I Appeal to You
... through Bertha Dudde  - 29.05.1941 

1933b   Instincts of preliminary stages determine character .... Heredity .... Disposition .... Parents ....

The human being’s course of life corresponds to his nature, i.e. faults and imperfections adhere to his soul from which it should free itself during its earthly life. These faults and imperfections are not the same in every person because every substance of soul has previously lived in a different external form in which certain good or bad peculiarities had developed to a greater or lesser degree. Consequently people’s nature will be quite different too and likewise require different methods of teaching to promote what is good in them and to overcome what can be regarded as inadequate or bad. It would now be completely wrong to assume that all souls are formed alike at the moment of their embodiment on earth. There are in fact many differences and the human being assigns these differences between the beings to ‘heredity’. Outwardly it may indeed appear as if the children would have to accept a certain burden during the course of their life, namely peculiarities of their being which can either be helpful or a hindrance to their spiritual development but for which they could not be held responsible, because they reason that their ‘genetic make-up’ is not their own fault and that it therefore requires more strength to combat and to overcome these inborn defects.

The human being has to combat all his defects and improve himself to acquire maturity of soul. And if specific instincts are predominant in him he should understand that human nature is not determined by parental disposition but that the human being had allowed precisely those weaknesses and imperfections to become part of his nature during the infinitely many embodiments before the human stage, during which the being felt comfortable and did nothing to liberate itself from such faults and flaws. And now on earth it may well have the will to do so but it has a certain weakness. It considers its deficiency as its just right because it regards them as its inheritance without fault of its own. And yet it was its own volition to join people whose nature resembles its own during the time of its earthly life.

Precisely this similarity of nature had attracted the soul seeking incarnation, consequently one generally speaks of heredity even though the physical parents had no share in the nature of the souls in their care during the time on earth. Hence every soul has to deal with the task of higher development itself. This task can never be done by another human being, not even by the physical parents. Likewise, the parents are not responsible for the disposition of their children even though it may appear as if the children have to endure parental heredity. Every being is responsible for itself, although the human being as such should be educated to improve himself as long as he is still in the care of his physical parents, because every person has to accomplish the work on his soul himself otherwise he will not be able to liberate himself from his past guilt of sins ....

Amen