Humans are alienated from their World. They come from a dim past and go into an indefinite future. After considering or doing everything, we must have faith that eternal life with worth anything we might be required to endure to receive it. Life in a flux in which one seeks anchor. Existence is rich in mysterious paradoxes and antinomies, such as those of freedom coexisting with dependence, communication with solitude, good with evil, truth with falsehood, happiness with grief, life with death, and progress with destruction. Learning more about life, death and what happens after death should make quite an impact on how we live. That knowledge should make us pause and consider what use we are making of the precious gift of life and whether we are using it to prepare for the eternal life God offers us. Authentic Existenz is disclosed through reason (Vernunft), while intellect (Verstand) concerns itself wit the pragmatic management of existence. Out of the numerous species of life in the Universe, humans are the only species that contemplate the meaning, values, and goal of life. We are encouraged to find the answers to these questions by deep reflection upon human existence in order to create an authentic individual to avoid despair and possess a cognitive and elevating emotion. A defining characteristic of humanity is our finitude, which one experiences as the limits to our existence. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9

Authentic existence will push back our perceived limits on our humanity as far as possible and then accept them and bear them. Death is one of the most dramatic of these barriers. It is the source of anxiety, but it also elevates the spirit because it emphasizes the urgency of living authentically without postponement. Consciousness of the inevitable presence of death gives humans the courage and integrity: it gives people an authentic perspective on things that matter most. This awareness is not that of an object, but reflection on the subjective satiation of being. Thus existence is about reflection upon the horizon of life. By reflecting upon that course (the limitless horizon of reality) we ask about being itself, which always seems to recede from us, in the very manifestation of all the appearances we encounter. This being we call the encompassing. However, the encompassing is not the horizon of our knowledge at any particular moment. Rather, it is the source from which all new horizons emerge, without itself ever being visible even as a horizon. Guilt is another important boundary situation. Humans not only feel guilty but, because of their total freedom, is guilty. One always could have chosen otherwise. Ultimate guilt cannot be removed: it must be accepted and can thereby become constructive. Our guilt demonstrates the power that our freedom has over our destiny. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9

Constructive guilt is often a blessings from God. A collage of reflections on healthy feelings of guilt, or remorse for having said and done things we wish we had not or left things unsaid and undone we wish we had is why constructive guilt can be a blessing. Remorse is honest and it can catalyze creative transformation. It can assist once in standing up for justice and courage, for wisdom and love. Constructive guilt can help one overcome addictions to false gods, both inner and outer, so that we can become our better selves. Just as we can cultivate compassions, so we can cultivate courage. Sometimes it begins by remembering times when we did indeed stand up, in ways large or small, despite our inclination to the contrary. In many cases, our standing up is also the result of a feeling of constructive guilt: that is, the guilt that comes from recognizing we have harmed others and ourselves through sins of commission and omission, by our words and actions, or lack thereof. We live in a World where some people believe guilt has no place in a healthy spiritual life. A lot of people want guilt-free spirituality. However, if we do not reflect on our lives and the things we have done, the illusion of moral purity is just that, an illusion. Good guilt is grounded in empathy and respect. #RandolphHarris 3 of 9

It is important to respect and be aware of the dignity, the intrinsic value of each and every human life, and non-human, on its own terms and for its own sake. Every living being with subjective aims, with a desire to find satisfaction, deserves respect and care. It is complemented by the idea that the mystery at the heart of the Universe, God, cares for us and is enriched by each living being in his or her own uniqueness. The differences make the whole richer: the whole of the Earth and the whole of God. God sees each soul as having a great value. Constructive guilt, then, is an enlightened activity. It is the sense of remorse that wells up in the individual’s psyche when one wakes up to the harm one has causes others, by commission or omission. Inwardly, this good guilt is a form of repentance, it is like saying that one is sorry and will never sin in that manner again. Repentance is a turning away from harmful ways and turning toward a more courageous and compassionate way of living. Repentance is the creative outcome of good guilt. It does not cling to the guilt, but is catalyzed by it to make a permanent change. The boundary of situationality is the fact that we are partially thrust and partially choose ourselves into a particular human condition. We can be inauthentic and inevitably fall into these situations or be authentic a make them happen. Other important boundaries are chance, suffering, and conflict. #RandolphHarris 4 of 9

Freedom is central to human beings; it leads to the overriding importance of choice, which becomes the problem of moral responsibility. Freedom is identified with choice, awareness, and selfhood. To choose means to be free, and human’s freedom is one’s being. I am only to the extent that I choose freely. To be is to be conscious that one is free. I do not choose life’s meanings, I do not define humans since I am limited by my historicity—my past choices bind me. However, within these confines my freedom is total. Freedom is experiences as both spontaneity and action; it is thus more important to act and be an homme engage than to observe and be a theoretician. To know and use my freedom is the raison detre of Existenzerhellung. Whenever I choose, I act, I am conscious of my actions, I am aware of the values involved, I take chances (since the consequences of my choice are often uncertain), and I realise that commitment to some values are unavoidable. However, it is important to toughen up. No one is looking for the eternal scum. Call them grim soulless mortals feeding off the downtrodden or the downtrodden feeing off each other. I always wonder—and never learn—whether or not the genuine Power Thugs ever stop to look at the violet evening sky or the overhead branches of an oak. Crack peddlers, executioners, teenage gangsters for a fatal fifteen minutes, the morgue’s never empty in the inner city, it is an eternal brew of calculated malice mixed with moral ignorance. #RandolphHarris 5 of 9

