THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SPIRITISM

Allan Kardec

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FOR HARDENED SPIRITS


75. PREFACE - The bad Spirits are those who hove not yet been touched by repentance, who delight in evil and who feel no regrets for this. They are insensitive to reprimands, repel prayer and frequently blaspheme in God's name. They are those hardened Spirits, who after death seek vengeance upon men for the suffering they had endured and pursue with hate all who practised evil against them during their existence, by either obsessing them or by exercising all kinds of disastrous influences over them (See chapter 10, item 6, and chapter 12, items 5 & 6).



There are two distinct categories of perverse Spirits: those who are plainly evil and those who are hypocrites. It is infinitely easier to bring the first ones back to goodness than the last ones. The first, more often than not, have brutal and coarse natures, just as is seen in men; they practise evil more from instinct than from calculation and do not seek to appear better than they are. However, there is in them a latent germ that needs to open up, which is usually achieved by means of perseverance; firm benevolence, counselling, reasoning and prayer. It h05 been noticed that in

automatic-writing these Spirits have difficulty in writing the name of God, which is a sign of an instinctive fear, an intimate voice of conscience which tells them they are unworthy. It is at this point that they ore ready to convert themselves and we can hove high hopes for them; we only need to find the vulnerable point in their hearts.

Hypocritical Spirits ore almost always very intelligent. But they do not have a grain of sensitivity in their hearts; nothing touches them. They simulate all the good sentiments so as to gain confidences and are happy when they encounter those who are foolish enough to accept them as good Spirits, because then they can control them as they like. The name of God, far from inspiring the least tremor of fear, serves them as a mask to cover their vileness. In both the invisible and visible worlds, the hypocrites are the most dangerous of beings because they act in the shadows, without anyone suspecting; they have only apparent faith, never real faith.

76. PRAYER:

Lord, may it please You to cast a kindly glance over the imperfect Spirits who find themselves in the obscurity of ignorance and so do not know You, especially the Spirit of X ...

Good Spirits, help us to make them understand that by inducing men towards evil, obsessing them and tormenting them, they only prolong their own sufferings. Make the example of the happiness You enjoy into an encouragement for them.

Spiritual brother, you who still take pleasure in the practise of evil, listen to the prayer we offer for you; it should convince you that we only desire to help you and not to do you harm.

You are unhappy, because it is not possible to be happy while practising evil. So why do you remain in suffering when the possibility of avoiding it depends on yourself? Look at the good Spirits surrounding you at this moment and see how blessed they are! Would it not be more agreeable for you to enjoy the same happiness?

You say this is impossible; however, nothing is impossible to he who wants something, since God gave you, as He did all His creatures, the liberty to choose between good and evil, happiness and wretchedness, and no one is condemned to practise evil. Just as you have the will to do evil, you may also find the will to do good and be happy.

Cast your eyes back towards God. Direct your thoughts for an instant to Him and a ray of divine light will illuminate you. Say these simple words together with us: Dear God, I repent, forgive me! Try to repent and do good instead of doing bad things, and you will soon see His mercy descending upon you and an indescribable feeling of well-being will substitute the anguish you experience now.

Once you have taken the first step along the path to goodness the rest of the way will be easy to follow. You will understand then what a long period of happiness you have lost through your own fault. Nevertheless, a radiant future full of hope will open before you and make you forget your miserable past, full of perturbation and moral tortures, which would be hell for you if they were to last for eternity. The day will come when these tortures will be such that you will desire to make them cease at any price. Nevertheless, the longer you leave it the more difficult this will be.

Do not believe that you will always remain in your present state; no, this is not possible. You have two prospects before you: to suffer very much more than you have done until now, or to be blessed as are the good Spirits who surround you. The first is inevitable if you persist in being obstinate, when a simple effort on your part would be sufficient to take you out of the bad situation in which you find yourself. So hurry, seeing that each day you delay is a lost day of happiness!

Good Spirits, permit these words to echo in the mind of this backward soul so they may help him to approach God. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, Who has such great power over evil Spirits.

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