If one has only a few clues, it is in genera easy to recognize to which type of character a person belongs to.  The tight-lipped, withdrawn man whose first concern is that everything must be orderly and right, who shows little spontaneity, whose skin colour tends to be sallow, is easily recognizable as an anal character; is one knows that he tends to be stingy, ungiving, distant, one receives confirmation. The same holds true for the exploitative and the receptive character types. It is true of course that a person tries to hide one’s true face, provide one is away of the fact that it betrays trends that one would rather not divulge. Hence facial expressions are not even the most important indications of character structure. More important are those expressions that are much less controllable: the movements, the voice, the gait, the gestures and all that of a person which is in our field of vision when we look at one or see one walking. Character orientations allow one to relate oneself to the World in the “process of assimilation”—that is to say, in the process of getting from nature of from other human beings what is necessary for survival. The problem is not that we all need to get something from the outside; even the saint could not survive without any food. The real problem is what our method of getting it is, whether it is a method of being given, robbing, hoarding or producing. Whether people predominantly love or hate, submit or fight for freedom, are stingy or magnanimous, are cruel or tender, depends on the social structure that is responsible for the formation of all passions except the biological ones. #RandolphHarris 1 of 15

There are in cultures in which, in their social character, the passions for cooperation and harmony dominates—and other in which extreme possessiveness and destructiveness dominate. Detailed analysis of the social character typical of any given society is required in order to understand how economic, geographical, historical, and genetic conditions have led to the formation of various types of social character. Human natures are like most houses—many sided; some aspects are pleasant and some not. So it is with human relations. No other species is capable of more brutal aggression against its own member, or of more compassion giving of help. What other terrestrial beings can feel such bitter prejudice toward others, or such so profound love? In much the same way that natural evils, such as earthquakes and tornadoes, can be studied, so, too, can behavioural scientists explore the workings of human evils. Some people attribute human evil to the disposition of “rotten apples”—the freeloaders, thieves, and other deviants who threaten the rest of us nice folds. If evil is a personal aberration, then its remedy must also be personal. The way to alleviate unemployment is to put individuals through job training. The way to remedy emotional suffering is to put the individual in therapy. They way to deal with sin is to convert the individual. However, research clearly reveals that the human problem is also collective and that these individualistic remedies often deliver less than expected. True, evil emanates from the hearts of individuals. #RandolphHarris 2 of 15

The historically conditioned passions are of such intensity that they can be greater than even the biologically conditioned passions of survival, hunger, thirst and pleasures of the flesh. This may not be so for the average person whose passions have been largely reduced to the satisfaction of one’s physiological needs, but it is so for a considerable number of people in any historical period who risk their lives for their honour, their love, their dignity—or their hate. The Christian Bible expressed that in simple words: “Man shall not live by bread alone,” Matthew 4.4. The dramatic element in human life is rooted in nonbiological passions and not hunger and pleasures of the flesh. Hardly anybody commits suicide because of the frustration of one’s sexual desires, but many are ready to give up living because their ambition or their hate has been frustrated. In is an interesting fact that the suicide rate by and large has risen in the same proportion as the rate of industrialization. Laboratory experiments enable us to isolate some of the important features of social situations. By compressing social forces into a brief time period, we can see how these forces affect people. A number of such experiments have put well-intentioned people in an evil situation to see whether good or evil prevails. To a dismaying extent, evil pressures overwhelm good intentions, inducing people to conform to falsehoods or capitulate to cruelty. Nice guys often do not finish nice. The clearest example is Stanley Milgram’s classic obedience experiments. Faced with an imposing, close-at-hand commander, 65 percent of his adult male subjects fully obeyed instructions. #RandolphHarris 3 of 15

