CHAPTER X – Occupations and Missions of Spirits
558- Do spirits have any other duty besides their own personal improvement?
“They concur in the harmony of the universe and act as ministers in fulfilling God’s will. Spirit life is a continuous occupation, but it is not at all arduous like that of earth, because it is not subject to bodily fatigue or the anguish of need.”
559- Do less evolved spirits also perform a useful role in the universe?
“All have duties to fulfill. Doesn’t the least of masons concur in the construction of a building as much as the does the architect?” (See no. 540)
560- Does each spirit have special attributes?
“It is worth stating that we all must inhabit all places and must acquire knowledge of all things, successively presiding over functions involving all the planes of the universe. However, as Ecclesiastes states, there is a time for everything. Thus, one spirit is currently fulfilling its destiny on this world, while another will accomplish or has already accomplished its destiny at another time, on the earth, in the water, in the air, etc.”
561- Are the functions that spirits perform in the order of things permanent for each spirit, and do such functions belong exclusively to the attributes of certain orders?
“All spirits must ascend the various degrees of the scale in order to perfect themselves. Since God is just, God could not have given knowledge without effort to some, while others acquired it only in a painful manner.”
Likewise, among humans, no one reaches the supreme degree of skill in any art without having acquired the necessary knowledge by practicing the most elementary functions of that art.
562- Since spirits of the most advanced order have nothing more to acquire, are they in a state of absolute repose, or do they still have occupations?
“What do you think they are doing for all eternity? Eternal idleness would be eternal torture.”
– What is the nature of their occupations?
“Receiving orders directly from God, transmitting them throughout the universe and supervising their execution.”
563- Are the occupations of spirits unceasing?
“Unceasing, yes, if we understand that their thought is always active, for they live by thought. Yet, one must not equate their occupations with the material occupations of humans. Their very activity is a delight because they know they are being useful.”
– That is understandable for good spirits, but does the same apply to less evolved ones?
“Less evolved spirits have occupations suitable for their nature. Would you entrust the works of cultured individuals to manual laborers?”
564- Are there among spirits those who are idle, or who do not occupy themselves with anything useful?
“Yes, but it is temporary and depends on the development of their intelligence. Certainly, as among humans, there are those who live only for themselves. Such idleness nonetheless weighs on them, and sooner or later the desire to progress stirs the need for activity, and they are glad to make themselves useful once again. We are speaking of spirits who have arrived at the necessary point of selfconsciousness and free will, for at their origin they are like new-born children who act more from instinct than from a determined will.”
565- Do spirits examine our works of art and take an interest in them?
“They examine anything that may indicate the elevation of spirits and their progress.”
566- Does a spirit who had a specialty on earth – a painter or architect, for example – take a special interest in the works that were the object of its predilection during life?
“Everything blends into an overall objective. If the spirit is good, it will take an interest in them to the degree that they enable it to help with the evolution of souls toward God. Besides, you are forgetting that spirits who practiced an art during the lifetime in which you knew them could have practiced another in a previous lifetime, because it is necessary for them to know everything in order to perfect themselves. Thus, according to their degree of advancement, it might be that nothing constitutes a specialty for them. This is what I meant when I stated that everything blends into an overall objective. Also, be aware of this: what is sublime to you in your backward world is no more than child’s play when compared with what exists on more advanced worlds. Why would you suppose that the spirits who inhabit those worlds, where there are arts unknown to you, would admire what would appear to them as no more than the work of a school child? As I have already stated: they examine whatever may indicate progress.”
– We understand why such must be the case with highly advanced spirits, but we are speaking about more commonplace spirits who have not yet raised themselves above earthly ideas.
“Their case is different. Their point of view is more limited and they may admire what you yourselves admire.”
567- Do spirits sometimes meddle in our occupations and pleasures?
“Commonplace spirits, as you call them, yes. They are unceasingly around you and at times take a very active part in all that you do, according to their nature. It is good that they do so in order to drive men and women forward in their different walks of life, exciting or moderating their passions.”
