Many people experience emotional states they cannot understand and identify. They often wonder at the intensity, origin, explanation, and duration of emotions. They also worry about what they might do as a result of these emotions. They may even questions whether the emotions are “normal” or not. Of course, his happens to all of us at times. It is one of the risks of being thinking, sensitive people. We begin questioning, analyzing our own experiences. We also categorize them, because that is what our rationalistic, scientific society expects. And when we cannot find a neat explanation or pigeonhole for a particular experience, we either bend it to fit another category, deny it, repress it, or project it onto somebody else (“I am not angry; you are!!”). If we cannot do any of these things because we are too honest with ourselves, we may conclude that the feeling is a bad one or a “sick” one. However, we do not have to become the privileged, personal disciple of such a self-actualized individual to benefit by them. If we have met one only once, for however short a time, merely to think of one helps us and merely to know of one’s presence in this World cheers us. Those who are sensitive enough to be able to do so, become by faith and sympathy shares in one’s own divine perception of the World. However, whereas theirs is a glimpse, the self-actualized is abiding. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
If one is intuitively directed to do so or is charged with a mission involving others, the person who dwells in this light may transmit it to those who are receptive. However, if others are hostile to it, there will be no felt result or perhaps even an uneasiness in its presence. This is a service of transmission or Grace, although not to be regarded as arbitrarily or capriciously given. When one penetrates to the still center of one’s being, the thoughts of this and that subside, either to a low ebb or into a temporary non-existence. Since thoughts express themselves in language, when they are inactive speech become inactive too. What one feels is quite literally to deep for thoughts. One falls into perfect silence. Yet it is not an empty silence. Something is present in it, some power which one can direct toward another human and which that human can feel and absorb temporarily—to whatever extent one is capable—if or when one is in a relaxed and receptive mood. If both are physically present, in total silence and bodily stillness, the communication will best take place because that is a state of transformative prayer. People react differently to one’s presence but only a few react rightly. Those are the ones with whom one has a spiritual affinity, and a prenatal link. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
Association with or proximity to such a being not only brings out what is best in them but also, when it ends, invokes the reaction of what is worst. Deliberative democracy models often seem to subject to the argument that they do not protect individual’s basic rights and liberties sufficiently. This objection is rooted in two assumptions: first, insofar as deliberative models appear to make a high degree of consensus or unanimity of public issues a value, it is fair to suspect that such unanimity could only be attained at the cost of silencing dissent and curtailing minority viewpoints. Second, what protection does a deliberative model allow against the tyranny of democratic majorities from imposing its choices and norms upon the minority? When raised against most versions of radical participatory democratic theories that also prioritize political deliberation, I believe that these objections are fair. I think it is fair to ask whether the radical democratic theories of Hannah Arendt, Benjamin Barber, or Mouffe and Laclau allow for a coherent theory of rights such as would protect both basic rights and liberties for all, and defend minority rights against the tyranny of the majority. However, such objections are not applicable to the model of deliberative democracy developed here. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
Precisely because I share with the Kantian liberal tradition the assumption that moral respect for the autonomous personality is a fundamental normal of morality and democracy, the deliberative model of democracy presupposes a discourse theory of ethics to suppl it with the most general moral principles upon which rights claims would be based. Insofar as a discourse theory of ethics considers participants to be equal and free beings, equally entitled to take part in those discourses which determine the norms that are to affect their lives, it proceeds from a view of persons as beings entitled to certain “moral rights.” I have named this moral right the entitlement to universal moral respect, and have attempted in Situating the Self to give a nonfoundationalist but principled justification for the recognition of this norm. I further maintain that within a discourse theory each individual has the same symmetrical rights to various speech acts, to initiate new topics, to ask for reflection about the presupposition of the conversation, and so on. I call this principle of egalitarian reciprocity. In my view the norms of universal moral respect and egalitarian reciprocity are moral rights in that they are entitlements that accrue to individuals insofar as we view them as moral persons. The step that would lead from a recognition of these two moral rights to the formulation of a principle of basic rights and liberties is certainly not very wide. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
