There is only one immortal soul common to all human beings and also an individual soul for each person, which, however, is mortal. The intellect is capable of acting without a body and therefore can be considered as separable and immortal. Yet in our experience, the intellect has no action that is entirely independent of the body, and therefore we have no evidence that the intellect is separable. If we wish to understand the relationship of the intellect and the body, we must distinguish between being in the body as having the body for its organ or subject or substratum and depending on the body as having the body, its perceptions, and imaginations for its object. The intellect does not have the body as its subject as do the souls of animals and the lower faculties of the human soul. Yet the human intellect cannot know anything without the perceptions of imaginations offered by the body, and this fact alone proves that the intellect is not separable from the body. Death rudely interrupts our otherwise steadfast preoccupation with living. One the surface, living life without dwelling on death seems healthy and rational. In contrast, a morose preoccupation with death can be quite harmful and may, under certain conditions, provoke suicide. Yet denying death can be dangerous, too, particularly during midlife years, when most of us naturally encounter the loss of grandparents, parents, and the occasional friend. #RandolphHarris 1 of 10

At the most extreme, being unprepared for the inevitable can mean that each time we encounter death we are devasted, unable to function. There is no evidence to prove the absolute immortality of the soul. However, there is no doubt that the doctrine of the absolute immortality of the soul is true, since it is in accordance with Scripture, but it is perplexing whether it can be established within the limits of natural reason without recourse to the evidence of faith and revelation. Now imagine what it must be like to die unprepared, with important words unsaid, deeds undone, lessons unlearned. Though the actuarial tables may predict you will live to be one hundred and twenty-five years old, we all know that death can come at inconvenient times, as it did for Michael Jackson, Prince, and Kate Spade, when we still have a lot of living to do. Although it is unlikely, today or tomorrow could be your last day on Earth. Knowing that, do you feel you are spending today wisely? The human soul, having only one nature, is absolutely mortal and only in certain respects immortal. The human intellect, unlike that of the pure intelligences, always needs the body for it object and has no way of acting without the help of the images of senses or imagination. It must therefore be considered absolutely mortal and only relatively, or improperly speaking, immortal. Commandments and covenants are priceless truths and doctrines, where God is at the helm. #RandolphHarris 2 of 10

If people will have implicit confidence in their God, never forsake their covenants nor their God, God will guide us right. Clearly, our Heavenly Father has a clear and simple eternal truths that will help us stay the course through the troubled waters of mortal life. However, people who hide from the reality of death often become obsessed with youth. They often behave like youngsters and often date them. Silence and solitude are the archenemies of those who cling desperately to life because they are so afraid to die. Because death represents the ultimate uncertainty (no one has proved what happens after death), it is bound to trigger anxiety, stress, and recession. Research into normal, age-related death anxiety, reveals that what we fear about death changes as we mature through adulthood. Death concerns among young adults revolve primarily around losing someone they care for. During middle adulthood, death anxiety is focused on the physical pain of dying and dying before one is ready. Some elderly people worry about being helpless, and about talking a long time to die and running out of retirement money, social security, and medical benefits Social Security will run out of money in 2034, they are always dipping into their trust fund. Medicare will run out of money in 2026. CalPERS, which builds retirement and health security for California state, school, and public agency members has an unfunded pension. CalSTRS, which  provides retirement and survivor benefits for full-time and part-time California public school educators  also has an unfunded pension. Together, CalPERS and CalSTRS has a $1.4 trillion deficit. Interestingly, studies also demonstrate that people are most anxious about dying during periods of inner turmoil that revolutionize their attitudes, values personality, or behavior—a classic definition of the midlife crisis. #RandolphHarris 3 of 10

