I have not been calling the signals. I have been in the position of a lineman doing some of the downfield blocking. And although I have often been accused of putting my foot in my mouth, I will never put my hand in your pockets. When genuine love predominates in our gathers, all pretense will vanish from out lives. The is an important element in the spiritually transformed social dimension of the self. Love between Christians then would, as Saint Paul say to the Romans, “be genuine.” And that is the central factor in the beautiful picture of what the local gatherings of disciples into “churches” should be like, given by Saint Paul in Romans 12.1-21. Christ’s apprentices would be carrying out their particular work in the group life with a grace and power that is not from themselves, but from God. “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21

“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed one; if he is thirsty, give one something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on one’s head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good,” reports Romans 12.9-21. Let love be completely real. Abor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in family-like love (philostorgoi). Outdo one another in giving honour. Serve the Lord with ardent spirit and all diligence. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in trouble. Be devoted constantly to prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints. Pursue (run after) hospitality.  Bless persecutors and not curse them. Be joyful with those who are rejoiceful and be sorrowful with those in sorrow. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21

Live in harmony with each other. Not be haughty, but fit right in with the “lowly” in human terms. Not see yourself as wise. Never repay evil for evil. Have due regard for what everyone takes to be right. Be at peace with everyone, so far as it depends on you. Never take revenge, but leave that to whatever God may decide. Provide for needy enemies. Not be overwhelmed by evil, but overwhelm evil with good. This is the most adequate biblical description of what the details of a spiritually transformed social dimension look like. We should pause to contemplate it. Just think for a moment what it would be like to be part of a group of disciples in which this list was the conscious, shared intention, and see, where it is actually lived out, even if with some imperfection. You can see, I think, how it would totally transform the marriage relation and the home and family. Its effect on the community would be incalculable, as it in fact has been wherever realized throughout the history of Christ’s people on Earth. The abandonment of all defensiveness and its many strategies would clearly be achieved in such a group. There would no longer be any need for them. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21

In their place would be receptiveness and blessing for all, even enemies. Certainly, to achieve this in our social dimension we must have heard and accepted the gospel of grace, of Jesus’ defenseless death on the cross on our behalf, and of his acceptance of us into his life beyond death and beyond the worst that could be done to him or to us. We must stand safe and solid in his kingdom. Another element of Godliness is an opening up of our broader social dimension to redemption. Not having the burden of defending and securing ourselves, and acting now from the resources of our new life from above, we can devote our lives to the service of others. This is the beneficial moment in redemption of the social side of the self. It is not just a matter of not attacking or withdrawing. That redemption will naturally and rightly be chiefly focused in blessing upon those closet to us, beginning with out family members and moving out from there, proportional to our degree of life involvement with others. The social World is set before us as an infinite task, which can only be carried out in the power of God. We accept that. Just as we cannot be husband or wife or parent God intends except in the power of God, so for our life as a whole. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21

We do not even how to pray as we ought, Saint Paul tells us, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And what who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will,” reports Romans 8.26-27. And, if we invite him, wait on him, and proceed as best we can, the Spirit of God will enter into all of our social connections. We have the promise of Jesus to those who live by his living water. That water “shall become in one as well of water springing up to eternal life,” reports John 4.14, and “from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water,” (John 7.38; compare Isiah 58.11). Spiritual formation in Christ obviously requires that we increasingly be happily reconciled to living in and by the direct upholding of the hand of God. This is clearly what the entire biblical view of life calls for, and especially what Jesus himself lived and presented as the truth. Only from within this gospel outlook on life can we begin to approach the Godly reformation of the self in its social World. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21

