We are in the act of discovering ourselves, not what we have been instructed to discover by the culture. The suburbs are the belt population which typical lives in large, single-family homes, under distinctly roomier conditions than that of the average city lot, and apart from the city, but is more crowded than the adjoining open country. By definitions, suburbs are residential, and usually more affluent. However, suburbs are no longer sub. In terms of population, economics, and culture, America has been a suburban nation for about a century. Today more Americans live, work, go to school and colleges, and do their shopping and recreation in suburbs than in cities. Yet we still continue to use models that view the city as dominant and the suburbs as peripheral. The antiquated assumption is that economically and socially, the downtown is still the center, while suburbs are outlying residential places that remain oriented toward the central city. For example, we still think of commuting as going into the city in the morning and returning to the suburbs at night. However, in reality most commuting is from suburb to suburb. Rather than being on the fringe or off center, today’s suburbs are the metropolitan centers. Without fanfare, suburbs have become the new retail and employment “downtowns.” In recent years, more than three-quarters of job growth that has occurred in America’s largest metropolitan areas occurred in the suburbs. Since World War II, mass suburbanization has made these communities more complex, diverse, and sophisticated contemporary suburbia. #RandolphHarris 1 of 20

Over the past half of a century, the residential character of suburbia has undergone a dramatic transformation. The stereotypical image of suburbia was rows of look-alike homes interrupted by an occasional shopping mall. While portions of the stereotype are true, such as the preference of a clean line of homes that all look similar and have neat landscaping, many of these communities are starting to incorporate different styles of architecture. Cresleigh Homes for example, in one of its communities called Mills Station at Cresleigh Ranch, offers an array of home types with eye catching architecture styles such as Mission, Mid-Century Modern, California Modern, and Contemporary Farmhouse. In a community of two hundred homes, depending on the buyer’s preference, one may see approximately 36 combinations of different architecture styles because the builder offers so many different elevations. However, in a community like Rocklin Trials, by Cresleigh Homes, all of the homes are large, two-story homes, with about 18 different styles of architecture and they all look pretty similar because that is what the buyers wanted; a nice, clean community, with uniform architecture, and no cars parked on the streets. Once overwhelmingly residential, suburbs now dominate the metropolitan business landscape. Suburban outer or edge cities now not only house the bulk of retail trade, they often have more office workers and office space than the traditional downtowns. Suburbia has become far more complex. #RandolphHarris 2 of 20

Suburbia has become far more complex. People are now moving from downtown communities, buying larger homes in the suburbs and working from home as well. Everything you want is in the suburban community, so there is almost no reason to go down town anymore. All that you need is located within a ten-mile radius of your home. You have office parks, hospitals, daycare, schools, colleges, restaurants, shopping malls, aquatic centers, gyms, supermarkets, pet stores, movie theaters, coffee shops, hotels, car dealerships, parks, lots of designated parking, safer communities and streets, banks, transportation—anything you desire is located in your community and often times within walking distance. Residential suburbs have also become more socially, economically, ethically, culturally, and racially diverse to a degree unthought of even four decades ago. People have become more accepting of others and like the appeal of an international community. The suburban revolution has made these communities the new core of economic and commercial centers of a new metropolitan area form. Economically healthy and growing suburbs now find themselves sandwiched between older declining cities on one side and developing rural areas on the other. This transformation has been remarkably rapid. The suburbs are also becoming dominant socially. #RandolphHarris 3 of 20

However, whether the social dominance of suburbia is commonly recognized or not, and whether applauded or denounced, it has already occurred. People want to get out of the city, to these clean, new residential communities where they can enjoy quiet, peace, and safety. Where they do not have to wear earplugs to get peace and quiet from traffic, construction, and restaurant noise. At the end of World War II, the American city was the industrial, commercial, and cultural center of the World. Downtown was where the action was to be found. What was not recognized was that this was the peak; the following decades would witness a massive outflowing from the cities. Although it somewhat twists the language, suburbs are more and more frequently the center of the metropolitan area. Daily, the inevitable transformation of America into a nation of suburbs becomes ever closer to demographic and economic reality, and that reflection is also what the American dream is. Nationally, more than half of Americans are suburbanites. Suburbs housed only 15 percent of the nation’s population in 1920, and by the end of World War II only 20 percent of the United States’ population resides in suburbs. The central cities seemed destined to grow in population and influence. No one at that time saw suburbs as ever being anything but sub to the city. Certainly, no one saw suburbs as the dominant American location for shopping or employment. The idea that the city is central, and thus programs such as urban action grants, model cities, and revenue sharing no longer has an explicit urban focus. #RandolphHarris 4 of 20

America as a nation of cities is an era that is closing. Since 1970, more Americans have lived in the suburbs than central cities. In 2010, suburbanites out numbered city and rural dwellers combined for the first time. We Americans live in a suburban nation. Despite several concerted efforts by city governments to lure residents, suburbanization continues largely unabated. Urban counties have grown at roughly the overall national rate of 13 percent since 2000. Suburban and small metropolitan areas have grown more briskly. Rural counties have lagged, and half of them have fewer residents now than they did in 2000. At the national level, non-Hispanic whites makes up the majority of the population, but a key demographic shift is underway: Whites are shrinking share of the population and expected to be less than half by midcentury, as other groups grow more rapidly. Whites have become a minority of the population in most urban counties since 2000, while remaining the majority in 90 percent of suburban and small metro counties and 89 percent of rural ones. Another key demographic trend, the rise in immigration in recent decades, has raised the foreign-born share of the U.S. population overall and has increased the share in each type of county, although to varying degrees. Immigrants, along with their children and grandchildren, have accounted for the majority of U.S. population growth since 1965. However, immigrants are more concentrated in cities and suburbs than in rural areas. #RandolphHarris 5 of 20

About 46 million Americans live in the nation’s rural counties, 175 million in its suburbs and small metros and about 98 million in its urban core counties. Suburban and small metro counties have grown since 2000 because of gains in all the drivers of population change. They grained approximately 12 million new residents by drawing former residents of U.S. urban and rural areas, as well as immigrants from abroad. On top of that, they had 12.1 million more births. Of course, even if they wanted to, not everyone can live in the city’s urban core. Many cities are trying hard to become hip and trendy and are raising prices and building more luxury apartments, which rent for more than two to three times the price of a mortgage in the low-density suburbs, so they are also an affordable alternative. Because more than half of all voters now live in the suburbs—it is a matter of considerable political consequence as central-city mayors make increasingly frantic calls for additional state and national funding. The image of suburbia as an area of middle-class housing and culture remains locked in our heads. People think of it as a community of neat homes with green laws. It is a never-ending land of stable middle- and upper-middle-class families living with their young children in ranch-style homes surrounded by wide yards of green. Additionally, diversity is noticed. More than 38 percent of black Americas living in metropolitan areas resided in suburbs. As far back as the 1970s, African American suburban growth rates already exceeded those of whites. #RandolphHarris 6 of 20

As cities erupted in flames during the 1960s and again in 2020, the exodus to the suburbs meant more than seeking of newer housing and more room. It also came to mean that the city, with its growing congestion, filth, problems, poor, and vagrant populations could be escaped. Suburbia is thought to be safely American, middle-class, and residential. Cities on the other hand, are dirty and dangerous and full of foul odors. Suburbanites are trading individualism for conformity and “togetherness.” During the past thirty years, jobs, as well as homes have suburbanized, with over twice as many jobs in manufacturing now being located in suburbs as in central cities. The industrial park has supplanted the central-city factor. Not only blue-collar but white-collar jobs are also rapidly suburbanizing. This now includes headquarters as well as back-office operations. Outer Dallas, for example, has three times the office space as does the central business district, while suburban Atlanta has twice the office space as the center city. Even in the New York metropolitan, northern New Jersey has more offices than Manhattan. Economically as well as demographically, suburbs are no longer sub. They are sophisticated, desirable locations because people are building plush hotel style McMansions with gourmet kitchens with butler’s pantries, California rooms, two story homes with as many as three living rooms, flex spaces, workshops, luxury spa like bathrooms, and homes on tree farms. #RandolphHarris 7 of 20

