Faith and prayer as therapeutic openings of contemporary hospitals

Jorge Hessen

Translation:
Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br

Implications of Spirituality on health have been scientifically evaluated and documented in hundreds of scholarly articles, demonstrating its relationship to various aspects of physical and mental health, probably positive and possibly causal. Strictly speaking, associations between Spirituality (religiosity) and immunological activity, mental health, neoplasia, cardiovascular diseases and mortality, as well as intervention aspects with the use of intercessory prayer, have been consubstantiated in hospital environments.

There is a growing accumulation of evidence on the relationship between Spirituality (religiosity) and physical health. However, because this evidence is not yet strong enough, it is only a promising field of investigation. It is, with no doubt, a field of research with enormous potential. Moreover, systematic investigations have shown that spiritualized patients deal better with the stresses of life, recover more quickly from depression, and experience less anxiety than those dealing with negative, unbelieving and materialistic emotions.

In this type of care, we identify that there is a concept of health as something, the result of the balance between man and the world, between the immanent and the transcendent, which approaches what is called holism and systemic view of life. The press has reported that doctors and hospital institutions in the contemporary world already include in their routine, in a systematic and definitive way, the practice of encouraging patients to strengthen hope, optimism, good humor and Spirituality (religiosity), as essential resources in the fight against diseases. These procedures work as remedies for the soul, obviously with beneficial repercussions for the physical body. This has been observed, above all, in treatment centers for serious diseases, such as cancer and pathologies that require from the patient a superhuman effort.

Therapy of Hope - Many doctors now realize that patients, supported by some kind of faith and hoping for recovery, actually have better prognoses. This practice is associated with reduced anxiety, depression and decreased pain, among other repercussions. It has been proved that maintaining a more confident and hopeful state of mind unleashes an increase of reactions that only does well.

Researchers at the University of Alabama in the United States have applied a treatment called "Therapy of Hope." The process consists in helping patients to build and maintain hope in the face of illness, according to the maxim that it is necessary to strengthen the Spirit so that the body can recover. The American National Cancer Institute has created a kind of guide to help physicians, nurses, and psychologists on how to use the patient's Spirituality (religiosity) for their own benefit. Its applicability also extends to psychotic patients, adults and children; people with other disabilities, as well as suicides and drug addicts (people addicted to drugs).

As the patient makes an insight to enhance his faith, it becomes possible for him to recognize his identity and rebuild his self-esteem, which leads him to regain hope and confidence in his own adaptive resources. An intervention that emphasizes the importance of the elaboration of a new project of life for itself is thus constructed. The stimuli of Spirituality (religiosity) heal the patient by imposing order on the chaotic experience that has developed in him.

Spiritism explains that it is through a process of personal development that the patient gains strength to neutralize the disease. Spiritism seeks to persuade the patient to re-orientate his mental behavior through the intelligent and reasoned faith, suggesting an ethic of charity, which must result in a particular way of motivation for a great life and of overcoming the appeals of the physical world.

The importance of prayer in hospitals - Spirituality (religiosity) - in harmony with health - is a goal to be won by those who really want to heal themselves.

The illness remains an entity with a broad impact on aspects of approach, from basic pathophysiology to its complex social, psychic and economic relationship. It is crucial to recognize that these various aspects are correlated in multiple interactions. As studies in the area of Spirituality and health intensify, once we have seen the beneficial results in restoring the energy of debilitated patients, the first (even heterodox) theses will begin to improve conclusions and obtain results.

Irrespective of the causative agents of the disease, the stimulation of spiritual values ​​is placed in a very convenient position: it not only demonstrates sharing responsibilities with modern medicine, but signals intervening where it proves impotent. In this sense, let us reflect on the importance of encouraging prayer in hospitals.

