To suffer well or badly, Joana dArc, 06 12 2016.

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Theme: to suffer well or badly.

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Source: the gospel according to Spiritism, V: 18.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS.

TO SUFFER WELL OR BADLY
18. When Christ said: 'Blessed be the afflicted, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them", He did
not refer to all those who suffer, seeing that everyone on Earth suffers, whether they be seated upon thrones
or lie upon straw. But alas! So few suffer well! A mere handful understand that only trials which have been well
supported can lead to the Kingdom of God. Despondency is a fault and God will refuse consolation to those
who lack courage. Prayer supports the soul; however, alone it is not enough. It is also necessary to have a
firm belief in the kindness of God as the basis for deep faith. You have heard it said many times that He does
not put a heavy burden on weak shoulders. The burden is always in proportion to the strength, just as the
recompense depends on the degree of resignation and courage. The more painful the affliction the greater the
recompense. It behooves then to make ourselves worthy and it is for this purpose that life presents itself so
full of tribulations.
The soldier who is not sent to the front is discontent because by resting in camp he will never receive
promotion. So then, be like soldiers and do not desire repose which will only allow the body to debilitate, and
benumb the soul! Be content when God sends you into battle because this is not a battle of the firing-line, but
of the bitterness of life, where frequently the one who stands firm before an enemy weakens when confronted
with the tenacity of moral suffering. Although there is no reward for this kind of courage on Earth, God will
reserve the laurels of victory and a place of glory for those who withstand. When facing sufferings or
obstacles, if you are able to place yourself above the situation, by managing to dominate the impulses of
impatience, anger and despair, then you may say to yourself with just satisfaction, 'I was the stronger'.
So then, blessed are the afflicted may be translated in the following manner: blessed are those who
have occasion to prove their faith, firmness, perseverance, and submission to the Will of God, because they
will have multiplied a hundred times the happiness they lacked on Earth, for after labour comes repose.
LACORDIARE (Havre. 1863).
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CONSIDERATIONS:
The suffering is a consequence of bad living, because the laws of God are fair and in our favor, but who
likes to suffer? For this question when you know the cause it is accepted with resignation, for example: a pain in
the stomach as a result of eating too much, but now when the cause is unknown, it is invisible, therein it is
requested from us faith in God and to accept with resignation, because there's always a cause and the Council
more fairly is to suffer well, proving faith and submission to the will of God; the spiritist person that by knowledge
already knows that there are ' reincarnation ' and that if the cause is not in the current living, may derive from
another existence, thence to resign and strive to suffer well. Normally the ' Law of causes and effects ' appears
in our lives for our own good, to harmonize or even to rescue us from something we might have done contrary
to the laws of God, that could mean some pain as healing medicine.
The spiritist knows that this world is ' Of tests and Atonements ', and that it is a school with many spirits,
in a great variety of degrees, that in coexistence among each other, there are consequences of hard feelings,
setbacks, despair, disappointment, intrigues, dismal, disagreements among others.
Congratulations to whoever can get out of this world unscathed.
Hence, Jesus our master to have come into this world to teach us how to overcome the world and give
us faith in the future when he said: ' Have good cheer, I have overcome the world . (John XVI: 33) And Spiritism or
the voices of heaven' in encouraging us the effort to overcome our inferiorities, (Spirits Book, Q.. 919) let us accept
suffering as necessary and effort for good suffering, because we will be beneficiated in the growth of our
personality and our moral/spiritual character.
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The question of suffering in pain doesn't mean we should let ourselves suffer fanatically in the sense of

