Randolph Harris II International

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Is Tragedy Stronger than Hope? Does the Past Conquer the Future? Is Wrath More Powerful than Mercy?

EPQYCk4UYAAo7zXThere is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life. We have seen that in struggling with one’s conflicts the neurotic person undergoes a great deal of suffering, that moreover one often uses suffering as a means of attaining certain goals which, because of existing dilemmas, are difficult to attain otherwise. Though we are able to recognize in every individual situation the reasons why suffering is used and the ends that are to be achieved by it, there remains some bewilderment why people should be willing to pay such an enormous price. It looks as if the generous use made of suffering, and the readiness to recoil from an active mastering of life, grow out of an underlying drive which can be roughly described as a tendency to make the self weaker instead of stronger, miserable instead of happy. Since this tendency is contradictory to general conceptions of human’s nature it has been a great puzzle, in fact a stumbling block to psychology and psychiatry. It is indeed the basic problem of masochism. The term masochism originally referred to perversions dealing with pleasures of the flesh, and fantasies in which pleasures of the flesh is obtained through suffering, though being beaten, tortured, assaulted, enslaved, humiliated. #RandolphHarris 1 of 23

ImageDr. Freud has recognized these perversions and fantasies associated with pleasures of the flesh are akin to the general tendencies toward suffering, that is, those which have no apparent foundations in pleasures of the flesh; these latter tendencies have been classified as “moral masochism.” Since in perversions and fantasies associated with pleasures of the flesh suffering aims at a positive satisfaction, the conclusion has been drawn that all neurotic suffering is determined by a wish for satisfaction, or to put in into simple language, that the neurotic wants to suffer. The difference better perversions associated with pleasures of the flesh and so-called moral masochism is assumed to be a difference of awareness. In the former both the striving for satisfaction and the satisfaction are conscious; in the latter both are unconscious. The obtaining of satisfaction through suffering is a big problem even in perversions, but it becomes still more puzzling in the general tendencies toward suffering. Many attempts have been made to account for masochistic phenomena. The most brilliant of them is Dr. Freud’s hypothesis of death instinct. This contends, briefly, that there are two main biological forces operating within humans: the life instinct and the death instinct. The latter force, which aims at self-destruction, when combined with libidinal drives results in the phenomenon of masochism. #RandolphHarris 2 of 23

ImageA question of great interest which I want to raise here is whether the tendency to suffer can be understood psychologically, without taking recourse to a biological hypothesis. To begin with we have to tackle a misunderstanding, which consist in confounding actual suffering with the tendency to suffer. There is no warrant for jumping to the conclusion that since suffering exists there is therefore a tendency to incur it or even to enjoy it. For example we cannot, with H. Deutsch, interpret that fact that in our culture women secretly enjoy these pains masochistically, even though this may certainly be true in exceptional cases. A great deal of the suffering that occurs in neuroses has nothing at all to do with a wish to suffer, but is only the unavoidable consequences of existing conflicts. It occurs just as pains occurs after one has broken a leg. In both cases the pains appear regardless of whether the person wants them or not, and one does not gain anything by the suffering they incur. Manifest anxiety engendered by existing conflicts is the outstanding but not the only example for suffering of this type in neuroses. Other kinds of neurotic suffering are also to be understood in this way—such as the suffering which accompanies the realization of a growing discrepancy between potentialities and factual achievements, the feeling of being hopelessly caught in certain dilemmas, hypersensitivity to the slightest offenses, self-contempt for having a neurosis. #RandolphHarris 3 of 23

ImageThis part of neurotic suffering, since it is quite unobtrusive, is often altogether neglected when the problem is tackled with the hypothesis that the neurotic wishes to suffer. And when this is done one wonders sometimes to what extent laypeople and even some psychiatrists unconsciously share the contemptuous attitude which the neurotic oneself has toward one’s neurosis. Having eliminated the neurotic sufferings which are not caused by tendencies to suffer we turn now to those which are so caused and hence fall under the category of masochistic drives. In these the surface impression is that the neurotic suffers more than is warranted by reality. In more detail, one gives the impression that something within on avidly seizes upon every opportunity to suffer, that one can manage to turn even fortuitous circumstances into something painful, that one is quite unwilling to relinquish suffering. However, here he behaviour which produces this impression to a large extent accounted for by the functions which neurotic suffering has for the person concerned. As to these functions of neurotic suffering I may summarize what we have seen thus far. Suffering may have a direct defense value for the neurotic, and may often, in fact, be the only way one can protect oneself against imminent dangers. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23

ImageBy self-recrimination one avoids being accused and accusing others, by appearing ill or ignorant one avoids reproaches, by belittling oneself one avoids the danger of competition—but the suffering one thereby brings on oneself is at the same time a defense. Suffering is also a means of getting what one wants, of carrying out one’s demands effectively and of putting one’s demands on a justified basis. Concerning one’s wishes toward life the neurotic is in a dilemma. One’s wishes are, or have become, imperative and unconditional, partly because they are prompted by anxiety, partly because they are not checked by any real consideration of others. However, on the other hand one’s own capacity to assert one’s demands is greatly impaired, because of one’s lack of spontaneous self-assertion, in more general terms because of one’s basic feeling of helplessness. The result of one’s dilemma is that one expects others to take care of one’s wishes. One gives the impression that underlying one’s actions is a conviction that others are responsible for one’s life and that hey are to be blamed if things go wrong. This collides with one’s conviction that no one grants one anything, and the result is that one feels one has to coerce others to fulfill one’s wishes. It is here that suffering comes to one’s assistance. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23

ImageSuffering and helplessness become one’s outstanding means of obtaining affection, help, control, and at the same time allow one to evade all demands that others might make of one. Suffering has finally the function of expressing accusations against others in a disguised but effective way. When the function of neurotic suffering are recognized the problem is divested of some of its mysterious character, but is still not completely solved. In spite of the strategical value of suffering there is one factor which lends support to the notion that the neurotic wants to suffer: often one suffers more than is warranted by the strategical goal, tends to exaggerate one’s misery, to submerge oneself in feelings of helplessness, unhappiness and unworthiness. Even though we know that one’s emotions are likely to be exaggerated and that they cannot be take at face value, we are struck by the fact that the disappointments which result from one’s conflicting tendencies throw one into an abyss of misery which is disproportionate to the significance that the situation had for one. When one has been but moderately successful one dramatically exaggerates one’s defeat as an irrevocable disgrace. When one has merely failed to assert oneself one’s self-esteem drops like a deflated balloon. Wen during analysis one has to face the unpleasant prospect of working through a new problem one drop into absolute hopelessness. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23

ImageWe still have to examine why one thus seemingly voluntarily increases one’s sufferings beyond the strategical necessities. In such suffering there are no apparent advantages to be gained, no audiences that might be impressed, no sympathy to be won, no secret triumph in asserting one’s will over others. Nevertheless, there is a gain for the neurotic, but of a different kind. Incurring a failure in love, a defeat in competition, having to realize a definite weakness or shortcoming of one’s own is unbearable for one who has such high-flown notions of one’s uniqueness. Thus when one dwindles to nothing in one’s own estimation, the categories of success and failure, superiority and inferiority cease to exist; by exaggerating one’s pain, by losing oneself in a general feeling of misery or unworthiness, the aggravating experience loses some of its reality, the sting of the special pain is lulled, narcotized. The principle operating in this process is a dialectic one, containing the philosophical truth that at a certain point quantity is converted into quality. Concretely, it means that though suffering is painful, abandoning one’s self to excessive suffering may serve as an opiate against pain. A masterly description of this process is given in a Danish novel Aage von Kohl. The story concerns a writer whose beloved wife had been lust-murdered to years before. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23

ImageThe husband had been warding off the unbearable pain by only dimly experiencing what had happened. To escape the realization of his grief he had plunged into work and had written a book, working day and night. The narrative begins the day the book is finished, that is, at the psychological moment when one would have to face one’s pain. We meet him first at the cemetery, whither his steps have inadvertently led him. We see him indulging in the most gruesome and fantastic speculations of such thoughts as worms eating the dead, people buried alive. He is exhausted and returns home, where his torture continues. He is impelled to recall minutely what had happened. If her had gone with his wife that evening when she visited friends, if she had reached him by telephone to ask him to call for her, if she had stayed with the friends, if he had taken a walk and happened to meet her at the station, perhaps the murder would not have occurred. Impelled to imagine in detail how the murder took place he becomes submerged in an ecstasy of pain, until finally he loses consciousness. Thus far the story is of particular interests for the problem we have been discussing. What happens further is that after having recovered from his orgy of torment he still has to work through the problem of taking revenge, and ultimately he becomes capable of facing his pain realistically. #RandolphHarris 8 of 23

