Sunday 27 February 2011

Important questions, important answers





Right! As I posted something about The Spirits Book in my previous post, I thought it would be interesting to choose some questions that I find relevant for beginners and are part of this book. I am not the wisest of all in Spiritism, but these are questions that I asked myself once, when I knew nothing about it, and I found my answers in this book. I also heard so many people asking things like does God exist? How can we be sure of His existence? Can God be the creation of men and religion? Is there life in other planets? How can some beings survive in other planets so further away from the sun? Did God create demons and do they exist? Does reincarnation exist and why would men need to reincarnate? Why philosophers and scientists haven't found proof of God's existence if He does exist? Did God create angels as perfect beings?


Please note that this book was based on answers from Spirits through two mediums. If you believe in the existence of Spirits or not is irrelevant. The answers and questions elaborated in this book are the relevant part because they will make us think and will help us open our minds to something beyond what our eyes can see. The answers to these questions will make sense if you think carefully about them without prejudice or a closed mind. To me, these questions are interesting and very contemporary although the book is old. I added in blue, beside the questions, another way of saying the same question. I did that because I was talking to people about it before and some of them couldn't understand the way the questions were translated to english. They were translated faithfully from the book in french, which can cause a bit of confusion, because of certain terms and the way of saying things used in the book (if its the 1st time you read the questions). But I haven't changed the essence of these questions, just to make it absolutely clear! :)


If you would like to read about other questions from this book, you can find it on line at this link http://www.oconsolador.com.br/linkfixo/bibliotecavirtual/ingles/Spiritsbook.pdf Lets have fun thinking about stuff!!!!!


Mrs. P


1. What is God?
"God is the Supreme Intelligence-First Cause of all things."


4. What proof have we of the existence of God?
"The axiom which you apply in all your scientific researches, 'There is no effect without a cause.' Search out the cause of whatever is not the work of man, and reason will furnish the answer to your question."
To assure ourselves of the existence of God, we have only to look abroad on the works of creation. The universe exists, therefore It has a cause. To doubt the existence of God is to doubt that every effect has a cause, and to assume that something can have been made by nothing.


6. May not our seemingly intuitive sense of the existence of God be the result of education and of acquired ideas? Can the intuition we have of the existence of God be result of education or acquired ideas?
"If such were the case, how should this intuitive sense be possessed by your savages?"
If the intuition of the existence of a Supreme Being were only the result of education It would not be universal, and would only exist, like all other acquired knowledge, in the minds of those who had received the special education to which it would be due.


55. Are all the globes that revolve in space inhabited?
"Yes; and the people of the earth are far from being, as you suppose, the first in intelligence, goodness, and general development. There are many men having a high opinion of themselves who even imagine that your little globe alone, of all the countless myriads of globes around you, has the privilege of being inhabited by reasoning beings. They fancy that God has created the universe only for them. Insensate vanity!"
God has peopled the globes of the universe with living beings, all of whom concur in working out the aims of His providence. To believe that the presence of living beings Is confined to the one point of the universe inhabited by us is to cast a doubt on the wisdom of God, who has made nothing in vain, and who must therefore have assigned to all the other globes of the universe a destination more important than that of gratifying our eyes with the spectacle of a starry night. Moreover, there is nothing in the position. size, or
physical constitution of the earth to warrant the supposition that it alone, of the countless myriads of globes disseminated throughout the infinity of space, has the privilege of being inhabited.


58. Are the planets furthest removed from the sun stinted in light and heat, the sun only appearing to them of the size of one of the fixed stars? Is there life in other planets further away from the sun where there's not much light and heat?
"Do you suppose that there are no other sources of light and heat than the sun? And do you count for nothing the action of electricity which, in certain worlds, plays a very much more important part than in your Earth ? Besides, how do you know that the beings of those worlds see in the same manner as you do, and with the aid of organs such as yours?"
The conditions of existence for the beings who inhabit the various worlds must be supposed to be appropriate to the sphere in which they are destined to live. If we had never seen fishes, we should be at a loss to understand how any living beings could exist in the sea. So in regard to all the other worlds, which doubtless contain elements that are unknown to us. In our own Earth, are not the long polar nights illumined by the electrical displays of the aurora borealis? Is it impossible that, in certain worlds, electricity may be more abundant than in ours, and may subserve, in its general economy, various important uses not imaginable by us? And may not those worlds contain in themselves the sources of the heat and light required by their inhabitants?


