Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/7538

7538 Short or long lifetime....

March 4, 1960: Book 79

The time given to you for your earthly life is not long, compared to the infinitely long time of your preliminary development, the duration of which cannot possibly be estimated by you. And your earthly life can even be shorter if you are called back into eternity prematurely. Therefore you should eagerly consider your soul, you should provide it with as much nourishment as possible so that it won't have to starve if it only lives for a short time on earth.... You should constantly provide it with ample food and drink and never rely on a very long earthly life, for you don't know the day and hour of your physical death.... But your soul will also be able to mature in a short period of time if you are of good will and help it to mature. No-one can determine or know how long he will live, and precisely this lack of knowledge ought to encourage him into actively improving his soul, his way of life should be such that he can calmly consider every day to be his last without having to worry about his soul's welfare.

And a great many people will lose their lives during the last days, for a large appraisal will still take place and many people will yet be recalled prematurely for the sake of their soul's salvation, because they had neglected their psychological work but nevertheless shall not fall prey to the merciless fury of God's adversary who would only draw them ever deeper into the abyss if these souls were not saved from him before. Especially people without spiritual aspirations don't consider an early death and live irresponsibly although they cannot be called bad. God takes pity on them and wants to help them to develop further in the beyond, which will in fact be far more difficult but not impossible, whereas on earth the fate of souls who live without a sense of responsibility could easily result in a complete descent into the abyss. You are offered enough opportunities on earth to reach full maturity in your earthly life, but if you don't take advantage of them you are not making the most of your life as a human being either, although it was only given to you for the purpose of your soul's maturity. If you don't use the grace of your embodiment as a human being and help your soul achieve final maturity then it is also irrelevant whether you live for a long or just a short time on earth. Yet even if you reach old age, earthly life can still be regarded as brief compared to the time of your preliminary development. Nevertheless, even a very short time on earth will suffice to fulfil your purpose on earth. And thus your maturity is not dependent on the length of your earthly existence but purely on your will of making expedient use of this existence.

Through the Word of God you are shown time and again the right path in order to achieve your soul's perfection.... you are repeatedly reminded of the divine commandments of love, the fulfilment of which is the only purpose and goal of your existence as a human being.... And you can always practise love even if your life is short, your soul will derive a benefit if you live a life of love.... However, if you don't keep these two commandments your life will be in vain and your responsibility even greater the longer you live on earth; in which case you can only be thankful if your life will be shortened and you still have the opportunity to develop further in the kingdom of the beyond, so that you will not go completely astray at the end of the day when everyone will be judged according to his efforts....

Amen

Translated by Heidi Hanna