| Year 15 | Number 81 | 2006 | December 15th, 2006 |
| "Unshakable
faith is only that which can face reason face to
face in every Humankind epoch." Allan Kardec |
| |
"Difficulties
show men what they are. In case of any difficulty remember that God has
pitted you against a rough antagonist that you may be a conqueror, and
this cannot be without toil"
Epictetus
Epictetus
(c.55–c.135) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He spent his youth as
a slave in Rome to Epaphroditos, a very wealthy freedman of Nero. Even
as a slave, Epictetus used his time productively, studying Stoic
Philosophy under Musonius Rufus. He was eventually freed and lived a
relatively hard life in ill health in Rome. It is known that he became
crippled, owing to cruel treatment by his master, according to most
reports. He was exiled along with other philosophers by the emperor
Domitian sometime between 89 and 95. (from http://www.brainyquote.com)
|
||
| °
EDITORIAL
|
|||
| OLD YEAR, NEW YEAR - OLD MAN, NEW MAN |
|||
| ° THE CODIFICATION
|
|||
| THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING
TO SPIRITISM - CHAPTER XVIII - MANY CALLED BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN: To Those Who Have Will Be Given More |
|||
|
|||
| CHRISTIANITY AND SPIRITUALISM by Leon Denis | |||
|
|||
| Prayer, An Evocation To God |
|||
| End of the Year | |||
|
|||
| The Christian's New-Year Prayer |
|||
|
|||
| THE NEW GENERATION: The Spiritist View on Indigo and Crystal Children | |||
| ° EDITORIAL |
Jeronimo Mendonça
Time is always the same. It renews everything in an irreversible way, it does not know anything old nor leaves nothing to age, since everything is subjected to its transforming action.
By its amazing chemistry, beings and worlds are transformed.
In this way, past and future find a compromise in the everlasting present, and in reality we are the ones who pass through time and not the other way around.
The New Man is one who substitutes inferior habits for the noble qualities of character. He is one who gives up passions and yesterday's disillusions for pure love, thus acquiring a new vision of life.
The time that testified the transformation of Saul of Tarsus into Paul and Zacchaeus, the chief tax-gatherer, in the good man, is the same of today. Seldom have we had the courage to renew ourselves, every day, as
time passes, which is a gift from GOD to all of us.
The OLD YEAR is still the same for those who do not renew themselves, and the NEW YEAR will always be a gift and a blessing for all who allow themselves to be changed by the divine influence of the Christ of God.
Originally published in Portuguese in the GEAE newsletter # 222 of January 1997.
| ° THE CODIFICATION |
13.
And the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why speaketh Thou unto them
in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto
you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is
not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have
more abundance.' but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away
even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they
seeing see not.' and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By
hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand,. And seeing ye shall
see, and shall not perceive (Matthew, 13: 10-14).
14. And He said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you.' and unto you that hear shall be given more. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath (Mark, 4.. 24 & 25).
15. "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away." Let us meditate on these great teachings which have so often seemed paradoxical. 'He who has received' signifies those who possess the meaning of the divine Word. They have received it solely because they have tried to be worthy of it and because the Lord, in His merciful love, animates the efforts of those who are inclined towards goodness. By their unceasing perseverance their efforts attract the blessing of God, which acts as a magnet calling to itself progressive betterment. It is these copious blessings which make them strong enough to scale the sacred mountain on whose pinnacle is to be found rest after labour.
