851. Is there fatalism in the events of life according to the usual meaning attached to the word; that is, are all events predetermined, and if so, what becomes of free will?
“Fatalism only exists when applied to the choice made by spirits upon incarnating to undergo this or that trial. Upon choosing a particular trial, they delineate for themselves a kind of destiny, which is the proper consequence of the position in which they now find themselves. I am referring only to trials of a physical nature. As for moral trials and temptations, spirits preserve their free will to choose good or evil and they are always able to yield or resist. When good spirits see individuals lose courage, they may rush to their aid but they cannot influence them to the point of eclipsing their will. An evil spirit, that is, a low order one, can disturb and frighten them by exacerbating a physical danger. Whatever the circumstances, however, the incarnate spirit still retains its entire freedom of choice.”
852. There are persons who seem to be pursued by fatalism no matter what they do. Is it their destiny to be unfortunate?
“There may be trials which they must endure and which they themselves have chosen. Once more you blame destiny, which is almost always a consequence of your own deeds. In the midst of the hardships afflicting you, make sure your conscience is clear. You will then feel partially consoled.”
The right or wrong ideas that we form about things cause us to succeed or fail according to our character and our social position. We find it easier and less humiliating to our vanity to attribute our failures to fate or destiny rather than to our own fault. If the influence of spirits sometimes contributes to this, we can always free ourselves from it by repelling the ideas they suggest when such ideas are evil.
853. There are persons who escape one mortal danger only to fall into another. They seem unable to escape death. Isn’t there fatalism in this?
“Fatalism, in the true meaning of the word, applies only to the instant of death. When that moment arrives in one form or another, you cannot escape it.”
– Then whatever may be the danger that threatens us, we will not die if our hour has not come?
“No, you will not die, and you have thousands of examples. But when your hour for departure comes, nothing will save you. God knows beforehand what kind of death will cause your departure, and frequently your spirit also knows it because it was revealed to it when it made the choice of this or that existence.”
854. From the infallibility of the hour of death, does it follow that the precautions taken to avoid it are useless?
“No, because the precautions you take are suggested to you in order to avoid the death that could result from the dangers that threaten you. They are one of the means used so that it does not occur.”
855. What is the intent of Providence in making us incur dangers that will have no result?
“When your life is in danger, it is a warning that you yourself have desired in order to turn you from evil and to enable you to become better. Once you escape this danger, and while still under the influence of the risk you incurred, you consider with greater or lesser intensity – depending on the strength of the action of good spirits – to become a better person. However, once the evil spirits (I say evil in reference to the evil that is still in them) return, you think that you can dodge other dangers just as easily and you allow your passions to be unleashed once more. Through the dangers you incur, God reminds you of your weakness and the fragility of your existence. If we examine the cause and nature of any danger, we will see that in the majority of cases the consequences are punishment for some wrong committed or a duty neglected. God thus warns you to reflect on and correct your wrongs.” (See nos. 526-532)
856. Does the spirit know beforehand what kind of death it will suffer?
“It knows that the kind of life it has chosen will expose it to dying more probably in one way than in another. But it also knows which struggles it will have to sustain in order to avoid it; and if God so wills, it will not succumb.”
857. There are soldiers who brave the perils of combat with a certain conviction that their hour has not yet come. Is there any foundation for such confidence?
“Quite frequently, individuals have a presentiment of their end and thus they may have a presentiment that they will not yet die. This presentiment is given to them by their protector spirits, who desire to warn them in order for them to be ready to depart, or in order to rebuild their courage at times when it becomes necessary. It may also come to them from their own intuition of the life they have chosen or of the mission they have accepted, and which they know they must fulfill.” (See nos. 411-522)
858. Why do those who foresee their death generally dread it less than others?
“It is the individual who dreads death, not the spirit. Those who foresee it think more as a spirit rather than as a physical entity. They understand their deliverance and they wait for it.”
859. If death cannot be avoided when our hour arrives, is it the same in regard to all the accidents that occur over the course of our life?
“They are generally small enough matters about which we can warn you by directing your thought in such a way that you may avoid them, for we do not like physical suffering. However, this is of little importance for the course of the life you have chosen. Actually, bona fide fatalism applies only at the times when you must enter and depart this world.”
– Are there events which must necessarily occur, and which the will of the spirits cannot avert?
“Yes, but which you, when in the spirit state, foresaw and anticipated upon making your choice. However, do not believe that everything that happens to you is ‘written’, as some say. An event is almost always the consequence of something you have done by an act of your own free will in such a way that if you had not done so, the event would not have occurred. If you burn your finger, it is only the consequence of your imprudence and the condition of matter. Only the great sorrows – those important events that are capable of influencing your moral evolution – are foreseen by God because they are useful for your purification and education.”
