Let us unite in good...

There is a phrase, very often repeated, that has been questioned lately: "No one is irreplaceable”. Is it? Who replaced Beethoven, who, even deaf, composed immortal symphonies? Who replaced Victor Hugo, a French poet who, when he was disincarnated, attracted a crowd that had never been seen in France at a funeral like his? Who replaced Chico Xavier, one of the greatest mediums of all time, whose death caused the commotion of millions? Who replaces me or you, my friend, in our ascending effort, whose success depends on our will and effort?

However, for those who defend the idea that "out with the old, in with the new”, for the nonconformists because they are not the prominent characters, in any activity of leadership, nothing better than the critic with the purpose of revealing the weak points of those who are in charge of a job. It seems to us that there are people who, in the administration of a public or private institution, advance one step, but soon they are replaced by others who go back two steps. One step ahead, two steps behind; one ahead, two behind... Where would we end up if that were to continue like this? In the era of dinosaurs and, consequently, extinct.

Fortunately, not always those who take a step forward are replaced by those who take two steps back. There are many more good people in the world than bad people. In fact, the Superior Spirits tell us that no one goes through the matrix of evil to evolve, but rather through ignorance (issue 120 of The Book of Spirits). When someone harms others, it also harms itself. Suffering the consequences of his wrong behavior, if he is intelligent, he begins to think and thus realizes that the law of action and reaction cannot be mocked by any of us. But if the bad suffer justly, why do the good suffer as well? For these have also been evil in past ages, and were not attained by human laws in their attitudes contrary to the Divine Law. Otherwise, God would not be just in making suffer both the good and the bad that still ignore His main law, from which all others result: the Law of Love.

There is a capital difference between the suffering of those who are good and the suffering of the bad. The latter suffer in an uproarious way, and they blaspheme, howl, curse, and so on. And the more they kick, the more they suffer. The first ones give us sublime examples of resignation, mildness and submission to the Divine Will. The suffering of those who are now good, even though they seem to be unjust, give us a true lesson in how to act before the correction of the Father, for, as Jesus said, we are all children of God, who is Love. For this very reason, the pain of the good is a source of purification; the pain of the bad, a reason of despair and revolt, because if he is selfless, the latter is egocentric.

It is amazing, however, the different way in which Mankind praises the deeds of the good, such as the bad. And, even more impressive, their actions, even if they are a minority, attract more attention than those. If we connect the television in four or five channels, especially when the news is on, what is most mentioned is disasters, crimes and accidents. However, there is still little media emphasis on some of the millions of everyday events in homes, places of leisure or work that are based on respect, solidarity and love for others.

This greater prominence to evil stems from our still simple and ignorant nature. Nowadays, even football, a supportive sport, which has the participation of eleven athletes on each side, leads some people to an irrational breakup, when they realize that their team has lost. They have not yet learned from our Japanese brothers, who value both the effort of each competing side and the victory of one of them.

At the time of the Roman Empire, violent sports could bring to death the defeated adversary. It is said that when Emperor Nero waved his thumb down, he wished the victor to kill the vanquished, if his finger was up, the loser’s life was saved.

However, today, billions of good people, dear reader, are born, live peacefully and, if their actions are weighed, the good they did on this Earth prevails. They do not gain fame and money in the world, but where they go they take life and joy. Not all of these people are religious, but most are not capable of committing an act of cruelty without feeling terribly sorry and try to correct it somehow by opposing good to evil. That is exactly what the Apostle Peter says: "Love covers the multitude of sins" (I Peter, 4: 8).

We are approaching the time when the good will have more importance within the media. However, our children and young people have been bombarded with evil highlights: various crimes, corruption, drug use, sexual imbalances, as if nothing of the sort would sooner or later bring harmful consequences not only to the physical body but also to the Spirit. Still, most choose the good.

To those who join the evil, it is no wonder that they grow up thinking that we live in a world of make-believe. I pretend I am honest, but I'm keeping an eye on your assets; I pretend that I'm going to fight the corrupt, but I'll always corrupt someone; I pretend to be faithful, but I constantly betray the person with whom I live; I pretend to believe in the Good News of Christ, but for me the man who divided time before and after him never existed. This, however, is only the useless attempt of the evil in delaying the natural evolution of good, the essential Divine Law.

To the simple, the "make believe" does not make sense. That is why Jesus said that theirs is "the Kingdom of Heaven". When we ask millions of good souls if they think of stealing from someone when they are starving, they will say no, for they do not put their happiness on Earth, but in Heaven. Although they live in the mud, they make out of the mud a beautiful castle and live in it harmoniously and in solidarity.

An untold number of suffering children, orphans, or from very poor families, for the most part, need to exchange their play for work. And the struggle for survival makes them fraternal, with their friends, the majority of these children.

Millions of rural laborers, low-paid workers, domestic workers, guide their lives for honesty, and therefore never harm their bosses, even if they are not always generous. Most domestic workers never stole a single button from their employer's house.

The number of poor, sick people without access to good medical treatment is uncountable, and yet they are not angry with the Lord. Many of them, although they have nothing of material, donate a word of hope, an alert, and a hug of solidarity to the neighbor, also in need of almost everything. For them, there is nothing better than to live well with one's own conscience, where the Law of God resides. They intuitively know that it is worthwhile to wait, to resist and to work, for, being a Just and Loving Father, God does not disown any of His children.