"From whosoever hath not, or but little, shall be taken away." This should be understood as a figurative antithesis. God does not retract the good He has conceded. Blind and deaf humanity! Use your intelligence and your hearts; see with the eyes of your spirit; listen by means of your soul and do not interpret so coarsely and unjustly the words of He Who makes the justice of God shine resplendently before your eyes. It is not God who takes away from the one who has but little, but that Spirit itself who, by being wasteful and careless, does not know how to conserve, increase, and bring to fulfilment the mite which had been given to that heart. The son who does not cultivate the field which the work of
The son who does not cultivate the field which the work of his father had conquered for his inheritance, will see it covered with weeds. Is it then his father who takes away the harvest he did not prepare? If through lack of care he allowed the seedlings, destined to produce the crop, to wither, is it the father he should accuse for their having produced nothing? No, it is not. Instead of accusing the one who had done all the preparing, as if he were guilty of taking it back, he should complain to the real author of his miseries. With repentance and desire to be industrious, the son should put himself to work courageously to reclaim the soil by sheer will-power, digging deeply with the help of repentance and hope. Then confidently sow the good seed, which he has separated from the bad, and water it with love and charity. Then God, the God of love and charity, will give to him who has already received. He will see his efforts crowned with success and one grain will produce a hundred and another a thousand. Courage, workers! Take up your harrows and your ploughs; work with your hearts; tear out the weeds; sow the good seed that the Lord has given and the dew of love will cause the fruits of charity to grow. - A Friendly Spirit (Bordeaux, 1862).
14. And He said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you.' and unto you that hear shall be given more. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath (Mark, 4.. 24 & 25).
15. "For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away." Let us meditate on these great teachings which have so often seemed paradoxical. 'He who has received' signifies those who possess the meaning of the divine Word. They have received it solely because they have tried to be worthy of it and because the Lord, in His merciful love, animates the efforts of those who are inclined towards goodness. By their unceasing perseverance their efforts attract the blessing of God, which acts as a magnet calling to itself progressive betterment. It is these copious blessings which make them strong enough to scale the sacred mountain on whose pinnacle is to be found rest after labour.
"From whosoever hath not, or but little, shall be taken away." This should be understood as a figurative antithesis. God does not retract the good He has conceded. Blind and deaf humanity! Use your intelligence and your hearts; see with the eyes of your spirit; listen by means of your soul and do not interpret so coarsely and unjustly the words of He Who makes the justice of God shine resplendently before your eyes. It is not God who takes away from the one who has but little, but that Spirit itself who, by being wasteful and careless, does not know how to conserve, increase, and bring to fulfilment the mite which had been given to that heart. The son who does not cultivate the field which the work of
The son who does not cultivate the field which the work of his father had conquered for his inheritance, will see it covered with weeds. Is it then his father who takes away the harvest he did not prepare? If through lack of care he allowed the seedlings, destined to produce the crop, to wither, is it the father he should accuse for their having produced nothing? No, it is not. Instead of accusing the one who had done all the preparing, as if he were guilty of taking it back, he should complain to the real author of his miseries. With repentance and desire to be industrious, the son should put himself to work courageously to reclaim the soil by sheer will-power, digging deeply with the help of repentance and hope. Then confidently sow the good seed, which he has separated from the bad, and water it with love and charity. Then God, the God of love and charity, will give to him who has already received. He will see his efforts crowned with success and one grain will produce a hundred and another a thousand. Courage, workers! Take up your harrows and your ploughs; work with your hearts; tear out the weeds; sow the good seed that the Lord has given and the dew of love will cause the fruits of charity to grow. - A Friendly Spirit (Bordeaux, 1862).
| ° ELECTRONIC BOOKS |
CHRISTIANITY AND SPIRITUALISM
The History of the Gospels
The Secret Doctrine of Christianity
Intercourse with the Spirits of the Dead
The New Revelation
Vitam Impendere Vero
By
LÉON DENIS
Author of
"Après La Mort, "Dans L'Invisible," ETC.
Translated from the French by
HELEN DRAPER SPEAKMAN
LONDON
PHILIP WELLBY
6 Henrietta Street Covent Garden
1904
This book is out of print indefinitely
1st Electronic Edition by
the
Advanced
Study Group of Spiritism
(GEAE)
2006
As specks of gold in the troubled mass of their teachings, the Church mingles pure evangelical morality wity its own conceptions.