Basically, it would involve a hypothetical answer to the questions, If it is plausible for individuals to view one another as beings entitled to universal moral respect and egalitarian reciprocity, which most general principles of basic rights and liberties would such individuals also be likely to accept as determining the conditions of their collective existence? Although the discourse theory shares this kind of hypothetical and counter-factual moral reasoning procedure with Kant and Rawls, it would be different from a Kantian deduction of the concept of right and from Rawlsian construction of the “original position,” in that it would privilege a discourse model of practical debate as being the appropriate forum for determining rights claims. However, are we not thereby landing in a vicious circle, that is, discourses, even to get started, presuppose the recognition of one another’s moral rights among discourse participants; on the other hand, such rights are said to be specified as a result of the discursive situation. I have indicated elsewhere that this is not a vicious circle but rather the hermeneutic circle that characterizes all reasoning about morals and politics. We never begin our deliberations concerning these matters at a “moral ground zero.” #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
Rather, in moral theory as in everyday morality, in political theory as in everyday political discourse, we are always situated within a horizon of presuppositions, assumptions, and power relations, the totality of which can never become wholly transparent to us. This much we must have learned from all the criticisms of rationalism in the last three centuries. Discourse ethics in this sense presupposes the reciprocal moral recognition of one another’s claims to be participants in the oral political dialogue. I am still enough of a Hegelian to maintain, however, that such reciprocal recognition of one another’s rights to moral personality is a result of a World-historical process that involves struggle, battle and resistance, as well as defeat, carried out by social classes, genders, groups, and nations. What is distinctive about the discourse model is that although it presupposes that participants must recognize one another’s entitlement to moral respect and reciprocity in some sense, the determination of the precise content and extent of these principles would be a consequence of discourses themselves. Insofar as the precise meaning and entailment of the norms of universal moral respect and egalitarian reciprocity would be the subject to discursive validation, we can speak here of a procedure of “recursive validation.” #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
The methodological procedure of recursive validation rules out the two consequences most feared by liberals vis-à-vis the model of deliberative democracy—namely, too strong a formulation of the conditions of consent, and the tyranny of the majority. The norms of universal moral respect and egalitarian reciprocity allow marginalized groups and dissenters both the right to withhold their assent and the right to challenge the rules as well as the agenda of public debate. For what distinguishes discoruses from compromises and other agreements reached under conditions of coercion is that only the freely given assent of all concerned can count as a condition of having reached agreement in the discourse situation. A sharp distinction has been drawn between the situation of the discredited with tension to manage and the situation of the discreditable with information to manage. The stigmatized employ an adaptive technique, however, which requires the student to bring together two possibilities. The difference between visibility and obtrusiveness is involved. It is a fact that persons who are ready to admit possession of a stigma (in many cases because it is known about or immediately apparent) may nonetheless make a great effort to keep the stigma from looming large. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
The individual’s object is to reduce tension, that is, to make it easier for oneself and the others to withdraw covert attention from the stigma, and to sustain spontaneous involvement in the official content of the interaction. However, the means employed for this task are quite similar to those employed in passing-and in some cases identical, since what will conceal a stigma from unknowing persons may also ease matters for those in the know. It is thus that a girl who gets around best on her artificial leg employs crutches or an artful but patently artificial limb when in company. This process will be referred to as covering. Many of those who rarely try to pass, routinely try to cover. One type of covering involves the individual in a concern over the standards incidentally associated with one’s stigma. Thus the visually impaired, who sometimes have a facial disfigurement in the region of the eyes, distinguish among themselves according to whether this is the case of not dark glasses sometimes worn to give voluntary evidence of blindness may at the same time be worn to cover evidence of defacement—a case of revealing unsightedness while concealing unsightliness. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
The blind, in all conscience, have enough advertisement of their condition without adding a cosmetic factor to it. I can think of nothing that would add so much to the tragedy of a blind person’s position as the feeling that, in the fight to regain one’s vision, one had lost not only the fight but the wholesomeness of one’s appearance as well. Similarly, since blindness ca lead to the appearance of clumsiness, there may occur a special effort to re-learn motor propriety, an “ease and grace of adeptness at all those motions which the sighted World looks upon as ‘normal.’ A related type of covering involves an effort to restrict the display of those failings most centrally identified with the stigma. The most interesting expression of covering, perhaps, is that associated with the organization of social situations. As already suggested, anything which interferes directly with the etiquette and mechanics of communication obtrudes itself constantly into the interaction and is difficult to disattend genuinely. Hence individual with a stigma, especially those with a physical disability, if they are to minimize the obtrusiveness of their stigma, may have to learn about the structure of interaction in order to learn about the lines along which they must reconstitute their conduct. From their efforts, then, one can learn about features of interaction that might otherwise be to much taken for granted to be noted. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
For example, if the properties are to be maintained, the hard of hearing learn to talk with the degree of loudness that listeners feel is appropriate for the situation, and also to be ready to deal with those junctures during interaction that specifically require good hearing. Frances figured out elaborate techniques to cope with “dinner lulls,” intermissions at concerts, football games, dances, and so on, in order to protect her secret. However, they served only to make her more uncertain, and in turn more cautious, and in turn more uncertain. Thus, Frances had it down pat that at a dinner party she should (1) sit next to someone with a strong voice; (2) if someone asked her a direct question, choke, cough, or get hiccups; (3) take hold of the conversation herself, ask someone to tell a story she had already heard, ask questions the answers to which she already knew. Similarly, the blind sometimes learn to look directly at the speaker even though this looking accomplishes no seeing, for it prevents the blind from staring off into space or hanging the head or otherwise unknowingly violating the code regarding attention cues through which spoken interaction is organized. When it comes to examining the subjective value of a particular trend, the individual oneself will often be eager to volunteer information. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
One may point out that one’s rebellion and defiance against authority or against anything resembling coercion were necessary and indeed lifesaving, since otherwise one would have been submerged by a dominating parent; that notions of superiority helped or still help to keep one going in the face of one’s lack of self-respect; that one’s detachment or one’s “do not-care” attitude protects one from being hurt. It is true that associations of this kind come forth in a spirit of defense, but they are also revealing. They tell us something about the reasons why the particular attitude was acquired in the first place, thereby showing us its historical value and giving us a better understanding of the individual’s development. However, over and beyond this, they lead the way to an understanding of the present functions of the trend. From the standpoint of therapy these are the functions of prime interests. No neurotic trend or conflict is merely a relic from the past—a habit, as it were, that once established keeps persisting. We can be sure that it is determined by stringent necessities within the existing character structure. The mere knowledge of why a neurotic peculiarity developed originally can only be of secondary value, since what we must change are the forces that operate at present. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
For the most part, the subjective value of any neurotic position lies in its counterbalancing some other neurotic tendency. A thorough comprehension of these values, therefore, will provide an indication of how to proceed in any particular instance. If, for example, we are aware that an individual cannot relinquish one’s feeling of omnipotence because it permit one to mistake one’s potentialities for realities, one’s glorious projects for actual accomplishments, we shall know that we must examine the extent to which one lives this way in order to ensure oneself against failure, our attention will be directed toward the factors that lead one not only to anticipate failure but to be in constant dread of it. The most important therapeutic step is to bring the individual to see the reverse side of the medal: the incapacitating efforts of one’s neurotic drives and conflicts. Some of this work will have been covered during the preceding steps; but it is essential that the picture be complete in all its detail. Only then will the individual actually feel the need of changing. In view of the fact that every neurotic is driven to maintain he status quo, an incentive powerful enough to outweigh the delaying forces is required. Such an incentive, however, can come only from one’s desire for inner freedom, happiness, and growth, and from the realization that every neurotic difficulty stands in the way of its fulfillment. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
