We come from a dark abyss, we end in a dark abyss, and we call the luminous interval life. We cannot know the Universe as we can know its individual parts; only God can do this. Rather, the ultimate harmony may justifiably be spoken of as an object of faith—something which we are constrained to believe, even though we do not fully see it as of yet. The individual is merged in the universal, and the uniqueness of the individual person is an important kaleidoscopic of religious, moral, intellectual and social demands of the contemporary soul. It is only as knower that the self is a unifying principle. If individuality has no play, society does not advance; if individuality breaks out of all bounds, society perishes. As real beings, each of us must find some way not only of meeting our own personal needs, but also of helping to meet the larger (though not necessarily more important) needs of other people. It is sometimes tricky to find solutions that accomplish all this. Most of us run into issues every day: our needs versus their needs, or those of the family, club, career, or nation. Few problems occupy a more central spot in our scale of human values. In many ways, it is the job of our personalities to figure out answers to this dilemma—to mediate between society’s push and pull and the insistent demands of the self. We can be separate and distinct, impervious to other selves. We all have a center of our own—a will of our own—a center which we maintain even in our dealings with God. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8

 A person is worthwhile just because he or she is human. One does not have to earn that worth. We feel this to be so; it neither needs to nor can be established by argument. However, God too is a Person; we cannot deny him self-consciousness, because this is the highest source of worth in ourselves. The individual within the individual—those memories, thoughts, and feelings which make each of us a separate soul is part of our nature. Our physiological needs are very powerful because survival depends on their satisfaction. Religion and poetry are rich parts of our heritage and they go as far and deep as philosophy. The experiences these tools provide all communicate something and we can only begin to speculate as to the hidden depths, heights, and reaches of the mind. However, we know that these vocations are often times spiritual in nature and teach people intelligence and concern and respect for humanity, as they summon all our humanistic skills to prevent us from becoming a society of oppression, and control, without individual rights. As our World was never meant to resemble a gigantic Skinner box (an operant conditioning chamber used as a laboratory apparatus to study behavior), in which we all functions like well-conditioned pigeons. Each of us has a definite stake in ensuring that freedom of individual and social existence will spread and become the norm everywhere. However, that will not happen automatically. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8

We can encourage the existence of freedom, individual dignity, and many other cherished human values to become more real and more universal. If this is to be the pattern of the future, we need to ensure that humanistic persons are among those selected to set society’s goals, to establish the norms, to program the activities, and to produce the learning. To believe in the human condition might be regarded as the attitude of a fool, but to despair of it is the act of a coward. We cannot give up our human responsibilities nor forget the essential lessons of the word ecology: that we are all part of each other, and what affects one of us affect us all. There is no way in which we can overemphasize this idea. It represents to us the ultimate striving of the species we call the Human Being. “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give us a spirit of unity,” reports Romans 15.4-5. Our knowledge of the Absolute starts from experience—our experience of the concrete Worlds of morality, of beauty, of love or the passion of the intellectual life. It is, however, a postulate of reason that the World is a cosmos, not a chaos, which we can gradually explore, but never grasp in its entirety. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8

There are also other miracles, which we only have debate to guide us in trying to understand our place in the cosmos. Because of our large idealism, as human beings, we reconcile the dictates of morality and religion with the findings of science, with the purpose being to surpass our finite limits in the search of the supreme category—the infinite. Through history, humans have never been content with the limits imposed on us, and through sheer determination have done things which seemed impossible at some point. Modern marvels like invention of cars, airplanes, the Internet, skyscrapers, and space travel are truly miracles. It is through the exercise of the powers of the soul that human progress is achieved. The soul can discover the realities of things, comprehend the peculiarities of beings, and penetrate the mysteries of existence. All sciences, knowledge, arts, wonders, institutions, discoveries and enterprises come from the exercised intelligence of the rational soul. There was a time when such realities were unknown, preserved mysteries and hidden secrets; the rational soul gradually discovered them and brought them out from the plane of the invisible and the hidden into the realm of the visible. The nature of the soul is such that it is reasonable to entertain the hypothesis of its survival, and since human spirits must be values for God they were surely not made to be constantly destroyed and replaced by others. Yet, if there is personal immortality, it is not the inherent possession of every human soul, but must be won by the continuous effort needed to develop a coherent self. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8