Whether you call them outer cities, edge cities, technoburbs, suburban cities are coming to dominate the metropolitan landscape. Americans no longer want to waste their lives in the graveyard of guilt dealing with corpses of the past. God’s mercy is more than enough, and the suburbs are a glimpse of Heaven. Two-thirds of office spaces is now located in outer cities. Places unheard of three decades ago, such as King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; North Dalla, Texas; Dunwiddie, Georgie; and Rancho Cordova, California, are now major economic and commercial centers If current patterns continue, they will pass the economic power of their central cities of Philadelphia, Dallas, Atlanta, and Sacramento. Older core-periphery models of urban growth with their assumption of a dominant central city hardly fit this new reality. Definitions for contemporary suburbs that assume that suburbs are economically dependent and sub to their central cities are out of date. Interestingly, the Bureau of the Census does not officially use the term “suburb.” The government definition most commonly used to approximate suburbia is Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). A Metropolitan Statistical Area is a county or group of counties having a central city of 50,000 or more or twin cities of 50,000 or more. The largest city in each metropolitan statistical area is designated a “principal city.” As of March 2020, there are 384 MSAs. #RandolphHarris 8 of 20

Areas of poverty, crime, mental illness, and other social problems were studied and mapped out not for their own sake but to discover how the sociological, psychological, and moral experiences of urban life were reflected in spatial structure directly affected social behaviour. Just as someone traveling from desert to mountains finds that different physical environments produce different species of plants and animals, so, by analogy, would traveling from a city business district to outlying residential areas show different ones of development.  Since the 1960s, North America pattern has been for suburbs, regardless of racial composition, to have higher socioeconomic status than their central cities. In America, suburbs are more likely to house the affluent than the economically and socially marginal members of society. In a happy home, there is love, respect, and honour. What a blessing that image is. When children are young, they feel a certain security because of it, and as they grow older, their thoughts and their action will be modeled by the example they remember. In suburban communities, most of the homes are owner occupied, so people have a vested interest in keeping their homes safe, clean, quiet, and peaceful. However, according to the Burgess model, the most valuable land is the central business district (CBD) located at the center of the transportation network. Intensive uses of space such as department stores, financial institutions, business offices thus tend to force out less intensive uses, such as housing. #RandolphHarris 9 of 20

Land values are thus typically highest in the center of downtown and decrease in value as one moves further toward the periphery. Since outer suburban land is usually more economical, lot sizes tend to increase, and single-family homes on large lots become financially more viable. This results in a pattern where the most valuable homes and the wealthiest residents live on the urban fringe. Or, to state it another way, there is a tendency for an inverse relationship between the value of land and the economic states of these occupying it. The more affluent live on the more economical outer land. This is the general picture of suburbs most of us carry around in our heads. That is, suburbs are thought of as peripherally located upper-income or middle-income communities of relatively low density on substantial lots holding free-standing single-family homes. The CBD tends to be surrounded by a transition zone, so there are a lot of people coming and going and businesses changing and moving, so it is not exactly a peaceful family friendly community. Whereas most homeowners usually buy a home as an investment and will live in it all of their lives and want a stable community. Many of the people in the suburbs live in happiness and love in their own homes. However, if there is something wrong, turn about. Put a smile on your face Make yourself attractive. Brighten your outlook. #RandolphHarris 10 of 20

If you constantly complain and do nothing to rectify your own faults, you deny yourselves happiness and court misery. Rise above the shrill clamour over rights and prerogatives, and walk in the quiet dignity of a child of God. The time has come for all of us to put he past behind us in a spirit of repentance and live the gospel with new dedication. The time is now for husbands and wives who may have offended one another to ask for forgiveness and resolve to cultivate respect and affection one for another, standing before the Creator as sons and daughters worthy of His smile upon us. God our Eternal Father ordained that we should be companion. That implies equality. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 25.35-40 that when we serve others, we are also serving Him. When you serve your family members, it shows you love hem and want them to be happy. You can strengthen your love as your serve each other, and as your family serves others. Service will bring joy and happiness into your lives and into the lives of those you serve. Think of a few things you can do to serve your family members. Then help your family think of a way you can serve together. Heavenly Father is happy to forgive us when we repent of doing something wrong, and He wans us to be kind and forgiving of our family members. Words and feelings come in a rush. We cannot help it. That is just the way it is. Should we believe them? That is the sort of question Jesus, son of Sirach, would ask in his book of Wisdom (19.14). The answer is both yes and no. Each and every one should be carefully weighed in the scale of God, that is to say, magnanimously and longanimously. #RandolphHarris 11 of 20

