Special

por Claudia Gelernter

Compassion, always!

“Judge not, and you shall not be judged at all; do not condemn and in no way you will be condemned. Absolve and you will be absolved”. - Jesus (Luke 6:37)

 

We inherited from our ancestors the genes that correspond to us in the formation of our bodies and its tendencies, having our perispirit as a template for such. In addition to the color of the eyes or hair, the texture of the skin or the shape of our mouth, the genes also operate on the internal organs and contribute to the outbreak of certain diseases when necessary. Multifactorial, type 2 diabetes, for example, asks us for a genetic load that is passed on by our close relatives so that it can arise, usually in middle age. With schizophrenia it is not different: it only occurs when there is genetic information for it, that is, when a family member (uncle, aunt, mother, father etc.) is schizophrenic.

When we talk about multifactorial diseases, we mean that not only genetics is enough for their emergence, but other factors, whether environmental or emotional, will be needed.

We already know that environmental factors have a major influence on the development of inherited genetic disease - common diseases such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, which have polygenic characteristics (produced by the combination of various environmental factors, lifestyle factors and mutations in various genes, usually different chromosomes), depend fundamentally on the contribution of the environment to their development. Thus, the hereditary factor can be counteracted as long as one is aware of the risk factors that involve its genetic heritage and has healthy habits, as well as an emotionally balanced field.

It is not uncommon to hear people say, “My son takes after his father, he keeps mumbling about the house…” Given that the concept “takes after his father” concerns a possible genetic inheritance, it should be said that this is not the case. We do not “take after”, or rather, we do not genetically inherit our behavior patterns, but they are transmitted to us through examples and words. This truth is too important, since many of the possible catalysts for disease (the way we feel, think and act in the world) are only passed on by our ancestors through coexistence and could be avoided if the system were healthy regarding the emotional / spiritual point of view.

From all that has been detailed so far, it can already be inferred that there is not a single human being who makes himself, either by his physical, but also psychic and behavioral aspects. We are only in relation, which means that we both influence and are influenced all the time.

Thus, the idea of ​​the “self-made-man” (so widespread in the US), that is, the one who can win alone, is unrealistic.

Within Systemic Psychology it is known that it is not possible to understand the person without analyzing it within the system in which it is inserted, primarily its family ties, but also in other environments in which it travels in the world.

Thus, a middle-class spirit-born person who attended reasonable schools was introduced to Christian doctrine, has loving parents, healthy relationships, assertively set boundaries, and who has arrived to adulthood facing common challenges always with support and strong faith, will have a good chance of becoming a person with a certain emotional balance, strengthened ego, and behavior equivalent to the inner world. It will be what we call the "good man," due to common sense.

Whereas the child who was born in the periphery, within a marginalized group because of poor and scarce resources, whose parents - also unbalanced within a system that is anchored in aggressive behavior - did not know how to welcome, care, and give it affection, who attended state schools of poor education, who watches crime so often that it becomes trivial, every day, with no faith, will obviously have little or, depending on its spiritual baggage, no chance of achieving balance, intimate harmony to leave good footprints in the world. Its vulnerability is such that, in the face of the acidity of the world, the call of evil, fruit of the ignorance - in which it is plunged - is the only one that makes any sense to it.

In the prisons of our country, the overwhelming majority of detainees are of humble origin, with little or no education, black or of brown skin. Why is this “outbreak” of crime only to people of this profile? We know that among many rich people there are scams, deviations, and "little ways" to circumvent the law. It turns out that such human laws are made primarily to incarcerate, most of the time, the people who are part of this social layer. Thus, if with graduation, he will already be entitled to a special cell, for example.

We may then wonder why a person who is born into a resourceful home, though perhaps not punished by the laws of men, commits crime. Like almost everything else in the world, it is a multifactorial issue, as are many physical ailments. Sometimes in the home there is money, but rare displays of affection. In other cases, it is violence, drug addiction, or even corruption of all kinds. As the spirit Albino Teixeira already said, through Francisco Candido Xavier: "The word inclines, but the example drags".

And what about us, the others? If we are following an incarnation with some “tranquility”, if we can already find the meaning of our lives, seeking to achieve the best, within our means, how should we face the issue of crimes, the criminals of the world?

If guided by our inner judge, our critical self, formed in our childhood through the speech and actions of the closest and most significant adults, we will judge without mercy or compassion, for we are above, superior, better than these others.

With a shallow look, in the style “only cause for such effect”, we would say that the individual is a bad guy because he is evil or because he is a bum, taking advantage. And thus we will try to fit all those who oppose what we believe as part of good values ​​and customs. Some will judge - also harshly - those who are not even criminals, but only “different” in what they understand to be right, such as homosexuals, blacks, the poor, and so on.

