O termo espiritismo (do francês antigo "espiritisme") surgiu como um neologismo, mais precisamente um "porte-manteau", criado pelo pedagogo francês Hippolyte Léon Denizard Rivail, sob o pseudônimo de "Allan Kardec", para nomear especificamente o corpo de idéias por ele sistematizadas inicialmente em "O Livro dos Espíritos" (1857). Contudo, a utilização de raízes oriundas da língua viva para compor a palavra ("spirit": espírito + "isme": doutrina), que, se por um lado foi um expediente a que Kardec recorreu para facilitar a difusão do novo conjunto de idéias, por outro fez com que o termo fosse rapidamente incorporado ao uso cotidiano para designar tudo o que dizia respeito à comunicação com os espíritos. Assim, por espiritismo, muitos entendem hoje as várias doutrinas religiosas e/ou filosóficas que crêem na sobrevivência do espírito à morte do corpo, e, principalmente, na possibilidade de se comunicar ordinariamente com ele.
O presente artigo visa a tratar do espiritismo levando em consideração todos os diferentes usos do termo, enquanto que o artigo doutrina espírita está voltado para descrever o espiritismo conforme sistematizado por Kardec. Essa divisão entre espiritismo (geral) e doutrina espírita (específico) é meramente didática, não implicando apologia a nenhum dos dois usos.
O espiritismo, de um modo geral, fundamenta-se nos seguintes pontos:
- o homem é um espírito temporariamente ligado a um corpo (para Kardec esta ligação é feita através de uma interface que denomina de perispírito, um envoltório semimaterial que o vulgo denomina como "fantasma");
- a alma é o espírito enquanto se encontra ligado ao corpo;
- o espírito, compreendido como individualidade inteligente da Criação, é imortal;
- a reencarnação é o processo natural de aperfeiçoamento dos espíritos;
- o aperfeiçoamento, através das reencarnações (vidas sucessivas), está ligado a uma "Lei de Causa e Efeito", segundo a qual recebemos na medida do que causamos (bondade e/ou maldade);
- os espíritos encarnados ("vivos") e os espíritos desencarnados ("mortos") podem se comunicar através da mediunidade (em língua inglesa também "channeling");
- a Terra não é o único planeta com vida inteligente (pluralidade dos mundos habitados
THE WORLD OF THE SPIRIT
Preface by S.J. Haddad
by
FRANCISCO CÂNDIDO XAVIER
and
WALDO VIEIRA
INTRODUCTION
Knocking at the Door - - ever since the appearance of man on Earth, the Spirit world has,
in many ways, knocked at the door of man's attention. However, not until the turn of the century
was man enabled to make a clearer idea, based on scientific investigation, of the invisible world
and its laws.
Much as it is the case with the advancement of other scientific discoveries, this unique
branch of knowledge, could not but make its progress, and produce the remarkable results further
referred to in this introduction.
A World in Transition - - In a message received recently by Francisco Cândido Xavier, in
New York City, we are told that the world is now in a time of transition. That, while science has
commanded material progress, the realm of the spirit still suffers from the same illnesses of
centuries ago. There is affliction and despair, and darkness invades the souls of men.
It is because of this, that the powers of faith are now united and everywhere manifesting,
to give the best they have in their help to Humanity. As part of this effort we would point out the
message that comes to us from Brazil's Christian Spirit Doctrine, in a gesture of sublime
Christian brotherliness and understanding, by the regenerating voices of he benevolent and Wise
Spiritual Beings who speak in this book.
Concept of Christian Mediumship - - the faculty of mediumship, to be found in an ever
increasing number of people, does not necessarily imply, in itself, the high or low morality of the
one who possesses it. Like the many other gifts which people receive on the Earth, as a sign of
God's mercy, mediumship can be used on a higher or lower level, producing in turn results of
higher or lower qualities.
As in any other field of human behavior, mediumship at its best, must, at all cost,
conform to the same standards as taught and exemplified by the Master Jesus.
To emphasize the concept of Christian mediumship, is one of the objects of this book. In
between the lines of these pages the reader will perceive a stream of spiritual beauty, which
could only flow unencumbered as a result of this lofty concept of Christian mediumship.
How This Book Was Received - - The pages of this book were received through automatic
writing by our two friends Francisco Cândido Xavier and Dr. Waldo Vieira, both Brazilian
mediums.1 Mr. Xavier is a retired Government employee and Dr. Vieira a physician. the reader is
no doubt acquainted with automatic writing or psychographic mediumship. However, as regards
the present book, you may want to ask: "What is the mediumship of the Christian Spirit doctrine
in Brazil?"
We will answer with the presentation of a message by a spiritual friend, dictated in
English to the physician medium Dr. Waldo Vieira, in an evening session of July, 1965, held in
New York City. The following is the message:
The subject about the phenomena of mediumship was initiated a little over a century ago.
Everywhere spirit entities revealed survival hereafter with rapping and lights.
Psychic experience was repeated over and over.
Now it is called "extrasensory perception". What is it, asks science; will it be a new kind
of miracle? In the same way, we explain that "extrasensory perception" is mediumship and
1 Mr. Xavier received the chapters of odd numbers and Dr. Vieira the even ones.
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nothing else.
Mediumship opens the soul to the Spiritual World, but this is not enough for the
development of the medium.
Mediumship may be compared to a powerful weapon. We must know how to employ it.
First, adjust it according to the principle of Divine Order. Second, improve it through service to
humanity, because spiritual force acts upon the Law of Mind and it is responsive.
We are one and all, under the Law. How could it be otherwise? Each medium receives
what he gives.
How many good works are you checking up each day? How is life treating you?
Do not forget it. Let us remember that life treats us as we treat it.
Look for the good all the time. Have a benevolent attitude toward the unhappy and
underprivileged.
Mediumship must represent God-life in our body temple. No weeping. nor limitation. Let
us keep evolving and improving now and forever. We can define no better formula for
mediumship than this: practice God's love.
This message was signed by the spirit of Ernest O'Brien.
Fruits of Spiritual Knowledge - - No less remarkable than the teaching which comes from
the Spirit World, are the fruits the Spirit doctrine is producing in many countries. As an example,
we may mention Brazil, where these pages have originated.
Ever since this activity began, first in private and isolated groups, who gathered regularly
for prayer and study, there has been a continuous expansion all over the country. As the work
increased in number, so it also did in scope. today, much of the description of what is happening
there can be referred to in figures by the hundreds, the thousands and even the millions. From
hospitals to schools, to the publishing of books and the healing of the strangest diseases, to he
loving care of those in need, and especially, to the profound transformation of individuals in their
understanding of the problems of life and destiny, the fruits of this remarkable movement have
excelled the greatest expectations.
