound in other arms
and does not want me inconstant.
Come, Cupid, unbind me from these strings;
or make of two semblances one,
or divide my chest in two pieces!
***
The burden that weighs on our shoulders is the magnificent gift of freedom. The Creator did not want automatons, cyborgs, first gradeperformers that respond to His touch, like a lamp switch. The agony of Jesus in Gethsemane elevated its apex to the facility of choice; when he sweats blood and water, but says yesto the Father and gives his life for our salvation.
Notable was the observation of Victor Frankl on the Nazi concentration camps: “Even in a situation of extreme barbarism, men remain free to be either pigs or Saints!”
Even now in the 21st century, human society exhibits the procession of men and women in divided parties, neurotic, unknowing of the better choice in the lit showcase of today’s Market. Violence or peace? Luxury or sobriety? Hate or love? Selfishness or solidarity? Domination or sharing?
Each one of us must make our choice. Freedom of choice is what makes our Creator and us alike…
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