Thus is one tends toward derogatory self-criticism one must see how his dissipates one’s self-respect and leaves one without hope; how it makes one feel unwanted, compelling one to suffer abuse, which in turn causes one to be vindictive; how it paralyzes one’s incentive and ability to work; how, in order to keep from falling into the abyss of self-contempt, one is forced into defensive attitudes like self-aggrandizement, remoteness from oneself, and feelings of unreality about oneself, so perpetuating one’s neurosis. Similarly, when a particular conflict has become visible during the analytical process, the individual must be made aware of its influence upon one’s life. In the case of a conflict between self-effacing tendencies and a need for triumph, all the cramping inhibition inherent in inverted sadism must be understood. The individual must see how one responds to ever self-effacing move with self-contempt, and with rage at the person before whom one cringes; and how, on the other hand, one responds to every attempt to triumph over someone with horror of oneself and a fear of retaliation. It sometimes happens that an individual, even when one become aware of the whole range of adverse consequences, shows no interest in overcoming the particular neurotic attitude. Instead, the problem seems to fade out of the picture. Almost imperceptibly one shoes it aside and nothing is gained. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
In view of the fact that one has seen all the harm one inflicts upon oneself, one’s lack of response is remarkable. Nevertheless, unless the analyst is very astute in recognizing this kind of reaction, the individual’s lack of interest may pass unnoticed. The individual takes up another subject, the analyst follows one, until they arrive again at a similar impasse. Only must later will the analyst become away of the fact that the changes that have taken place in the individual are not commensurate with the amount of work done. If the analyst knows that a reaction of this kind can occasionally be expected, one will ask oneself what factor at work within the individual present one from accepting the fact that the particular attitude with its train of harmful consequences must be changed. One’s drive to triumph over the analyst, to frustrate one, to let one make a fool of oneself, may be stronger than one’s self-interest. One’s tendency to externalize may still be so great that in spite of one’s recognition of the consequences one cannot apply the insight to oneself. One’s need to feel omnipotent may still be so strong that even though one sees the consequences as inevitable one marks a mental reservation that one will be able to get around them. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
One’s idealized image may still be so rigid that one cannot accept oneself with any neurotic attitudes or conflicts. One will then merely rage against oneself and feel that one ought to be able to master the particular difficulty simply because one is cognizant of it. It is important to be aware of these possibilities, because if the factors that choke the individual’s incentive to change are overlooked, the analysis can easily degenerate into mania psycholgica, a psychology for psychology’s sake. Brining the individual to accept oneself under these circumstances constitutes a distinct gain. Even though nothing in the conflict itself has undergone change, one will have a profound sense of relief and will begin to show signs of wanting to disentangle the web in which one is caught. Once this favourable condition for work has been established, changes will soon begin to occur. However, the Lord is trying to help us—all of us—get His gospel deeper in our hearts. We are no expected to find or walk this covenant path alone. We need love and support from parents, other family members, friends, and leaders who are also walking the path. These kinds of relationships take time. Time to be together. Time to laugh, play, learn, and serve together. Time to appreciate each other’s interests and challenges. Time to be open an honest with each other as we strive to be better together. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
These relationships are one of the primary purposes of father families, quorums, classes, and congregations. They are the foundation for effective ministering. To effectively serve others we must see them through the Heavenly Father’s eyes. Only then can we begin to comprehend the true worth of a soul. Only then can we sense the love that Heavenly Father has for all His children. Seeing others as God does it a gift. I invite all of us to seek for this gift. As our eyes are opened to see, we will also be able to help others see themselves as God does. What will matter most is what others learn from you about who they really are and what they can really become. My guess is that they will not learn it so much from simply lectures. They will get it from feelings of who you are, who you think they might become. Helping others understand their true identity and purpose is one of the greatest gifts we can give. Seeing others and ourselves as God does knits our hearts together in unity and love. With ever-increasing secular forces pulling at us, we need the strength that comes from loving relationships. So as we plan activities, meetings, and other gatherings, let us remember an overarching purpose of these gatherings is to build loving relationships that unite us and help us get the gospel of Jesus Christ deeper in our hearts. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
