We have enough people who tell it like it is—now we could use a few who tell it like it can be. Everywhere our paths cross. Today I met her three times. I know about her every little outing, when and where I shall come across her, but I do not use this knowledge t contrive an encounter with her—on the contrary, I am prodigal on a frightful scale. A meeting that often has cost me several hours of waiting is wasted as if it were a bagatelle. I do not approach her, I merely skirt the periphery of her existence. If I know that she is going out to Mrs. Winchester’s, I prefer not to encounter her unless it is important for me to make a particular observation. I prefer to comes to Mrs. Winchester’s a little early and, if possible, to pass her at the door as she is coming and I am going, or on the steps, where I nonchalantly pass by her. This is the first web into which she must be spun. On the street, I do not stop her, or I exchange a greeting with her but never come close, but always strive for distance. Presumably our repeated encounters are clearly noticeable to her; presumably she does perceive that on her horizon a new planet has loomed, which in its course has encroached disturbingly upon hers in a curiously undisturbing way, but she has no inkling of the law underling this movement. #RandolphHarris 1 of 22

The air was cooling, and so very still, that the sweet buns which with a modest pride pull droopingly, in slanting curve aside, their scantly leaved, and finely tapering stems, had not yet lost those starry diadems caught from the early sobbing of the morn. The clouds were pure and white as flocks new shorn, and fresh from the clear brook; sweetly they slept on the blue fields of Heaven, and then there crept a little noise among the leaves, born of the very sign that silence heaves: for not the faintest motion could be seen of all the shades that slanted over the green. There was a wide wandering for the greediest eye, to peer about upon variety; far round the horizon’s crystal air to skim, and trace the dwindled edgings of its brim; to picture out the quaint, and curious bending of a fresh woodland alley, never ending; or by the bowery clefts, and leafy shelves, guess where the jaunty streams refresh themselves. I gazed awhile, and felt as light, and free as though the fanning wings of Mercury had played upon my heels: I was light-hearted, and many pleasures to my vision started; so I straightway began to pluck a posey of luxuries bright, milky, soft and rosey. A busy of January flowers with the bees about them; ah, sure no tasteful nook would be without them. #RandolphHarris 2 of 22

And let a lush laburnum oversweep them, and let long grass grow round the roots to keep them moist, cool and green; and shade the violets that they may bind the moss in leafy net. She is tempted instead to look around to the right and to the left to see whether she can discover the point that is the goal; she is just as unaware that it is she as her antipode is. Just as those around me are inclined to do, she believes that I have a host of business affairs; I am constantly on the go and say, like Figaro: One, two, three, four schemes at a time—that is my pleasure. Before I begin my attack, I must firs become acquainted with her and her whole mental state. The majority enjoy a young woman as they enjoy a glass of sparkling cranberry juice, at one effervescent moment—oh, yes, that is really beautiful, and with a young lady that is undoubtedly the most one can attain, but here there is more. If an individual is too fragile to stand clarity and transparency, well, then one enjoys what is unclear, but apparently she can stand it. The more devotedness one can bring to young love, the more interesting. This momentary enjoyment is an untold pleasure, even if not outwardly but nevertheless mentally, and in a pleasure there is only imagined enjoyment; it is like a stolen kiss, something nondescript. #RandolphHarris 3 of 22

No, if one can bring it to a point where a young lady has but one task for her freedom, to give herself, so that she feels her whole happiness in this, so that she practically begs for this devotedness and yet is free—only then is there enjoyment, but this always takes a discerning touch. Bianca! It is indeed a glorious name! I sit at home and practice saying it to myself like a parrot. I say: Bianca, Bianca, my Bianca, you my Bianca. I cannot help smiling at the thought of the plan according to which sometime at the crucial moment I shall pronounce these words. One should always make preparatory studies; everything must be properly arranged. No wonder poets are always describing this dus-moment, that most beautiful moment when the lovers, not by sprinkling (to be sure, there are many who go no further) but by immersion in the sea of love, strip themselves of the old man and rise up from this baptism and only then really recognize each other as old acquaintances, although they are only one moment ld. For a young lady, this is always the most beautiful moment, and to enjoy it properly one ought to be on a somewhat higher level—not just as someone being baptized but also the priest. #RandolphHarris 4 of 22

