The conflicts

— At present there is a recrudescence of obsession, the result of the struggle that new ideas must inevitably sustain against their adversaries, incarnate and disincarnate. Obsession, skillfully exploited by the enemies of Spiritism, is one of the most dangerous trials it will have to suffer, before establishing itself in a stable manner in the spirit of the populations; thus, it must be combated by every possible means and, above all, by the prudence and the energy of your guides, spiritual and terrestrial.

— On all sides mediums arise with supposed missions, saying they are called to take up the banner of Spiritism and plant it upon the ruins of the old world, as if we came to destroy, we who came to build. There is no individuality, however mediocre, that has not found, like Macbeth, a Spirit to say to it: "Thou too shalt be king," and that does not believe itself chosen for a very particular apostolate. There are few intimate gatherings, and even family groups, that have not counted among their mediums or their simple believers a soul vain enough to believe itself indispensable to the success of the great cause, too presumptuous to content itself with the modest role of laborer, bringing its stone to the edifice. Ah! my friends, how many people discuss and do nothing!

Almost all beginning mediums are subject to this dangerous temptation. Some resist, but many succumb, at least for some time, until successive failures come to disillusion them. Why does God permit so difficult a trial, if not to prove that good and progress never establish themselves without work and without struggle, in order to render the triumph of truth more brilliant through the difficulties of the combat? And what do certain Spirits of erraticity want, fomenting the exaltation of self-love and of pride among the incarnate mediocrities, if not to hinder progress? Without wishing it, they are the instruments of the trial that will bring into evidence the good and the bad servants of God. To one, such a Spirit promises the secret of the transmutation of metals, as to a medium of R…; to another, as to M…, a Spirit reveals alleged events that are going to take place, fixes the epochs, specifies the dates, names the actors who are to take part in the announced drama; to a third, a mystifying Spirit teaches the incubation of diamonds; finally, to others, hidden treasures are indicated, easy fortune is promised, marvelous discoveries, glory, honors, etc.; in a word, all the ambitions and all the covetousness of men are skillfully exploited by perverse Spirits. That is why, on all sides, you see these poor obsessed people, preparing to ascend to the Capitol, with a gravity and an importance that sadden the impartial observer. What is the result of all these fallacious promises? Disappointments, vexations, ridicule, sometimes ruin, the just punishment of presumptuous pride, which believes itself called to do better than everyone, disdains counsel, and is ignorant of the true principles of Spiritism.

— As much as modesty is the attribute of the mediums chosen by the good Spirits, so much are pride, self-love, and, let us say, mediocrity the marks of the mediums inspired by the inferior Spirits; as much as the former are not concerned about the communications they receive, when these depart from the truth, so much do the latter maintain against all the superiority of what is dictated to them, however absurd. Hence it results that, according to the words pronounced in the Society of Paris by its spiritual president, Saint Louis, a veritable Tower of Babel is about to be erected among you. Besides, one would have to be blind or deluded not to recognize that, to the crusade directed against Spiritism by the born adversaries of every progressive and emancipating doctrine, there is joined a spiritual crusade, directed by all the pseudo-learned Spirits, false great men, false religious, and false brothers of erraticity, making common cause with the earthly enemies, by means of that multitude of mediums fanaticized by them, and to whom they dictate so many lying lucubrations. But see what remains of all these constructions, erected by ambition, by self-love, and by envy; how many have you not seen crumble, and how many will you yet see! I tell you, every edifice that does not rest upon the solid base of truth will fall, for only truth can defy time and triumph over all utopias. Sincere Spiritists, do not be frightened by this momentary chaos. The time is not far off when truth, disengaged from the veils with which they wish to cover it, will come forth more radiant than ever, and when its brightness, flooding the world, will cast into shadow its obscure detractors, brought into evidence for a few moments for their own confusion. Thus, then, my friends, you will have to defend yourselves not only against the attacks and calumnies of your living adversaries, but also against the still more dangerous maneuvers of the adversaries of erraticity. Strengthen yourselves through sound studies and, above all, through the practice of love and charity, and refresh yourselves in prayer. God always enlightens those who consecrate themselves to the propagation of truth, when they act in good faith and are devoid of all personal ambition.

As for the rest, Spiritists, what do the mediums matter to you who, in spite of everything, are only instruments? What you ought to consider is the value and the scope of the teachings that are given to you; it is the purity of the morality that is taught to you; it is the clarity and the precision of the truths that are revealed to you; it is, finally, to see whether the instructions given to you correspond to the legitimate aspirations of the choicest souls and whether they are in conformity with the general and immutable laws of universal logic and harmony.

As you know, the imperfect Spirits, who play the role of apostle to their obsessed ones, have not the slightest scruple about passing themselves off under the most venerated names; thus, it would be a contradiction if I, who am one of the last and most obscure disciples of the Spirit of Truth, were to complain of the abuse that some have made of my modest name; I will therefore repeat incessantly what I said to my medium, two years ago: "Never judge a communication by reason of the name by which it is signed, but only by its intrinsic value."

— It is urgent that you guard yourselves against all publications of suspect origin, that seem or may seem contrary, against all those that do not have a frank and clear style, and be assured that some are elaborated in the enemy camps of the visible or invisible worlds, aiming to cast among you the apples of discord. It is up to you not to let yourselves be caught; you have all the elements necessary to appraise them. But hold equally as certain that every Spirit who announces himself as a superior being and, above all, as of an infallibility proof against all, is, on the contrary, the opposite of what he so pompously announces. Since the pious Spirit François-Nicolas Madeleine saw fit to relieve me of a part of my spiritual burden, I have been able to consider the whole of the Spiritist work and to make the moral statistics of the laborers who work in the vineyard of the Lord. Ah! if so many imperfect Spirits interfere in the work we pursue, I have a much greater regret in noting that, among our best helpers on Earth, many have bent under the weight of the task and, little by little, have taken up again the byways of their old weaknesses, in such a way that the great ethereal souls who counseled them have, from then on, been replaced by Spirits less pure and less perfect. Ah! I know that virtue is difficult; but we do not want, nor do we ask, the impossible. Good will suffices us, when accompanied by the desire to do better. In all things, my friends, slackening is pernicious, for much will be asked of those who, after having raised themselves, through a generous renunciation of their own individuality, fall into the cult of matter and again let themselves be invaded by egoism and by self-love. In spite of this, we pray for them and condemn no one, for we must always keep present in memory this magnificent teaching of the Christ: "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone at her." Today your phalanxes are growing visibly and your partisans are counted by the millions. Now, by reason of the number of adepts, there insinuate themselves under false masks the false brothers, of whom your brother president lately spoke to you [See: False brothers and inept friends]. Not that I come to recommend to you to open your ranks only to lambs without blemish and to white heifers. No; because, more than all others, sinners have the right to find among you a refuge against their own imperfections. But those whom I advise you to distrust are the dangerous hypocrites, to whom, at first sight, one is tempted to grant complete confidence. Aided by a rigid bearing, under the observing eye of the masses, they preserve that serious and dignified air that leads others to say of them: "What respectable creatures!", whereas, beneath that apparent respectability, perfidy and immorality are sometimes concealed. They are affable, obsequious, full of pleasantries; they insinuate themselves into homes; they explore private life with pleasure; they listen behind doors and feign deafness the better to hear; they sense enmities, stir them up, and feed them; they go to the opposing camps, questioning and interrogating about each one. What does this one do? On what does that one live? Who is that person? Do you know his family? Then you will see them secretly distill in the shadow the little slanders they were able to gather, taking care to envenom them with mellifluous calumnies. "These are rumors," they say, "in which one does not believe"; but they add: "There is no smoke without fire, etc., etc." To these tartuffes of incarnation, add the hypocrites of erraticity, and you will see, my dear friends, how much I am right to advise you to act, henceforth, with extreme reserve and to guard yourselves against all imprudence and all thoughtless enthusiasm. I have told you, you are at a moment of crisis, made difficult by malevolence, but from which you will come out stronger through firmness and perseverance.

— The number of mediums is today incalculable, and it is deplorable to see that some believe themselves the only ones called to distribute truth to the world and go into raptures over banalities that they consider monuments. Poor deluded ones, who lower themselves passing under triumphal arches, as if truth had to await their coming to be announced! Neither the strong, nor the weak, nor the learned, nor the ignorant had this exclusive privilege; it was through a thousand unknown voices that truth spread itself, and it is precisely through this unanimity that it made itself recognized. Count these voices, count those who listen to them; count, above all, those that touch the heart, if you wish to know on which side truth stands. Ah! if all mediums had faith, I would be the first to bow before them; but they have, most of the time, only faith in themselves, so great is pride on Earth! No, their faith is not the one that moves mountains and that makes one walk upon the waters! It is the case to repeat here this evangelical maxim, which served me as a theme when I made myself heard at my beginning among you: many are called and few are chosen. In sum, publications to the right, publications to the left, publications everywhere, for and against Spiritism, in every sense, under all forms; excessive criticisms on the part of people who know nothing of it; inflamed sermons from people who fear it; in sum, I say, Spiritism is the order of the day; it stirs up every brain, agitates every conscience, an exclusive privilege of great things; everyone senses that it carries within itself the principle of a renewal, which some call its promises and others fear. But, of all this, what will remain? What will arise from this Tower of Babel? An immense thing: the popularization of the Spiritist idea, and as a doctrine, what will be truly doctrinal! This conflict is inevitable, because man is stained with too much pride and egoism to accept, without opposition, any new truth; I even say that this conflict is necessary, because it is friction that consumes the false ideas and brings out the strength of those that resist. In the midst of this avalanche of mediocrities, of impossibilities, and of unrealizable utopias, splendid truth will blossom forth in its grandeur and majesty.

Erastus. n [1]

[see Thomas Erastus.]