The Light and the Shortcut

The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. Proverbs 4:18-19

Cleber and Sidnei started law school on the same day, with the same dreams and the same freshman anxiety. They sat side by side in the first class, both from small towns, both determined to make it in the big city. But there, at that starting point, their paths began to diverge, like two rivers that spring from the same mountain but flow to different oceans.

Cleber chose the path of the morning light. His progress was slow, almost imperceptible. He would spend hours in the library, poring over heavy books while others were at parties. He made a point of citing his sources correctly in his papers, even if it cost him more time. He helped classmates who were struggling, sharing his notes, believing that knowledge grew when it was divided. His brilliance was not that of a spotlight, but of the first, pale, stubborn light that announces the dawn. Many considered him too much of a straight arrow, a bit slow.

Sidnei chose the path of instant brilliance. He was darkness disguised as light. He quickly discovered the shortcuts: ready-made papers from the internet, answers shared in secret groups during online exams, the art of flattering the right professors. He did not study; he “hacked” the system. He landed an internship at a large firm not on merit, but through a recommendation secured with a lie. His success was dazzling and swift. He was popular, admired, the model of a “winner.”

Over the five years of the course, the difference became stark. Sidnei always seemed to be ahead, getting the best grades with minimal effort, moving in the most influential circles. Cleber, for his part, kept his steady pace. His grades were good, the fruit of hard work. His reputation was not for brilliance, but for reliability. His light, still soft, began to gain strength and warmth, and the right people started to notice it.

The perfect day for Cleber and the great stumble for Sidnei happened during the Bar Exam, the test that would define their careers.

Cleber prepared with his usual diligence. Months of disciplined study. He arrived for the exam feeling not arrogant, but prepared. His mind was clear, the path ahead of him illuminated by the knowledge he had built, brick by brick.

Sidnei, accustomed to shortcuts, tried his final trick. He acquired an earpiece, a risky scheme to receive the answers. He entered the exam room not with knowledge in his mind, but with fear in his heart. He was walking in darkness, dependent on a fragile piece of technology and invisible accomplices.

In the middle of the exam, the anti-fraud detection system was triggered. Proctors silently approached Sidnei’s desk. Panic froze his veins. He did not know how, or why. He had stumbled in the darkness he himself had created. The humiliation of being removed from the room under the gaze of everyone was the culmination of a five-year journey built on fraud. He did not even know what he had tripped over, for in the darkness, the obstacle is always invisible until the fall.

Months later, Cleber, with his Bar card in hand, began working at a small but respected law firm. His path was just beginning, but the morning light was now strong, clear, and the day ahead of him promised to be perfect in its righteousness.

One day, he received a message from an unknown number. It was Sidnei.

“Congratulations, man. I heard. You deserved it.” The message continued: “I don’t know where I went wrong. It all seemed so easy.”

Cleber looked out the window of his small office. The morning sun bathed the city. He typed his reply, not with pride, but with a deep compassion:

“The mistake, Sidnei, wasn’t in a single step. It was in the path we chose. Yours promised a shortcut in the darkness; mine, a long walk toward the light.”

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

https://books2read.com/u/3knogL

Samson

Since his mother’s womb, he was separated,

To be a servant of God, he was anointed.

For everything in his life to be accomplished,

A vow to the Lord was needed.

 

Purified, his mother had to keep,

Neither drink nor impurity, she could not eat.

She could not shave the hair of her son.

The people of Israel would be set free by Samson.

 

Samson was born from a sterile woman,

He grew up as a strong man.

He was as stronger than everyone,

Samson was a liberator for everyone.

 

He challenged all Philistines,

And he won in all fights.

Against him, no one could do anything.

The hand of God was with him.

 

For a Philistine woman, Samson was delighted,

Against his parents, a marriage, he decided.

During the feast, a great enigma, he talked,

A great reward, he promised.

In the whole land, nobody answered.

The bride of Samson was threatened,

She went to Samson to beg for the answer.