Become suspicious of any attempts to make the concept of symbols all-embracing and therefore meaningless. What then is the unsymbolic statemen that makes symbolic knowledge possible? It is that God is being-itself and as such beyond the subject-object structure of everything that is. It is interesting that symbols are irreducible experiences. A symbol does not only point to something else; it also participates in it. One should say that every statement about God is symbolic; but one should add that, inasmuch as it is symbolic, it precisely orients towards a non-symbolic reality immediately experiences. To say that God is the Infinite, or the Unconditional, or Being-itself is no longer presented as a non-symbolic statement. Rather, these terms precisely designate the boundary-line at which both the symbolic and the non-symbolic coincide. The unity we seek is to be one in Christ, to connect ourselves with Him. To connect our hears with Heaven, we need individual spiritual experiences. Those experiences come as the Holy Ghost carries the word and love of God to our mind and heart. This revelation comes through the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon; through inspired words of living prophets and other faithful disciples; and through the sill, small voice. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
These words are more than ink on a page, sound waves in our ears, thoughts in our minds, of feelings in our hearts. The word of God is spiritual power. It is truth and light. It is how we hear Him! The word initiates and increases our faith in Christ and fuels within us a desire to become more like the Saviour—that is, to repent and walk the covenant path. A symbol is therefore not a mere sign. A sign points to a meaning with which it has no intrinsic connection. It is an agreed, conventional way of saying something. Highway codes are made of signs, not of symbols. A symbol on the contrary has characteristics that distinguish it from a sign. First, a symbol participates in that which it points. This is a consequence of the fact that it became a symbol in the midst of a revelatory situation. Its association with revelation has lingered, and this makes it still participate in the power of that which was revealed. The “beyond itself” to which it points is no other than the revelation that was then perceived. A second characteristic logically follows: it opens up levels of reality which otherwise are closed for us, namely those levels to which we were raised in the original revelatory experience. Thirdly, it not only opens up dimensions and elements of reality which otherwise remain unapproachable but also unlocks dimensions and elements of our soul which correspond to the dimensions and elements of reality. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
A revelation would be unperceived, unless we had the capacity to perceive it. And only in the revelatory experience itself do we gauge the depths of our soul. What we call “ecstasy” corresponds to “miracle.” The miracle is the correlation of elements having revelatory power. The ecstasy is the opening of the soul’s depth to the depths of the situation. Fourthly, symbols cannot be produced intentionally. This is a principle of tremendous importance. That a symbol cannot be invented is evident, once it has been defined by its participation in a revelation creates symbols of itself. This is important for defining the function of theology. Theology as such has neither the duty nor the power to confirm or to negate religious symbols. Its task is to interpret them according to theological principles and methods. The theologian cannot discard traditional Christian symbols; that they are symbols and, as such, endowed with divine power, is enough. This cuts to the ground from under much of liberal Protestantism and its rejection of Catholic symbols. Yet the theologian should criticize symbols: one may discover contradictions between symbols. One may also by one’s prophetic insight contribute to the surge of a new revelatory situation out of which new symbols will grow. The condemns the static character which some attribute to Catholic sacramentalism and Catholic theology. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
Fifthly, symbols, like living beings, grow and die. They grow when the situation is ripe for them, and they die when the situation changes. This seems a difficult point to accept. It creates no problem with respect to artistic or social symbols. With religious symbols, however, a question arises. If these develop from revelatory situations, the revelation that gave them birth will always be a revelation. One may conceive that after years have passed it may have lost some power, that people will no longer fully perceive in what way this particular situation was revelatory. However, the fact will always remain that through these concrete symbols the Ultimate was once perceived. I admit that symbols have become latent and may be revived n favourable circumstances. Yet I maintain that religious symbols can undergo a disintegration, losing their symbolic power. When we choose the most symbolic action or repentance, we choose to change! We allow the Saviour to transform us into the best versions of ourselves. We choose to become more like Jesus Christ. This process of change, fueled by the word of God, is how we connect with Heaven. We must choose repentance for ourselves. The gospel cannot be forced into our hearts. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
