Sectarians are prone to substitute their own narrow notions of right and wrong for the Law of God, confounding acts that are perfectly innocent in themselves with sin. American culture is amazing, while bullying and school massacres are a major problem, Seth Rogan produced a movie called The Interview, which is a film whose plot is to assonate the political leader of North Korea. North Korea promised retaliation if the film was released, so Sony canceled the film. However, Americans complained that no one should censor them, so the film is now being released again. Yet, the theme of killing a political leader is not a good idea, or much of a Christmas movie and it really makes Americans look like bullies, hypocrites and instigators. The World is saying with all the murders of young unarmed African American men, police and children, The Interview is the last film that should have been produced. Americans need to learn how to love each other and reduce conflict. The American culture is so violent.  There is only one right and one wrong; and I do not understand, and may God Keep me from ever understanding, how two things so totally unlike can be mistaken for one another.

The grand principles of virtue and honor, however they may be distorted by arbitrary codes, are the same all the World over. So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this World rather than on Christ. Perfect love has a breath of poetry which can exalt the relations of the least-instructed human beings. Love does not aim simply at the conscious good of the beloved object: it is not satisfied without perfect loyalty of heart; it aims at its own completeness. We do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of me, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself, will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive, and are left will be caught up together, with them, in the clouds, to meet the Lord, in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence, and its only end. The true lover’s mind is completely permeated by the beloved object of his affections. Now brothers, about times and dates, we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a New York minute. Whole people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a major project for work, and your computer gets hacked and all your data is stolen, and they will not escape. However, you brothers, and not in darkness so that this day should not surprise you like a thief. You are all the sons of light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are sleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. Weak men, who, meddling with things too high for them, do suddenly fall into distractions; which distractions do not only unman men, but they run upon desperate ventures to obtain they know not what.

However, since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Society in America means all the honest, kindly mannered, pleasant-voiced women, and all the good, brave, unassuming men, between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Each of these has a free pass, in every city and village, good for this generation only, and it depends on each to make use of this pass, or not as it may happen to suit his or her fancy. To this rule, there are no exceptions, and those who say Abraham is our father will surely furnish food for that humor which is the staple product of our country. Man was not born to live alone.

He is linked to his to his brethren by a thousand ties; and, when those ties are broken, he ceases from all genuine existence. Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brother, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid hurting others. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through, and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

The strength of a king is the love and friendship of his people.  So, affection and love, of all kinds, are really central in the whole issue of mental health. Three paramount ingredients of love and affection are knowledge, friendship and acceptance. I have found that truly to accept another person, and his or her feelings, is by no means an easy thing. All that is involved in acceptance does not come easy. I believe that it is an increasingly common pattern, in our culture, for each one of us to believe that every other person must think, and feel, and believe the same as we do. We find it very hard to allow or parents, children, friends and spouses to feel differently than we do about specific issues. We cannot allow our clients, students to differ from us or to utilize their experience, in their own individual ways. On a national scale, we cannot permit a nation to think, or feel differently than we do. Yet it has come to seem to me that this separateness of individuals, the right of each individual to utilize their experience in their own way, and discover his or her own meanings, in this experience is one of the most priceless potentialities of life. Each person is an island unto himself, in a very real sense; and he or she can only build bridges to other islands if he or she is first willing to be an individual. However, real strength never impairs beauty, harmony, but if often bestows it; and in everything impossibly beautiful, strength has much to do with magic.