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What an insightful year 2022 has been! Filled with new discoveries and transformation in many areas of our lives. At the Allan Kardec Vancouver Society, we returned with our in-person activities and initiated new study groups, giving and bringing opportunities for exchanges and even more learning.
In the past twelve months, we had to support one another and relearn how to welcome people after the most critical COVID-19 pandemic moments, where we had to isolate and reduce our physical interactions. Welcome our friends in peace, smiling, holding hands or with their souls in pain, facing fears and challenges, embracing our neighbours with hope, providing a secure shelter, and making them feel loved in every look and every hug.
May we continue leveraging these opportunities to give more than we receive, as this is what makes us less selfish and more inclined toward the greater good. We wish you a Christmas full of hope in our hearts and 2023 of achievements and transformation of the immortal Spirit.
With love,
Rafaela Calabria
President, Allan Kardec Vancouver Society
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At a time when the entire Christian world is celebrating the birth of Jesus, energies of collective contentment, goodwill and peace coexist with a festive atmosphere of exchanging gifts and opportunities to socialize with friends and family.
Transcending commercial and consumerist vibrations which are also part of the moment, there is for us, Spiritists, the great opportunity to take advantage of this current of well-being that dominates the environment to remember - as many times as necessary - the central agent around whom this climate exists in the first place.
Faced with so many lessons from the Messenger of Love, there is an invitation to quietness for deep reflections regarding our conduct relative to the message of Jesus, in which Humanity remains in intimate battles to understand it in its essence and, above all, to experience it.
When Kardec asks in question 625 of The Spirits’ Book “What is the perfect standard that God has offered to humankind as a guide and model?”, the answer could not be clearer: “Look at Jesus.”
According to Kardec, “Jesus is the highest standard of moral perfection to which humankind may aspire on earth. God offers him as the most perfect model, and the doctrine he taught is the purest expression of God’s law because he was animated by the divine spirit and was the purest being that has ever walked the earth.” [1]
Consoling our hearts, let us, therefore, remember our Model and Guide. It is understood that this behaviour is not exclusive to the month of December. Emmanuel reinforces us through the hands of Chico Xavier that "The Christmas celebrations lead us to understand the eternal lesson of Jesus' humility, at the precise moment in which his message of love rejoiced the hearts of creatures, making us feel, still, the taste of timeliness of his divine teachings.” [2]
In addition to the birth of Christ in human form, there is also the figurative meaning of letting Christ be born intimately, in our hearts. Letting Him hold our hands, we allow ourselves, in a gesture of self-love, to deal with our shadows, without repressing or rejecting them, but accepting and transforming them as we improve ourselves through the Good Combat. "If the human heart is an abyss of corruption, there is always in a few of its hidden-most corners the seed of a few good sentiments and a live spark of spiritual essence." [3]
Even though there is a long way ahead, we shall not project the distance that exists between ourselves and Christ, using fear disguised as practicality to postpone our responsibilities. Instead, how about we take this moment to encourage ourselves? In this way, we walk towards our great destiny of developing the virtues of love, in which we are in essence, materialized in gestures of Charity, which translates into Benevolence, Indulgence and Forgiveness at the limit of our strength.
By Marcus Antonaccio
References:
[[1] KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits´Book. Translated by Darrel W. Kimble and Marcia M. Saiz. 3rd edition. Brasília, International Spiritist Council: 2006. Question 625, page 364.
[2] XAVIER, Francisco Cândido. Collections from Beyond. Free Translation. Several Spirits, The Menger (Portuguese Edition)
[3] KARDEC, Allan. The Gospel According to Spiritism. Translated by Darrel W. Kimble and Ily Reis. 3rd edition. Brasília, Federação Espírita Brasileira: 2020. Chapter 10, pages 218.
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"New year, new life." This is a famous saying, often used by many of us who long for a different start of the year to come. We plan, create goals, wish for everything and a little more, and even dream about acquisitions or achievements that would be considered, by most, almost impossible to achieve. We allow ourselves to wander and contemplate a future that we believe to be better and happier for our incarnation. But, what would be truly more favourable to our spiritual evolution? Would we know how to point it out?
