Abel Sidney: 

“We need to study the Spiritist Doctrine more and more, in a systematized and steady way”

The author of Lessons from a Suicide reports his experiences in Rondônia, talks about his books and projects and emphasizes the importance of studying more the Spiritist Doctrine 
 

O Consolador: Your book Lessons from a Suicide, by Allan Kardec Publishers, analyses the deep content of the precious book by Yvonne Pereira Memories of a Suicide, edited by FEB. Why this analysis? What were the biggest difficulties and joys? Share the experience.

The Lessons from a Suicide was born into our proposal of making up for the wasted time along this incarnation... We have adopted for 9 years the habit of waking up at 4 to read, write and pray. And as we read for the third time the book we felt like writing something about it. Between the main idea and the publication six years have passed and many confreres have joined us to enable its publication. The biggest joy was to have received some letters and e-mails saying that our book was being studied. This is one of the goals of the book: arouse an interest for a more systematized study of Spiritist books. And on top of that, we have also heard of many people who took on Memories, which was another goal. We should say that the richness of the book by Camilo Castelo Branco, psychographed by Yvonne Pereira, is so much that more two books could be written on it! 

O Consolador: Do you have any other books in the making?

We have a story collection, linked to one another, that we called Stories of the Blind Oliveira. We wish to publish it one day, no hurry... Another project, already started, is to work a specific topic, in the light of the basic works, to enhance some discussions. The first of this series is "Thinking According to Spirits".  For the elderly we dream about the possibility of elaborating a newer version of the basic works by Kardec, in an updated and simple language, through Esperanto. A Publisher has already been interested. There are other books, but they will be published by Temática, focusing the reading at school and at home, our current project. Through these books we have managed to take the Christian-Spiritist message to the gentiles, as approaching moral questions in a more universal language, with the advantage that those books can also be read and worked with evangelization...

O Consolador: What about your academic activity? Share your experience in the area of education.

I am still in this area through writing books, but, by now, out of the classroom. I was a full-time teacher during eight years, in Elementary and High School, at the beginning, and then college. Besides the thousand students I helped graduate and keep in touch, I developed some projects I intend to carry on, like the Scientific Method as a Pedagogical Resource, aimed for teachers at any levels.

O Consolador: How is the Spiritist movement in Rondonia? Being far from the larger centers also affects the Spiritist movement?

As we live in Amazon, in a fairly new state, we still have it all to be built. And the Spiritist movement reflects this state of pioneers that we are into. With a bad thing, the intensive exodus, what makes us lose many friends to other states. Distance is not an obstacle, isolation is. Many cities here, far from the highway, BR-364, have no Spiritist Centers. We accept the collaboration of some brave scouts... In the capital and main cities, however, the movement is well-consolidated, with many activities being accomplished within the spirit of integration and unification, under the command of Pedro Barbosa, president of the Spiritist Federation of Rondônia.

O Consolador: What do you think about the controversial topics in the Spiritist movement these days?

When I was young I tended to like controversial topics, mainly in the Spiritist area. Today, I realize there are more important things to worry about and spending time on this is a waste, really. We have adopted, besides, a preventive measure that has been effective: never debate controversial topics face-to-face, in order to not create dislikes, but approach them whenever it’s needed, so that we can get our point across (in favor of the Spiritist Doctrine, obviously), without hurting anybody... 

O Consolador: What about the controversial topics of society?

These ones should, whenever possible, be  "assimilated" and ”converted" to the Spiritist language and being discussed in Spiritist Centers, in suitable moments and places. One of them, specially, claims for a view and debate of Spiritist nature- the stem-cells. May some Spiritist scholar can tell us something about it!! 

O Consolador: Your final words.

We need to study the Spiritist Doctrine more and more, in a systematized and steady way, so that we can understand its principles.  This is our suggestion: read a bit, but every day. We have been doing it for nine years, at night time.  We are currently reading four books:

1) Itineraries of Antigona, non-Spiritist book by Barbara Freytag, which approaches in a awesome way a topic that is interesting for everybody: moral values;
2) Workers back, book by Waldo Vieira, edited by FEB, with messages of several Spirits;

3) The Consoler, by Emmanuel, psychographed by Chico Xavier, and

4) La Konsolanto, Esperanto version of the same book, in a great translation.

Sometimes we take a year, a year and half to finish books... But it’s worth it!!

Thanks for the opportunity!!