A little irony makes the moment following this moment one of the most interesting—it is spiritual disrobing. One must be poetic enough not to interfere with the ceremony, and yet the rogue in oneself must always be on the watch. She is proud—that I saw long ago. When she is together with the three Winchesters, she speaks very little. Their chatter obviously leaves her betwixt; a certain smile on her lips seems to indicate that. I am building upon that smile. At other times, to the amazement of the Winchesters, she can abandon herself to an almost boyish wildness. When I consider her life as a child, it is not unaccountable to me. She had only one brother, a year older than she. She knew only the father and brother, witnessed some earnest episodes that make ordinary silly chatter disgusting. Her father and mother did not live together happily; that which generally more or less clearly or obscurely beckons to a young lady does not beckon to her. It might well be that she is puzzled about what a young lady is. Maybe at particular moments she wishes that she were not a young lady but a man. She has imagination, spirit, passion—in short, all the essentials, but not subjectively reflected. An incident today convinced me of this. #RandolphHarris 5 of 22

I knew from the Winchester’s mansion that she does not play an instrument—it goes against her aunt’s principles. I have always regretted this, for music is always a good means of communication with a young lady if one, please note, is careful not to appear to be a connoisseur. Today I went over to Mrs. Winchester’s. I had partially opened the door without knocking, a rudeness that frequently works to my advantage and that I remedy, when necessary, by the foolishness of knocking on the open. She was sitting there alone at the piano—she seemed to be playing furtively. It was a little Swedish melody. She did not play well; she became impatient, but then the strains came again, more softly. I shut the door and remained outside, listening to the change in her moods. At times there was a passion in her playing that reminded me of the maid Mettelil, who struck the golden harp so that milk spouted from her chest. There was something sad but also something dithyrambic in her playing. I could have rushed forward, seized this moment: that would have been foolish. Recollection is a means not only of conserving but also of augmenting; something that is permeated by recollection has a double effect. Frequently in books, especially hymnbooks, one finds a little flower—the occasion for its being placed there was a beautiful moment; the recollection is even more beautiful. #RandolphHarris 6 of 22

 Obviously she conceals the fact that she plays, or perhaps she play only this little Swedish melody—does it perhaps have a special interest for her? I know nothing about this, but for that reason this event is of great importance to me. Sometime when I can speak more confidentially with her, I shall very covertly lead her to this point and let her fall down through this trapdoor. Still I cannot make up my mind how to understand her; this is why I keep so quiet, so much in the background—indeed, like a soldier on vedette duty who throws himself on the ground and listens to the faintest reverberation of an advancing enemy. I do not actually exist for her, not in the sense of a negative relationship but in the sense of no relationship at all. As yet I have risked no venture. To see her was to love her, as the novels say—yes, that would be true enough if love did not have a dialectic, but what, indeed, does one come to know about love from novels? Sheer lies—which helps to shorten the task. According to everything I have now learned about her, when I think back on the impression that first meeting made on me, my conception of her is certainly modified, but to her advantage as well as to mine. #RandolphHarris 7 of 22

It is not exactly the order of the day for a young lady to talk all alone this way, or for a young lady to sink into herself this way. She was tested according to my rigorous critique: lovely. However, loveliness is a very volatile element that vanishes like yesterday when it is over. I had not thought of her in the setting in which she lives, least of all so unreflectively acquainted with the storms of life. However, I would like to know the state of her feelings. Surely she has never been in love; her spirit is too free-ranging for that. Least of all is she one of those theoretically experienced maidens who, long in advance, are so facile in imagining themselves in the arms of a lover. The real-life people she has met have simply not been able to confuse her about the relation between dream and actuality. Her soul is still nourished by the divine ambrosia of ideals. However, the ideal hovering before her is certainly not a shepherdess or a heroine in a novel, a mistress, but a Joan of Arch or something like that. The question always remains whether her womanliness is sufficiently strong to reflect itself, or whether it will be enjoyed only as beauty and loveliness; the question is whether one dares to bend the bow to greater tension. #RandolphHarris 8 of 22

It is in itself something great to find a purely immediate womanliness, but if one dares to risk altering it, one has interesting. In that case, it is best to saddle her with a plain and simple suitor. That this would harm a young lady is a superstition people have. Indeed, if she is a very choice and delicate plant who has only one crowing feature in her life—loveliness—then it is always best that she never heard love mentioned. However, if that is not the case, then it is an advantage, and I would never hesitate to produce a suitor if there was none. This suitor must not be a caricature, either, for nothing is gained thereby; he must be a respectable young man, even charming if possible, but still inadequate for her passion. She looks down on such a person; she acquires a distaste for love; she becomes almost different about her own reality [Realitet] when she sense her destiny and sees what actuality [Virkelighed] offers. If to love, she says, is nothing else, then it does not amount to much She becomes proud in her love. This pride makes her interesting; it illuminates her being with heightened colour, but it also brings her closer to her downfall—but all this makes her ever more interesting. It nevertheless best to make sure of her acquaintance first, in order to see if there might be such a suitor. #RandolphHarris 9 of 22

