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Power of faith. - Unshakable faith. - The dried-up fig tree parable. - Instructions from the spirits: Faith, mother of hope and charity. - Human and divine faith.

Power of faith

1. When the crowd came to Jesus, a man approached him, knelt before him and said: “Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers very much. He falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples but they have been unable to heal him.” Jesus replied: “O unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I tolerate you? Bring the boy to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, which came out from the boy, who was healed from that moment on. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked: “Why could not we cast the demon out?” Jesus replied: “Because of your unbelief. If you had faith as small as a mustard seed you would say to that mountain: 'Move from here to there' and it would move; everything would be possible for you.” (Matthew 17:14-20.)

Then Jesus said to them: “Have faith in God. If one says to that mountain: 'Go, throw yourself into the sea' and, inside their heart, firmly believes that it will happen, it will happen. Whatever you ask for, in prayer, believe that you will receive it, and you will get it. When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that God may also forgive you your sins. If you do not forgive them, neither will God forgive you your sins.” (Mark 11:22-26.)

2. People who have confidence in their own strength become capable to overcome material challenges which look impossible for they who doubt. Prejudice, materialistic interest, selfishness, fanaticism and prideful passions are like mountains which hinder human advancement. Robust faith provides energy and perseverance to overcome all barriers. Faith removes mountains of difficulties. By contrast, the wavering faith transmits uncertainty and hesitation. It increases the obstacles and makes people to give up because they doubt victory.

3. Faith supports remarkable achievements. It provides certainty and lucidness which allow people to see, in thought, the goal and the means to get there, enabling them to resolutely go forward. Real and sincere faith is calm. It gives firm patience because it is certain of victory and it is founded on understanding. Undecided faith discloses its own weakness. When founded on selfish interest, it becomes furious and thinks it can replace its faltering strength with aggression. Calmness during struggle shows confidence and energy. Violence, on the contrary, means weakness and insecurity.

4. However, faith is very different from presumption. Faith is associated to humility. Those who have faith trust more in God than in themselves. This is why good spirits come to their aid. Presumption means arrogance and pride, two vices which are punished by frustration.

5. Strong faith enables human beings to act on the universal fluid, change its quality and sometimes impose an irresistible movement to it. One who unites great mediumistic ability, strong faith and altruistic willpower can perform amazing achievements like healing, which people may call miracles but, however, are just Nature's laws consequences. If the apostles had had firm faith, they would have healed the boy.

Unshakable faith

6. Faith may be either blind or reasoned. Blind faith does not analyze anything. It carelessly accepts the falsehood as truth and clashes the evidences. Taken to the extreme, it produces fanaticism. Nevertheless, any faith that sits upon error sooner or later collapses. Only truth-based faith survives the enlightenment advance, because what is true at midnight is also true at noon. In the other hand, those who preach blind faith in order to claim truth monopoly show themselves unable to prove they are right.

7. People use to say faith cannot be prescribed. So, many self-declare innocent for being unbelievers. Indeed, faith can neither be prescribed nor imposed, but it can be developed through feeling and reason. Everyone, even the most refractory ones, can acquire faith related to the basic spiritual principles. Faith is not expected to seek unbelievers. Instead, they should look for it. If they sincerely pursue the faith they will find it. Many say they would believe whether they could but they lie because they close eyes and ears. Evidences build up all around such unbelievers. What drives them to refuse reason? Negligence, for some. Fear of change, for others. For still others, pride. Yes, the proud reject existence of a superior power because they would have to bow down before it.

Some people show inborn faith. A spark is enough to make it to blossom. Such easiness to accept spiritual concepts reveals a previous progress. They already believed and understood. On being reborn, they bring with them the intuition of what they learnt. Their education is at an advanced level. By contrast, the morally backward are unable to understand even the basics. They yet have everything to learn. Their education is still to be done and, no matter their possible opposition, it will be done, during either present existence or future incarnations, through love or pain, because God wants their advancement.

The unbeliever's resistance often stems from the way which ideas are presented. Faith requires understanding of what should be accepted. Just hearing a lot of words is insufficient. Blind faith is no longer of our time. In order to believe, it is necessary to understand. Much disbelief comes from blind faith dogmas, which impose themselves without discussion, refuse reasoning and imprison free-will. It is against this sort of faith that many unbelievers rebel. Indeed, such kind of faith cannot be prescribed. As it rejects logic, blind faith gives the spirit just emptiness and doubt. But ratiocinated faith answers questions. People believe because they are certain, and they are certain because they understand. Faith is only unshakable if it can always face reason. The Spiritist doctrine helps faith to triumph over incredulity.