He told the secret because he got very anguished.

To his people, the woman said the solution,

And finally, the enigma was replied to Samson.

 

Samson accomplished his commitment,

The promised reward, he gave to them.

He did not want to stay married to his bride,

She was delivered to another, to be his wife.

With a prostitute, Samson fell in love,

Her name was Delilah, and he swore his love.

Delilah was bribed to know his secret,

She tried in many ways, but Samson was clever.

 

For many days, Delilah was tormenting him,

And Samson let her know his blessing.

That woman shaved his hair.

From that day on, the Lord left him,

The Philistines gouged out his eyes,

Like a slave, he was put in the palace of the Philistines.

 

By the Philistines, Samson was humiliated,

In the middle of people, he was mocked.

For the last time, Samson cried to the Lord,

And his crying was heard by the Lord.

In the middle of the palace, he stayed,

The central pillars, Samson pushed.

With the strength of God, he took them down,

All princes there were destroyed,

Accomplishing his last wish, Samson died.

This poem is part of the book Christian Poetry Volume III.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/3nG5R5

The First Sins

Through you, everything was done,

Everything was created.

Then, a perfect world was made.

 

In this world, the Lord did the man dwells.

The man was alone.

God gave him a companion,

She was made from the first powder.

The man must love and care for her.

For them together to prosper.

 

But amid the heaven, there was an intruder,

By one snake with cheating words, they were seduced,

They sinned against the Lord and feared.

God soon discovered, and from heaven, they were expelled.

 

They were expelled from heaven and came to Earth.

They came to a world, where there is hunger and conflict.

The first battle was in its family,

The life of Abel was taken by Cain.

 

He killed him and tried to hide.

But the Sovereign Lord knows everything.

Cain was cursed, and his land did not produce anything.

He moved away from the Lord.

For the rest of his life, he continued fleeing.

This poem is part of the book Christian Poetry Volume I.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/mg5w0z

The Inheritance of the Heart

Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching … Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn from it and go on your way. For they cannot rest until they do evil; they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble. They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence. Proverbs 4:1-2, 13-17

Elias’s voice was already a fragile whisper, but his words carried the weight of a lifetime. From his bed, surrounded by the smell of medicine and old age, he held the hand of his son, Rodrigo, and pointed to his grandson, Luan, a fifteen-year-old teenager who was looking at his phone in the corner of the room.

“Rodrigo,” Elias whispered. “The world out there… it’s the same as always. The traps just change color. Make him understand. The wisdom I gave you… pass it on to him. It is the only inheritance that matters.”

Rodrigo swallowed hard. He remembered his father saying these same things to him years ago. Back then, the words had seemed abstract. Today, he understood every syllable. He was the middle link, the man who had received the inheritance and fought not to lose it.

The problem was Luan. A good kid, but one who was being seduced by the “paths of the wicked” in their twenty-first-century version. Evil did not invite him to rob a traveler, as in the proverb. It invited him to something more subtle.

At school, popularity belonged to Valentim’s group, young people who found power in humiliation. Their “bread of wickedness” was cyberbullying. They could not sleep if they did not do evil: they created cruel memes, spread rumors in WhatsApp groups, and filmed humiliating pranks to post online. Luan, desperate to be accepted, began to laugh along, to share, to become an accomplice.

“It’s just a joke, Dad. Everyone does it,” he would say to Rodrigo when confronted.

Rodrigo tried to use his grandfather’s words. “Son, when you love wisdom, she will guard you. Do not walk with them. That path seems fun, but its end is bitterness.”

To Luan, that was a lecture. A speech disconnected from his reality.

A week after Elias’s death, Rodrigo found Luan in his room, elated.

“Dad, look at this! Valentim invited me to hang out with them! They’re going to let me in the group!”

Rodrigo’s heart went cold. He knew what that meant. Valentim had given Luan a “test”: he was to be responsible for filming the next “prank.” The target was Samuel, a shy, studious boy.

