The smile is a very potent emblem of wisdom. The holy smile of divine radiance enlivens our humanity. Many of us can think of people whose smile seems to reflect wisdom. We will do our best not to think of it as something that is worn for our benefit. We will gladly see it as radiant. For many people the most radiant smile of all is that of an infant. Is there anything so liable to reduce healthy adults to a state of incoherent rapture than the sight of an impromptu smile illuminating the face of a baby? More importantly, is there any more profound sign of the potential for intelligence than the smile of a baby, which in the first six months of human life offers us a glimpse of incipient cognition? The spontaneous or endogenous smile that animates the face of a newborn baby, then through the first twenty-six weeks gradually and seamlessly develops into a sophisticated mechanism of affective interaction, has always fascinated parents, who are themselves naturally and deeply stimulated by their own infant’s smile. And we surely look for more in the smile of the newborn infant than signs of comfort or happiness. The smile also provides welcome evidence of the primitive stirrings of a future mind, a new personality. Babies learn how valuable their smiles are and how numerous intangible benefits may result from flashing it, and, in due course, deploy it strategically. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7

The social function of the smile is thus gradually established by association or conditioning, rather than as a consequence of any innate sensations of satisfaction or well-being that one might be tempted to read into the spontaneous, endogenous, or reflect smile. Most parents find this view unsustainable and are extremely reluctant to interpret the smile of their own baby as anything others than the outward manifestation of contentment or happiness. This is entirely understandable, yet it is also a valuable reminder that the baby’s perceptual hold over the parent is surprisingly strong and that the exchange of smiles between parent and baby is a complex transaction, or at the very least a situation in which both side put forth an equal amount of effort to achieve a desired result. Thankfully, we have been blessed with clear vision and understanding of our true identity from the beginning. God said, “Let us make humans in our own image, after our likeness. Each human being is a beloved spirit son or daughter of Heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.” Coming to know these truths with certainty helps us overcome trials, troubles, and afflictions of every kind. God can feel our pains, sorrows, and guilt and in return he gives us pure love so powerful that it is like nothing we have ever experienced. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7

Knowing that we are children of God is the most powerful knowledge we possess. Is it not possible that the belief in a devil or devils and in a future judgment from which one must shrink in horror are themselves a result of projecting our own unredeemed lives into the Universe, judging God by our own misfortunes, our own lacks, our own fears, doubts, and uncertainties? Perhaps the unconscious imagination of human beings have made this projection, for there can be nothing to fear from God. Human’s problems are within oneself alone, and to oneself alone, and from oneself alone. Suffering is not designed by the all-creative wisdom. There is a veiled statement of an immutable Law of Cause and Effect and the philosophy is not easy. It is the toughest that ever confronted the mind and imagination of humans. Many people may have been under the mistaken concept that God is good and everything is all right; therefore there is nothing to fear. However, this is far from the truth. What it says is this: Do you wish to be loved? Then stop hating. Do you want to be happy? Then be sure that you are never the occasion for unhappiness in others. Do you ever wish to stop shedding tears? Then be sure that you are never the instrument which causes others to shed them. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7

The evidence seems to be showing that even though most people are believers in the spiritual, yet some are still holding out faith that they will eventually have a spiritual experience of their own. Psychologist who study how the human mind works are no longer greatly surprised by the occurrence of psychic-like experiences. Indeed, it has become almost a cliché of experimental psychology that, whether or not there are any genuinely psychic or spiritual phenomena, it is more or less inevitable that most individuals will think they are experiencing them every so often—simply because of the vagaries of perception and memory and the mind’s capacity for imaginative recreation. However, for instance, with all our commerce with the World being constructive, interpretative, and tentative, once this view is accepted, many of our anomalous experiences seem much less sinister and inexplicable. We need not invoke reincarnation to explain why we recognize something we have not previously encountered. We need not rely upon spiritualism to explain why we occasionally “see” somebody who is not there or “hear” our name called when no living person has called it. Our cognitions are dynamic, and each of us is continually constructing one’s own models and arriving at decisions according to his or her experiential history and one’s personal schemata. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7

An understanding of the psychology of human perception, cognition and behavior suggests that, even if spiritual phenomena were not to exists, the kinds of experiences that people report under the rubric of psychic or spiritual should be expected to occur intermittently. Indeed, far from being abnormal or crazy, the powerful urge to see paranormal causes everywhere is actually an expression of the very same capacities that enable us to develop some of our most important and profound insights about the World. Psychics and other credulists are typically engaged seriously in that most characteristic of human enterprises: the attempt to capture our chaotic and fragmentary experiences in a network of meanings and to discover the hidden connectedness that (we hope) underlies all the disorderly and recalcitrant happenings in the World. Why do so many people believe in spiritual and psychic phenomena? Because they have psychic and spiritual experiences. And why do they have spiritual and psychic experiences? Because such experiences are some inevitable consequences of the way we think…like visual illusions, they are the price we pay for a generally very effective relationship with a massively complex World. Increased faith in God always leads to a desire to change or repent. So it is logical that they are open to spiritual experiences. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7

Thus, even if ghost, telepathy, precognition, second sight, and so on do not actually exist, nevertheless—according to what all these psychologists are saying—the human mind would seem certain to invent them. We were recently told of a priest who struggled to express himself who was blessing the sacrament for the first time. As he did, a powerful spirit came over him and the congregation. Later in the meeting, he bore a simple but clear testimony of the power of God he felt during that ordinance. As we diligently engage in our path with God, we can participate with God in his work to bring pass the immortality and eternal life of human beings. Those who find a way to truly behold God find the doorway to life’s greatest joys and the balm to life’s most demanding despairs. Because of our Lord and Savior, you and I are granted a most precious and priceless gift—regardless of our past, we can repent and follow the path that leads to celestial light and glory, surrounded by faithful children of Heavenly Father. We can become purified and exalted. We can dwell forever in the mansions of our eternal King, in unimaginable glory and perfect happiness. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7

When we are despairing, deserted, doubting, damaged, or defeated, behold God. God will comfort us. God will heal us and give meaning to our journey. God will pour out his spirit and fill our hearts with exceeding joy. God gives power to the faint; and to them that have no might, God will increase their strength. When we truly behold God, we learn from him and seek to align our lives with him. Are we certain there is nothing in us which can hurt anyone? Then as surely as God is God and justice is justice nothing can harm us, but harm we would do to another we ourselves must suffer. Only from a cleansing of the self comes redemption. We repent and strive to refine our natures and daily grow a little closer to God. We trust God. We show our love for God by keeping his commandments and by living up to our sacred covenants. In other words, we become God’s disciples. God’s refining light saturates our souls. His grace uplifts. Our burdens are lightened, our peace deepened. When we truly behold God, we have the promise of a blessed future that inspires and upholds us through the changes and difficulties in life’s journey. Looking back, we will recognize that there is a divine pattern, that really corresponds with reality. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7