Prayer is an ancient practice of many different religions, traditionally associated with well-being, health promotion, introspection, and Spirituality. Incidentally, prayers are best practiced through religiosity. It is obvious that "Spirituality does not supplant medicine and doctors; it simply comes to prove that there are things they do not know and invites them to study them, that nature has resources that they ignore, that the spiritual element that they do not know, is not a chimera, and that, when they take it into account, they will open new horizons to Science and will have more successes than now". (1) 

Mind as a source of energy -Prayer acts on individuals, influencing the immune system, according to a pioneering study conducted in 1988 at the General Hospital of San Francisco, California. In this hospital "it was possible to prove that the patients who received prayers presented significant improvements, needing even a smaller amount of medication". (2)For us, Spiritists, it has special characteristics because "together with ordinary medication, elaborated by Science, magnetism makes us aware of the power of fluid action, and Spiritism reveals another powerful force in healing mediumship and the influence of prayer". (3) Allan Kardec, in commenting on Question 662, in The Book of Spirits, says that "thought and will represent in us a power of action that reaches far beyond the limits of our bodily sphere". (4)Strictly speaking, "electricity is dynamic energy, magnetism is static energy, thought is electromagnetic force" (5). But one thing is clear, prayer cannot change the nature of the tests by which man must pass, or even divert its course, and this, because they are in the hands of God. There is evidence that man must endure until the end of his days, but God always takes into account his resignation.

Although the prayers we say will not divert us from our troubles and delusions, they are a comforting balm to our sick soul, for it makes us enter the stages of soft calmness and joy that only the one who prays is able to understand. Therefore, the prayer has the unspeakable gift of showering us with the strength to endure struggles and problems, internal and external, to put us in a position to overcome obstacles that before seemed impossible to deal with.

Thought is the driving dynamo of physical life for the Spiritual life, which allows us to establish a positive relationship with the Spirits who participate in the healing activities. While it benefits us with all this, it can also bind us to Spirits, whose presence will be detrimental to the act of healing. Every coin has two sides and the laws of nature are two-way roads. Mind is a source of healing or destructive energy.

References: (1) KARDEC, Allan. Spiritist Magazine, November, 1866. (2) Source available on site (3) KARDEC, Allan. The Gospel according to Spiritism, Rio de Janeiro: Ed FEB, 2004, Chapter 28, item77. (4) KARDEC, Allan. The Book of Spirits, Rio de Janeiro: Ed FEB, 2000, question 662. (5) XAVIER, Francisco Candido. Thought and Life, 9th ed. Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 1991. P.16.

The upward march of Man’s ancestors

JORGE HESSEN jorgehessen@gmail.com Brasília, Distrito Federal (Brasil)
Translation Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br

Jorge Hessen Did “cave” men have deep awareness? "Researchers at the University of York have discovered that the Neanderthal man had a great sense of compassion. The conclusion came through archaeological evidence and by watching how emotions took place in our ancestors six million years ago, when man and chimpanzees’ ancestors, common to both, experienced the awakening of the first feelings. For archaeologists, about 1.8 million years ago, Homo erectus had a sense of compassion with rational thought evidenced through actions such as to care for the sick and to pay special attention to the dead, demonstrating grief and desire to soften the others’ suffering.” (1)

We believe that the graves dating from the Paleolithic era have proven already that at that time they already believed in life after death and in the power or influence of their ancestors on the daily life of the family group. Clan members practiced rites in honor of their dead in fear of reprisals, or to be benefited, or by the simple fact of considering them deified beings.

Now, the puzzling question is how did primate become hominid? The answer is still unknown. There is still a “missing link", the biological species that represents this transition. "It can be said that due to the influence and intellectual action of more developed Spirits (than the apes), the wrap has changed, became more refined, maintaining its general shape. With the improvement of the body, and enlightenment of the Spirit, a new species appeared.” (2) Allan Kardec explains that "we do not know how the Spirits were created, where do they come from. We only know that they are created simple and ignorant, i.e., with no science and no knowledge, however, with the possibility of becoming perfect and of acquiring all and know all”.(3) The Spirit Andre Luiz states that "to reach the age of reason, with the title of man endowed with reasoning and judgment, the being automated in its impulses and on its way to the angelic kingdom, it took nothing less than a billion and a half years”.(4) 

Many of the changes that took place in the "homo" were developed in his perispiritual structures, between one life and another (i. e., in the spiritual dimension). The Spirits that perform as builders, under the supervision of Christ, once in a while touched up the perispirit forms, and these changes created the magnetic field for future changes. Multiple experiences, within the genetic heritage of our ancestors, coordinated by sidereal geneticists were shaping those forms, which persisted to the present time. Natural selection was in charge of doing away with the unfit primitive forms.

