Instructions from the Spirits.

I.

Acknowledge the greatness and the mercy of God toward all His children. The voice of the Most High has made itself heard! Bow down and be humble, for the power of the Lord is great. The whole Earth must vibrate beneath His merciful hand, and those who submit to His laws will be blessed, as Abraham was of old, who marched toward an unknown land because the voice of the Eternal spoke in his heart.

The Most High will sustain you, who march beneath His paternal gaze, humble and believing. Let them treat you as poor in spirit, and the mighty God will draw you to Himself by His grace; be firm in working in His vineyard, and scorn the disdain of the impious, for the Eternal has touched you with His protecting hand. Be courageous and march without knowing where He leads you; He protects those who lean their own weakness upon His strength. The Creator is great; admire Him in His works.

Spiritism spreads over the Earth, like the beneficial dew of night that refreshes a very dry land. It will sprinkle the celestial dew upon your souls; your hearts, through the unction of divine grace, will bring forth good fruits, and your works will proclaim His glory and His greatness.

God is omnipotent, and when by His strength He guided the arm of Moses, did not the tablets of the law shake the Earth? What do you fear? Did God abandon you to your weakness when He gave His strength to Moses? Did the Most High not send the manna of the desert? Will He be less merciful toward you than He was toward the children of Israel, letting your hearts wither through ignorance?

God is as just as He is great! Lean upon Him and He will flood you with His grace. Your hearts will open and will become a refuge of faith and of charity; for charity has shone upon the Earth and the Most High has touched you with His beneficent hand.

Courage, Spiritists! the mighty God watches over you. May your hearts be the tablets on which He inscribes His laws, and may nothing impure stain the temple of the Eternal, so that you may become worthy to preach His commandments. Do not fear to walk in the darkness, when the divine light guides you.

The times appointed by the Almighty have come; the darkness will vanish from the Earth, giving way to the divine rays that will flood your souls, if you do not repel the voice of God.

The strength of the Most High will pour out upon His people, and His children will bless Him, intoning hymns of praise for the purity of their hearts. May nothing stop you, may nothing discourage you; be firm in the work of God. Be all children of one great family, and may the gaze of your Celestial Father guide you and make your works bear fruit.

II.

The reign of the Christ draws near; the forerunners announce it; the muffled wars increase; the incarnate Spirits are stirred by the impure breath of the prince of darkness: the demon of pride, who casts forth his fire, like the crater of an active volcano. The invisible world rises before the cross; the entire celestial hierarchy is on the march toward the divine combat. Spiritists, arise; give your hand to your brothers, the apostles of faith, so that you may be strong before the shadowy army that wishes to swallow you up. Bow before the cross: it is your safeguard in danger, the pledge of victory. The struggle is filled with perils, we do not hide it from you; but the combats are necessary to make the triumph of faith more resounding and more solid, and so that these words of the Christ may be fulfilled: The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. III.

Man is strong enough only when he feels his weakness; he can undertake all things beneath the gaze of God. His moral strength grows in proportion to his confidence, for he feels the need to turn to the Creator in order to shelter his weakness from the falls into which human imperfection may drag him. He who places his will in that of God can confront the Spirit of evil with impunity, without deeming himself rash. If the Supreme Being permits the struggle between the angel and the demon, it is to give the creature the opportunity to triumph and to sacrifice itself in the combats. When Saint Paul felt the voice of God vibrate within him, he exclaimed: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” n And the greatest sinner became the most zealous apostle of faith. Abandoned to the weakness of his ardent and passionate nature, Saint Augustine succumbs; he becomes strong in the eyes of God, who always gives strength to whoever asks for it in order to resist evil. But, in his blindness, man deems himself powerful of himself and, ceasing to have recourse to God, falls into the abyss dug by self-love. Take courage, then, for, however strong the Spirit may be that bars the way, leaning upon the cross you have nothing to fear; on the contrary, you will have everything to gain for your soul, which will grow beneath the divine ray of faith. Let yourselves be led through the tempests and you will reach the end of your march, where Jesus awaits you. Every man needs counsel. Unhappy is he who deems himself strong enough by his own lights, for he will have numerous disappointments. Spiritism is full of pitfalls, even in the groups, and, with all the more reason, in isolation. The excessive fear you have of being deceived is a good for you, for it was your safeguard on more than one occasion. Nevertheless, your communications need control; a few appraisals do not suffice. That is why your protecting Spirits advised you to turn to the Spiritist leader, in order to be fixed as to its worth. It is necessary to prove through union that all the serious adepts work together in the vineyard of the Lord, which will extend its branches over the whole world. The more the laborers unite, the more quickly the great Spiritist chain will be formed and, also, the more quickly the human family will be flooded by the divine effluvia of faith and of charity, which will regenerate souls beneath the power of the Creator.

Let each of you bring his stone to the edifice according to the measure of his strength; but if each one wishes to build according to his own will, without taking into account the instructions we have given and which form its foundation; if there is no understanding among you; if you do not have a point of connection, then you will make a tower of Babel. We show you this point: let each one make of it his sole aim; we have given you these signs: let each one inscribe it on his banner; then you will all recognize one another and extend your hands to one another. But God will scatter the presumptuous who have not heard His voice; He will blind the proud, who deem themselves strong enough of themselves; and those who stray from the path traced out for them will lose themselves in the desert. Spiritists, be strong in courage, in perseverance and in firmness, but humble of heart, according to the precept of the Gospel, and Jesus will lead you through the storms and will bless your works.

Each struggle borne courageously beneath the gaze of God is an ardent prayer, which rises to Him like pure incense of pleasing odor. If it sufficed to formulate words in order to turn to God, the indolent would have only to take up a book of prayers to satisfy the obligation of praying. Work, the activity of the soul, are the only good prayer that purifies it and makes it grow.

Fénelon. n Allan Kardec.

Paris. – Typ. de COSSON ET Ce, rue du Four-Saint-Germain, 43.

[1] Tr. note: Philippians, 4:13.

[2] [v.

Fénelon.]