The opportunity to be a blessing in the life of another comes unexpectedly. If the father seems absent in families today, that may be because he is absent as a soul figure in the society at large. We always tend to consider people’s distress objectively—that is, to place ourselves, with our own wants and sensibilities, in their conditions, and then to examine what occasions we should find in them for experiencing happiness or unhappiness. This method of looking at things, which seems objective because it ignores the variation in subjective sensibility, is, of course, the most personal possible, since it puts one’s own mental states in the place of any others, unknown though they may be. What is good to us is a long life if it is difficult and barren of joys, and if it is so full of misery that we can only welcome death as a deliverer? “The Lord has given his people strength that they might be means of saving one’s soul (Alma 31.38).”Experience, even when forgotten beyond recall, leaves its deposit, and where this is the deposit of long trial and error, of much reflection, and of wide exposure in fact or imagination to the human lot, the judgment based on it may be more significant than any or all of the reasons that the judge could adduce for it. This is why age is credited with wisdom; years supply a means to it whether or not the means is consciously used. #RandolphHarris 1 of 5

Again, the individual may similarly profit from the increasing age of the race; since knowledge is cumulative, one can stand on the shoulders of one’s predecessors. Whether individual wisdom is on the average increasing is debatable, but clearly the opportunity for it is. In many traditional cultures a person becomes an adult by hearing the secret stores of the community that have been handed down over generations. Elders give instructions, teaching the elements of ritual and art. Sometimes people have to endure ordeals deigned to draw out the adult. The point is to stir the young person so deeply that he or she experiences a major transformation of character. True fatherhood is evoked not by a flexing of muscle but by initiation into family and culture in a profound, transformative way. It may also require a visit to our own depths and a conversing with figure of memory both personal and cultural. Education in history and literature, when done with sufficient depth, can make good fathers.  Many people have had their father pass away, but you notice that they have such an essence of manhood in them that they feel sustained. I personally feel my father with me all the time and am receptive of his guidance. And he taught me that I can get through anything. He is a veteran for God’s sake. #RandolphHarris 2 of 5

In modern society, we have replaced secret wisdom with information. Information does not evoke fatherhood. If we are to link up with the spirit that is becoming father, we have to dare to experience the unknown, to open ourselves to unexpected influences on the soul. One psychologist may say that people need to be empowered—that is his or her definition of healthy. However, there are also times when we may need to be weak and powerless, vulnerable and open to experience. Another psychologist says people need to be capable of intimacy—relations is the ultimate goal. However, the soul also requires solitude and individuality. By focusing on a single value, we close ourselves off to many other possibilities that may seem contrary to the to the chosen one. In this sense, the image of humanity serves the many-faceted soul. It offers an openness to discovery and a trust in movements that are not intended or even expected. This is a fate the World is born into. It is unique and individual, always uncharted, teeming with its own dangers, pleasures, and opportunities. One becomes a father to one’s own life by becoming intimately acquainted with it and by daring to traverse its waters. #RandolphHarris 3 of 5

It takes genuine wisdom to be a mentor, the pleasure of which comes from instilling fatherhood rather than embodying. With maturity comes a deep father figure that settles into the soul to provide a sense of authority, the feeling that you are the author of your own life, that you are the head of the household in your own affairs. I sometimes feel like a father and when I write, I try to communicate things that I would want my kids to incorporate in their lives. Sometimes, I know no one wants to listen to their father and all of his protective advice, but it would be nice to read letters from one’s father in times of need. We need father figures badly, people who can keep us in touch with or stimulate within us that profound principle in the soul that provides guidance and wisdom. Every man, at some point, feels confident in their own manhood and know who to handle life from experience and that is when people are ready to start their own families and homes. If you constantly remind someone of how their father passed away, it may no longer have any effect, but a slight annoyance. After a while, people realize some people in society are mentally and love inflicting pain on others, and because of our maturity, we learn to accept it. #RandolphHarris 4 of 5

It is a challenge to evoke the deep father and not to be satisfied with substitutes and empty roles. There is no easy route to soul and no simple way of establishing fatherhood. And yet, without the guidance and authority of God, we are left disoriented and out of control. In times of chaos, especially, we might intensify and expand our prayer, speaking it from the heart. Our Father, who art in Heaven and who art on the sea, hallowed be thy name, sometimes our World feels like a battle zone, where missiles are falling too close to home. Other times we are caught in an endless storm, with situations that are out o control. Confusion reigns, and defeat may creep in to steal our joy. God, we need your peace—the deep-down-in-your heart kind that stays with us eternally and speaks to us confidently. Calm our souls, God. It is a prayer that we will never forget, not because the floor is hard, but because the spirit melted their heart. The Heart of the Universe, the essence of reality or God, the living spirit, is the essence of pure feeling. That feeling is back of every creative impulse, whether in God or a human being. Our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon him for assistance. No concern of ours is too small or insignificant. The Lord is the details of our lives. #RandolphHarris 5 of 5