joseph, 11 November 1972
The Distinction between Fates That Are God Willed and Those That Are Not.
Every fate represents a test for the person concerned: are they able to accept it, or do they complain about it?



Joseph: God bless you. Dear brothers and sisters, human beings marked by fate are not to be envied. There are God-willed fates, and there are fates that human beings cause themselves. God-willed fates mean that a human being has something to pay off from a debt incurred during a previous earthly life. These God-willed fates can be very hard. But there is much a person can do to soften this God-willed fate, perhaps to dissolve it entirely, insofar as they gain the consideration of God’s grace because their attitude and way of life lead them to grace and mercy. These are possibilities a human being has to soften a God-willed fate.
A God-willed fate that can be hard and that a person can do nothing to soften is when they must live in this world as a disabled person – blind, deaf, mute. They can hardly do anything about this; this is a fate that is marked in their soul, and it is unchangeable. But there are other fates that can be softened in the way that I mentioned.
There are fates not willed by God that a human being inflicts upon themselves by their own free will – in one way or another, they inflict a fate upon themselves by careless thought and action, by carelessness in their life. They can also live in a family in which someone makes life so difficult that they regard it as a fate, but this does not necessarily have to be a fate willed by God. God-willed fates are those fates that then bring about a lessening of punishment in the spiritual world – one has paid off something in life and made amends, whereas a fate that is not God willed, which one has brought upon oneself through foolishness, through one’s own actions, does not pay off any debt from the past.
Everything a human being does in life is recorded in their soul. I could give you a material or earthly comparison: if someone wears the same garment all the time, you will recognize signs of it having been worn – the garment will have stains, it will be dirty, perhaps even torn – it will carry the marks of having been worn. A human being can, however, change their clothing and put on a newer, clean garment. But the soul retains everything – all the filth. Everything that caused it harm will have left its scars; everything now lies upon the soul. For the soul cannot be exchanged. Everything lies upon the soul, in the same way that the marks on a person’s clothing remain – if they wear this garment over a long period of time, it will carry its marks. And these marks are also contained in the soul.
Now, if a fate is not God willed and has been brought about by a human being themselves, then there is still the possibility that people will believe it is a fate imposed by God. One must therefore be able to distinguish these things: we distinguish these God-willed fates and karmic burdens from a person’s own faults, from the burdens and fates a person imposes upon themselves. And I would like to emphasize once more: fates imposed by God mean that something of the soul’s past debt is being atoned for and paid off, whereas a person’s own faults can burden their soul anew.
Fates can arise during war, for example, when a soldier escapes a war with his life but he is blind or has lost limbs. These are hard fates, but they are not God-willed fates. The person reflects and deplores the fact that he has to endure such things, that such things happened to him; and now and then he claims that he could have been spared this fate had he only been standing a meter away. Admittedly, this is so. God does not want wars. When human beings are wounded in body and soul by wars, this cannot be regarded as a God-willed fate.
But there are still other fates, and they are bound up with modern times: they are the many accidents that occur on the roads. These are also fates, but they are caused by people’s carelessness, by their own actions. And the resulting misfortune is not God willed either – one cannot speak here of a God-willed fate if it is caused by human beings. When such a misfortune occurs and a person is paralyzed – how difficult life is for such a person. Their soul is wounded and burdened, just like the soldier’s soul is wounded and burdened.
And if I may lead you back in spirit to those times when the wounded were not particularly cared for after the wars: if someone had become blind or lost limbs, he might have had to eke out the rest of his life as a beggar. Can you imagine what really happened in the soul of such a person? In many cases, a hatred is built up. He blames his surroundings, he blames those who provoked the war, and he blames his fellow human beings, who give him neither the attention and care he needs nor the love he desires. As a result, this soul is marked by discontented and hateful thoughts, by resentment. And the spirit will enter the other world with this soul.