However, oh, what a pain it is! If we do not do the pondering, the complaint about someone will be swallowed whole while the compliment is left untouched on the plate. What excuse can we come up with, except that old canard that we are poor, weak human beings? However, once gullible people do not fall for the same lame story a second time. They know the kind of infirmity Humankind is heir to. They know that it is a slippery slope from the good to the bad, as Jesus, son of Sirach put it (14.1), and that words, merry messengers that they are, are the first ones down the hill. Wisdom, how great thou art! Not to be hasty in what has to be done. Not to be stubborn in what does not have to be done. Not to believe every word uttered by Humankind. And of the utterings judged believable, no ladle them too eagerly into the empty ears of others. However, how does one distinguish the Believables from the Unbelievables? The only way is to take counsel with a wise and conscientious person, as the Author of Tobit advised (4.18). Seek to be instructed on how to become a better Christian; and that certainly does not include how to become a better prankster. A good life makes you wise in God’s eyes. However, is that all? In many ways it also makes you an expert in the World’s eyes, as Jesus, son of Sirach, had it (34.9). Is that all? Simultaneously, surreptitiously, you become wiser and more peaceful in the rest of life. That is all there is and needs to be. #RandolphHarris 12 of 20

When it comes to reading the Holy Scriptures, look for Truth, not style. That is to say, every verse of Sacred Scripture ought to be read in the spirit in which it was written. However, what should we look for? For the spirituality of the Scripture verse rather than the subtlety of a sermon about the Scripture verse. So in addition to reading learned tomes and leathered volumes, we should feel free to dip into sacred and simple books. Do not be distracted by trying to figure out who the author is. If you find the author is trying too hard, do not get nervous. If the style is too highbrow, too lowbrow, do not waste time trying to determine. If read you must, then read on, letting the love of Truth be your guide. Do no ask who wrote it. Just pay attention to what is said. At least with regard to the Scriptures. Humankind comes and goes, but “the Truth of the Lord remains forever.” That is what the Psalmist says (116.2). However, though it all God speaks to us. At least, that is as the Letters to the Hebrews (1.1) and the Romans (2.11) express it. How? Through Devouts, of course, but also in a variety of other ways. Scripture among the, and the reading is easy. Follow your faith, not your fears. For Scripture scholars, intellectual curiosity often gets in their way. They isolate a verse, do a tarantella on it, and then seem surprised to learn they have stomped it to death. #RandolphHarris 13 of 20

For the rest of us, when we have trouble reading a verse, we should read the next one, then the other after that, and so one until the muddy pool clears. If you want to satisfy your thirst for the Scripture, forget about scholarship. Read humbly, simply, faithfully; that is the way they were written. This is not to say that we cannot ask questions of and about Scripture anything we want. However, we should pay quiet attention to the Scripture writers themselves, accepting their words as though the ink were still damp. A cautionary word. There is going to be stuff in the Scriptures you do not like. What to do? Do not fuss. The writers had their reasons, and in them Go had His. Nature’s restorative power usually tries to heal the body or correct its functions but human’s ingrained gluttony, error, ignorance, and self-indulgence usually throw too much obstruction in its way to let this desirable result happen. There is no objection to gratifying the palate; indeed it is quite natural to do so. However, when it happens at the expense of spiritual and physical well-being, then it reaches a point when it does become objectionable and unnatural. The cravings of the palate are not what they ought to be but what, hereditarily and artificially, they have been made to be. When it comes to combining the technical knowledge of biology with spiritual insight, the change of viewpoints makes it necessary to modify and even correct the scientific knowledge. The Hebrew Scriptures hold in delicate balance the image of humans as the majestic summit of God’s creative activity, uniquely made in God’s own image, and yet also as very much a part of the creation, formed from the dust of ground. #RandolphHarris 14 of 20