119. Could God exonerate spirits from the trials which they have to undergo in order to reach the highest rank? Could God stop the suffering that people have to undergo in order to progress morally?
"If they had been created perfect, they would not have merited the enjoyment of the benefits of that perfection. Where would be the merit without the struggle? Besides, the inequality which exists between spirits is necessary to the development of their personality; and, moreover, the mission which each spirit accomplishes at each step of his progress is an element of the providential plan for ensuring the harmony of the universe.”
Since, in social life, all men may reach the highest posts, we might as well ask why the sovereign of a country does not make a general of each of his soldiers; why all subaltern functionaries are not made heads of departments; why all scholars are not schoolmasters. But there is this difference between the life of the social and the spirit worlds, viz., that the first is limited, and does not afford to every one the possibility of raising himself to the highest rank whereas the second is unlimited, and ensures to every one the possibility of attaining to supreme degree.


 123. Why has God permitted it to be possible for spirits to take the wrong road?
"The wisdom of God is shown in the freedom of choice which He leaves to every spirit, for each has thus the merit of his deeds."




129. Have the angels passed up through all the degrees of progress?
"They have passed up through all those degrees, but with the difference which we have already mentioned. Some of them, accepting their mission without murmuring, have reached the goal more quickly; others have been longer in reaching the same goal.”




130. If the opinion which admits that some beings have been created perfect and superior to all others be erroneous, how is it that this opinion is to be found in the tradition of almost every people? If it's incorrect to believe that some beings were created perfect, how can this view be shared by almost every people?
“Your world has not existed from all eternity. Long before it was called into being hosts of spirits had already attained to the supreme degree and, therefore, the people of your earth naturally supposed those perfected spirits to have always been at the same degree of elevation."




131. Are there any demons in the usual acceptation of that term? Do demons exist?
"If demons existed, they would be the work of God; but would it be just on the part of God to have created beings condemned eternally to evil and to misery? If demons exist, it is in your low world, and in other worlds of similar degree, that they are to be found. They are the human hypocrites who represent a just God as being cruel and vindictive, and who imagine that they make themselves agreeable to Him by the abominations they commit in His name."


132. What is the aim of the incarnation of spirits? What is the purpose of reincarnation?
"It is a necessity imposed on them by God, as the means of attaining perfection. For some of them it is an expiation; for others, a mission. In order to attain perfection, it is necessary for them to undergo all the vicissitudes of corporeal existence. It is the experience acquired by expiation that constitutes its usefulness. Incarnation has also another aim, viz., that of fitting the spirit to perform his share in the work of creation; for which purpose he is made to assume a corporeal apparatus in harmony with the material state of each world into which he is sent; and by means of which he is enabled to accomplish the special work, in connection with that world which has been appointed to him by the divine ordering. He is thus made to contribute his quota towards the general weal, while achieving his own advancement."
The action of corporeal beings is necessary to the carrying on of the work of the universe ; but God in His wisdom has willed that this action should furnish them with the means of progress and of advancement towards Himself. And thus, through an admirable law of His providence, all things are linked together, and solidarity is established between all the realms of nature.




133. Is incarnation necessary for the spirits who, from the beginning, have followed the right road?
"All are created simple and ignorant; they gain instruction in the struggles and tribulations of corporeal life. God, being just, could not make some of them happy, without trouble and without exertion, and consequently without merit."


But it so, 'what do spirits gain by' having followed the right road, since they are not thereby exempted from the pains of corporeal life?
"They arrive more quickly at the goal. And besides, the sufferings of life are often a consequence of the imperfection of the spirit; therefore, the fewer his imperfections, the less will be his sufferings. He who is neither envious, jealous, avaricious, nor ambitious, will not have to undergo the torments which are a consequence of those defects."


145. How is it that so many philosophers both ancient and modern have so long been discussing psychological questions without having arrived at the truth?  
"Those men were precursors of the eternal truths of the true Spiritist Doctrine, for which they have prepared the way. They were men, and therefore subject to error, because they often mistook their own ideas for the true light; but their very errors have served the cause of truth by bringing into relief both sides of the argument. Moreover, among those errors are to be found many great truths which a comparative study of the various theories thus put forth would enable you to discover."