On command, they would deliver what appeared to be (but were not) traumatizing electric shocks to a screaming innocent victim in an adjacent room. These were regular people—a mix of blue-collar, white-collar, and professional men. They despised their task. Yet obedience took precedence over their own moral sense and the pleas of their victims. As often happens in everyday live, the entrapment of these men was a subtle step-by-step process. At first, they had to perform only little cruel acts. Then the demands for evil were gradually escalated. Before long, the barely perceptible 15 volts had become a seemingly excruciating 450 volts. Proving that bad behaviour is contagious and the safest road to hell is the gradual one. Succumbing to just a little temptation begins to erode the conscience, making the next evil act possible. In complex societies, a sequence of small evils can lead to vile evil. Individual psychology, to be sure, is concerned with the individual human being, and it examines the ways in which one tries to satisfy one’s instinctual drives. However, only rarely and under specific exceptional circumstances is it in a position to abstract from this person’s relationships with other individuals. In the individual’s psychic life, other people must be considered as either models, objects, helpers, or opponents. Thus, from beginning, individual psychology is simultaneously social psychology—in this extended but legitimate sense. The human being, from early childhood on, lives in seven circles; the narrowest one is the family, the next one is one’s class, the third one is the society in which one lives, the fourth one the biological conditions of being human in which one participate, and finally, one is part of a larger circle of which we know almost nothing, but which comprises at least our solar system. #RandolphHarris 4 of 15

 Therefore, the drift towards evil usually comes in small steps, without any conscious decision to do evil. Primarily because the family itself is determined by the class and social structure and constitutes an “agency of society” whose function it is to transmit the character of society to the infant even before it has any direct contact with society. This is done through early upbrining and education, as well as through the character of the parents which is in itself a social product. The structure of society creates the kind of character it needs for its proper functioning and survival. The subtlety corrupting process can be illustrated: Over a drink or a cup of coffee, disguised as a triviality and sandwiched between two jokes, from the lips of a man, or woman, whom you have recently been getting to know rather better and whom you hope to know better still—just at the moment when you are most anxious not to appear crude, or naif or a prig—the hint will come. It will be the hint of something which is not quite in accordance with the technical rules of fair play: something which the public, the ignorant, romantic public, would never understand: something which even the outsiders in your own profession are apt to make a fuss about: but somethings, says your new friend, which “we”—and at the word “we” you try not to blush for merely pleasure—something “we always do.” And you will be drawn in, if you are drawn in, not by desire for gain or ease, but simply because at that moment, when the cup was so near your lips, you cannot bear to be thrust back again into the cold outer World. #RandolphHarris 5 of 15

It would be so terrible to see the other person’s face—that genial, confidential, delightfully sophisticated face—turn suddenly cold and contemptuous, to know that you had been tried for the Inner Ring and rejected. And then, if you are draw in, next week it will be something a little further from the rules, and next year something further still, but all in the jolliest, friendliest spirit. It may end in crashes, a scandal, and penal servitude: it may end in millions, a peerage, and giving prizes at your old school. However, you will be a scoundrel. The social character structure which is common to most members of society; it contents depend on the necessities of a given society which mold the character of the individual in such a way that people want to do what they have to do in order to secure the proper functioning of society. What they do depends on the dominating passions in their character, which have been formed by the necessities and requirements of a specific social system. The differences brought about by diverse family constellations is minor in comparison with the differentiation brought about by different structures of society and present in the respective classes. A member of the feudal class had to develop a character which enabled one to rule others, to harden one’s heart toward their misery. The bourgeois class of the nineteenth century had to develop an anal character which was determined by the wish to save and hoard and not to spend. In the twentieth century the same class developed a character which made saving, if not a vice, only a minor virtue when compared with the trait of the modern character to spend and to consume. #RandolphHarris 6 of 15

