{"id":20413,"date":"2023-12-19T19:00:24","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T22:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/retro.piorevangelho.online\/?p=20413"},"modified":"2023-12-19T19:00:24","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T22:00:24","slug":"the-illusory-beauty-of-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/a-ilusoria-beleza-do-mundo\/","title":{"rendered":"The Illusory Beauty of the World"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Mike, let me tell you something.
The whole world is a circus if you know how to look at it.
The way the sun sets when you're tired, and rises when you want to be in motion... that's true magic!
The way a leaf grows, the birdsong\u2026 the appearance of the desert at night, with the moon embracing it.
Oh, my boy, that's... that's enough circus for anyone.
Every time you see a rainbow and feel wonder in your heart.
Every time you pick up a handful of powder and see not just powder, but a mystery, a wonder, right there in your hand.
Every time you stop and think, 'I'm alive, and being alive is fantastic!'\u2018
Every time this happens, you become part of Dr. Lao's Circus.<\/em><\/p>\nExcerpt from the film "The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao" (1964)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The advice above, repeated more than once in the classic film:\u201cThe 7 faces of Dr. Lao<\/a>\u201d", from 1964, is an invitation to reflect on existence.".
Set in the Wild West era, in a fictional small town called Abalone, in the American state of Arizona, the film tells the story of a mysterious Chinese man, played by Tony Randall, who presents himself as the owner of a circus that will be staying in the small community for two days.
The place, although seemingly peaceful, is not what it appears to be at first glance, being dominated by a wealthy farmer who wants the city to depreciate due to water supply problems, in order to buy it entirely and resell it after the already scheduled construction of a railway, which will greatly increase its value.
Dr. Lao, through his presentations and supernatural feats, ends up completely changing the prevailing mentality of the place, showing the inhabitants themselves represented in the scenes he presents, which initially enchants them, but ends up terrifying them by showing the staged location being destroyed by the very greed of its inhabitants.
All of this makes life in that place different from then on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boy Mike, played in the film by Kevin Tate, is the son of a widowed librarian and teacher, played by Barbara Eden (famous for starring in the series "I Dream of Jeannie"). Enchanted by the circus, he wants to join Dr. Lao, who gives him the advice described above, which is repeated in the final scene when he leaves the town.
The film's message, showing that Dr. Lao's circus is nothing more than life itself, and that everything in it can be wonderful, depending on the point of view, can be truly beautiful and moving, but the reality is that things don't work quite that way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The child actor who played Mike in the story, Kevin Tate, although he had a promising career, abandoned acting in 1973 at the age of 19 for reasons that were never clarified, and simply disappeared from the public eye. There is no information about what became of him until 1999, when he died, a week before his 45th birthday, from undisclosed causes.
He died even before the protagonist Tony Randall, who lived until 2004, passing away at the age of 84.
Barbara Eden, for her part, is a victim of one of the worst pains a human being can experience, having lost her only son \u2014 also an actor, Matthew Ansara \u2014 to an overdose in 2001, when he was only 35 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we can see, the lives of many of the film's actors themselves show that the message is not something one can cling to in order to give meaning and beauty to existence: it only helps up to a certain point, and often it cannot help to alleviate the pain and anguish that everyone faces in life.
No one, for example, will remember the beauty of existence when losing a loved one or when facing their own death.
Unlike the fleeting comfort and beauty that a film, however beautiful and moving, can bring, there is a comfort and beauty that are not ephemeral: those that Christ grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the sad (but hopeful) narrative of Genesis 3<\/mark><\/strong>, When humanity fell and was contaminated by sin, and consequently, God's creation was distorted, human life became a constant battle for survival, a struggle whose defeat was predetermined by God when He stated:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken;
For you are dust, and to dust you shall return!<\/p>\n(Genesis 3:19 \u2013 KJA)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In other words: no matter how hard a human being strives, takes care of their health, achieves their goals and fulfills their dreams, inevitably the moment will come when their life in this world will end, just like several of the actors in the film, some prematurely and even tragically.
