Feelings, as qualities of all created beings - humans among them - are the spiritual richness of their owners.
One of them, Friendship, a kind of Love, is an invisible bond bringing closer and uniting two or more creatures.
It seems, sometimes, the result of two souls meeting again, so big and intense it is as it happens, in a short period.
Some other times, it buds - shy as coming out of an awaken seed - and, slowly, it grows to become a leafy tree.
The sure thing is that it is not compulsory, not even between the ones united by blood, much less to the ones that only live together for duty or social reasons.
As the gardener knows the secret of the seed and takes care of it, with patience and zeal, candidates to Friends must care about the aim of their feelings.
Not even the strongest and most powerful blood link - the one between a Son and his Mother - brings within itself, necessarily, the treasure of Friendship. It must be, always, conquered, worked for, deserved. So, as much as we dedicate our time and care to the ones we want to love as Friends, we should extend the same care to our Parents, Children and Brothers, if we intend to live in their hearts, if we want them to live in ours.
Friendship between two beings is born in the forge of Virtues: Loyalty, Goodness, Solidarity and others. It will be as strong and beautiful as the quality of the material taken to the fire of familiarity ant to the skill and perseverance of their forgers.
As it it immaterial, it shall not perish, unless it is left without care. Those who know how to keep it alive will see it grow, life after life, and will find Comfort, Peace and Joy in it.
Barcelona, 11 September 2004.
This is my Web Page where I will show my ideas, sharing them with the readers. In the beginning, visitors will find some poems from two of my books: "Viver, Ato Poético" (Living, a Poetical Act) and "Birds and Borders", the last one written in partnership with Iqbal Athar. Some of his beautiful poems can also be found here as well as the full text of my last book, “The Apprentice”, dedicated to my Son, written in Portuguese and English by me and translated to Spanish by Mrs. Montserrat Mira.
Once a week I intend to add a new text in this space and, from now on, I will keep improving the site and its contents.
Internet offers to human beings the extraordinary opportunity of instant communication, a huge source of information about all known subjects, memory of the past, analysis of the present, insights of the future. It is, the more new days pass by, an indispensable tool for individual and collective growth.
No technological innovation, no new human knowledge offers only rights and pleasures to Man. It imposes also duties, responsibilities on us. I will do my best to use the wonderful resources of the internet to contribute – as much as I can l- to the discussion of Ideas, to the intellectual enrichment of people, to our cultural improvement. May God help me to do so.
Barcelona, Spain, 5 September 2004.