Almost all our misfortunes in life some from the wrong notions we have about the things that happen to us. To know people thoroughly, to judge events sanely is, therefore, a great step toward happiness. Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light. The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences. We must make sure that life does not fade away into a shadow-World in which, finally, even the date of the year becomes uncertain. For then even the names of people will become vaporized and therefore will be considered to have never existed. However, even if all disparities are somehow eliminated, we will still not attain equal opportunity for all. This is because what has not been recognized as an equal opportunity problem, except in feminist literature and circles, is the disparity within the family, the fact that its gender structure is itself a major obstacle to equality of opportunity. This is very important in itself, since one of the factors with most influence on our opportunity in life is the social significance attributed to pleasures of the flesh. The opportunities of girls and women are centrally affected by the structure and practices of family life, particularly by the fact that women are almost invariably primary parents. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21

My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular. What nonfeminists who see in the family an obstacle to equal opportunity have not seen is that the extent to which a family is gender-structured can make the gender women belong to a relatively insignificant aspect of their identity and their life prospects or an all-pervading one. This is because so much of the social construction of gender takes place in the family, and particularly in the institution of female parenting. Moreover, especially in recent years, with the increased rates of single motherhood, separation, and divorce, the inequalities between the genders have compounded the first part of the problem. This disparity among families has grown largely because of the impoverishment of many women and children after separation or divorce. The division of labour in the typical family leaves most women far less capable than men of supporting themselves, and this disparity is accentuated by the fact that children of separated or divorced parents usually live with their mothers. The inadequacy—and frequent nonpayment—of child support has become recognized as a major social problem. Thus the inequalities of gender are now directly harming many children of both genders as well as women themselves. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21

Enhancing equal opportunity for women, important as it is in itself, is also a crucial way of improving the opportunities of many of the most disadvantaged children. As there is a connection among the parts of this problem, so is there a connection among some of the solutions: much of what needs to be done to end the inequalities of gender, will also help to equalize opportunity from one family to another. Subsidized, high-quality day care is obviously one such thing; another is the adaptation of the workplace to the needs of parents. One of the things that theorists who have argued that families need or cannot be just, or who have simply neglected them, have failed to explain is how, within a formative social environment that is not founded upon principles of justice, children can learn to develop that sense of justice they will require as citizens of a just society. Rather than being one among money co-equal institutions of a just society, a family is its essential foundation. It may seem uncontroversial, even obvious, that families must be just because of the vast influence they have on the moral development of children. But this is clearly not that case. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21

Unless the first and most formative example of adult interaction usually experienced by children is one of justice and reciprocity, rather than one of domination and manipulation or of unequal altruism and one-sided self-sacrifice, and unless they themselves are treated with concern and respect, they are likely to be considerably hindered in becoming people who are guided by principles of justice. Moreover, the sharing of roles by men and women, rather than the division of roles between them, would have a further beneficial impact because the experience of being a physical and psychological nurturer—whether of a child or of another adult—would increase that capacity to identify with and fully comprehend the viewpoints of others that is important to a sense of justice. In a society that minimized gender this would be more likely to be the experience of all of us. Almost every person in our society starts life in a family of some sort or other. Fewer of these families now fit the usual, though by no means universal, standard of previous generations, that is, wage-working father, homemaking mother, and children. More families these days are headed by a single parent; alternative styles of parenting is no longer so rare; many children have two wage-working parents, and receive at least some of their early care outside the home. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21

There are so few who can mature with a good grace. Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. While its forms are varied, the family in which a child is raised, especially in the earliest years, is clearly a crucial place for early moral development and for the formation of our basic attitudes to others. It is, potentially, a place where we can earn to be just. It is especially important for the development of a sense of justice that grows from sharing the experiences of others and becoming aware of the points of view of others who are different in some respects from ourselves, but with whom we clearly have some interest in common. How effectively suffering expresses accusation depends on the inhibitions toward raising accusations. Where the fear is not too intense, suffering may be demonstrated dramatically, with open reproaches of the general content, “Look how you have made me suffer.” This in fact is a condition under which accusations ca be expressed, because suffering makes accusations appear warranted. There is also a close connection here with the methods used to obtain affection, which we have already discussed; accusatory suffering serves at the same time as a plea for getting pity and as an extortion of favours in reparation for harm done. The greater the restraint in making accusations the less demonstrative is the suffering. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21