In the field of book publishing, for instance, books received only by the two writers of
these pages have exceeded the number of ninety, with more than two million copies sold. the
subjects dealt with in these books are the most varied, consisting of details of life in the Spirit
World, the laws of reward and punishment; books on unknown history such as the ones titled
"Paul and Stephen," "Two Thousand Years Ago," etc. Others on mental disturbances, obsession,
mental hygiene, including books on children's education as seen from the Spirit World. But, the
most valuable of all are perhaps the series which remind us of the eternal words and life of the
master as He had promised that it should come to pass. this particular series is the one which
lights the fire off abnegation in the hearts and minds impelling the laborers to the life of service.
It is interesting to note, for instance, that Mr. Xavier and Dr. Vieira could have made great
fortunes from their books had they wanted to. While it is difficult to believe, they sincerely and
humbly declared to me that not a single cent has been received in royalties by them. For this
reason, books of this type are generally sold at lower prices in Brazil, so that anyone could afford
to have them. As to Dr. Vieira, it is also noteworthy that his medical practice is free of charge,
having studied both medicine and dentistry, by overcoming great difficulties, with the
preconceived idea of using his knowledge in a free clinic.
There are only two examples of what man can be inspired to accomplish if faith and
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reason meet in the task of his enlightenment on the Earth.
Needless to say, the philosophy of self-giving, first brought to us more emphatically by
the Master Jesus, and now stressed by the Spirit World, is the key to human true happiness. For
if the lower habits and vices, with their fictitious and fleeting pleasures, can take such hold of
man, how much more joy would he not draw from the most excellent practice of the actual love
of God and neighbor.
In closing this introduction, we would refer again to the same message received by Mr.
Xavier in New York City, which terminates in the following words:
"The World of the Spirit" has profoundly touched our hearts, for its messages of hope, of
consolation and of happiness. We are sure of the blessings it carries from above - - a divine
grace for the upliftment of human energies. This is what we have experienced. To our dear
reader, we say, "may the will of God be that you also shall experience the same thing."
S.J. Haddad
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HEALING AND CHARITY
Whenever we refer to the services of healing t is fitting to think of the sick persons who
lie outside the limits of common diagnosis.
The afflicted throng everywhere looking for treatment.
There are those weak from hunger yearning for doses of adequate nourishment.
There are those who shiver from cold needing the internment into proper clothing.
There are those who fall into discouragement waiting for an injection of courage.
There are those who hurl themselves into the torments of guilt, pleading for the
tranquilizers of forgetfulness.
There are those who writhe in the darkness of obsession pleading for words of light as
pellets of love.
There are those who weep because of the longing in the chambers of their hearts,
beseeching the blessing of consolation.
There are those who have been mutilated by terrible disillusionments and sigh for the aid
of support.
And there are, as well, those others who have become poisoned with selfishness and
coldness, hopelessness and ignorance, requiring the constant therapy of unconditional absolution.
Aid, yes, for those physically ill, but let us not neglect those who are sick of soul, who
walk the earth apparently robust, but bearing manifest diseases which consume their thinking and
disfigure their lives.
We can all be instruments of good for one another.
Don't wait until one's fellow man prostates in bed or becomes feverish, before giving
him hope and healing.
Help him today without humiliating or wounding him; since true charity, as much as
possible, is the painless treatment of human need.
The emissaries of Christ cure our ills in divine silence.
Let us do likewise to others.
Emmanuel
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BE WELL ADVISED
Learn to admonish yourself before life admonishes you.
If your problem is overeating put this written inscription on the table before your eyes:
- - I must moderate my appetite.
If your struggle is against laziness, put this notice before your eyes:
- - I must work honestly.
If your inquietude stems from systematic irritation, display this notice in your home for
constant observation:
- - I must control my emotions.
If your difficulty stems from deep-rooted vices, carry with you a card bearing this brief
reminder:
- - I must reform myself.
If your difficulty is sexual tension, keep this warning in your thoughts constantly:
- - I must control my impulses.
If your weak point is speaking without thinking, put up this reminder where you will see it
frequently:
- - I must speak charitably.
Don't believe in unconditional liberty. Every right is subordinate to a given right. No one can
abuse it with impunity.
Note life's systems of punishment how they function spontaneously.
Sicknesses accompany excesses...
Obsessions go hand in hand with imbalances...
Jails isolate delinquency...
Expiatory reincarnations accompany follies...
Let us correct ourselves before the world corrects us.
Wee all know how to proclaim the merits of positive thinking, but there is no positive
thinking for good without upright thinking.
Time is that tireless director which teaches each of us today, tomorrow and forever that no
one can really trifle with life.
André Luiz
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3
THE GREATEST NEWS
Undeniably, the world progresses, but it does so slowly.
Accordingly, it is natural that every day the earth awakes renewed in some way.
Still, it must be admitted that on the external side of situations and things, what we see
now is what we saw before, with slight modifications.
The sun Joshua is supposed to have stopped in the fight against the king of Jerusalem is
the same sun that today brightens the desert path of the Bedouin.
The moon that caressed Socrates' head has suffered no changes.
The sea that Tiberius gazed at from the heights of Capri still offers the same spectacle of
beauty ad magnificence.
The great cities of today are the successors of the great cities that time has buried under
layers of ashes.
The political intrigues that engender war in the present time, are the same, although they
occur at longer intervals, as those that led to war in the days of the Pharaohs.
Those authors of unfortunate inspiration who, thousands of years ago, poisoned men's
minds have in this age been replaced by illogical writers who voice noble and correct words, but
at the same time foment vices of thoughts.
There is no denying that progress is the law. Nevertheless, only through knowledge of
ourselves will it be possible to establish it, really, and lay solid ground for it in experience.
For this reason, the greatest news of all for us, above all else, still is and always will be
our immediate possibility of managing our own will and improving life by improving ourselves.
Emmanuel
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4
ONE HUNDRED TO ONE
Idleness anywhere is a waste.
Everything vibrates in perpetual motion, without vacuum or inertia in the substance of
things.
The human body and the spiritual body are based upon forces which constantly combine
and work in sanctifying dynamism. Let us in turn be working parts of the Living Evangel,
demonstrating that service is a condition of eternal health.
Wherever you may go, implant the luminous path of understanding. Set the example of
good, listening to the laugher of the happy or drawing attention to the sobs of your unfortunate
friends, creating earnings in the imperceptible treasures of the soul.
Retain as medals of merit the calluses on the hands which bless in serving, the fatigue of
the muscles which help with enthusiasm, the sweat of the brow which collaborates in the
happiness of all and the lacerations which remind you of the wounds suffered in the
accomplishment of austere obligations.
