The Spirits' Book

Allan Kardec

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a) Are you criticizing the practice of giving alms?
“No, giving money to the poor is not what is reprehensible; the problem is the way in which it is too often done. Those who understand charity as preached by Jesus seek out the needy themselves, without waiting for them to hold out their hand.”


“True charity is always gentle and compassionate, because the manner of practicing kindness is as important as the deed itself. A service, when gracefully rendered, has twice as much merit. If this same act is rendered in a patronizing manner, despite being accepted, the recipient’s heart is not touched by it.”


“Remember that ostentation and pretension destroy the merit of generosity in God’s eyes. Jesus said, ‘Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. This teaches that charity should not be tarnished by pride.”


“A distinction must be made between alms giving and benevolence. The neediest individuals are not always those found begging on the side of the road. Many who are truly poor are kept back from begging by dread of humiliation, and preferring to suffer silently and in secret. Those who are truly humane seeks out this hidden misery, and relieves it without any form of pretension.”


“‘Love one another’ is the Divine law by which God governs all the worlds of the universe. Love is the law of attraction for living and organized beings and attraction is the law of love for inorganic matter.”


“Never forget that all spirits, regardless of the degree of advancement, whether reincarnated or errant, are always placed between a more evolved spirit who guides and perfects them, and a less evolved one towards which they have the same duties to fulfill. Be charitable, and not just by coldly tossing a coin to a beggar who dares to ask for it from you, but by seeking out the poverty that hides itself from plain view. Be indulgent to the faults and weaknesses of those around you. Instead of despising the ignorant and vicious, educate them and make them better. Be gentle and compassionate to those lagging behind you and act the same with respect to the humblest beings of creation and you will have obeyed God’s law.” Saint Vincent of Paul


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