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558. Have spirits anything else to do but to work out their own personal amelioration?
"They co-operate in the production of the harmony of the universe by executing the volitions of God, whose ministers they are. Spirit-life is a continual occupation, but one that has nothing in common with the painful labour of the earthly life, because there is in it neither bodily fatigue, nor the anguish of bodily wants."
559. Do inferior and imperfect spirits also subserve any useful end in the universe?
"All have duties to fulfil. Does not the lowest mason concur in the building of an edifice as really as the architect?" (540.)
560. Has each spirit special attributes?
"We all have to inhabit all regions, and to acquire a knowledge of all things, by presiding successively over all the details of the universe. But, as is said in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything. Thus, one spirit is accomplishing his destiny, at the present day, in your world; another will accomplish his, or has already accomplished it, at another period, upon the earth, in the water, in the air, etc."
561. Are the functions discharged by spirits, in the economy of things, permanent on the part of each spirit, or do they constitute the exclusive attributes of certain classes?
"All spirits have to ascend all the steps of the ladder in order to attain to perfection. God, who is just, has not willed to give science to some without labour, while others only acquire it through painful effort."
Thus, among men, no one arrives at the highest degree of skill in any art, without having acquired the necessary knowledge through the practice of that art in all its degrees, from the lowest upwards.
562. Spirits of the highest order having nothing more to acquire, are they in a state of absolute repose, or have they, too, occupations?
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"Can you suppose that they remain idle through eternity? Eternal idleness would be eternal torture."
- What is the nature of their occupations?
"They receive orders directly from God, transmit them throughout the universe, and superintend their execution."
563. Are spirits incessantly occupied?
"Incessantly? Yes, if it be understood that their thought is always active, for they live by thought. But you must not suppose that the occupations of spirits are similar to the material occupations of men; their activity is itself a delight, through the consciousness they have of being useful."
- That is easily understood as regards good spirits; but is it the same in regard to inferior spirits?
"Inferior spirits have occupations suitable to their nature. Would you entrust intellectual undertakings to an ignorant labourer?"
564. Are there, among spirits, some who are idle, or who do not employ themselves in anything useful?
"Yes; but that idleness is only temporary, and depends on the development of their intelligence. Certainly, there are among spirits, as among men, some who live only for themselves; but their idleness weighs upon them, and, sooner or later, the desire to advance causes them to feel the need of activity, and they are glad to make themselves useful. We speak of spirits arrived at the point at which they possess self-consciousness and free-will; for, at their origin, they are like new-born children, and act more from instinct than from a determinate will."
565. Do spirits examine our works of art, and take an interest in them?
"They examine whatever indicates the elevation of incarnated spirits and their progress."
566. Does a spirit who has had a special occupation upon the earth, as a painter or an architect, for example, take a special interest in the labours which have formed the object of his predilections during the earthly life?
"Everything blends into one general aim. A good spirit interests himself in whatever enables him to assist other souls in rising towards God. Besides, a spirit who has been devoted to a given pursuit, in the existence in which you have known him, may have been devoted to some other in another existence; for, in order to
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be perfect, he must know everything. Thus, in virtue of his greater advancement, there may be no speciality for him - a fact to which I alluded in saying that everything blends into one general aim. Take note, also, that what seems sublime to you, in your backward world, would be mere child's play in worlds of greater advancement. How can you suppose that the spirits who inhabit those worlds, in which there exist arts and sciences unknown to you, could admire what, in their eyes, is only the work of a tyro?"
- We can easily conceive that this should be the case with very advanced spirits; but our question referred to more commonplace place spirits, to those who have not yet raised themselves above terrestrial ideas.
"With them it is different; their mental outlook is narrower, and they may admire what you yourselves admire."
567. Do spirits ever take part in our occupations and pleasures?
"Commonplace spirits, as you call them, do so; they are incessantly about you, and take, in all you do, a part which is sometimes a very active one, according to their nature; and it is necessary that they should do so, in order to push men on in the different walks of life, and to excite or moderate their passions."
Spirits busy themselves with the things of this world in proportion to their elevation or their inferiority.
