I Appeal to You
... through Bertha Dudde  - 04.10.1942 

2494   Matter and Spirit ....

What is the world and its matter .... this question occupies many people and yet they are unable to solve it by virtue of intellectual thought. Everything visible is matter, i.e. substance that has solidified as a form. The substance, as it were, only became visible due to hardening since previous to that it was invisible, that is, spiritual substance. Spiritual substance is God’s emanated strength which, in accordance with His will, becomes what it is as soon as God has intended it to become a specific form. This form, in turn, is the unification of innumerable substances; hence it is a structure that can be dissolved to release every single substance again, if it is God’s will. Consequently, any form can be destroyed, matter is something that has no eternal existence because it is merely the cover for spiritual substances which are intended to evolve and as a result don’t stay in these covers forever. Although matter itself is also spiritual substance, i.e. in accordance with God’s will solidified spiritual strength, it develops by means of continuous dissolution, dispersion and re-shaping so that it can, after an infinitely long time, occupy such a form itself too. Thus everything visible is spiritual strength that is still at the beginning of development, whereas the more mature spirit is invisible to the human eye and uses a visible form to live in.

Hence, in every form lives something spiritual, a being which is unconscious of itself but which longs for the unification with similar beings to increase the fullness of strength with this union, since every being strives for perfection. As soon as matter dissolves, i.e. when a form disintegrates, the released spiritual being strives towards equal spiritual beings which merge to give life to a new form. This process forms the basis for the uninterrupted becoming and passing in nature, it is therefore the cause of constant life and death in nature .... The spiritual substances pass through the whole of creation, partly alone, partly merged in immense numbers. Corresponding to these are the size and kind of the forms that surround them. Everything that encloses these spiritual beings is matter. But matter itself consists of spiritual substances which are at the beginning of their development and thus can be visible to the human eye because only the already more mature spirit is invisible. Consequently, everything visible must be considered to be imperfect, i.e. spiritual substance which is very distant from God, which is starting its way of development. The spirit concealed within the visible form has already travelled this way and now strives towards God. Therefore a destruction, i.e. a passing away or dissolution of the form, or the transience of matter, corresponds to God’s will because it enables the spiritual substance to continue its development ....

Amen