Shelter and aid everyone, from the abandoned child, in need of protection and light for
the heart, to the homeless pilgrim, the wandering guest of the trees by the roadside.
Let us pray in the constructive attitude, which does not relax.
Let us sing to the rhythm of happy perseverance.
Let us breathe in gasps of undiluted solidarity.
Charity transforms sacrifice into delight, fatigue into repose and suffering into euphoria.
Pure air dissipates unhealthful emanations - - Clean water dissolves the detritus of the
shadows; the morning sun dissipates the darkness.
A vacant head and empty hands betray an idle heart.
Be a companion of the dawn, waking up with the day in works of patience and
sustenance, kindness and uplift.
The harvest of the Lord in the inexhaustible soil of time contains uptapped riches and
opulent lodes. The man who writes and edifying page; sets a good example; rears a child; offers
a consoling note; prepares a noble speech, or offers a gift in the seed bed of the Eternal Good,
while laboring with Life for Unending Bliss.
Eurípedes Barsanulfo
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PATIENCE
Wherever you may be, you represent the name which distinguishes you, the idea which
directs you, the clothing which protects you and the marks which identify you.
For your own benefit, don't forget to carry with you wherever you may be, the energy to
patience which will guarantee you serenity.
If someone announces imminent catastrophes as if he had the voice of darkness in his
throat, listen to him patiently and you will see that life goes on acting above all the calamities,
like the sun which shines unwavering above all the cloudbursts.
When trials come to you like a destructive high wind, suffer in patience and you will
draw renewed strength from it, like a tree that is revitalized through the anguish of pruning.
In the face of the blow that strikes to your very heart, bear with patience the pain of
readjustment and you will bravely cauterize the wounds of the heart by winning the laurels of
experience.
You suffer the unexpected injury from those persons who owe you affection,
nevertheless, endure it with patience and on the morrow they will be more affectionate and better
friends to you.
tolerate the destination of beloved companions who leave you with the burden of
accumulated hard tasks, and patiently continue, all the same, with the work the world has
reserved for you and later your ideals and services will be raised up into nourishment and shelter
in behalf of these same friends.
Irritation is defeat in advance.
Complaint is a postponement of the best thing to do.
To revindicate is to complicate.
To censure is to destroy.
Amid all the evil done to you, use the diet of patience, assuring your own restoration.
And whenever we may be induced to condemn someone for some fault or other, let us
review our own weakness and we will quickly realize that we are still able to function only
because of God's inexhaustible patience.
Emmanuel
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DON'T BE AFRAID TO LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE FORTH
Yes, he was accused of a crime and had been imprisoned by men....
There was every indication that in that facial expression, beauty had fled.
Hard and irregular features.
Dull, colorless complexion.
Hair sparse and uncombed.
Face furrowed by deep wrinkles.
Eyes dulled by hidden desperation.
Nose hooked and unshapely.
Mouth with contracted lips.
Protruding jawbones.
Air of sadness and gloom.
He totters as he walks.
An unhappy picture...
Suddenly, however, the man smiles, and a breath of attractiveness revitalizes his appearance. His
entire appearance takes a turn for the better, as if a powerful inner torch had unexpectedly been
ignited.
He was no longer the same man. He no longer looked like a criminal....
Friend, have you ever observed the revitalizing effect of a smile?
A smile is the soul's ray of light.
And the light, even in the abyss, is always the splendor from on high overcoming the darkness.
Don't refuse the gift of a smile to anyone.
Smile in the midst of difficulties.
Smile in the midst of struggle.
Smile in the face of sorrow.
Your soul is a divine sun.
Don't be afraid to let it shine forth.
Valérium
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FAITH AND CHARITY
It is said that every person with a living faith incessantly suffers in charitable works in the
name of Christ, nevertheless it is worthwhile to explain why this is so.
Pessimistic spirits accept the defeat of any initiatives even before they begin them.
Selfish persons will do no more than that which suits their convenience.
The lukewarm disregard the hours.
The superficial forget engagements.
The frivolous live attached to the superficial aspects of situations and things.
Opportunists desire immediate profits and advantages.
The vain expressly ignore the needs of others.
The impulsive create problems.
Every person, however, who trusts in Christ is, for that very reason, someone who strives
to serve by emulating. His lessons and examples and is, therefore, singled our by Him for good
works, since to call upon the slothful and indifferent is of no avail.
André Luiz
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DONORS OF SWEAT
Every day there appear, here and there, persons seeking donors.
Debtors of earthly financing seek donors of loans and financing institutions.
Adepts in the various parties seek donors of political posts.
Students seek donors of instruction in the university sphere.
Women seek donors of elegance in the world of fashion.
Artists seek donors of inspiration.
On all sides there are donors.
Donors of means, of ideas, of incentive, of blood, of information, of eyes, of words...
And Jesus also walks the earth, seeking a certain type of hard-to-find donors - - donors of
sweat to work unselfishly in the construction of His kingdom of light.
Brothers, the Divine Friend knocks at the door of our hearts, asking for service.
Let us walk forward, in the happy knowledge that we are, with Him, donors of sweat.
Aura Celeste
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BARRIER
The further civilization advances, the farther-reaching are the processes of control in all
areas of human activity.
Traffic obeys previously studied signals.
Switches alter the direction of electric currents.
Automobiles use highly sensitive brakes.
Locomotives run on conditioned lines.
Simple household articles operate with the protection of safety devices.
Everywhere, precautionary and defensive systems appear in order to prevent trouble and
disaster.
* * *
Points such as those noted above induce us to accept the imperative need of governing
the power of the mind, an upset in which, not only nullifies its best opportunities, but converts it
into a magnetic whip of rebellion and also sours the spirits about us by strewing their path with
nettles.
Anger is always an open door to the domain of obsession.
Let us consider the penitentiaries, wherein lie segregated thousands of our fellow men
who have fallen under the impact of destructive hammer blows; let us inquire of the suicides,
banished to regions of repentance and regeneration beyond the grave; let us listen to many of
those who were unexpectedly set free of the physical body or were overtaken by an obscure
death; and let us hear a vast majority of the mentally ill who drift about the asylums and nursing
homes, as persons mutilated in spirit, relegated to the periphery of life, and we will find the
crushing explosion of wrath at the root of all the tortures which are throttling their soul.
Let us consider all this whenever irritation beckons to us from afar, and quickly protect
ourselves from being inundated by thoughts of aggressiveness and retaliation, violence and
desperation, with the barrier of prayer as our silent shield.
Emmanuel
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IN THE CHRISTIAN WAY
Know yourself.