For example, someone who had a God-willed fate, who perhaps had to go through life blind or deaf or mute, will realize, when they open their eyes in the beyond as a spirit, that their spiritual body was neither sick nor wounded, that they can now see with their spiritual eyes, that they can speak, that they can hear, that they can talk to others, that they can walk. They find the spiritual life wonderful and are happy to be rid of their sick body. They praise and glorify God for being allowed to awaken as a healthy spirit in eternity. Thus, the conditions are entirely different. In most cases, those who were assigned a God-willed fate can be told that they had to live such a life for the salvation and healing of their soul, that they needed these humbling experiences, and that they have now paid off much – perhaps all – of their debt through the afflictions they had to endure in life. In eternity, such spiritual beings find their way much more quickly. They are also more prepared to conscientiously fulfill the tasks they are set. They live in a genuine state of happiness and gratitude. They are glad that the heaviness has passed; they do not complain. They only desire to be shown the path that brings them close to God. They are glad and happy to have left that life behind. This is in contrast to those others who, as I explained to you, inflicted a fate upon themselves by their own actions, their own free will, by their carelessness, their indifference, and so forth. All this is explained to them.
And now such a person who complained during life that they no longer had any success and that it was impossible for them to achieve anything with their affliction: they begin to complain and to quarrel, they become dissatisfied with themselves and with others, even when they themselves are to blame for their fate. The same can happen with others who also have such a heavy affliction to bear but who are not personally to blame – those who came into this suffering through the carelessness and negligence of another. Some manage to survive and now live with the constant awareness that they blamelessly have such a heavy affliction to bear, because someone else inflicted it upon them. And they begin to burden their souls, for the soul absorbs everything – just like a person’s clothes absorb everything, every speck of dust, and marks are left behind. The soul is similar, but much finer still, and it also absorbs every mark. Thus, a human being can complain for the rest of their life: they are never able to forgive the culprit for the fact that such a fate was imposed upon them; they also become discontent with their fellow human beings, for they are dependent on their help.
There are also people who lose their lives in such accidents, and you human beings sometimes have little to say about it: such a person is simply dead; one laments the death and pities those left behind. But how do things stand with the deceased person, and what will happen to them? Their spirit cannot die, their spirit lives, they pass over into eternity; and the deceased person must now realize that their life, which had been so full of hope on this earth, has suddenly ended, and they are unable to adjust to their new life. They now begin to lament, and they do not want to accept this new world, they do not want to know anything about it, they want to return to where they had lived. At first, some believe they can return to their body again, because they see it lying there in the wreckage or somewhere on the roadside, and they try with all their might to take possession of it again. They even massage their dead body and believe it is possible to recover it, even though they can see beings who say to them, “It is of no use, you have separated from it.” They think that those who tell them this are other human beings. They do not realize that they have died and that there are spiritual beings who come close to humans and that they also wish to give these deceased people spiritual first aid.
So there is – one could say – quite some drama: not only the human drama, but also the spiritual, which often plays out in a terrible way at the scene of the accident. Even though these spiritual beings do indeed bring comfort and assistance, it is not accepted; one does not believe, one cannot believe. But who is it that is unable to believe? If, during their human life, a person did not believe that they continue to live as a spirit after death and that this spirit has a form like a human being, then for those who awaken in spirit it seems impossible that one continues to live in this manner.
When persuasion is of no use, it is sometimes necessary for the deceased to be told, “Come with us, you can no longer change the situation – it has happened. You have now set foot on your path in the spiritual world, and you will need to occupy yourself there and make a start with the new, spiritual life.” And if these words are of no avail, then the spirits of God will need to apply gentle force.
These explanations may sometimes seem incomprehensible to friends who are not familiar with these spiritual laws, who find it hard to believe that life continues after death and that it continues in the way I explained. But I swear to God that I am telling the truth and that it really is so.
So these spiritual beings, the deceased who do not find their way, will either be given a drink that – expressed in human terms – anesthetizes them for a certain period of time, or they can be given an injection that induces sleep, and in this way they are raised from the physical world, from the earth, and led into the spiritual realm. There the spirit rests, sleeps, and in this spiritual sleep they are calmed and find some peace; they find peace through sleep.
While this being is led into sleep in order to help them leave their turmoil behind, their closest relatives are sent for – those who are already in the spiritual world. They are to watch over this spirit who, for the human beings as well as for the spiritual beings, experienced an unexpectedly quick entrance into the divine world. These relatives wait until this spirit opens their eyes. The spiritual beings who played their part in bringing about this spiritual sleep will have determined its length. When this being awakens from sleep, perhaps seeing their father or mother standing before them and greeting them, they will express their astonishment at seeing their relatives. One is more willing to believe one’s deceased father, mother, a brother, or some other friend – simply a being with whom one was closely connected in life, with whom there had been a bond, whose death one had mourned. In human and spiritual consciousness, one knows that this being is dead – so if one now sees this being as a spirit, one will begin to reflect. One’s agitation has been left behind, because the remedy used to induce sleep has a calming effect. One then begins to ask how this is even possible; one asks about what will happen next. The relatives speak about themselves – where they live, how they have fared – and they invite the returned spirit to visit them.