Permanent lineage for all species 

As stated by Emmanuel, science seeks presently for the legitimate ancestors of human beings in this vast arena of soul’s evolution. "In the Tertiary period (5), under the guidance of spiritual spheres, some anthropoid races could be seen in the lower Pliocene (5.3 million to 1.6 million years ago). These apes, man’s ancestors on Earth, and the ancestors of apes, which still exist in the world, suffered their evolution at convergent points, hence the serological kinship between the body of the modern man and of today's chimpanzee”.(6) For the author of "Surrender", there was hardly a "coming down the tree" at the beginning of human evolution. "The spiritual forces that guide the earthly phenomena, under the guidance of Christ, established, at the time of the great malleability of the elements of matter, a definitive lineage for all species, within which the spiritual principle would find the process of its purification in its march to reach rationality”. (7)

The anthropoids of the caves spread then in groups through the Earth, in the slow course of the centuries, suffering the influences of the environment and forming the early indications of the future races in its diverse types; the reality, however, is that the spiritual entities helped the silex man, giving him new biological expressions.

The millennia saw these drastic experiences of the these beings with "long arms and very hairy, until one day the invisible Spirits operated a definite transition in the existing perispiritual body of these men, and the first primitive men appeared with an improved body, tending to the elegance of the future”.(8) 

Death and "civilization" 

Man only begins to be a Man when he starts to bury his dead, so says the historian, Anibal de Almeida Fernandes, on "The Genealogy as a basic factor in the formation of Civilization", and concludes: It is the dividing line between the animal and the first man, and it occurred about 40,000 years ago with the Homo sapiens and the Homo Neanderthal, even before agriculture was known, and it is the beginning of Human History. Worshipping the dead began, therefore, at a very early date and it can be found in almost all religions.

Primitive communities inclined to worship agriculture and to the cult of fertility, believed originally that, by burying their dead near the farmland, the spirits of those dead bodies would reappear stronger, just as the seeds planted in fertile soil, but they also believed that this would happen as something secret and mysterious. Believing this, they revered their dead nearby the graves, with parties and, above all, with great joy, a practice that is still alive in some contemporary cultures. 

The habits of primitive peoples changed due to the influence of others, coming probably from North Africa (the Iberians) and from Central Europe (the Celts). Let us see what one of the exponents of the Doctrine says: "The celebration of the dead comes from the Gauls (…) but, instead of celebrating the memory of their beloved ones, their friends, who were apart, but not lost, in cemeteries, among the graves, they did it at home. And sometimes these spirits manifested themselves through the Druid priestesses and the inspired bards." (9) The Gauls evoked their dead ancestors in places where there were rough stones.

The Druid (priestesses) and the bards (poets and inspired speakers) were true "mediums" and only they were allowed to consult the oracles (in Antiquity, it was the response of a deity, who had been consulted about a certain matter). The Gauls, therefore, did not worship the dead body, but the surviving soul, and it was in the privacy of each home that they celebrated the memory of their dead, away from the catacombs, differently to the primitive peoples. 

The arrival of cosmic aliens 

Where did these “Intelligences” come from? The Spirit Emmanuel clarifies us, “many millennia ago, one of the orbs of “Capela” (Chapel) (10), which holds many affinities with our Earth, reached the top of one of its extraordinary evolutionary cycles. Some millions of rebellious Spirits, who lived there, in their path to evolution, were making life difficult for the consolidation of the tough achievements of those people full of piety and virtue. However, an overall cleansing took place, separating these Spirits and getting rid of them, thus doing justice to those who had achieved permanent peace and harmony to build their superior work”.(11) 

The great spiritual communities, principals of the Cosmos, "deliberated, then, to locate those entities that had become obstinate in crime here in the distant Earth. They were supposed to accomplish, through pain and heavy work on their environment, not only the great achievements of their heart, but also to help and boost the progress of their inferior brothers. These distressed and afflicted beings would be banished in the dark face of the planet Earth. Therefore, they would reincarnate within ignorant and primitive races, and they would walk around despised in the night of millennia feeling sorrow and longing for their lost paradise in distant Heavens”. (12) Nature still was, for the workers of spirituality, a vast field of infinite experiences; in such a way that “if the observations of Mendel were transferred to those distant millennia, no definitive equation in their biology studies would be found. Modern genetics would not fix the term "genes" because, in the laboratory of the invisible forces, the cells still suffered long purification processes, by printing in them the astral elements, consolidating the final expressions, with a view to future organizations”.(13) 

Savage solidarity? 