This development is conditioned by fundamental economic necessities: in the period of primary accumulation of capital, saving was necessary; in a period of mass production, instead of saving, spending is of the greatest economic importance. If the character of twenty-first century humans suddenly reverted to that of nineteenth-century humans, our economy would be confronted with crisis, if not collapse. However, in considering the relationship between humans and social psychology, there are needs or passions rooted in the existence of human beings and those that are not primarily conditioned by society but by the very nature of humans, the absence of which must be considered as the result of repression or of severe social pathology. Such strivings are those of freedom, for solidarity, for love. Procrastination and evil have similar seductions. For instance, a student knows of the deadline for a term paper weeks ahead. Each diversion from work on the paper—a video game here, Web surfing there—seems harmless enough. Yet the student gradually veers toward not doing the paper (or at least not doing it well) without consciously deciding not to do it. That nice people can be corrupted by evil situations is evident even in experiments that involve only minimal coercive social pressure. Numerous studies indicate the powerful effects of occupying a social role. Although a new role may at first feel artificial—we can feel that we are “playing” it—the sense of phoniness soon tapers off. We absorb the role into our personalities and attitudes. Participating in destructive roles can therefore corrupt a person. Soldiers, for example, almost unavoidably develop degrading images of their enemy. #RandolphHarris 7 of 15

The same is true for prison guards. There is a dehumanizing effect in role relations between guard-prisoner when one is locked behind steel bars. This dichotomy also symbolizes the way in which destructive role relations can affect rich and poor, the disabled and those with full physical ability, African American and European Americans, husband and wife, employer and employee, teacher and student. Evil behaviour is sometimes structure into the very roles we are forced to play. Another potentially corrupting social force is competition for scarce goods and resources. When people have to compete with other groups, typically name calling begins, they make derogatory posters, hurl food, and attack each other’s property. It is warfare. A living version of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies—despite there being no cultural, physical, or economic differences between the groups. As in the other experiments, the evil outcomes reflect the power of an evil situation. Dozens of other experiments reveal that groups often display in more striking form the individual tendencies of their members. It is true of our better tendences—fellowship may fan the flames of our compassion, faith, and hope. And it is true of our baser tendencies—group interaction may also exacerbate meanness and self-righteousness. Terrorism springs from groups in isolation. Self-serving perceptions may therefore mushroom into collective pride; racist, sexists, and nationalists all come to perceive that their group—their race, gender, or country—is superior to other groups. For total greed, rapacity, heartlessness, and irresponsibility there is nothing to match a nation. #RandolphHarris 8 of 15

Nations, by law, are solitary, self-centered, withdrawn into themselves. There is no such thing as affection between nations, and certainly no nation ever loved another. They bawl insults from their doorsteps, defecate into whole oceans, snatch all the food, survive by detestation, take joy in the bad luck of others, celebrate the death of others, live for the death of others. However, America is different. It is a loving nation. American is one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all, and is setting a great example and making friends with other nations. These social-psychological examples of collective evil parallel biblical teachings about evil. Evil’s external sources are represented in the story of the Fall as Even is seduced by an external demonic force. The social character of sin is further evident in the corporate personality of Israel, in which whole families and whole cities are sometimes condemned for their wickedness. New Testament images of “principalities and powers” reinforce this notion that evil transcends individuals. Precisely because of sin has a collective aspect, we must also make a collective response to it. Judaism and Christianity are distinguished not by the mystical visions of spiritual isolates but by a community life. Since we are not self-sufficient, we stand in need of the church’s corporate fellowship. Only in that context can we adequately struggle with the evil within and about us. It is the whole believing people, not isolated believers, that is the body of Christ. To say the church is Christ’s body reminds us that together we can admonish one another. Together we can enable each other to minister. #RandolphHarris 9 of 15