So, one tries to help this homecomer. Assuming they are not a person whose soul is deeply burdened, it is not the case that they are simply left to themselves. When a deeply-burdened human being dies suddenly, it may be that the spirits of God are not prepared to guide them into a gentle and soothing sleep; instead, they leave them to themselves. They will remain in the same state of agitation and will seek out people on earth, thinking they are able to enter into conversation with them. They will eventually have to realize that they have died. The only question is how long it will take before they realize that they really have died. However, a reasonably good human being will be looked after by the helpful spirit world.
These modern-day accidents, which occur here and there, give God’s spirit world additional work. To be sure, it can anticipate an incident hours in advance, because time is not measured in the same way as it is with you. The accident can be seen in spirit hours in advance – perhaps even days – so that spirits of God will already be in position. This may also be difficult for you to understand, but I do not have the words to explain it to you in more detail with the concepts that you have. For your consolation and reassurance, I can only say that the angelic world is keen and willing to take care of these unfortunates, to show them the way, to comfort them; and it requires much perseverance to soothe them. Just imagine what happens when a father or a mother is taken away from their children: they are distressed because they do not know what will happen to their children.
This is precisely how the soul is marked. And those who have to bear such a fate are wounded in their souls, and this burden they have saddled themselves with is not necessarily for the salvation of their souls. Even if they survive, it is not the case that someone who is damaged in body will accept their fate. Time and again, whether they are culpable or not, they have words of discontent, of doubt, of uncertainty – yes, they even accuse God of letting such a thing happen. But all of this marks their soul, just as dirt leaves marks on a person’s clothing.
But there are also those who say yes to such a fate that is not God willed, that came to them through, let us say, some circumstance or other. They try to make the best of this fate. Admittedly, they also have their hours of inner lamentation and questioning, they also seek spiritual consolation; but they do not want to burden their soul with the fate that lies upon them. These are usually people oriented toward God. They, too, may well have doubts and stumble now and then, but this is not out of bitterness – they try to bear it. And when such human beings die and enter the spiritual world, they will realize that they might even have improved their soul by accepting a fate that was not God willed, that they have become more tolerant – yes, that they have essentially ennobled their soul through their fate. Such things also happen. And in a case like this, the angelic world will also greet such a homecomer quite differently.
Those who were marked by fate through the actions of others during their human life – by which I mean those who were caused this suffering by others and now have a difficult life to bear – would like to expect that the spirit world of God, or God himself, will be obliged to give them a so-called “credit” because they unjustly suffered harm. And here the world of God must say, “No, we cannot give you a credit for things that human beings caused by carelessness, for things that happen in this way – it cannot be done.”
Now, if a person has to bear a fate like this, it can become a test for them, and it now depends on what they make of their fate. If they begin to complain and lament, then they burden themselves; but if they accept this fate and try to understand it with a higher consciousness and make the best of it, then such a person has gained inner qualities. In this way, the heaviness they had to endure was not in vain. They have truly brought salvation to their soul, and this will benefit them in one way or another.