There are people who travel the whole world over in search of themselves.
* * *
Take care of your physical body.
Any indiscipline may furnish work for the grave-diggers.
* * *
Sanctify your speech.
Among the animals of the Earth, man alone is free enough from restraint to speak.
* * *
Conquer vice.
If you do not dominate habit, habit will ultimately dominate you.
* * *
Help in the good.
The struggle for the conservation of possessions also produces ulcers and wrinkles.
* * *
Forget evil.
Before the fatality of death, there is the fatality of life.
* * *
Show understanding by helping.
The Christian lives in such a way that nobody desires his absence.
* * *
Do not complain.
The Lord of the Universe outlines laws, but does not make demands.
André Luiz
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SUPPLICATION OF ANOTHER
I know that I hurt you unintentionally with my thoughtless act.
You were seeking support and I failed you, when you were most in need of support. You
expected cheer and consolation form my lips and I crushed your hopes. However, I come back to
you and humbly beg your forgiveness.
You heard my word aright and judged me in full light without seeing the thorn of shadow
imbedded in my soul. You observed my festive dress but did not see the wounds of
disillusionment and frailty I still bearing my heart.
Sometimes, weary of weeping, I encourage many of those who seek me, not because of
the merits I do possess, but by bestowing the treasures of love of the generous spirits who sustain
me, nevertheless, precisely at the moment you sought me out, I was weeping tearlessly in the last
extremity of solicitude.
Perhaps that is why I found only coldness to offer you. Excuse me for the despair I
caused you when you were asking me for kindliness and forgive me for having reproved you,
when you hoped for understanding.
Let me, however, embrace you anew and you will read in my eyes these few words which
stuck in my throat.
Forgive me for my failure and have mercy on me.
Meimei
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SYNONYMS
Infancy - - opportunity.
Tomb - - revision.
Family - - tie.
Home - - refuge.
Society - - school.
Profession - - duty.
Schooling - - culture.
Education - - perfecting.
Work - - renewal.
Service - - blessing.
Experience - - prescience.
Cooperation - - compatibility.
Difficulty - - teaching.
Forgiveness - - deliverance.
Pain - - corrective.
Time - - concession.
Truth - - equity.
Conscience - - guide.
Charity - - salvation.
Love - - God.
André Luiz
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FREE EDUCATION
Beyond the primary culture of intelligence, man pays on Earth for all the higher levels of
knowledge.
By the curriculum of various disciplines he is charged for enrollments, surcharges,
various honorariums and extra fees, in the institutions of higher education.
If he wants exponents of one or another field in which he is backward he is compelled to
make exceptional outlays.
If he decides to enter the realm of the arts he is obliged to pay for the musical notes or the
initiation of the brush.
For our sublime acquisitions, however, the Lord allows the Spirit Doctrine to start on
Earth precious courses of elevation in which the culture of the soul does not ask for he
apprentice's purse.
Every temple of Spirit Teaching is a school open to our loftiest aspirations and each
doctrinal meeting is a class capable of fitting us for the most far-reaching conquests for the
earthly path and for the Greater Life.
For the administration of these eternal values there is no price in currency.
Each student of the redeeming organization can appear empty-handed, bringing only the
mark of respect and the vase of attention.
Jesus, the Master of Masters, passed among men without charging for his Teachings. And
the Spirit Doctrine, which now revives His blessings of love, may be compared to a world
institute of free education, leading all of us, without demand and without payment, from the dark
vale of ignorance to the mountains of light.
Scheilla
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IN YOU
Man bears within him instruments indispensable for the maintenance of his own peace in
the effort to attain progress.
A loudspeaker adapted to the throat.
Two covered motion-picture machines in the two orbs of the eyes.
Two sound recorders covered by the ears.
A small derrick fastened in each shoulder.
Two locomotive supports attached to the trunk.
All of this, besides tens of complicated mechanisms acting interdependently in the
structure of his organic machine.
Thought is the electricity which animates the entire machine and a guarantee certificate
stipulates a fixed term for its normal functioning when used with constant discipline for lofty
purposes.
Examine the application of the machine whereby you are expressed.
Like any mechanical device, your physical body can be used for construction or
destruction, with the obligation of working at a uniform rate to escape rust and resist its own
wear and tear.
Existing in you are the causes of your defeat and also vibrating within you are the forces
of your triumph.
André Luiz
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TODAY YES
Yesterday past.
Tomorrow future.
Today now.
Yesterday promise.
Tomorrow probability.
Today action.
Yesterday it seemed.
Tomorrow who knows?
Today without a doubt.
Yesterday longing.
Tomorrow change.
Today opportunity.
Yesterday seeding time.
Tomorrow harvest time.
Today selection.
Yesterday no more.
Tomorrow perhaps.
Today yes.
Yesterday was.
Tomorrow will be.
Today is.
Yesterday experience acquired.
Tomorrow new struggles.
Today, however, is our time for doing and building.
Emmanuel
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SPURNED GIFTS
To do one's own duties without expecting our friends to plait laurel wreathes of gratitude
for us.
To repress all complaints.
To refrain from jesting in conversations of profound edification so as not to discourage
nascent responsibility.
To write consoling and constructive pages without pretensions to being understood or
praised.
To do timely favors for one's fellow man without the idea that he therefore owes us
anything, even simplest expression of thanks.
To recognize that the faults of the other fellow might be our own, so that we can forgive
them unconditionally.
Not to suppose that our listener or listeners are obliged to think as we do.
To hear the mistakes of someone expressing himself in an assembly, without smiles of
mockery, so that the novice in the cultivation of better speech will not feel frustrated in his
endeavors to do well.
Not to attribute to someone else some mistake or other that occurred in service.
To help the less fortunate fellow men without upbraiding them for their past conduct.
Not to accuse or criticize persons on the pretext that they are absent.
To remain silent in the face of great or small scandals without degrading observations,
praying for those who caused them.
Not to demand affectionate homage in any circumstance.
To listen respectfully to the supposedly boring word or speech without offending the
speaker.
To avoid slanderous opinions concerning actions, attitudes and remarks under our
observation.
To substitute spontaneously, and without any unfavorable comment in the good works for
the laboror at fault in the expected activities.
To fulfill sincerely the obligations life imposes on us without any concern to invade the
affairs of anyone else.
Not to offer contradictions to the speakers opinions but rather to help him, without
presumption, to understand the truth about this or that at the proper time.
To forget the obsessions in which others are ensnared and instead meditate on those of
which we ourselves are still victims.
To love without asking the persons beloved to become the playthings of our whims.
Not to constrain human beings to the moral perfection we all are very far from
possessing.