Archaeologists believe that, during the period of time from 500,000 to 40,000 years (the interregnum), feeling evolved and the first humans, such as the Homo Heidelbergensis and the Neanderthals, already showed commitment to the well-being of other similar creatures, shown during a long youth and through need of hunting together. We believe that "we are not miraculous creations, intended for the adornment of a cardboard paradise. We are, yes, children of God and heirs of the world, conquering values, from one experience to another, from millennium to millennium." (14) With the conquest of reason, reasoning appears, as well as clarity, free will and continuous thought. "Until then, progress had a centripetal direction (from the outside to the inside); the human being grew by force of circumstances, since it was not aware of his reality, or his freedom of choice. Upon entering the hominal kingdom, the intelligent principle - now yes, Spirit - is able to direct his life, to conquer his values, through his own efforts, to begin an evolution in a centrifugal direction (from the inside to the outside).” (15)

But the conquest of intelligence is only the first step that the Spirit will give during his stay in the hominal kingdom. "He started the valiant fight to conquer the higher values of the soul: responsibility, sensitivity, sublimation of emotions, in short, all the conditioning that will allow the Spirit raise up to the community of Angelic Beings.” (16) Premonitory dreams, visions of spirits, hearing the voice of the dead, including the direct voice phenomena, and the materialization of spirits were concrete facts that led primitive man to the belief in the continuation of life after death.

From the Neanderthals mediums came directly the sorcerers, ancient priests of all religions. (17) 

Earth sentiment and humanizing 

"Man is the measure of all things", according to a sophist principle attributed to Protagoras. However, this measure is based on affection, so to speak, and with no control of reason. Therefore, Herculano Pires says, "it is by feeling, and not by reason, that the primitive man humanizes the world”. (18) Thus, scientific theories are confirmed when they state that the prehistoric man already had the feeling of compassion in his rational thinking and shown through effective measures he took regarding other similar creatures. 

Notes and references: 

(1) Published in the Galileo Magazine available on site.

(2) Kardec, Allan. “Genesis", Rio de Janeiro: FEB 1997 Chapter 11, a. "Hypothesis on the origin of the human body".

(3) Kardec, Allan. Posthumous Works, Rio de Janeiro: FEB, 1999, § 3, First Part.

(4) Xavier, Francisco Candido and Waldo Vieira. Evolution in Two Worlds, dictated by the Spirit Andre Luiz, Rio de Janeiro; Publisher: FEB, 1994.

(5) The tertiary and quaternary designations are remnants of a previous geological nomenclature, when they were used to distinguish the younger rocks. The oldest ones were then classified as primary and secondary. The Tertiary era is subdivided into five periods: Paleocene (66.4 to 57.8 million years), Eocene (57.8 to 36.6 million years), Oligocene (36.6 to 23.7 million years), Miocene (23.7 to 5.3 million years) and Pliocene (5.3 million to 1.6 million years). The quaternary period is divided in turn in Pleistocene (1.6 million years to ten thousand years) and Holocene, or the present period (for the last ten thousand years).

(6) Xavier, Francisco Candido. The Path of Light, dictated by the Spirit Emmanuel, Rio de Janeiro; Ed. FEB 1991.

(7) Ibid.

(8) Ibid.

(9) Denis, Leon. The Celtic genius and the invisible world. Rio de Janeiro: Publisher: CELD. 1995. Page 180.

(10) Capela (Chapel) is a magnificent Sun, many times larger than our Sun. The distance from our Earth to Capela (Chapel) is measured in 42 light-years. It is known since ancient times. Capela (Chapel) is a gaseous star, according to the celebrated astronomer and physicist Arthur Stanley Eddington, Englishman, and its matter is so fluidic matter that its density can be mistaken with the air we breathe.

(11) Xavier, Francisco Candido. The Path of Light, dictated by the Spirit Emmanuel, Rio de Janeiro; Publisher: FEB, 1991.

(12) Ibid.

(13) Ibid.

(14) Ibid.

(15) Ibid.

(16) Xavier, Francisco Candido and Waldo Vieira. Evolution in Two Worlds, dictated by the Spirit Emmanuel, Rio de Janeiro; Publisher: FEB, 1994.

