Man is incapable of shaping his life on his own authority; he will always be dependent on the will of the one Who created him. He is seemingly endowed with gifts that make him believe in his own power. He feels exalted, wise and strong and is convinced that he can master life himself and that he also determines his own destiny. He is able to act of his own free will and thus, through this will, apparently becomes the creator of his life on earth.... But the actual controller of his destiny is God Himself.... For his path on earth has been determined since eternity. He walks it exactly as God has determined, and as he has moulded it in his instinct for freedom, so it was determined, since nothing can happen without the divine will. So the walk through the valley of the earth always corresponds to the divine will in its outward manifestations.... Only the inner life of man is left to his free will.... and even if his fate in life is predetermined, each one will bring about the soul's higher development if this is his firm will. Conversely, however, his path through life can correspond entirely to his will and desire; it need not bring him the maturity of the soul if he does not live in accordance with his purpose. But the latter is only to be understood as the utilization of the possibilities which are offered to him for the higher development of the soul during his earthly existence. This is completely up to him. God gives every person such opportunities, regardless of how he organizes the individual's path through life. And if these are utilized, life on earth will also be successful for eternity. However, a person cannot arbitrarily give this earthly life a twist without divine approval. And it may seem as if it depends on him alone how the fate of his life plays out. God allows the human being free will, and this will often goes hand in hand with divine will, i.e. the human being undertakes something and God allows this because it does not go against His will either. And then the human being is inclined to believe that he alone was decisive for his fate on earth. And the more he is convinced of this the more he loses his faith in a wise controller of destiny. And yet he is completely powerless in the face of it, and he does not realize that he is merely carrying out divine will if he believes that he can intervene decisively in his earthly life....

Amen

This proclamation is not used in any themebook.