Saved by Love and Faith (English) Salva pelo Amor e pela Fé (Portuguese)
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page 48, chapter 5. “I decided to go to the church in Reykiavik, called Hallgrímskirkja, with Paulo the first afternoon we arrived. As soon as I went to the door of the tallest building in this city with more than 242,78 feet high, in a triangular shape, as if it were inverted stalactites, inspired by the glacier and the mountains of the country, they did not let me in, they informed me that there was a private ceremony and by the car that was stopped at the door, it would be a funeral. Not wanting to surrender to the answer given and because in Portugal there are no private ceremonies in churches, I tried to ask if I could attend, to which the girl informed me that I could not. Then I thought it was the funeral of someone very important in the city or in the country, to which I was answered that it was of a 20-year-old boy. My face was bloodless, but I still asked what the cause of death was and was told that it was the most common cause in that country. Now, I have a 20-year-old son, and when they answered me that, I didn't feel like writing about any temple or even visiting one in that country. I was terrified, the fear infected me. I think that if you are a mother, one of the greatest fears you can have is to lose a child, for whatever reason, it is unnatural. I crossed the square and went to my husband Paulo and told him - You won't believe it, there's a funeral happening for a 20-year-old boy... I didn't even want to talk about it anymore, let alone write.
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About the Book
This is a bilingual book (English and Portuguese).
Whether you’re looking for spiritual guidance or simply a good travelogue, author and educator Idília Ramos can offer you a unique perspective on ways to transform your life.
Saved by Love and Faith presents an autobiographical self-help guide that traces a journey to some of the most beautiful and spiritual places in the world. Ramos recounts her personal experiences and reflections on how love and faith helped her overcome the challenges of growing up in a troubled family and find her purpose in life. In telling her story, she focuses on various places that she visited over the course of a year. From the Church of Santo António in Portugal to Hagia Sophia in Turkey, she describes each location in detail, providing historical and cultural context that reveals the significance of each place. Her travels helped discover peace, clarity, self-love, forgiveness, positive thinking, and gratitude in her own life, and she encourages you to do the same.
Inspiring and uplifting, this personal narrative invites you to explore spiritual places and shares personal reflections on the transformative power of resilience, love, and faith.
About the Author
Idília Ramos was born in Lagos, a small town in the south of Portugal—known for having launched the caravels of the Portuguese discoveries, a country to the west of Europe, where a dictatorship prevailed—into a dysfunctional family, where her mother suffered from psychosis and her father was often absent because of work. From very humble origins, she had to start working at the age of thirteen until she went to Lisbon to study and the following year to Oporto, led by her brother, where she finished her degree in human resources management and workplace psychology in an after-work course, always working during the day, and went on to study for a master’s degree in human resources management in the UK. When she returned to Portugal, she was invited to teach at the university where she had studied. She worked for two large Portuguese companies as a human resources manager and director and was appointed chief human resources officer of one of them at the age of twenty-nine. At the age of thirty-five, with two children, when her mother died, she decided to return with her family to her homeland and set up a school from scratch for children from four months to ten years old. Here she managed to put all her passion into creating a team of some thirty-six people who twice nominated her for Best Team Leader in Portugal, winning one of them. At this school she sees around 240 children “born” to become well-balanced young people, with above-average knowledge and, most importantly, very happy, with wings to fly to the next stage. Passionate about communication and with an insatiable curiosity about all worldly and spiritual topics, sometimes a little obsessive, she managed to have a much-desired son at the age of almost forty-six, conceived naturally. She loves traveling and getting to know new cultures, is passionate about people and helping others, and is a workaholic in remission to treat her inner child and her defense mechanism of always being busy. Before her father passed away, she decided to write this book, in which she begins to put her memories into an autobiography, accompanied by visits to temples around the world and the emotions she felt and experienced there, so that she can help and inspire other people to overcome difficulties, traumas, or unpleasant experiences and to be more resilient, in an attempt to lead happier lives, to see the positive in everything that happens to them, to bet on personal development and healing, as well as to make honest choices to make the world a better place, starting with oneself. She loves dancing, drinking a glass of wine, and having fun with her family and friends. Always with a smile, she is optimistic by nature and ready with a word of hope that the next day will be better than today.