(17) Djalma Argollo. Mediumship studies before Kardec Codification http://www.espirito.org.br/portal/artigos/diversos/mediunidade/mediunidade-antes-da-codificacao.html.

(18) J. Herculano Pires. The Spirit and the Time, Anthropological Introduction to Spiritism, Sao Paulo: Edicel 1979, 3rd edition.

Religions and the sublime principle of beneficence

Translation FELIPE DARELLA - felipe.darella@gmail.com

We have many religions, but little religiosity. Christianity, nowadays, is the most popular religion, around 2 billion people, and is divided into three groups: Catholicism, Orthodox and Protestantism Jesus was the first social worker we had in History. Before the proposals of the modern psychological science, defended by renowned researchers, the Master, two thousand years ago, proved that the true happiness is not individual, but the sum of happiness of people we live with. Solidarity and beneficence are the chief foundations of living well. We talk about religion and label our belief; however, if we don’t help others, we’ll never get to spiritual maturity. On Earth, there were many denominations showing the path of beneficence. Some of them joined together, while others fought themselves and the message, which showed the way to charity, was stuck for the lack of love among us. We have many religions, but little religiosity. Christianity, nowadays, is the most popular religion, around 2 billion people, and is divided into three groups: Catholicism, Orthodox and Protestantism. The Christian movement is organized, first, in Jerusalem and is, at first, a movement inside Judaism. Later, Christians are persecuted by the Roman Empire. Situation changes in 313, when the emperor Constantine gave them freedom of religion. In 392, Christianity becomes the official religion of the Empire, and missionaries are sent too many parts of Europe to settle churches, occupying the whole continent. At the end of Middle Age, the European expansion takes Christianity to America and Asia. From the 19th century on the missionaries arrive, also, at Africa and East Asia, spreading the Gospel worldwide. In this point of the text, we take a break to define briefly some religious points [i] and we start with Catholicism. The term is derived from the Greek katholikos (universal). The adoption of this name comes from the idea of a church that can be accepted and take the message everywhere, by everyone. It is associated with the expansion of the Roman Empire and the appearance of new kingdoms inside this one. Its diffusion is due to the development of the western civilization and the process of colonization of other peoples. Today, Catholicism has more than 1 billion of followers, nearly 18,7% of world population. Most of them (about 39%) are in Latin America. O Brazil being the first one. According to IBGE, 120 millions of Brazilians in 1991 were said to be Catholics (about 83% of the population).[ii] Protestantism began with the so-called Protestant Reform, started by Martin Luther From the Church of Rome, appears the Catholic Charismatic Renovation in the USA, in the 60’s, in disagreement with some norms of the Vatican. In this trail, is born, in the same decade, the Theology of Liberty, mainly in Latin America, where we single out the Brazilian Leonardo Boff, one of the founders of the movement. In his book “Jesus Christ Redeemer” (1972), Boff admits some Marxist theories in the analysis of third-world societies. About Protestantism[iii], we know it began with the so-called Protestant Reform, started by Martin Luther, in the 16th century, when they break loose from the Catholic Church. Luther’s criticism to Catholicism started in 1517. The German defends that faith is the fundamental element for saving the individual and condemns the Sales of indulgence by the Church and the slackening of habits of the clergy at the time. Protestantism is divided into historical Protestantism, created at the Reform, and Pentecostal Protestantism, which started in the beginning of the 20th century. It’s calculated that Protestantism has around 500 million followers all over the world. Brazil has the largest base of Protestants in South America, around 13 million people, according to a Datafolha poll in 1994.[iv] Judaism is considered the first monotheist religion of mankind. Chronologically, is the first of the three religions originated from Abraham (the others are Christianity and Islamism). There are, currently, around 13.5 million of Jewish in the world, 4 million in Israel. In Brazil, according to IBGE, there were about 86 thousand in 1991. The Jewish Federation of the State of São Paulo says that, today, this number is of 110 thousand.[v] Islamism is a monotheist religion based on the teachings of Muhammad, contained in the Islamic book, the “Qur'an” (of Arabic al-Qur’an, reading)[vi]. The world Islam means submit and express the submission to the will of Allah (God in Arabic). It is believed to have more than 1 billion of followers (18% of world population), especially in North Africa, Middle East and Asia. There are two factions of Islamism – Sunni Islam and Shia Islam. It is believed that 83% of Muslims follow Sunni Islam. For them, the spiritual authority belongs to the community as a whole. Shia Islam followers (16% of Muslims) believe in Ali, Fatimah’s husband, Muhammad’s daughter. Their descendents would have the key to interpret the teachings of Islam. They are leaders of community and followers of the spiritual mission of Muhammad. The rivalry with Sunni Islam is tragically exaggerated, mainly after the Iranian revolution led by Ruhollah Khomeini.