We have seen that after the death of the Master, the early Christians possessed, in their intercourse with the invisible world, a fruitful source of inspiration. They used it openly. But the instructions of the spirits were not always in harmony with the views of many of the growing priesthood, who, if they found help in these relations, often met with severe censure and even condemnation.
We can see in the book of Père de Longueval,¹ how, as the dogmatic edifice of the Church was gradually built up in the early centuries, the spirits little by little detached themselves from the orthodox Christians to inspire those who were designated as heretics.
Montau, says the Abbé Fleury,² had two prophetesses, two rich and noble ladies, named Priscilla and Maximilla. Cérinthe also obtained revelations. Apollonius of Tyre was counted among those men favoured of heaven who are helped by a "supernatural spirit." Nearly all the masters of the school of Alexandria were inspired by superior spirits.
All these spirits, following the admission of St Paul; "For we know in part, we prophesy in part" (I Cor. XIII. 9), brought with them, they said, a revelation which was to complete and confirm that of Jesus.
From the third century, they affirmed that the dogmas imposed by the Church in defiance of reason were only obscuring the doctrines of Christ. They condemned the excessive and scandalous luxury of the bishops and protested energetically against all that seemed to them a relaxation of morals.³
This growing opposition soon became intolerable to the Church. The "heretics," advised and directed by the spirits, entered into open war with her. They interpreted the Scriptures with a broadness of view which the Church could not admit without ruining her material interests. Almost all became neo-platonians, and accepted the succession of the lives of man, and what Origen called the "medicinal punishments," that is to say, punishments proportioned to the sins of the soul, reincarnated in a new body to expiate its past and purify itself by pain.
For this doctrine, taught by the spirits, Origen and many Fathers of the Church found justification in the Scriptures. It was more in accord with the justice and mercy of God, who cannot condemn souls to eternal torments after one life only, but must give them the opportunity of elevating themselves by means of laborious existences, by trials accepted with resignation and supported with courage.
This doctrine of hope and of progress did not inspire, int the eyes of the Church, a sufficient degree of the dread of sin and of death. It detracted from the authority of the priesthood. Man, enabled to expiate his sin in his own person, did not need a priest. The gift of prophecy, the constant communication with spirits, undermined most surely the power of the Church, which, taking alarm, resolved to put an end to the struggle by stamping out prophecy. She imposed silence on all, invisible or human, who, with the object of spiritualising Christianity, affirmed ideas the elevation of which interfered with her.
After having accepted during three centuries, the gifts of prophecy and mediumship to which all could attain, according to the promise of the Apostles, as a sovereign means of elucidating religious problems and strengthening faith, the Church turned round and declared that all that came from this source was pure illusion, or the work of the devil. She announced herself with all the weight of her own authority, as being herself the only living prophecy, the only perpetual and permanent revelation. All that did not emanate from her was condemned and anathematised. All the grand teaching of the Gospels, of which we have spoken, all the work of the prophets which completes and illuminates them, is put aside. There was no more mention of spirits, nor of the elevation of humanity by a scale of existences and or worlds, nor of expiation of faults committed, nor of progress realised and work accomplished through an infinity of space and of time.
These teachings were lost sight of, and the real nature of the gifts of prophecy forgotten; so that modern comentators of the Scriptures say that "prophecy was the gift of explaining to the faithful the mysteries of religion." 4 The prophets werem according to them, "the bishop and the priest who judged by the gift of discernment and the rules of the Scriptures whether what was said came from the spirit of God or the spirit of the devil." This is in absolute contradiction to the opinion of the early Christians, who saw in the prophecies inspired messages not from God but from spirits, as St John says in the passage we have already quoted from his first Epistle, chap. IV. 1.