What scientist have come to understand as the physical underpinnings of mind and emotion were assumed in Hebrew thought. The details of Hebrew psychology differ from the details of contemporary science, but on one fundamental point the two traditions agree: mind and emotion are inextricably linked with body. The people of the Old Testament think with their hearts, feel with their bowels, and long for God with their flesh. Of all the body organs, the heart (leb Hebrew) is the most important. In the 850 uses of leb in the Old Testament, it variously denotes the whole personality, the emotions, or the intellect and will. It is, in these different ways, the center of life, which is called to hear and respond to the word of God. What, then, is the biblical “soul”? In Old Testament Hebrew it is nephesh, which in is almost 800 uses typically refers to the entire human being, not to some portion of the person. Out of the dust God formed a person who “became a living nephesh,” reports Genesis 2.7. Contrary to what most people suppose, this nephesh is most assuredly not Plato’s immortal soul. Our nephesh, our whole living being, is said to terminate at death. Moreover, animals as well as humans have nephesh. Thus the Old Testament scholar Walther Eichrodt laments, “The unhappy rendering of the term as ‘soul’ opened the door from the start to the Greek beliefs concerning the soul.” #RandolphHarris 15 of 20

The Hebrew sense of nephesh is more like the soul we have in mind when we say “there was not a soul [id est, a person] in the room,” or “I love you from the depths of my soul [being].” In the Hebrew view, we do not have nephesh (a soul), we are nephesh (living beings). We are living beings who were created to share the divine image and to live as obedient stewards of the Earth. To create something, we need chaos, but we also need order. Otherwise we encounter turbulence. If there is nothing to hold us, we shall have a black hole instead of a psychic core. In order to develop, we need symbols with which we can hold and organize what would otherwise be confusion. Symbols enable us to bear with long delays between needs and their fulfilment: they fill that gap of time. At the simplest level, we fill the gap with phantasies of the satisfying object or with the idea that it will come soon. At a more complex level, the gap is filled with images of the World or of ourselves. This keeps us from being overwhelmed by frustrated needs—the images provide a soothing context for our frustration. We restrict our diet and put up with craving because we want to look nice on the beach. We go on working after we are tired because it will be good to see the finished product. We do without for a little longer, so as not to have to put up with second best. The ability to put our frustration in perspective enables us to preserve for long periods in frustrating situations, which will eventually yield rewards. #RandolphHarris 16 of 20

We hold ourselves and each other with words. Not surprisingly, therefore, psychotherapists have tried, from their different perspectives, to understand the use of words and symbols in the context of what might be called shared ego-functioning. The concept formation and thinking come not from an individual but from interpersonal activities. If things have gone wrong in the course of a child’s development, so that its concepts are distorted, a social relationship, an “us,” has to be established before the organization of concepts can take place in a more orderly fashion. “He that loseth his life shall save it.” Those who would translate Jesus’ words into generous emotion and not into metaphysical insight have never know the real meaning of those words. For the philanthropic service of others is a noble but secondary ideal, whereas the mystical union with the Overself is a priceless and primary achievement. The freedom one feels in such moments are the consolation one gets from them are indications of the value of the distant goal itself. Try to describe a colour to someone who has never been able to see any colour at all. Your words will have no meaning for one, however accurate and expressive they may be. In the same way, most mystics are sceptical about the use of describing their experience to those who have not already had some such experience. For instance, authors like Erich Fromm, William James, Paul Tillich, Paul Brunton and others often use the terms “being” and “non-being.” #RandolphHarris 17 of 20

To truly understand the terms “being” and “non-being,” we have to understand their application and mind set. For eternal beings, there is no history. History connects events of the past to events of the future to tell a story. Also, for eternal beings, there is no timeline. For eternal beings, all there is is being and non-being. Essentially existing and non-existence. So, if we were trying to communicate with an eternal being, they may not understand us. Furthermore, if we were trying to read their writings, we may not understand their terms or meanings, unless we were able to ask questions because their given definitions may still be abstract concepts to us, even though they have thoroughly explained them, because our brains are not formed in a way to understand their concepts as we have had different life experiences. This is where the “glimpse” is of such tremendous value. One will know at the time, and come to confirm when the greater part of one’s life is already past, that the sacredness which infuses them and the beauty which permeates them make these one’s best moments. Those rare moments of exaltation and uplift, of spiritual glimpse and inward freedom, are of inestimable value. They show the aspirant what one may become, affirm the reality of the ideal and reveal its possibility. This is the one experience which is unique, the most important of all, simply because it throws new uncommon light upon all experiences. #RandolphHarris 18 of 20

