The human heart is so fond of happiness, that we give easy credit to what we wish. Happy are they who are blessed with the power of making happy. When I was a child, I remember my parents would take me and my sister Toy R Us, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. We would pull up and see the colourful letters on the building all lite up, bright and glittering. Then the interior of the store was bright and smelled good and as we walked through the door, we were greeted by Geoffrey and then were allowed to go pick out a toy or two. Opening the toys and the smell of the plastic was always a joy. It was fun to go through this big amusement park of toys, the shelves were so tall, and there was every toy a child could ever dream of and the people are the cash register were always nice and smiled. My dad used to say, “I see the light shining in your faces. That light comes from the Lord, and as you radiate that light, it will bless you and many others.” Nevertheless, I was so sad to hear that Toy R Us is going bankrupt and the younger generation of children will not get this same opportunity. They are losing business because people are ordering things online instead of going to the store and buying them. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8

I do not think patience is something that any of us grow up with in a large dose. It is a World of instant gratification. Nothing is more idle than to inquire after happiness, which nature has kindly placed within our reach. Instead gratification is great, especially when it is for good behavior. A dream is a wish fulfilled. There was this intelligent lady patient, and she had a dream where her wish was not fulfilled. She wanted to give a supper, but had nothing available except some smoked salmon. So, she thought about going shopping, but then remembered it was a Sunday afternoon, when all the shops were closed. The lady then tried to ring up a few caterers, but the telephone was out of order. Accordingly, she had to renounce her desire to give a supper. The human mind, in its eager, though too often unavailing, struggle for happiness, will still make the most of its means. Agreeable circumstances, arising in a disagreeable prospect, convey the greatest happiness that can be imagined. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8

These are people of great promise. They have much to do in their lives. They will do great work in their homes, in the Church, and in the community. The patient’s husband, an honest and capable meat salesman, had told her the day before that he was growing too fat, and that he meant to undergo treatment for obesity. He would rise early, take physical exercise, keep to a strict diet, and above all accept no more invitations to supper. She proceeds jestingly to relate how her husband, at a table d’hote, had made the acquaintance of an artist, who insisted upon painting his portrait, because he, the painter, had never seen such an expressive head. However, her husband had answered in his downright fashion, that while he was much obliged, he would rather not be painted; and he was quite convinced that a bit of a pretty young girl’s posterior would please the artist better than his whole face. (To sit for the painter. And if he has no backside, how can the nobleman sit?) She is very much in love with her husband, and teases him a good deal. She has asked him not to give her any caviar. What can that mean? #RandolphHarris 3 of 8

To do all of this, one needs to develop a testimony and have faith in Christ, to focus on Christ rather than the World. They are righteous children of God, and he loves them and want to help them. As a matter of fact, she had wanted for a long time to eat a caviare sandwich every morning, but had grudged the expense. Of course, she could get the caviar from her husband at once is she had asked for it. However, she has, on the contrary, begged him not to give her any caviar, so that she might tease him about it a little longer. However, this explanation seems thin. Unconfessed motives are wont to conceal themselves behind just such unsatisfying explanations. We are reminded of the subjects hypnotized by Bernheim, who carried out a post-hypnotic order, and who, on being questioned as to their motives, instead of answering: “I do not know why I did that,” had to invent a reason that was obviously inadequate. There is probably something similar to this in the case of the patient’s caviar. It is clear that in waking life she is compelled to invent an unfulfilled wish. Her dream also shows her the non-fulfillment of her wish. However, why does she need an unfulfilled wish? #RandolphHarris 4 of 8

One wants to make their own decisions, but one ought to make those decisions with an eternal perspective. With age, experience, and faith, one will have the wisdom to make good decisions and also to make the rights one. People know where to get the right answers. The ideas elicited so far are insufficient for the interpretation of the dream. I press for more. After a short pause, which corresponds to the overcoming of a resistance, she reports that the day before she has paid a visit to a friend of whom she really is jealous because her husband is always praising this lady so highly. Fortunately, this friend is very thin and lanky, and her husband likes full figure. Now of what did this thin friend speak? Of course, of her wish to become rather plumper. She also asked my patient: “When are you going to invite us again? You always have such good food.” Now the meaning of the dream is clear. I am able to tell the patient: It is just as though you had thought at the moment of her asking you that: Of course, I am to invite you so that you can eat at my house and get fat and become still more pleasing to my husband! I would rather give no more suppers! #RandolphHarris 5 of 8

You know the light by which you may judge, which is the light of Christ. The dream tells you that you cannot give a supper, thereby fulfilling your wish not to contribute anything to the rounding out of your friend’s figure. Your husband’s resolution to accept no more invitations to supper in order that he may grow thin teaches you that one grows fat on food eaten at other people’s tables. Nothing is lacking now, but some sort of coincidence which will confirm the solution. The smoked salmon in the dream has not yet been traced. How did you come to think of salmon in your dream? She replied: “Smoke salmon is my friend’s favorite dish.” It happens that I know the lady, and am able to affirm that she grudges herself salmon just as my patient grudges herself caviar. This dream admits of yet another and more exact interpretation—one which is actually necessitated only by a subsidiary circumstance. Sometimes dreams dovetail into one another, and furnish an excellent example of the usual ambiguity of dreams, as of all other psychopathological formations. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8

In our society today, many people blame others for their failures. We have observed that those who accept personal responsibility for their actions are more successful than those who blame their shortcomings and lack of accomplishments on someone else. Her friend, too, had expressed a wish, namely, to get fatter, and it would not surprise us if our patient had dreamt that this wish of her friend’s—the wish to increase in weight—was not fulfilled. Instead of this, however, she dreamt that one of her own wishes was not fulfilled. The dream becomes capable of a new interpretation if in the dream she does not mean herself, but her friend, if she has put herself in the place of her friend, or, as we may say, has identified herself with her friend. I think she has actually done this, and as a sign of this identification she has created for herself in real life an unfulfilled wish. However, what is the meaning of this hysterical identification? To elucidate this more exhaustive exposition is necessary. Identification is a highly important motive in the mechanism of hysterical symptoms; by this means patients are enabled to express in their symptoms not merely their own experiences, but the experiences of quite a number of other persons; they can suffer, as it were, for a whole mass of people, and fill all the parts of a drama with their own personalities. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8

We can let the light within us show in many differ ways. Maybe someone is jealous because you are more heavy set than they are. Sir Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish artist in the 17^th century. He is considered the most influential artist of Flemish Baroque tradition. Ruben’s highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of classical and Christian history, which included full figured women, and some of his paintings are now worth millions. They were known as women clothes with the Sun, and the Moon under her feet. So, you have to learn to love and accept yourself for who you are. As you see, some people are paying millions for art that is considered beautiful. Thin people are also beautiful. It is a good idea to be comfortable with yourself. Sometimes a smile goes far. Your effort to be friendly may give someone’s day a good start and it might be something they look forward to. A person who smiles every day, even when it is raining might change someone’s life. Each one of us can be a friend to someone, even if it is only by smiling. You can let the Sunshine that is in your heart show in your face. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8