Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/2212

2212 Spiritual decline....

January 15, 1942: Book 31

The people of the present do not recognize where they are drifting. They are alive and yet dead in spirit. They find no connection with God because they do not seek Him. The earthly world means everything to them, but their train of thought does not go beyond that. And therefore every day is spent uselessly in a spiritual sense.... higher development is called into question, indeed, a spiritual regression is often recorded which has tremendously serious consequences. And even if people are made aware of their actual task on earth, they do not listen to such ideas because once again the world and its demands seem to be the only important thing to them. And thus their earthly course is a misguided one, for these people the earth is not what it should be.... And God's love and wisdom does not allow people to misuse their earthly life, to give it a different purpose than God has determined, for His instructions are wise and unsurpassable. But if the human being no longer recognizes God's wisdom he also disregards His instructions and this can only lead to the downfall of that which is supposed to develop upwards. But an upward development can only take place when the human being makes contact with the spiritual and ignores the world. But humanity is disenchanted, it hurries and chases after earthly goals, it is incapable of a spiritual connection because it is unwilling, for striving for the spiritual seems worthless to it since it does not result in earthly success.... And this is spiritual decline.... This is a state which God does not stand idly by but which He tries to remedy by shaking people out of their spiritual lethargy through events which strongly shake people's thinking. God has all power, and He will truly also prove His power to people so that they will learn to recognize Him and seriously try to think about the meaning and purpose of earthly life. And thus He will first take away from people what has occupied their thoughts up to now.... earthly goods and earthly pleasures. They should first recognize the worthlessness of this in its transience and, after times of disappointment, reflect on the only thing of value.... about the relationship between man and God.... He seeks to awaken in them the desire for imperishable good by abandoning to decay everything that has dominated their thinking up to now. And this is the purpose of the coming events which God inevitably has to let come upon people so that they will still utilize the rest of their lives for the salvation of their souls, which so far had to do without all care....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers