To our correspondentsThe period of renewal of subscriptions, on January 1st, is, as every year, for most of our correspondents in France and abroad, the opportunity to give us new expressions of sympathy, for which we are deeply touched. In the material impossibility in which we are to respond to all, we ask them to kindly receive here the expression of our sincere thanks and the reciprocity of our wishes, asking them to be persuaded that we will not forget, in our prayers, none of those, incarnate or discarnate, that recommend themselves to us.
The testimonies that they kindly give us are a powerful encouragement to us, and very soothing compensations that easily make us forget the sorrows and fatigue of the road. And how can we not forget them, when we see the doctrine constantly growing, surmounting all obstacles, and each day bringing us new proofs of the benefits it spreads! We thank God for the great favor he has granted us to witness its first successes, and to foresee its future. We pray that He will give us the physical and moral strength necessaries to accomplish what remains to do be done by us, before returning to the world of the Spirits.
To those willing to make wishes for the extension of our stay down here, in the interest of Spiritism, we say that no one is indispensable for the execution of God's designs; what we have done, others could have done, and what we will not be able to do, others will do; when it pleases God to call us back, He will know how to provide for the continuation of His work. Whoever is called to take the reins, grows in the shadows, and will reveal himself, when the time is right, not by claiming any supremacy, but by his acts that will draw everyone’s attention. At this hour he is still unaware of himself, and is useful, for the moment, that he remains aside.
Christ said: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled.” It is, therefore, among the humble of heart that he will be chosen, and not among those that will want to rise up on their own authority, and against the will of God; these will only receive shame and humiliation, for the proud and the presumptuous will be confounded. May each one bring their stone to the building, and be content with the role of simple worker; God, who reads the bottom of hearts, will know how to give everyone the just wage for their work.
To all our brothers in belief we say: “Courage and perseverance, for the time of great trials is approaching. Strengthen and compenetrate yourselves more and more in the principles of the doctrine; broaden your views; rise in spirit above the limited circle of the present, so as to embrace the horizon of infinity; look at the future, and then the present life, with its train of miseries and disappointments, will appear to you as an imperceptible point, as a painful moment that will soon leave no trace in memory; material concerns will seem petty and childish, compared to the splendors of the immensity.
Happy are those that will draw, from the sincerity of their faith, the strength they need. These will praise God for having given them light; they will recognize His wisdom in his unfathomable views and in whatever means He employs for their accomplishment. They will walk through the pitfalls with the serenity, the firmness and confidence given by the certainty of reaching the port, without stopping at the stones that bruise the feet.
It is in the great trials that the great souls reveal themselves; it is also then that the truly Spiritist hearts are revealed, through courage, resignation, devotion, selflessness, and charity in all its forms, of which they set the example (See the article in October 1866: The times have come).