Leave your companions as free to find their own happiness as we in turn aspire to be free.
Militão Pacheco
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SORROW
If sorrow knocks at your door, stupefying your head or paralyzing your arms, flee this
mental intoxication as soon as you can.
If you are ill, take care of your sick body in the conviction that you cannot fix with tears a
watch that is out of order.
If you've made a mistake, try to reconsider your own fault, readjusting your course
without vanity, admitting that you are not the first nor will you be the last to find yourself in a
situation needing correction.
If you have yielded to temptation, lift yourself up and proceed on your way with the
assignment life has marked out for you in the certainty that no one pays off a debt by virtue of
useless repining.
If friends deserted you, think of the tree which at times needs pruning in order to get a
new lease on life.
If you are beset by great afflictions in your home, awaken and know that each home
provides the basis of education.
If you have suffered material injuries, remember that often the loss of a ring is the
defense of the arm.
If someone has offended your dignity forget your resentment by reflecting that a man of
good sense would never dress up his appearance with a can of garbage.
If impatience characterizes your habitual gestures, calm down by observing that small
imbalances ultimately become great disturbances.
Whatever your problem may be, remember that all sorrow is a destructive shadow and
that no shadow can manage to remain in the heart that focuses on work, and strives to serve.
André Luiz
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IN THE WELFARE SERVICE
Refrain from brandishing the whip of condemnation over the aspects of another person's
life.
Forget the bitterness of ingratitude in the defense of your own peace.
Don't attempt to remake radically the experience of your fellow man under the pretext of
helping him.
Remove the conditions of life and objects of personal use capable of being adapted to
indirect humiliation.
Refrain from classifying the less fortunate as condemned to the fatality of suffering.
Do not expect understanding and reflection from an empty stomach.
Good naturedly accept the small favors with which someone endeavors to repay you for
the marks of fraternity and simple remembrances.
Be lavish in attentions to the friend undergoing great trial by destroying apparent barriers
that may arise between him and you.
Maintain a constant atmosphere of confidence and cheerfulness when in contact with
your fellow men.
Do not refuse to bestow affection, communicability and gentleness, in the certainty that
violence is irreconcilable with the blessing of sympathy.
Be prompt in your engagements and never show impatience or irritation.
Dispense with intermediaries in the simpler tasks and do what you have promised.
Maintain unfailing gentleness everywhere with all men.
Remember that aid includes kindness and humility, simplicity and solidarity, since
felicity and comfort are not only in the one who gives and in the one who receives but also
security and felicity in the path of all.
André Luiz
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EVER WAIT AND LOVE
How much affliction would disappear while still in its cradle if you could smile in
silence.
How much sorrow would be forgotten, if you would pardon bitterness!
You ask for the Lord's peace, but the Lord expects your cooperation also in the peace of
others.
Reflect on the needs of your fellow man before you appraise the thoughtless deed. Many
times, the aggressiveness with which he returns your affection is only the result of an ulcer in his
heart, poisoning his mouth.
Aid him a thousand times before you reprove him one.
The swamp emits unwholesome gasses for want of hands to drain it, and the desert causes
thirst and suffering for lack of the dew from the fountain.
Let compassion be converted into mute aid in your heart so that grief may be diminished.
Don't feed the bonfire of evil with the tinder of irritation and hate.
Ever wait and love.
In silence the pruned tree multiplies its own fruits and the sky assaulted by the shadow of
night discloses the glory of the heavenly bodies.
Remember Christ, our silent Friend.
Without vindications and without clamor, He wrote the immortal poems of forgiveness
and love and gladness in the heart of the Earth.
Let us seek in Him our example in the daily struggle and by tolerating and helping today
in the narrow path of human existence, we will reap tomorrow the blessing of silent light that
will reveal to us the ways to Eternal Life.
Meimei
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ONE MINUTE
In one minute only it is possible to do something useful, such as the following:
Write a telegram. Write a friendly note. Address an envelope. Give a message on
the telephone.
Give information.
Wash a piece of clothing. Offer a cup of milk. Compliment someone.
Clean a piece of furniture.
Water a flower.
Do not despise a minute.
Use it well, my friend, since in one minute you will have finished reading the
contents of this page.
Valérium
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SIGNALS OF ALARM
There are red signals in the path of experience indicating a probable fall into obsession:
When we enter the lane of impatience;
When we believe our grief is the greatest;
When we come to see ingratitude in our friends;
When we imagine evil in the attitudes of our fellow men;
When we remark on the less fortunate aspects of some person or other;
When we demand appreciation and gratitude;
When we believe our work is excessive;
When we spend the day demanding effort without putting forth the slightest service;
When we intend to free ourselves through the taste for alcohol or the pinch of drug;
When we consider duty to be only on the side of others.
Whenever one of these signals flashes into the traffic of our ideas the Divine law is
present, reminding us of the prudence of stopping in the succor of prayer or in the light of
discernment.
Scheilla
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THE DECALOGUE OF PERFECTING
1. Diminish your own necessities and increase your concessions.
2. Intensify your work and reduce the period of unused time.
3. Uplift your ideas and repress your impulses.
4. Free the "man of the present" to the guidance of Jesus, and imprison the "man of the
past" who still lives within you.
5. Watch over your gestures, by understanding the actions of other people.
6. Persevere in the noble study, recognizing in life the sacred school of our assent to
God.
7. Judge yourself and pardon without discrimination.
8. Speak with humility and listen with attention.
9. Meditate while accomplishing and pray while serving
10. Trust in the Love of the Eternal and render daily worship to the obligations in which
He Himself has placed us.
André Luiz
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PRAYER AND SERVICE
Prayer is the petition of man to the Creator.
Service is a condition which law provides for all men so that the Creator may answer
them.
Meditation is study.
Work is realization.
Let us observe the propriety of the statement in simple terms.
A noble sowing is a silent petition of nature that verdure and bread may be made.
But if the cultivator does not put forth sufficient effort, the live entreaty disappears.
An edifying book is the sublime appeal of the spirit to which education and culture are
erected.
But if man does not scrutinize its leaves in apprenticeship, the wise appeal withers in
vain.
Music, even the divine, if it should reside exclusively in the written notes, is melody
which was not born.
Invention without experiment is unproductive thought.
Let us pray, my brothers, but let us pray while serving.
A proper building is not erected without an adequate plan.
But the word, however beautiful, without the correct construction, will always be a
mummified dream in the tables of geometry.
Albino Teixeira
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LET US BE SIMPLE
"Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of
heaven." Jesus. (Luke 18:16.)
Progress arises from the constant succession of varied labors on all fronts of human
activity.