However, from within that outlook we can cease from assault and withdrawal can extend ourselves in blessing to all whose lives we touch. What circles of sufficiency have you enjoyed in your lifetime? Describe in detail some occasions when you experienced completeness in them. Or occasion when they were broken. How does rejection affect us? Why does it affect us as it does? Can you recall an occasion, perhaps as a child or youth, when you rejected someone and how they responded? Do assault and withdrawal cover the field of the evils people do to others? Think about the role these play in ordinary life. Is it possible to disagree with or correct others without assault or withdrawal? Consider violations of each of the last six of the Ten Commandments as forms of assault. Do you see how they are? What they do to people? How would love as Jesus loved eliminate assault and withdrawal withing familiar personal relationships? How does the Trinitarian nature of God cast light on what human relations could and should be? “One nation under God.” How could that possibly be realized? How do assault and withdrawal find the way into the lives of children? #RandolphHarris 6 of 21

Must we accept coldness between people as normal now? Do you agree that redemption of the marriage relation is central to any hope for transforming our broader social situation today? Or is that just too much to put on a man-woman or more modern relationships? How can we come to see ourselves whole in God’s life, and how would that help heal our social dimension? Could Saint Paul’s picture of the redemptive fellowship of Christ’s people (Romans 12.1-21) be put int place in your group? “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, individual, with liberty and justice for all.” Now, if it is a kingdom of God that is to be established, it must be introduced by God. God must not only be the originator of it, but the controller also; and any means short of these must fail of the object designed. The great evils that now exist in the World are the consequences of human’s departure from God. This has introduced this degeneracy and imbecility, and nothing but a retracing of one’s steps, and a return to God can bring about a restitution. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21

God gave humans a moral agency, as head of the World, under Himself to reign and rule without God physically being here. The natural consequence is, that we have inherited all the evils of which I have spoken, and nothing but the wisdom, goodness, power, and compassion of God, can deliver us therefrom, restore the Earth to its pristine excellence, and put humans again in possession of those blessings which they have forfeited by their transgression. Emperors, kings, princes, potentates, statemen, philosophers, and churches, have tried for ages to bring this state of things about; but they have all signally failed, not having derived their wisdom from the proper source. And all human means made use of at the preset time to ameliorate the condition of the World must fail, as all human means have always done. There are some who suppose that the influence of Christianity, as it is now preached and administered, will bring about a Millennial reign of peace. The ideas in a human’s mind are hidden and secret until one expresses them through actions, or as speech, or as the visible creations and productions of one’s hands, or in behaviour generally. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21

Those ideas are neither lost nor destroyed. They are a permanent part of the human’s memory and character and consciousness and subconsciousness, where they have been recorded as automatically and as durably as a master phonograph disc records music. Just as wax copy may be burnt but the music will still live on in the master disc, so the cosmos may be annihilated or disintegrate completely but the creative idea of it will still live on in the World-Mind. More, in the same ways a human’s body may die and disintegrate, but the creative idea of one will still remain in the World-Mind as one’s Soul. It will not die. It is one’s real Self, one’s perfect Self. It is the true Idea of one which is forever calling to be realized. It is the unmanifest image of God in which humans are made and which one has yet to bring into manifestation in one’s everyday consciousness. If the World is a thought in the mind of God, then humans are thoughts in the World-Mind, who is their God in reality and in logic. If all thoughts must go in the end, this is true also of the World-Mind, except that here millions of years are involved. The World-Mind works in and through everything. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21

The World-Idea reveals a mere hint of its wisdom and intelligence to that projection from Itself which is the human. Every law of the Universe and every principle of its operation can be found reflected in the nature and life of every human. In the complicated structure of the human personality, we find different levels of being, with different forces operating at each level. Humans are what they are. Nothing can alter that. Out of the immortal, benign, eternal Mind they came, to It they shall return. Meanwhile It is one’s very essence, that is, It is life. Humans are Mind individualized. We must see in each human the beginning of a fresh and unique attempt of the Infinite to express itself in the finite World of space-time. he Unseen Power (without beginning) and (without end), is One. Every other kind of power derives from It. And this holds true even of the little power which a little ant shows. Hence the energies of a human being are linked with It. From this we may deduce that one is unaware of, and not using, all one’s potential resources. Though it seems entirely our own faculty, this thought-making power is derived from a hidden one, The Universal Mind, in which all other human’s minds lie embedded. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21

