Spiritist Society of Florida

OCTOBER NEWSLETTER 2021

INTERNATIONAL SPIRITIST CONGRESS
Written by Yvonne Crespo Limoges
The CEPA – International Spiritist Association
(founded on October 1946) conducted its first
virtual Congress (in Spanish & Portuguese), due
to the pandemic, on Oct. 8 th through the 12 th . It
was supposed to be held in 2020 in the city of
Salou, in the region of Catalonia in northeastern
Spain. I have been honored to have been invited
as a lecturer starting at their 2006 Miami, Florida
conference, then for every Congress since 2008
held in other countries. Unfortunately, technical
difficulties kept me from lecturing this year.
At this international Congress, Spiritists from the
following countries participated: Germany,
Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada,
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, USA, Spain,
France, Greece, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras,
Ireland, Lithuania, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru,
Portugal, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Uruguay and
Venezuela.
The officials put out this statement: “From the
central theme - Spiritism in the face of Human
Challenges - scientific, philosophical, ethical,
social, artistic, medical, family, educational,
environmental, psychological and political topics
of relevance to humanity were presented and
discussed in its current historical moment, based
on the values ​​defended by Spiritism, in its
scientific, philosophical and moral aspects. The
event was held in a context strongly impacted by
the occurrence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the
most serious health crisis in the last 100 years,
with immense demographic, economic, social and
life domain repercussions, which produced
uncertainties challenging us to rethink the future
of humanity and our planet.”
Further, “…we recall in Allan Kardec’s book
Genesis, 1st edition, Chap. XVIII for whom
Spiritism ‘for its moralizing power, for its
progressive tendencies, for the breadth of its
views, for the generality of the issues it
encompasses,’ is a philosophy fully capable of
‘supporting the regeneration movement’ of
humanity, and, therefore, contemporary with a
historical period marked by the need for profound
social transformations in the sense of justice,
freedom, equality, brotherhood and love.”
Since this Congress was sponsored by Spiritists in
Spain, the Barcelona Organizing Committee
presented items gleaned from the Congress; this
one deals with Life’s challenges: “The key to
overcoming the obstacles we find in our path is to
face them with a positive attitude through a
change of thinking, knowing that changing [our]
ways of thinking can maximize perceptions,
seeing opportunities for growth in conflicts,
understanding that positivity works for the benefit
of health, understanding that self-knowledge is the
essence of human maturity.”


SCIENCE OF PRAYER
Summary of information from Kardec’s The
Gospel According to Spiritism, Chapter 27:
Prayer is an invocation by our thought to the
Creator or to others (whether in the material or
spirit worlds).
Prayer can be to ask for forgiveness, to ask for
blessings, to give thanks, to ask for healing, to
plead for help, for mercy, for indulgence, for
assistance to correct a fault and for glorification.
Prayer is transmitted by the force of our will
carried by the Universal Fluid to the recipient. It
is an action that has an actual and determined
effect. The more pure and sincere sentiments, the
stronger the potency of the prayer. Good people’s
prayers have more effect than those who are not
so good.
Good spirits that want to compensate the efforts
of those who sincerely pray can second their
prayer by a force of their own will.
Through prayer we can receive assistance from
the good spirits if it is in accordance with the
Supreme Will and universal laws. Prayers can
cause beneficial change and work in unison with
universal laws such as those of cause and effect.
Many times, prayers are answered in such a
manner that they may seem to us an effect of
chance or received out of the ordinary course of
things. Some of our prayers may be answered
(and some things may never have occurred had
we not prayed).
Some prayers are not answered if it is not in our
own best interests for the progression of our
spirits, or would cause a bad outcome in the future
unknown to us.
Sincere and heartfelt prayer (more so than those
by rote or mechanically said without thinking) can
provide us with the spiritual assistance we need to
have more patience, courage, and resignation to
support Life’s trials and tribulations.
Prayer is nourishment for the soul.
Prayer makes it easier for us to undergo our trials
because the good spirits (to reward our humble
efforts in asking for help) bathe us with their
beneficial spiritual vibrations from the spirit
world that can calm us and make us feel more
tranquil.
Prayer can also inspire (by suggestions from the
good spirits) ideas we may need to help resolve
our problems.
Prayer is very important and should be practiced
sincerely every day. It can be done at anytime and
anywhere. It can be short or long, but the most
important thing is that it is done with humility and
is sincere and heartfelt.

DURING TRYING TIMES
Written by Yvonne Crespo Limoges
So many people are going through some really
trying times because of the effects of the
pandemic. People are feeling very anxious and
overwhelmed in their daily lives.
Prayer can help us emotionally, mentally and
physiologically. It quiets the mind and helps us to
be more receptive to the inspirational vibrations
and advice of our spirit guides. Also, the fact that
we chose the types of tests, trials and missions we
would undergo prior to reincarnating (because
they would provide the ideal opportunities for our
soul’s progress) can help us to be more resigned.
Both can provide a certain inner equilibrium that
can sustain us, and help us to become more
resilient, calm, patient and clear-minded in
dealing with all of our life’s challenges.