Saturday 26 February 2011

A bit about Allan Kardec and his famous book 'The Spirits Book'




In presenting to her countrymen a work which has long since obtained a wide acceptance on the Continent, the translator has thought that a brief notice of its author, and of the circumstances under which it was produced, might not be without interest for English readers. Léon-Dénizarth-Hippolyte Rivail, better known by his nom de plume of ALLAN KARDEC, was born at Lyons, on the 4th of October 1804, of an old family of Bourg-en-Bresse, that had been for many generations honourably distinguished in the magistracy and at the bar. His father, like his grandfather, was a barrister of good standing and high character; his mother, remarkably beautiful, accomplished, elegant, and amiable, was the object, on his part, of a profound and worshipping affection, maintained unchanged throughout the whole of his life. Educated at the Institution of Pestalozzi, at Yverdun (Canton de Vaud), he acquired at an early age the habit of investigation and the freedom of thought of which his later life was destined to furnish so striking an example. Endowed by nature with a passion for teaching, he devoted himself, from the age of fourteen, to aiding the studies of those of his schoolfellows who were less advanced than himself; while such was his fondness for botany, that he often spent an entire day among the mountains, walking twenty or thirty miles, with a wallet on his back, in search of specimens for his herbarium. Born in a Catholic country, but educated in a Protestant one, he began, while yet a mere boy, to meditate on the means of bringing about a unity of belief among the various Christian sects-a project of religious reform at which lie laboured in silence for many years, but necessarily without success, the elements of the desired solution not being at that time in his possession. Having finished his studies at Yverdun, he returned to Lyons in 24, with the intention of devoting himself to the law; but various acts of religious intolerance to which he unexpectedly found himself subjected led him to renounce the idea of fitting himself for the bar, and to take up his abode in Paris, where he occupied himself for some time in translating Telemachus and other standard
French books for youth into German. Having at length determined upon his career, he purchased, in 1828, a large and flourishing educational establishment for boys, and devoted himself to the work of teaching, for which, by his tastes and acquirements, he was peculiarly fitted. In 1830 he hired, at his own expense, a large hall in the Rue de Sèvres, and opened there in courses of gratuitous lectures on Chemistry, Physics, Comparative Anatomy, and Astronomy. These lectures, continued by him through a period of ten years, were highly successful, being attended by an auditory of over five hundred persons of every rank of society, many of whom have since attained to eminence in the scientific world. Always desirous to render instruction attractive as well as profitable, he invented an ingenious method of computation, and constructed a mnemotechnic table of French history, for assisting students to remember the remarkable events and discoveries of each reign.
Of the numerous educational works published by him may be mentioned, A Plan for the' Improvement of Public Instruction. submitted by him in 1828 to the French Legislative Chamber, by which body it was highly extolled, though not acted upon; A Course of Practical and Theoretic Arithmetic, on the Pestalozzian System, for the' use of Teachers and Mothers (1829); A Classical Grammar of the French Tongue (1831); A Manual for the use of Candidates for Examination in the Public Schools; with Explanatory Solutions of various Problems of Arithmetic and Geometry (1848); Normal Dictations for the Examinations of the Hotel de Ville and the Sorbonne, with Special Dictations on Orthographic Difficulties (1849). These works, highly esteemed at the time of their publication, are still in use in many French schools; and their author was bringing out new editions of some of them at the time of his death. He was a member of several learned societies; among others, of the Royal Society of Arras, which, in 1831, awarded to him the Prize of Honour for a remarkable essay on the question, "What is the System of Study most in Harmony with the Needs of the Epoch?" He was for several years Secretary to the Phrenological Society of Paris, and took an active part in the labours of the Society of Magnetism, giving much time to the practical investigation of somnambulism, trance,clairvoyance, and the various other phenomena connected with the mesmeric action. This brief outline of his labours will suffice to show his mental activity, the variety of his knowledge, the eminently practical turn of his mind, and his constant endeavour to be useful to his fellow-men.
When, about 1850, the phenomenon of "table-turning" was exciting the attention of Europe and ushering in the other phenomena since known as "spiritist", he quickly divined the real nature of those phenomena, as evidence of the existence of an order of relationships hitherto suspected rather than known-viz., those which unite the visible and invisible worlds. Foreseeing the vast importance, to science and to religion, of such an extension of the field of human observation, he entered at once upon a careful investigation of the new phenomena. A friend of his had two daughters who had become what are now called "mediums." They were gay, lively, amiable girls, fond of society, dancing, and amusement, and habitually received, when "sitting" by themselves or with their young companions, "communications" in harmony with their worldly and somewhat frivolous disposition. But, to the surprise of all concerned, it was found that, whenever he was present, the messages transmitted through these young ladies were of a very grave and serious character; and on his inquiring of the invisible intelligences as to the cause of this change, he was told that "spirits of a much higher order than those who habitually communicated through the two young mediums came expressly for him, and would continue to do so, in order to enable him to fulfil an important religious mission."