Spirits occupy themselves with the things of this world according to whether they are more evolved or less so. High order spirits undoubtedly have the ability to consider them in minutest detail, but they only do so to the degree that it is useful to progress. Low order spirits only attach an importance to such things in proportion to the remembrances that are still present in their memory, and to material ideas that are not yet extinct.
568- Do spirits who have missions to fulfill do so while in the errant or incarnate state?
“They may do so in either state. For certain errant spirits, it is a great occupation.”
569- What do the missions that may be entrusted to errant spirits entail?
“They are so varied that it would be impossible to describe them. Besides, there are those that you would not be able to comprehend. Spirits fulfill the will of God, and you are not able to grasp all the divine designs.”
Spirits’ missions always have the good as their purpose. Whether as a spirit or as a human, they are in charge of helping the progress of humankind, nations or individuals within a varying range of ideas that may be more specialized or less so in order to prepare the way for certain events and to oversee the accomplishment of certain things. Some have more restricted missions of a certain personal or entirely localized manner, such as helping the sick, the dying and the afflicted, and as guides, watching over those who are under their protection and directing them with their counsels or the good thoughts they suggest. One could say that there are as many kinds of missions as there are kinds of interests to watch over, whether in the material realm or in the moral realm. A spirit advances according to how well it has performed its duty.
570- Do spirits always comprehend the designs that they are charged with executing?
“No. There are those who are blind instruments, while others know fully well the purpose for which they act.”
571- Are advanced spirits the only ones who have missions to fulfill?
“A mission’s importance is in relation to the spirit’s ability and elevation. The courier who carries a dispatch also fulfills a mission, though it is not that of a general.”
572- Is the mission of a spirit imposed on it or does it depend on its will?
“A spirit asks for it and is happy to receive it.”
– May the same mission be requested by several spirits?
“Yes, there are always several candidates but not all are accepted.”
573- What does the mission of incarnate spirits entail?
“Instructing human beings, helping them to advance, and improving their institutions by direct and material means. Missions are of various degrees of generality and importance, however: the one who cultivates the soil fulfills a mission as surely as the one who rules or teaches. Everything in nature is linked together. At the same time in which a spirit is purifying itself through incarnation, it is also working to fulfill the designs of Providence. Each one has its mission in this world because each one can be useful for something.”
574- What could be the earthly mission of intentionally useless persons?
“There really are persons who live only for themselves and who do not know how to make themselves useful for anything. They are poor beings whom we should pity because they will painfully expiate their intentional uselessness, and their chastisement frequently begins even in this world through weariness and dissatisfaction with life.”
– Since they had the right to choose, why did they prefer a life that could not be of any use to them?
“Among spirits there are lazy ones who recoil before a life of work. God allows them to do so. They will understand the inappropriateness of their uselessness later and at their own expense, and they will be the first to ask to make up for lost time. Also, they had perhaps chosen a more useful life to begin with, but once in action, they rejected it, allowing themselves to be misled by the suggestions of spirits who incited them to idleness.”
575- Common occupations would seem to be duties rather than missions per se. According to the idea normally associated with the word, a mission has a sense of importance that is less exclusive, and especially, less personal. From that point of view, how can we tell if persons have a real mission on earth?
“By the great things they do and by the progress they enable their fellow beings to make.”
576- Are those who have an important mission predestined for it before their birth, and do they have knowledge of it?
“Yes, sometimes, but more often they are unaware of it. They only have a vague notion of it when they arrive on the earth. Their mission is traced out after their birth and according to circumstances as God drives them along the path on which they must fulfill the divine designs.”
577- When individuals do something useful, is it always in virtue of a previous and predestined mission, or might they have received an unforeseen mission?
