Spiritist DissertationsYesterday, today, and tomorrow
Oral communication in spontaneous somnambulism – medium Mr. Dubois
Lyon, February 2nd, 1868
Where are we today? Where is the light? Everything is dark, everything is cloudy around us. Yesterday was the past; tomorrow is the future; today is the present… What distinguishes these three days? We lived yesterday, we still live today, we will live tomorrow, and always in the same circle. Where does this humanity come from, and where is it going to? Mystery that will not be clarified until tomorrow.
Moses is the past; Christ, the present; the coming Messiah, who is the next day, has not appeared yet … Moses had to fight idolatry; Christ, the Pharisees; the Messiah to come will also have his adversaries: disbelief, skepticism, materialism, atheism, and all the vices that afflict mankind… Three eras that mark the progress of humanity; subsidiary parentheses that follow one another; yesterday it was Moses, today it is Christ, and tomorrow it will be the new Messiah.
I say that it is Christ today, because it is his word, his doctrine, his charity, all his sublime teachings that must be spread everywhere; because you see for yourselves, humanity has not made much progress. Barely eighteen centuries separate us from Christ: eighteen centuries of darkness, tyranny, pride, and ambition.
Consider the past, the present, tomorrow you will contemplate your future ... Idolaters of the past, Pharisees of the present, adversaries of tomorrow, light shines to all peoples, to all worlds, to all individuals, and you do not want to see it!
Creature, you put it off today, the present; you await the accomplishment of the announced miracles; you will see them come true. Soon the whole Earth will tremble… the twentieth century will obfuscate the shine of previous centuries, for it will see the fulfillment of what has been predicted.
The Messiah that must preside over the great regenerating movement of Earth has been born, but he has not yet revealed his mission, and we are not allowed to say his name, nor the country where he lives; he will announce himself by his works, and men will tremble at his mighty voice, for the number of the righteous is still very small.
Bond yourselves to matter, men of selfishness and ambition who live only to satisfy your passions and your worldly desires; time is short for you; hold it, hug it, for yesterday is past, today is setting, and tomorrow will be here soon.
Alas! Pharisee of the present, you are still waiting. Let the thunder roar, you are not terrified before the forerunner lightning that dazzles your eyes. You who indulge yourself in selfishness and pride, who persist in the past and in the present, your future will be to be rejected onto another world so that your Spirit can one day arrive at the perfection to which God calls you.
You, Spiritists, who are here, who receive the instructions of the Spirits, be patient, docile, aware of your actions; do not hesitate; calmly wait for this tomorrow that must deliver you from all persecutions. God, for whom nothing is hidden, who reads hearts, sees you and will not forsake you; the hour is approaching, and soon we will be in the tomorrow.
But this Messiah who is to come, is he Christ himself? A question difficult to understand at the present time, to be clarified tomorrow. Like a good father, God who is all wisdom, does not impose all the work on one of his children. He assigns each one with his task, according to the needs of the world to which he sends them. Are we to conclude that the new Messiah will not be as great or as powerful as Christ? It would be absurd; but wait until the hour strikes to understand the work of the invisible messengers who came to clear the path, for the Spirits have done an immense job. It is Spiritism that must remove the large stones that could hinder the passage of the one that must come. This man will be mighty and strong, and many Spirits are on Earth to smooth out the way, and to accomplish what has been foretold.
Will this new Messiah be called Christ? This is a question I cannot answer; wait untill tomorrow. How many things I would still have to reveal to you! But I stop because tomorrow has not come yet; we are barely before midnight.
Friends who are here, all of you longing for your moral advancement, work on yourselves to regenerate yourselves, so that the Master will find you ready. Courage, brothers, for your pain will not be wasted; work to break the bonds of matter that prevent the Spirit from progressing.
Have faith, for it surely leads man to the goal of his journey. Love, because the love to your brothers is to love God. Watch and pray; the prayer strengthens the Spirit who yields to discouragement. Ask your Heavenly Father for the strength to overcome obstacles and temptations. Arm yourself against your faults; get ready, for tomorrow is not far away. The dawn of the century marked by God for the fulfillment of the facts that must change the face of this world begins to emerge on the horizon.
The Spirit of Faith