This may go so far that the neurotic will not even bring to the attention of others the fact that one is suffering. Altogether, we find the greatest variation in one’s demonstrations of one’s suffering. Because of the fear that besets one on all sides the neurotic is constantly shuttling between accusations and self-recriminations. One result is a permanent and hopeless uncertainty as to whether or not one is right in criticizing or in considering oneself wronged. One registers or knows by experience that very often one’s accusations are not warranted by reality but are provoked by one’s own irrational reactions. This knowledge too renders it difficult for one to recognize whether or not one is really wronged, and hence prevents one from taking a firm stand when necessary. The observer is inclined to accept or interpret all these manifestations as expressions of particularly keen guilt feelings. This does not mean that the observer is neurotic, but it does imply that one as we well as the neurotic’s thinking and feeling are subject to cultural influences. To understand the cultural influences which determine our attitude toward guilt feelings we would have to consider historical, cultural and philosophical questions that would far surpass the scope of this essay. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21

However, even in passing over the problem entirely it is necessary at least to mention the influence of Christian conceptions on questions of morals. This discussion of guilt feelings can be very briefly summarized as follows. When a neurotic person accuses oneself or indicates guilt feelings in some kind, the first question should be not “What is one really feeling guilty about?” but “What may be the functions of this self-recriminating attitude?” The main functions we have found are: expression of one’s fear of disapproval; a defense against this fear; and a defense against making accusations. When Dr. Freud and with him the majority of analysts tend to consider guilt feelings as an ultimate motivation they reflect the thinking of their time. Dr. Freud recognizes that guilt feelings arise from fear, for he assumes that fear contributes to the generation of the “super-ego,” which he makes responsible for guilt feelings; but he tends to believe that demands of conscience and feelings of guilt, once established, operate as an ultimate agency. Further analysis indicated that even after we have learned to react with guilt feelings to the pressure of conscience and accepted moral standards, the motivation behind these feelings—though it may show only in subtle and indirect ways—is a direct fear of consequences. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21

If it is granted that guilt feelings are not in themselves the ultimate motivating power it becomes necessary to revise certain analytical theories which have been built up on the assumption that guilt feelings—particularly those of a diffuse character, which Dr. Freud tentatively called unconscious guilt feelings—are of paramount importance in bring about the neurosis. I shall mention only the three most important of these theories: that of the “negative therapeutic reaction,” which contends that the patient prefers to remain ill because of one’s unconscious guilt feelings; that of the super-ego as an inner construction which inflicts punishment upon the self; and that of moral masochism, which explains self-inflicted suffering as the result of a need for punishment. We must apply ourselves diligently to working out or salvation. It is important to display the evidences of salvation in our daily lives through our obedience to God’s commands and through putting on the Godly character traits that are called the fruit of the Spirit. And, the tense of the verb continue to work out indicates “continuous, sustained, strenuous effort.” Here again we see that sanctification is a process, and a process in which we, as believers, are very actively involved. Maintain confidence that God’s spirit is working through us. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21

God is working to enlighten our understanding of His will, to stimulate in our emotions a desire to do His will, and to turn our wills so we actually obey. Most of all, God gives us the enabling power so that we are able to do His will. So progressive sanctification very much involves our activity. However, it is an activity that must be carried out in dependence of the Holy Spirit. It is not a partnership with the Spirit in the sense that we each—the believer and the Holy Spirit—do our respective tasks. Rather, we work as God enables us to work. God’s work is possessed behind all our work and makes our work possible. The Holy Spirit can and does work within us apart from any conscious response on our part. We have seen this in the initial act of sanctification where God created within us a new heart and gives us an entirely new disposition toward Him and His will. God is not dependent on us to do His work. However, we are dependent on God to do our work; we cannot do anything apart from God. In the process of sanctification there are certain things only the Holy Spirit can do, and there are certain things He has given us to do. For example, only God can create in our hearts the desire to obey God, but He does not obey us. We must do that, but we can do so only as God gives us the enabling power to obey. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21

