Creed, faith and transformation

 
 
To several people, the lack of knowledge concerning Spiritism has caused the difficulties and divergences that we see frequently in our circle. The lack of knowledge obviously comes from the lack of doctrinal study, be either the one performed individually at home or the one performed collectively in Spiritist meetings. 

In regard to the need for study, this lesson is already known from The Spirit of Truth published on chapter VI item 5 in The Gospel According to Spiritism: 

“I am to much overcome with compassion for your miseries and by your immense weakness not to extend a helpful hand to all those unhappy misguided who, while looking up to Heaven, fall into the pit of error. Believe, love and meditate on these things that are revealed to you. Do not mix the chaff with the good seed, or the Utopias with the truth. Spiritists! Love one another, that is the first precept; educate yourselves is the second. Within Christianity you will find all the truths. The errors in which the Man has become enrooted are all of human origin. Here from beyond the grave where you thought there was nothing the voices call out to you: ‘Brothers and sisters! Nothing perishes! Jesus Christ is the victor over all evil, you can be the victors over impiety’.” 

In another work – The Mediums’ Book, items 31 and 32, the Codifier even suggested to us a method of study, implying that the best method of Spiritist teachings is directing it to reason before directing it to the sight. “The preliminary study of the theory – explained Kardec – has other advantage, that is to immediately show the magnitude of the objective and of the reach of this science; one that starts seeing a table turning or hitting the floor tends to be mocked, because it is hard to persuade someone that a regenerating doctrine of the human kind can come from a table. Starting from the theory allow us to review all the phenomena, explain them, understand their possibility, the conditions under which they can occur and the obstacles that can be faced. Whatever is the order they appear afterwards, nothing about them will amaze anyone, avoiding disillusions to who wants to work. 

It is evident that knowing is not enough; it is necessary to apply what we are learning. This is the reason by which Spiritism does not immediately transform those zealous adepts, like Xumene’s case shows us on chapter VII in the second part of the book Heaven and Hell. 

Referring to the spirit of Xumene who had just manifested itself in a session, the Spiritual Guide recommended the medium to have courage and perseverance. Xumene would be a pain, but the triumph would prevail in the end. “There is no guilty individual that cannot be regenerated by means of persuasion and example – said the spiritual instructor –, since that even the most perverse spirits end up correcting themselves with the time.”  

Finishing the message, the mentor clarified: “Even disagreeing, the ideas suggested to those spirits make us reflect. They are like seeds that would have to fruit sooner or later. The rock is not smashed with the first sledgehammer knock. This I have just said may also be applied to the incarnated spirits and you must understand the reason why Spiritism does not make even the most zealous adepts immediately perfect. The creed is the first step: secondly comes the faith and then the transformation; but, in addition to that, strength is what many come to refresh in the spiritual world.”

The English writer Harry Boddington, who studied mediumship for fifty years, said in one of his books that there are many mediums who have developed their faculties without the least comprehension of their responsibilities and the implications to their works, who only after making a certain number of easily preventable mistakes, and putting the health in risk, start studying the subject-matter.

Applying these observations to people in general, not only to those who work in the field of mediumship, we can affirm that many of us are in the first phase – creed -, without having reached at least the second phase – faith –, what indicates that the third and last step –transformation – is still too far, and also explains the difficulties and divergences we have in the spiritist circle.