There is a pure happiness in these moments of release which no Earthly happiness can surpass. The achievement of this glimpse is regarded as a very high one. Even if one does so only for a single how and cannot keep the glimpse longer, to become conscious of infinity is no mean achievement of a human. The primary value of life lies in these beautiful but brief moods when we lose touch with the World, and fortunate is that person who recognizes the higher authority of their accompanying clear insights. These glimpses come upon us unawares, inadvertently as it were. There is no higher experience in our past to compare with them, and no lovelier. These mystical moments are the most priceless human experience, did we but know it. Instinctively one knows it to be one of the most beautiful, most important of experiences one has ever had. These glimpses scintillate within the dark chamber of human’s life like stars in the night sky. We need those occasional confirmations from the Overself of its own existence. We all need the calmness and the love associated with this experience. If one can penetrate to this inmost region of consciousness, one will penetrate also to the secret purpose of the few decade of Earthly life. Some kind of awakening is the usual prelude before people tale to the Quest in real earnest. The glimpse provides it. There is an image of God within each human; once seen, one will forever after court union with it. It is a blessed state unequalled by another experience, unexcelled by any other satisfaction. #RandolphHarris 19 of 20

It is such glorious moments—refreshing to the will and revelatory to the mind—which alone can compensate for (or justify, if you prefer the word) the long littleness, the recurring torment of living. An experience so lovely, yielding a memory so precious, is worth the effort of seeking. What we know is so little that it ought to make us intellectually humble. However, that little is nevertheless of the highest importance to us. For we know that the Overself is, that the passage to its stillness from the ego’s tumult is worthwhile, and that goodness and purity, prayer and meditation help us to find it. The fact or absence of enlightenment measure the real value of a person. The Sun is setting in the tall grass beneath the pines where the heart beat one with the land, where the mule deer approach their antlers raised, where the palm upturned we pray. The Earth is at the same time mother, she is mother of all that is human, she is the mother of all, for contained in her are the seeds of all. The Earth of humankind contains all moistness, all verdancy, all germinating power. It is in so many ways fruitful. All creation comes from it. Yet it forms not only the basic raw material for humankind, but also the substance of the incarnation of God’s son. Grant peace, well-being and blessing unto the World, with grace, lovingkindness and mercy for us and for all America, Thy people. Bless us, O our Father, all of us together, with the light of Thy presence; for by that light Thou hast given us, O Lord our God, the glimpse of light, lovingkindness and righteousness blessing and mercy, life and peace. O may it be good in Thy sight at all times to bless Thy people America with Thy peace. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who blessest Thy people America with peace. #RandolphHarris 20 of 20

BRIGHTON STATION AT CRESLEIGH RANCH

Rancho Cordova, CA |

Now Selling!

Brighton Station at Cresleigh Ranch is Rancho Cordova’s newest home community! This charming neighborhood offers an array of home types with eye catching architecture styles such as Mid-Century Modern, California Modern, Prairie, and Contemporary Farmhouse.

Located off Douglas Road and Rancho Cordova Parkway, the residents of Cresleigh Ranch will enjoy, being just minutes from shopping, dining, and entertainment, and quick access to Highway 50 and Grant Line Road providing a direct route into Folsom. Residents here also benefit from no HOA fees, two community parks and the benefits of being a part of the highly-rated Elk Grove Unified School District.

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 Google Mini to help connect everything together!

Cresleigh Ranch showcases new construction, single-family homes featuring elegant primary bedroom suites and gourmet kitchens with unsurpassed style and comfort. Enjoy an unparalleled lifestyle of luxury and convenience, with incredible amenities, onsite parks and trails, top-rated schools, shopping, and dining.

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