“Not everything that individuals do is the consequence of a predestined mission. Instead, they are frequently the instrument a spirit uses in order to perform something it considers useful. For example, a certain spirit thinks it would be a good idea to write a book, which it would actually write if it were incarnate, so it seeks out the writer most capable of comprehending its thought and most capable of acting on it. It suggests the idea and directs its execution. Thus, this individual did not originally come to earth with the mission of doing this particular work. The same thing applies to certain works of art and discoveries. It should be further noted that during its body’s sleep, the incarnate spirit communicates directly with the discarnate one in order to discuss how the mission is to be carried out.”
578- Can a spirit fail in its mission through its own fault?
“Yes, if it is not a high order spirit.”
– What are the consequences for it?
“It will have to start the work over – that is its punishment. Furthermore, it will suffer the consequences of the problems it has caused.”
579- Since a spirit receives its mission from God, how could God entrust an important mission of general interest to a spirit who may fail?
“Doesn’t God know whether his general will be victorious or defeated? Rest assured that it is so, and the divine plans, when important, do not rely on those who might abandon the work in the middle of it. The whole issue for you is the knowledge of the future, which God possesses, but which is not given to you.”
580- Does a spirit who incarnates to fulfill a mission have the same apprehensions as the one who incarnates to undergo a trial?
“No. It has experience.”
581- Individuals who are the lights of humankind, those who enlighten humans with their genius, obviously have a mission. But amongst them are those who are mistaken, and who, instead of great truths, spread great errors. How should we regard their mission?
“As having been falsified by them. They are beneath the task they have undertaken. However, it is necessary to take circumstances into account. Geniuses must speak according to the time in which they live. Thus, a teaching that appears erroneous or puerile to a later era may have been sufficient during its own time.”
582- Can parenthood be considered a mission?
“It is, without any doubt, a mission, and at the same time, a very great duty that involves parents more than they might think concerning their responsibility for the future. God has placed children under the care of their parents so that they may guide them on the path of the good, and has facilitated their task by giving children a frail and delicate organization that renders them accessible to all sorts of impressions. However, there are those who are more concerned with training the trees in their orchards and making them produce fine fruit than with training the character of their children. If their children fail due to their neglect, they will have to bear the punishment, and the sufferings of their children will come back to them in a future life because they did not do what was incumbent on them for their children’s advancement on the path of the good.”
583- If a child goes astray, in spite of the care of the parents, are they still responsible?
“No, but the more the child is disposed toward evil, the heavier their task is and the greater will be their merit if they manage to divert the child away from the path of evil.”
– If a child becomes a good adult, despite the negligence or bad examples of the parents, do the parents receive any benefit from it?
“God is just.”
584- What could be the nature of the missions of conquerors whose only aim is to satisfy their ambition, and who, in order to reach their goal, do not recoil before any calamity they may cause?
“Most of the time, they are nothing more than instruments used by God for fulfilling the divine designs. Such calamities are often the means for enabling a people to advance more rapidly.”
– If those who are the instruments of such temporary calamities are unaware of the good that may result from them because they inflicted them with a personal aim in mind, will they nevertheless profit from the resultant good?
“All are rewarded according to their deeds, the good they meant to do and the honesty of their intentions.”
Incarnate spirits have occupations inherent to their corporeal existence. In the errant state or dematerialization, their occupations are in proportion to their degree of advancement. Some journey from world to world, learning and preparing for a new incarnation.
Others, more advanced, occupy themselves with progress by directing events and suggesting favorable thoughts; they assist the geniuses who concur in the advancement of humankind. Others reincarnate on a mission of progress. Still others take under their care individuals, families, human agglomerations, cities and peoples, for whom they become guardian angels, protector spirits and familiar spirits. Finally, others preside over the phenomena of nature, of which they are the direct agents. Ordinary spirits meddle in our occupations and amusements. Impure or imperfect spirits wait in suffering and anguish for the moment in which it pleases God to grant them the means of advancing. If they practice evil, it is out of spite for not yet being able to enjoy the good.
Site Espírita 