Much astonished at so unlooked-for an announcement, he at once proceeded to test its truthfulness by drawing up a series of progressive questions in relation to the various problems of human life and the universe in which we find ourselves, and submitted them to his unseen interlocutors, receiving their answers to the same through the instrumentality of the two young mediums, who willingly consented to devote a couple of evenings every week to this purpose, and who thus obtained, through table-rapping and planchette-writing, the replies which have become the basis of the spiritist theory, and which they were as little capable of appreciating as of inventing. When these conversations had been going on for nearly two years, he one day remarked to his
wife, in reference to the unfolding of these views, which she had followed with intelligent sympathy: "It is a most curious thing! My conversations with the invisible intelligences have completely revolutionised my ideas and convictions. The instructions thus transmitted constitute an entirely new theory of human life, duty, and destiny, that appears to me to be perfectly rational and coherent, admirably lucid and consoling, and intensely interesting. I have a great mind to publish these conversations in a book; for it seems to me that what
interests me so deeply might very likely prove interesting to others." His wife warmly approving the idea, he next submitted it to his unseen interlocutors, who replied in the usual way, that it was they who had suggested it to his mind, that their communications had been made to him, not for himself alone, but for the express purpose of being given to the world as he proposed to do, and that the time had now come for putting this plan into execution. "To the book in which you will embody our instructions," continued the communicating
intelligences, "you will give, as being our work rather than yours, the title of Le Livre des Esprits (THE SPIRITS’ BOOK); and you will publish it, not under your own name, but under the pseudonym of ALLAN KARDEC.¹ Keep your own name of Rivail for your own books already published; but take and keep the name we have now given you for the book you are about to publish by our order, and, in general, for all the work that you will have to do in the fulfilment of the mission which, as we have already told you, has been confided to you by Providence, and which will gradually open before you as you proceed in it under our
guidance."
The book thus produced and published sold with great rapidity, making converts not in France only, but all over the Continent, and rendering the name of ALLAN KARDEC "a household word" with the readers who knew him only in connection with it; so that he was thenceforth called only by that name, excepting by his old personal friends, with whom both he and his wife always retained their family-name. Soon after its publication, he founded The Parisian Society of Psychologic Studies, of which he was President until his death, and which
met every Friday evening at his house, for the purpose of obtaining from spirits, through writing mediums, instructions in elucidation of truth and duty. He also founded and edited until he died a monthly magazine, entitled La Revue Spirite, Journal of Psychologic Studies, devoted to the advocacy of the views set forth in The Spirit's Book.
Similar associations were speedily formed all over the world. Many of these published periodicals of more or less importance in support of the new doctrine; and all of them transmitted to the Parisian Society the most remarkable of the spirit-communications received by them. An enormous mass of spirit-teaching, unique both in quantity and in the variety of the sources from which it was obtained, thus found its way into the hands of ALLAN KARDEC by whom it was studied, collated, co-ordinated, with unwearied zeal and devotion,
during a period of fifteen years. From the materials thus furnished to him from every quarter of the globe he enlarged and completed THE SPIRITS’ BOOK, under the direction of the spirits by whom it was originally dictated; the "Revised Edition" of which work, brought out by him in 1857 (vide "Preface to the Revised Edition," p. 19) has become the recognised textbook of the school of Spiritualist Philosophy so intimately associated with his name. From the same materials he subsequently compiled four other works, viz., The Mediums' Book (a practical treatise on Medianimity and Evocations), 1861; The Gospel as Explained by Spirits (an exposition of morality from the spiritist point of view), 1864; Heaven and Hell (a vindication of the justice of the divine government of the human race), 1865; and Genesis (showing the concordance of the spiritist theory with the discoveries of modern science and with the general tenor of the Mosaic record as explained by spirits), 1867. He also published two short treatises, entitled What is Spiritism? and Spiritism Reduced to its Simplest Expression.
It is to be remarked, in connection with the works just enumerated, that ALLAN KARDEC was not a "medium," and was consequently obliged to avail himself of the medianimity of others in obtaining the spirit-communications from which they were evolved. The theory of life and duty, so immediately connected with his name and labours that it is often erroneously supposed to have been the product of his single mind or of the spirits in immediate connection with him, is therefore far less the expression of a personal or individual opinion
than are any other of the spiritualistic theories hitherto propounded; for the basis of religious philosophy laid down in his works was not, in any way, the production of his own intelligence, but was as new to him as to
