With Ardent Love
"Above all, love each other deeply" Peter (I Peter, 4:8)
It is not enough to proclaim virtue in favor of the establishment of the Divine Kingdom among mankind.
Problem extensively debated = solution much delayed.
Let us individually listen to the apostolic warning and swell with ardent charity, one for all.
To speak well, to teach with certainty, and to believe sincerely, are the primary phases of the service. It is crucial to work, to create and to feel with the Christ.
Fraternity simply suggested to others builds brilliant façades that experience can consume in one minute.
It is imperative to achieve the substance, the essence...
Let us be understanding with those who are ignorant, vigilant in relation to those who have gone astray in evil and in the shadows, patient toward those who are ill, serene toward the irritated, and above all, let us manifest goodwill toward all those who the Master entrusted to us for the daily teachings.
Prompt reasoning, being well prepared to act with agility on Earth, can constitute a valuable patrimony; on the other hand, if the heart is lacking in feeling for the problems, in conducting and resolving them for the common good, he will be susceptible to being easily converted into a calculator.
Let us not be detained in theoretic compassion.
Let us seek fraternal love, spontaneous, ardent and pure.
Heavenly charity not only scatters benefits, it also radiates the Divine Light.
XAVIER, Francisco Cândido. Our Daily Bread. By the Spirit Emmanuel. Spititist Alliance for Books, 2003. Chapter 99.
Questions 43 to 49 - The Formation of Living Beings
Spirits's replies to Allan Kardec
"In the beginning, all was chaos; the elements were all jumbled together. Little by little, each thing settled into its proper place. Then, living beings appropriate for that state of the globe appeared."
"The earth already contained their prototypes, which had been waiting for the favorable moment in order to develop. The organic elements began to combine the moment the force that had kept them apart ceased, thereby forming the prototypes of all living beings. These prototypes then remained latent and inert – like a chrysalis or a seed – until the proper time for each species to appear. Then, the beings of each species came together and reproduced."
"They were in a fluidic state (so to speak) in space amongst the spirits or on other planets, waiting for the creation of the earth in order to commence a new existence on that new globe."
"Yes, but their primitive prototype has always existed in the latent state. You witness this phenomenon all the time. Don’t human and animal tissues contain a multitude of larval prototypes waiting to emerge as soon as the decay needed for their existence begins? It is a microscopic world that slumbers and then awakens."
"Yes, and it came forth at just the right time. This is the basis for the statement that humans were formed from the dust of the earth."
"No, all of your calculations are purely speculative."
"The beginning of things remains one of God’s secrets. Nevertheless, we can say that once early humans began to spread out over the earth, they absorbed into themselves the elements needed for their formation in order to pass on these elements according to the laws of reproduction. The same happened with all the other species of living beings."
KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits’ Book. 3.ed. International Spiritist Council, 2011.
Avoid Quarrels
"And the Lord's servant must not quarrel." Paul (II Timothy, 2:24)
Avoid those who look for quarrels in the service of the Lord.
They are not in search of divine clarity for the heart. They just dispute over glory and the promotion in the area of fleeting considerations. Upon analyzing the sacred scriptures, they do not attract their personal illumination, but rather, a way of putting their inferior personalism in evidence.
They combat the fellow beings that do not adopt their personal ideas, they disfavor the services that they do not hold in direct control; they do not collaborate except from the vertex to the base; they do not see advantages except in the tasks to which they themselves are assigned. They take pleasure in long discussions over where to place a comma, and they waste immense days in discovering the apparent contradictions of the writers consecrated to the ideals of Jesus. They never find time for the service of the Christian humility, simply interested in their own personal recognition. They always perceive as strange the conjugation of the verbs to help, to forgive and to serve. They invariably notice humanity's imperfection and they carry whips in their hands due to their poor taste of striking. They quarrel over all the particulars of the evangelical edification and, when the possibility for constructive agreement appears, they create new motives for disturbance.
Those that incorporate into the Redeeming Gospel, in the spirit of contention, are the greatest and most subtle adversaries of the Kingdom of God.
It is indispensable for the apprentice to be vigilant, so that he does not lose himself in the delirium of blunt useless words.