At one time it almost seemed as if the doctrine of Jesus, allied to the profound views of the Alexandrian prhilosophers, would prevail over the mystical tendencies of the Judeo-Christianity and lead man into the broad ways of progress, towards high spiritual inspiration. But disinterested men, loving truth for its own sake, were not numerous in the Councils. Doctrines better adapted to the earthly interests of the Church, were elaborated by these assemblies, and checked and materialised religion. It was by them and under the influence of the Roman Pontiffs, that during the centuries there was gradually erected that scaffolding of curious dogmas which have nothing in common with the Gospels and are of much later date, and which form a sombre edifice in which human thought, like a captive eagle, powerless to unfold his wings and able to see only one small corner of the sky, was imprisoned as in a tomb.
The foundations of this massive structure, which bars the progress of humanity, were laid in 325, at the Council of Nicea, and it was completed in 1870, at the last Council of Rome. It has as a foundation Original Sin, and as a crown the Immaculate Conception, and the Infallibility of the Pope.
It is this monstrous work which has taught men to know that pitiless and revengeful God,that ever-yawning hell, that paradise closed to so many noble souls, to so many great intellects, but so easily acquired by a life of a few days only, if they included baptism. It is these conceptions which have driven so many to Atheism and despair.
Let us examine the principal dogmas and mysteries which constitute the teachings of the Christian Churches, and which we find in all the orthodox Catechisms.
Firstly there is that strange conception of the Divinity which leads to the mystery of the Trinity, one only God in three Persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus brought to the world an idea of divinity hitherto unknown to the Jews - the God of Jesus was not the partial and jealous despot who protected Israel against other peoples - He was the God, the Father of humanity. All nations, all peoples, were His children - He was the God in whom all live and have their being, pervading nature and human conscience.
For the pagan world as well as the Jewish, this notion of God was a moral revolution. To men who had come to defy everything, and to fear all that they had defied, the doctrine of Jesus revealed the existence of only one God, Creatror, and Father, through whom all men are brothers, and in whose name they owe each other help and love. The communion with the Father was rendered possible by the brotherly union of the members of the human family. The way of perfection was opened to all through love of one's neighbour and evotion to humanity.
This doctrine, so simple and so grand, was calculated to elevate the human soul to imposing heights to kindle that divine fire of which each can feel in himself a spark. How did this pure and simple idea of the Divinity, become transformed so as to be unrecognisable?
It was the result of the passions and material interests which came into play in the Christian world after the death of Jesus. The idea of the Trinity, taken from a Hindoo legend which was the expression of a symbol, obscured this ideal of God. Human intelligence can conceive of an Eternal One who embraces the Universe and gives life to all creatures. It cannot understand how three persons can unite so as to form one God. The question of consubstantiality does not elucidate the problem. In vain they tell us that man cannot understand the nature of God. There is no question here of attributes, but of the law of numbers and measures, a law which rules everything in the universe, even the relations between human reason and the supreme reason.
But this trinitarian conception, so obscure, so incomprehensible, had a great advantage in the eyes of the Church, for it permitted them to make of Jesus Christ a God. It gave to the great Spirit which she called the Founder, an authority and a prestige which assured her authority. That is the secret of its adoption by the Council of Nicea, after discussions and quarrels which agitated three centuries. These discussions only ceased by the proscription of the Arian bishops, ordered by the Emperor Constance, and the banishment of Pope Liberius, who had refused to sanction the decision of the Council. 5
The Divinity of Christ, rejected by three Councils, is proclaimed in these terms, in 325, by that of Nicea: "The Church of God, Catholic and Apostolic, anhatematises those who say that there was a time when the Son did not exist, or that He did not exist before having been begotten."
This declaration is in direct contradiction to the views of the Apostles and Evangelists, who all believed the Son created by the Father. When the bishops of the fourth century proclaimed the Son equal to the Father, "begotten, not created" they gave the lie to Christ Himself, who said and repeated, "My Father is greater than I." To justify this assertion, the Church quotes certain words of Christ, which, if accurate, are wrongly understood and interpreted. For example, in Joh X. 33, it is said: "We stone thee .... because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." The answer of Jesus destroys this accusation and reveals His inner thought. "Is it not written in your law; I said, Ye are gods?" 6
Every one knows that the ancient Latins and Orientals called "gods," all those who, in anyway whatever, raised themselves above the common level. 7 Christ preferred the name of Son of God to designate those who sought for and observed the divine teachings. He explains this in the following verse: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God" (Matt. V. 6). The Apostles gave the same meaning to this expression: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, (that is to say, by a good and high spirit) they are the Sons of God" (Rom. VIII). Jesus confirms it in several circumstances. "Say ye of Him whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?" (John X. 36). 8
"Jesus said unto Him, why callest thou me good? None is good, save One, that is God" (Luke XVIII. 19).