[vii] Spiritism is a religious doctrine based on the belief of existence of the Spirit, regardless of the body There are the principles of Hinduism, a set of concepts, doctrines and religious practices that started in India in 2000 b.C. They are based on Vedas[viii]. Its main characteristics are the polytheism and reincarnation. It’s believed that, today, there are more than one billion adepts. Buddhism is an ethical, religious and philosophical system, founded by the Hindu prince Siddhartha Gautama (563 b.C.?-483 b.C.?), Buddha, around VI b.C. It teaches how to overcome suffering and reach nirvana[ix] through mental discipline and a correct form of life. Confucianism is another religious doctrine of the Western world, and, also, a philosophy, political ideology. It’s a legacy of literary tradition, based on the ideas of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551 b.C.-479 b.C.). It remained as the official doctrine of China, for almost two thousand years, from the 2nd until the beginning of the 20th century. Currently, 25% of the Chinese population claim to live according to this doctrine. Outside China, Confucianism has about 6.3 million followers, mainly in Japan, South Korea and Singapore.[x] In Confucianism, there are no priests or churches. The five essential virtues are: love, justice, follow the rules of conduct, auto conscience of the Will of Heaven and disinterested sincerity. Only those who respect others are able to carry out their social duties. Spiritism is a religious doctrine based on the belief of existence of the Spirit, regardless of the body, and its return to Earth for successive incarnations, until being perfect. Its main current is, for some, Kardec’s, formulated in 1857, with “The Spirits’ Book”, by the French professor, Allan Kardec (1804-1869), pseudonym of Hippolyte Leon Denizard Rivail. Spiritism claims that reincarnations allow the constant evolution of the spirit to make up for their previous mistakes. All faults can be repaired. There is no worldwide statistic about the number of followers of Spiritism. In Brazil, according to IBGE, around 1.6 million people said they were Spiritist in 1991. According to a poll released in 1994, by Datafolha, this number gets to 5.5 million.[xi] Currently, nearly 20 million of Brazilians have some bond with Spiritism. The religions teach about the importance of beneficence. Spiritism says that “Out of charity there is no salvation”. The High Spirits warn us that without charity all religious faith is a useless worship; hope is nothing but a flower unable to bloom and philanthropy itself is a game of shiny words, in which the naked and hungry, the needy and sick used to perish uttering curses. Christ asks us cooperation for planting the Gospel that Spiritism teaches The Spirit Neio Lúcio says, in the last chapter of his book “JESUS AT HOME”, the following excerpt: "(...) after the last domestic service at the house of Peter, at the eve of embarking to the city of Sidon, the Master opened the book of Isaiah and commented on it wisely, and after the prayer he said: - Lord, help those who are happy despite being poor, miserable and alone.(...)Rise those who fell under the excess of material comfort ".[xii] (our highlight). “In a beautiful apologue, says Rabindranath Tagore that a farmer, homebound, with the day’s harvest, noticed that, on the other way, a beautiful carriage, covered with stars. Amazed, in awe, he saw it pulling over, and along with it, he recognized the presence of the Lord of the World, who asked him something, anything... What? – he said, astonished – the Lord of Life asking something from me, being a slave to the soil? Excited and silent, he went for his pocket and gave him a grain of his precious cargo. The Lord thanked and left. When, however, the poor man of the field realized, he noticed some glitter coming out of his pocket... The grain of wheat, from what he gifted the Lord, was back to the back, but in the shape of a grain of gold... Astonished, he said: -Fool of me!... Why didn’t I give it all to the Lord of Life? [xiii].. Nowadays on Earth, when materialism compromises edifications of faith, in the way of men, we know that Christ asks us cooperation for planting the Gospel that Spiritism teaches. And, proposing this humble article to the kindness of Jesus, I say it out: “-Oh! Lord!... I understand the meaning of your requests and the greatness of your munificence, but forgive me for little I am, if I can’t give you anything else!” [xiv] The lesson is clear and expressive enough. That’s why, shall we reflect upon it, so that we don’t remain in the shadow of egoism, in the form of religious practice, just for the sake of etiquette. [i] Cf. Almanaque Abril 98 [ii] idem [iii] The name protestant is attributed, at the time, to the backers of the Reform who protest against the Diet (assembly summoned up by the kings) of Speyer (1529). The Protestant Church, also known as Evangelical, claims the re-approximation of Church with the primitive Christianity. [iv] Cf. Almanaque Abril 98 [v] idem [vi] Selection of diverse transcendental revelations received by Muhammad from 610 to 632. [vii] Cf. Almanaque Abril 98 [viii] knowledge, in Sanskrit, set of sacred texts composed of hymns and rites [ix] State of soul in total peace and tranquility [x] Cf. Almanaque Abril 98 [xi] idem [xii] Xavier, Francisco Cândido. Jesus at Home, Dictated by the Spirit Neio Lúcio, RJ: Ed. FEB, 2002 [xiii] Dedicatory by Ismael Gomes Braga in the book Letters and Chronicles, psychographed by Chico Xavier, dictated by the Spirit Irmão X, RJ: ed. FEB, 1966. [xiv] Idem

