Por Lucia Moysés
What drives certain people who have lost their possessions, their homes, and seen their family members die, yet still continue to live with dignity? What makes terminally ill patients comfort their loved ones when they see them devastated by the pain of separation? Questions like these find answers in topics related to religiosity and faith. Particularly for those who understand the explanations provided by Spiritism, the answers come from the certainty that we are immortal beings. Because they understand the principle of multiple incarnations of the spirit, they know that each return to Earth is an opportunity that God offers them to progress spiritually. In this way, they face with serenity all the difficulties, including those of a material nature, that arise in their present incarnation. Awareness of these Spiritist precepts gives them the courage and clarity to find meaning in life. Even without professing Spiritism, there are people who make the search for meaning their reason for living, as was the case with Viktor Frankl, one of the most important figures of the 20th century.
Frankl, a respected Austrian neuropsychiatrist, was a Holocaust survivor and founder of Logotherapy. He became known for advocating the idea that the main human motivation is the search for meaning in life, as so well expressed in his famous book Man’s Search for Meaning. In this work, he recounts with sensitivity and clarity his experiences in Nazi concentration camps—he was in three—demonstrating that it is possible to find purpose in life, even in the most difficult situations. To this end, he points out the need for man to seek to position himself internally from an early age; to understand that, despite all difficulties, he is free to exercise his will within the circumstances he is living in, and that he can preserve a trace of spiritual freedom, of mental independence, even if physically imprisoned. “Everything can be taken from a man except one thing: the last of human freedoms, that is, to choose our attitude in any given circumstance, to choose our own path.” This is one of his fundamental concepts, which he explores in depth, drawing on his own experience as a prisoner subjected to the horrors of extermination camps such as Auschwitz. “Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision that determined whether or not we would submit to those powers that threatened to take away our very selves, our inner freedom; that determined whether or not we would become a product of circumstances, renouncing freedom and dignity to conform to the profile of the typical inmate.”
In the Spiritist view, this freedom that humans have to decide how to act in the face of circumstances imposed by life finds a parallel in the idea that they always have free will to decide what to do and which path to follow.
Even in the face of the terrible experiences Frankl was forced to endure, he never lost his certainty that there was meaning to life, an understanding that none of this would destroy him, not even death. Giving up on life, letting hunger and pain consume them, or throwing themselves against the electric fences surrounding the camps was the solution chosen by thousands of prisoners who could not find a reason to endure it all. He realized that the survivors were not the strongest, but those who had a loved one waiting for them, a job to finish, a promise made to someone, a hope that everything would pass. The meaning of life always changes, he said, but it never ceases to exist.
In his view, even in tragic situations such as death, pain, and guilt, man can extract something good if he knows how to walk through these realities with firm and broad steps in search of meaning. Thus, it is in their hands, when analyzing their own guilt, to admit that they have made a mistake, nurturing the desire to correct themselves and learn not to make the same mistake again; in the face of pain, to remain aware that we are all here temporarily; and, considering death, to remember that this life has a time limit and that it needs to be filled with their best actions.
In these brief excerpts from the writings of Viktor Frankl, who professed the Jewish faith, one can see several points of convergence with Spiritism, even though it is known that he did not accept some of its postulates, such as that of multiple existences. While for him the search for meaning—a reason to live while maintaining dignity and self-worth as a person—may vary throughout life, depending on circumstances, in the Spiritist view this meaning is directly linked to the spiritual evolution of the being, a process that is facilitated by the knowledge and practice of the teachings brought by Master Jesus. Like Frankl, Spiritists understand that life offers them different opportunities to exercise love for their neighbors and collaborate, through their actions, in the progress of humanity. It is up to them to take ownership of the lessons of the Gospel, filling their spirits with strength to face daily challenges, remembering how mild they are compared to the heavy burdens that the Master had to carry and overcome.