One effort accompanies another, one objective more highly perfected modifies man's
movements.
Life after life, generation after generation, humanity goes on receiving light and
polishing.
All future life, therefore, depends inevitably on the present life, all future harvests depend
upon the present sowing.
Infancy, therefore, signifies the vibrations of hope in future days, notwithstanding the
fragility which characterizes it.
The ingenuousness of thoughts and mildness of ways endow the child with the traces of
sentimental virginity necessary to the spirit for climbing the higher stages of evolution. That is
why the Lord with great propriety chose childhood as the symbol of purity indispensable to the
sustenance of being in the Greater Life.
In the period of childhood we find incontrovertible proofs that the soul possesses, in its
own essence, the potential conditions for the angelic state.
It is urgent, therefore, that we learn how to live with this simplicity of children in the
route to maturity, renouncing the inferior expressions of selfishness and pride, of cunning and
cruelty which we so often hide behind gestures of apparent nobility.
In the kingdom of God, no one grows up to be evil.
Let us be simple, living spontaneous good.
Therefore, observe in yourself the positive signals you conserve from infancy as an index
of the moral values for the upward journey.
Be a child in relation to the evil which perturbs and strikes, realizing the maturity of your
feelings in the creation of pure love, for only in pure love shall we find access to the Eternal
Sublimation to which we are destined.
Emmanuel
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THE ONLY MEASURE
The identification card provides information on his human person.
The calendar tells his physical age.
The watch marks his time.
The yardstick specifies the dimensions of his body.
The altitude reveals his temporary position above sea level.
Ink registers his fingers prints.
Work demonstrates his vocation.
X-ray facilitates the study of his organs.
The electrocardiograph determines the contractions of his heart muscle.
All his states and conditions, accomplishments and needs can be defined by machines,
devices, instruments, apparatuses, laboratories and card files of Earth, but do not forget
that service to his fellow man is the only measure which affords precise information on
his spiritual worth.
André Luiz
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IN THE PRESENT EXPERIENCE
Evolution is the transition of the being from the status of slave to the status of lord or
master of his own destiny.
Souls which have been in need for thousands of years, we are now disciples of good. And
still in the stage of present experience, at times, unaware and distracted, if we learn, we make a
secret of what we know; if we win, we create a monopoly of what we have; if we are emotionally
perturbed, we conceal what we feel to the detriment of our fellow man.
Frequently, therefore, our spirits, blinded - - do not see the blessings of providence; deaf
- - they do not hear the voices which shower down from on high; mute - - they do not confess
their own faults.
It behooves us, therefore, to consider that no one adds one millimeter of perennial
imperfection to the imperishable work of God, in which we inevitably participate, since we were
created, for the reason that all impure manifestations have the duration of one tiny bit of time vis-
à-vis eternity.
Do not, therefore, rebel against difficult conditions in which you happen to be, in your
earthly pilgrimage, regardless of what they may be.
If the law conceives the body according to the spirit, do not forget that the best positions,
vis-à-vis the world, are those which offer us physical inhibitions, difficulties of birth, the
physical heritages of bitter nature, the struggles and incessant obstacles, adversities and
successive trials, since it is only in the circle of these apparent disadvantages that we know our
own moral defects and aspire to the shining mansions of the Greater Life.
Study your facilities of the passing moment. Nearly always obsession enters human life
with arms locked with these....
If you have a conscience harpooned by remorse don't surrender yourself helplessly to the
barb by which your head is caught. Try to remake your destiny, by helping others, hour after
hour, without forgetting that if the smile is an international language, so also is the groan....
And in helping, act with alacrity since a remedy which arrives tardily is weakened in
combating the sickness which has already progressed....
Let us listen intuitively to the abyss of the past in the very depths of ourselves, since
guilt, in the form of temptation, thrusts itself into us in the present, up to the final redemption of
our own debts; nevertheless, even so, lean upon your work and calm yourself in hope, for even in
the blackest darkness, no one is orphaned from the Divine Solidarity.
Lameira de Andrade
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THE HIGH ROAD
After death, joys are increasing lightning flashes of the spirit, in the liberation of the
emotive forces which have rid themselves of denser material; by the same principle, however,
the sorrows of the conscience reach the peak of anguish.
Accordingly, remorse in us is like a fulcrum of moral agonies reviving the remembrance
of our errors with a terrifying power of repetition.
Thus, we carry along with us beyond the grave, the burden of our sins, which constantly
presents the spectacle of our own weaknesses and we beg for reincarnation as someone who
knows that the physical body is the instrument capable of rehabilitating us.
In these circumstances, we do not spare supplications nor haggle over promises nor
measure wishes, we do not underestimate sacrifices.... We would embrace service and struggle,
signifying the restlessness of a thirsty person asking for water.
We seek to purify sentiments, to redeem debts, to sanctify bonds and to elevate the
experiences in the conquest of our own reformation.
And nearly always we are reborn in extreme difficulties in order to redeem ourselves, like
the student who has been made a boarding student in order to acquire an education.
Do not, therefore, refuse the testing of problems which the world may impose upon you
in the brief passage under the mist of the flesh. the illness, the inhibition, the tortured dream, the
difficult relative, the temporary separation or domestic misfortune represent rapid courses of
personal regeneration in which we are tomorrow you will return to the home of light whence you
came. Do not prevent the sweat of your brow or the sob of suffering from dissolving the darkness
from your heart.
Every evil of yesterday is resurrected in the evil of today so that the good may reappear
and resume control of your life.
Error maladjusts.
Suffering restores.
And that is why, between the illusion which darkens and the truth which illuminates,
reincarnation will always be the high road of recommencement.
Emmanuel
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LET US UNDERSTAND
The objective of your life on Earth does not consist of ephemeral authority,
beauty or comfort.
It is spiritual perfecting.
* * *
Pure fraternity does not express factionalism of class, creed, country or party.
It is the blessing of love and understanding.
* * *
The objective of education does not summarize in blind respect for traditionalisms
and prejudices.
It is discipline over one's own impulses.
* * *
The machine does not exist to automate experience.
It is a resource for general prosperity.
* * *
The evangelization of infancy does not consist of its conditioning to our ideas.
It is the process of child emancipation in the interest of comprehension of justice
and good.
* * *
The exercise of a profession does not consist of dishonest competition in
furtherance of ambition.
It is the opportunity for help to all.
* * *
Increased knowledge does not represent access to contemplative felicity.
It is release from error with responsibility in the conscience.
* * *
Charity does not express virtue in accordance with our affective inclination.
It is a solution to any problem.
* * *
Your faith does not signify an exclusive ideal for the future.
It is a constructive force for today.