Our Heavenly Father’s goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right; it is to have His children choose what is right. We do this by receiving the word of God through the Holy Ghost and allowing Christ to change us into the best various of ourselves. “And now, behold, my brethren, as I said unto you that I would prophesy, behold, this is my prophecy—that the things which this prophet Zenos spake, concerning the house of Israel, in the which he likened them unto a tame olive tree, must surely come to pass. And the day that he shall set his hand again the second time to recover his people, is the day, yea, even the last time, that the servants of the Lord shall go forth in his divine power, to nourish and prune his vineyard; and after that the end soon cometh. And how blessed are they who have labored diligently in his vineyard; and how cursed are they who shall be cast out into their own place! And the World shall be burned with fire. And how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people; but as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24
“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of your in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts. Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die? For behold, after ye have been nourished by the good word of God all the day long, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye must be hewn down and cast into the fire? Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the prophets; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you? Know ye not that if ye will do these things, that the power of redemption and resurrection, which is in Christ, will bring you to stand with shame and awful guilt before the bar of God? And according to the power of justice, for justice cannot be denied, ye must go away into that lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever, which lake of fire and brimstone is endless torment. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
“O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life. O be wise; what can I say more? Finally, I bid you farewell, until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear. Amen,” reports Jacob 6.1-13. What a blessing, or what a praise, or what thanksgiving, can we render to Thee, O God, the Lover of humans, for that when we were cast away by the doom of death, and drowned in the depth of sin, Thou hast granted us freedom, and bestowed on us this immortal and Heavenly food, and manifested to us this Mystery hid from ages and generations? Grant us to understand this Thy supreme act of mercy, and the greatness of Thy benignity and Fatherly care for us. Heavenly Father, Thou has placed me in the church which Thy Son purchased by his own blood. Add grace to grace that I may live worthy of my vocation. I am a voyager across life’s ocean; safe in Heaven’s ark, may I pass through a troubled World into the harbour of eternal rest. I am a tree of the vineyard thou hast planted. Grant me not to be barren, with worthless leaves and wild grapes; prune me of useless branches; water me with dews of blessing. I am part of the Lamb’s bride, the church. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
Please help me to be true, faithful, chaste, loving, pure, devoted; let no strong affection wantonly dally with the World. May I live high above a love of things temporal, sanctified, cleansed, unblemished, hallowed by grace, Thy love my fullness, Thy glory my joy, Thy precepts, my pathway, Thy cross my resting place. My heart is not always a flame of adorning love, but, resting in Thy Son’s redemption, I look forward to the days of Heaven, where no languor shall oppress, no iniquities chill, no miss of unbelief dim the eye, no zeal ever tires. Father, these thoughts are the stay, prop, and comfort of my soul. We want to live a life with Christ deep in our hearts, and engaged in our time and talents. If you choose to, if you want to, you can be a big part of something big, something grand, something majestic! You are among the best the Lord has ever sent to this World. You have the capacity to be smarter and wiser and have more impact on the World than any previous generations! God loves you. We are His people, engaged together in His holy work. We will see the Restoration move forward to its ultimate purpose, the redemption of Israel and the establishment of Zion, where Christ will reign as King of Kings. I testify that God continues to do all things necessary to prepare His people for that day. May we see His glorious work as we al strive to come unto Christ. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24
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Please lead us not into temptation, since we have been partkers of the holy Body and precious Blood. And we thank Thee that Thou hast made us meet communicants of the Mystery of glory and holiness which passeth all understandings.