Happiness is the object and design of our existence. In some respects, progressing through life is like running a marathon. We are near the beginning of our Earthly journey. Because life, like a marathon, requires a good start and a strong, consistent effort all the way to the finish, many people have come to understand that throughout the ages wonderful results have been obtained through the prayer of faith. The Universe is a spiritual system governed by laws of mind. Therefore, it is important to set explicit goals and look ahead and decide what we want to do with our lives. We must fix clearly in our mind what we want to be one year from now, five years, ten years, and beyond. God is personal, and personal in a unique sense, to everyone. Conscious communion with the indwelling spirit opens avenues of intuition and provides a new starting point for the creative power of the Almighty. It is important that we write our goals and review them regularly. Nonetheless, our ultimate goals should be eternal life—the kind of life God lives, the greatest of all the gifts of God. If we focus on the unity of God, our thoughts become spiritualized and actually manifests the power of God. After you visualize yourself as you would like to be in twenty years from now, identify the preparation you will need. #RandolphHarris 1 of 5

Religion is human’s idea of God—of the ultimate reality. Anyone who has ever tried to master an art knows that patience is necessary of one wants to achieve anything. If one is after quick results, one never learns an art. For many modern people, patience is as difficult to practice as discipline and concentration. Our whole industrial system fosters exactly the opposite: quickness. All our machines are designed for speed: the car and airplane bring us quickly to our destination—and it seems the faster the better. Nevertheless, it will often take time to achieve our goals and we need to learn how to perfect things, and that will take time. It makes no sense to rush through life, not ever learning how to properly do things, and miss out on the beauty and perfection of patiently doing things. Also, determine to pay the price for your goals in effort, money, study, and prayer. Be sure you understand the course or path you will be taking, and be aware that the ideal course of life is not always easy. However, it is important to stay on the right path. Getting up at regular hours, devoting a regular amount of time during the day to activities, such as mediating, praying, reading, listening to music, and walking are ways to make sure we do not slip into darkness. #RandolphHarris 2 of 5

Our discipline should not be practiced like a rule imposed on oneself from the outside, but should become an expression of our will so that it is felt as pleasant. One slowly accustoms oneself to a kind of behavior which one would eventually miss, if one stopped practicing it. The most important step in learning concentration is to acquire fervent prayer, faith, and an overwhelming optimism. We should be grateful for the great privilege and blessings we have and expression a genuine satisfaction and joy within. It is important to have assurance that the eternal God is our refuge. In the laws of nature, there is volition and consciousness that maintains that the manifestation of physical life upon this planet is always in accord with organized intelligence. Organized intelligence can be accounted for only on the basis that there is an engineer as well as an engine. The Lord will never forsake nor abandon anyone. Living a righteous life is much more important than it may seem. The righteous life is the way—the only way—to true happiness, joy, and peace. We live in a spiritual Universe, and the individual soul is immortal. This gives meaning to life, and that is why we must pursue the path that leads to immortality. #RandolphHarris 3 of 5

The path of virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God will allow us to establish freedom and volition as an operating factor in connection with the energy which becomes form, and that allows us to establish a Universe of consciousness. We establish the possibility of communion, and arrive at a logical basis for faith, prayer, the religious and the mystical life. God is always desiring to be in constant communication with us, no matter how busy life gets. Our Heavenly Father knows the way for you to enjoy happiness and peace. Vast sums of money are spent each year to package and disguise sin and evil to make them appear enticing, attractive, even harmless. However, regardless of appearances, wickedness never was happiness, and never will be. Vital and dynamic spiritual concepts have placed firm foundations in intelligence and reason and must be the rules of thought. The Lord has given you the gift of agency and instructed you sufficiently to know good from evil. You are free to choose and permitted to act, but you are not free to choose the consequences. With absolute certainty, choices of good and right lead to happiness and peace, while choices of sin and evil eventually lead to unhappiness, sorrow, and misery. #RandolphHarris 4 of 5

According to our first axiom that God is all there, there is the implication that there is nothing else besides him. Hence, the entire manifestation of life is an evolution or unfoldment of form from that which is formless and eternal. This intelligent cause, this undifferentiated and undistributed God-principle, one and complete within itself, is the source from which all action proceeds and in which all creation takes place. May the Lord guide and strengthen each of us in running our personal marathon. We can live righteous lives, and with the help of God, do all that we should do. Our Heavenly Fathers loves each of us and wants us to be happy. We believe that the Universal spirit, which is God, operates through a Universal mind, which is the law of God; and we are surrounded by this creative mind which receives the direct impress of our thoughts and acts upon it. We believe in the healing of the sick through the power of this mind. We believe in the control of conditions through the power of this mind. We believe in the eternal goodness, the eternal loving-kindness, and the eternal livingness of life to all. We believe in our own soul, our own spirit, and our own destiny; for we understand that life of human beings is God. #RandolphHarris 5 of 5