any of his readers, having been progressively educed by him from the concurrent statements of a legion of spirits, through many thousands of mediums, unknown to each other, belonging to different countries, and to every variety of social position.
In person, ALLAN KARDEC was somewhat under middle height. Strongly built, with a large, round, massive head, well-marked features, and clear grey eyes, he looked more like a German than a Frenchman. Energetic and persevering, but of a temperament that was calm, cautious, and unimaginative almost to coldness, incredulous by nature and by education, a close, logical reasoner, and eminently practical in thought and deed, he was equally free from mysticism and from enthusiasm. Devoid of ambition, indifferent to luxury and display, the modest income he had acquired from teaching and from the sale of his educational works
sufficed for the simple style of living he had adopted, and allowed him to devote the whole of the profits arising from the sale of his spiritist books and from the Revue Spirite to the propagation of the movement initiated by him. His excellent wife relieved him of all domestic and worldly cares, and thus enabled him to consecrate himself entirely to the work to which he believed himself to have been called, and which he prosecuted with unswerving devotion, to the exclusion of all extraneous occupations, interests, and companionships, from the time when he first entered upon it until he died. He made no visits beyond a small circle of intimate friends, and very rarely absented himself from Paris, passing his winters in the heart
of the town, in the rooms where be published his Revue, and his summers at the Villa Ségur, a little semi-rural retreat which he had built and planted, as the home of his old age and that of his wife, in the suburban region behind the Champ de Mars, now crossed in every direction by broad avenues and being rapidly built over, but which at that time was a sort of waste land that might still pass for "the country." Grave, slow of speech, unassuming in manner, yet not without a certain quiet dignity resulting from the earnestness and single mindedness which were the distinguishing traits of his character, neither courting nor avoiding discussion, but never volunteering any remark upon the subject to which he had devoted his life, he received with affability the innumerable visitors from every part of the world who came to converse with him in regard to the views of
which he was the recognised exponent, answering questions and objections, explaining difficulties, and giving information to all serious inquirers, with whom he talked with freedom and animation, his face occasionally lighting up with a genial and pleasant smile, though such was his habitual sobriety of demeanour that he was never known to laugh. Among the thousands by whom he was thus visited were many of high rank in the social, literary, artistic, and scientific worlds. The Emperor Napoleon III., the fact of whose interest
in spiritist-phenomena was no mystery, sent for him several times, and held long conversations with him at the Tuileries upon the doctrines of THE SPIRITS’ BOOK. Having suffered for many years from heart-disease, ALLAN KARDEC drew up, in 1869, the plan of a new spiritist organisation, that should carry on the work of propagandism after his death. In order to assure its existence, by giving to it a legal and commercial status, he determined to make it a regularly constituted joint-stock limited liability publishing and bookselling company, to be constituted for a period of ninety-nine years, with power to buy and sell, to issue stock, to receive donations and bequests, etc. To this society, which was to be called "The Joint Stock Company for the Continuation of the Works of ALLAN KARDEC," he intended to bequeath the copyright of his spiritist writings and of the Revue Spirite.
But ALLAN KARDEC was not destined to witness the realisation of the project in which he took so deep an interest, and which has since been carried out with entire exactitude by his widow. On the 31st of March 1869, having just finished drawing up the constitution and rules of the society that was to take the place from which he foresaw that he would soon be removed, he was seated in his usual chair at his study-table, in his rooms in the Rue Sainte Anne, in the act of tying up a bundle of papers, when his busy life was suddenly brought to an end by the rupture of the aneurysm from which he had so long suffered. His passage from the earth to the spirit-world, with which he had so closely identified himself, was instantaneous, painless,
without a sigh or a tremor; a most peaceful falling asleep and reawaking-fit ending of such a life. His remains were interred in the cemetery of Montmartre, in presence of a great concourse of friends, many hundreds of whom assemble there every year, on the anniversary of his decease, when a few commemorative words are spoken, and fresh flowers and wreaths, as is usual in Continental graveyards, are laid upon his tomb. It is impossible to ascertain with any exactness the number of those who have adopted the views set forth by ALLAN KARDEC; estimated by themselves at many millions, they are incontestably very numerous. The periodicals devoted to the advocacy of these views in various countries already number over forty, and new ones are constantly appearing. The death of ALLAN KARDEC has not slackened the acceptance of the views set forth by him, and which are believed by those who hold them to be the basis, but the basis only, of the new development of religious truth predicted by Christ; the beginning of the promised revelation of "many things" that have been "kept hidden since the foundation of the world," and for the knowledge of which the human race was "not ready" at the time of that prediction. In executing, with scrupulous fidelity, the task confided to her by ALLAN KARDEC, the translator has followed, in all quotations from the New Testament, the version by Le Maistre de Sacy, the one always used by ALLAN KARDEC.