The dried-up fig tree parable

8. When they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing a distant leafy fig tree, he went there to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached the tree, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not season for figs. Then he said to the tree: “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” His disciples heard him saying it. In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered to the root. Peter remembered and said to Jesus: “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” (Mark 11:12-14 and 20-21.)

9. Jesus created the dried fig-tree phenomenon in order to associate the withered plant to the people that appear having tendency toward goodness but, in fact, produce no good; to the brilliant preachers who speak varnished words but, under scrutiny, lack solidity, deny substance for heart and provide their followers no moral benefit. The shriveled tree also represents those who are intentionally useless, as well as the enticing utopias, empty theories and foundationless beliefs. All of them lack the productive love-propelled faith which moves mountains. This is the reason why Jesus created this lesson, because comes the day when the useless beliefs will dry, like the shriveled tree, to the root. All orders, sects and philosophies which produce no good fruit will be trashed. All resource-endowed people which remain willingly idle will be likened to the dried fig-tree.

10. A medium is an interpreter who lends to the spirits the material organs they lack to communicate. In present days of moral renewal, mediums have a very important task: like a tree, they should spread spiritual nourishment to their neighbors. Mediums multiply everywhere, so that there might be abundant sustenance. We find them in all countries, peoples, social classes, either great or small, poor and rich, showing that everyone has been called. Mediumship is actually a loan, not a property. Mediums are supposed to spread good fruits. If they serve selfish and proud interest, if they remain idle and morally stagnant, then they will be behaving like the unfaithful caretaker, who is represented by the sterile tree. The Almighty will take back the powerful seed which remained unproductive with the bad mediums, who will become prey of the evil spirits they chose as partners.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE SPIRITS

Faith, mother of hope and charity

11. Faith, hope and charity form an inseparable trinity. Divine inspiration, mother of all virtues, faith secures hope in divine providence, gives humility, awakens noble instinct and encourages charity. But faith must be active to be useful.

In order to be firm, a building requires a strong foundation. Faith is the bedrock of moral renewal. So, in order to be steady, the regeneration building demands a solid basis, which should be made up of resolute faith. Thus, let your faith be stronger than mockery, sophism and opposition, because the faith which falters when under attack is false.

Sincere faith is animating and contagious. It beneficially influences everyone, even its enemies, and finds persuasive words which touch soul. By contrast, apparent faith produces only indifference. Preach Christianity through the example of your faith and good deeds. Instruct your followers through your steady hope, so that they may see, in your good conduct, the confidence which helps overcoming even the toughest challenge.

Have faith with all its beauty, goodness, pureness and rationality. Refuse the reason-devoid belief. Reject blind faith. Love God, and also know why you love the Universe's Majesty. Take our advice and trust it too. Believe, pray and keep hope up. Miracles are works of faith. Joseph, a protective spirit. (Bordeaux, 1862.)

Human and divine faith

12. Faith is the inborn feeling of our future destiny. It is the consciousness we have about the immense latent power which lies inside ourselves. It is up to each one to make this power to develop through willpower action.

Christ exalts faith as a very powerful lever. By performing miracles, he himself showed the potential people can achieve if they have faith. Several apostles learned his lessons and performed wonderworks, which are natural effects whose causes science will understand when it start considering the divine laws.

Faith may be human, when it applies to earthly need satisfaction, and divine, when it relates to celestial intent and future aspiration. People of genius, who throw themselves into big worldly undertakings, triumph when they have faith because they can envision the goal road and believe they will be successful. Such certainty places a great force at their disposal.

Goodhearted people, who desire filling their existence with noble actions, get from their faith an outstanding force which enables them to carry on struggling for good. So they, removing mountains of hindrances, manage to operate remarkable examples of charity, abnegation and devotion due to their faith.

The mediumistic power proves the active faith capability. Due to the faith this power can cure and produce singular phenomena, which are usually called miracles.

We stress that faith is human and divine. If people believed in the power they carry inside themselves, if they placed their will at service of this huge force, they would be able to produce outstanding events which mean, in fact, just a human faculty development step. - A protective spirit. (Paris, 1863.)

Do to others what you want that others do to you. (Matthew 7:12)
You'll know the truth and the truth will make you free. (John 8:32)
 
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God is fair and good. Know the Spiritist philosophy and be sure about it.
Unshakable faith is only that which can always face reason. (Allan Kardec) R1

   
A tree is known by its fruits
   

The vine branch