We feel and know we are eternal. To understand all is to forgive all. So we must depend on the Holy Spirit to do within us what only God can do. And we must depend on God just as much to enable us to do what He has given us to do. So whether it is His work or our work, in either case, we are dependent on Him. We are not just dependent on Him; we are desperately dependent on God. Because we so often equate Christlike character with ordinary morality, we fail to realize how impossible it is for us to attain any degree of conformity to Christ by ourselves. However, if we take seriously the long lists of Christlike character traits we are to put on, we see how impossible it is to grow in Christlikeness apart from the sanctifying influence and power of the Spirit in our lives. Christlike character traits are: Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, self-control, compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, forbearance, forgiveness, thankfulness. That is fourteen beneficial character traits we are to put on (and there are others in Scripture), in addition to the many negative traits—pride, envy, jealousy, lust, covetousness, selfish ambition—we are to put off. Surely we must say with Paul, “And who is equal to such a task?” reports 2 Corinthians 2.16. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21

 We have all been to the circus or the carnival or the county fair and watched with amazement the juggler tossing and catching his four of five clubs. Think what it would be like to juggle fourteen! Yet that is essentially what we are called to do when we are told to put on fourteen—or more—different character traits, as well as trying to put away some bad one. Only the Holy Spirit is equal to such a task. Only the Holy Spirit can orchestrate such a diverse and well-rounded development of Christian character. And yet we are told to clothe ourselves with these Christlike qualities. We are to do it; we are responsible. However, in Galatians 5.22, Paul called the qualities the “fruit of the Spirit”—the result of the Spirit’s work in our lives. Putting together those two thoughts leads to the conclusion that we are both responsible and dependent. We are responsible to clothe ourselves with Christlike character, but we are dependent on God’s Spirit to produce within us His “fruit.” We cannot make one inch of progress in sanctification apart from the powerful working of the Spirit in us. And God does this, not because we have earned it with our commitment and discipline, but because of His grace. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21

God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing—including the working of the Spirit in our lives—in Christ Jesus, that is, by His grace through the infinite merit of Christ. As we pray for the sanctifying influence and power of the Spirit in our lives, we can do so in confidence that God will answer our prayers because His answers are not dependent on us and our holiness, but on the merit of His Son. We have seen, then, a threefold view of sanctification or holiness. We have seen that our holiness is first of all an objective, perfect holiness, which is ours by virtue of our union with Him who is perfectly holy. Then we have seen that there is an initial act of sanctification in which a person’s basic disposition toward God and His law is changed. This change is experienced by the believer, but is not dependent on the believer. It is solely a work of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, we have seen that this initial act of sanctification is followed by the continuous action of the Holy Spirit throughout our lives as God works in us “to will and to act according to His good purpose,” reports Philippians 2.13. In every one of these views of sanctification we see the grace of God. God in His grace sees us perfectly holy in Christ. God in His grace sends His Holy Spirit to create a new heart within us and to write His law on our hearts, thus changing our basic disposition. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21

And God in His grace continues to work in us through His Spirit to transform us more and more into the moral and spiritual likeness of His Son. It is important to keep your features perfectly under control. When you are in a public place, it is terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself—anything that carries with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide. In any case, to wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory is announced, for instance) is itself a punishable offense in the eyes of society. It is called a face crime. Consider that from the summit of these pyramids, forty centuries look down upon you. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equally in the eyes of the law, and that they are endowed by God with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If one cannot measure something, one cannot understand it. If one cannot understand it, one cannot control it. If one cannot control it, one cannot improve it. Trust people and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21

There are risks and costs to a program of action. However, they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of a comfortable inaction. When we become conditioned to perceived truth and closed to new possibilities, the following happens: We see what we expect to see, not what we can see. We hear what we expect to hear, not what we can hear. We think what we expect to think, not what we can think. To place oneself under another’s spiritual tutelage is an act which may be dangerous or may be auspicious. It depends on the other—on whether one’s mind is really irradiated with the divine effulgence or whether it is darkened by its own ego. In The Book of Mormon, in chapter 22 of 1 Nephi, Israel will be scattered upon all the face of the Earth—the Gentiles will nurse and nourish Israel with the gospel in the last days—Israel will be gathered and saved, and the wicked will burn as stubble—the kingdom of the devil will be destroyed, and Satan will be bound. About 588-570 before Christ. “And now it came to pass that after I, Nephi, had read these things which were engrave upon the plates of brass, my brethren came unto me and said unto me: What meaneth these things which ye had read? Behold, are they to be understood accord to thing things which are spiritual, which shall come to pass according to the spirit and not the flesh? #RandolphHarris 14 of 21