ImageThe process that is presented in this story is the same that can be seen in certain mourning customers that serve to alleviate the pain of loss by acutely intensifying it and inducing complete abandonment to it. When this narcotic effect of exaggerated pain is recognized we have a further help in finding understandable motivations in masochistic drives. However, there still remains the question of why such suffering can yield satisfaction, as it obviously does in masochistic perversions and fantasies and as we suspect it does in the general neurotic tendencies toward suffering. In order to be able to answer this question it is necessary to recognize first elements which all masochistic tendencies have in common, or more accurately, the basic attitude toward life that underlies such tendencies. When they are examined from his point of view the common denominator is definitely found to be a feeling of intrinsic weakness. This feeling appears in the attitude toward the self, toward others, toward fate in general. Briefly it can be described as a deep feeling of insignificance or rather of nothingness, nonbeing; a feeling of being like a reed that can easily be swayed by any wind; a feeling of being in the power of others, or being a their beck and call, appearing in a tendency toward over-compliance and in a defensive over-emphasis on control and not giving in; dependence on affection and the judgement of others. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23

ImageThis feeling of deep insignificance can also manifest by showing an inordinate need for affection, and also later on as an inordinate fear of disapproval; a feeling of not having a say in one’s own life but of having to let others bear the responsibility for it and make the decisions; a feeling that good and evil come from outside, that one is entirely helpless toward fate, appearing negatively in a sense of impending doom, positively in an expectation of some miracle happening without one’s moving a finger; a feeling toward life in general that one cannot breathe, work, enjoy anything without others supplying the incentive, the means and the aims; a feeling of being putty in the master’s hands. How are we to understand this feeling of intrinsic weakness? Is it in the last analysis the expression of a lack of vital strength? It may be this in some cases, but on the whole differences in vitality among neurotics are in no way greater than in other people. Is it a simple consequence of the basic anxiety? Certainly anxiety has something to do with it, but anxiety alone may have the opposite effect of impelling one to strive for and attain more and more strength and power in order to be safe. The answer is that primarily this feeling of intrinsic weakness is not a fact at all; what is felt as weakness and appears as weakness is only the result of an inclination toward weakness. #RandolphHarris 10 of 23

ImageThis fact can be recognized from characteristics we have already discussed: in one’s own feelings the neurotic unconsciously exaggerated one’s weakness and one tenaciously insists on being weak. It is, however, not only by logical deduction that this inclination toward weakness can be discovered; very often it can be seen at work. Individuals may imaginatively seize upon every possibility of believing that they have an organic illness. One individual, whenever any difficulty arose, quite consciously wished to have tuberculosis, lie in a sanitarium and be completely taken care of. If any demand is made such a person’s first impulse may be to yield, and one will then go to the other extreme and refuse to give in at any price. In analysis an individual’s self-recriminations are often the result of one’s adopting as one’s own opinion an anticipated criticism, thus showings one’s readiness to surrender in advance to any judgment. The tendency blindly to accept authoritative statements, to lean on someone, always to recoil from a difficulty with a helpless “I cannot” instead of accepting it as a challenge, is a further evidence of the inclination toward weakness. Death is the work of the Divine wrath: “For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath, we bring our years to an end as a sigh”—as short a sigh, and as full of sorrow as a sigh. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23