There is no opportunity at home, for practically no one ever visits there, but she does go out, and probably such a person could be found there. It is always precarious to provide such a person before knowing this. Two suitors, each inconsequential in oneself, could have a harmful effect because of their relativity. I shall now find out whether there is such a lover in secret who does not have the courage to storm the house, a chicken thief who sees no chance in such a cloister-like house. Consequently, the strategic principle, the law for every move in this campaign, is always to have tangential contact with her in an interesting situation. Consequently, the interesting is the territory in which the struggle is to be carried on; the potency of the interesting must be exhausted. If I am not much mistaken, her whole nature is designed for this, so that what I ask for is precisely what she gives—indeed, what she asks for. What it all depends on is to keep watch on what the individual can give and what she requires as a consequence of that. My love affairs, therefore, always have a reality [Realitet] for me personally; they amount to a life factor, an educational period that I definitely know all about, and I often even link with it some skill or other. #RandolphHarris 10 of 22

For the sake of the first young lady, I learned to dance; for the sake of the little dancer, I learned to speak French. At that time, like all fools, I went to the market and was often cheated. Now I buy before the market opens. Perhaps she has exhausted one aspect of the interesting; her inclosed life seems to indicate that. The point, then, is to find another aspect that at first glance may not seem so to her but that precisely because of this impediment become interesting to her. To that end, I choose not the poetic but the prosaic. So this is the beginning. First of all, her womanliness is neutralized by prosaic common sense and ridicule, not directly but indirectly, at the same time by absolutely neutral, namely, intellect. She almost loses the feeling of being a woman, but in this state she is not able to stand out alone; she throws herself into my arms, not as if I were a lover—no, still completely neutrally. Now, her womanliness is aroused; one coaxes it forth to its extreme point of elasticity, allows her to offend against some actual validity or other. She goes beyond it; her womanliness reaches almost supernatural heights; she belongs to me with a World of passion. When a man is out on a date (and this is equally true whether you are with your wife or on a first date), doing the little things with confidence goes a long way toward setting the right mood. #RandolphHarris 11 of 22

When you are doing all the little things to make your companion feel special, your date can focus completely on having a good time rather than on the things you are not doing. Sometimes I think my eyes have a mind all of their own. When you are out on a date or with your significant other, noticing others is a real mood killer. Most people recognize that men are going to look at other people. However, the real key is not to let a stunning individual walking by interfere with your focus on the person you are with. This let the individual know that they are perfect in your eyes. Most women like flowers. Putting flowers in a glass vase on the dining room table is a way of brightening up her life. For my wife’s birthday, I realized I had the perfect gift staring me in the face. I went to the local florist shop, which is her favourite place, and gave a standing order that once a month flowers were to be delivered to our home. They charge it to my credit card. Twelve times a year she gets her favourite birthday present from me. That is better than just once. If you really want to express love and affection, nothing beats roses. They are great for that special someone in your life. Roses are especially appropriate when you are celebrating an anniversary or an extra-special event. #RandolphHarris 12 of 22

All things being equal, as I approach a door with my wife, I will step forward ever so slightly, open the door, and hold it for her to enter before me. If I am carrying a parcel of if for some reason she is clearly there ahead of me and starts opening the door herself, I do not make a scene by rushing forward and pushing her aside so I can open the door for her. Instead, I accept the effort she is making and say, “Thank you.” Other times, when she arrives at a door first and starts opening it, if I can I will reach behind her and take hold of the edge of the door, discreetly taking over the task of opening it and then hold it for her so she can enter first. Opening a door when entering and existing a building is a considerate thing to do. In fact, 78 percent of respondents expect that a man should be prepared to pen a building door all the time. Opening the car door for a woman is also a very polite thing to do. When it comes to paying the bill at a restaurant, it is simple: The person who does the inviting pays for the meal. If you do the inviting, expect to pay and do so without hesitation. If a woman invites you to an event, that leaves an opening for you to make a counter-invitation of your own: “That would be great. I would love to go with you. May I take you to dinner before the concert?” #RandolphHarris 13 of 22