I would now like to tell you about a human being who had a fate that was not God willed, who was injured in such a way that his body, his earthly body, was paralyzed, and he was now dependent on the help of his fellow human beings. This person was not content, he complained about his surroundings, he bemoaned what had happened and quarreled with God – he had thereby burdened his soul. When he entered the world of God, he was reproached for this – even though he tried to explain to the angelic world that life among human beings is difficult when one is no longer a full member of society and when one no longer has the possibility to advance further in this world and to acquire comforts in life, in the way that someone who works diligently would deserve. And the angelic world must now refer to spiritual laws and explain that such acts stem from human beings themselves – just as I explained to you: through their free will, through carelessness, and so forth – but also that it simply is the case that human beings in this world are exposed to all these scourges of disease, of fates that come upon them. For the world in which human beings live is ruled by Lucifer – Lucifer himself is lord of this world, and the people of this world are governed by him. He has so many loyal followers who are collaborators and tools, and they do not desire peace for human beings; rather, they provoke the unhappiness, the discord, the subjugation of human beings. If human beings were more oriented toward God, they could receive additional divine protection for body and soul, because, through the connection with God and his holy spiritual world, they would benefit from divine blessing and the protection of God’s helpful spirit world. But if in human life, as a human being, one does not ask about this and never inquires, “Who rules this world, who governs this world, to whom am I subject, what is the meaning of my life?” – if one never asks about this, then a connection with divinity cannot be established either. Every human being should know that they stand under the sovereignty of Lucifer, because it is Lucifer who rules the world. Nevertheless, if a human being wants to be a Christian, it is up to them to enter the kingdom of Christ with their higher consciousness and to align their human will with the higher will of God, with God’s order and his laws; because, from a spiritual point of view, the human being belongs in the kingdom of Christ, but on earth they live under the dominion of Lucifer. It is he who exercises his power; it is he who brings discord, who tries to provoke human beings into war; it is he who brings cruelty to human beings so that it unfolds. He is the evil, the great evil, and – as Christ himself said – he is the father of lies (John 8:44); it is he who governs the world.
For many human beings this should be an answer to the question of why so much injustice is able to unfold and spread, and why even people of faith live unjustly, why people of faith do not align themselves with God’s laws: because they do not align themselves with higher consciousness, because they do not enter into the kingdom of Christ, into its order and its laws, because they do not obey its laws, because they do not want to know anything of its order. Such things must be explained to many human beings, and only after much explanation will they understand.
The angelic world also had to explain this to the person who had died and bemoaned and complained that God permits such things and that it had not been made possible to bring the truth among human beings in the Christian faith, so that every last individual would be prompted to accept this faith – why had God not made it so that people could see him, so that they could accept him with human feelings, so that they would find their way to him. He complained like this to the spirits of God, and the spirits of God had to explain it to him in their own manner. Being educated on the plan of salvation and redemption is the first step for homecomers. This paves the way for them to go to spiritual schools. And many of them – I say: many – are prepared to enter these spiritual schools, because they would like to know what has really been withheld from them. They would like to know about the wherefrom and the whereto: where they came from, where they must go, and what the goal of their spiritual life is. Those who interest themselves in the higher spiritual life, in what is to happen in spirit, will also be taught.
It is a different situation when someone returns who possesses these spiritual insights and who also saddled themselves with a fate in some way, but who accepted it, was able to accept it, because they had acquired insights from the spiritual explanations we have given them – because God’s plan of salvation was revealed to them, because the meaning and purpose of life was explained to them, because a piece of heaven was opened for them, and as a human being they were able to try to establish contact with heaven in order to attain higher knowledge. Explanations on this have been, and will be, given to you. It is therefore demanded of human beings who believe in spirit that they attempt to break through the heaviness of their body, in which they are imprisoned, and to see and experience in spirit. And this is not overstating matters, for this is what is meant: breaking out of the realm, the dominion of this world, and entering the kingdom of Christ with one’s entire human consciousness. This should become possible for a person who believes in spirit. Thus, already in this world, our teachings are of great use to you – they can become of use, one should impress this upon oneself. But this requires a true, honest, deep faith in God’s spirit world. If one lives in this honest, true faith, then one can also be sure of the help, the guidance of God’s spirits. As a human being, one will thereby enter into a spiritual friendship – in spirit, one desires a friendship with spiritual beings. And this spiritual friendship will not be denied if it comes from an honest heart and the inner longing of the soul.
So it is our wish that you remain true, honest, and faithful in this bond. You can then be assured of God’s blessing. In spirit you will be guided and, when necessary, admonished. For the spirit world speaks the truth and occasionally words that human beings do not particularly like. But this is all for their salvation. And in these words, which can often be reproachful, there is also much that is comforting: each individual is shown the path they have to walk; and each individual should recognize that the spiritual world is a world of order and justice and that this order must also be established and secured in this world as well as in the spiritual world.
May the blessing of God guard and protect you all, and may those who are ill recover in body and soul. God bless you.
Lecture by spirit-teacher Joseph, received in German through the medium Beatrice Brunner at the Academy of Music in Zurich, 11 November 1972.
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