“And I, Nephi, said unto them: Behold they were manifest unto the prophet by the voice of the Spirit; for by the Spirit are all things made known unto the prophets, which shall come upon the children of humans according to the flesh. Wherefore, the things of which I have read are things pertaining to things both temporal and spiritual; for it appears that the house of Israel, sooner or later, will be scattered upon all the face of the Earth, and also among all nations. And behold, there are many who are already lost from the knowledge of those who are at Jerusalem. Yea, the more part of all the tribes have been led away; and they are scattered to and fro upon the isles of the sea; and whither they are none of us knoweth, save that we know that they have been led away. And since they have been led away, these things have been prophesied concerning them, and also concerning all those who shall hereafter be scattered and be confounded, because of the Holy One of Israel; for against Him will they harden their hearts; wherefore, they shall be scattered among all nations and shall be hated of all people. Nevertheless, after they shall be nursed by the Gentiles, and the Lord has lifted up His hand upon the Gentiles and set them up for a standard, and their children have been carried in their arms, and their daughters have been carried upon their shoulders, behold these things of which are spoken are temporal; for thus are the covenants of the Lord with our fathers; and it meaneth us in the days to come, and also all our brothers and sisters who are in the house of Israel. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21

“And it meaneth that the time cometh that after all the house of Israel have been scattered and confounded, that the Lord God will raise up a mighty nation among the Gentiles, yea, even upon the face of this land; and by them shall our seed be scattered. And after our seed is scattered the Lord God will proceed to do a marvelous work among the Gentiles, which shall be of great worth unto our seed; wherefore, it is likened unto their being nourished by the Gentiles and being carried in their arms and upon their shoulders. And it shall also be of worth unto the Gentiles; and not only unto the Gentiles but unto al the house of Israel, unto the making known of the covenants of the Father of Heaven unto Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the Earth be blessed. And I would, my brethren, that ye should know that all the kindreds of the Earth cannot be blessed unless He shall make bare his arm in the eyes of the nations. Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to make bare His arm in the eyes of all the nations, in bringing about his covenants and his gospel unto those who are of the hose of Israel. Wherefore, He will bring them again out of captivity, and they shall be gathered together to the lands of their inheritance; and they shall be brought out of the obscurity and out of darkness; and they shall know that the Lord is their Saviour and their Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21

“And the blood of that great and abominable church, which is the whore of all the Earth, shall turn upon their own heads; for they shall war among themselves, and the sword of their own hands shall fall upon their own heads, and they shall be drunken with their own blood. And every nation which shall be at war against thee, O house of Israel, shall be turned one against another, and they shall fall into the put which they digged to ensnare the people of the Lord. And all that fight against Sion shall be destroyed, and that great whore, who hath perverted the right ways of the Lord, yes, that great and abominable church, shall tumble to the dust and great shall be the fall of it. For behold, saith the prophet, the time cometh speedily that Satan shall have no more power over the hearts of the children of humans; for the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned. For the time soon cometh that the fulness of the wrath of God shall be poured out upon all the children of humans; for they will not suffer that the wicked shall destroy the righteous. Wherefore, He will preserve the righteous by His power, even if it so be that the fulness of His wrath must come, and the righteous be preserved, even unto the destruction of their enemies by fire. Wherefore, the righteous need not fear; for thus saith the prophet, they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21

“Behold, my brethren, I say unto you, that these things must shortly come; yea, even blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke must come; and it must needs be upon the face of this Earth; and it cometh unto people according to the flesh is it so be that they will harden their hearts against the Holy One of Israel. For behold, the righteous shall not perish; for the time surely mist come that all they who fight against Zion shall be cut off. And the Lord will surely prepare a way for His people, unto the fulfilling of the words of Moses, which he spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people. And now I, Nephi, declare unto you, that this prophet of whom Moses spake was the Holy One of Israel; wherefore, he shall execute judgment in righteousness. And the righteous need not fear, for they are those who shall not be confounded. However, it is the kingdom of the devil, which shall be built up among the children of humans, which kingdom is established among them which are in the flesh—for the time speedily shall come that all churches which are built up to get gain, and all those who are built up to get power over  the flesh, and those who are built up to become popular in the eyes of the World, and those who seek the lusts of the flesh and the things of the World, and to do all manners of iniquity. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21