"I can of my own self do nothing. I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me" (John V. 30).
The following words are even more explicit: "But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God" (John VIII. 40).
"If ye loved me ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father, for my Father is greater than I" (John XIV. 28).
"Jesus said to Magdalene, Go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God" (John XX. 17).
Thus, far from claiming sacrilegiously for Himself the position of God, Jesus in all circumstances speaks of the Infinite One as a creature should speak of his Creator, or as a subordinate should speak of his Master.
The Apostles themselves only saw in Jesus a missionary, one sent from on high, doubtless a supreme spirit, by His knowledge and His virtues, but nevertheless a human spirit. Their attitude towrdas Him, their language prove it clearly. If they had considered Him as a God, would they not have prostrated themselves before Him, and spoken to Him on their knees? Whereas their deference towards Him and their respect never went beyond that due to a Master, an eminent man. It was the title of "Master" (Hebrew "rabbi") which they habitually used to Him, as the Scriptures prove to us. When they call Him Christ, they use it as equivalent of one sent of God.
"Peter answered, Thou art the Christ" (Mark VIII. 29). The opinion of the Apostles is explained and clearly shown in certain passages of the Acts. Acts II. 22. Peter thus addresses the crowd: "Ye men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you."
We find the same idea expressed in Luke XXIV. 19: "Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people."
Thus, to the disciples of Jesus, as to all those who sutdy attentively and withou passion the problem of that marvellous life, the Christ, according to the expression which He applied to Himself, was but the "prophet" of God, that is to say the interpreter, the messenger of God, a spirit gifted with special faculties, with exceptional powers, but not superior to human nature. His clairvoyance, His inspiration, the gift of healing, which He possessed so largely, all these are found in greater or lesser degree and at different times, among other men.
We find these faculties today in our mediums, not grouped and united so as to form a powerful personality, like that of Christ, but divided up among many individuals. The cures of Jesus were not miracles, 9 but the application of a fluidic or magnetic power, which is possessed, more or less developed, by the healing mediums of our day. These powers are subject variations and intermittances which were felt by Chirst Himself, as is shown in these verses of Mark VI. 4, 5: "And Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin and in his own house. And He could there do no mighty work."
Those who have carefully observed the phenomena of spiritualism, of magnetism and suggestion, and sought out the cause from the effect, have all perceived the great analogy which existed between the cures wrought by Christ and those obtained by our modern practitioners. In the same way as He did, but with less power and success, the spiritualistic healers treat cases of obsession and of possession, and by the aid of passes and touches, by the laying on of hands, deliver the sick from the troubles caused by the influence of impure spirits, of those designated by the Scriptures as demons.
"When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils, and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick" (Matt. VIII. 16).
The greater number of nervous diseases come from troubles caused by influences foreign to our fluidic organisation, or perispirit. Medicine which studies only the body, has not been able to discover the cause of these ells or their remedies, and is therefore powerless to cure them. The fluidic action of certain men, sustained by will, by prayer and the assistance of the higher spirits, can put a stop to these troubles by restoring to the fluidic body of the sufferer its normal vibrations, and constraining the departure of the bad spirits. It is this that Jesus did with such cases, and after Him, the Apostles and Saints.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The knowledge spread among men by modern Spiritualism, enables us better to understand and define the high personality of Christ. He was a divine missionary, gifted with great powers, and an incomparable medium. He himself affirms this: "For I have not spoken of myself; but of the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak" (John XII. 49).