There is no immortality where there is sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord!<\/p>\n(Romans 6:23 \u2013 KJA)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

However, as has been said, within this same narrative of the greatest misfortune that has ever befallen human history\u2014the disobedience of our first parents, condemning all to separation from God and to death, both temporal and eternal\u2014there also lies the greatest hope:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers;
For he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.<\/p>\n(Genesis 3:15 \u2013 KJA)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Amidst the chaos, pain, and sorrow that sin would bring to the world, God, in his mercy, had already announced the plan of human redemption, which would have a high price, but which would be paid by Himself, in the person of his Son, punished in the place of fallen humanity.
Such a work would reconcile humanity with the Creator and, in due time, restore to humankind a divine glory and image indescribably more glorious than those from which it had fallen.
Such eternal glory is too incomprehensible to be expressed in words: Paul was taken alive to paradise and stated that it was impossible to describe what he saw (check 2\u207f\u1d48 Corinthians 12:1-6<\/mark><\/strong>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in eternity\u2014unlike the merely momentary comfort that a film, however beautiful, can bring\u2014there is no more sadness, pain, or death, because \u201cthe former things have passed away\u201d (see Revelation 21:4<\/mark><\/strong>).
The old order will have passed away when all is fulfilled because sin, which is what brings about all this misfortune, will no longer exist in the New Jerusalem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb\u2019s Book of Life!<\/p>\n(Revelation 21:27 \u2013 KJV)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the original paradise, there was the possibility of sin, which unfortunately ended up becoming a reality, limiting the happiness of unregenerate human beings to earthly life and fleeting things like those depicted in the film.
In other words, paradise, though perfect, was not immune to being lost.
The same will not happen in the New Jerusalem, and there will be no possibility of a new fall into sin: perfection will be eternal, without any unpleasant sensation or pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike what may seem beautiful to those who only pay attention to what can be perceived with the senses, there will no longer be a need for struggles, sacrifices, or pain to obtain fleeting crumbs of reward and beauty, like those that Dr. Lao offered to little Mike.
However good the character's intentions may have been\u2014and like any human being\u2014he was limited by sin and had nothing more to offer.
However, there is one who can and does offer an infinite reward to all who trust in Him: the Savior Jesus Christ. May He be the motivation for us to move forward, even amidst the sorrows of earthly life, which, only for those who trust in Him, will not be eternal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Bonds of Calvary<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>

Eduardo Pydd Teixeira<\/p>

<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

ORIGINAL TITLE<\/mark>The Ephemeral and the Eternal Beauty<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

I admit that since a month ago, when I took a Insurance scam<\/a>, I only take care of my health because it's extremely uncomfortable to remain living in this world and, on top of that, enduring unnecessary illnesses and pain.
Indeed, knowing that all the courts of this nation have been occupied by servants of Satan\u2014whether with beautiful hair or dinosaurs\u2014is something that only excites criminals, but even that is just another example. indication<\/a> That the end times are rapidly unfolding, and before the Lord returns like a thief in the night, the prophesied reign of the Antichrist must be consolidated not only in Brazil, but throughout the world!
In the 2023 phase of "The Worst Gospel," I decided to use new formats in the hope of helping to increase the reach of content related to the Scriptures\u2014stories, videos, shorter texts, guest authors\u2026\u2014and this publication, which I took the liberty of revising and illustrating, is part of that project.
Thank you for reading this far.
