Special

By Andres Gustavo Arruda

Don't go down!

“And whoever is on the roof must not go down and take something from his house.” (Matthew, 24:17)


In chapter VI of The Book of Spirits, which deals with the Law of Destruction, there are questions about destructive scourges. First, let us conceptualize the word flagellum. According to the Portuguese Online Dictionary, scourge is synonymous with adversity, calamity, misfortune, epidemic, anguish, among other words. In a figurative sense, it means moral torture.

Allan Kardec asks the Superior Spirits, in question 737 and following, what is God's objective in reaching humanity through destructive scourges: the Spirits replied that it is to make it progress faster. An example of a destructive scourge is the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the end of their answer, the Spiritual Benefactors said that this disturbance is often necessary so that a better order of things is established quicker and, therefore, it is accomplished in a few years, what would have required many centuries.

It turns out that, at this moment, the planet is undergoing a transformation. Everything that God creates has to expand, grow, and evolve. The worlds, like us who are Spirits, also evolve.

In the book Posthumous Works, by Allan Kardec, in the second part, there is a message entitled “Regeneration of Humanity”, and the excerpt that matters for the purposes of this study we copy hereby:

“Earth has progressed since its transformation; it has yet to progress and does not want to be destroyed. Humanity, however, has reached one of the periods of its transformation and the earthly world will rise in the hierarchy of worlds.

What is being prepared is therefore not the end of the material world, but the end of the moral world. It is the old world; the world of prejudice, pride, selfishness and fanaticism that crumbles [falls apart]. Each day carries with it some wreckage. All of it will end with the passing generation and the new generation will build the new building, which the following generations will consolidate and complete (emphasis added).”

This transformation of humanity became known as the planetary transition. It is a kind of controlled chaos. When we need to clean a bookshelf, we usually put the books on the floor, and the living room or bedroom becomes a mess. Nevertheless, this mess is controlled, because we have a plan. Let us take the books out, clean them, clean the shelf, maybe we will separate some books that we do not want anymore, and donate them. However, this chaos, in addition to being momentary, is controlled. This is the planetary transition. We can often believe that everything is wrong, that humanity has no way out, but Jesus and the Spirits who coordinate this process are in control of everything, and know exactly all the steps that need to be taken to reach the goal.

Thus, there is a need for changes, and sometimes for them to be rushed. Moreover, the difficulties and gravity of the moment we are experiencing. Therefore, we need to have a certain sense of urgency. We often hear: “Oh, I will not change in this lifetime. I have eternity ahead of me!” However, we do not realize that we will not always have the same opportunities. We think that we will be reincarnated in the same country, in the same family, having the same resources, but this is not always the case.

On the other hand, a consideration is pertinent. We are not getting into the merits of whether the regeneration world will start in 2057, 2300 or 3000. Because it does not matter. What is relevant is that we understand the gravity of the moment to make the possible changes in our behavior and align ourselves, as much as possible, with the law of love.

In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24, verses 15 to 17, Jesus refers to the moment that we are going through today:

“Therefore when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, of which Daniel the prophet spoke, standing in the holy place; whoever reads, understand;

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;

And whoever is on the roof must not go down and take something from his house [...].”

Commenting on this difficult period, the Spirit Emmanuel, in the book Path, Truth and Life (Caminho, Verdade e Vida), says that: “[...] the current situation on Earth is one of the strongest situations in this genre. In every corner, fights and ruins are established. Deadly poisons are inoculated by unconscious politics into the popular masses. The lowland is filled with tremendous fog. Holy places remain filled with abominable darkness. Some men walk in the sinister glare of fires. The ground is fertilized with blood and tears, for the sowing of the future”.

The Benefactor adds: “[...] it is essential to keep the disciple of good in spiritual heights, without abandoning the high cooperation that the Lord exemplified on Earth. That he consolidates his position there as a faithful collaborator, invincible in peace and hope, convinced that, after the passage of the men of disturbance, bearers of wreckage and tears, it is the children of work who sow joy, one more time, and rebuild the building of life”.

Thus, we verify that this moment – ​​to a certain extent – ​​is one of destruction, which is operated so that something new emerges. Which is in line with what the Superior Spirits referred to in question 737 of The Book of Spirits, regarding the establishment of a better order of things.

These spiritual heights, mentioned by Emmanuel, are a state of mind. It is staying on the roof. Jesus' recommendation is that, at this moment on our planet, we ought to remain on the roof.

In addition, how to do it? Keeping us, as much as possible, in high vibration. The Spiritist doctrine teaches that thought acts on spiritual fluids, just as sound acts on air.

In the book The Powers of the Mind (Os Poderes da mente), Suely Caldas Schubert explains that our mind is like a power plant that constantly generates energy. The quality of this energy will depend on the content of the thoughts and feelings that cover it, and will contaminate those who are in the same vibratory pattern.

From this perspective, Suely adds that we are all subject to the most diverse contagions, both through the mental processes, and because “[...] it acts like a sponge that soaks up a liquid.”

Therefore, when we are in an environment that is saturated with bad fluids, we have a bad feeling. It happens that the pores of our perispirit absorb those fluids. Does this not happen to us in certain places? It is the effect of bad spiritual fluids that contaminate the psychosphere (spiritual atmosphere) of the place. It is commonly said: “The environment is heavy”.