Sometimes, some of us have been looking ahead, wanting to forget a past that was lived, and occasionally suffered, but that, undoubtedly, still teaches us, amidst our mistakes and successes. How can we look ahead without wanting to ponder on what we have already lived? How can we trace a better future spiritually if we don't have as a reference what we can still improve or enhance in ourselves? Perhaps it would be like walking with blindfolds on, living with blind faith in our own respect. Yet, the blessed and consoling Spiritist Doctrine brings us rational faith, in which the one who puts it into practice reflects on what he believes, feels and lives; and invites us to fully know our inner self.
In The Spirits' Book, codified by Allan Kardec, Saint Augustine shares with us in question 919, that at the end of every day, he interrogated his conscience, analyzing what he had done and questioning himself if he had not missed some duty if no one had had reason to complain to him. "This is how I came to know myself and to see in myself what needed reformation" [1]. St. Augustine's resolutions were daily, because as the spirits Emmanuel and André Luiz, through the psychography of Francisco Cândido Xavier in the work Opinião Espírita (Spiritist Opinion) say, "although we can walk a thousand leagues, we only progress in substance by advancing step by step" [2].
Creating resolutions for the future is also reflecting deeply on our past so that the acts of tomorrow can be better considered, based and modified since nobody decides our destiny except ourselves [3]. Yes, let us aspire for the new days, let us fill our hearts with hope with the new possibilities that God grants us daily, let us wish for firmer steps on our part on the path to Jesus, striving each day to reach this goal because the minute we live is a blessed opportunity to acquire better values for the Spirit. And let us not fail to consider and examine what we have already experienced, because the past teaches, and the future promises in the function of the present [4].
By Fernanda Tenório
References:
[1] Portuguese: Acesso online: https://www.febnet.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Livro-dos-Espiritos.pdf
[2] XAVIER, Francisco Cândido. Portuguese: Opinião Espírita. Pelos Espíritos André Luiz e Emmanuel, Cap. 27
[3] ____.
[4] XAVIER, Francisco Cândido. Portuguese: Opinião Espírita. Pelos Espíritos André Luiz e Emmanuel, Cap. 57
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"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." [1]
Many doubts about Jesus' birth remain in the mind and heart of the creature. The date is one of them. It seems there is a contradiction because December 25th is winter in Palestine, and there are no shepherds in the fields at night. [2] In fact, between December and February, the cold season peaks in the region, causing rain and frost; the animals are taken to the stables. [3]
Studies demonstrate that the approximate date would be May of the 5th year BC. [2] Herod got sick in March of 4 BC. One of his last acts was to determine the 02 years-old (or less) boys´ death. Thus, Jesus would not have been born in the year zero. This mistake was made by the monk Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century AD, who "delayed" the chronology by, at least, 05 years. [2]
It is also important to point out that the ancients did not worry about birth dates. Agriculture and livestock were organized by the lunar calendar. During the winter, the food´s absence and the survival uncertainty had taken to pagan celebrations. The Roman emperor Aurelian (214-275 AD) created one called "the day of the unconquered sun" (Dies Natalis Solis Invicti) on December 25th. [3]
The Roman bishop Liberius established the official Christian commemoration in 354 AD, considering Jesus as the "sun of justice and light of the world". Likewise other dates and ceremonies, December 25th became an adaptation of the solar myth pagan festival to Christianity. [3]
Regardless of the exact date, Jesus is " the perfect standard that God has offered to humankind as a guide and model". [4] Consequently, for Paul the Apostle, who had persecuted Christians, Jesus was born on the road to Damascus when he found himself enveloped by His intense Light. For Mary Magdalene, He appeared when His voice awakened her to a new life that she had never imagined. For Peter (the Rock), the Master´s birth took place after he denied Him three times, and no longer wavered in his apostolate. For Dismas, the good thief, He was born on top of Calvary, when He made him forget worldly miseries and anticipate the Kingdom of Heaven. [5] And for us, when was Jesus born?
