In a small town of the old Burgundy, that we refrain from naming, but that could be revealed, if necessary, there is a poor old man that the Spiritist faith supports in his misery, living as best he can from the thin wandering sale of small objects in the neighboring localities. He is a good, compassionate man, providing service whenever he finds the opportunity, and certainly above his position by the elevation of his thoughts. Spiritism gave him faith in God, immortality, courage, and resignation.
One day, in one of his tours, he met a young, widowed woman, mother of several small children, that after the death of her beloved husband, got desperate, and seeing herself destitute, she completely lost her mind. Attracted by sympathy to that great pain, he sought the unfortunate woman to judge whether her condition was irreparable. The misery in which he found her redoubled his compassion; however, poor him, he could only give her consolations.
He said to
one of our colleagues from the Parisian Society who knew him and went to see him: "
I saw her several times; one day I told her, with a tone of persuasion, that the one she mourned was not irrevocably lost; that he was near her, although she could not see him, and that I could, if she wished, have her talk to him.
At these words, her figure seemed to blossom; a ray of hope shone in her faded eyes. "
Aren't you mistaken? she said, ah! if that could be true!
"Being a fairly good writing medium, during the session I obtained a short communication from her husband, that brought her a sweet satisfaction. I came to see her often, and each time her husband spoke with her through me; she questioned him, and he replied in such a way as to leave her no doubt about his presence, for he spoke to her of things that I did not know myself; he encouraged her, urged her resignation, and assured her that they would meet again one day. Little by little, under the influence of that sweet emotion and those consoling thoughts, calm returned to her soul, her reason resurfaced again, and after a few months she was completely healed and able to engage in the work that was to feed her and her children. That cure caused a great commotion among the peasants of the village. So everything was fine; I thanked God for allowing me to rescue the unfortunate woman from the consequences of her despair; I also thanked the good Spirits for their assistance, for everyone knew that the healing had been produced by Spiritism, and I rejoiced in that; but I was careful to tell them that there was nothing supernatural there, explaining to them, as much as I could, the principles of the sublime doctrine that gives so much consolation and has already made so many people happy. That unexpected healing troubled the parish priest of the place; he visited the widow that he had completely abandoned since her illness. He learned from her how and by whom she had recovered her health and her children; that she was now certain that she was not separated from her husband; that the joy she felt, the confidence it gave her in the goodness of God, the faith with which she was animated, had been the main cause of her recovery.Alas! All the good that I had struggled so much to doing was going to be destroyed. The parish priest brought the unfortunate widow to the sacristy; he began by casting doubt in her soul; he then made her believe that I was a servant of Satan, that I was operating only in his name, that she was now in his power; he did it so well that the poor woman, who needed the greatest care, weakened by so many emotions, fell back into a worse state than the first time. Today she only sees devils, demons, and hell everywhere; her madness is absolute, and she must be taken to a hospital for the mentally ill.” What had caused the woman's first madness? Despair. What had her reason restored? The consolations of Spiritism. Who made her fall back into an incurable madness? Fanaticism, fear of the devil and hell. This event requires no comment. The clergy, as we see, is ill-advised to claim, as they have done in many writings and sermons, that Spiritism leads to madness, when the argument can be rightly returned to them. Official statistics are here, moreover, to prove that the exaltation of religious ideas takes a remarkable part in cases of madness. Before throwing the stone at someone, it would be wise to see if it can fall back on you.
Which impression should this fact make on the population of that village? It will certainly not be in favor of the cause that the parish priest supports, because the material result is evident. If he thinks of recruiting followers through the belief in the devil, he is very wrong, and it is sad to see that the Church makes the cornerstone of faith of such a belief. (See
Genesis according to Spiritism, chapter XVII, 27).