What one does with this power is a human’s own concern, for better or worse, yielding one more knowledge or more ignorance. The human who, according to the Bible, is made in the image of God is not the Earthly human, visible to all and speaking in a voice that sounds in physical ears. One is to be found in the deep center of consciousness, where there is a Void, and one speaks in silence to the attentive mind, not to other persons. The human that is made in the image of God is not physical human or desire-filled humans or thought-breeding humans but one who dwells behind all these—silent, serene, and unnoticed. Here, and here alone, is the real meaning and true portrait of humans. What is the inner purpose of human life as apart from its outer object? What is the highest end of the life of humans? We may not be able to comprehend the Universe’s meaning—why it should come into existence at all—simply because human capacity is too limited; but we should be able to comprehend some meaning—enough for practical purposes—in our own personal existences. To enquire into such matters is very far from being a remote and unimportant affair, for on its final result depend the answers to such questions as: “Does this Earthly life exhaust all possibilities of human life?” #RandolphHarris 11 of 21

“Is there anything more than death for humans to expect as the final experience life offers one?” “What are we here for?” If we begin at some time to wonder at the starred sky and go on to speculate at our human destiny, there will be moments when a feeling rises that there must be something behind it all. They pass and mystery engulfs us again. If we do not know the “why” of universal existence, we do know the “why” of human existence. It provides the field of experience for discovering the divine soul. The integral quest which ends in this discovery is, consequently, the greatest and mist important of human undertakings. Where is the possibility for the puny intellect of human beings to hold in its consciousness simultaneously and all-embracingly the innumerable stars, planets, suns, systems, galaxies, and Universes? Yet human’s curiosity cannot be stilled; one’s eager mind insists on knowing more and more, one’s ever-upwelling stream of questions never stops flowing. What do these two conflicting situations mean when put together? The answer is simply that there is something which one can and must know in order to fulfill oneself, but it is not a piling-up of numbered facts; it is nothing other than one’s relation to the source of the cosmos. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21

Human’s experience is so limited and one’s mental equipment so small that one’s attempt to understand the Universe would seem impertinent were it not for the assurance of great prophets and seers that where intellect and sense fail, intuition succeeds. The structure of the human being—one’s bodily senses and mental faculties—does not permit one to get more than a limited awareness of one’s environment. The remainder—which may be very large—is not only unknow but likely to remain unknowable. This means that what one does know, being neither complete nor completely true, concerns a World that is only relatively real. The World as it is really is in itself escapes one’s knowledge and remains the greatest mystery. Only those who are piqued by their ignorance of reality look beyond science, beyond the intellect even, for truth. If human life has any higher purpose, it is that the human ego should find its way back to that harmony with God which has become disturbed but never disrupted. We must all give life what it demands from the human—that it shall seek to transcend its present state, that is, transcend itself in the end. For life as we know it is only one expression of the World-Idea, the inexorable will of the World-Mind. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21

Everywhere in the advanced countries specialists, experts, and scientists are seeking more knowledge of the human body and its World or are applying this knowledge to practical use. Yet the highest work in which intellectual power can engage is to seek the reason for human existence. This will lead it to discover, and bow before, the World-Mind. If a creature is capable of conceiving the highest purpose for human life as something which transcends physical existence and even overpasses its ordinary thinking and image-making existence, there is here a phenomenon where this creature is either intuiting or predicting its own destiny. And it must be something glorious, something whose nature few cultures and civilizations have yet enjoyed. The goal of life is to be consciously united with Life. Human’s need is twofold: recollection of one’s divine nature and redemption from one’s Earthly nature. If it be asked whether there is any purpose in life, the answer must be “Yes!—to perfect ourselves and know ourselves; to find the happiness which comes as a fruit of such fulfillment.” Attaining to our humanity is  good chiefly as it provides us with the chance, during subsequent years, of attaining to our higher selfhood. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21