To all the different races of humanity, at all great epochs of history, God sent his missionaries, superior spirits, who had attained by their efforts, or their merits, to the highest degree of spiritual hierarchy. We can follow the traces of their footprints. They towered above men, whom they endeavoured to direct towards intellectual heights. Heaven armed them for the fight they had to sustain, and gave them courage and power. Jesus was one among, and the greatest of these divine missionaries. Despoiled of the falso halo of His Divinity, he appears more imposing. His sufferings, His moments of weakness, His resignation, leave us cold as coming from a God. They touch and move us profoundly in a brother. Jesus is of all the children of men the most worthy of admiration. He is great when He teaches on the mountain, among the humble of the earth. He is still greater on Calvary, when the shadow of His cross is cast over the world, in the hour of His suffering.
The passage of Jesus on earth, His teachings and His example, have left ineffaceable traces, and His influence will be felt through the ages to come. Today, He still presides over the destinies of the globe on which He lived, loved and suffered. Raised by His sacrifice to the rank of spiritual governor of this world, it is under His occult direction, and with His help that is taking place this new revelation, which under the name of modern spiritualism, is re-establishing His doctrine and giving back to men the sentimento of their duty, and the knowledge of their nature and their destiny.
1 ↑ "Histoire de l'Eglise Gallicane," vol. I. p. 84
2 ↑ "Hist. Eccl.," book IV. 6.
3 ↑ Pére de Longueval. "Histoire de l"Eglise Gallicane," I. 84.
4 ↑ Le Maistre de Lacy - "Commentaires de St Paul," I. 3, 22-29.
5 ↑ For details see "Spirite et Chrétien," by E. Bellemare, p. 212.
6 ↑These words apply to the following passage from the Psalms 1 XXXII. V. 6: "I have said, Ye are gods, and all of you are the children of the Most High."
7 ↑ See note 8.
8 ↑ If, in His parabolic language, Jesus sometimes calls Himself the Son of God, He very much oftener calls Himself the Son of man, which latter expression is found seventy-six times in the Gospels.
9 ↑ What are called miracles are merely phenomena produced by the action of unknown forces which science will discover in time. Miracles, as a derogation of natural laws, are impossible. By the violation of these laws, disorder and confusion would reign in the world, and God cannot have established laws to violate them. It would be a fatal example to give us, for why should God punish us for violating a law, which He Himself, Author of the law, had set aside?
Next: CHAPTER VII - THE DOGMAS (CONTINUED), THE SACRAMENTS, AND FORMS OF WORSHIP
| ° SPIRIT
MESSAGES |
PRAYER, AN EVOCATION TO GOD
Spirit Communication received by Yvonne Limoges
Spirit Communication received by Yvonne Limoges
Prayer, An Evocation To God
Prayer, that evocation to God and those in the spirit world who are
there to listen to the innermost recesses of your heart, open up
yourself to them!
Don’t be ashamed but humble yourself before the Almighty and
admit your weaknesses. Ask for the strength you lack to fortify you
against the vices of the material world.
It is hard to sustain and maintain a moral and spiritual equilibrium
when all around you is hypocrisy, jealousy, animosity, envy, and pride.
But, you can do it through constant communion with those who care and
love you in the spirit world and with the Love of the Creator, Ultimate
Source of that Perfect Love.
Don’t forget to seek it out for your lives would flow more
smoothly and you would not be so thrown about by the tempests of the
lowly passions!
So, pray…consistently!
Back
to
Content
My Sons and Daughters,
I came to you to conclude this short period of your lives that you call year. You have fought, you have worked and you have won. That is good, but surely not enough. You are living at a time in which devotion is so scanty that it must be multiplied a hundred times. You are living at a time in which very few men know how to enjoy life through intelligence, spirit and the heart.
You will be scarcely understood when you say that you have chosen the spirit instead of matter, knowledge instead of money and happiness in the place of welfare. But you will always be happy by placing yourselves above improper desires; you will know how to breathe the pure air of spiritual freedom.