Imagine, then, how much better life on Earth will be when newspapers, TVs, magazines, books, and the Internet reverse the current procedure of highlighting evil and emphasize the good. Primarily, when social inequalities are corrected and schools are given a perfect education, the Kingdom of Heaven will be implanted on Earth, and Christ will remain forever in each one of us, as Paul said he was already with him (Galatians, 2:20).

Since charity is our most important means of happiness, I propose we think about it and put it into practice every day of our lives, endeavoring to do so, even though we are far from being considered "good men" , in the way presented by Kardec (2017, Chapter XVII, item 3). Let us begin by striving to always be good and we will only have good Spirits at our side, as this Encoder of Spiritism says (2009, Chapter IX, page 224).

Everything that happens to us is a reflection of ourselves, and the body is the canvas where our emotions are projected. All our negative feelings are fixed in our somatic body in the form of diseases. When we feel anger, hurt, disgust, resentment or unhappiness, for a long time, we give vent to the most serious illnesses.

Our brain has two hemispheres: left and right. It is necessary to have a balance between these hemispheres, to have a healthy life. According to Cairo (1999), the "law of cause and effect" has been "researched and proven" throughout the world. Happiness is a consequence of the harmony of our soul, "in whatever situation" we find ourselves. Thus, we order below the qualities of these hemispheres, according to this author.

If we realize that one of the qualities of one of the sides above prevails, we must work the quality of the other side, so that there is a balance and, consequently, well-being in our life.

According to recent studies of psychoanalysis, Cristina Cairo (op. cit.) reports that "illnesses and unhappiness are caused by conscience of guilt and deep contradictions". So let us avoid all that unfortunates and causes us evil, so that we have a healthy physical-mental life. This researcher also recommends that we immediately stop judging and criticizing people negatively. Instead, let us praise them, and our lives will be better.

And forgiveness? Forgiveness is the means of proving to ourselves that negative emotions are under our control. No one attacks us without our deserving it, unless it is of his nature to do evil. Still here, this situation tests us the ability to love and have compassion for our neighbor. When we feel attacked, we have done something to others or to ourselves in the present, or in the past. Free will is a reality, although some materialistic philosophers have denied it. It brings us good or bad consequences of our attitudes and thoughts. Hence the importance of "pray and watch!" recommended by Jesus with unprecedented wisdom.

Finally, we remind you that there are two universal laws: a) similar attract; b) everything has compensation. Let us do well untiringly and we will always be well. In question 886 of The Book of Spirits, Allan Kardec asks:

- What is the true meaning of the word charity, as Jesus understood it?

And the answer is a bip: b of benevolence; i of indulgence and p of pardon or forgiveness: "Benevolence towards all, indulgence with the imperfections of others and forgiveness of offenses". Thinking about this, the Spirit Bezerra de Menezes proposes to the Spiritist Movement:

It is necessary to maintain the Spiritism, in the way it was delivered by the divine messengers to Allan Kardec, without political commitments, without religious professionalism, without depressing personalisms, and without the temptation to conquest transitory terrestrial powers.

Respect for all creatures, appreciation to all authorities, devotion to the common good and instruction of the people, in all directions, on the truths of the Spirit, immutable, eternal. 

Nothing that reminds castes, discriminations, unjustifiable individual evidence, privileges, immunities, priorities.

Love of Jesus over all, Kardec's truth for all.

In every temple, the strongest should be the shield for the weakest; the most enlightened, the light for the least enlightened, and always and always be the most protected and most aided sufferer, as among those who least suffer the greatest is the one who becomes the servant of all, according to the observation of the Divine Mentor .

Let us go forward, seeking the inspiration of the Lord.

Since Spiritism is re-living Christianity, its message of tolerance, compassion and love to our neighbors, be it Spiritist or not, is what makes us heirs of the message of the Comforter. And if it fulfills, with the Spiritist Doctrine, the promise of Jesus to be with us forever, it is up to us not to hide the light under the Earth, but to extend it to all, and above all, strive to be better today than yesterday and tomorrow better than today, but living intensely and holy every day.

References:

CAIRO, Cristina.  A linguagem do corpo (The language of the body). Sao Paulo: Mercuryo, 1999.

KARDEC, Allan. O livro dos espíritos (The Book of Spirits). Translation by Guillon Ribeiro. 93. ed. 1. print. (Historical Edition). Brasilia: FEB, 2013.

______. O livro dos médiuns (The Book of Mediums). Translation by Evandro Noleto Bezerra. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2009.

______. O evangelho segundo o espiritismo (The Gospel According to Spiritism). Translated by Evandro Noleto Bezerra. 2. ed. 4. print. Brasilia: 2017.

SOUZA, Juvanir Borges de (coord. and org.) et al.. Bezerra, ontem e hoje (Bezerra, yesterday and today). 3rd. ed. Brasilia: FEB, 2018.

XAVIER, Francisco Candido. Unificação (Unification). By the Spirit Bezerra de Menezes. Christian Spiritist Communion, Apr. 20, 1963. In: Reformador (Reformer), FEB, Rio de Janeiro, p. 314, Oct. 1995.

Translation:

Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br