Reflections on the impact of thoughts in the therapy of cancer

Translation Alcíone Fagundes dos Santos - alcionefagundes1@gmail.com Faith does not change the laws of nature, does not make miracles, but can help the work of a very good medical team, making big difference in a hospital treatment It is common, after overcoming a cancer, that patients need emotional support for returning to their routine of life, because they are still need special care, physically and emotionally, knowing that each case involves specific aspects. Because steps are many and painful: diagnosis, examinations, research, surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other medical procedures, the recovering person is fragile and requires careful monitoring. Winning a cancer and immediately return to an active life, although there isn’t the rule, does not mean that the disease cannot be won. According to reports of patients, suffering is not only from the disease itself, but also from treatments themselves, often marked by side effects. It is common to observe emotional wounds and changes in the style of living of patients and their family. To minimize a little the traumas left by the therapeutic process, emotional support relieves distress and fear of recurrence. Spiritists are aware that patients, when arrive at the hospital, brings with themselves, in addition to their disease, their history of past and current life. Their emotional state is the result of vectors and structure of personality, interpretation and experience of events, considering aspects of imaginary and real, and other variables of causes of disease. Science and technology increasingly allow early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of disease, monitoring its development and even obtaining success in many cases. Mind can influence the outcome of treatment However, even with such scientific advances, many diseases promote organic, emotional and social changes, that require constant care, and therefore adaptive processes. Remember, above all, "the valuable contribution of academic medicine, when is not accompanied by a good doctor-patient relationship, results incomplete to achieve the excruciating causes of disease and distress." (1) Currently, studies are made on optimism, spirituality, creativity, religious faith and especially, the complex universe of thought that have been associated with the welfare and quality of life of people with chronic diseases. Furthermore, research on human health that is analysing if mind, through a psychological or emotional state has the ability to cure disease. A study done by scientists of the University of Pennsylvania, in the United States, attempts to demonstrate that the fact that people with cancer are optimistic or pessimistic does not directly influence the chances of survival to the disease. For consistent reasons, we disagree with these arguments; since evidence suggests that in several cases of serious illnesses (such as advanced cancer), mind (the way of thinking) can influence the outcome of treatment, not disconsider the value of doctors, of course. Strictly speaking, faith (in the concept of common sense) does not change the laws of nature, does not make "miracles", but it may help, concurrently, the work of a good medical team, making large difference in hospital treatment. Facing disease many people transform pain into hope It is imperative and appropriate to consider, that stating that one has religious faith to "feel" powerful when facing disease does not solve the issue of pain, because the "titles of faith” are not mere words to cover our deficiencies and weaknesses. They express duties of improvement that we cannot escape without further obligations. In our circles of work, thus, it not enough simply believe and convince. " (2) There are specialists who support this argument, considering that the look optimistic about disease, and firm thought in healing are powerful mechanisms that can help patients cope better with the treatment of cancer and resume a normal life. As an example we have what happens to the Vice-President of Brazil - José Alencar. Currently, more and more people are surviving cancer and this survival, are related, without doubt, to emotions and thoughts, rich content of vibration between the patient and the Creator. Many patients, before the diagnosis of disease, transform pain into hope, and awaken in them the will to fight for a better life. Others, however, give up, assuming