It is worth remembering that the speech “a good bandit is a dead bandit” is supported by 50% of the Brazilian population, according to data conducted by the “Datafolha Institute”. A great part believes that the solution to reducing crime is to act violently and the consequent speech is one angry and full of hatred.

So here is the question: - Given this phenomenon (of crime), how would Jesus act?

It will not be difficult to find answers to such a question. Just look at the Master's life and work:

•  When he had to choose the friends who would accompany His mission, he went to the poor, the simple and lived with them and taught them;

•  During his path on Earth, He tried to blame, denounce and fight the hypocritical religious who used their political and institutional power to enrich themselves while judging and stoning the so-called "impure" by the Law;

•  He welcomed women, the poor, marginalized, the sick of all kinds, and defended them without rest;

•  When in the face of popular judgment, He indicated that the one who was without sin should throw the first stone;

•  At the end, when nailed to the cross with two evildoers (criminals), one of them begs, “Lord, have mercy on me.” And Jesus' answer was, “Verily I say unto thee, to this day you shall be with me in Paradise..."

We could highlight many excerpts from the gospels where Jesus exercised mercy on evildoers.

Within this path, once said Chico Xavier: "Emmanuel often says that the criminal is always one of us who has been discovered".

This is because there is no one who is devoid of intimate shadows, inner trouble. From the point of view of God's Laws there is no one who is not a criminal.

•  Do you eat in an unhealthy way? Do you eat foods that are the result of slavery, pain and death?

•  Do you smoke? Drink?

•  Tell a lie?

•  Want someone committed? Do you commit adultery, even in thought?

•  Are you aggressive in the traffic, at home, at work?

•  Do you wish evil for someone?

•  Can't you forgive any event or person?

As you can see, under the gaze of divine love, there is no one who is not debtor on Earth. Even if these crimes are not punishable by the law of men. In fact, the list above could be much larger, we know.

It is interesting that the paradox lies precisely in the fact that the more evolved the soul is, the greater its compassion towards those who have not yet learned to love.

Here we have, clearly, the concept of “projection” proposed by Freud: The bigger (and more denied) the shadow, the greater the judgment and attack on others.

In the Book of Hope, chap. 33, again the Spirit Emmanuel explains:

“In the face of a fellow that seems to you to be evil, be silent and always offer support”. (...) Many of those that have fallen into indiscipline and violence, segregated in the houses of moral treatment, keep with them the braziers of anguish imposed on them, in painful obsessive processes, by the imponderable hands of disembodied adversaries from other existences. And almost all that have faded in the path of their obligations, surrendering to the onslaught of cruelty and despair, have sustained, for a long time, in the intimacy of their being, the agonized tension of resistance to the forces of evil, often succumbing to the portrayal of understanding and love ... For all of them, our brothers who have fallen into delinquency, let us thus return our thought and action touched by empathy, remembering Jesus, who does not consider our imperfections to support us and let us be certain that we too, by the extent of our own weaknesses, cannot really know at what obstacles in the way our feet will stumble”.

We are all within the great Law, which drives us to evolution. All of us one day have already fallen or will fall, since we are imperfect, at this moment of the trajectory. And all of us one day will be perfect, like the Master himself.

Léon Denis wrote about this: “All souls are perfectible and capable of education; they must follow the same paths and come from life below to the fullness of knowledge, wisdom and virtue. Not all are equally advanced, but all will sooner or later climb the arduous slopes that lead to the radiant eminences bathed in eternal light.

Understanding, not judging and supporting the fallen from the path, is an imperative task that is incumbent on everyone, anytime, anywhere.

We are able to grow compassion in our hearts. For this it is necessary to remove the veils of ignorance, consciously facing the social, psychic and spiritual intricacies of humanity. That done, we quickly realize that there are many factors in the genesis of criminal behavior.

And while one may sometimes not enjoy freedom for a time because of the risks, we must still welcome, understand, and if possible re-socialize... never judge and kill.

This is what Jesus taught us.


References:

XAVIER, F; The Gospel by Emmanuel - Comments to the Gospel according to Luke; coordination by Saulo Cesar Ribeiro da Silva – 1st edition; Brasilia: FEB, 2015.

DENIS, Leon. Christianity and Spiritismexperimental proofs of survival. Translated by Leopoldo Cirne. 14th ed. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2005.

______. The problem of being, of destiny and of pain: the testimonies, the facts, the laws. 28th ed. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2005.

KARDEC, A; The Gospel According to Spiritism – translated by Guillon Ribeiro from the 3rd French edition, revised, corrected and modified by the author in 1866. 124th. ed. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2004.


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

 
 

     
     

O Consolador
 Revista Semanal de Divulgação Espírita