860. Can humans through their own will and efforts avoid events that were to occur, and vice-versa?
“They can, if this apparent deviation fits into the general order of the life that they have chosen. Furthermore, in doing good – their duty and the sole purpose of life – they can prevent evil, especially that which might contribute to a still greater evil.”
861. Upon choosing their existence, do those who commit a murder know at the time that they would become murderers?
“No. They only know that in choosing a life of struggle they will incur the probability of killing one of their fellow beings, but they do not know if they will actually do so or not. Murderers will almost always deliberate in their minds before committing the crime, and those who deliberate about something are always free to do it or not. If spirits knew beforehand that as individuals they would have to commit a murder, it would mean they were predestined to do so. However, you should be very clear about the fact that no one is ever predestined to commit a crime, and that every crime, like any and every other act, is always the result of volition and free will. Moreover, you always confuse two very distinct things: the material events of existence and the moral acts of life. If there is sometimes fatalism, it only applies to material events where the cause is outside of you and independent of your will. As for the acts of the moral life, they always emanate from the individual him or herself, who therefore always has the freedom of choice. There is never fatalism in such acts.”
862. There are those who never manage to succeed, who seem to be pursued by a bad influence in all their undertakings. Isn’t this what we could call fatalism?
“It could be fatalism if you would like to call it that, but it results from the choice of the kind of existence. Such individuals wanted to experience a life full of disappointment in order to exercise their patience and resignation. However, you must not believe that this fatalism is always unavoidable. It is often only the result of their having taken a wrong path that is not in keeping with their intelligence and aptitudes. Someone who tries to swim across a river without knowing how to swim stands a very good chance of drowning. It is the same in most events of life. If people did not try to undertake more than what was in keeping with their own faculties they would always succeed. What causes their failure are their self-centeredness and ambition, which divert them from their proper path and make them consider a vocation that entails nothing but the desire to satisfy certain passions. They then fail and it is their own fault; but instead of recognizing their error, they prefer to blame their horoscope. For instance, a man would have been a good workman making an honorable living, but he became a bad poet instead and died of hunger. There would be a place for everybody if each one knew how to occupy his or her own niche.”
863. Don’t social customs often obligate people to follow a certain path rather than another? And aren’t they subject to the influence of others’ opinions in their choice of occupation? Isn’t what we call human respect actually an obstacle to the exercise of our free will?
“Social customs are made by humans, not by God; if they submit to them, it is because they suit them. This is also an act of free will, because if they wanted to, they could reject them. So why do they complain? They should not accuse social customs, but their own foolish vanity, which leads them to prefer to die of hunger rather than infringe upon such customs. Nobody takes this sacrifice to public opinion into account, though God will take into account their sacrifice to their own vanity. This does not mean they should unnecessarily go against public opinion, like certain persons who are more possessed of eccentricity than true philosophy. It is just as absurd to display oneself as an oddity as it is wise to willingly descend the social ladder without complaining if one cannot remain at the top.”
864. If there are persons whom fate seems to be against, others seem to be favored by it because everything goes well for them. To what may this be attributed?
“Usually, they are better at self-guidance. However, it could also be a kind of trial: success intoxicates them; they trust in their destiny and later they frequently pay for their success with cruel reversals that could have been avoided with a little prudence.”
865. How can we explain the luck that seems to favor certain individuals in circumstances that depend neither on will nor intelligence – games of chance, for example?
“Certain spirits have chosen certain types of pleasure beforehand, and the luck that favors them is a temptation. Those who win in the material sense might lose as spirits – it is a trial for their pride and greed.”
866. Then wouldn’t the fatalism that seems to preside over our destinies in the material life also be the result of our free will?
“You yourselves have chosen your trials. The more difficult they are and the better you bear them, the more you evolve. Those who spend their lives in the selfish enjoyment of abundance and their own welfare are cowardly spirits who remain at a standstill. Thus, the number of the unfortunate greatly surpasses the fortunate, since the majority of spirits have sought the trials that will be most useful to them. They see too clearly the futility of earthly grandeurs and pleasures. Besides, the most satisfactory life is always full of events and its own problems to solve, even in the absence of suffering.” (See nos. 525 ff.)
867. Where does the expression “born under a lucky star” come from?
“It comes from an old superstition, according to which the stars were connected with the destiny of each human being – an allegory that some people are foolish enough to take literally.”
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