Unification
By Bezerra de Menezes

The work for the unification in our ranks is urgent, but not rushed. One assertion seems to contradict the other. But it is not so. It is urgent because it defines the goal that we should aim at; but not rushed because, it is not granted to us to violate anyone’s conscience.

Let us preserve the purpose of uniting, approaching, and understanding one another; and, if possible, let us establish at every site where the name of Spiritism has been brought to light, a study group, however small, of the works of Kardec, in the light of the Christ of God.

We, who devotedly engage ourselves in all types of noble endeavors being offered by our principles, cannot ignore clear reasoning to turn our life less somber. Thus, let us compare our redeeming Doctrine to a metropolis with all the demands for comfort, progress, peace, and order. In the city, food, clothes, shelter, and security for all are essential; however, the matter of light cannot be overlooked. Lighting has been a concern of humans since the very first cave dwellings. Originally, light was obtained by fire through friction, followed by the domestic hearth, the torch, flames fueled by resins, the oil lamp, and, in modern times, electricity transformed into glaring radiance.

The Spiritist Doctrine holds its essential aspects in triple configuration. Thus, no one should be restricted in their desire to work and produce.

Let those inclined toward the sciences to cultivate them in their dignity; those who devote themselves to philosophy to ennoble its postulates; and those who consecrate themselves to religion to turn divine its aspirations. Yet, above all, it is necessary that the basis of the Spiritist Doctrine remain in everyone and everything so that we do not lose the balance at the base over which the organization is raised.

No reciprocal hostility, nor disregard toward anyone. However, we have the necessity to preserve the spiritist principles, to honor and exalt them, or we will end up as strangers to one another, or frozen in regimentations which will cripple our best yearnings, turning the movement of liberation into a stagnant sect imprisoned in new interpretations and theologies which would place us conveniently at the mercy of the inferior planes and distance us from the Truth.

Let us follow Allan Kardec in our studies, aspirations, activities, and deeds so that our faith does not turn into hypnosis, whereby the power of darkness establishes its influence over the weaker minds, enchaining them to centuries of illusion and suffering.

To liberate the Divine word is to excise the teachings of Christ from all the prisons to which they have been shackled. At present time, without bestowing any privilege on ourselves, only Spiritism retains sufficient moral strength so as not to tie itself to ulterior interests, and to effect the recovery of the Light which flows from the Master’s crystal-clear verb, satisfying the thirsty, and guiding the souls.

Let Allan Kardec’s work not only be believed or felt, proclaimed or manifested in our convictions, but also be sufficiently lived, suffered, wept over, and put into practice in our own lives. Without this foundation, it is difficult to forge the Christian-Spiritist character which the troubled world awaits from us through unification.

To teach, but also to put into practice; to believe, but also to study; to counsel, but also to exemplify; to unite, but also to nourish. We speak of trials and sufferings, yet we have no other ways to assure the victory of truth and love on Earth. No one edifies without love, no one loves without tears. Only here, in the spirit life, did I come to learn that Christ’s cross was a stake which He, the Master, stuck in the ground to lift up the new world.

And to demonstrate, for all times, that nothing useful and good can be achieved without sacrifices, He died on the cross. Scorned and defeated, He buried the cross in the ground, thus showing us that this is our pathway – the pathway of one who builds upward, of one who glances the continents from high above.

It is indispensable that Spiritism be maintained exactly as it was conveyed to Allan Kardec by the Divine Messengers, that is, without political compromises, without religious professionalism, without degrading personalisms, and without burning desires of conquest of fleeting earthly powers. Respect for all creatures, regard for all authorities, and devotion to the common good, as well as instruction for the people, in every direction, about the truths of the spirit, truths unalterable and eternal.

Nothing which is reminiscent of castes, discriminations, unjustifiable individual prominence, privileges, immunities, and priorities. May the love of Jesus be upon all, and the truth of Kardec be for all. In each temple, the strongest should be a shield for the weakest, the most enlightened a light for the least knowledgeable, and the sufferer always the most protected and the most helped, as among those who suffer less be the greatest the one who puts himself at the service of all others, according to the words of the Divine Mentor.

Let us continue searching for the inspiration of the Lord.
Bezerra de Menezes
(Message received through the medium F.C. Xavier, in a meeting of the “Comunhão Espírita Cristã,” on April 24, 1968, in Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil) Reformador, December 1975