937- Aren’t the disappointments caused by ingratitude and by the fragility of the ties of friendships also a source of bitterness for the human heart?
“Yes, but we have already taught you to feel pity for ungrateful and disloyal friends. They will be unhappier than you are. Ingratitude is the child of selfishness and selfish individuals will sooner or later encounter hearts as hard as their own. Just think of all those who have done more good than you, who are more worthy than you, and who have been repaid with ingratitude. Remember that during his life Jesus himself was scoffed at, despised, and treated as a villain and an impostor. So do not be surprised when the same happens to you. Let the good you have done be your reward in this world and do not worry about what those who have benefited from it say. Ingratitude serves to test your persistence in doing good. It will be credited to you, and those who have been thoughtless toward you will be punished to the same extent that they have been ungrateful.”
938- Couldn’t the disappointments caused by ingratitude harden the heart and make it insensitive?
“That would be unfortunate because persons with heart, as you say, will always be happy for the good they have done. They know that if the good they have done is not remembered in the present life, it will be in another, and the ingrate will then feel shame and remorse.”
– But this knowledge will not prevent their heart from feeling hurt. Mightn’t this lead them to think they would be happier if they were less sensitive?
“Yes, if they were to prefer a selfish happiness, a very sad happiness! However, if they know that the ungrateful friends who desert them are unworthy of their friendship, and that they have been mistaken about them, they will no longer regret losing them. Later on, they will find friends who are more understanding. You should pity those who treat you in a way that you do not deserve, because they will suffer a sad recompense. Don’t let yourselves be afflicted by them: it is a means for you to raise yourselves above them.”
Nature has given humans the need to love and be loved. One of the greatest enjoyments granted to them on earth is in their meeting with mutually attuned hearts. Nature thus grants them a foretaste of the happiness waiting for them in the world of perfected spirits, where all is love and benevolence – a happiness that is refused to the selfish.
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