ANNA BLACKWELL


Translator's preface in the The Spirits Book by Allan Kardec

Friday 25 February 2011

When all think alike, no one is thinking very much!

I have been thinking about having a blog for a long time, but only now I decided to actually create one. I never liked the idea of having a blog because we expose ourselves so much to one another when writing about what we think, feel and believe. Social networks might do the job as long as you don't want to reflect seriously about life in general and share your reflexions with others. 
This blog is for me to share with people of any kind, culture, beliefs and ages what I consider to be important for myself and what I think that helped me so much through so many situations. It's clear that what I consider important to me won't be as important to others or maybe it won't be important at all. But I like to believe that I am sharing something good and sharing is always important. I always wanted to share these things with others in a world that disbelief, cynicism, prejudice, pride and selfishness are still predominant because I want people to think rationally. It's true that preconceptions and doubts will be present, but this is part of thinking outside the box! At times, things can seem hard to believe and hard to understand, but lets give it a go! The interesting part is to think carefully before rejecting any idea! :)

I've read about sorrow today, because that's what I am feeling. According to the dictionary on line, the definition of sorrow is distress caused by loss, affliction, disappointment, grief, sadness, or regret. I realised I feel sorrow because I have been remembering an episode that hurt me constantly without being able to understand the reasons why that person acted in that certain way that disappointed me. I usually am good at saying exactly what I think and what I feel, unless I've been seriously hurt. In this case, I just shut down and don't want to discuss anything as I feel like I have nothing to say to the person who disappointed or hurt me. This is way worse than putting all the cards on the table, in my point of view. At the same time, I believe that, sometimes, silence is the best course of action. How conflicting! But what can you say to a friend who told you about her wedding four days before it happened? What can you say to this friend that didn't even invite you to her wedding civil ceremony? These are some of the many questions I asked myself. Am I overreacting? Do I think we are more friends that we really are and that's why she didn't feel the need to share this information before? What would make this friend act this way? Why am I so hurt by that? 
I know that it seems a very girlie subject of not too much relevance, but it shouldn't matter. It hurt me. How many times have we got hurt by things that don't seem too rational or really important in the big context? How many times we decide to ignore our feelings or not admit them to ourselves or others? This just contributes to having cancer, my friends! Let's deal with our questions and seek answers, even if it seems embarassing or not really necessary. I don't want to talk about this with my friend. I really don't know what to say. But I believe that the answers to these questions will be inside me somewhere as no one hurts us unless we allow them to. If it hurt me, I need to sort this within myself and not try to add a bad memory to my friend's big moment. But I felt that I couldn't deal with it alone and that's when I found this page in the link below that helped me. It made think about ways to overcome my struggle of the day! Hope it can also help anyone who is also struggling with sorrow. 