The human intellect does not have the body as its subject because it does not use a bodily organ in knowing. If it resided in an organ, the intellect could not reflect on itself or understand universals. The fact that the human intellect is capable of some knowledge of itself and of universals shows that it participate somewhat in immortality and, hence, that it is in some respect immortal. The ultimate end of human is contemplation and the satisfactory fulfillment of this end requires immortality. For a person is called good or bad with reference to his or her virtues and vices, yet a good metaphysician with reference to his or her speculative intellect and a good architect with reference to his or her intellect. However, a good metaphysician or a good architect is not always a good person. Hence, a person does not mind so much if one is called a good metaphysician or a good architect, but one minds very much if he or she is called unjust or intemperate, for it seems to be in our power to be good or wicked, but to be a philosopher or an architect does not depend on us and is not necessary for a person. The ultimate end must thus be defined in terms of the practical intellect, and every person is called upon to be as virtuous as possible. Since the perfection of the practical intellect is accessible to almost everybody, a farmer or a craftsperson, a poor person or a rich person, may be called happy and actually called happy and is satisfied with his or her lot whenever he or she is virtuous. #RandolphHarris 4 of 10

The end of human life should be practiced with moral virtue rather than with contemplation, because this end is attainable by all human beings, except grim soulless mortals. There are two ways of coming to terms with death. The first is t come to terms with life. Researchers have found that those of any age who believe that life as a whole is meaningful, and who are purposeful and highly satisfied with their lives, tend to be less frightened of dying than those who doubt the intrinsic meaning of existence and lack a personal sense of satisfaction. To further illustrate that point, if you think you have made the most of your life, the inevitability of death is less devasting. Crystallizing your thoughts about death can also lead to a clearer sense of life purpose and a greater degree of life satisfaction, which, are two of the best ways to diminish death dear. God would not be a good president of all things unless all good deeds found their reward and all bad deeds their punishment in a future life. The essential reward of virtue is grace itself, and the essential punishment of vice is iniquity itself. Hence, it makes no difference whether the external or accidental reward or punishment of an action is sometimes omitted, since its essential reward and punishment are always present. Moreover, if one person acts virtuously without the expectation, and another with such an expectation, the act of the latter is not considered to be as virtuous as that of the former. #RandolphHarris 5 of 10

Knowledge of the plan of salvation is a map of where we came from, our purpose here on Earth, and where we are going when we die. The plan also provides us with a unique, eternal perspective that we are God’s spirit children. By understanding who our Heavenly Father is and our relationship to the Lord, we will accept God’s commandments and make covenants with the Lord that will lead us back into God’s eternal presence. Thus, one who receives no external reward is more fully rewarded in an essential way than one who receives one. In the same way the wicked person who receives no external punishment is punished more than one who does, for the punishment inherent in guilt itself is much worse than any punishment in the form of some harm inflicted upon the guilty person. It is true that religious teachers have supported the doctrine of immortality, but they have done so in order to induce ordinary people to lead virtuous lives. Yet persons of a higher moral disposition are attracted toward the virtues by mere excellence of these virtues and are repelled from the vices by the mere ugliness of these vices; hence, they do not need the expectation of rewards or punishments as incentive. Looking for human weakness in others is rather easy. However, we make a serious mistake by noticing only the human nature of one another and then failing to see God’s hand working through those the Lord has called. #RandolphHarris 6 of 10

It should be repeated that a virtuous action without the expectation of reward is superior to one that aims at a reward and those that assert that the soul is mortal seem to preserve the notion of virtue much better than those who assert that it is immortal. We are not baby Gods, we are created in the image of God. That is much more powerful than placing a limit on God’s image. Those of us who are parents, stepparents, or godparents usually get some sense of the viability of our own personal cosmology when the children we love ask questions like “What will happen to me when I die?” or “Who is God?” There are not necessarily any natural reasons strong enough to demonstrate the immortality of the soul nor to refute its mortality, although many theologians, notably Thomas Aquinas, have reported otherwise. Since the question is thus doubtful on purely human grounds, it must be resolved by God himself, who clearly proved the immortality of the soul in the Holy Scriptures.  This means that the arguments to the contrary must be false and merely apparent. The immortality of the soul is an article of faith, for it is based on faith and revelation. It must thus be asserted on this ground alone and not on the basis of inconclusive or unconvincing rational arguments. If you will use the articles of faith as a guide to direct your studies of the Savior’s doctrine, you will find yourselves prepared to declare your witness of the restored, true Kingdom of God. #RandolphHarris 7 of 10