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thinking: Oh I Will not do anything to better myself, because with suffering I Will gain merits! None of this, if we
are sick we should seek a doctor and cure ourselves, if the pains be moral ones, we should look out in
repentance and meditation the reasons of the causes and cure ourselves with the help of God.
Jesus said: ' get up and walk ', because he knew that we needed his support to get us up from the
falling discouraging vicissitudes of life, since not for us all the world is a sea of roses, although the world is for
everyone, because each one has ones way to go along designated by God Who sees the distant future better
than ourselves, that whilst we only see the here and now, God sees us in the angelitude of the human future,
along with Himself. So let us have trust in God so as to have hope and joy (Romans 13:15),
The Idea that punishments and sufferings would add merits to the soul, there were someone who
invented a whip slashing instrument and begged someone tormentor to give slashes on themselves or they
themselves whipped up to the making blood . (Se: Gospel accord, to Spirit. V: 26). Folk, that's not how it works; He who
needs adjustment and peace is the spirit or soul of the person it is not the body, one ought to understand that,
The body sometimes receives the illnesses of the spirit because the two are United, (Spirits Book Q,. 344) this is
natural law, but we are asked to look after the body and S.. Paul comes to say that God does not dwell in
temples made by men, (Acts 7: 48 + XVII: 24), but in the hearts of His children. For we are the Temple of God.
(1 Corinthians, III: 16 and II Cor., VI: 16)
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LET US LEARN A LITTLE ABOUT HAPPINESS AND UNHAPPINESS IN THE
SPIRITS BOOK QUESTIONS: 920 A 931:
Happiness and Unhappiness.
920. Is it possible for man to enjoy perfect happiness upon the earth?
"No; for corporeal life has been appointed to him either as a trial or an expiation; but it depends upon
himself to lighten the evils of his lot, and to render it as happy as life can be upon the earth."
921. We can conceive that man will be happy upon the earth when the human race shall have
been transformed; but, meanwhile, is it possible for each man to ensure for himself a moderate amount of
happiness?
"Man is more often the artisan of his own unhappiness. If he obeyed the law of God, he would not
only spare himself much sorrow, but would also procure for himself all the felicity that is compatible with the
grossness of earthly existence."
He who is perfectly sure that the future life is a reality regards his corporeal life as being merely a
travelers momentary halt in a wayside inn, and easily consoles himself for the passing annoyances of a
journey which is bringing him to a new and happier position, that will be all the more satisfactory in proportion
to the completeness of the preparations he has made for entering upon it. We are punished, even in the
present life, for our infraction of the laws of corporeal existence, by the sufferings which are the result of that
infraction and of our own excesses. If we trace what we call our earthly ills back to their origin, we shall find
them to be, for the most part, the result of a first deviation from the straight road. This deviation caused us to
enter upon a wrong path, and each subsequent step brought us more and more deeply into trouble.
922. Earthly happiness is relative to the position of each person; what suffices for the happiness of
one would be misfortune for another. Is there, nevertheless, a common standard of happiness for all men?
As regards material existence, it is the possession of the necessaries of life; as regards moral
existence, it is a good conscience and the belief in a future state.
923. Does not that which is a superfluity for one become a necessary of life for another and
vice versa, according to differences of position?
"Yes, according to your material ideas, your prejudices, your ambition, and all your absurd notions that
you will gradually get rid of as you come to understand the truth of things. Undoubtedly, he who, having
possessed an income of thousands, becomes reduced to as many hundreds, looks upon himself as being
very unfortunate, because he can no longer cut so great a figure in the world, maintain what he calls his rank,
keep horses, carriages, and lackeys, and gratify all his tastes and passions. He appears to himself to lack the
very necessaries of life; but is he really so much to be pitied while, beside him, so many others are dying of
cold and hunger, and have not even where to lay their head?
 He who is wise compares himself with what is below him, never with what is above him, unless it be to

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raise his soul towards the Infinite." (715.)

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924. There are misfortunes which come upon men independently of their own conduct, and
that befall even the most upright. Is there no way of preserving one's self from them ?
"Such misfortunes must be borne with resignation and without murmuring, if you would progress; but
you may always derive consolation from the hope of a happier future, provided you do what is needed to
obtain it."
925. Why does God so often bestow the gifts of fortune on men who do not appear to have
deserved such a favour?
"Wealth appears to be a favour to those who see only the present, but you must remember that
fortune is often a more dangerous trial than poverty." (814 et seq.)
926. Does not civilisation, by creating new wants, become the source of new afflictions?
"The ills, of your world are proportional to the factitious wants that you create for yourselves. He who
is able to set bounds to his desires, and to see without envy what is above him, spares himself many of the
disappointments of the earthly life. The richest of men is he who has the fewest needs.
"You envy the enjoyments of those who appear to you to be the favourites of fortune, but do you know
what is in store for so many of them ?
If they use their wealth only for themselves, they are selfish, and, in that case, a terrible reverse
awaits them. Instead of envying, you should pity them. God sometimes permits the wicked to prosper, but his
prosperity is, not to be envied, for he will pay for it with weeping and gnashing of teeth. If a righteous man
undergoes misfortune, it is a trial from which, being bravely borne, he will reap a rich reward. Remember the
words of Jesus: 'Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.'"
927. Superfluities are certainly not indispensable to happiness, but it is otherwise in regard to the
necessaries of life. Is it not, then, really a misfortune to be deprived of these?
"A man is really unfortunate only when deprived of what is necessary to life and to bodily health. If this
privation be the result of his own misconduct, he has only himself to blame for it; if it be the fault of others, a
heavy responsibility will rest with those who have caused it."
928. By our special aptitudes, God evidently shows to each of us our special vocation. Are
not many of the ills of life attributable to our not following that vocation?
"Yes. It often happens that parents, through pride or avarice, force their children from the path traced
out for them by nature; but they will be held responsible for the results of this misdirection."
- You would then approve of the son of some high personage making himself a cobbler, for instance,
if he were endowed with a natural aptitude for cobbling?
"You must not go off into absurdities and exaggerations. Civilisation has its necessities. Why should
the son of a man occupying a high position make himself a cobbler, if able to do something more important?
Such an one might always make himself useful, according to the measure of his faculties, without running
counter to common sense. For instance, if he were not fitted to make a good lawyer, he might be a good
engineer, a mechanician, etc."
The placing of people in positions for which they are naturally unfit is assuredly one of the most
frequente causes of failure and disappointment.
The placing of people in positions for which they are naturally unfit is assuredly one of the most
frequente causes of failure and disappointment. Want of aptitude for the career on which one has entered is
an inexhaustible source of reverses; and as he who has thus failed in one career in often prevented by pride
front seeking a resource in some humbler avocation, he is often tempted to commit suicide in order to escape
what he regards as a humiliation: whereas, if a sound moral education had raised him above the stupid
prejudices of pride, he would have been at no loss to obtain the means of subsistence.
929. There are persons who, being utterly without resources, though surrounded by abundance, have
no other prospect than starvation. What course should they take under such circumstances?
Ought they to allow themselves to die of hunger?
"No one should ever admit into his mind the idea of allowing himself to die of hunger; a man could
always find the means of obtaining food if pride did not interpose itself between want and work. It has often
been said that 'No work is dishonourable it honestly done;' but this is one of the aphorisms that each man is
more prompt to apply to his neighbour than to himself."
 930. It is evident that, were it not for the social prejudices by which we allow ourselves to be swayed,