“Yea, in fine, all those who belong to the kingdom of the devil are they who need fear, and tremble and quake. Those who must be brought low in the dust; they are those who must be consumed as stubble; and this is according to the words of the prophet. And the time cometh speedily that the righteous must be led up as calves of the stall, and the Holy One of Israel must reign in dominion, and might, and power, and great glory. And he gathereth his children from the four quarters of the Earth; and he numbereth his sheep, and they know him; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd; and he shall feed his sheep, and in him they shall find pasture. And because of the righteousness of his people, Satan has no power; wherefore, he cannot be loosed for the space of many years; for he hath no power over the hearts of the people, for they dwell in righteousness, and the Holy One of Israel reigneth. And now behold, I, Nephi, say unto you that all these things must come according to the flesh. However, behold, all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people shall dwell safely in the Holy One of Israel if it so be that they will repent. And now I, Nephi, make an end; for I durst not speak further as yet concerning these things. Wherefore, my brothers and sisters, I would that ye should consider that the things which have been written upon the plates of brass are true; and they testify that a being must be obedient to the commandments of God. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21

“Wherefore, ye need not suppose that I am my father are the only ones that have testified, and also taught them. Wherefore, if ye shall be obedient to the commandments, and endure to the end, ye shall be saved at the last day. And thus it is. Amen,” reports 1 Nephi 22.1-31. Spiritual help cannot be given indiscriminately and at the same time given wisely. It should be conditioned by readiness, worthiness, and willingness to receive it. It should be offered only by those who are properly equipped, suitably qualified, and purely motivated. Building up personality is a job for Christ. I should not care to entrust my personality, such as it is to any individual of a lower intellectual and moral standard them that. This critique is also applicable to spiritual teachers, as well as psychotherapists, against whom it was directed. O God of Heavenly powers, Who by the might of Thy command drivest away from people’s bodies all sickness and all infirmity; be present in Thy goodness to this Thy servant, that one’s weakness may be banished and one’s strength recalled, and one’s health being thereupon restored, one may bless Thy holy Name, through our Lord Jesus Christ. O Sovereign Lord, Thou art the creator-Father of all people for Thou hast made and dost support them; Thus art the special Father of those who know, love and honour Thee, who find Thy yoke easy, and Thy burden light, Thy work honourable, Thy commandments glorious. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21

However, how little Thy undeserved goodness has affected me! how imperfectly have I improved my religious privileges! how negligent have I been in doing good to other! I am before Thee in my trespasses and sins, have mercy on me, and may Thy goodness bring me to repentance. Help me to hate and forsake every false way, to be attentive to my condition and character, to bridle my tongue, to keep my heart with all diligence, to watch and pray against temptation, to mortify sin, to be concerned for the salvation of others. O God, I cannot endure to see the destruction of my kindred. Let those that are untied to me in tender ties be precious in Thy sight and devoted to Thy glory. Sanctify and prosper my domestic devotion, instruction, discipline, example, that my house may be a nursey for Heaven, my church the garden of the Lord, enriched with trees of righteousness of Thy planting, for Thy glory; let not those of my family who are amiable, moral, attractive, fall short of Heaven at last; grant that the promising appearances of tender conscience soft heart, the alarms and delights of Thy word, be not finally blotted out, but bring forth judgment unto victory in all whom I love. There are risks and costs to a program of action. However, they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of a comfortable inaction. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21

Mills Station Residence 3 at Cresleigh Ranch

Feeling cooped up? #MillsStation Residence 3 has the answer! A covered patio right off the kitchen provides ventilation and easy access to your courtyard space! 💙 Interested in seeing more? We have interactive floor plans and photos of this home’s elevations on our website. Link in bio. 👉 https://cresleigh.com/mills-station/residence-3/

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