The presence of anguish adumbrates the sacred nature of my freedom. Since each choice carries with it the accumulated weight of previous decisions, the first choice overshadows all others. Consequently, guilt is the inevitable concomitant of my freedom. My original choice (Urentschluss) bears down on my subsequent existence and assumes the role of original sin. I am accountable for that first choice, so that to be responsible means to have accepted that guilt. In addition, I am ceaselessly confronted with the choice between sacrificing my integrity for the sake of a longer life or surrendering myself to my authentic existential possibilities. The inherent difficult of these choices leads to further guilt, which I may alleviate by imagining absolute standards and then approximating them. However, in my heart I know there are no fixed standards and that absolutism is therefore a renationalization: the boundary of guilt is indeed impenetrable. When I realise I may lose the promise of my possibilities, anguish also appears. However, that same anguish gives me the urgency and courage to choose with my full beings to implement the authentic potential of my Existenz. I reach this pedagogically expedient brink caused by anguish when I recognize the limits of scientific thought or when I am faced with critical decisions. #RandolphHarris 6 of 9

Confronted with the abyss, I may accept a philosophic or religious orientation, I may act as if I did not recognize the existence of the abyss before which I stand, or I may adopt the nihilistic position that judges these problems to be meaningless. Subjectivity is essentially intersubjective. I am only to the extent that another Existenz reflects me. Regrettably, most people seem to notice that life is short only after much of it has slipped away. We must learn to number our days, keeping in mind that our time will pass and we must take care to make the most of it. Understanding the meaning of life, death, and what follows this physical life can give priceless comfort and hope in the face of death. It should also have a great impact on the kind of person one is, motiving individuals to live carefully and make wise choices. Knowing that the purpose of this life is to prepare us for our eternal life of power and ability beyond anything we can imagine should encourage us to turn to God so he can begin to fulfill his promise in us. True communication is the feeling that people have know each other since eternity. My own freedom is in essence the search for the loving strife of communication with another Existenz. In fact, the search cannot be accomplished in the abyss of absolute estrangement. Existential philosophy is self-disclosure through communication, even being itself, although it can be represented only in ciphers as symbols, is made transparent solely through authentic communication (Existenzursprung). #RandolphHarris 7 of 9

Existential communication is neither friendship nor psychotherapy; it is not fusion, esteem, or unanimity; it is, strictly speaking, as with Existenz itself, ineffable. However, in the end, human existence is a failure. There is no escape from human’s limits (the limit of death in particular), yet humans are condemned to endless striving. In this dreadful paradox between finite existence and striving for infinity, humans finds the ultimate symbol of salvation, which is transcendence. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” reports Hebrews. Faith is an integral part of every Christian’s life. It is with faith that we overcome trials, it is with faith that we look ahead to our future, and it is with faith that we withstand our enemy. Following God’s plan for us is the surest way to find happiness and endure life’s challenges. Our lives will not end when we die. Our future lives are determined by the way we live now. There can be no repentance without recognition of wrong. Whether by provocation, introspection, or wrenching remembrance, denial must be dissolved. “The Spirit speaks the truth and lies not. Wherefore, it speaks of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls,” reports Jacob 4.13. #RandolphHarris 8 of 9

Recognition is a scared moment, often accompanied by the hot blush of shame. After recognition, real remorse floods the soul. This is a Godly sorrow, not merely the sorrow of the World, nor the sorrowing of the damned, when we can no longer take sin. “And wo is me because of their wickedness; for my heart has been filled with sorrow because of their wickedness, all my days; nevertheless, I know that I shall be lifted up at the last day,” reports Mormon 2.19. False remorse instead is like fondling our fallings. In ritual regret, we mourn our mistake but without mending them. There can be no real repentance without personal suffering and the passage of sufficient time for the needed cleansing and turning. This is much more then merely waiting until the feelings of remorse subside. Misery, like adversity, can have its special uses. No wonder chastening is often needed until the turning is really underway. Real remorse quickly brings forth beneficial indicator, products meet repentance. In times, these products become helpful and prosperous. One with a broken heart will not hold back. As confession lets the sickening sin empty out, then the Spirit which withdrew returns renew. Support from others is especially crucial. We must go to God as his child, because only a child gets his or her prayers answered. Prayer is a great work. #RandolphHarris 9 of 9