And together we can contest evil in ways that we as individuals never could, by challenging and reforming not only the individual rotten apples, but also the social systems and situations that can make the barrel go bad. To repeat, evil is collective as well as personal and so requires a collective as well as a personal response. “Evil communications corrupt good manners,” reports 1 Corinthians 15.33.  At this point in my life, O Lord, I should be able to make good use of the graces You have given me. However, if I am ever to outdistance the rest of creation, I still need more of these very same graces. As long as a creature can lay a hand on me, I am grounded; that is to say, I cannot freely fly to the Creator. However, fly I must! Certainly the Psalmist wanted to do just that when he said, “Give me the wings of a dove, and I will fly until I find Your rest,” (55.6)? Who has achieved more peace of mind than the person who sees clearly? Who has achieved more peace of mind than the person who has abandoned all Earthly things? “It is You who blesses the righteous human, O LORD; You surround one with favour as a shield,” reports Psalm 5.12. Start expecting God’s blessings to chase after you. Expect the greatness of God to overtake you. The favour of God can bring you out of your difficulties and turn your adversities around for good. No matter what people do to you, you will continue to prosper. God will intervene in the midst of your trial, in the middle of life’s challenges, and you will stand with an uncluttered mind and see that the Lord and Tailor of the Universe is guiding you to success. If you have not freed yourself of all creatures, then you are still tethered to the ground; that is to say, you are off the ground a bit, but you cannot rise any higher to the divine. #RandolphHarris 10 of 15

Perhaps that is why there are so few contemplatives; that is to say, that is why so few know how to sequester themselves from the creation daily perishing around them. To do this great grace requires, a grace that rises the soul off the ground and keeps it airborne. And unless you are airborne in spirit and freed from all creaturely ties and rising to God, whatever you know, whatever you have, is only a drag. Whoever thinks one has found something important outside of the One Sole Immense, the One Eternal Good, is destined to fly small, fly low. The moral? God is all, and what is left is nothing and ought to be counted as such; at least that is what the Great Augustine wrote in his Confessions (3.8). When your whole World is falling apart—instead of becoming discouraged and developing a sour attitude, more than ever, your must choose to acknowledge you are a child of God and are blessed. Now is the time to allow God’s grace, blessings, love, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion to overtake you. Help me, Father in Heaven, to learn how to live favour-minded, to expect the best, to anticipate success rather than failure, to see good rather than evil. Even in the midst of difficulties, I will declare to believe that I have Your blessing and favour, and You will bring me out stronger, better, and more triumphant. “Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. However, just as one who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’ Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. #RandolphHarris 11 of 15

“For you know that I was not perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without a blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the World, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘All humans are like the grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever,” reports 1 Peter 1.13-25. There is a World of difference between Devouts illumined by Divine Wisdom and Clerics well versed in humane knowledge. Much more noble is the doctrine dripping from the Divine Tap than the science drawn from a well. Many people think contemplation a pleasant, fashionable way to pass the time; they long for it, even lust for it. However, when they learn it is hard work, they quickly lose interest. There is mammoth misunderstanding here. They want to enjoy its consolations, yes, but they do no want to endure its mortifications. Go figure! If we Devouts are caught sharing this opinion, then we have clouded our own minds into thinking, as the public has every right to think that we are spiritual humans. #RandolphHarris 12 of 15

We labour so hard and so long, and what do we get for it but more anxiety about the transitory, everyday things? As for our interior interests, we rarely gather our wits and our sense to try to figure out where we really stand. Some real pains! Has somebody been mistreating you recently? “Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ,” reports 1 Peter 1.13. And thank God that His favour is going to cause these people to start treating you well. Similarly, if you are struggling financially, say something such as, “Father, thank You that You are causing me to be at the right place at the right time. You are bringing wonderful financial opportunities my way.” When one lives with that attitude of gratitude, before long God’s blessings, grace, favour, mercy, compassion, love and forgiveness will turn up, and that difficult situation will turn around to your benefit. After a modest period of recollection, we have to rush outside for a breather! When it comes to evaluating our works, we cannot hold our focus for more than a minute! Where our affections are at any particular moment in time, we have no idea. Impurities invade our souls, and we would like to deplore them one by one, but there is not enough time in the Universe for that! “Every creature has lost its way or fouled its nest”—that has been obvious since that notorious Garden Party in Genesis (6.12). It is any wonder, then, that the Great Deluge is never far off? Our interior affections have sustained so much damage that we can no longer rely on them for True Direction. Only a pure hear, which comes from a god life, as Paul wrote in First Letter to Timothy (1.5), can discern the shortest distance between two spiritual points. #RandolphHarris 13 of 15

