Joseph Maitre

Joseph Maitre lost his sight at twenty and his hearing twenty years later. Though blind and then deaf, he stayed gentle, clear-minded, and resigned, never complaining. After his death, he was called to explain the cause of that double loss.

The medium’s hand begins writing...

Joseph MaitreThank you, my friends, for remembering me. I come gladly, happy to add my example to the proofs of God's justice and to deepen your understanding of the connection between successive lives.

Joseph MaitreYou knew me blind and deaf, and you wondered what I had done to deserve such a fate. I'll tell you. First, you need to know that it was the second time I had been deprived of sight.

Joseph MaitreIn my previous life, at the beginning of the last century, I made myself blind through every kind of excess. I had ruined my health and weakened my organs. That blindness was the beginning of my punishment for misusing the gifts God had given me, because I had been richly endowed.

Joseph MaitreBut instead of admitting that I had caused my own condition, I accused divine justice of being unfair, even though I only half believed in it. I raged against God. I denied Him. I accused Him. I cried out that if He truly existed, then He must be unjust and wicked to let His creatures suffer.

Joseph MaitreInstead, I should have been grateful that I wasn't forced, like so many blind people, to beg for my bread. But I thought only of myself and of the pleasures I could no longer enjoy. Under the influence of those thoughts, and with my lack of faith, I became harsh, irritable, demanding, and unbearable to everyone around me.

Joseph MaitreLife no longer had any purpose for me. I gave no thought to the future, which I considered a fantasy. When science had tried every remedy and told me there was no cure, I decided to end my misery, and I killed myself.

Joseph MaitreWhen I woke in the other life, I found myself plunged, sadly, into the same darkness as on Earth. I soon learned that I had left the world of men, but even in spirit life I was still blind. So life beyond the grave was real.

Joseph MaitreI tried in vain to escape it. I tried in vain to take refuge in annihilation. I could find no way to destroy myself. Every effort met only emptiness. If this life after death was eternal, as I had heard... then would I have to remain forever in that state? The thought was terrible.

Joseph MaitreI felt no physical pain, but I can't describe the torment and anguish of my mind. How long did that agony last? I don't know. But it felt terribly long.

Joseph MaitreAt last, exhausted and worn down, I changed. I felt that some power greater than mine was holding me. I said to myself that if it could hold me down, it could also raise me up. So I begged for its pity.

Joseph MaitreAs I prayed, and as my prayer grew more sincere, something seemed to tell me that my dreadful condition would end. At last, light was restored to me. My joy was great when I began to see heavenly splendors and the spirits around me smiling kindly, and others moving through space in radiance.

Joseph MaitreI wanted to follow them, but an invisible force held me back. Then one of the spirits near me said, God, whom you forgot, has taken note of your return to Him and has allowed us to restore your sight. But you gave in only through weariness and pressure. If you want to share in the happiness we enjoy here, you must prove that your repentance is sincere by beginning your trial on Earth again, under conditions that will expose you to the danger of falling into the same faults. This new trial will be harder than the last.

Joseph MaitreI accepted eagerly, fully resolved not to fail again.

Joseph MaitreSo I returned to Earth in the life you knew. It wasn't hard for me to be good, because I wasn't naturally bad. I had rebelled against God, and God had punished me. But this time I came back with an instinctive faith in Him. So I did not complain again. I bore my double infirmity with acceptance, as an atonement required by just divine law.

Joseph MaitreThe isolation of the last years of my life did not throw me into despair, because I believed in the future and in the mercy of God. On the contrary, it helped me greatly. During that long night of silence, my soul, freed from earthly distractions, rose toward the Eternal and was given a glimpse of infinity. When my exile ended, the spirit world offered me only splendors beyond words and joys beyond expression.

Joseph MaitreCompared with my past, my present condition feels like pure happiness. But when I look ahead, I still see how far I am from perfect happiness. I have atoned, but I still have to make reparation. My last life benefited only myself. I hope soon to begin another one in which I'll be useful to others and make up for my former uselessness. Only then will I move toward the perfect blessedness that awaits every spirit as the reward of steady effort.