Countess Paula
Countess Paula was young, beautiful, wealthy, and born into high social rank. Yet what made her truly admired was not her status, but the goodness of her heart. She was gentle, humble, forgiving, and kind to everyone around her. She never spread gossip or slander, never humiliated those beneath her socially, and never displayed pride or arrogance.
She treated servants, workers, and tradespeople with unusual fairness and respect. She believed that anyone who worked for a living deserved prompt payment, and she would have felt ashamed if someone had needed to wait for wages or payment because of her.
Her charity was immense, but discreet. She helped the suffering quietly and without seeking praise. She possessed a remarkable ability to discover hidden misery — especially among people trying desperately to conceal their poverty from the world — and she helped them with such delicacy that their dignity remained intact.
Although her social position required a luxurious lifestyle, she managed her household with wisdom and avoided waste or vanity. Because of this, she was able to devote a large part of her fortune to helping the poor.
Long before her death, she had already set aside a portion of her wealth exclusively for charitable works. In this way, she successfully balanced the duties of her social rank with her constant desire to do good.
She died in 1851 at the age of thirty-six. Her death caused widespread sorrow because everyone who knew her loved and respected her. Twelve years later, after one of her relatives became a Spiritist, her spirit was evoked and gave the following communication.
The medium’s hand begins writing...
Countess PaulaYou are correct in believing me to be happy.
Countess PaulaI'm happy beyond the power of words to express.
Countess PaulaAnd yet... I'm still far from the summit.
Countess PaulaI'm incomparably happier than I was on Earth, even though I was considered one of the happiest of earthly women.
Countess PaulaDuring my life on Earth, I don't remember ever experiencing any truly deep sorrow.
Countess PaulaI possessed youth, health, fortune, admiration, and everything human beings usually call happiness.
Countess PaulaBut what are such things compared with the happiness we experience here?
Countess PaulaWhat are your most magnificent celebrations, where guests display their finest clothing...
Countess PaulaCompared with the gatherings of spirits clothed in radiant light that your earthly eyes could not endure?
Countess PaulaWhat are your palaces, your golden salons, and your beautiful gardens...
Countess PaulaCompared with the aerial dwellings and immense regions of space filled with colors that make the rainbow itself appear pale?
Countess PaulaWhat are your slow earthly journeys compared with our flights through infinity, swifter than lightning?
Countess PaulaWhat are your narrow and cloudy horizons compared with the grand spectacle of countless worlds moving through the endless universe beneath the hand of God?
Countess PaulaHow harsh and empty your most beautiful music seems compared with the heavenly harmony vibrating through all the spiritual elements surrounding us.
Countess PaulaHow dull your greatest earthly pleasures seem compared with the indescribable happiness constantly filling our entire being.
Countess PaulaHere, everything breathes love, trust, and sincerity.
Countess PaulaEverywhere we find loving hearts.
Countess PaulaEverywhere we meet friends.
Countess PaulaNowhere do we encounter envy or jealousy.
Countess PaulaSuch, my friend, is the world in which I now live.
Countess PaulaAnd you too will certainly reach it if you follow the right path.
Countess PaulaBut don't imagine that happiness here becomes monotonous.
Countess PaulaIt's not an endless concert.
Countess PaulaOr an endless festival.
Countess PaulaOr some lifeless state of contemplation.
Countess PaulaNo.
Countess PaulaIt is movement, life, and activity.
Countess PaulaOur occupations involve no fatigue.
Countess PaulaYet they constantly bring new experiences, new emotions, and endless variety.
Countess PaulaEach of us has missions to fulfill.
Countess PaulaSpirits to assist.
Countess PaulaFriends on Earth to visit.
Countess PaulaPortions of nature’s great machinery to direct.
Countess PaulaAnd suffering spirits of lower condition to comfort.
Countess PaulaWe come and go, not merely from one street to another, but from one world to another.
Countess PaulaWe gather together and separate again.
Countess PaulaWe arrange meetings.
Countess PaulaWe recount our work.
Countess PaulaWe congratulate one another for successful efforts.
Countess PaulaWe consult together.
Countess PaulaAnd we help one another whenever difficulties arise.
Countess PaulaI assure you... no spirit here has time to feel bored even for a single moment.
Countess PaulaAt present, our greatest subject of interest is the Earth.
Countess PaulaAn immense movement is now taking place among spirits.
Countess PaulaGreat multitudes are arriving from every direction to participate in the transformation of your world.
Countess PaulaThey resemble armies of workers reclaiming a wild forest under the guidance of experienced leaders.
Countess PaulaSome uproot old trees and ancient roots.
Countess PaulaOthers clear away stones and debris.
Countess PaulaOthers plow, dig, sow, and plant.
Countess PaulaMeanwhile, the leaders gather together in council and send messengers carrying instructions everywhere.
Countess PaulaThe Earth must be regenerated within a determined time.
Countess PaulaThe designs of God must be fulfilled.
Countess PaulaSo, everyone is actively at work.
Countess PaulaAnd don't imagine that I remain merely a spectator.
Countess PaulaOn the contrary, an important responsibility has been entrusted to me.
Countess PaulaAnd I strive with all my strength to fulfill it worthily.
Countess PaulaI did not attain my present condition without many struggles.
Countess PaulaBelieve me... my final life on Earth alone, admirable though it may have appeared, would not have been enough to give me this elevation.
Countess PaulaDuring many previous lives, I voluntarily chose trials of labor and poverty in order to strengthen and purify my soul.
Countess PaulaI had the happiness of emerging victorious from those trials.
Countess PaulaBut one final trial still remained before me.
Countess PaulaThe most dangerous trial of all.
Countess PaulaThe trial of wealth, comfort, and happiness without suffering.
Countess PaulaThat was my greatest danger.
Countess PaulaBefore accepting that dangerous trial, I wished to become strong enough not to fall beneath its temptations.
Countess PaulaThe Divine Master saw my sincere intentions and granted me the help necessary to succeed.
Countess PaulaMany spirits, seduced by appearances, hastily choose the dangerous test of earthly prosperity.
Countess PaulaBut being too weak and inexperienced, they are overcome by its temptations.
Countess PaulaWorkers...
Countess PaulaI too once lived among you.
Countess PaulaI, who later became a noble lady, once earned my bread with the sweat of my brow just as you do.
Countess PaulaI endured privation, suffering, and harsh weather.
Countess PaulaAnd it was those sufferings that developed the strength of my soul.
Countess PaulaWithout those earlier struggles, I might have failed during my final earthly trial.
Countess PaulaAnd such a failure would have cast me far backward.
Countess PaulaLike me, all of you will someday undergo the trial of worldly prosperity.
Countess PaulaBut don't rush to ask for it too soon.
Countess PaulaAnd those among you who are already rich...
Countess PaulaRemember always that true and lasting wealth does not exist on Earth.
Countess PaulaLearn how to earn the blessing of God.