Earth is charmed with Heaven. I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. Daydreams and fantasies—necessitous, frequently mysterious expressions of private ideas—are called utopian, as if wishful thinking and utopia were synonymous. Perfection is conceived of as harmony, the harmony of each living being with oneself, others around them and the environment. The tradition of utopian thought, in this restricted sense, is thus made up of ideas and images of social harmony. The forerunners of the utopian tradition are the fables and myths of the golden age, the Garden of Eden, or some benign state of nature. These inherited stories, although of considerable antiquity, look back to some even more remote time in the dim past when harmony was allegedly the normal condition of life. Remorse or nostalgia is the usual accompaniment of these stories; reality is not what it was, nor can it ever again be what it was, except perhaps through some divine intercession. Heaven is a wonderful pace and the benefits for the believer are out of this World. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7

An uncontrived harmony characterized the primal felicity. Simple people led simple lives, but because human nature was undeveloped, people were easily made content. If the glories and pleasures of civilization were missing, so were its artificialities and corruptions. Whenever disgust or disenchantment with civilization has become acute, these antiquated stories are retold in order to expose the faults of civilization. However, apart from their role in this fundamentally self-conscious method of striking at an existing order, these stories are primarily interesting as repositories of the age-old longings of ordinary humanity. All that the World is summed up in short and tantalizing descriptions. Sometimes long ago, when people were still in touch with the sources of reality, they lived without domination, irrational inequality, scarcity, brutalizing labor, warfare, and the tortures of conscience; they lived without disharmony of any form. The good life is defined by the absence of these things. The framework of the good life, the condition of harmony, must be social. Heavenly rest will be so refreshing that we will never feel that exhaustion of mind and body we so frequently experience now. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7

In Heaven, I wish with all my heart that I can reclaim all the time I have let slip through my fingers, that I can call back those countless conversations which could have glorified my Lord—but did not. The succession of ideas and images of social harmony hold that society be perfect or much closer to perfection than any society in the real World. The good life may be more or less civilized, more or less scientific, more or less abundant, more or less hierarchal, more or less free, but it must be organized and institutionally articulated. We focus on what is genuinely human rather than merely conventional, or of human’s potentialities. These discourses are not always consciously utopian; they may be directed to individual reformation or to preparation of the afterlife. They aim to assess the various kinds of human activity, the various pleasures open to people, or the various styles of life made possible by civilization or science. A utopia can be an intellectual effort at mastering the complexity of social phenomena; part of the effort consists of rearranging social phenomena; to form a more rational or beautiful pattern. Another cause is the desire for moral clarity. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7

Even when we allow our imagination to run wild on the joys of Heaven, we find that our minds are incapable of conceiving what it will be like. By painting a fair picture of felicity and suggesting that the World is, as presently made up, remote felicity, one may encourage an innovating spirit. At the same time, this utopia will give at least guidelines for reform. There may be no real expectation that the utopia will ever fully materialize or, indeed, that pure felicity can be had on any terms. The whole truth about social harmony is known, can be imparted, and should be acted on. There must be a sense of deep, intolerable wrong. There must also be a sense of enormous possibility, of not only righting the wrongs but also going beyond perfection itself, and either an overpowering group—or self-confidence or the conviction that the utopian leaders and their following are the instruments of some higher will or the culmination of some impersonal process. Utopianism is also a record of human aspiration. For the record to be complete, many other kinds of utterance must be consulted. They are peculiarly vivid forms take by permanent human wants. The revelation of psychological intelligence acknowledges that we can encourage hope that human nature is malleable beyond the limits assigned by Worldly pessimism or theological despair. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7

The Bible says as long as we are on Earth, we are strangers in a foreign land. There are enemies to be conquered before we return home. This World is not our home; our citizenship is in Heaven. New social milieus can emerge. As inward acts have a more immediate influence on the soul, to mould it to a right temper and frame, so ought we to be most frequent and sedulous in the exercise of them. Let us be often lifting up our hearts toward God; and if we do not say that we love him above all things, let us at least acknowledge, that it is our duty, and would be our happiness, so to do; let us lament the dishonor done to him by the foolish and sinful people, and applaud the praises and adorations that are given by God that blessed and glorious company above: let us resign and yield ourselves up onto him a thousand times, to be governed by his laws, and disposed of at his pleasures; and through our stubborn hearts should be set back and refuse, yet let us tell God we are convinced that his will is always just and good; and therefore, desire him to do with us whatsoever he please, whether we will or not. And so, for begetting in us a universal charity towards humanity, we must be frequently putting up wishes for their happiness, and blessing every person that we see. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7

Heaven makes this life more important. And when we have done anything for the relief of the miserable, we may second it with earnest desires, that God would take care of them, and deliver them out of all their distresses. Thus, should we exercise ourselves unto godliness, and when we are employing the powers that we have, the Spirit of God is wont to strike in and elevate these acts of our soul beyond the pitch of nature, and give them a divine impression; and, after the frequent reiteration of these, we shall find ourselves more inclined unto them, they flowing with greater freedom and ease. The psychoanalytic interpretation reveals that the reality principle enforces a change not only in the form and timing of pleasure but in its very substance. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, grant that I may not so much seek to be loved as to love. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snared of the devil; may God rebuke him, we humbly pray, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who wander through the World for ruin of souls. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7

I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead, His eyes to watch, His might to stay, His ear to hearken to my need; the wisdom of my God to teach, His hands to guide, His shield to ward; the word of God to give me speech, his Heavenly host to be my guard. Christ be with me Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort me and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in all the hearts of all who love me, Christ in the mouth of friend and stranger, I bind myself the Name, the strong Name of the Trinity, by invocation of the same, the Three in One, and One in Three, of whom all nature hath creation; Eternal Father, Spirit, Word: praise to the Lord of my salvation, salvation is of Christ the Lord. Lord, make me your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7