THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

Allan Kardec

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12. With the words: Blessed are the afflicted for they shall be consoled, Jesus indicates the compensation which awaits those who suffer and the resignation which leads Man to bless suffering as a prelude to the cure.

These words can also be understood in this manner: that one should be content to suffer, seeing that the pain of this world is the payment for past debts which have been incurred. Patiently supported here on Earth, these pains will save centuries of future suffering. One should be happy that God is reducing the debt by permitting payment now, thereby guaranteeing a tranquil future.

Suffering Man is like a debtor who owes a large sum and to whom the creditor says: "If you pay me even a hundredth part of your debt today, I will exonerate you and you will be free; but if you do not, then I shall torment you till you pay the very last instalment." Would not the debtor feel happy in supporting all kinds of hardships in order to liberate himself, so paying only a hundredth part of what he owed? Instead of complaining to the creditor, would he not be grateful?

This is the meaning of the words, 'Blessed are the afflicted for they shall be consoled'. They are happy because they are paying their debts and also because after payment they will be free. However, if on acquitting himself on the one side, Man becomes indebted on the other, he will never find liberation. Therefore, each new fault only increases the debt, there being not one, whatsoever, which does not entail a compelling and inevitable punishment. If not today, then tomorrow; if not in this life, then in another. Amongst the list of failings, it behoves Man to put the lack of submission to God's Will in first place. So if we complain about our afflictions, if we do not accept them with resignation, or if we accuse God of being unjust, we contract new debts which in turn make us lose the fruits which should have been gathered from these sufferings. This is why we must begin again from the start, exactly as if after paying part of a debt to a creditor who has been tormenting us, we then took out another loan.

On entering into the spiritual world, Man is like the labourer who arrives on the day of payment. To some God will say: "Here is your recompense for the days you have worked", while to others, the so-called lucky ones on Earth who have lived in idleness, or those who have built their happiness on the satisfaction of their own self-esteem, and on wordly pleasures, He will say: 'There is nothing more to come: you have already received your salary on Earth. Go and begin your tasks again.”

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