7. Sufferings due to causes prior to the present existence, as well as those which originate from present causes, are frequently the consequences of errors which have been committed. That is to say through the action of a rigorously distributive justice, we come to suffer what we have made others suffer. If we have been hard and inhumane we may be treated with harshness and inhumanity; if we were too full of pride we may be born in humble circumstances; if we have been miserly, selfish or made bad use of our riches we may find ourselves deprived of the necessary means of survival; if we have been a bad son or daughter we may suffer from the behaviour of our children.
It is only through the plurality of existences and the destiny of the planet as a world of atonement, which it now is, that we can explain the abnormalities in the distribution of happiness or unhappiness amongst good and bad alike. Nevertheless, these abnormalities exist only in appearance, due to the fact that they are considered solely from the point of view of the present. If we elevate ourselves, by means of thought, in such a way as to see a succession of existences, we will perceive that to each one is given what is deserved, after taking into consideration that which was gained in the spiritual world. Only then does it become apparent that God's justice is uninterrupted.
Man must never forget that he finds himself in an inferior world to which he is confined, due exclusively to his imperfections. Each time he suffers a vicissitude he must remember that if he belonged to a more advanced world these things would not happen, and that it depends on himself alone to see that he never returns to this world, by working harder to improve himself.