ImageThe idea of the Divine wrath has become strange to our time. We have rejected a religion which seemed to make God a furious tyrant, and individual with passions and desires who committed arbitrary acts. This is not what the wrath of God means. It means the inescapable and unavoidable reaction against human pride and arrogance. That reaction, through which humans are thrown back into one’s limits, is not a passionate act of punishment or vengeance on the part of God. It is the reestablishment of the balance between God and humans, which is disturbed by human’s elevation against God. We understand the profound relationship between God and humans because God sets our innermost secrets in the light of His face. God’s anger is not directed against our moral shortcomings, against special acts of disobedience to the Divine order. It is directed against the secret of our personality, against what happens in us and to us, unseen by humans, unseen even by ourselves. This, our secret, determines our fate, more than anything visible. In the realm of our visible deeds we may not feel that we deserve the wrath of God—misery and tragedy. However, God looks through the veils which hide our secrets. They are manifest to Him. Therefore, we feel every day the burden of being under a power which negates us, which disintegrates us and makes us unhappy. This is the wrath under which we pass all our days, not only those in which we endure special failures and special sufferings. #RandolphHarris 12 of 23

ImageThis is the situation of all humans. However, not all humans know it. “Yet who knoweth the power of thine anger, and who of us dreads Thy wrath? So teach us to count our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom!” The 90h Psalm tries to teach us the truth about our human situation, our transitoriness and our guilt. It does what the great ancient tragedies did. They revealed to all the people of the city, gathered in the theatre, what humans are; they showed the people that the greatest, the best, the most beautiful, the most powerful—all-stand under the tragic law and the curse of the immortals. They wanted to reveal he tragic situation of humans, that is, one’s situation before the Divine. One becomes great and proud and tries to touch the Divine sphere, and one is cast into destruction and despair. This is what the psalmist wanted to reveal to the righteous and unrighteous people of one’s nation—what they were; what humans are. However, the psalmist knew that humans, even if shaken for a moment, forgot their fate. One knew that humans live as if they are to live forever, and as if the wrath of God did not exist. Therefore, he askes us to count our days, to consider how soon they shall come to an end. He prays God that He Himself may each us that we must die. The psalmist does not think that realization of the truth of what one has been saying will cast humans into despair. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23

ImageOn the contrary, one believes that just this insight can give us heart of wisdom—a heart which accepts the infinite distance between God and humans, and does not claim a greatness and beatitude which belongs to God alone. The wise heart is the heart which does not try to hide this from itself, which does not try to escape into a false security or a false cynicism. The wise heart is the heart which can stand this knowledge courageously, with dignity, humility, and fortitude. This wisdom is implicit in every word of the psalm. It is the greatest wisdom that humans, having felt the tragedy of life, achieved in the ancient World. After the prayer for the wise heart (and not for intellectual wisdom!) a new section of the psalm begins, perhaps added in a later period of the Jewish religion. This new section is concerned with the nation and its historical situation. “Relent, O Thou Eternal, and delay not, be sorry for Thy servants. Satisfy us in the morning with Thy loving kindness, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Grant joy as long as Thou has been afflicting us, for all the years we have had suffering. Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants and Thy glory upon Thy children! And let the favour of the Lord our God be upon us and prosper the work of our hands!” Something new appears in these words: the significance of past and future, the prayer for a better future, for a future of happiness and joy, of the presence of God and the success of our work. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23

ImageGod is not only the God of eternity. He is also the God of the future. The cycle from dust to dust, from sin to wrath, is broken. There appears the vision of an age of fulfillment, after the ages of misery. However, this vision is only for His servants—for the selected nation, and within her, only for those who are really His servants. The individual no longer stands lone before God. One is included among the other servants of God, in the midst of the people of God who look not toward their return to dust, but toward a life in a new age in which God is present. Hope supersedes tragedy. This is the highest point that religion reaches in the Old Testament. However, the spirit of religion drives beyond even this. It is not the end. What does the historical hope mean for the individual? Does it free us from the law of transitoriness and guilt? History, running toward the unknown future, throws every human back into the past, and we do not reach the age of fulfillment for which the poet longs. The cruel step of history goes over graves, and history itself does no seem to approach its fulfillment. Whenever history seems to come near to its fulfillment, it is thrown back and is further away from its fulfillment than ever before. That is what we experience so inescapably in our time. And so we ask, as all generation of humans have asked: is tragedy stronger than hope? Does the past conquer the future? Is wrath more powerful than mercy? #RandolphHarris 15 of 23