The higher Spirits have, undoubtedly, the power of looking into the minutest details of earthly things but they only do so when it will be useful to progress. Spirits of lower rank attribute to such things a degree of importance proportioned to their remembrances of the earthly life, and to the earthly ideas which are not yet extinct in their memory.
568. When spirits are charged with a mission, do they accomplish it in the state of erraticity, or in the state of incarnation?
"They may be charged with a mission in either state. There are wandering spirits to whom such missions furnish much occupation."
569. What are the missions with which wandering spirits may be charged?
"They are so varied that it would be impossible to describe them; and there are some of them that you could not comprehend. Spirits execute the volitions of God, and you are not able to penetrate all His designs."
The missions of spirits have always good for their object. Whether in the spirit-state, or as men, they are charged to help forward the progress of humanity, of peoples, or of individuals, within a range of ideas more or less extensive, more or less special, to pave the way for certain events, to superintend the accomplishment of certain things. The missions of some spirits are of narrower scope, and may be said to be personal, or even
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local as the helping of the sick, the dying, the afflicted to watch over those of whom they become the guides and protectors, and to guide them by their counsels or by the wholesome thoughts they suggest. It may be said that there are as many sorts of spirit-missions as there are sorts of interests to watch over, whether In the physical world or in the moral world. And each spirit advances in proportion to the fidelity with which he accomplishes his task.
570. Do spirits always comprehend the designs they are charged to execute?
"No; some of them are mere blind instruments, but others fully understand the aim they are working out."
571. Is it only elevated spirits who have missions to fulfil?
"The importance of a mission is always proportioned to the capacities and elevation of the spirit who is charged with it; but the estafette who conveys a dispatch fulfils a mission, though one which is not that of the general."
572. Is a spirit's mission imposed upon him, or does it depend on his own will?
"He asks for it, and is rejoiced to obtain it."
- May the same mission be demanded by several spirits?
"Yes, there are often several candidates for the same mission, but they are not all accepted."
573. In what does the mission of incarnated spirits consists?
"In instructing men, and aiding their advancement; and in ameliorating their institutions by direct, material means. These missions are more or less general and important; but he who tills the ground accomplishes a mission as really as he who governs or instructs. Everything in nature is linked together; and each spirit, while purifying himself by his incarnation, concurs, under the human form, to the accomplishment of the Providential plans. Each of you has a mission, because each of you can be useful in some way or other."
574. What can be the mission of those who, in this life, are willfully idle?
"It is true that there are human beings who live only for them selves, and who do not make themselves useful in any way. They are much to be pitied, for they will have to expiate their voluntary inutility by severe sufferings, and their chastisement often begins even in their present existence, through their weariness and disgust of life."
- Since they had the freedom of choice, why did they choose a life which could not be of any use to them?
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"Among spirits, as among men, there are lazy ones who shrink from a life of labour. God lets them take their own way; they will learn, by and by, and to their cost, the bad effects of their uselessness, and will then eagerly demand to be allowed to make up for lost time. It may be, also, that they had chosen a more useful life; but have subsequently recoiled from the trial, and allowed themselves to be misled by the suggestions of spirits who encourage them in their inactivity."
575. The common occupations of everyday life appear to us to be duties rather than missions, properly so called. A mission according to the idea we attach to this word, is characterized by an importance less exclusive, and especially less personal. From this point of view, have can we ascertain that a man has really a mission upon this earth?
"By the greatness of the results he accomplishes, and the progress he causes to be made by his fellowmen."
576. Are those who have received an important mission predestined thereto before their birth, and are they aware of it?
"Yes, in some cases; but, more often, they ate not aware of it. They are only vaguely conscious of an aim in coming upon the earth; their mission reveals itself to them gradually, after their birth, through the action of circumstances. God leads them on into the road which they are to take for the accomplishment of His designs."
577. When a man does anything useful, is it always in virtue of an anterior and predestined mission, or may he receive a mission not previously foreseen?