The higher purpose of existence is to advance humans until one can live in the awareness of one’s divine selfhood. It is within the ultimate capacity of human and part of the higher purpose for one to achieve this awareness. Revelation establishes that the sequence of events in our Universe is an orderly one, while observation confirms it. They do not just happen by chance and chaos is not their background. Many will admit this but yet they are unable to admit that this orderliness is not limited to stars and planets alone, nor to the chemical elements also, nor to the physical forces of Nature in addition. They are unable to extend it to human life, to its birth, course, fortunes, and death. However, the philosophic revelation tells us that law and order are here not less than elsewhere. It is unreasonable to suggest that although they rule all the lower kingdoms, they do not touch us. Our experiences too are controlled by Heaven’s laws. There is order in the starry systems, on the planets, and on this Earth, because the World-Idea provides law and pattern. What is true of the Universe is also true of humans, of one’s body and one’s inner being. There is an orderly structure in the Universe and an orderly pattern in the lives of its creatures. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21

If everything else is governed by laws, why not the growth of human’s spirituality? All personal fates are fulfilled within the larger predetermination of the World-Idea. And only within that larger meaning can humans find any real meaning in their own lives. The divine pattern is there not only in Nature but in Man, not only in inspired written revelations but in secret unwritten prayers. You are part of the World-Mind’s World-Idea. Therefore, you are a part of its purpose too. Seek to be shown what that is, and how you may realize it, rather than mope in misery, frustration, or fear. Looking upon your situation—personal, domestic, career, mental, emotional, spiritual—as having significance within that purpose, as teaching you some specific lesson or telling you what to do or not to do. It is nonsense to say that any human is lone in one’s trouble One is in the great World-Idea, part of it, belonging to it, sustained by it. Humans imagine they are acting for their own personal objectives only and for their own personal choices. They believe that they are moving through their life-scenes by their own freedom. However, the fact is that, all unwittingly, they are acting for the World-Idea and moving by the power which inheres in it. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21

What are we to say of the many whose lives evince no purpose, whose years show no progress? This judgment is a surface one. All people respond to the power of God, and perform their role in the idea of God, however alight be the measure of their response or however hidden be their role. Every person is unconsciously trying to fulfill a higher purpose set for one by God, and all the purposes fit together and combine to form a part of the World-Idea. Humans are part of the World-Idea; mist of what comes to them is within that part too: much of what comes from them likewise. They are free only within the World-Idea. Whether we like it or not we must submit to the World-Idea. It is there and must be accepted—reluctantly, resentfully, or blindly and devotedly. None of us has total freedom; that is an illusion, for it could never exist in a World based upon orderliness and equilibrium. However, the distinctive feature of will is the power of choice. The mind has a faculty of will and election. Appetitive movement revealed no such feature: it is involuntary, habitual, unconscious of itself. In a completely literal sense, will can move or not move, act or not act. The power of will is always evident in the power to stay action. If the will were to move it has to be moved; to act, it has first to be acted upon. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21

Will is like an artist. As the efficient cause of one’s picture, the artist can elect to paint, or not; one can exercise one’s power of reviewing one’s intentions, inspecting one’s materials, and apprising one’s manner of treating and forming them so as to realize one’s intentions. So with the will. Furthermore, the will could call for the delay of action. It could put brakes on the appetite. It need not respond at once to the recommendations of reason. It can temporize with reason, asking that noble faculty to review its processes; and it can expect imagination to do its proper work. Yet in checkmating ill-considered recommendations and impulses, the will can not expect either mind or body to do the impossible. It is restrained by a person’s innate limitations. It is my power and will to run; but to run faster than according to my lightness or disposition of body, is not in my power nor will. Knowledge of what is possible is derived from experience and reason; and what must not only teach what is good, but what is possible. Because a decision by the will is always necessary if rational thought are to result in action, classical and medieval tradition classifies will as an intellectual faculty. The doctrine concerning the Intellect and the doctrine concerning the Will of humans, are as it were twins at birth. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21