I still need all the help I can get: comments, shares, and reactions help spread this content, which was entirely produced with the intention of contributing to the edification of the Body of Christ in the world.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mike, deixe-me dizer uma coisa.O mundo inteiro \u00e9 um circo se voc\u00ea souber olhar para ele.A forma como o sol se p\u00f5e quando voc\u00ea est\u00e1 cansado, surge quando voc\u00ea quer estar em movimento\u2026 isso \u00e9 magia de verdade!A maneira como uma folha cresce, o canto dos p\u00e1ssaros\u2026 a apar\u00eancia do deserto \u00e0 noite, com a lua o abra\u00e7ando.Oh, meu rapaz, isso \u00e9\u2026 isso \u00e9 circo suficiente para qualquer um.Cada vez que voc\u00ea observa um arco-\u00edris e sente admira\u00e7\u00e3o em seu cora\u00e7\u00e3o.Cada vez que voc\u00ea pega um punhado de p\u00f3 e v\u00ea n\u00e3o o p\u00f3, mas um mist\u00e9rio, uma maravilha, ali na sua m\u00e3o.Cada vez que voc\u00ea para e pensa: \u2018Estou vivo, e estar vivo \u00e9 fant\u00e1stico!\u2019Cada vez que isso acontece, voc\u00ea faz parte do Circo do Dr. Lao Trecho do filme “As 7 Faces do Dr. Lao” (1964) O conselho acima, repetido por mais de uma vez no cl\u00e1ssico filme: \u201cAs 7 faces do dr. Lao\u201d, de 1964, \u00e9 um convite \u00e0 reflex\u00e3o sobre a exist\u00eancia.Ambientado nos tempos do Faroeste, em uma fict\u00edcia pequena cidade chamada Abalone, no estado americano do Arizona, o filme narra a hist\u00f3ria de um misterioso chin\u00eas, vivido por Tony Randall, que se apresenta como o dono de um circo que ficaria por dois dias na pequena comunidade.O local, embora aparentemente tranquilo, n\u00e3o \u00e9 o que se mostra \u00e0 primeira vista, sendo dominado por um rico fazendeiro que deseja a desvaloriza\u00e7\u00e3o da cidade por problemas de abastecimento de \u00e1gua, a fim de compr\u00e1-la por inteiro e revend\u00ea-la ap\u00f3s a constru\u00e7\u00e3o j\u00e1 agendada de uma ferrovia, o que a valorizar\u00e1 muito.O dr. Lao, por meio de suas apresenta\u00e7\u00f5es e feitos sobrenaturais, acaba por mudar totalmente a mentalidade reinante no local, mostrando os pr\u00f3prios habitantes representados nas cenas que apresenta, o que os encanta a princ\u00edpio, mas acaba por aterroriz\u00e1-los ao mostrar o local encenado sendo destru\u00eddo pela pr\u00f3pria gan\u00e2ncia de seus habitantes.Tudo isso faz com que a vida no local seja diferente dali em diante. O garoto Mike, vivido no filme por Kevin Tate, \u00e9 filho de uma bibliotec\u00e1ria e professora vi\u00fava, interpretada por Barbara Eden (famosa por protagonizar o seriado \u201cJeannie \u00e9 um G\u00eanio\u201d), encantado com o circo, deseja juntar-se ao dr. Lao, que lhe d\u00e1 o conselho exposto acima, que acaba por ser repetido na cena final, quando vai embora da localidade.A mensagem do filme, mostrando que o circo do dr. Lao nada mais \u00e9 do que a pr\u00f3pria vida, e que tudo nela pode ser maravilhoso, dependendo do ponto de vista, pode ser realmente bela e comovente, mas a realidade \u00e9 que as coisas n\u00e3o funcionam bem assim. O ator mirim que interpretou Mike na hist\u00f3ria, Kevin Tate, embora tivesse uma carreira promissora, abandonou a atua\u00e7\u00e3o em 1973, aos 19 anos por motivos nunca esclarecidos, e simplesmente desapareceu dos olhos do p\u00fablico, n\u00e3o se tendo qualquer informa\u00e7\u00e3o sobre o que foi feito dele at\u00e9 1999, quando morreu, a uma semana de completar 45 anos, de causas n\u00e3o divulgadas.Ele morreu antes mesmo do protagonista Tony Randall, que viveu at\u00e9 2004, partindo aos 84 anos.Barbara Eden, por sua vez, \u00e9 v\u00edtima de uma das piores dores de um ser humano ao perder seu \u00fanico filho \u2014 o tamb\u00e9m ator Matthew Ansara \u2014 v\u00edtima de uma overdose, em 2001, quando tinha apenas 35 anos. Como se v\u00ea, a vida de muitos dos pr\u00f3prios atores do filme mostra que a mensagem n\u00e3o \u00e9 algo a que se possa apegar para dar sentido e beleza \u00e0 exist\u00eancia: ela s\u00f3 ajuda at\u00e9 certo ponto, e muitas vezes n\u00e3o tem como ajudar a mitigar dores e ang\u00fastias que todos enfrentam na vida.Ningu\u00e9m, por exemplo, vai se lembrar da beleza da exist\u00eancia ao perder um ente querido ou na hora de encarar a pr\u00f3pria morte.Diferente do consolo e da beleza apenas passageiros que um filme, por mais belo e comovente que seja, possa trazer, existe um consolo e uma beleza que n\u00e3o s\u00e3o ef\u00eameros: os que Cristo concede. Desde a triste (por\u00e9m esperan\u00e7osa) narrativa