We sought to find a tribe of tall beings, tender bone, ancient, simple, tangled with my fledgling, unknown to the World of records, history and location essential to the those we love. Supreme good is defined with happiness which is the exercise of natural human faculties in accordance with virtue. To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. Give us to your wisdom, your keen hearing, your vision. Where are the tall creatures? More or less, we send our love. This desire for interpersonal fusion is the most powerful striving in a mortal. It is the most fundamental passion, it is the force which keeps the human race together, the clan, the family, society. The failure to achieve it means insanity or destruction—self-destruction or destruction of others. Without love, humanity could not exist for a day. If an individual can control his or her cognitive functioning, that person can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come. There is an intellectual and moral virtue. Intellectual virtues are the deep personal qualities or character strengths required for good thinking and learning. Moral virtues lead a person to a life characterized by self-control, altruism and good acts. Love is union under the condition of preserving one’s integrity, one’s individuality. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7

Love is an active power in a person; a power which breaks through the walls which separate people from their fellow beings, which unites people with others; love makes one overcome the sense of isolation and separateness, yet it permits one to be oneself, to retain one’s integrity. In love the paradox occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two. If we say love is an activity, we face a difficulty which rests in the ambiguous meaning of the word activity. Activity, in the modern usage of the word, is usually meant an action which brings about a change in an existing situation by means of an expenditure of energy. Investigations of the definition of happiness or the good life is activity in accordance with virtue, and thus as the harmonious fulfillment of human’s natural tendency. Right action, just laws, and virtuous character are the means of achieving individual and social well-being. The will is rationally guided desire, formed by moral education and training. Vulnerability evokes powerful feelings in people. We do not have to understand these feelings as much as we need to respond to them. Through our relationships that may have been concealed for years, we learn about the aspects of ourselves. Love is an activity, not a passive affect; it is standing in, not falling for. In the most general way, the active character of love can be described by stating that love is primarily giving, not receiving. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7

The most important sphere of giving rests not that of material things, but in the specifically human realm. What does one person give to another? One gives oneself, of the most precious one has, one’s gift of life. This does not necessarily mean that an individual sacrifices one’s life for the other—but that one gives the quality of character of virtue and concern which is alive in our hearts; we give our joy, interest, understanding, knowledge, humour, and sadness—of all expressions and manifestations of that which is alive in our soul. In thus giving our or core being, we enrich other people, enhancing our loved one’s sense of aliveness by reflecting the purity of our moral and intellectual virtue. If nothing comes of the call, we can try again. And again. And if their silence continues, we can call to others. Night after night, sometimes our souls wander the Earth with the basic need to fuse with another person so as to transcend the chambers of one’s separateness. We cannot help desiring to share the secrets of our souls, into the innermost nucleus of a loving person so we can grow and unfold. Sometimes all we have to bring is this heart, as this land of the Sunset washes these banks of blue sea. These are the western mystery! As short as some meetings may be, they shape our lives, and missing becomes an endless river, a tender soft cloud, a fragrant flower and a music of bamboo flute. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7

Human behaviour flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. In responding to human pain, we risk what is known for what is yet to be known. We give up safety for searching. The risk means trusting God! In that trust we respond. Many a rainy or shiny day may pass amidst drifting leave, but sometimes the melodious song of passion still lingers in the woods in the memory, as enchanting figures flies from time to time into our dreams that arouse the recollection of the past days with sweet gentle breezes, murmuring brooks, white clouds and Sunlight. Even if we knew a thousand times more of ourselves, we would never reach bottom. We would still remain an enigma to us. The only way of fully knowledge rests in the act of love: this act transcends thought, it surpasses words. We have to know the other person and ourselves objectively, in order to be able to see their reality, or rather, to overcome the illusions, the irrationally distorted photograph we have of them. Only if we know a human being objectively, can we know that person in an ultimate essence. Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue. Throughout the centuries, poems have been written, ballots have been sung, mountains have been climbed, and battles have been fought because of love.  It is the daring plunge into the experience of union. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7

However, care, responsibility, living, respect, and knowledge are mutually interdependent. They are a syndrome of attitude which are to be found in the mature person; that is, in the person who develops one’s own powers productively. Still, we do not always think in an accurate way about love. One of the incorrect and irrational attitudes we tend to have is that love is merely a mystical feeling, a mysterious power that takes over; and when it comes, we fall into it, helpless to control it. We are prone to think that it can vanish as mysteriously as it came and that we are helpless to prevent its leaving. We need to stop thinking of love as a mysterious power that has control over us. We need to think of love as a way to treat other people, rather than something that happens to us; then we will begin to have power over our loving. Those who think of love as it really is can define it, explain it, and understand it. If we think of a person as being loving, or having the ability to express love, or lacking this ability, it helps. One of the most important things to look for in a marriage partner is the extent to which that person is able to express love. And in preparing ourselves for marriage, one of the most essential characteristics to incorporate within ourselves is the ability to give love as well as to receive it. The light of love shines on our daily life as the lightning turns the mediocre gullies and lush forests into legendary mirages. Thinking of our beloved should fill us wit energy. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7

Many persons have not grown up in loving families; they still can learn to love, however, by learning what a loving person does and making an effort to do those things. A loving person cares about the loved one. Parents who really love their children take good care of them. A person who says, “I love trees,” but who does not water and cultivate his or her trees, really is not loving their own trees. A person who says, “I love my birds,” but who does not feed his or her birds’ is not giving love to that bird. Loving is caring. A loving person respects other persons. A part of respecting people is not to force them. It may be necessary at times for an adult to force a child to do their homework or eat at times; but when two grown folks are relating to each other, if there is love between them, there is no force. We may try to persuade a person to see our point of view, or we may try to convince him or her to do something we would like that individual to do, but if we really love that person, we do not force that individual. A loving person responds to others. We can also learn to improve our responses. Love is empathizing, trying to understand how the other person feels and letting him or her know that we understand. A loving person cares for the welfare, progress, and happiness of the loved one. We not only care, but we make our resources available to them. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7

 When the love of God waxes in thy heart, beyond any doubt God has love for thee. Divine Wisdom is destiny and decree made us lovers of one another. The builder who gives extra time and effort to build an excellent house gains satisfaction from the contentment of the family that lives in it. The actor on the stage who gives extra preparation and exertion to one’s performance receives from the audience their approval and applause. An important dimension of loving is that loving a person also makes a conscious effort to receive. One is willing to receive not only physically, but also suggestions, advice, and acts of kindness. Do not treat vulnerability as a weakness. Practice being vulnerable (transparent and undefended and significantly softened) in safe circumstances, where the only danger is getting embarrassed by such overt self-unmasking. As we drop our guard, it can be a source of strength because we soften, making our connection with our partner more important than being right. This is vulnerability. Not so easy perhaps, but so potent in getting our relationships back on track. Loving is sharing. Have you ever seen a beautiful Sunset when you were alone and thought, “This would be lovely to share with someone?” Loving is forgiving. A loving person forgives one who has wronged him or her, and also forgives oneself for mistakes made. Guilty feelings can have some value in motivating a person to stop whatever it is that is causing him or her to feel guilty. Loving requires action. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7