That night, Rodrigo could not sleep. He felt powerless. Shouting would not work. Forbidding him would only increase his rebellion. He prayed to God, asking for the wisdom his father had spoken of so often.

The next morning, instead of giving another lecture, Rodrigo called Luan to his furniture restoration workshop. He took out an old wooden chest, the first piece of furniture his father, Elias, had taught him to make.

“Your grandfather gave me this when I was your age,” Rodrigo said, running his hand over the worn wood. “He said my inheritance was inside it.”

Luan rolled his eyes, expecting a speech. But Rodrigo just opened the chest. Inside, there was nothing of value. Just old letters, yellowed photos, and a small Bible with a frayed leather cover.

Rodrigo picked up a letter.

“I had my Valentim, too,” he said, surprising his son. “His name was Ricardo. He invited me to join a scheme to steal car parts from the warehouse where I worked. It was the easy way. I almost went.”

He paused, looking at Luan’s attentive face.

“But the night before, your grandfather sat me down here, in this very workshop. He didn’t yell. He told me how his own father almost lost everything because of dishonesty. He told me about the shame, about the pain. He gave me the wisdom he himself had received. He made me choose.”

Rodrigo picked up the small Bible.

“He told me: ‘Wisdom is the principal thing, Rodrigo. With all your getting, get understanding.’ I chose to listen. Ricardo was arrested a month later. I stayed here, with my hands dirty with grease, but with a clean soul.”

He looked into his son’s eyes. “Luan, what you are going to do to Samuel… it is not a joke. It is the same path as Ricardo’s. It is the bread of wickedness. You are choosing which table you will eat from.”

Rodrigo closed the chest.

“The inheritance is there. The wisdom your grandfather gave me, I now give to you. The choice is yours.”

That day at school, Luan saw Valentim and his group surrounding Samuel in the courtyard. The phone in his pocket felt like it weighed a ton. He saw the fear in Samuel’s eyes and the cruel amusement in Valentim’s. And he remembered the chest. The inheritance.

He did not join the circle. Instead, he walked in the opposite direction, went to a teacher, and said:

“Sir, they’re messing with Samuel. I think he needs help.”

That night, Luan found his father in the workshop. He did not say anything, just picked up a piece of sandpaper and began to help restore an old chair. The silence between them was not one of tension, but of understanding. Luan had been tested. And, in the moment of decision, he had chosen. He had embraced wisdom, and the inheritance of his heart had guarded him.

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

https://books2read.com/u/3knogL

Christ

One day, we walked spread.

Each one followed its way.

There was no help or company.

Following alone; it was a sad destiny.

 

Even being disunited, many had hope.

Waiting for something new and renewed.

The faith kept them firm and safe.

For a new alliance, they were waiting,

That One who would come from the Lord.

 

At the right time, He came,

Many people recognized and loved Him.

But others just despised Him.

They did not believe in his wonders and signals,

And they even tried to catch Him in many traps.

 

But what strength does the man have against the Lord?

What can do against the Lord a man full of sins?

They could not do anything to stop Him.

Jesus walked, healed, taught, and rescued.

The faith of his disciples was increased.

 

 

Among those who believe, one failed.

For a bit of money, his Lord, he delivered.

The Just One, the Son of Man was oppressed!

Like one innocent sheep, to the slaughter, He was led.

He received a terrible and painful punishment there.

 

Over Him, there was no condemnation.

His judges did not find any guilt in his accusations.

But “wise people” did not accept,

They led him to be crucified.

 

On that cross were paid the sins,

My, yours, and of all of us.

With extreme sacrifice, the debt was paid.

The souls of poor sinners were saved.

After the pain and suffering, He has expired.

At that moment, something great happened.

The earth shook, and the curtain of the temple was torn,

In all places had restlessness,

The sky had darkened.

For that one who died, there was much weeping.

 

After three days, God rescued Him.

By the angels, the stone was rolled,

The only and beloved son, God, resurrected.