We were not called upon for quarrels, but rather, to serve and to learn with the Master; nor were we called upon to exalt the "self," but instead to fulfill the supreme designs in the construction of the Divine Kingdom within us.
XAVIER, Francisco Cândido. Our Daily Bread. By the Spirit Emmanuel. Spititist Alliance for Books, 2003. Chapter 98.
Guard the Good Deposit
"Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you." Paul (II Timothy, 1:13)
Distribute the resources that Providence provided to your working hands; however, do not forget that the consoling words to the sickly represents a direct service from the heart in the cultivation of righteousness.
The bread from the body is an alms for which you will receive proper compensation, while a friendly smile is an eternal blessing.
Send messengers to the fraternal aid; but above all, at least every now and then, do not overlook visiting the sick brother and personally listen to him.
The expedition of assistance is a gesture that will make you likeable; however, your direct intervention of assistance to the needy, will provide you with the spiritual preparation to face your own battles.
Climb the platform and teach the path of redemption to all; but interrupt your discourse, every now and then, in order to listen to the laments of a companion through his personal human experience, even if it comes from a child of despair or of ignorance, so that you do not lose track of the proportions in your path.
Cultivate the flowers of the private garden of your loved ones, because, without the flowerbed of experience it is difficult to follow the noble and intensive task; however, do not flee from the human forest, fearing the worms and monsters that inhabit it; as, it is crucial that you prepare to advance, within it, in the future.
In the circles of life, do not forget the necessity of engraving the teaching within you.
Just as it is impossible to receive individual nourishment through a substitute, or to learn a lesson, by storing it in someone else's memory, you will not be able to present yourself in front of the Supreme Forces of Wisdom and of Love, by way of victories that you have not personally lived or personally achieved.
"Guard", therefore within you "the good deposit that was entrusted to you."
XAVIER, Francisco Cândido. Our Daily Bread. By the Spirit Emmanuel. Spititist Alliance for Books, 2003. Chapter 97.
Precisely Because of This
"I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it." (I John, 2:21)
The interchange, each time more intense between "the living" and "the dead," in general, constitutes a great event for the Evangelical Organizations.
It is not solely a realization for the Spiritist Organizations; it belongs to the entire Christian community.
At this time we notice that here and there, organized dogmatic protest exists; but, the revivification of the truth demands it.
Every acquisition has a price and any renovation encounters spontaneous obstacles.
The day will come when the various subdivisions of Evangelism will comprehend the divine finality of the new concert.
The movement of spiritual interchange between the two spheres widens each day. The devotion demonstrated by the discarnates provokes the attention of the incarnates.
The Lord permitted a worldwide Pentecost for the readjustment of the eternal reality.
It is worthwhile to notice that the moving and motivating voices from on High commonly reiterate formulas of the Revelation and recall the wisdom of Earth intent on extracting the most respectable concepts regarding life.
It is at this point that we remember the words of John who sincerely questioned: "Do the dead communicate with the living because individuals ignore the truth?
Not so.
If the departed once again speak to those that remain, it is because they are aware of the path of Redemption with Jesus, but, they are neither inspired, nor are they encouraged to thresh out a path.
XAVIER, Francisco Cândido. Our Daily Bread. By the Spirit Emmanuel. Spititist Alliance for Books, 2003. Chapter 96.
Allan Kardec's remarks:
Chemistry shows us that when the proper conditions are present, the molecules of inorganic bodies unite to form crystals of a consistent regularity according to each type. However, the slightest shift in such conditions is enough to prevent the combining of the elements, or at least the orderly arrangement that comprises the crystal. Why would the same not apply to organic elements? We can store the seeds of plants and animals for many years but they do not develop unless given the appropriate temperature and environment. We have seen grains of wheat germinate after several centuries. Thus, there is a latent life principle in these seeds that merely waits for favorable circumstances in order to develop. Could this everyday occurrence not have existed since the globe’s origin? Is God’s glory diminished by the fact that living beings were formed out of chaos by the forces of nature? Far from it. Instead, this fact corresponds better to the idea that God wields divine power over all the infinite worlds by using eternal laws. Granted, this theory does not solve the problem of how the life elements themselves originated, but God guards the divine secrets and has put limits on our inquiries.