Example 14 - JOSEPH MAÎTRE, blind man.

— He belonged to the middle class of society and enjoyed a modest competence, sheltered from any privations. His parents destined him for industry and gave him a good education, but, at the age of twenty, he lost his sight. At nearly fifty he finally came to die, this in 1845. Ten years before, he had been stricken by another illness that left him deaf, so that only by touch did he maintain relations with the living.

Now, not to see is already a torment; not to see and not to hear is a doubled torment, especially for one who, after having enjoyed the faculties of such senses, must bear this double privation.

What was the cause of so cruel a fate? Certainly it was not his last existence, always shaped by exemplary conduct. Thus it was that he was always a good son, possessed of a gentle and benevolent character, and, when, to the height of misfortune, he found himself deprived of hearing, he accepted this trial resigned, without a complaint.

By his conversation, one sensed in the lucidity of his Spirit an uncommon intelligence.

— A person who had known him, on the presumption that he might receive useful instructions, evoked his Spirit and obtained the following message, in response to the questions he addressed to him.

(Paris — 1863.)

“I thank you, my friends, for having remembered me. It may be that this would not have happened independently of the supposition of profit from my communication, but, even so, I am certain that serious motives animate you, and that is why with pleasure I answer the call, since, fortunately, I am permitted to guide you. So may my example add to the trials, numerous enough, that the Spirits give you of the justice of God.

You knew me blind and deaf, and at once you set out to learn the cause of such a destiny. I tell it to you: Before all, it is important to say that it was the second time that I expiated the privation of sight.

In my preceding existence, at the beginning of the last century, I became blind at thirty, as a consequence of excesses of every kind which, ruining my health, weakened my organism. Let it be noted that this was already a punishment for the abuse of the providential gifts with which I had been amply showered; 5 instead, however, of attributing to myself the original cause of that infirmity, I saw fit to accuse Providence, in which, moreover, I scarcely believed. I anathematized God, I denied Him, I accused Him, adding that, if by chance He existed, He must be unjust and wicked, for thus leaving His creatures to suffer.

Yet I should still have counted myself fortunate, exempt as I was from begging for bread, like so many other wretched blind men such as myself. But it was that I thought only of myself, of the privation of enjoyments imposed upon me. Influenced by such ideas, which skepticism only inflamed, I became frantic, demanding, in a word, insufferable to those who associated with me. Moreover, life was to me a perpetual motion, for I did not think the future a chimera.

After exhausting in vain the resources of Science, and the cure being deemed impossible, I resolved to anticipate death: I committed suicide.

What an awakening, then, was mine, immersed in the same darkness as in life! Yet the recognition of my situation, of my transfer to the spiritual world, did not take long. I was a Spirit, yes, but a blind one.

The life beyond the tomb became, then, the reality for me! I sought to flee it, but in vain… The void enveloped me. From what I heard said, that life was to be eternal, and with it my situation. A horrendous idea!

I did not suffer, but it is impossible to describe the anguish and spiritual torments I experienced. How long had they lasted? I do not know… But how long that time seemed to me!

Exhausted, fatigued, I was finally able to analyze myself, and I understood the ascendancy of a superior power that acted upon me, and I considered that if that power could oppress me, it could also relieve me. And I implored mercy.

In proportion as I prayed and my fervor increased, someone told me that my situation would have an end. At last the light came, and extreme was my rapture of joy upon glimpsing the celestial brightnesses, distinguishing the Spirits who surrounded me, smiling benevolently, as well as those who, radiant, floated in Space.

When I wished to follow their steps, an invisible force held me back. It was then that one of them said to me: “The God you denied had compassion on your repentance and permitted us to give you light, but you yielded only through suffering, through weariness. If you wish to share in this happiness enjoyed here, you must prove the sincerity of your repentance, your good dispositions, by recommencing the earthly trial in conditions that predispose you to the same faults, for this new trial must be harsher than the other.” I accepted eagerly, promising not to fail again.

Thus I returned to Earth in the conditions you know. It was not difficult for me to understand the situation, for I was not wicked by nature; I had revolted against God, and God punished me.

I reincarnated bearing innate faith, which is why I did not murmur; rather I accepted the double infirmity, resigned, as the expiation that it was, arising from the sovereign justice.

The isolation of my last years had nothing of despair, for faith in the future and in the mercy of God breathed upon me. Moreover, that isolation was profitable to me, for during the long silent night my soul rose more freely to the Eternal, glimpsing the infinite through thought.

When, at last, the exile ended, the spiritual world afforded me only splendors, ineffable joys.

The retrospect upon the past makes me judge myself very happy, relatively, for which I give thanks to God; when, however, I look toward the future, I see the great distance that still separates me from complete happiness.

Having already expiated, I still had to repair. The last incarnation profited only me, which is why I hope to recommence soon through an existence that will permit me to be useful to my neighbor, repairing by that means the previous uselessness. And only thus will I advance on the good path, ever open to the Spirits possessed of good will.

“Friends, there is my history; and if my example can enlighten any of my incarnated brothers, so as to avoid the wicked deed that I committed, I shall hold the redemption of my debt to have begun.”

Joseph.