For his people, He showed himself, and He was acknowledged,

Then, the faithful people saw the power of God.

The victory over death, Jesus got.

This poem is part of the book Christian Poetry Volume I.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/mg5w0z

God is Good

The Lord God is ready to forgive,

One needs to repent and call upon Him to live.

He forgives because He is the wonderful God,

The only Living God, strong and powerful.

For Him to forgive, repentance is needed,

The person will change their life and enter a new time.

No longer matter their past live,

It will start the best time of their life.

This poem is part of the book Christian Poetry Volume VII.

See the book:

https://books2read.com/u/38l5Oa

The Inheritance of Honor

Do not envy the violent or choose any of their ways … The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous … The wise inherit honor, out fools get only shame. Proverbs 3:31, 33, 35

In the neighborhood where they grew up, Bruno was the “violent man” everyone envied. Not in the sense of physical violence, but in the aggressiveness with which he took what he wanted from life. He was the king of “schemes,” of shady deals, of intimidation. He despised the humble and mocked those who, like his childhood friend, Lucas, still believed in “working hard and being honest.”

“Lucas, you’re a joke,” Bruno would say, showing off his new car, acquired with money of dubious origin. “While you sweat to earn peanuts, I make the same in one night. That God of yours isn’t helping you much, is he?”

Lucas, who worked as a carpenter in a small workshop, felt the sting of envy. It was hard not to covet Bruno’s life. The designer clothes, the parties, the apparent ease with which everything came to him. But Lucas clung to the “secret” that his father, a simple and just man, had taught him: the peace of a clear conscience and the quiet trust that God honors the sincere.

The “blessing” in Lucas’s house was subtle, almost invisible to the world. It was the smell of homemade bread that his wife, Ana, baked. It was the way the sunlight streamed through the living room window, illuminating the wooden furniture he had made himself. It was the laughter of his children, who were growing up in a home where honesty was not an option, but the very air they breathed.

The “curse” in Bruno’s house was equally subtle, but corrosive. Despite the luxurious facade, the place was cold, silent. The arguments with his girlfriend were constant. His “partners” were dangerous men whom he feared and despised in equal measure. He did not sleep well, startled by every siren he heard on the street. The house of the wicked was a palace haunted by mistrust.

Time, the great revealer of all things, began to show the truth.

Lucas, with his reputation as an honest and detail-oriented craftsman, began to receive commissions from important clients. His small workshop grew. He became known not for his wealth, but for his honor. People did not just buy his furniture; they sought his counsel. He became a pillar in his community, a man whose word carried weight.

Bruno’s fall was as swift as his rise. One of his “schemes” went wrong. Betrayed by one of his own partners, he lost everything. The car was taken; the house was emptied. The man who mocked everyone became the target of mockery. Shame was his only companion.

One morning, Lucas was opening his workshop, now much larger and better equipped, when he saw a shrunken figure across the street. It was Bruno. Thin, haggard, wearing worn-out clothes.

Lucas crossed the street. There was no triumph in his eyes, only an old compassion. “Bruno?” he called.

Bruno looked up, expecting the scorn he himself had dished out for so long.

“Come to laugh at me, Lucas? The ‘righteous’ man won.”

“I didn’t win anything,” Lucas said, sitting beside him on the curb. “I just… built my house on different ground than you did.” He paused. “I’m looking for a helper in the workshop. The work is hard, and the pay is honest.”

Bruno stared at him, incredulous. Grace, which he had always considered a weakness, was being offered to him in his moment of greatest humiliation.

That day, as he learned to sand down a piece of rough wood under Lucas’s patient guidance, Bruno began to understand. The wise do not inherit money or power. They inherit honor. And the shame he felt was not the end of his story, but perhaps, just perhaps, the beginning of his journey toward a new path, where the blessing was not in the facade of the house, but in the foundation of the heart.

(Made with AI)

This story is part of my book Everyday Wisdom

https://books2read.com/u/3knogL