ImageWe are driven hither and tither between melancholy and expectations—from tragedy to hope, from hope to tragedy. In this situation we may be ready to receive the message of a new being, a new kind of existence which is not only hope, but also a reality, in which Divine wrath and human guilt ultimately are conquered. Christianity is based on this message: God subjecting Himself to transioriness and wrath, in order to be with us. And thus is fulfilled the hope of which he psalmist sings: “Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants and Thy glory upon Thy children.” Whether or not we accept that message, it is the answer to the questions the psalmist leaves unanswered. We may prefer to cling to the mere hope in spite of all disillusionments. We may prefer to return to the pious resignation of the older part of the psalm. We may even prefer to go back to the melancholic identification of human’s life with that of the grass field. We may choose any of these ways of interpreting our life. However, if we do choose any of them, we must realize that we cannot find in them the answer to the question of our life. And we must be resigned. However, if we accept the message of the new reality in Christ, we must understand that this message does not contain an easy answer, and that it does not guarantee any spiritual security. #RandolphHarris 16 of 23

ImageWe must know that it is real answer only if we understand it permanently in the light of our human situation, in which tragedy and hope fight each other without victory. The victory is above them. When the prayer of the psalmist was answered, the victory came. “Relent, O thou Eternal!”—this prayer is the prayer of humankind through all eons, and the hidden prayer in the dept of every human soul. It is the Lord’s Day. You have come to church to worship God in spirit and in truth. You are in church to give God worth—worth-ship, as the English work properly means. What now? Here again the word which is the theme of this essay comes to center stage—discipline. It is of great significance that one of the two most prominent words denoting worship in the New Testament is the word latreuo, which means to work or serve. This tells us implicitly that worship involves work—disciplined work. It is from this word that liturgy is derived, for liturgy is one’s work in worship. All churches have liturgies, even those which would call themselves “non-liturgical.” In fact, having no liturgy is a liturgy! Relaxed charismatic services may be as liturgical in their format as a High-Church service—and in some cases more rigid. My purpose is not to recommend one liturgy over another, though, of course I have my opinion. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23

ImageWhatever your liturgy may be, you must work at it with all you have, for worship is work. If you are to please and glorify God, there must be some holy sweat. Please use this time to continue to live a temple-worthy life or to become temple worthy. As the Restoration continues, I know that God will continue to reveal many great and important things pertaining to His kingdom here on Earth. The Saviour is the perfect engineer, builder, and interior designer. His project is the perfection and eternal joy of our souls. Daily repentance is a transformative tool that enables us to grow a little kinder, more loving, and more understanding. Studying the scriptures brings us closer to the Saviour, whose generous love and grace assist us with our growth. Again and again the scriptures show us how families succeed through righteous living and how they fail by pursuing other paths. Fine homes follow the blueprint created by the Lord for His finest home, the temple. The Lord’s steady framework allows His Spirit to change our hearts. Experiencing a mighty change of the heart is like adding because features to the interior of the temple. As we continue in faith, the Lord gradually changes us. We receive His image in our countenance and begin to reflect the love and beauty of His character. As we become more like Him, we feel more at home in His hose, and He will feel at home in ours. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23

ImageThe finest homes are refuges from the storms of life. The Lord has promised that those who keep the commandments of God prosper in the land. God’s prosperity is the power to press forward despite the problems of life. Because some live in the finest home, which is the heart of God, their faithful living provides them the strength, vision, and Heavenly help they need in the current turmoil. Mortality always brings challenges, but time after time I have seen those who strive to obey the commandments are blessed to find their ways forward with peace and hope. Those blessings are available to everyone, it does not require privilege. With God’s loving help, your soul can be all He wants it to be and you can be the finest various of yourself, prepared to establish and live in a finest home. “Now behold, I, Jarom, write a few words according to the commandment of my father, Enos, that our genealogy may be kept. And as these plates are small, and as these things are written for the intent of the benefit of our brethren the Lamanites, wherefore, it must needs be that I write a little; but I shall not write the things of my prophesying, nor of my revelations. For what could I write more than my fathers have written? For have not they revealed the plan of salvation? I say unto you, Yea; and this sufficeth me. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23