* * *
Your study is not restricted to patterning your existence on the existence of other
people.
It is a live weapon for the reform of yourself.
* * *
Moral improvement does not appear in some honorary title or other attained
among men.
It is the light manifested in your good example.
André Luiz
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MESSAGE TO THE SOWER
Sower, you awoke to the trumpets of the dawn and began to sow....
Hard work demanded sweat and day after day you tilled the soil, callusing your hands
from the dew of dawn to the lighting of the stars.
In the face of hardships, the most beloved persons, desirous of comfort, deserted you. But
when they left you alone and no one wished to talk to you, nature talked with you in the name of
Heaven and you listened in surprise to the prayers of the seed at the moment of dying abandoned
as it were in order to be faithful to life; you heard the confidences of the rose gardens enslaved in
the soil, whose flowers shone forth in the salons, without being granted any other right than that
of breathing amid sharp thorns; you gathered the story of the wheat, which told you, while still in
the golden clustered ears, how it would be ground in the teeth of the implacable millstones, in
order to serve in the house of man; and old trees, splintered and suffering, made you feel that
God had taught them in silence to protect affectionately even the unkind hands which cut off
their branches....
Consoled and happy you worked, sower!
One day, however, the field awoke embellished with perfume and beauty, and there
appeared those who demanded your harvest for the banquet of the world....
You wept at the separation from the beloved plants. However, no one saw your tears
hidden among the seams of your face.
You were alone in the face of the multitudes who contended with one another for the
fruits, and since you had not mastered polished words with which to defend yourself before
groups, nor did your mere presence offer any prospect of social charm, the few friends of your
cause deemed it prudent to remain silent, shamed by the harsh austerity of your disciplines and
the poverty of your dress, but God impelled you to renewal and, though despoiled of your
humblest possessions, you sought other climes and other furrows where your toil-worn and
aching hands continued to sow....
* * *
Sower of the lands of the spirit, grown gray in the labor of light, like the patient cultivator
of the soil, do not be down-hearted or discouraged.
Although ever new tempests bow your soul, continue sowing.... And if banishment and
solitude must constitute the transitory heritage of your destiny, remember the Divine Sower who,
although pious and just, preferred the cross out of love of the truth and continue sowing even
thus, in the certainty that God will suffice for you, for everything by God, passes in this world.
Meimei
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DECIDEDLY
Verbosity does not create moral authority, which is composed of effort in work.
Adornment does not create inner beauty, which is characteristic of the polishing of the
individuality.
The external formula does not govern the effectiveness of prayer, which is dependent on
the intent of the person praying.
Polemics do not reveal the power of faith, which is derived from the experiences of each
person.
The school does not administer the true vocation, which is a synthesis of the millennial
apprenticeship of the spirit.
The library does not give knowledge of ourselves, which must arise from within.
Money cannot buy true sympathy, which is based on the profound forces of the
personality.
The market does not sell comfort of the soul, which is nourished by the conscience.
* * *
The concept of relativity governs existence, for which reason it behooves us to
comprehend all beings and things around us, assigning to each one the importance it deserves,
depending upon the function it performs.
To evolve is to discern more widely.
Let us understand, therefore, through study and observation, the significance of each
event, the objective of each institution and the worth of each person, in the light of the Living
Evangel, precluding error and exalting the truth, now and forever.
André Luiz
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BRAIN AND STOMACH
If you seek to help the brain which is becoming deranged, take care likewise of the
stomach which is suffering.
"A sound mind in a sound body" - - was a tenet of the culture of antiquity.
And no one will have sound thinking without good digestion.
Obviously we are not referring here to abuses of food, but to the frugal and pure meal
which maintains physical health.
Let us not, therefore, forget the obligation of satisfying the basic needs of our fellowman
that we may be able to give him the message of our faith, not merely the excess of bread which
results in disease and deterioration.
Nor merely systematic discourse which results in demagoguery and rhetoric.
Guidance for the mind and help for the stomach.
Example and lesson, attitude and the spoken word.
Nourishment and shelter, medicine and consolation.
Study which edifies. Kindness which comforts, the dining hall which restores.
The school which illumines.
Through the New Testament, in chapter 6 of the Acts of the Apostles, we are informed
that in the first century of Christianity in Jerusalem there were some who provided for those who
were thirsting for light and some served those who were starving for bread.
the pulpit and the table were conjoined, as were truth and love for the victory of light.
That being so, in the spiritualist apostolate which revitalizes the divine ministry of Our
Lord, let us not forget the afflictions of the soul and the body. Let us assist the victims of
ignorance, not forgetting the creatures who lie under the fetters of physical calamities.
The brain depends on the stomach for governing organic life. The stomach depends on
the brain to nourish it.
Both require attention and affection. Perhaps that is why the Divine Wisdom separated
them, placing the heart between them as an intermediary.
Scheilla
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POINTS TO THINK ABOUT
With resignation, trust. Evil passes, leaving behind it its teaching.
The freshet disappears, purifying the surroundings.
* * *
Live with discernment. The edifying act is unmistakable.
The plow and the bomb excavate the earth differently.
* * *
Exemplify your faith.
We always betray our own origin.
Each meteorite brings a specific message from cosmic space.
* * *
Be moderate.
All that builds may also destroy.
Every strip of soil may be a nursery or a cemetery for life.
* * *
Help unceasingly.
the testimonies of good portray the man.
Movement, light and heat classify the star.
* * *
Develop self-refinement.
The worst vitiation requires recuperative effort.
The diamond was the debris of the terrestrial organism.
* * *
Shun violence. Oriented action overcomes force.
The fragile wind wears away the massive rock.
* * *
Observe lovingly.
There is hidden beauty in the greatest deformity. The ticking of the star exists as a twinkle.
André Luiz
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INDUCTION AND DONATION
You exalted charity.
You encouraged fraternal sympathy in your fellowman.
But if you rid yourself of human possessions in order to succor needy companions,
whoever they may be, you gave to others the light of beneficence.
You eulogized faith.
You encouraged your fellow man to have trust.
But if you show confidence in God and in yourself, in the disagreeable happenings of
existence, you gave others the transforming strength to move mountains of inquietude and fear.
You recommended patience.
You imbued your fellow man with the essence of tolerance.
But if you show serenity in the trials which devastate your soul, you gave others the
tranquil resistance against the empire of evil.
You advised humility.
You instilled in your fellow mans the vocation to serve.
But if you understand the needs and shortcomings of others, by unconditionally forgiving
all the injures which have rained down upon your life, you gave others the inner appeal of divine
virtue.
Words incline.
Examples reform.
In all that refers to good, let us not forget that to teach is to induce, but to do good is to
give of ourselves unto others the same good which all of us need to do.