Courtesy is a natural outgrowth of the refining influence of the Spirit of the Lord. First impressions are very hard to change—and this is Bianca’s first impression of how you live your life. Fail to clean up properly, and she will have that introductory “you are a messy guy” image burned in her mind forever. Keeping your residence neat and clean is not only about making a good first impression, of course. Maintaining a clean, livable home is a way of showing respect and consideration for anyone who stops in, from your next-door neighbour to your longtime girlfriend. If you have moved in with and/or married your longtime girlfriend, then doing your share of the housecleaning—without complaining or needing to be prompted—is one of the best ways you can show consideration for her. It also affords the two of you the freedom to welcome others into your home at any time. When we show love, respect, and gratitude to those around us, we practice good manners. When we use good manners in our associations with all His children, our Heavenly Father is pleased. Nothing convinces others that you have good manners more than the way you talk. Learning to meet people and carry on short conversations is a valuable skill. #RandolphHarris 14 of 22

When someone does you a favour, however small, you should thank them. You will gain a reputation of being well-mannered, because you are. Kind words and good manners will cost you nothing and will add greatly to the happiness of those around you. The soul is the most basic level of life in the individual, and one that is by nature rooted in God. We must take care to do whatever we can to keep it in his hands, recognizing all the while that we can only do this with his help. And the very first thing that we must do is to be mindful of our soul, to acknowledge it. In spiritual formation and transformation it is necessary to take the soul seriously and deal with it regularly and intelligently. We must be sure to do this for ourselves, individually, and also in our Christian fellowships. I suspect it will seem strange to some that we emphasize this. Is not the soul something “religious,” after all? And does not religion deal with the soul all the time? Such questions have a historical point to them, for the soul has very much been at the center of traditional Christianity. However, in the contemporary context you will hear very little about the soul in Christian groups of whatever kind in the Western World, and you will see very few peoples seriously concerned about the state of their own soul. #RandolphHarris 15 of 22

There is very little said from the pulpit about the soul as an essential part of our lives and almost no serious teaching about it at any level of our various Christian educational undertakings. Some conservative and evangelical churches still sometimes talk about saving the soul, but even this much less than used to be the case; and once the soul is “safe” it is usually treated as needing no further attention. Ignoring the soul is one reason why Christian churches have become fertile sources of recruits for cults and other religious and political groups. It is not reasonable to think the soul would be properly cared for when it is not even seriously acknowledged. So this has to change. The acknowledgment of the soul, which is necessary to carry through with spiritual formation, is made more difficult by the elusiveness of the soul and the loss of Christian traditions and terminologies for comprehending it. Here too our religious context have suffered from harmful influence by the secular intellect, which frankly abhours the soul. We all more or less dimly feel and discern our own soul’s condition and that of others. However, we rarely can articulate or express those conditions and being them to a level of comprehension required for helpful reflection and discussion. #RandolphHarris 16 of 22

We have very much lost “soul” language and are embarrassed by it—though it still breaks through in the Bible and older Christian writings and in odd places here and there in contemporary life and art. Now, this is not a desirable situation, to say the least, and certainly it is not compatible with the serious undertaking of spiritual formation. Our preachers and teacher must emphatically and repeatedly acknowledge the soul as the living center of Christian life that it is, and they must reassume their responsibility for the care of souls, long assigned to them in Christian tradition. We as individuals must “own” our souls and take responsibility before God for them, turning to our pastors and teacher for the necessary help. On the other hand, we must recognize the recent upsurge of “soul talk” in publishing (see the many titles) and in business books and seminars. “Soul” has become profitable. If it were joined with a proper presentation of the soul in relation to God, that would be well. However, unfortunately, this is rarely the case. We must never forget that the indispensable first step in caring for the soul is to place it under God—a World featuring safety and benevolent paternalism. #RandolphHarris 17 of 22

