You are a gift from God. Material objects are simply collections of inert space-filling atoms, it is at once obvious that minds cannot be material objects. For by their very nature, minds are centers of activity. Nerve fibers in the brain allow us to detect sensations and colours. Furthermore, unless there is a mind which is capable of looking beyond its immediate sensations, we could never even discover that there are material objects, nor could we fall into error. In addition to conscious minds and material objects, there are at work in the Universe, spiritual plastic powers, which are capable, like minds, of acting and having purpose but not of being conscious. They operate even in the human soul, as is particularly clear in our dreams; the activities of organisms derive wholly from them. God works through such powers, although he does not directly govern their day-to-day activities, and it is by virtue of their presence in nature that nature can properly be described as spiritual.  #RandolphHarris 1 of 8

By desiring what is perfectly good, even when we do not quite know what it is and cannot do what we would, we are part of the divine power against evil—widening the skirts of light and making the struggles with darkness narrower. Sensation never gives knowledge. Knowledge is possible only wen mind has itself as it object, whereas in sensation the mind is remote from its object. Furthermore, sensation cannot make us aware of such general concepts as cause, effect, means, end, order, and proportion, which are essential to knowledge. By their nature, sensations are incomplete and fragmentary. They arouse concepts in us, by which we systematize them, but the concepts, not the sensations, are the true objects of knowledge. The objects of knowledge, then, are modifications of the mind. However, knowledge is of eternal truths, the existence of which is quite independent of our existence. The greater the sinner, the greater the saint. Eternal truths must relate ideas in the mind of an eternal and immutable beings—God. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8

However, how are we to tell that we have achieved knowledge, since we have no access to God’s mind? The only criterion is the clarity and distinctness of our ideas. Reliability of the criterion of clarity and distinctness proves the existence of a God whose nature is such that he would not deceive us; nothing can be more certain than that what we clearly and distinctly perceive must be true. An individual, while one practices every vice that can disgrace human nature, may imagine one is doing God service. Things are what they are not by Will, but by Nature. Not even God, let alone a merely human sovereign, can, make an act good merely by willing it, for it is either eternally true or eternally false that acts of a certain kind are good. Even though it is, in fact, the case that God wills only what is good, the goodness of what he wills is not constituted by his willing it; one the contrary, he wills what is good because it is good. No doubt, an act which is in its own nature morally indifferent can come to be good—although only in a derivative formal sense—because God has commanded it. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8

However, this is only by virtue of the general principle that obedience to God is good, and we cannot without circularity suppose that the goodness of such obedience is founded on its being commanded. How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and is not sensitive to the ridicule of others? The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain and by having only simple, perfect trust in God—such a trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself. This moral psychology is the Spirit of God witnessing to the redemption of our Lord and to nothing else. The Spirit witnesses only to His own nature and to the work of redemption, never to our reason. If we are trying to make God witness to our reason, it is no wonder that we are in darkness and uncertainty. Trust in God and he will give you the witness of Spirit. It is really the human or the soul that understands and the human or the soul that wills, as it is also the human, not the will, that is free. There is an increased awareness that life is filtered through perception, and what is going on is primarily attitudes and perceptions rather than self-existent, external realities. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8

It is easier to stop reacting to people internally as well as externally by becoming familiar with the nature of consciousness. The faculties are ways in which the mind acts, not entities within the mind. Every act is once an act of will, the expression of an instinct or inclination, and an intellectual act. Reason never a motive to action. The mind is inherited and has a brain run by genes, chromosomes and a genetically determined personality set. Many of the personality’s major characteristics are already present at birth. Few people can actually be different from what they are. It is only the minority of people who seek self-improvement or spiritual growth. The instincts and inclinations cause a series of actions to start that will help you achieve what you want and employ the thinking, consulting and speculative power. The conflicts in our soul are not between faculties but between opposing ways of life—the animal, egoistic life and the spiritual life, with its concern for the common good. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8

Each person is merely fulfilling their own destiny. It is easier to stop reacting to people internally as well as externally by becoming familiar with the nature of consciousness. Lovingness is an attitude that transforms one’s experience of the World. We become grateful for what we have instead of prideful. We express our lovingness when we acknowledge others and their contributions to life and to our convenience. Love is not an emotion, but a way of being and relating to the World. Freedom does not consist in indifference—that is, in exercising a quite arbitrary act of power; it lies in our capacity to prefer the spiritual to the animal life. Free will, in this view, is not a source of sin. We sin through failure to choose the best, not by freely choosing the worst. In our society, people seldom take responsibility for the provocation, temptation, or hurled insult. It serves spiritual progress to always accept accountability for all that befalls when you instigate a reaction and avoid the trap of being a victim. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8

However, what about our freedom to choose the best? Is this a purely arbitrary power, or is it determined by the general nature of the soul which chooses? Saint Vitus was a young lad from Sicily. He died as a martyr during the persecution of Christians by co-ruling Roman Emperors Diocletian and Maximian in 303. Vitus is counted as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers of medieval Roman Catholicism. No one knows how old he was until the King took his life for the things he told about being honest and believing in God. The World is full of wickedness. So, Vitus says, “if you believe in God above you will all be saved. Lust can breed corruption, so wash it from your life. Do not believe in others, let your soul decide.” And so the King Grey was furious, he said “His end is in sight. Young Vitus must be stopped. The little child must die.” Saint Vitus—heard his distant cream. Saint Vitus—died for his beliefs. So, if you breed wickedness, keep this in mind. Vitus’ soul is watching you through the veils of time. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8

The triumph of human’s intellect, the proof of our power, is to make the serpent who inhabits us fight against himself, till he is destroyed. The good and the ill are one while their lids are closed. People seldom commit a sin without intending to derive benefit from it. We act well only when we act out of love, not out of sense of duty. The good life is free, disinterested, above egoism, harmonious, concordant, and therefore beautiful. All vice is a variety of self-love. Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or for other, any practice that is not in keep with a Holy God. Holiness means absolute purity of your walk before God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind—placing every detail of your life under the scrutiny of God Himself. Holiness is not simply what God gives me, but what God has given me that is being exhibited in my life. Well, people always stay the same. They never seem to learn until they have lost their faith and their souls have burned. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8