Floods in Rio Grande do Sul: collective rescue? Debts from other lives? Karma? What does Spiritism say?

Once again, with some concern, we find ourselves forced to go public to defend the victims of these disasters and their families, as well as Spiritism, from the true absurdities uttered by certain irresponsible mouths. This time, the victims of this terrible disaster related to the floods in Rio Grande do Sul did not escape:

In other words: the idea, for these individuals careless, is that the people who lost their lives or who suffered the effects of the floods, are guilty Spirits, involved with the Farrapos War and who, now, would be “paying their debts” through this suffering. Terrible thought, lacking charity, logic and rationality, uttered by individuals who are very lacking in the true knowledge of Spiritism! Do they forget that many of the soldiers involved in all the battles didn't even want to be there? That they were forced to kill in order not to die?

We have already talked about this topic several times, directing the reader to appreciate the articles

Here we limit ourselves to reinforcing that is part of our evolutionary stage, incarnated on this planet, being subject to natural calamities, which affect the good and the bad, without distinction, causing changes, learning, etc. and that, as demonstrated in the articles cited, our relationship with God is not one of debit and credit, error and punishment, etc.

It is worth recovering, here, the important and clear questions on the topic, according to The Spirits’ Book:

737. To what end does God hurt humanity through destructive scourges?

“To make it progress faster. Haven't we already said that destruction is a necessity for the moral regeneration of Spirits, who, in each new existence, move up a step on the scale of improvement? I need to see the objective, so that the results can be appreciated. Only from your personal point of view do you appreciate them; hence why you classify them as scourges, due to the harm they cause you. These subversions, however, are often necessary so that a better order of things can emerge more quickly and so that what would have required many centuries can be accomplished in a few years.” (744.)

738. To achieve the improvement of humanity, couldn't God use other means than destructive scourges?

“Yes, and he employs them daily, since he has given each one the means to progress through the knowledge of good and evil. Man, however, does not take advantage of these means. It is necessary, therefore, that he be punished in his pride and that his weakness be made to be felt.”

The) - But both the good and the wicked man succumb to these scourges. Will this be fair?

“During life, man refers everything to his body; however, he thinks differently after death. Now, as we have said, the life of the body is very little. A century in your world is nothing more than a lightning in eternity. Therefore, nothing is the suffering of a few days or a few months, about which you complain so much. They represent teaching that is given to you and that will serve you in the future. Spirits, which pre-exist and survive everything, form the real world (85). These are the children of God and the object of all their solicitude. Bodies are mere disguises with which they appear in the world. On the occasion of great calamities that decimate men, the spectacle is similar to that of an army whose soldiers, during the war, had their uniforms damaged, torn, or lost. The general cares more about his soldiers than about their uniforms.”

B) - But that doesn't mean they are no longer victims of these scourges.

“If you considered life for what it is, and how little it represents in relation to infinity, you would give less importance to it. In another life, these victims will find ample compensation for their sufferings, if they know how to bear them without murmuring.”

Whether death comes from a scourge, or from a common cause, no one stops dying as long as the hour of departure has struck. The only difference, in the case of a scourge, is that a greater number leave at the same time.

If, through thought, we could rise to contemplate all of humanity and embrace it as a whole, these terrible scourges would seem to us to be no more than passing storms in the destiny of the world.

739. Are destructive scourges useful from a physical point of view, despite the harm they cause?

"He has; conditions in a region sometimes change. But in many cases, the good that results from them is only experienced by future generations.”

740. Aren't scourges also moral tests for man, tests that confront them with the most distressing needs?

“Scourges are tests that give man the opportunity to exercise his intelligence, to demonstrate his patience and resignation before the will of God, and that offer him the opportunity to manifest his feelings of abnegation, disinterest and love for others, if not is dominated by selfishness.”

We reinforce again: Spiritism demonstrates that there is no karma, law of return, punitive God, etc. We offer our prayers for all the victims of these tragedies, we declare our perplexity at those who are deliberately making it difficult the rescue work, carried out by citizens, and we ask God to enlighten the thoughts of those who mock the tragedy or wish harm on others, as the path to good will be theirs costly.

Our sincere condolences to the fatal victims of the floods in Rio Grande do Sul and to those who lost everything. May they never lose sight of what true good is, the face of which we have seen in the attitudes of the citizens acting there.