When you want to do good, action is undoubtedly essential, without forgetting that what really counts is the intention. Not because God is writing down intentions, but because it is what counts for the individual's learning or attachment. But we cannot forget that the ideal is to know what to do, so as not to do it wrong. Let's talk about Charity and Spiritism.
Speaking of the Spiritist Movement, we unfortunately have the practice of some who place themselves in judgment. On the one hand, some who limit themselves to accumulating knowledge for themselves criticize those who focus on practice. On the other hand, some, who limit themselves to action, unwilling to seek knowledge, they judge those who seek knowledge, as if knowledge were not useful. I'm here to show you that both extremes are wrong.
Hell is full of good intentions
There is a popular saying that says: “hell is paved with good intentions”. This means: wanting to do good, but not knowing what to do, one can produce evil. It is clear, of course, that there is no condemnation except by one's own conscience and that the individual who makes a mistake in wanting to do good will feel much less moral suffering than one who makes a mistake in wanting to do evil. But the fact that I highlight is that, to do good, the ideal is to know what you are doing, and that is why understanding Spiritism is so important for the real understanding of what charity is.
Some time ago, a group of young people got together to fulfill a friend's dream: jumping from bungee jump, which consists of attaching yourself to ropes and jumping from a high place. They got the ropes, tied their friend, who then jumped off a cliff, only to fall to the ground and die. The problem? They didn't know the science of what they were doing and didn't calculate the size of the rope well. I think about the guilt that each of them must carry even today.
Accumulating knowledge without doing anything
There are also individuals who focus on accumulating knowledge. But they apply this knowledge neither to themselves nor to the good of others: they only keep it for themselves, so that, whenever possible, they can prove that they know more than others. It is the height of pride and selfishness, but, one day, this knowledge will be useful for you to act when you regret your mistakes.
As a personal story, I can tell you about a spiritist center that I attended for many years. For as long as I can remember, the practice there has been focused on good, but according to the ideas that shape the current spiritist movement, as if it were a religion: attend the weekly “spiritist house” meeting, listen to the lecture, take a pass and leave . Once a month there is a mediumistic meeting to assist suffering Spirits. Outside of there, we don't talk about Spiritism, much less practice it. The Center is empty, because there is no greater interest. With much effort and overcoming enormous difficulties, the participants of the house promote a monthly event to deliver basic food baskets to families in need. And that's it. These families do not participate in household activities and do not know the real beauty of Spiritism. Leaving there, they go to other institutions and churches to look for more necessary items.
Once, when I happened to be present on that food basket delivery day, we noticed a lady who had been there for over two years. She was extremely sad. His situation: at almost 70 years old, he lost two of his children in different accidents. These children left her with a total of eight children, who she tried to support by collecting rubbish and counting on some help she got from here and there.
That day, this lady was desperate and angry with God. I couldn't accept this situation. He asked himself: “What God is this that allows such things?” Noticing this, my mother and I started talking to her especially. We managed to make her understand that these things happen, as part of the tests. What maybe whether it was something previously chosen or not, but, in any case, she was playing such an important role in the lives of these children, teaching them the example of love, dedication and, above all, giving them such important moral values. I told him: “these Spirits will be very grateful for your efforts”, which brought a new sparkle to his eyes.
Furthermore, we organized ourselves in different ways and obtained various donations, including mattresses, as the children slept on the floor.
From that day on, we saw a new energy dominate your Spirit. A new determination to face these difficulties dominated his being. She put aside her revolt, because something clear and simple met her reasoning.
The real face of Spiritism
This “something”, clear and simple, is Spiritism in its essence. Not this “spiritualism” with a small “e”, removed from Kardec's scientific studies and trapped by the most diverse errors born from the blind acceptance of the Spirits' opinions, almost always in mediumistic romances. No: the spiritism, philosophical doctrine, developed by the scientific method. “Spiritism is not a work that marches in the shadows. He is known; its principles are formulated clearly, precisely and without ambiguity” (Revista Espírita, March 1863).
Others could wrongly say that this lady would be “paying off” debts from past lives, which is fake ((Ainda que ela possa ter tido ligações passadas com esses Espíritos e que, sentindo-se em débito por algo, tenha escolhido ajudá-los nesta vida, não se trata de “quitar” algo, mas sim de aprender auxiliando.)) ou, ainda, que essas crianças nasceram naquele meio para quitar suas dívidas. Esquecem-se ou desconhecem que o Espírito também choose such situations for learning, and not just for expiations (the choices of Spirits who seek to detach themselves from an acquired imperfection). Furthermore, they do not reflect on what such words can do to an already disturbed mind.
The point here is not to say that one does more than the other or that one is better than the other. The point is: the Spiritist Movement, without the knowledge of Spiritism, became lame, incomplete, incapable of giving the true face of the Promised Comforter. Without knowledge, charity becomes mere welfare. Who knows, if in that opportunity given by God, we hadn't paid attention to that lady or hadn't been in a position to say something better, she might have continued to be angry or become even more bitter, perhaps taking regrettable actions, shaken by our words?
Without charity there is no salvation
When Kardec stipulated this standard of Spiritism, “outside of charity there is no salvation”, she was creating a counterbalance to the phrase of the Catholic Church, which said that “outside the Church there is no salvation”. But not only that: he exactly defined the principle of charity through Spiritism, as a means of salvation, being one's own effort to do good or return to it.
What is charity for Spiritism? And the moral duty. It is action for good, which does not expect rewards. And doing good is wanting to be useful to others, helping and being helped, learning and teaching. Now, how can you be really useful without knowing what you are doing? We could, wishing to be useful, tie ropes to someone else's legs, to push them off a cliff, without measuring the size of that rope.
I have always highlighted, because I went through this myself, as that lady also went through and as many others also went through: in the most difficult moments of our lives, in the most overwhelming ones, our conscience seeks rational answers to what we go through. And faith, as Kardec said, when it cannot face reason, weakens. Many move away from religion and any spirituality when it happens.
I repeat what Kardec said about Spiritism: “its principles are formulated clearly, precisely and without ambiguity“. It was the knowledge of these principles, acquired only after thirty three years living in the Spiritist Movement, which allowed me to give clear, simple and rational words to that lady. It was this knowledge that allowed me to get out of depression, through long and uninterrupted work of study.
Conclusion
What I intend to demonstrate, finally, is that Spiritism is a scientific doctrine that gives us the knowledge to make much less mistakes, doing good with more assertiveness and transmitting fewer wrong ideas. Today, I look back and see countless examples of people who moved away from the Spiritist Movement due to the false ideas that dominate this environment, which became a religion like all others.
Warm up a being that is cold; give him food so he doesn't succumb to hunger; water to quench your thirst: all are necessary and urgent acts of charity. But what about helping you change your inner dispositions through understanding, something that Spiritism achieves with unparalleled clarity? What about welcoming him, listening to his complaints, his pain, and then giving him an idea of a philosophy that allows him to see life in another way, clear and rational, as well as simple? After all, many who are in these conditions lack the will, often precisely because they believe they are like this because of punishment.
The original idea of Spiritism is much clearer, rational and forgiving. It reflects the goodness of divine justice. Charity, according to Spiritism, is something simple and profound: it consists of doing good without expecting a return. Moving away from this knowledge has made us unhelpful or even harmful in our speech and actions, even when we aspire to do good.
