Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/0952

0952 Different living conditions no obstacle to the development of the soul....

June 7, 1939: Book 18

People's ways of life are so diverse and yet can lead to the same result, and thus it is erroneous to assume that the soul's life can only develop in certain circumstances, whereas it must remain completely uninfluenced where the human being's situation in life is less beneficial to the soul. This view is extremely erroneous, after all, all people must have the same opportunity to reach the state of perfection, and the eternal deity can never want to favour or degrade a being, for this would never be compatible with divine love and justice. People's living conditions may seem to be favourable or unfavourable, and this gives rise to wrong conclusions, but the individual person's lot is always assigned to him in such a way that it can contribute to his higher development to the highest degree, if only he makes extensive use of it himself, and this alone is decisive. The human being is certainly often forced by extraordinary circumstances to move in a certain direction of thought, i.e. he will have to solve tasks in the worldly sphere which fill him mentally, so that he will occupy himself little or not at all with spiritual problems, yet no human being on earth is exclusively only earthly active.... There is still time for one to deal with oneself and give heed to spiritual questions, if only the will is there. And the job, the situation in life, time or place of his earthly existence is never in any way a hinderance to shaping his inner life according to divine will.... The human being's will is always the sole factor to be taken into account.... The will overcomes all external circumstances that threaten to hinder the soul's life. And again, it is the desire for the world which can be considered the greatest obstacle to the soul's higher development.... And this desire can be nourished in seemingly good as well as in bad life situations, but it can also be fought. All resistances exist in order to be overcome, and it is therefore irrelevant whether the human being has to fight a hard battle in life due to poor circumstances and in return has fewer worldly temptations or whether he has to fight out even harder battle against the world in a life of well-being.... the inner life is always and in every situation completely separate from the life of the body. Thoughts are conveyed to the human being in so many ways by the spiritual beings who look after him that it is only a matter of grasping and utilizing them. And this is never dependent on the human being's situation in life and his destiny.... because according to the wise plan of the creator, this is assigned to every human being in such a way that it guarantees the highest possible perfection and thus earthly life need only be used correctly, i.e. according to divine will, in order to lead to complete success. Thus the objection that a profession or fate makes it easier to find the way to realization is totally wrong.... Only the will alone is decisive that the human being pays attention to his inner life and is therefore active of his own accord for the salvation of his soul....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers