The old World has three times as much water as land, but with all of its twisting and turning not a drop sloshes off into space. It Is important to guide people toward dignity and independence through love of and respect for language. Being informs us that everything is energy, it may exist in the form of electromagnetic vibration, and it is a vehicle of universal thought (a gratuitous addition), we are apt to think that perhaps everything is, in some obscure way, thought and hence in the mind of God. The human mind also has measurable power. It is well known that the brain is an electrochemical organ; researchers have speculated that a fully functioning brain can generate as much as 10 watts of electrical power. Other more conservative investigators calculate that is all 10 billion interconnected nerve cells discharged at one time that a single electrode places on the human scalp would record something like five millionths to 50 millionths of a volt. If you had enough scalps hooked up you might be able to light a flashlight bulb. Even though this electrical power is very limited, it does occur in very specific ways that are characteristic of the human brain. Electrical activity emanating from the brain is displayed in the form of brainwaves. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9
Bring people into society, and he or she is immediately provided with a mirror which one wanted before. It is placed in the countenance and behavior of those each individual lives with. This is the only looking glass by which we can, in some measure, with eyes of other people, scrutinize the propriety of our own conduct. There is not a thoughtless word that comes from people’s lips, but they will have to account for it on the day of judgment. For out of your own mouth you will be acquitted; out of your own mouth you will be condemned. Sympathy is the principle through which humans developed their sense of membership in and benefits to be derived from society, and through which they come to be controlled by others. Sympathy allows people to put themselves in the place of others, and see the World as these others do; and sympathy makes possible the communication that initially forms and subsequently reshapes (as we seek the approval of others) who and what we are. Our most important stewardship is the glorious responsibility our Father in Heaven has given us to watch and care for our own soul. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9
Each person is born into a pre-existing association of human beings, and habit will consequently reflect a prior social order. Custom and habits are the necessary bases for reflection, for thinking, and occurs in the process of humans adjusting to their environment. Thinking is instrumental; it involves defining objects in one’s world in the context of activity and rehearsing possible lines of action in ways instrumental to adaption. Great things are happening because so many of you are faithfully acting upon the points of God’s laws and commandments. It is a privilege for us to witness in our lifetime such exciting progress toward fulfillment to the great prophecy that the kingdom may become a great castle and fill the entire Earth. We obey God’s commandments out of love for God. For if love of God is an adequate motive for moral behavior, why should not love of one’s fellows also be adequate? If we define situations as real, they are real in their consequences. We take the role of the other through the use of significant symbols and through this process engage in cooperative activity. We come to have minds, to think, through being part of a social process in which significant symbols emerge. These symbols provide the meaning of objects, the meaning to which we are responsible as we incorporate objects into our activities. #RandolphHarris 3 of 9
Walk the path of faith and stand for that which is right and true and good. Social life is complex, and for it to proceed one must respond to an intricate pattern of related behaviors by multiple others. The brightest prize to which mortals or Gods can aspire is truth. One does so, of course, through the symbolic capabilities characterizing humans. Selves arise out of interaction of persons in organized groups; the prior existence of organized groups is thus implied. Society also shapes the self, so does the self shape society through the process of constantly being created and recreated; in contemporary language, social interaction is constructed. Suffer not yourself to be led away by any vain or foolish thing. Keep the commandments. In this there is safety and peace. Nothing this World has to offer can surpass the joy of living the gospel. We are accountable and will be judged for how we use what we have received. The principle of accountability also apples to the spiritual resources conferred in the teachings we have been given and to the precious hours and days allotted to each of us during our time in mortality. #RandolphHarris 4 of 9
As long as we are willing to rise up again and continue on the eternal path of enlightenment, we can learn something from failure and become better and happier. When Leo was learning to walk, he would fall and get up again, and he would do this over and over until he built his confidence in his stride. He did not let his frustration hold him back. There may be times in our lives when rising up and continuing on may seem to be frustrating. However, by having faith in God and the determination to keep trying. Even when we think we cannot rise up, there is still hope. And just like baby Leo, sometimes we may need someone to look us in the eyes, and take our hand, and say, “It is okay. You can do this.” If there is some stability to self, then reliable measurement becomes possible. The fundamental elements of symbolic interactionism include the meaning component in human conduct, the social sources of humanness, society as process, the voluntaristic component in human conduct, a dialectical conception of the mind, the constructive and emergent nature of human conduct, and the necessity of sympathetic introspection have fallen before is as our destiny. We all want to be respected and esteemed. We want to be champions without effort and discipline or without making mistakes. #RandolphHarris 5 of 9
Our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble, but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and try again. We all know this mortal life is a test. However, because our Heavenly Father loves us with a perfect love, he has given us a map that allows us to navigate the uncertain terrain and unexpected trials that each of us encounters. All varieties of symbolic interactionists take as basic premises that humans act toward things on the basis of the meaning those things have for them, that meanings emerge from social interaction, and meanings are modified and dealt with through an interpretative process used by persons when responding to things encountered. Godly sorrow leads to conversion and a change of heart. It causes us to hate sin and love goodness. It encourages us to stand up and walk in the light of God’s love. True repentance is about transformation, not torture or torment. The core of symbolic interactionism consists in the assertion that humans create, use, and communicate with symbols; they interact through role taking, which involves the reading of symbols used by others; they are unique as a species through having a mind and self, which arise out of interaction, and which allow for the interactions that form the basis of society. #RandolphHarris 6 of 9
Human beings must be studied on their own level, and reductionist efforts infer principles of human behavior from nonhuman forms are misguided; must fruitful approaches to the study of human social behavior is through an analysis of society; that the human infant enters life neither social nor antisocial, with the potentialities for human development; and the human beings is an actor as well as a reactor. One of the adversary’s methods to prevent us from progressing is to confuse us about who we really are and what we really desire. The adversary’s purpose is to tempt us to exchange the priceless pearls of true happiness and eternal values for fake silicone trinkets that is merely an illusion and counterfeit of happiness and joy. However, it is a great source of spiritual power to live lives of integrity and righteousness and to keep our eyes on where we want to be in the eternities. Even if we can see this divine destination only with the eyes of faith, it will help us stay on the course. Human like to plan, constructing plans out of bits and pieces supplied by culture. Things take on meaning in relation to plans; the meaning of a thing is its implications for plans of action being constructed, so a thing may have different meanings relative to different plans. #RandolphHarris 7 of 9
When our attention is mainly focused on our daily successes or failures, we may lose our way, wander, and fall. Keeping our sights on higher goals will help us become better people. We plan toward things in terms of their meanings; a plan of action is executed contingent on the meaning for that plan of things encountered. Consequently, everything encountered must be identified and its meaning discovered. Even those who set their hearts upon divine goals may still occasionally stumble, but they will not be defeated. For social plans of action, meaning must be consensual; if meanings are not clear, they are hammered out through the rhetoric of interaction resulting in the creation of social objects. They trust and rely upon the promises of God. The basic thing to be identified in any situation is the person himself or herself; identities of actors in any situation must be consensually established. People of God will rise up again with a bright hope in a righteous God and the inspiring vision of a great future. Identity, meaning, and social acts are the stuff of drama; as drama involves parts to be played, roles implicit in the parts must be conceived and performed in ways expressive of the role. The construction of social conduct involves roles and characters, props and supporting casts, scenes and audiences. #RandolphHarris 8 of 9
Every person has had one’s own personal experience with falling. Falling is what we mortals do. However, as long as long as we are willing to rise up again and continue on the path toward the spiritual goals God has given us, we can learn something from failure and become better and happier as a result. Thus, identification of persons is most often in terms of roles and characters. We identify by placing things in systematically related categories of role systems, status systems, systems of social types, or contrastive sets of social categories. There will be times when you think you cannot continue on. Trust God and his love. With faith in the Lord and the power and hope of the restored gospel, you will be able to walk tall and continue on. We love you. We pray for you. We are mindful of you. The Lord is mindful of you! We acknowledge that your path will at times be difficult. However, it is promised by God that one day you will look back and be filled with eternal gratitude that you chose to trust the Atonement and its power to life you up and give you strength. You are stronger than you realize. You are more capable than you can imagine. The distinguishing characteristic of our lives and work must be our passion for integrity. Personal integrity—to be good as one’s word—is the highest virtue. Purity of language is a measure of the purity of the speaker’s soul, and vice versa. We fundamentally should have a respect for language as we have a respect for persons. #RandolphHarris 9 of 9