de G\u00eanesis 3, quando o ser humano caiu e foi contaminado pelo pecado e, consequentemente, a cria\u00e7\u00e3o divina distorcida, a vida humana passou a ser uma constante batalha pela sobreviv\u00eancia, luta cuja derrota j\u00e1 foi previamente determinada por Deus ao afirmar: Com o suor do teu rosto comer\u00e1s o teu p\u00e3o, at\u00e9 que voltes ao solo, pois da terra foste formado;porque tu \u00e9s p\u00f3 e ao p\u00f3 da terra retornar\u00e1s! (G\u00eanesis 3:19 – KJA) Em outras palavras: por mais que o ser humano se esforce, cuide de sua sa\u00fade, por mais que conquiste seus objetivos e realize seus sonhos, inevitavelmente chegar\u00e1 ao momento em que ter\u00e1 sua vida neste mundo encerrada, tal como v\u00e1rios dos atores do filme, alguns de forma precoce e at\u00e9 tr\u00e1gica.N\u00e3o h\u00e1 imortalidade onde h\u00e1 pecado: Porque o sal\u00e1rio do pecado \u00e9 a morte, mas o dom gratuito de Deus \u00e9 a vida eterna por interm\u00e9dio de Cristo Jesus, nosso Senhor! (Romanos 6:23 – KJA) Por\u00e9m, como foi dito, nesta mesma narrativa da maior desgra\u00e7a que j\u00e1 aconteceu na hist\u00f3ria da humanidade, a desobedi\u00eancia de nossos primeiros pais, condenando todos ao afastamento de Deus e \u00e0 morte, temporal e eterna, existe tamb\u00e9m a maior das esperan\u00e7as: Estabelecerei inimizade entre ti e a mulher, entre a tua descend\u00eancia e o descendente dela;porquanto, este te ferir\u00e1 a cabe\u00e7a, e tu lhe picar\u00e1s o calcanhar. (G\u00eanesis 3:15 – KJA) Em meio ao caos, \u00e0 dor e \u00e0 tristeza que o pecado traria ao mundo, Deus, em sua miseric\u00f3rdia, j\u00e1 anunciou o plano da reden\u00e7\u00e3o humana, que teria um alto pre\u00e7o, mas que seria pago por Ele pr\u00f3prio, na pessoa de seu Filho, punido no lugar do ser humano deca\u00eddo.Tal obra reconciliaria a humanidade com o Criador e, a seu tempo, devolveria ao ser humano uma gl\u00f3ria e uma imagem divinas indescritivelmente mais gloriosas do que aquelas das quais havia deca\u00eddo.Tal gl\u00f3ria eterna \u00e9 por demais incompreens\u00edvel para que possa ser expressa em palavras: Paulo foi levado vivo ao para\u00edso e afirmou que n\u00e3o era poss\u00edvel descrever<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[464],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-apologetica"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":464,"label":"Apolog\u00e9tica"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/belodestino-1024x576.jpg",800,450,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Eduardo Pydd Teixeira","author_link":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/author\/eduardo-pydd\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":464,"name":"Apolog\u00e9tica","slug":"apologetica","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":464,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":96,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":464,"category_count":96,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Apolog\u00e9tica","category_nicename":"apologetica","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/belodestino.jpg",1920,1080,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/belodestino-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/belodestino-300x169.jpg",300,169,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/belodestino-768x432.jpg",768,432,true],"large":["https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/belodestino-1024x576.jpg",800,450,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/belodestino-1536x864.jpg",1536,864,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/belodestino.jpg",1920,1080,false],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/belodestino.jpg",18,10,false],"mailpoet_newsletter_max":["https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/belodestino.jpg",1320,743,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Eduardo Pydd Teixeira","author_link":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/author\/eduardo-pydd\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Mike, deixe-me dizer uma coisa.O mundo inteiro \u00e9 um circo se voc\u00ea souber olhar para ele.A forma como o sol se p\u00f5e quando voc\u00ea est\u00e1 cansado, surge quando voc\u00ea quer estar em movimento\u2026 isso \u00e9 magia de verdade!A maneira como uma folha cresce, o canto dos p\u00e1ssaros\u2026 a apar\u00eancia do deserto \u00e0 noite, com a…","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/piorevangelho.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}