The essence of each person originates as a star in the Heavens. The union with God is the climax of cognition. The love of God holds the Universe together. Loving means being dependent on the absence of narcissism, it requires that development of self-effacement, fairness and reason. One’s entire life must be devoted to this aim. Self-effacement and fairness are indivisible, just as love is. It depends on our capacity to grow, to develop a productive orientation in our relationship toward the World and ourselves. Through love we shall have harmony and through harmony, peace, is as potent a force in social education as it has ever been. This process of emergence, of birth, of waking up, requires one quality as a necessary condition: faith. The practice of the art of loving requires the practice of faith. Faith is a character trait pervading the whole personality, rather than a specific belief. Rational faith is rooted in productive intellectual and emotional activity. In rational thinking, in which faith is supposed to have no place, rational faith is an important component. Scientist like Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton were all imbued with an unshakable faith in reason. Faith that has a foundation in one’s own experience, in the confidence in one’s power of thought, observation, and discernment. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6

Having faith in another person means to be certain of the reliability and unchangeability of one’s fundamental attitudes, of the core of one’s personality, of one’s love. This does not mean that a person may not change their opinions, but that one’s basic motivations remain the same; that, for instance, one’s respect for life and human dignity is part of oneself, not subject to change. In the same sense that we have faith in ourselves, we might take the time to watch and listen as gradually it reveals the deeper mysteries in our daily lives. As we stop to consider what is happening to us and what we are made of, the soul uproars. The fate and character of each of us is born in mystery, and our individuality is so profound and so hidden that it takes a lifetime for indemnity to emerge. All lives are important. It is the unfathomable mystery that is the very seed and heart of each individual. Only the person who has faith in oneself is able to be faithful to others, because only one can be sure that one will be the same at a future time as one is today, and, therefore, one will feel and act as one now expects to. Faith in oneself is a condition of our ability to promise, and since we can be defined by our capacity to promise, faith is one of the conditions of human existence. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6

Love cannot be forced, it comes out of Heaven, unmasked, and unsought. What matters in relation to love is the faith in one’s own love; in its ability to produce love in others, and in its reliability. No one can hinder your power because its an immediate presence is at the center of your own being. No one can reverse your use of it, since noting can contradict its authority. Therefore, you not only have some power at the center of your being; you have access to all the power there is, to all the presence there is, and to the only God there is. You must start to contemplate this power within you as answering your every wish; and you must believe that it does this immediately, right now—not tomorrow but today, because the law of this power within you knows no time. One must give conscious direction to this law and one must definitely expect it to respond. When you want to accomplish something, you know it is going to happen and believe it; there must be no doubt in your consciousness. That is what we call faith. Another meaning of having faith in person refers to the faith we have in the potentialities of others. One of the most important of these conditions is that in our lives, we have the potentialities to love, be happy, and use our reason. The presence of this faith makes the difference between education and manipulation. RandolphHarris 3 of 6

The root of the word education is e-ducere, to lead forth, or to bring out something which is potentially present. Education is identical with helping one realize one’s potentialities. The opposition of education is manipulation, which is based on the absence of faith in the growth of potentialities, and on the basis that one will be right only if we accept what is desirable and suppress what seems to be undesirable. However, we can all take strength in knowing that all the hard experiences in this life are temporary; even the darkest nights turn into dawn for the faithful. When all is finished and we have endured all things with faith in God, we have the promise that God shall wipe away all the tears from our eyes. As we exercise our faith in God, he will life us up and carry us through all our trials and, ultimately, save us in the celestial kingdom. Endure well in faith, become perfect through God, and have perfect joy in him. This respect comes of recognition that each of us is a son or daughter of God, endowed with something of his divine nature, that each is an individual entitled to expression and cultivation of individual talents and deserving of forbearance, of patience, of understanding, of curtsy, of thoughtful consideration. True love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter of anxious concern for the well being of one’s companion. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6

We have a friend within us who is closer than our own shadow. This friend anticipates our every desire, knows own every need, and governs our every act. This friend is the God within our own soul, the animating presence projecting our personality, which is a unique individualization of the living spirit. God is our infinite friend and father, and is not limited by previous experiences which we may have had, by present conditions, or passing situations. Just let all the cares of yesterday flow out and all the burdens go with them, for the soul cannot be restored by the River of Life unless it lets go of the past and discovers that a new future is forever flowing around it—something fresh and clean and new and wonderful. To lie down in a pasture suggests relaxation in the midst of abundance, an abundance which is already provided, a good which is divinely given. The words green pastures refer to a place of rest. Green is the most restful and comforting color in nature. It brings our minds the picture of a protected nook where we can find sanctuary in the middle of the day. The voice of Heaven is a still small voice; likewise, the voice of domestic peace is a quiet voice. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6

The pasture is beside still waters, referring to the River of Life in which there is no conflict, no turmoil. God then will be our partner, and our daily conversations with him will bring peace into our hearts. We must invoke God’s blessings upon our lives, house, vehicles, loved once, and dreams. We want our families and friends to know the security of a home where dwells the spirit of the Lord. With faith in God, we will experience the security of the kind word softly spoken, and the tempests of our own lives will be stilled. We want our kin and friends to know people with living honestly with God, honestly with one another and with their follow human beings. It is important to grow up with a sense of appreciation, having heard God loving people in prayer, who express gratitude for blessings great and small. We will mature with faith in the living God. The destroying Angel of domestic bitterness will pass by is and we will know peace and love throughout our lives which may be extended into all eternity. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6