The psychosphere is the set of people's thoughts. Everyone has their own. It is an electromagnetic field that surrounds us. Every home has its own, every city, every country, just like our planet.

There is a belief that just thinking positive is enough to have a full life. However, it is not just that. Of course, positive thinking contributes a lot to our happiness. However, to keep us on the roof in these tumultuous days, that is, in good vibration, we need to make the planetary transition within ourselves.

However, what does this transition consist of? It is the internal renewal, it is the search for knowledge of ourselves, and it is this work of moral transformation for the better. Because only this transformation will improve the psychosphere of the planet and, in a natural way, will change the spiritual landscapes of the orb, because the moral quality of the disembodied population is related to the moral quality of the incarnate population.

Therefore, Benefactor Emmanuel emphasized that, “after the passage of the men of disturbance [the bad students of this school, which is Earth], bearers of wreckage and tears, it is the children of work who sow joy, again, and rebuild the edifice of life”.

Moving forward, we are going to address one of the various causes of coming down the roof, which represents, in our interpretation of the Gospel text, the moral descent.

There are collective scourges, which involve peoples, or even humanity as a whole, but there are also personal scourges, our anxieties, depression, anxiety. In this context, it is worth mentioning that in 2006, the Ministry of Health published a manual on Suicide Prevention. According to this manual, psychological shocks (recent losses) are important risk factors.

The writer Lya Luft, who passed away not long ago, asserted “We do not want to lose, nor should we lose: health, people, position, dignity or trust. But losing and winning is part of our humanization process”.

Therefore, losing is in the combo of our reincarnation. During earthly existence, we will have to deal with losses, which are inevitable. In this sense, in a seminar, Divaldo Franco received the following question: How to solve the loss of a loved one, through a tragedy provided by love. The medium replied: if this tragedy was through love, it was love of the senses (that is, mere physical attraction).

Therefore, he told the following story, from the time he (Divaldo) visited cemeteries. There had been a case that shook the city of Salvador, as well as some people from the city of Rio de Janeiro. A very beautiful young woman, from a traditional family, went to take a course with a music teacher. He was an artist, and she a sensitive soul. Inevitably, she at the piano and he at the violin, ended up meeting in the common place of music, and fell in love.

The family decided to send the young woman to study in Europe, breaking this bond; the boy, however, discovered where the girl was. He then went to the country where she was and they were back together. They returned to Brazil and went to live in Rio de Janeiro. The despair of the girl's family was so great that the two, realizing this, made a pact of love, a pact of madness, and committed suicide.

The newspapers of the time reported the event. Divaldo found that so painful, so terrible. Being in RJ and going to Saint Baptist Cemetery, to take the body of the mother of a friend of his, after seeing those scenes that unfold in the cemetery: it is a “living stage of destinies”. Many things that have not been resolved here on the physical plane are still in dispute in the cemetery or elsewhere.

He was seeing entities deeply linked to the physical body, when he suddenly heard a very good song played on a violin, and a very sad song. Divaldo went in the direction of the music, certainly guided by the Good Spirits, and saw, sitting on a marble tomb, a man who played the violin and, next to him, a young woman kneeling, with the marks of the toxic substance she had ingested.

Then, the Spirit Joanna de Angelis said, “It is the couple of the tragedy. Only that between them there is an abyss, they are so close; and as they opted for the destruction of the body, they do not see each other”. She cried out for him, and he bitterly played so he could evoke that unfinished love, which was carnal love. Because true love does not bring tragedy, love sets you free.[1]

In this way, it is necessary that we learn to develop a sense of eternity, to think like Spirits, like immortal beings. Because when we think only as a body (that is, as if we were just the body), we fail to correctly read what is happening to us, and we end up despairing for lack of perspective.

The Spiritist Doctrine clarifies that all suffering has a date and time to end. However, the way in which each reincarnated Spirit goes through the experiences varies greatly. In chapter XIV, item IX, of The Gospel According to Spiritism (O Evangelho Segundo o Espiritismo) there is a very enlightening communication from the Holy Spirit Augustine, who teaches that hard tests are, ordinarily, an indication of an end to suffering and an improvement of the Spirit, provided that accepted with God in mind, that is, without complaints. It is, therefore, “a supreme moment, in which, above all, it is up to the Spirit not to fail by murmuring, if he does not want to lose the fruit of such trials and have to start all over. Instead of complaining, thank God for the opportunity He gives you to win, in order to grant you the prize of victory. Then, leaving the turmoil of the terrestrial world, when you enter the world of Spirits, you will be acclaimed there like the soldier who emerges triumphant from the fray”.

Therefore, in challenging times like the current ones, as already mentioned, a sincere effort is essential to stay on top of the roof. In addition, when, due to life's contingencies, unpleasantness, trauma, disappointments, we are about to come down from the roof, may we close our eyes and take a deep breath, because there will always be a friendly voice ready to tell us: "Don't come down!"


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[1] FRANCO, Divaldo Pereira. Love as a Solution (Seminar). Part 04-06 (13:10 a 16:40). Available at: LINK-1. Access on: June 1, 2022. Adapted.


 


 

Translation:
Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br

 
 

     
     

O Consolador
 Revista Semanal de Divulgação Espírita