Evolution and Spiritist Responsibility

Rejane Spiegelberg Planer

In our humankind evolution, we have slowly developed our intellectual and spiritual abilities. As time passed, we have evolved from fully ‘instinctive beings’, which fought for survival in a hostile world to ‘sensitive beings’, which have looked for better survival conditions for our descendents and ourselves. We went through the fire, stone and iron ages and reached the civilization period, when we have formed social groups and started living in communities and then, in cities.

Great civilizations developed, reached the apex and perished. We have slowly grown intellectually and spiritually, some faster, some slower than others, each of us at own pace.  Some populations have developed more the intellect, others the spirituality. Many times, primitive feelings lead, war came, and the stronger dominated the physically or psychologically weaker.

For 2000 years, Jesus brought us the teachings of love to the self and to our neighbour. Nevertheless, we received those teachings and didn’t perceive its wisdom. Even in His time, many of us could not perceive more than the immediate and practical benefits for our bodily diseases or our emotional instabilities.

Amélia Rodrigues through the mediumship of Divaldo Franco wrote, “Jesus came and opened a lot of possibilities. He gave them abnormal resources and opportunities they would never think about, which caused a sudden behaviour change …Nevertheless, His message of inner freedom and moral renovation passed by without almost any notice…”[1]

However, changes have occurred. The seed of love was planted.

Although, our history had dark moments, art and culture raised showing the beauty of this world, thus helping our primitive spirit to evolve to a more spiritualised human being.

The fight for survival is over. We do work for a living, but we can also appreciate some well being and have already developed a political, scientific and artistic sense. Some of us have also developed the ethical-moral-religious sense.

War and revolutions still take place in some parts of the world. Nevertheless, time-after-time, more spiritualised spirits are reborn among us to illuminate our culture and science. In those occasions, knowledge raises, science develops and we get more comfortable living conditions.

At the end of the nineteen-century, the spirits offered us their doctrine through Allan Kardec. At that time, we were under the industrial revolution. Scientific knowledge improved considerably and consequently, industry developed even faster. We were also prepared to get more knowledge about the spiritual life. Therefore, Spirit manifestations and facts about spiritual life appeared all over the world at same time. Allan Kardec codified the Spiritism doctrine, which also spread worldwide.

The twentieth-century was the century of great scientific achievements. Names such Einstein, Madame Curie and many others contributed to the development of our science in all its areas. It also brought another revolution – in communications.  We do not live isolated in one region, but we are co-participants in the planetary daily life. We follow the latest news and we participate through observation and criticism. This is one of the important factors in our process to evolve as human being.  We observe to understand. We understand to change ourselves and then, change the world around us.

Easy ways of traveling by bus, train and plane help disseminating the ancient Eastern cultures of India, Japan and China Traditional medicine, which is able to transplant heart and perform computerized microsurgery, is also challenged by the ancient practices. Alternative medicine spreads. Vibration medicine starts up.

We want to participate in all areas of our development!

We are also in the middle of a revolution in our history as human beings. From one side, the materialism originated with the industrial and scientific revolution. From the other side, the search for spiritual knowledge and for self-discovery, a search within ourselves to get inner strengths. We do not fight for survival. We fight with the self in a great effort to discover who we are and become free from the chains we got caught in the past centuries or millennia.

Currently, we have in our hands the scientific and spiritual knowledge. The Spirits uncover the veil of the spiritual life to humankind. Mediumship appears not only in the Spiritism but also in many other religions in the world. It is the spiritual world assisting our earthly world to evolve, to free us through knowledge and enable us to walk up faster the steps of our spiritual evolution.

Now, we have time to think and capacity to analyse. We have at our disposal scientific and cultural knowledge. We, Spiritists also have at our disposal the moral and spiritual teachings of Jesus again analysed in the light of the Spiritism doctrine.

We have gained a lot in those thousand years of our evolution from primitive to civilised men and women. We have got social well being. We live longer. We get food for the body from the supermarket shelves. We entertain ourselves with radio, television and video. We communicate by phone or computer with people all over the world. We get food for our soul in the Spiritist centre, Spiritist books and in the Gospel according to the Spiritism.

And what do  we do? We may repeat words automatically as the knowledge brought by the Spirits is not for us, but for others. We may advertise our knowledge, but we may not apply it in our life and to ourselves. We forgot that Jesus adverted: “...From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who have been entrusted with much, much more will be asked (Lucas 12-47).”

Where does our responsibility as Spiritists stand?

We have got knowledge. We have got to know the teachings of Jesus clarified by the Spirits through Allan Kardec, Chico Xavier, Divaldo Franco, Raul Teixeira and others who have presented and explained the divine laws, the Christian moral and the spiritual life in their books. Everyday, we also have the opportunity to discuss and analyse that knowledge in the meetings and lectures of the Spiritist centre.

What do we do with this knowledge? Do we put in the living room bookshelves, in well-closed crystal cupboard, where nobody touches? Or we live what we have in the everyday life, sharing with others what we have already learned?

To live the Spiritism is to live Christianity. It is to practice what we learned with Jesus! It is to pay attention and meditate on the advices brought by the Spirits in their communications to understand how it applies to our life and then, to practice it. We should practice those at home, in our work place, our community, and our town or wherever country we live.

The knowledge we received is in first place for ourselves, not for others. This is why Jesus called our attention and said: “Why do you see the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? (Mathew 7:3) Many times, we listen to teachings and use them to call the attention of someone by our side, forgetting to analyse our own behaviour in view of these teachings. What an illusion! It is the illusion of the Pharisees, who considered themselves very wise, but forgot to practice and just talked! Will we be also like the Pharisees? Will we just repeat the words without practicing them in our life?

Will we be like those who lived with Jesus and didn’t recognize him?

We are not blind. We got a lot of knowledge. Therefore, it is within our responsibility and duty to spread this light, not through the words we may say, but through the way we live them!

Communication is the word of our time!

Nevertheless, only communication is not enough! We need to give the example!

[1] Rodrigues, Amélia (Spirit), … original in Portuguese, ...Até o fim dos tempos, through Divaldo Pereira Franco mediumship, Salvador, BA, Publishing “Livraria Alvorada Editora” 2000.