Note:
BC = before Christ
AD = Anno Domini or “in the year of the Lord”
By Heloise Barros
References:
[1] The Holy Bible, Luke 2:11
[2] KREMER, Frederico G. Jesus of Nazareth: A Narrative of Life and Parables. 1st edition. 1st imp. Brasília, FEB: 2016. Ch. 4, page 65 (Portuguese Edition)
[3] CALDEIRA, Wesley. From the Manger to Emmaus. 1st edition. 1st imp. Brasília, FEB: 2014. Ch. 10, page 76 (Portuguese Edition)
[4] KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits´Book. Translated by Darrel W. Kimble with Marcia M. Saiz. 3rd edition. Brasília, International Spiritist Council: 2011. Part 3, Ch. 1, q. 625, page 364
[5] VINÍCIUS. Around the Master. 9th edition. 1st reimp. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 2009. Ch. "Did Christ born? Where? When?", page 236-237 (Portuguese Edition)
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Allan Kardec says: “The true Spiritist Doctrine is found in the teachings imparted by the Spirits, and the knowledge of this teaching is far too serious to be acquired in any other way than an in-depth and continuous study made in silence and reflection on the matter” [1]. For this reason, anybody who's looking to learn about Spiritism must constantly read and study. However, knowledge and comprehension are not enough without the practice of the teachings.
In a message published in The Gospel According to Spiritism, the Spirit of Truth invites us to believe, love and meditate upon the things that are being revealed to us. It would be an attempt to not mix tares with the good seed, utopias with the truth [2]. However, the urgency of practicing what we are learning is expressed in the following orientation: “O Spiritists! Love one another; this is the first teaching. Educate yourselves; this is the second”[3].
Let us strive to read more in the new year, studying and practicing the Promised Comforter's instructions, which will help renew our hearts, leading to the regeneration of our planet.
By Tatiana Barros
References:
[1] KARDEC, Allan. The Spirits´Book. Translated by Darrel W. Kimble and Marcia M. Saiz. 3rd edition. Brasília, International Spiritist Council: 2006. Introduction, page 70.
[2] KARDEC, Allan. The Gospel According to Spiritism. Translated by Darrel W. Kimble and Ily Reis. 3rd edition. Brasília, Federação Espírita Brasileira: 2020. Chapter 6, pages 134 and 135.
[3] KARDEC, Allan. The Gospel According to Spiritism. Translated by Darrel W. Kimble and Ily Reis. 3rd edition. Brasília, Federação Espírita Brasileira: 2020. Chapter 6, page 135.
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The year 2022 was marked by the return of our in-person Child and Youth Spiritist Education classrooms. During the pandemic, we held lessons in an online format, in 2021 we had a hybrid format, and in 2022 we fully returned to classes at the centre. When we were back to the in-person format, there were some uncertainties about how the classes would be, and how the spiritist educators could resume activities to engage the kids and youth; activities that were being performed on the computer had to change in order to captivate them in the face-to-face interaction.
It was indeed a moment of reflection for the educators who had to put their creativity to work at full speed, as we all got used to everything being done virtually.
The activities and themes sought to show participants on the importance of action, the will that moves, empathy, love, and the example of Jesus. Bringing the reflection that theory is important, but the practice is fundamental to our spiritual advancement.
During that year, we saw children changing from the youngest group to the oldest in the child's spiritism education, going to the youth group, and even to the Systematic Study of the Spiritist Doctrine (still open for enrollment until January). Shy eyes on the new, but also curious to learn more about the spiritism doctrine in a different way than they were used to. We also saw new students entering the centre with their families, bringing more joy and motivation to our group.
We end the year, full of gratitude for being able to work closely with spirits in their most accessible phase to the impressions they receive. May we all, parents, guardians and educators, join forces to better help our kids and teens in their spiritual formation.
We currently offer Child Spiritist Education on Sundays and Mondays and Youth Spiritist Education on Thursdays. Click here to see our full agenda. We are waiting for you all with open arms!
By Nathália Gomes
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