The gentle encouragement of a warm, compassionate teacher one has long admire, inexplicably, can help open the doorway to the soul. The hallmark of the soul is an internal perception deeply filled with peace, emotional safety, and is intimately engaged with the stream of memory and insight that we shall be saved in the kingdom of God. No wise being is the cause of another human becoming worse. Now God surpasses all humans in wisdom. Much less therefore is God the cause of a human becoming worse; and when He is said to be the cause of a thing He is said to be the will of it. Therefore it is not by God’s will that humans become worse. Now it is clear that every evil makes a thing worse. Therefore God wills not evil things. Since the ratio of good is the ratio of appetibility, as said before, and since evil is opposed to good, it is impossible that any evil, as such, should be sought for by the appetite, either natural, or animal, or by the intellectual appetite which is the will. Nevertheless evil may be sought accidentally, so far as it accompanies a good, as appears n each of the appetites. For a natural agent intends not privation or corruption, but the form to which is annexed he privation of some other form, and the generation of one thing, which implies the corruption of another. #RandolphHarris 18 of 22

Similarly the fornicator has merely pleasure of one’s object, and the deformity of sin is only an accompaniment. Now the evil that accompanies one food, is the privation of another good. Never therefore would be evil south after, not even accidentally, unless the good that accompanies the evil were more desired than the good of which the evil is the privation. Now God wills no good more than He wills His own goodness; yet He wills one good more than another. Hence He in no way wills the evil of sin, which is the privation of right order towards the divine good. The evil of natural defect, or of punishment, God does will, by willing the good to which such evils are attached. Thus in willing justice God wills punishment; and in willing the preservation of the natural order, God wills some things to be naturally corrupted. Some have said that although God does not will evil, yet His wills that evil should be or be done, because, although evil is not a good, yet it is good that evil should be or be done. This they said because things evil in themselves are ordered to some good end; and this order they thought was expressed in the words “that evil should be or be done.” This, however, is not correct; since evil is not of itself ordered to good, but accidentally. #RandolphHarris 19 of 22

For it is beside the intention of the sinner, that any should shine forth from all their persecutions. It cannot therefore be said that such an ordering to good is implied in the statement that it is a good thing that evil should be or be done, since nothing is judged of by which appertains to it accidentally, but by that which belongs to it essentially. Evil does not operate towards the perfection and beauty of the Universe, expect accidentally, as said above. Therefore Dionysius in saying that “evil would conduce to the perfection of the Universe,” draws a conclusion by reduction to an absurdity. The statements that evil exists, and that evil exists not, are opposed as contradictories; yet the statements that anyone wills evil to exist and that one wills it not to be, are not so opposed; since either is affirmative. God therefore neither wills evil to be done, nor wills it not to be done, but wills to permit evil to be done; and this is a good. We are in the presence of the enemy who is now a majority. If our eyes are open to see the powers that are about we, that seek to influence us, we would not have the courage to walk alone unassisted. These powers are about us, using their influence for the accomplishment of certain well-defined ends to win the coveted place for their chief, the fallen son of God. #RandolphHarris 20 of 22

When he fell, the Heavens wept over him, and he became Lucifer, the devil. However, Jesus Christ came into the World to give his life to earn the right to be King of kings and Lord of lords. Once we clearly acknowledge the soul, we can learn to hear its cries. Jesus heard its cries from the wearied humanity he saw around him. He saw the soul’s desperate need in those who struggled with the overwhelming tasks of their life. Such weariness and endless labour was, to him, a sure sign of a soul not properly rooted in God—a soul, in effect, on its own. What we have learned is, primarily, to rest our soul in God. Rest to our soul is rest in God. My soul is at peace only when it is with God, as a child is with loving guardians. Today as humanity, we take our first steps, in the possibility of what could be. We move forward to One Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We must pledge our allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and remain loyal to the one and only home we know. My we be on the path of God. Please pen the way for our Lord and Saviour. We love God, we want to be guided by God, we want God to protect us and walk beside us. Keep an eye on us God and bring us health. #RandolphHarris 21 of 22

For the Lord shall judge His people, and have compassion upon His servants. The idols of the heathens are mere silver and gold, the work of human’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them shall become like unto them; yea, every one that trusts in them. O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His loving kindness endureth forever. O give thanks unto the God of gods, for his loving kindness endureth forever. O give thanks unto the Lord of lords, for His loving kindness endureth forever, to Him whom alone doeth great wonders, for His loving kindness endureth forever; to Him that by understanding made the Heavens, for His loving kindness endureth forever. Eternal balance is what God places before us. However, there is a disturbance here, something that should not be. Humanity is sick. How can this be? You know that the business of humans is to prosper. Yet sickness prevents growth. How can it be, then, that this humanity is sick? Please restore eternal balance, continuous harmony, we place this World in your arms for healing. May we always walk carefully on the path of God with our eyes and eyes open to His teachings. Amen. #RandolphHarris 22 of 22

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