Image“Behold, it is expedient that much should be done among this people, because of the hardness of their hearts, and the deafness of their ears, and the blindness of their minds, and the stiffness of their necks; nevertheless, God is exceedingly merciful unto them, and has not as yet swept them off from the face of the land. And there are many among us who have many revelations, for they are not all stiffnecked and have faith, have communion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of humans, according to their faith. And now, behold, two hundred years had passed away, and the people of Nephi had waxed strong in the land. They observed to keep the law of Moses and the sabbath day holy unto the Lord. And they profaned not; neither did they blaspheme. And the laws of the land were exceedingly strict. And they were scattered upon much of the face of the and, and the Lamanites also. And they were exceedingly more numerous than were they of the Nephites; and they loved murder and would drink the blood of beasts. And it came to pass that they came many times against us, the Nephites, to battle. However, our kings and our kings and our leaders were mighty humans in the faith of the Lord; and they taught the people the ways of the Lord; wherefore, we withstood the Lamanites and swept them away out of our lands, and began to fortify our cities, or whatsoever pace of our inheritance. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23

Image“And we multiplied exceedingly, and spread upon the face of the land, and became exceedingly rich in gold, and in silver, and in precious things, and in fine crafts of wood, in buildings, and in machinery, and also in iron and copper, and brass and steel, making all manners of tools of every kind to till the ground, and weapons of war—yea, the sharp pointed arrow, and the quiver, and the dart, and the javelin, and all preparations for war. And thus being prepared to meet Lamanites, they did not prosper against us. However, the word of the Lord was verified, which he spake unto our fathers, saying that: Inasmuch as ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land. And it came to pass that the prophets of the Lord did threaten the people of Nephi, according to the word of God, that if they did not keep the commandments, but should fall into transgression, they should be destroyed from off the face of the land. Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, did labour diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence; teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given; persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in one to come as though one already was. And after this manner did they teach them. And it came to pass that by so doing they kept them from being destroyed upon the face of the land; for they did prick their hearts with the word, continually stirring them unto repentance. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23

Image“And it came to pass that two hundred and thirty and eight years had passes away—after the practices of wars, and contentions, and dissensions, for the space of much of the time. And I, Jarom, do not write more, for the plates are small. However, behold, my brethren, ye can go to the other plates of Nephi; for behold, upon them the records of our wars are engraven, according to the writings of the kinds, or those which they caused to be written. And I deliver these plates into the hands of my son Omni, that they may be kept according to the commandments of my fathers,” Jarom 1.1-16. Having received life by the refreshment of the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, we humbly beseech Thee, O God, that by this transcendent remedy Thou wouldest both cleanse us from the contagion of all sins, and fortify us against the incursion of all dangers; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. O my Saviour, I thank Thee from the depth of my being for Thy wondrous grace and love in bearing my sin in thine own body on the tree. May Thy cross be to me as the tree that sweetness my bitter Marahs, as the rod that blossoms with life and beauty, as the brazen serpent that calls forth the look of faith. By Thy cross crucify my every sin; use it to increase my intimacy with Thyself. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23

Image“Please it make my intimacy with Thyself the ground of all my comfort, the liveliness of all my duties, the sum of all Thy gospel promises, the comfort of all my afflictions, the vigour of my love, thankfulness, graces, the very essence of my religion; and by it give me that rest without rest, the rest of ceaseless praise. O my Lord and Saviour, Thou hast also appointed a cross for me to take up and carry, a cross before Thou givest me a crown. Thou hast appointed it to be my portion, but self-love hates it, carnal reason is unreconciled to it; without the grace of patience I cannot bear it, walk with it, profit by it. O blessed cross, what mercies dost Thou bring with Thee! Thou art only esteemed hateful by my rebel will, heavy because I shirk Thy load. Please teach me, gracious Lord and Saviour, that with my cross Thou sendest promised grace so that I may bear it patiently, that my cross is Thy yoke which is easy, and Thy burden which is light. We render thanks and praise to Thee, O Lord, Who hast strengthened us with the Communion of the Body and Blood of Thy most dearly beloved Son; humbly beseeching Thy mercy that this Thy Sacrament, O Lord, may not increase our guilt and punishment, but may plead for our pardon and salvation. May it be the abolition of our sins, the strength of our weakness, our bulwark against the perils of the World. May this Communion cleanse us from guilt, and makes us partakers of the joy of Heaven: through Jesus Christ our Lord. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23Image

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