WEB

BUSCA NO SITE

Edição Atual
Capa desta edição
Edições Anteriores
Adicionar
aos Favoritos
Defina como sua Página Inicial
Biblioteca Virtual
 
Biografias
 
Filmes
Livros Espíritas em Português Libros Espíritas en Español  Spiritist Books in English    
Mensagens na voz
de Chico Xavier
Programação da
TV Espírita on-line
Rádio Espírita
On-line
Jornal
O Imortal
Estudos
Espíritas
Vocabulário
Espírita
Efemérides
do Espiritismo
Esperanto
sem mestre
Divaldo Franco
Site oficial
Raul Teixeira
Site oficial
Conselho
Espírita
Internacional
Federação
Espírita
Brasileira
Federação
Espírita
do Paraná
Associação de
Magistrados
Espíritas
Associação
Médico-Espírita
do Brasil
Associação de
Psicólogos
Espíritas
Cruzada dos
Militares
Espíritas
Outros
Links de sites
Espíritas
Esclareça
suas dúvidas
Quem somos
Fale Conosco
 
Spiritism for Kids - Célia Xavier Camargo - Portuguese  Spanish
Year 3 - N° 153 – April 11, 2010

  Translation
Carolina von Scharten - carolinavonscharten@yahoo.com

 

On the road to Damascus

  

A boy called Saul, who was from the Mediterranean city of Tarsus, lived with his family two thousand years ago… He was a Hebrew since birth. He demonstrated to be an extremely zealous for the traditions of his countrymen, and of his ancestors. He showed a tendency for religion and for the law.  

He became a very virtuous man, intelligent and loyal the order. He was soon projected above his other colleagues. He was a Roman citizen, a fact which afforded him a somewhat privileged social status with respect to laws, property, and governance. 

He was full of pride. He defended his religion, the Judaic "moral code", with great leadership and was able influence a lot of people. 

Saul couldn’t understand how many people, including Jews, would follow Jesus of Nazareth; a carpenter who died crucified as a criminal. Saul started to persecuted the early Christians; Jesus’ followers. He would oblige them to give Jesus up and go back to Judaism. Saul was a Pharisee who "violently persecuted" the followers of Jesus; he would even torture and kill people.  

He violently persecuted the church of God and was trying to destroy it. One day he decided to go to Damascus, in Syria, to persecute some Christians. The trip was long and tiring… 

He was en route to Damascus and suddenly featured a blinding light as if the sky was opening up like a curtain. It was midday and the sun was really strong, but the light was much stronger than usual.  

The young Pharisee then lost his balance and fell from the animal into the sand. Saul raised his head up and saw another light arising in front of him. He was then able to see a man full of light around him walking on his direction. This man’s garment was also radiant and his eyes radiated peace; they were full of love. Saul could feel some divine sadness coming from the unknown man.  

The young Pharisee observed the man

when suddenly an unforgettable voice inquired: 

— Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?  

— "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.  

- "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," Jesus replied humbly.  

The proud Pharisee looked at the ground and started to cry loudly. Saul then understood the people he was persecuting had a good reason to follow Jesus. He now realised all the bad things he was doing and regretted his attitude. 

The Master came close and looked at him with kindness. Jesus touched Saul’s shoulder and said, with affection: 

— Do not resist against the iron point of a goad! 

Saul understood what Jesus was trying to say. 

He knew the iron point of a goad was something used to recon duct the slaves to the right path; especially the animals since it cause massive pain when it touched the skin.  Saul realised he was getting an incentive to redirect his life. He analysed his present existence and sufferings and decided he needed to think for a while on what he just saw. 

He was already been influenced by a Divine power for some time which were leading him to meditate on the new teachings brought by Jesus. Christ was calling everywhere and all the time, but he couldn’t understand his message.

This was the last resource used by the spiritual world so he could wake up to the reality of Jesus’ teachings. Jesus Himself became visible to him, in the desert, so he would not commit any other mistakes.  

He now realised he could not resist to Jesus, who was the real Messiah. He then asked:        

"What shall I do, Lord?' Saul asked.  

- "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." Saul was supposed to go to the city of Damascus. 

Soon later, Saul could no loger see Jesus. He was blind. He called his companions, told them he just saw Jesus. They then led him by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded him. He was taken to that city into a hostelry by his companions. He rented a room in that place and waited…  

A man named Ananias came to see him three days later. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. Ananias was an extremely kind man and actually was one of the Christians Saul was supposed to arrest.  

Ananias kindly told Saul Jesus sent him to help him regain his sight. Jesus wanted Saul to be his witness to all men of what he saw and heard. He stood beside Saul and said, "Brother Saul, receive your sight!" And at that very moment Saul was able to see him. 

Ananias and Saul became very good friends. Saul changed completely after learning Jesus’ teachings from his new friend. Paul's belief in Jesus dramatically changed the course

of his life.     


Saul decided to change his name to Paul to start fresh, since the name Paul means Saul in the Roman language. He dedicated his life to the dissemination of Jesus’ teachings by travelling tirelessly everywhere he could, spreading Jesus’ message.   

Paul of Tarsus was able to accomplish his mission of disseminating Christianity for more than thirty consecutive

years. When Paul disincarnated, he was  welcomed in the spiritual world by Jesus, who wanted to thank him for his hard work. Through Paul’s activity and writings, his beliefs eventually changed religious thought throughout the Mediterranean. He transformed his life into an example of labour through dozens of years of struggle by founding churches and rendering them assistance. 

Jesus wanted to thank him for the noble work Saul did, by dedicating comfort, hope and love to everyone around him. 
                           

(Text adapted from the Book Title: Paul and Stephen. Spirit Author: Emmanuel Medium: Francisco Cândido Xavier.)

                                                            
                                                                  Aunt Celia


 



O Consolador
 
Weekly Magazine of Spiritism