Each one of us ought to want to build our lives and help our families build their lives so that we can stand firm though the millennium. Children need to know that we do not fear death, because children (or adults, for that matter) who themselves fear death always hold something back. Be thankful Aaliyah have it her all while we had the chance, or she would have never been able to influence the World and music, movie, and fashion industry the way she did. And that hand is the certainty that death is not more than we can handle. Now, reflect on your current lifestyle. Evaluate the ways in which your lifestyle today supports your death style, ad the ways your life is at odds with the way you prefer to die. You may decide to change the way your treat your body, your friends, family, boss, colleagues, clients, animals, the planet, your house, care, and medial and emergency service providers, as well as members of the armed forces. Remember that the choices you make today create your future. Ask yourself if you need to make any alterations in your lifestyle so that your living becomes more consistent with how you want to spend your eternal life. You might want to change the way you live—a little or completely. If you believe in reincarnation, you may want to be more hyper vigilant about your figuring out what lessons you need to learn in this lifetime. #RandolphHarris 8 of 10

Look back over your life, and anticipate eternal life calmly. Feel the fullness of your life and the promise of reuniting with God in Heaven. Personal consciousness dances within cosmic awareness. My death will be a calm, welcomed escape from a life lived long and with great energy. I will be physically weak but mentally alert and happy for the chances life gave me to be engaged. My loved ones (my family and friends) will be in and out, enjoying my last days and our conversation. The spirits of my parents and brothers and sisters and all those I have loved who has returned to Heaven before me will be with me in as I pass into Heaven. I feel less anxious, not just about death, but about my life. I also find myself with many more instances of spontaneous joy. Life itself is full of little death, rehearsals, if you will, for the big one. We must honor the nevermores and never-will bes of our own existence. Many adults, for example, have not fully mourned their lost childhoods, the childhoods they did not get because they felt compelled to grow up fast. Others have not grieved adequately over lost dreams of a specific career, lover, or goal. Many adults must say goodbye to decades-old resentments and outdated emotional self-protections that used to help them avoid pain and confusion of life.   Until we bid farewell to these former parts of ourselves, we will not be fully prepared to step into life and grasp the new sense of identity that waits us on the journey. #RandolphHarris 9 of 10

This is a serious and delicate problem. We cannot deny that a thinker of the past may have entertained opinions which we do not find expressed in his or her writings or that he or she may have put into writing views which he or she did not hold in his or her innermost hearts. On the other hand, unless we have some text or document in support of this assertion, we are not entitled to claim that a thinker held some specific views which he or she failed to express in his or her writings or that even contrast with his or her expressed views. We must leave to look into our hearts and the hearts of others to see what their real opinions are. The human historian has no basis other than the written document, and the burden of proof, in history a in law, rests with those who want to prove something that is contrary to the overt evidence. Neither inuendo nor the assertions made by unfriendly critics or extremist followers can be accepted as valid evidence in lieu of some original statement or testimony concerning the author’s views. When you do not understand why things happen the way they do, a tremendously aspect of faith is trusting Go. Allow yourself to feel the depth of your sadness, your anger, your pain over any of the losses that hurt you. Human beings resist change, even in the beneficial direction, when we cannot be sure of what lies ahead. To confront this void takes great courage. You will soar through life with wings like a Golden State Warrior. When the trump of God shall sound and the dead shall come forth, we, with our loved ones, can be numbered among them and share in his presence. #RandolphHarris 10 of 10