Luiz Guimarães Gomes de Sá (photo), a retired doctor from the Brazilian city of Recife, is a columnist for several publications, including Diário de Pernambuco, Jornal do Commercio, and O Consolador. He is also a volunteer worker at the Caminhando para Jesus Spiritist Centre in Recife. In this interview, he speaks about his journey from the early days when he completely rejected Spiritism to when he fully embraced the Spiritist Teachings. 

When did you have your first contact with the Spiritist Teachings? 

It was through my dear brother, Carlos José Guimarães Gomes de Sá (Carlos Sá), who volunteered at the Brazilian Spiritist Federation. He was my elder brother. At the age of 18, he got The Spirits’ Book from a friend of my father’s.  I was 14 at the time. He spoke to me about the book but I didn’t show much interest then. When I began my Medicine degree and got a job at Brazil’s state bank, Banco do Brasil, then I had no time left to read anything else. Moreover, I always suffered from a visual impairment and even went through two cornea transplants, which made reading even more difficult to me.  

Was your decision to come looking for Spiritism triggered by any event in particular?

For many years I had admired Spiritism and I felt, even without knowing much about it, that it gave me a sense of direction and security. But I didn’t initially go out looking for the information that was there. 

But then I met Fernando Veloso, who was my wife’s boss at work. He joined the Caminhando para Jesus Spiritist Centre in 1953 and he’s still there, working as a volunteer. For me, he was like a brother and a truly good man, an example of good values, kindness and wisdom. Real change for me, however, only came nine years ago, when I went through a painful experience in my life and I looked for help from my dear brother Fernando Veloso. I then began reading the Spiritist literature and I went through healing and I dealt with the spiritual attachment that I was suffering from. I later attended the courses required to join the group as a volunteer and began giving talks and writing articles about Spiritism. 

How did your family react to you embracing Spiritism? 

My wife is a practising Catholic, but over the past nine years she has observed what I tried to teach her and she has taken in quite a bit. In the beginning, she questioned a great deal, which is understandable, but she eventually accepted the Gospel in the home. I wouldn’t say she rejected it. She only questioned it.   

Which from the three aspects of Spiritism – science, philosophy and religion – strikes you the most? 

I was first attracted by its religious aspect, as I knew nothing about Spiritism and I came from a Catholic background. I was also interested in its philosophical approach, as it encourages a lifestyle, or a life philosophy, that follows the Christian teachings. But it was its scientific aspect that has had a bigger impact on me, perhaps because I worked in the medical sector. In sum, I am more interested in studying the scientific side of Spiritism, which is dynamic.  

The disagreements about the nature of Spiritism resume to a few subjects. One of them is: is Spiritism a religion? What do you think? 

I believe that Spiritism is a body of Teachings based on science, philosophy and the Christian morals. It is not essentially a religion, as it lacks the rituals, charms, images and hierarchies in its practices. Science provides a rational approach for human beings so they can experience reasoned faith through the observation and confirmation of facts that have always existed but until recently were seen as supernatural phenomena. 

What are your views on abortion?

Regrettably there are many who accept and campaign in favour of this anti-Christian practice, whose consequences have been clearly laid out by Spiritism. Personal concerns, unfortunately, prevail among those who accept what is clearly a criminal act according to the Law of God. 

The Earth is going through a transition from a world of trials and tribulations into a phase of regeneration. According to St Augustin, the word love will then be written on the foreheads of everyone and perfect equity will regulate social relations. How long do you think that process will take?

I can’t foresee the precise duration of that process. But we know it began three centuries ago and the moral development of humankind is still falling short of the description provided by St Augustin. This journey, however, is unavoidable and events that have been happening around us show that the time is not too far off. But we must bear in mind that time as counted by man cannot be compared with the time measurements of God…