You will always be happy because by placing your faith in God you will go straight to Him, and by improving yourselves continuously the paltry miseries of life will not bother you.
You have fought and renewed yourselves. First you were servile to matter but won by the spirit. Today you are here to bring the initiation to the true precepts, therefore, do not let yourselves be weakened by the so called spirit of time. Do not let yourselves be taken away by this flood of selfish ideas, but place yourselves well above the mountain and transfigure yourselves.
You have been comforted by the fact that you have finished your past fights through the fulfillment of the present duties. You will reap the benefits of the future and the progress that it brings.
With my deepest love and inner peace, I bring to you the blessings of God.
Obs: Philipp Schwarzerdt (Greek: Melanchthon) was born February 16, 1497, in the house of his grandparents in Bretten, Germany. He was the first of five children (1499 Anna, 1500 or 1501 Georg, 1506 Margarete and 1508 Barbara). Melanchthon's father, Georg Schwarzerdt, was master of armory of electoral Saxony. His mother came from the well-to-do Reuter family of merchants. His grandfather saw that young Philipp, his brother Georg and two other grandsons had a strong education in Latin by hiring the tutor Johannes Unger from Pfortzheim. At school Philipp was the best student. He went on to learn Greek under Johannes Hiltebrant. His great-uncle, the humanist Johannes Reuchlin, in the humanist tradition, gave him the Greek name "Melanchthon."
Back to Content
This poem by Ella Wilcox, “The Christian´s new year prayer” though not a Spiritist message (it was not obtained by psychic means), has a very deep content that is truly spiritual and appropriate for our season.
From "Poetical works of Ella Wheeler Wilcox", by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Edinburgh : W. P. Nimmo, Hay, & Mitchell, 1917.
Back to Content
Information: http://www.ssbaltimore.org or 410-382-5328
Back
to
Content
My Sons and Daughters,
I came to you to conclude this short period of your lives that you call year. You have fought, you have worked and you have won. That is good, but surely not enough. You are living at a time in which devotion is so scanty that it must be multiplied a hundred times. You are living at a time in which very few men know how to enjoy life through intelligence, spirit and the heart.
You will be scarcely understood when you say that you have chosen the spirit instead of matter, knowledge instead of money and happiness in the place of welfare. But you will always be happy by placing yourselves above improper desires; you will know how to breathe the pure air of spiritual freedom.
You will always be happy because by placing your faith in God you will go straight to Him, and by improving yourselves continuously the paltry miseries of life will not bother you.
You have fought and renewed yourselves. First you were servile to matter but won by the spirit. Today you are here to bring the initiation to the true precepts, therefore, do not let yourselves be weakened by the so called spirit of time. Do not let yourselves be taken away by this flood of selfish ideas, but place yourselves well above the mountain and transfigure yourselves.
You have been comforted by the fact that you have finished your past fights through the fulfillment of the present duties. You will reap the benefits of the future and the progress that it brings.
With my deepest love and inner peace, I bring to you the blessings of God.
Melanchthon,
December 31, 1874
Obs: Philipp Schwarzerdt (Greek: Melanchthon) was born February 16, 1497, in the house of his grandparents in Bretten, Germany. He was the first of five children (1499 Anna, 1500 or 1501 Georg, 1506 Margarete and 1508 Barbara). Melanchthon's father, Georg Schwarzerdt, was master of armory of electoral Saxony. His mother came from the well-to-do Reuter family of merchants. His grandfather saw that young Philipp, his brother Georg and two other grandsons had a strong education in Latin by hiring the tutor Johannes Unger from Pfortzheim. At school Philipp was the best student. He went on to learn Greek under Johannes Hiltebrant. His great-uncle, the humanist Johannes Reuchlin, in the humanist tradition, gave him the Greek name "Melanchthon."