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a man would always be able to find some sort of work that would enable him to gain a living, even though he

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thus took a humbler position; but among those who have no such prejudices, or who put them aside, are
there not some who are really unable to provide for their wants, through illness, or through other
circumstances independent of their will?
"In a society organised according to the law of Christ, no one would die of hunger."
Were society organised with wisdom and forethought, no one could lack the necessaries of life unless
through his own fault ; but a man's faults themselves are often the result of the circumstances in which he
finds himself placed. When men shall have advanced sufficiently to practise the law of God, they will not only
be better intrinsically and as individuals, but will organise their social relations on a basis of justice and charity.
(793)
931. Why is it that, in our world, the classes that suffer are so much more numerous than those that
are prosperous?
"None of you are perfectly happy, and what the world regards as prosperity often hides the most
poignant sorrows. Suffering is everywhere. However, by way of replying to the thought which prompted your
question, I answer, that what you call the suffering classes are the most numerous, because the earth is a
place of expiation. When mankind shall have made it the sojourn of goodness and of good spirits, there will be
no more unhappiness in the earth, which will then be a terrestrial paradise for all its inhabitants."
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CONCLUSION:
The spiritist doctrine does not offer beneficiencies or salvation easily given, it justifies Yes, that it is:
to each one according to his works', (Matthew, 16: 27 + Mark, 13: 34) as Jesus mentioned, It explains that: 'without
charity there is no salvation ', (Gospel accord., to Spiritism, XV) that God created us: 'simple and ignorant', (Spirits
Book, 115-121) with the potential to evolve and have progress', that the laws of God are written on our
conscience, (Spirits Book, Q. 621) that God gave us His laws' (Spirits Book, Q. 614-618) to guide us lead and help
our spiritual progress, that God does not punish us, but rescues us, (John, X: 10) ,that He always waits for our
regret and is always ready to accept us back into His embrace and caring, as Jesus taught in the parable of
the prodigal son. That: the devil of today will be the tomorrow's Angel', (Heaven and Hell, 1st part III: 6) that the
suffering will not be eternal, but for as long as necessary to our preparation to be able to ascent to God.
The doctrine States that: ' God is infinitely Good and fair ' , (Spirits Book, Q. 13) that if something bad
happens to us it isnt Gods punishment, but the effect of any cause in which we ourselves are to blame, that
our future life depends on the way we live right here in the flesh, because our good or bad works do follow us,
as Jesus taught, we understand that the spiritist moral is the one of Jesus. (Spirits Book, Q. 625)
Yes, the spiritist doctrine believes in reincarnation as the justice of God ' , (Spirits Book, Q. 171) according
to the need of progress, and that by virtue of our 'free will' (Spirits Book, Q. 843) we may delay longer time,
however we advance at our own step speed towards God in 'intelligence and morals' , (Spirits Book, Q. 780 and
John, 14: 12) with the multiplicity of experiences, but that the spirit does not backslide, (Spirits Book, Q. 118 + 612 +
805) but, yes, ones progress requires continuation, effort and goodwill for us to ascend to God, just as Jesus
asks us to be ' perfect '.(Matthew, V: 48).
Allan Kardec gives us a summary of the spiritist doctrine on the spirits Book in: Introduction
paragraph VI, we can review this informative explanation about Spiritism, to remind us of our faith and belief in
God, the immortality of the soul, and faith in the future by trusting in God; striving to suffer well, which is more
convenient to our spiritual growth.

May God be with us, as formerly, today and forever?