For purity of illumination and freedom of will begins and falls together; and nowhere in the universal nature of things is there so intimate a sympathy as between truth and goodness. In thus alluding to Adam’s fall from perfect wisdom and perfect goodness, we recognize a sort of primordial intimacy between will and intellect. The actions of life and the determinations of will depend upon the intellect. There are a small number of ways of training and improving the understanding, reason, and memory, but there are a relatively large number of ways of molding will, appetite, and affections. The will of humans is most maniable and obedient and admitteth most medicines to cure and alter it. However, the intellectual powers have fewer means to work upon them than the will or body of humans. Clearly, will is not placed among things intellectual. Perhaps it is unimportant, perhaps impossible, to characterize the will with any precision. It may be important only that the will be placed in the service of the rational Angels and not at the command of the passions devils. Dear Lord in Heaven, may each loss be an addition to your power, a thread in the pattern woven by you in the secret places. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21

It happened this way: When the time was right, when the season had come, one came to the deadly place and was sacrificed. Knowingly one came, willingly one came, in honour and sorrow one came, to do what had to be done. One’s death made life possible; from it sprang the food we eat. Grain grew where one’s blood flowed; animals walked forth from the shade of one’s fallen body. Like an ash felled by an axe, one’s body lay and, with its rotting, nourished the ground. This is the way it happened, and the way it happens today. For each moment dies and nourishes the next as it is birthed by God. Each year dies and nourishes the next as it is birthed by God. Each life ends and nourished the next as it is birthed by God. You who die and are reborn, in this season of death we remember you deeds. You who die and are reborn, in this season of life we remember your sacrifice. You who ide and are reborn, in this season of life and death we remember what happened, and we praise you in our living, and we praise you in our dying. Please keep back Thy servant also from willful sins, that they may not have dominion over me; then shall I be blameless, and I shall be clear from great transgression. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable before Thee, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer. I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be on my lips. My soul shall glory in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad. O exalt the Lord with me, and let us extol His name together. I sought the Lord, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. The humble looked unto Him and were radiant; and their faces shall never be abashed. Here is a poor man who cried out; the Lord heard hum and saved him from all his troubles. The Angel of the Lord encamps round about them that revere Hum, and delivers them. O try and you shall see that the Lord is good; happy is the person that takes refuge in God. O revere the Lord, you who are His holy ones; for they who revere God suffer no want. They that deny God may lack, and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good. Come, you children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the person that loves life, and desires long life filled with joy? Then keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21

CRESLEIGH MEADOWS AT PLUMAS RANCH

Plumas Lake, CA |

Now Selling!

Cresleigh Meadows is now selling! Found just north of Feather River Boulevard, Cresleigh Meadows is home of the largest neighborhood in Plumas Ranch as well as the popular Bear River Park. With four floor plans available, ranging from approximately 2,000 – 3,500 square feet offering, three to five bedrooms, we are certain you will find the home that fits your needs and lifestyle.

Popular design elements include open floor plans, large kitchen islands, and flex spaces are staples in Cresleigh homes. Multi-generational living options also available in select homes.

Homeowners will love the convenient commuter access to nearly Sacramento and Yuba City.

Best of all, each Cresleigh home comes fully equipped with an All Ready connected home! This smart home package comes included with your home and features great tools including: video door bell and digital deadbolt for the front door, connect home hub so you can set scenes and routines to make life just a little easier. Two smart switches and USB outlets are also included, plus we’ll gift you a Google Home Hub and Go.

The Owner’s ensuite in every #PlumasRanch home is fitted with a standing tub and large shower, meaning you get to choose what kind of spa experience you want each morning. 🧖‍♀️🧖‍♂️ https://cresleigh.com/cresleigh-meadows-at-plumas-ranch/

Most Cresleigh homes can be personalized with options that add additional bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage.  Easily prepare meals from the gorgeous kitchen, further enhanced by a generous center island, plenty of cabinet space, and a desirable pantry.

#CresleighHomes