MELANCHOLY

A Spirit Communication
“Do you know why sometimes a vague sadness
fills your heart, leading you to consider that life is
bitter? This is because your spirit, aspiring to
happiness and liberty, on finding itself tied to the
physical body which acts like a prison, becomes
exhausted through vain efforts to seek release.
“On recognizing that these attempts are useless,
the soul becomes discouraged, and as the body
suffers the influence of the spirit, it feels itself
weary, apathetic, full of despondency and it is
then that you judge yourself to be unhappy.
“Believe me when I tell you to resist these
tendencies with all your strength, as they only
weaken your will-power. Aspirations for a better
life are inborn in all mankind, but do not seek
them in this world.
“Now that God is sending His Spirits to instruct
you on happiness, which He has reserved for you,
await with patience for the time when the
liberating angel will come to help you break away
from the ties which hold your spirit captive.
“Remember, during your exile here on Earth, you
have a mission to fulfill that you do not even
suspect; be it dedicating yourself to your family or
fulfilling the various obligations bestowed upon
you by God.
“If within the course of this exiled probation,
while seeking exoneration, you feel about to
collapse through anxiety, uneasiness, or
tribulations, be strong and courageous enough to
support these pressures. Stand up to them with
resolution for they will soon pass. These are the
only means by which you may reach those for
whom you pine and who, jubilant at seeing you
once again amongst them, will hold out their
hands towards you so as to guide you to regions
inaccessible to earthly afflictions.” – spirit of
Francois de Geneve, Bordeaux, France.
(From Kardec’s, The Gospel according to Spiritism, Ch. 5, p. 71,
translated by Janet Duncan)

CAUSES OF SUFFERING
Jesus said, “Blessed are the afflicted.”
“All sufferings such as miseries, deceptions, physical
pain and loss of loved ones will find consolation from
faith in the future and from confidence in God's
justice, all of which Christ came to teach man….
“But how can anyone feel fortunate if they do not
know why they suffer?
“Spiritism [the compiled teachings received via
mediumship from superior spirit teachers] shows the
cause of suffering [when the exact reason cannot be
found in the current lifetime] to be in past existences
and in the destiny of this [morally inferior] planet, on
which man makes atonement for his past.
“It explains the object behind suffering by showing it
as a salutary process which produces a cure and also as
a means of [soul] purification, both of which guarantee
future happiness. From this it is possible for Man to
understand that he deserves all his sufferings and to
believe that this is just.
“He also learns that his suffering and pain will help
him to progress and so is able to accept it without
complaining, just as a worker accepts the work which
will guarantee his salary... [it] gives Man an
unshakable faith in the future so that he is no longer
troubled by this consuming doubt within his soul.
“He is also enabled to see things from on high, which
makes the importance of his earthly vicissitudes
disappear on the vast and splendid horizon [for in
future lives there is less suffering as he progresses] …
“The prospect of the happiness which awaits therefore
gives him patience, resignation and courage…
“…by bringing knowledge of those things which allow
man to know where he came from, where he is going
and why he is on Earth; so, attracting mankind towards
the true principles of God's law and offering
consolation through faith and hope.”
Allan Kardec
(From Kardec’s, The Gospel according to Spiritism,
Ch. 6, p. 77-78, translated by Janet Duncan)


MOTIVES FOR RESIGNATION
“Man can soften or increase the bitterness of his
trials according to the manner in which he regards
earthly life. His suffering will be all the more
depending on how long he imagines it to be.
“But those who can see life through a spiritual
prism understand bodily existence at a glance.
They see that life is but a point in eternity,
comprehend the shortness of its duration, and
recognize that this painful moment will soon pass.
“The certainty of a happier future sustains and
animates them and far from complaining, they
offer thanks to God for the pain which will permit
them to advance. [our soul’s evolution]
“On the other hand, for all those who see only
bodily life before them, the duration seems
interminable and the pain oppresses with all its
weight.
“The result of looking at life in a spiritual way is a
diminishing in importance of all worldly things,
and man feels himself compelled to moderate his
desires, to content himself with his position
without envying others. This in turn enables him
to receive weakened impressions of reverses and
deceptions that may be experienced.
“From these attitudes comes calmness and
resignation, so useful to bodily health as well as to
the soul; whereas from jealousy, envy, and
ambition man voluntarily condemns himself to
tortures and increases the misery and anguish
during his short existence.”
(From Kardec’s, The Gospel according to Spiritism,
Ch. 5, p. 62, translated by Janet Duncan)
Note: If we have done all we can regarding our
trials/tests, then what is left is how we react and
handle them; be it desperation and despair, or with
moral courage and resilience. The latter is more
beneficial to our soul’s growth. Finally, leave
what you cannot control in God’s Hands! -Y.L.

RESIGNATION IN ADVERSITY
Written by Leon Denis
(Known as the Apostle of Spiritism)
“In order to weigh the blessings and the ills of this
life, in order to ascertain what is truly happiness
and what is unhappiness, one must rise above the
narrow circle of terrestrial existence. The
knowledge of the future life, and of the destiny
which there awaits us, enables us to measure the
consequences of our acts and their influence on
our future.”
(From his book After Death, Ch. 50, p. 314-315, translated
into English by Jussara Korngold, published by the United
States Spiritist Council, copyright 2017)
PRAYER
Dear God and the good spirits that love us and
watch over us…please sustain, guide and inspire
in us what we need to have the moral strength and
fortitude to support the trials and tribulations of
our lives. Help us to not become overwhelmed!
Let us be strong enough to also fulfill whatever
missions, small or great, that we agreed to
accomplish in this lifetime. Many depend on us.
Let us understand that material life is a temporary
situation where we are here to learn the many
lessons we need (which can be very painful at
times) in order for our soul to constantly progress.
Let us have strong faith in the Creator’s Love for
us and in the perfect wisdom of the Divine