Gifts of Heaven · Volume 3 · Chapter 409

The snail as a picture of life

25th June 1847

[1] Man, as he should be and also as he should not be, is like a snail!

[2] The snail, an altogether miserable little animal, is a double image, which occurs at all times and, except at the polar regions, almost at all places of the earth under manifold changed shapes and sizes and is therefore also mainly quite close to humans for observation, so that they should learn from it how they should be and again also how they should not be.

[3] Just like the snail retracts it's little feeling and visual tentacles, and turn inwards, humans are to remove their eyes carefully from the enticing and blinding world. But they are again not to drive their eyes from themselves out into the world like the snail, where they then only see nothing but the world with all it's temptations and have no more eyes for Me!

[4] Like snails, people should have four eyes, of which the two large eyes of the soul – reason and intellect – are to be directed upwards to Me, God the Lord, and only the two very small physical eyes downwards to the world. But they should not stick their big eyes out into the world like the snails, look at their many sensoric needs and look only with their small eyes at the important path of life, which (NB.!) is now so commonly the case with people.

[5] Furthermore, people are again to be just as careful as the snails and should only, if it is necessary, stick their inner being out from their natural shell (the body) and show there that they are not empty shells – and are to withdraw it, like the snails, also as soon as possible back into the shell, if it is threatened with any danger from the world. But again they are not to empty their inner being, like the snail, merely for sensoric needs; or people are not to use their spiritual talents to gain earthly or worldly advantages through it!

[6] Again people are to learn patience from the snail and thus pursue their goal with a snail-like patience and perseverance and are to consider at all times that no tree of any importance can fall at one blow! But they should not follow the path of spiritual life with snail mail! And if it is a matter of helping the poor and needy, there, too, they are not to make their way on their feet with the infinitely patient sluggishness of snails, but there they are to hurry like a deer and leap like a lion!

[7] Furthermore, man is to build and furnish his earthly house as simply as the snail does for simple needs, so that it's burden will not crush the inner, spiritual life! But again people are not to hang like the snail on their bodily shell, so that, if it is taken from them, they then do not suffer death in their soul as the snail does, if it's shell is smashed!

[8] As the snail does with it's abundant juice gushing out of it, sticking to all objects and thereby attracts them to itself in a certain way, so that they serve it as the basis of life – again people should do so too, through the ever inexhaustible outpouring of their love, which attracts and sticks to everything. But people are also not to sully and smear everything on all their ways with their dirty and slanderous words wherever they go, like the snail sucks to it's path with it's slimy juice wherever it goes!

[9] Several more such pictures of the snail could be given, but these are perfectly sufficient for you, if you want to consider them for your life. Therefore, I tell you once more: Be and act like snails, and be and act not like snails either, and you will live like true humans! Amen.