Albino Teixeira
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AT THE PEAK OF THE STRUGGLE
Many times, we live normally for ten long years, winning spiritual patrimonies in order to
live only ten fleeting minutes in an extraordinary and exceptional way. These are the climaxes of
life, in which we are called to account in the checking of intransferable responsibilities which,
not infrequently, we perceive intuitively in shedding tears which presage bitter struggles.
We learn from day to day, little by little, for years on end, the detachment from
ephemeral goods in order to expose ourselves to the task of greater detachment on brief
moments; we experience, for various decades, the repetition, from one instant to another, of a
trivial duty in order to test ourselves, our own perseverance, in the epilogue of some problem or
other, apparently vulgar but of profound significance to our destiny; we acquire inner forces by
living an entire incarnation in preparing ourselves for a demonstration of courage in one serious
moment of testimony....
Alpinists of evolution, dripping sweat from cliff to cliff, we climb the mountain of
experience training ourselves to pass through the ravine which opens wide to us the yawning
abyss of temptation; common students, in the curricula of existence, we store up precious
knowledge in laborious courses of observation and work, in order to overcome the eliminatory
test, at times, in a single day of sacrifice....
We are always face to face with the examining board of the world since whenever we
may go, we shall be summoned there to the confession of our faith and it is consequent moral
value. The minute now vanishing is our invaluable opportunity; the place where we are is the
amphitheater of our continuous lessons.
To walk without Jesus, therefore, in the human realms, is to feel that water does not
quench thirst, food does not satisfy hunger, melody does not uplift, the page does not edify, the
flower does not exhale perfume, the light does not give warmth.... Sheltered in Christ, however,
we are all self-sufficient, since we have at our disposal the support, clarification and fortress in
any afflicting crisis with which life may surprise us.
The breath which the certainty of rationalized faith affords us transcends all the
ephemeral consolations we may derive from earthy advantages, seeing that it enables us to work
without fatigue, to aid without effort, to suffer without resentment and to laugh while smothering
a sob. Let us advance then by the standards of the Divine Master, without believing ourselves
entitled to protest or curse, to stir up a tumult or censure.
Let us give up revindications, privileges, superficial rewards or honor, since it is urgent to
aspire to the invisible medal of duty rightly done which shines forth in our consciences, to the
crown of peace which crowns our thoughts and the carte-blanche of free will which extends our
field of action to pure good.
Rejoice, then, if your faith is repeatedly analyzed in the intimacy of the home, combated
in the place of work, flogged in the circle of friends, inspected in the social footlights or tested in
the pallet of suffering .... Only by our cross of renunciation of the secular glories, with the
serenity of abnegation and the smile of patience can we be recompensed by the triumph over
ourselves on the road to Perfect Happiness.
Caíbar Schutel
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FIRST HOWEVER
You ask for better health.
First, however, succor the invalid in even more serious condition.
You ask on behalf of your son.
First, however, protect the child of another who is in greater need.
You ask for a specific favor.
First, however, relieve the worry of another undergoing trial more severe than your own.
You ask for fraternal cooperation against the obsession which bedevils you.
First, however, extend your hands to the obsessed person who is without the resources
already at your disposal.
You ask pardon for the error committed.
First, however, unconditionally pardon those who have wounded your heart.
You ask for support for you existence.
First, however, be a consolation and refuge for the brother you find weeping on your
way.
You ask for happiness.
First, however, sow love and happiness in the heart of your fellow man.
You seek a solution to some problem or other.
first, however, try to eliminate some small problem or other of your fellow man.
You ask for cooperation.
First, however, collaborate on behalf of those who sweat and groan in the rear guard.
You ask for the assistance of kind spirits.
First, however, be yourself a kind spirit by aiding others.
Every entreaty in some way resembles a payment order, requiring credit if it is to be paid.
Without foundations, a house will lack equilibrium.
One source sustains another.
If we want assistance, let us learn to assist.
André Luiz
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THE SUBLIME INVITATION
"Arise, take up your bed and walk." Jesus (John 5:8)
The Lord's word is ever direct light.
As soon as he utters the incisive word, the invalid begins a new journey.
The paralytic's muscles vibrate, strong once more.
The organic tonus circulates more actively.
Equilibrium is reborn in the cellular cosmos.
The bed-prison releases its prisoner.
And multiple consequences are created in this sublime process, namely, increased
responsibility for the succored brother, study and meditation in the astonished spectators,
categorical reaffirmation of the sublime potentialities of the love of Our Divine Master, through
the messianic work of liberation of the human consciences he generously imposed on Himself....
Thereafter, still another chronicle is to be adjusted to the teachings narrated by the
Evangelist expressing until the present time, a palpitating lesson in the school of humanity.
In raising up the unfortunate invalid from the bed of affliction, Jesus calls upon all of us
to raise ourselves from a multitude of imperfections, in which we delight, tired of heart and
corrupted in mind.
Although selfishness and pride, envy and jealousy, greed and vanity still bind our heart to
the cot of misfortune, let us listen to the invitation of our Loving Lord:
"Arise, take up your bed and walk."
And raising ourselves up by faith, we shall learn to endure the still embittered
consequence of our own shadow, walking, finally, to meet the Light.
Emmanuel
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CLEANLINESS
Where good is evidence for edification and the good of all, cleanliness appears at the
basis of all services.
So that it may produce with certainty, the field of farmland awaits the collaboration of the
hoe against the growth of harmful weeds.
The laboratory demands sterilized instruments so that the remedy will fulfill the purpose
for which it is intended.
The home awaits the daily chores for the preservation of the health of its inhabitants.
The book, truly noble, requires rigorous screening so that the prejudice of the coarse and
vulgar terms in the text may be avoided. In the simplest measures of our daily life we notice
similar needs.
Sound nourishment requires selection of the products.
Water needs filtration to be usable.
Clothing cannot be preserved without the cooperation of the laundry.
Public roads need culverts.
In the same circumstances, in the face of disagreeable positions of the soul which indeed
are equivalent to disturbances and obscure ailments of the mind, we must know how to use the
scouring powder of patience, clarifying rationalizations and renewing emotions, defining
attitudes and controlling words in the certainty that all spiritual treatment requires cleanliness of
thought.
Albino Teixeira
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LISTENING TO NATURE
In all angles of the universal Life we find overt the infinite resources of Divine Wisdom.
Interdependence and function, discipline and value are several simple aspects of the life
of beings and things.
Interdependency - - vegetable life throbs in the system of reciprocity with animal life.
The orange tree furnishes oxygen for the horse and the horse provides carbon dioxide for the
orange tree.
