The tremendous struggle between nations and races and the upheavals in the world pose the most serious problems. In the face of this great drama, the restless human mind asks itself a thousand questions. And there are times when doubt, anxiety and pessimism overwhelm the most resolute minds. Is progress only an illusion? Will civilisation sink in the rising tide of brutal passions? Will the age-old efforts for justice, solidarity and peace in social harmony be in vain? Will the ideas of art and the genius of man, the fruits of the hard and immense labour of millions of minds and of the poor, be devastated in the storm?

The spiritual thinker explores this abyss of evil without vertigo. From the chaos of events he extracts the great law that governs all. Above all, he remembers that our planet is a very subordinate abode, a laboratory in which the still young souls with their confused aspirations and disorganised passions are sketched out.

The deeper meaning of life appears to the spiritist thinker with the hard needs that are inherent in it: It is the realisation of the qualities and powers that rest within each being. Tears, fears and tears are necessary to bring to light the energies that slumber unknowingly and silently in the darkness of the soul. There can be no greatness without suffering, no exaltation without trials.

If man on earth were free from the vicissitudes of fate, without the harsh lessons of adversity, could he temper his character, develop his experience, appreciate the hidden riches of his soul? Since evil is a destiny in our world, is there no responsibility for the wicked? To believe that there is not would be a fatal mistake: in his ignorance and blindness, man sows evil, and the consequences of it weigh upon himself and upon all who participate in his evils. As is happening at this hour.

But (every spiritist knows), death is only an appearance: when the soul sheds its material sheath, it receives a greater strength, a fairer perception of things, and the being finds itself even more alive in the hereafter. Pain purifies the mind, no pain is lost, no trial goes uncompensated. Those who have died for their country reap the fruits of their sacrifice, and the sufferings of those who have survived transmit to their perispirit traces of light and germs of future bliss.

As for moral progress, it is slow and hardly perceptible on Earth, for the world's population is constantly growing with beings from worlds lower than ours. And the spirits who advance among us to a certain degree can profitably evolve into better humanities. Consequently, the general level hardly varies and the moral qualities of the individual remain rare and hidden.

In the more developed worlds, among humanities higher than ours, catastrophes no longer have a right to exist. War does not exist there, for the wisdom of the spirit has put an end to all causes of conflict. Those who dwell in the bold spheres, enlightened by eternal truths and possessed of the powers of mind and heart, no longer need those terrible stimulants to awaken and cultivate the hidden treasures of the soul. In the great scale of evolution, the causes of pain diminish with the upliftment of the spirit, as they become less and less necessary for a free-functioning ascension in the midst of peace and light.

Suffering is the great educator of both individuals and nations. When both stray from the straight path and slide into sensuality and moral decadence, suffering brings them back to the path of good with its sting. We must suffer in order to develop in ourselves sensitivity and life. This is a serious and strict law which is fruitful in its results. We must suffer in order to feel and to love, in order to grow and to ascend. Pain alone puts an end to the rage of passion, awakens in us deep thoughts, reveals to souls the greatest, most beautiful and noblest things in the universe: pity, love and goodness....