Back to Content
| ° POEMS |
Ella Wilcox
Thou Christ of mine, Thy gracious ear low bending
Through these glad New-Year days,
To catch the countless prayers to Heaven ascending,---
For e'en hard hearts do raise
Some secret wish for fame, or gold, or power,
Or freedom from all care---
Dear, patient Christ, who listened hour on hour,
Hear now a Christian's prayer.
Let this young year that, silent, walks beside me,
Be as a means of grace
To lead me up, no matter what betide me,
Nearer the Master's face.
If it need be that ere I reach the fountain
Where Living waters play,
My feet should bleed from sharp stones on the mountain,
Then cast them in my way.
If my vain soul needs blows and bitter losses
To shape it for Thy crown,
Then bruise it, burn it, burden it with crosses,
With sorrows bear it down.
Do what Thou wilt to mould me to Thy pleasure,
And if I should complain,
Heap full of anguish yet another measure
Until I smile at pain.
Send dangers---deaths! but tell me how to bear them;
Enfold me in Thy care.
Send trials, tears! but give me strength to bear them---
Through these glad New-Year days,
To catch the countless prayers to Heaven ascending,---
For e'en hard hearts do raise
Some secret wish for fame, or gold, or power,
Or freedom from all care---
Dear, patient Christ, who listened hour on hour,
Hear now a Christian's prayer.
Let this young year that, silent, walks beside me,
Be as a means of grace
To lead me up, no matter what betide me,
Nearer the Master's face.
If it need be that ere I reach the fountain
Where Living waters play,
My feet should bleed from sharp stones on the mountain,
Then cast them in my way.
If my vain soul needs blows and bitter losses
To shape it for Thy crown,
Then bruise it, burn it, burden it with crosses,
With sorrows bear it down.
Do what Thou wilt to mould me to Thy pleasure,
And if I should complain,
Heap full of anguish yet another measure
Until I smile at pain.
Send dangers---deaths! but tell me how to bear them;
Enfold me in Thy care.
Send trials, tears! but give me strength to bear them---
This poem by Ella Wilcox, “The Christian´s new year prayer” though not a Spiritist message (it was not obtained by psychic means), has a very deep content that is truly spiritual and appropriate for our season.
From "Poetical works of Ella Wheeler Wilcox", by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Edinburgh : W. P. Nimmo, Hay, & Mitchell, 1917.
Back to Content
| ° UPCOMING EVENTS |
THE NEW GENERATION: The
Spiritist View on Indigo and Crystal Children
Keynote Address by Divlado Franco
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
A special night to celebrate the coming of a new generation and the 150th Anniversary of Spiritist Thought
Keynote Address by Divlado Franco
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
6 p.m. - 10 p.m.
A special night to celebrate the coming of a new generation and the 150th Anniversary of Spiritist Thought
BW1 Airport
Marriott1743 West Nursery Road
Baltimore, Maryland 21240
Advanced Tickets Only
$40 until Deceber 15
$45 until Januart 04
Baltimore, Maryland 21240
Advanced Tickets Only
$40 until Deceber 15
$45 until Januart 04
Information: http://www.ssbaltimore.org or 410-382-5328
GRUPO DE ESTUDOS
AVANÇADOS
ESPÍRITAS
ADVANCED STUDY GROUP OF SPIRITISM
ADVANCED STUDY GROUP OF SPIRITISM
Electronic weekly report in Portuguese - Boletim do GEAE
Monthly
English
report: "The Spiritist Messenger"
The
Spiritist Messenger is sent by email to GEAE subscribers
or to inscricao-en@geae.inf.br with the subject "unsubscribe"
(Free) subscriptions http://www.geae.inf.br/
Send your comments to editor-en@geae.inf.br
or to inscricao-en@geae.inf.br with the subject "unsubscribe"
Editorial
Council - mailto:editor@geae.inf.br
Collection in Portuguese (Boletim do GEAE)
Collection in English (The Spiritist Messenger)
Collection in Spanish (El Mensajero Espírita)