 Mortality does not depend on personal immortality, nor need immortality be the central article of philosophy or religion. Yet, as much as we are open to philosophical debate, our personal mystery of the soul is ultimately determined by our own unquantifiable choice (belief). In the apprehension of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness—eternal realities—some believe that humans have already tasted eternal life and so should not be much concerned about personal survival.  The soul is the energetic nature of our being. It allows for the notion of reincarnation, and also the controlling beliefs of Heaven and Hell to try to impose some form of control on the human will. “Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of that age, one should become a fool so that one may become wise. For the wisdom of this World is foolishness in God’s sight,” reports 1 Corinthians 3.16-19. Our soul is a continuum which connects, records, and informs us eternally. It is the life of the Universe. “God catches the wise in their craftiness. The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile,” reports 1 Corinthians 3.19-20. The soul is interpreted as God, the power, the creator. It is the “demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that our faith might not rest on human’s wisdom, but on God’s power,” reports 1 Corinthians 2.5. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8

When we have the required age and maturity through the exercise of our faith, it is important to never do anything that would make us unworthy of it. If we have lost the vision of eternal life, we have to rekindle it. If our dreams require patience, we must give it. Never become overanxious. We have to do the best we can. We cannot say whether that blessing will be obtained on this side of the veil or beyond it, but the Lord will keep his promises. In God’s infinite wisdom, the Lord will make possible for all of us to qualify in worthiness to receive eternal life. Do not be discouraged. Living a pattern of life as close as possible to the ideal will provide much happiness, great satisfaction, and impressive growth while here on Earth regardless of our current life circumstances. The great wicked one and his hosts will do all in their power to keep us from obtaining the ordinances required for the ideal family. They will attempt to distract us from centering our mind and heart on raising a strong family, but by nurturing our kinship as the Lord requires, we still are electives for eternal life. Are there so many fascinating, exciting things to or so many challenges pressing down upon us that it is hard to keep focused on that which is essential? When things of the in crowd, all too often the wrong things take priority, then it is easy to forget the fundamental purpose of life. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8

The adversary has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is a distraction. He or she would have good people fill life with good things so there is no room for essential one. Have some of us unconsciously been caught in that trap? “People are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto humans. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all people, or to choose captivity and death, for the wicked adversary seeks that all people might be miserable like unto himself,” reports 2 Nephi 2.27. Why has our moral agency been given to us? Only to live a pleasurable life and to make choices to do the things we want to do? Or is there a more fundamental reason—to be able to make choices that will lead us to fully implement our purpose for being here on Earth and to establish priorities in our lives that will assure the development and happiness the Lord wants us to receive. We must try with every capacity to embrace the truth. We are led by the Spirit to understand our purpose for being on Earth, which is to achieve eternal life, and how to accomplish it. We must pray that the Lord will help us choose the right priorities. Otherwise, we will fail in life’s purpose. Some of our parents have taught us from infancy to unwaveringly life the commandments of God. By example and precept, they nurtured us in truth. They encouraged the development of discipline and sacrifice to obtain worthy goals. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8

Over the years, the consistent pattern of righteous living—woven from hundreds of correct decisions, some in the face of great challenge—will develop a character of strength and capacity. Sometimes we see people become successful and they stray from the teachings of God, and it is noticeable that they become increasingly more wicked. When you talk to them, they even start to sound evil. As we watch them sinking from the Lord, like the Titanic, all we can do is pray for them. However, some successful people stay in the Lord and live righteously, and those are the type of people we want to be around. It is never too late for a person to turn their life around and do the right thing. While wholesome pleasure results from much of what we do that is good, it is not our prime purpose for being on Earth. We must seek to know and do the will of the Lord, not just what is convenient or what makes life easy. We have God’s plan of eternal life and happiness. We know what to do, or can find out through study and prayer. We should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of our free will, and bring to pass much righteousness. For the power is in us, wherein we are agents unto ourselves. And inasmuch as we do good, we shall in no way lose our reward. The goal of ephemeral life is immortality!  #RandolphHarris 8 of 8