203- Do parents transmit a portion of their soul to their children or do they give them only animal life, to which a new soul afterwards adds the moral life?
“Only animal life, since the soul is indivisible. Daft parents may have intelligent children, and vice versa.”
204- Since we have had many existences, does kinship go back to previous ones?
“It could not be otherwise. The succession of corporeal lives establishes ties among spirits dating back to former existences. Such frequently gives rise to the affinity between you and some spirits who you might think are strangers.”
205- According to certain individuals, the doctrine of reincarnation appears to destroy family ties by carrying them back to previous lives.
“Instead of destroying them, it extends them. Since kinships may be based on previous affections, the ties that unite members of the same family are less precarious. Moreover, reincarnation broadens the duties of fraternity because your neighbor or your servant may be a spirit who was formerly related to you by blood.”
– It does, however, diminish the importance that some attach to their familial affiliation because their father may be a spirit who had previously belonged to a different race, or who had occupied a much different social position.
“That is true, but such importance is founded on pride. What most people honor in their ancestors are title, class and fortune. They would blush if they had had an honest shoemaker for a grandfather, but would boast if they had descended from a debauchee of noble birth. No matter what people say or do, they will not prevent things from being what they are, for God does not regulate the laws of nature according to their vanity.”
206- Since there may be no actual affiliation among the spirits of a particular family’s descendants, would it be foolish for the members to honor their ancestors?
“Assuredly not, because they should feel happy belonging to a family in which more highly evolved spirits have incarnated. Although spirits do not proceed from one another, they have no less affection for those who are linked to them by family ties, for they are often attracted to this or that family because of affinities or previous connections. You may be very sure that the spirits of your ancestors do not feel honored at all with the respect you render them out of pride. Their merits do not benefit you except as you strive to follow their moral example. Only in that way can your memories not only be pleasant but even useful to them.”
Site Espírita 