Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/3374

3374 The spiritual in solid matter and in living beings....

December 20, 1944: Book 44

There is an essential difference between the spiritual which is still bound in solid matter and the spiritual which is permitted to enliven the external form, where the cover of the spiritual therefore shows visible activity so that it is addressed as living. The spiritual in solid matter is still completely turned away from God, therefore opposed to Him, and therefore all freedom is taken from it. It has to endure an extremely agonizing constraint, for the external form does not give way, it is immovable and indestructible and does not allow the spiritual in itself to be free. And the spiritual substance has to remain in this state of compulsion for endless times until its resistance to God subsides, until it bends under Him, so to speak, and begins to submit to His will. Then the compulsion will also diminish, the spiritual substance will feel a relief of the external form until God's will breaks it and the spiritual substance enters a freer stage, although still in solid matter but serving a specific purpose, so that it can now already carry out an activity which initiates its further course of development. The resistance towards God must constantly decrease more and more, the spiritual must be willing to take the path of service, then form upon form will dissolve until the last solid outer shell falls and the spiritual is allowed to animate creations, thus life is recognizable in a creation. Now the outer form is no longer anything rigid, solid, but it is mobile, constantly changing and active in some way, even if this is still difficult for the human eye to recognize at first. And from now on the outer forms change more and more frequently, the spiritual does not stay in it for long but rises from step to step, and more and more life reveals the form it is allowed to occupy, until then life is so obviously recognizable that one can speak of living beings to which a certain task is assigned. The spiritual in it is already in a certain degree of maturity and is therefore admitted to an activity which is again of use for another work of creation or for another living being, and therefore the spiritual serves and thereby redeems itself from its respective outer cover. And thus a constant passing away of the old cover and a constant becoming and coming into being of a new cover must take place, which is also evident again and again in the whole of God's creation. And the outer shell must again and again release the spiritual as soon as it decides to serve, which is always recognized by God, which is why He takes the spiritual's desire into account to assign it a new serving activity. Consequently, the spiritual substance in the living beings is already significantly more advanced, for its will is no longer opposed to God, so that it will soon reach the degree of maturity required for its final embodiment on earth as a human being. The distance between this embodied spiritual substance in the human being and the spiritual substance which is still banished in solid matter is understandably very great, and therefore it is a sign of spiritual decline when a person strives for this solid matter, thus seeks to increase earthly goods and attaches his heart to things which still harbour completely immature spiritual substances. This is a danger for the human being, for the spiritual pulls him under its spell, it drags him down and thus makes the path of ascent more difficult for him, whereas the human being who disregards matter is much freer and strides upwards more easily. Nothing holds him back on earth, he can detach himself far sooner and will also want to leave the last form, and he feels it that he should never desire what he has long since overcome....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers