Boredom

Bordeaux, 1862. An unnamed spirit came on his own and asked for prayers. He said he had been wandering in boredom for around one hundred and eighty years.

The medium’s hand begins writing...

AllanWhat made you ask for prayers?

Victim of BoredomI am tired of wandering with no purpose.

AllanHave you been in this state for long?

Victim of BoredomAbout one hundred and eighty years.

AllanWhat did you do on Earth?

Victim of BoredomNothing good.

AllanWhat is your condition among spirits?

Victim of BoredomI am among those who suffer from boredom.

AllanBut that is not really a separate class, is it?

Victim of BoredomEverything among us forms a class. Every feeling gathers those who feel the same, and that likeness brings us together.

AllanWhy have you remained so long without advancing, if you were not condemned to this state as a punishment?

Victim of BoredomI was condemned to suffer boredom. For us, that is a kind of suffering. Anything that is not joy becomes suffering.

AllanHave you been forced to remain wandering against your will?

Victim of BoredomThat question could only be answered by causes too subtle for your earthly mind.

AllanTry to help me understand. The effort would be good for you.

Victim of BoredomI cannot explain it well because I have no comparison to use. A life on Earth, when it has not been used well, leaves the spirit what fire leaves of paper it has burned... sparks. Those sparks still show what the paper was and what destroyed it.

Victim of BoredomThose sparks are the memory of earthly ties that run through the spirit until the ashes of the body are fully scattered. Only then does the spirit recover itself as a spiritual being and begin to want to move forward.

AllanWhat caused the boredom you complain of?

Victim of BoredomThe results of an earlier life. Boredom is the child of idleness. I did not know how to use the long years I once spent on Earth, and the results of that inactivity still follow me in the spirit world.

AllanCan spirits like you end that state whenever they want to?

Victim of BoredomNot always. Their will is paralyzed by the boredom itself. They suffer the results of their former life. They were useless, with no initiative, and they do not help one another.

Victim of BoredomThey are left to themselves until weariness with that empty condition gives them the desire to change it. As soon as that desire starts to wake up, they find help and wise advice that helps them keep going.

AllanCan you tell me anything about your life on Earth?

Victim of BoredomSadly, there is little to tell, as you can understand. Boredom, uselessness, and idleness come from laziness. Laziness is the mother of ignorance.

AllanDid you make no progress in your former lives?

Victim of BoredomI advanced a little in all of them, but very little. All our lives reflect one another. A spirit always makes some progress in a life, but sometimes it is so slight that we barely notice it.

AllanWhile you wait for a new life, would you like to come to me from time to time?

Victim of BoredomCall me, so I am forced to come. You would be doing me a service.

AllanCan you tell me why your handwriting changes so often?

Victim of BoredomBecause you ask me so many questions. It tires me and forces me to get help.

Mediums’ GuideThe effort of thinking is what tires him and makes us help him answer.

Mediums’ GuideHe is one of the lazy ones in the spirit world, just as he was among the living. We brought him to you so you could try to pull him out of an apathy that is truly a state of suffering.

Mediums’ GuideThis suffering can be worse than sharp pain, because it can go on without end. Can you imagine a worse torture than endless weariness?

Mediums’ GuideSpirits who seek life on Earth only as a distraction, just to break the dull monotony of spirit life, are often like this.

Mediums’ GuideThey return to Earth without a firm decision to become good, and so they must begin again over and over, until they finally feel a sincere desire to advance.