Mrs. P




MISFORTUNES
 
Misfortune, or adversity, from a human standpoint, is
anything that disturbs a person's comfort; anything that goes
against the immediate ambitions in which he takes pleasure.
Man has been educated and conditioned to achieve utilitarian
results. In spite of some religious links that he maintains, his
haste for success often takes him to materialistic achievements which bring him worry, unhappiness and affliction ....
Seen from a spiritual standpoint, however, a misfortune that
would cause a great deal of sorrow to the morally weak,
becomes to those who surrender to God, a spiritual gain for
their immortal life- the real life.
All suffering, or any imposition of circumstances, such as the
so-called incurable diseases, material poverty, or ingratitude of loved ones are signs alerting guilty spirits to their needed
renewal and moral progress.
The tests and expiations we undergo are actually engineered
by ourselves for the reparation of our past faults. The suffering which we encounter and overcome provides the means of our liberation from guilt, and the attainment of a peaceful conscience.
The so-called misfortunes are not really the calamities judged by man's immediate and utilitarian interests. Real misfortune is the lack of faith in God while living in pain
and desperation without the blessed support of belief and hope.
Those who have deceived themselves and their conscience,
and are indifferent to it, despite their intellect and its desire to
overcome instinct, are the truly unfortunate.
It is a cruel misfortune to be faced by the need for
redemption, while unable to do so, and to be continuously
dominated by pernicious attachments. This dulls their spirit and obliterates all hope of the future. The result is a lack of stamina and the necessary strength to acquire joy which is the offspring of submission.
On the other hand, there are those who experience
misfortune but keep their confidence even while in the midst of pain and anguish. They await the help of Divine Mercy; they do not rebel nor blame anyone, and may even glorify love and give thanks for the suffering they endure ....
Through misfortunes, an awakened Spirit can always extract
the blessings of consolation and balance if he remains faithful to himself and to the Creator who created him to be happy.
Many unwarily consider "the loss of loved ones" a true
misfortune when in reality death is not destruction but
liberation. Also countless is the number of people who complain because their loved ones are immobilized with paralysis. They even wish them the blessings of death, forgetting that the paralysis of today is the result of the bad direction they had given to their steps in the past.
There are parents who believe themselves most miserable for
receiving in their arms a deformed, retarded, or feeble and ugly child. They prefer not to believe that Divine Justice is returning to them the one they had harmed in the past; that now he is with them showing the unfortunate marks in a body to suit his expiation and redemption.
There are also those who become penniless and believe
themselves victims of adversity. They writhe in feelings of utter despair when they could resort to the treasures of prayer and patience and then continually work in order to be worthy, and prepare for another phase of prominence. Pain is a warning and a lesson that no one should neglect to heed. Yes, there are misfortunes that elevate people and misfortunes that ruin them.
It is a real disgrace to cowardly abandon the struggle through suicide which is an act of rebellion against God and life. By doing such an insane act, man cuts short his commitments for rehabilitation, hurling himself into bottomless pits of unimaginable fears and unending remorse ....
There is also a comfortless torment for those who take away
the life of a brother in humanity. It does not matter whether this killing was motivated by hatred, jealousy, suspicion, or greed; by rebellion or even for sake of compassion ....
The saint and the apostle, the angel and the good messenger all are forged and purified in the fire of suffering to which they acquiesce and which they overcome.
The task of the Spiritist Doctrine is to immediately prepare
man for these circumstances that are not always easy which he has to face on his way to redemption.
It teaches that each person is the architect of his own destiny, and will receive what he himself had produced; it provides him with a needed maturity to make him aware of the responsibilities of his deeds.
Therefore, pain, grievances, anguish, or despair are the
treatments by which life helps the sick and obstinate soul to
achieve true recovery. This will cause the soul to return to the
high objectives of the Greater Life in whose direction it is even now walking. It will arrive there, at the shedding of the
temporary body in which it was trying to build its happiness. Ahappiness which is only reached later on by a soul that has made restitutions of all its overdue commitments. 

Misfortunes from the book After the storm, dictated by the spirit Joanna de Angelis to Divaldo P. Franco