they are under a death sentence. Regarding the process of human thought, the academic science, which is materialist by excellence, purpose that the phenomenon is purely physiological, due to incessant activity neuronal. But the Spiritists know that the mental matter is the creation of energy that externalises from the spirit and spreads by a flow of particles and waves, as any other form of propagation of energy in the universe. As in physical field, thought, in vary degrees of excitement, generates waves of length and frequency correspondents to the content of the creator impulse of will or desired objective. The reflections of thoughts returns to ourselves Thinking is a process of projection of mental matter and this matter "is the subtle instrument of will, working in formation of physical matter, generating the motives of pleasure or grief, joy or pain, optimism or despair, which do not reduce, effectively, abstractions, because they represent eddies of force where soul creates its own states of inductive mind, drawing to itself the players [for now imponderables] of light or shadow, victory or defeat, happiness or misfortune. " (3) In this respect, thought is not intangible anymore to substantiate in the condition of matter in motion. The reflections of negative feelings and thoughts that we feed ourselves come back to us, after being transformed in mental waves, confusing our organics functions. So, thought, as a subtle form of energy, acting in a kind of wave, with a speed much higher than light, when passing by places and creatures, situations and things, affects integrally our health. "When we surrender ourselves to imbalance or disruption or when we establish perturbation against us (...), we reflect in the psychosomatics tissues certain fields of rupture in cells harmony, creating morbid predisposition for this or that disease, and therefore the entire area affected becomes susceptible to microbial invasion. " (4) By thoughts of fear, exacerbated anxiety, disappointment, we slave ourselves in trunks of painful punishment, sentencing us, sometimes, to years of pilgrimage in the tracks of spiritual uneasiness. And to shorten the torment that plagues us in many ways our conscience, it is essential the renewal of our mind, the only way of recovery of spiritual harmony and physical health. Never discouraged when facing challenges of any disease Given this, try adopting strict discipline of mental and moral habits, setting as goals putting our duties above worldly pleasures and keeping us calm with the unique opportunity of current physical experience, which help us with spiritual information. Seek, above all, healthy habits of prayer, meditation and work, trying to enrich us with hope and joy, so we will never discouraged when facing the challenges any disease. "We must watch and pray so we will not fall in temptations, because it is better cry on the prods the resistance than smile under drugs of fall." (5) For all ills, and any diseases, focus our thoughts on Jesus, because "our medicine is and will always be Jesus”. We should adjust ourselves to the Redeemer Gospel, because Christ is the goal of our renovation. "By regenerating our existence by His standards we restructure the intimate lives of those that are around us. The Gospel of the Lord explains that the pure and working thought is the force that excels us from the darkness to light, from hatred to love, from pain to joy. " (6) Sources: 1. Divaldo Franco Pereira. Page dictated by the Spirit Joanna de Angelis, in mediumistic session of the night of 15/12/1997 in Path of Redemption Spiritist Center in Salvador, Bahia. Text taken from the preface of the book: Attendance Fraternal spirit dictated by Philomena Manoel de Miranda. 2. Xavier, Francisco Cândido. In the areas of Mediumship, dictated by the Spirit Andre Luiz, 14th edition, Rio de Janeiro: FEB Ed., 2001, pages: 118 to 125. 3. Xavier, Francisco Cândido. Mechanisms of Mediumship, Spirit led André Luiz, RJ: FEB Ed., 2001. 4. Article "An Integral Vision of Man," Spiritist Group Socorrista Euripides Barsanulfo available on site http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9319/chacras.htm, accessed on 25/04/2006. 5. Xavier, Francisco Cândido. Viva Source, dictated by the Spirit Emmanuel, Rio de Janeiro: Feb Ed., 2002, ch. 110. 6. Xavier, Francisco Candido. In the areas of Mediumship, dictated by the Spirit Andre Luiz, 14th edition, Rio de Janeiro: FEB Ed., 2001, pages: 118 to 125.