A look at the evils of life and its causes

The subject of proofs and atonements, basic mechanisms in the evolutionary process, is examined by our colleague Rogério Miguez in the special of the present edition.

The reader, although a neophyte in matters of Spiritism, has certainly read material published in this magazine that tells us that the planet Earth is indeed a world of atonement and evidence, which explains the innumerable moral problems that characterize our world.

Spirits still in evolution, closer to animalism than to angels, it is evident that we are not born in this world by chance, since chance does not exist and that everything in life obeys meticulous planning, although we did not realize it.

The need to atone for the blunders committed is one of the reasons why we are here. The other reason, inherent in the evolutionary process, is to experience situations that reveal the degree of maturity - intellectual and moral - that we have attained.

The theme is dealt with in several works by Allan Kardec and by countless authors, incarnated and disincarnated.

In his work on the moral teachings of the Christ, Allan Kardec gives us valuable information about the so-called evils of life, which he divides for purposes of study into two parts: one consisting of evils which man cannot avoid, that is, which occur regardless of his procedure; and the other compounded by the tribulations of which he was the primary cause, by his negligence or by his excesses.

This second part, says the codifier of the Spirit doctrine, exceeds, in quantity, much of the first. (Cf. The Gospel according to Spiritism, chapter XXVII, item 12.)

Examples mentioned by Allan Kardec of some of the evils that man cannot avoid, but whose number, as we have seen, is inferior to the evils that compose the second part: - loss of loved ones or those who are the shelter of the family; accidents that no forecast could prevent; reverses of fortune, which frustrate all the precautions advised by prudence; natural flagella; diseases of birth, especially those that take from so many unfortunate the means of earning a living by work; deformities, idiocy, mental retardation; deaths of children at an early age, etc. (Cf. The Gospel according to Spiritism, chapter V, item 6.)

The evils and tribulations described refer, in the Spirit view, to causes connected with the previous existences of those who support them, in the face of the axiom according to which every effect has a cause, and therefore such evils are effects that will have a cause, as long as we admit a just and merciful God, that cause will also be just.

Other very important information that explains the function and purpose of the proofs in the evolutionary process of the human creature is found in the text reproduced below, by Allan Kardec:

"There is no belief, however, that every suffering endured in this world denotes the existence of a certain lack. They are often simple proofs sought by the Spirit to complete its debugging and activate its progress. Thus, atonement is always a test, but test is not always atonement. Evidence and atonement, however, are always signs of relative inferiority, for what is perfect need not be proved. It may be that a Spirit has reached a certain degree of elevation and, nevertheless, desiring to advance further, to request a mission, a task to be performed, the more rewarded it will be, if it is victorious, the more harsh it has been the fight. Such are especially those persons of naturally good instincts, of a lofty soul, of innate noble sentiments, who seem to have nothing of the evil brought from their previous existences, and who suffer with all Christian resignation the greatest pains, only asking God to endure them without murmuring. On the contrary, it is possible to consider as atonement the afflictions that provoke grievances and impel man to revolt against God. Undoubtedly, suffering that does not cause grievances can be an atonement; but it is an indication that it was voluntarily sought, rather than imposed, and constitutes proof of strong resolution, which is a sign of progress. (The Gospel according to Spiritism, chapter V, item 9)