Greetings and Opening Prayer
Probe the prior knowledge of the youth group on this theme. Ask them to get together in groups and come up with scenarios/examples to illustrate the subject.
When we worked with this, several plots came up: situations where the effect of the action came back to the person in the same existence, as a result of a bad choice. We also had situations where the character had done bad things go the same back in return; in another existence.
It’s important the spiritist teacher works with the options raised by the young group. Use them even if they are misleading, because the error should be seen as an opportunity to build knowledge; we just need to know to work from it.
We then worked with the subject, always bringing the scenes/examples the groups came up as a point of reference.
Bibliography: RIZZINI, Carlos Toledo. Evolução para o terceiro Milênio. Tratado Psíquico para o Homem Moderno. 12ª ed. DF: Edicel, 1996.
Determinism – The individual does exactly what he had to do; he couldn’t have done something else. The determination of his actions will be in accordance with certain external and internal causes; what happens couldn’t be avoided because it's connected to prior causes.
Free-will – The human being is free to make decisions and determine actions. Men could rationally choose and act freely according to the choice made, when faced with several options. The individual's mental condition often imposes restrictions on free will: thoughtlessness (impulsivity), fixed habits, inertia, imitation, fashion, etc. However, these limitations don’t stop a person’s freedom completely, or eliminate the responsibility for the actions taken.
Determinism prevails in the animal kingdom. Free will is progressive and relative, evolving from physical determinism as consciousness (reason) develops. Free will is an evolutionary acquisition and a new moral factor emerges with it - responsibility or the need to face the consequences of acts practiced that the Law imposes on everyone.
Law of Cause and Effect - the freedom to decide and act before the action is executed. Once set in motion, the individual will be linked to the effects of the causes he generated. Freedom is conditioned and free will is relative as it depends on what was done before.
By thinking and acting man frees forces. He’s subject to their effect; in this or in another existence. We can neutralize the causes of evil preterit today by practicing goodness and regain balance. But not everything that happens to us comes from the past. To burn our hand could happen due to our imprudence. All moral shortages (crime, addiction) are related to selfishness; the mental state that leads humans to all misfortunes.
Pain is a factor that leads man to learn. The person who feels in themselves the evil that he formerly did to the other is prone to practice goodness in the future. Divine Mercy wants the moral transformation of the offender; not his sacrifice for no consistent reason.
Debts:
1) Stationary: when life passes by without any change of attitude.
2) Interrupted Rescue: when the individual abandons the situation in which he/she is and gets into more debts.
3) Relieved Debt: if a positive action is began for debt settlement.
4) Expiring Debt: the mistake is cleared without making other mistakes.
5) Aggravated death: repeats and amplifies the error in the present life.
6) Collective death: in a group; all in the same debt.
Suggested Class suitable for: 1Youth I (13-14 years old).
Spiritist Teachers: Carina Streda, Antonio Escobar and Ricardo.
Translation: Carolina von Scharten, London, linked to BUSS - The British Union of Spiritist Societies.