"Everything a man does is not the result of a predestined mission; he is often the instrument of a spirit who makes use of him in order to procure the execution of something he considers useful. For example: - A spirit thinks it would be useful to publish a book which he would write himself if he were incarnated. He seeks out the writer who will be the fittest to comprehend and develop his idea; he suggests to him the plan of the work, and directs him in its execution. In such a case, the man did not come into the world with the mission of doing this work. It is the same in regard to various works of art or scientific discoveries. During the sleep of his body, the incarnated spirit communicates directly with the spirit in erraticity, and the two take counsel together for the carrying out of their undertaking."
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578. May spirit fail in his mission through his own fault?
"Yes; if he is not of a high degree of elevation."
- What, for him, are the consequences of such a failure?
"He is obliged to begin his task over again; this is his punishment. And, besides, he will have to undergo the consequences of the mischiefs caused by his failure."
579. Since it is from God that each spirit receives his mission, how can God have entrusted an important mission, one of general interest, to a spirit capable of failing in its discharge?
"Does not God foresee whether His general will be victorious or vanquished? Be sure that He foresees all things, and that the carrying out of His plans, when they are important, is never confided to those who will leave their work half done. The whole difficulty lies, for you, in the foreknowledge of the future which God possesses, but which you cannot understand."
580. When a spirit has incarnated himself for the accomplishment of a mission, does he feel the same anxiety in regard to it as the spirit whose mission has been undertaken as a trial?
"No; for he has the results of experience to guide him."
581. The men who enlighten the human race by their genius have certainly a mission; but there are among them many who make mistakes, and who, along with important truths, spread abroad serious errors. In what way should we regard their mission?
"As having been falsified by themselves. They are unequal to the task they have undertaken. In judging of them, however, you must take into account the circumstances in which they have been placed. Men of genius have had to speak according to their time; and teachings which appear erroneous or puerile, in the light of a later epoch, may have been sufficient for the epoch at which they were given."
582. Can paternity be considered a mission?
"It is undeniably a mission; and also a most serious duty, the responsibilities of which will exercise a more important influence upon his future than a man is apt to suppose. God has placed the child under the tutelage of his parents, in order that they should direct his steps into the path of rectitude; and he has facilitated their task by giving to the child a frail and delicate organisation, that renders him, accessible to new impressions. But there are many parents who take more pains to train the trees in their gardens, and to make them bring forth a large crop of fine fruit,
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than to train the character of their child. If the latter succumbs through their fault, they will bear the punishment of their unfaithfulness; and the sufferings of the child in a future life will come home to them, because they have not done their part towards helping him forward on the road to happiness."
583. If a child goes wrong, notwithstanding the care of his parents, are they responsible?
"No; but the more vicious the disposition of the child, and the heavier their task, the greater will be their reward if they succeed in drawing him away from the evil road."
- If a child becomes a good man, despite the negligence or bad example of his parents, do the latter obtain any benefit therefrom?
"God is just."
584. What can be the mission of the conqueror whose only aim is the satisfaction of his ambition, and who, in order to attain that end, does not shrink from inflicting the calamities he brings in his train?
"He is generally only an instrument used by God for the accomplishment of His designs; and these calamities are sometimes a means of making a people advance more rapidly."
- The good that may result from these passing calamities is foreign to him who has been the instrument in producing them, since he had only proposed to himself a personal aim; will he, nevertheless, profit by that result?
"Each is rewarded according to his works, the good he has wished to do, and the uprightness of his intentions."
Spirits, while incarnated, have occupations inherent in the nature of their corporeal existence. In the state of erraticity, or of dematerialisation, their occupations are proportioned to their degree of advancement.
Some of them journey from world to world, acquiring instruction, and preparing for a new incarnation.
Others, more advanced, devote themselves to the cause of progress by directing the course of events, and suggesting propitious ideas they assist the men of genius who help forward the advancement of the human race.
Others incarnate themselves again with a mission of progress.
Others take under their care individuals, families, societies, cities, countries, and peoples, and become their guardian-angels, protecting genie, and familiar spirits.
Others, again, preside over the phenomena of nature, of which they are the immediate agents.
The great mass of spirits of lower rank busy themselves with our occupations, and take part in our amusements.
Impure and imperfect spirits await, in sufferings and anguish, the moment when it shall please God to furnish them with the means of advancing. If they do harm, it is through spite against the happiness which they are not yet able to share.