Source: https://www.bertha-dudde.org/en/proclamation/1854

1854 Danger of possession.... inactive matter....

March 20, 1941: Book 28

Although matter is constantly changing, it should not be considered dissolved as long as it can still be useful in some way. Only when it is completely useless has the spiritual in it overcome it, and it often takes a very long time before it can leave the old form to fulfil new tasks in a new form. Thus the earthly course through matter is an unspeakably agonizing imprisonment of very different durations for the spiritual substance, and the knowledge of this can determine the human being to shorten this state if everything is put to use in order to help the spiritual substance to serve, because matter harbours the spiritual substance within itself for an unspeakably long time, which is never allowed to serve, which is therefore left unused as a dead possession. And it is now also understandable why the human being should not attach his heart to possessions, for the greater his love for the goods of the world, the less opportunity it gives him to serve. The spiritual in such unused matter is now condemned to inactivity against its will. It is ready to serve and is not allowed to do so and suffers unimaginably as a result. If a person now dwells in the environment of matter, which therefore has to remain inactive, this has an effect on the soul of the person, which likewise falls into a certain inertia and does little to fulfil its task in life. If the soul were filled with the urge to be active it would want to give and thus divest itself of its possessions, which would result in an immediate start of activity of the spiritual in matter and thus signify the beginning of redemption. But everything spiritual, which is helped to activity, again helps man to his own higher development, which is why a man attains soul maturity considerably easier, who is in the midst of always active matter. Thus, increased earthly activity will at the same time favour the release of the banished spiritual, provided that what is now created is again something useful to man. If matter lying fallow is now destroyed by God's will, then this again means a help for the spiritual therein insofar as it can now form itself again elsewhere and now the possibility exists to come more quickly into serving activity. Destruction of possessions forces people to make use of such matter that has not yet been authorized for activity. And this is always an advantage for the spiritual in it. Increased possession is therefore a danger, whereas the destruction of it, insofar as it is God-willed, can be a blessing for the unredeemed spiritual, which has declared itself willing to serve but was kept away from the serving purpose through human greed and love for matter. The outer shell is then forcibly dissolved, the spiritual is released from it, but only to be banished anew into the form, but now sooner finds the opportunity to serve, as otherwise endless times can pass before it is allowed to serve. So many things are created by human hands and human will which are completely useless and pointless and from which every serving function is taken away. Man should endeavour to help this spiritual substance by assigning some purpose to such useless things so that matter will one day, albeit after a long time, be dissolved, for only through service will the spiritual substance therein become free....

Amen

Translated by Doris Boekers