Future of Spiritism
8. - After its first stages, Spiritism seasoned and freeing itself more and more from the obscurities that served it as swaddling clothes, will soon make its appearance on the great stage of the world.
Events move with such a speed that one cannot ignore the powerful intervention of the Spirits who preside over the destinies of Earth. There is something like an intimate thrill in the flanks of your globe, in childbirth; new races from the higher spheres are swirling around you, awaiting the hour of their messianic incarnation, and preparing themselves for it by studying the vast questions that are stirring the Earth today.
We see on all sides signs of decrepitude on uses and legislation that are no longer in line with modern ideas. The old beliefs that have been dormant for centuries seem to be awakening from their secular inertia and are astonished to see themselves grappling with new beliefs, emanating from the philosophers and thinkers of this as well as the past century. The degraded system of a world that was only a simulacrum collapses before the dawn of the real world, of the new world.
The law of solidarity, of the family, passed to the inhabitants of the States and then conquered the whole earth; but this law, so wise, so progressive, in a word, this divine law, was not limited to this unique result; infiltrating the hearts of great men, she taught them that, not only was it necessary for the great improvement of your world, but that it extended to all the worlds of your solar system, to extend from there to all the worlds of the immensity! This law of universal solidarity is beautiful, because this sublime maxim is in that law: all for one, one for all.
Here, my children, is the true law of Spiritism, the true conquest of a near future. So, walk on your path composedly, without worrying about the mockery of some and the crushed self-love of others. We are and will remain with you, under the aegis of the Spirit of Truth, my master and yours. (Erastus, Paris, 1863).
9. – Every day Spiritism extends the circle of its moralizing teaching. Its great voice echoed from one end to the other of Earth. The Society was moved by it, followers and adversaries came out of it. Keen followers, skillful adversaries, but whose very skill and fame served the cause they wanted to fight, calling the gaze of the masses on the new doctrine, and inviting them to know the regenerative teachings advocated by its followers, and that they derided and ridiculed.
Contemplate the work accomplished and enjoy the result! But what unspeakable effervescence will occur among the peoples, when the names of their most beloved writers will join the most obscure or less known names of those who huddle around the flag of truth!
See what the work of a few isolated groups has produced, most of them hampered by intrigue and unwillingness, and imagine the revolution that will take place when all the members of the great Spiritist family will hold hands, and will declare, with their heads up and proud hearts, the sincerity of their faith and belief in the reality of the teaching of the Spirits.
The masses love progress, they seek it, but they fear it. The unknown inspires a secret fear in the ignorant children of a society lulled by prejudices, that tries its first steps in the path of reality and moral progress. The great words of liberty, progress, love, and charity strike the people without moving them; they often prefer their present and mediocre state to a better, but unknown future.
The reason for this dread of the future lies in the ignorance of moral sentiment in many, and intelligent sentiment in others. But it is not true, as several renowned philosophers have said, that a false conception of the origin of things has caused people to err, as I have said myself - why would I blush to say it; couldn’t I have been wrong? - it is not true, I used to say, that humanity is inherently bad; no, by perfecting its intelligence, it will not give a more extensive development to its evil dualities. Get rid of these hopeless thoughts that are based on a false knowledge of the human mind.
Humanity is not bad by nature; but it is ignorant, and therefore, more apt to allow itself to be ruled by its passions. It is progressive and must progress to reach its destinies; enlighten it; show its hidden enemies in the shadows; develop its moral essence, which is innate, and only dozes off under the influence of bad instincts, and you will rekindle the spark of eternal truth, of the eternal prescience of the infinite, of the beautiful and of the good that forever resides in the heart of man, even in the most perverse one.
You the children of a new doctrine, unite your forces; may the divine breath and the help of the good Spirits sustain you, and you will do great things. You will have the glory of having laid the foundations of imperishable principles from which your descendants will reap the fruits. (Montaigne, Paris, 1865).
