Help yourself and
the sky will help you
Well known to all, the quote
"Help you and sky will help you"
was the subject of extensive
commentary by Allan Kardec in
chapter XXV of The Gospel
according to Spiritism.
Analogous to the quote "Seek
and find" attributed to
Jesus, it is in truth the
principle of the law of labor
and, consequently, of the law of
progress.
Help yourself - or seek - this
is the part that competes us,
signaling that we must strive
for things to adjust and achieve
our projects.
The word sky, in the phrase,
symbolizes Divine Providence,
the group of benefactors of
Humanity who act decisively so
that the individual diligent,
responsible and aware of his
duties can muster the resources
he needs in the face of his
reincarnational programming.
Many people, however, do not
understand how this is done. Is
it only through inspiration? Or
does Divine Providence dispose
of other means?
It is clear that the arrival of
a child on the earth scene is
preceded by a series of
measures.
Certain Spirit must reincarnate.
Where? In what family? For
what? What
resources will be provided?
It can be seen that there is not
only a case of inspiration,
because concrete achievements
are made possible before the
child's birth.
The child is then born, develops
and becomes an adult, and as
such often happens there are
many challenges, trials,
vicissitudes that must be faced
and overcome by him.
Divine Providence then uses in
some cases the resource of
inspiration, whether by taking
advantage of the moments of
prayer, in which we attune
ourselves to the High, or in the
minutes of freedom that the
bodily sleep gives us every
night.
Aid, however, is not limited to
this, because it may require
measures that, in some cases, go
far beyond what we are ignorant
of what is happening in the
invisible world, we think. This
is how divine providence works
to bring about encounters, many
of which we attribute to pure
chance, and even to
reincarnational reprogramming,
the purpose of which is that in
the course of our bodily
existence we have the necessary
conditions to attain goal.
Here is an example from André
Luiz's work Missionaries of
the Light, psychographed by
the medium Chico Xavier.
Raul, then married to Esther,
committed suicide. It was later
revealed that his act was the
result of a strong sense of
guilt arising from a crime
committed by him, plus the
obsessive action of his victim,
now in the spiritual life.
Esther's family, consisting of
the widow, three sons, and an
old couple, suddenly became
utterly helpless, and divine
Providence needed to act.
The spiritual benefactors, as
reported by André Luiz, were
instructed to help her. The task
was assigned to an entity named
Romualda. In the first place, it
was necessary to promote
Esther's meeting with her
husband, a meeting that
transmitted to the widow a
feeling of peace and hope,
fundamental in such cases. But
something else was needed. After
all, the income of the house had
ceased with Raul's death.
Romualda then proceeded to carry
out the second part of her task:
the placing of Esther in a
dignified job. To André's
surprise, she explained: "When
fellow grounders deserve, we can
cooperate for their benefit,
with all the resources we have,
provided that our cooperation
does not deprive them of freedom
of conscience."
That was what happened the
following week. André was at
Esther's house when Romualda
came in with a distinguished
lady who came to meet the widow
to offer her honest work in her
sewing workshop.
How did Romualda - a disembodied
entity - come to the
businesswoman? And how did the
idea of hiring
Esther arouse her?
Who spirit is does not ignore
how such things happen, because
the spirits know certainly what
the spiritual instructors taught
Kardec about the action of the
discarnates on us, as it is
read:
Do spirits influence our
thoughts and our actions?"Much
more than you imagine. They
influence to such an extent
that, ordinarily, it is they who
direct you." (Spirits' Book,
question 459.)
Along with the thoughts that are
our own, will others be
suggested to us? "Your
soul is a thinking Spirit. You
are not unaware that many
thoughts often come to you at
one time on the same subject
and, often, contrary to one
another. Well! In all of them,
you always mix your own with
ours. Hence the uncertainty in
which you see yourself. For you
have two ideas to fight against
you." (Idem, question 460.)
Translation:
Francine Prado - francine.cassia@hotmail.com