I Appeal to You
... through Bertha Dudde  - 08.11.1941 

2144   Transformation of the external shape after physical death .... Being spiritually dead .... Activity - Inactivity ....

The human being requires vital energy for every activity, thus activity signifies life. If this strength is withdrawn from him he will be incapable of reshaping himself or other things .... he will be lifeless. But as soon as the human being has become lifeless, the external shape will nevertheless change within itself. It will dissolve, and this process will last until all substances are taken in by a new external shape again, i.e. once the spiritual substance has escaped the form, the remaining form will certainly be released from its previous purpose, nevertheless, it must find a new purpose .... it must contribute towards increasing some other external shape. The substance dissolves in order to be joined to a new external shape. This process once again requires a longer period of time .... Hence the old shape seemingly dissolves; in reality, however, the spiritual substances which the external shape also consists of enter into contact with other spiritual substances and form a new external shape because the spiritual substance, which had solidified into an external shape, must likewise undertake the path of higher development on earth, for it is still at the beginning of its development. As soon as spiritual substances are placed into this new external shape again, it will begin its function of service, thus the shape will awaken to life .... for activity is life. Each work of creation receives the flow of strength from God so that it can actively be of service, no matter in what way, and every activity results in higher development for the spiritual substance in the form. Consequently that which is alive .... thus active .... must advance in its development without fail. Only the state of death signifies a standstill of its development. But all matter shelters life within itself, for it constantly changes, albeit over various lengths of time. Even the hardest form, through external influences relating to light radiation .... thus the activity of the bearers of light .... will be stimulated to be active, although this is not noticeable to the human eye. But life also stirs in this shape and accomplishes changes which therefore confirm its life. Matter can therefore not be called entirely dead, although for the human being it appears to be lifeless. And yet, a state of lifelessness exists and this occurs in the stage as a human being .... In this stage the being receives the greatest flow of vital energy which it should use for actively being of service. And despite of this it is possible for the human being to spend his life on earth in complete idleness .... as soon as he does not use the vital energy in order to fulfil the task which is the purpose of his earthly life .... if he neglects or refrains from doing what will gain him higher development .... if he avoids accomplishing acts of love .... the pursuance of activity for which God provides the human being with the flow of vital energy .... Then his higher development will come to a standstill. This signifies a state of lifelessness, of death, and this is the worst state because it can only be remedied by the being itself .... but since the state of death is a state of weakness, the being will no longer be able to release itself from it because it rejected the strength it had previously received .... Death of the external shape merely signifies a transformation into a new form, thus, in a manner of speaking, a further possibility for higher development of the spiritual substance which the external shape consists of. But to be spiritually dead is the most horrific state, because the final grace which is at the being’s disposal has been left unused .... because the flow of vitality God conveyed to this being has not been used for helpful activity and the being remains on the same level of development it was in at the beginning of its embodiment as a human being. Spiritual progress without activity is impossible; the being becomes weak as a result of its inactivity and enters the beyond without strength ....

Amen