The populace is interested in everything celebrities do, but they do not pay much attention to their motives, that is to say, whether their actions are virtuous or not. Let God know you do not care what the situation looks like. That no matter how badly you feel, you know God is great, and His favour is going to turn the situation around in manifest a blessing for you. Do not give up. Keep on believing, expecting, declaring. Keep living favour-minded, and God promises that good things will come to you. If you will keep your hope in the Lord, God says divine favour is coming. One may not see it right now, but when God’s favour shows up, things are going to change. Regardless of your current circumstances, keep boldly declaring, “God I know Your favour is coming my way.” Courage, wealth, good looks, nice personality—that is what the populace looks for first. Can the celebrities carry a tune, write a decent paragraph, do something adventurous—that is what seems to be newsworthy. Mum is the word, though, about whether these glittering creatures have about them any whiff of poverty of spirit, patience, mildness, or any other desirable internal qualities. Nature looks at what Humankind does; Grace looks into how Humankind does it. Nature hopes in the Enemy, but its hopes are often hoodwinked; Grace hopes in God, and its hopes are often fulfilled. Remember that You have God’s favour. Live with confidence; dare to be bold. You can ask for things you normally do not ask for and expect the extraordinary, and even view your adversities in a new way. Why? Because deep down inside, you know you have an advantage in life. You have an advantage. You have the favour of God! #RandolphHarris 14 of 15

O save, we beseech Thee. I beseech Thee, give ear to their cry that implore Thee to save, that seek to give joy unto Thee with the willows that wave—O save! White floating clouds, clouds like the plains, please come and water the Earth. Sun, please embrace the Earth that she may be fruitful. Moon, lion of the north, bear of the west, badger of the south, wolf of the east, eagle of the Heavens, shrew of the Earth, elder war hero, intercede with the cloud people for us that they may water the Earth. Father in Heaven, please help me to hope and have faith to the end, no matter what circumstances I face today, know that I can respond boldly and with confidence because I have Your favour. Thank You for opening doors of opportunity for me. I beseech Thee, please deliver the stock Thou hast planted, and say on the day when Thou sweepest the remnant of nations away: “I will save.” I beseech Thee to look to the covenant sealed at our birth, when Thou castest men down to the darkness under the Earth, and save. I beseech Thee, remember the father who knew Thee alone, when we say, “To his children to-day make Thy kindnesses known”; then save. I beseech Thee, O worker of wonders for hearts without stain, be it known that herein is the wonder of Thee—that again Thou wilt save. I beseech Thee, O honoured in strength, give salvation to us, for in ages of yore Thou didst swear to our forefathers thus: “I will save.” I beseech Thee, fulfill their desires that do call Thee in woe, that are bound as Thy suppliant was on the mountain, when lo! Thou didst save. I beseech Thee, the trees of Thy planting!—give shelter to these; when uprooting the mighty—Almighty, remember Thy trees, and save. I beseech Thee, throw open Thy treasures of rain; please let us see the good of the land that is thirsting for showers from Thee, and save. I beseech Thee, give friendship to those who have called Thee; and feed with the goodness and fat of Thy pasture their hunger and need, and save. I beseech Thee, O lift up Thy gates from their desolate fall, O lift up that ruinous heap for Thy people that call, O save!” #RandolphHarris 15 of 15

CRESLEIGH HAVENWOOD

Lincoln, CA | from the mid $600s

Now Selling!

Now selling! Cresleigh Havenwood is the newest Cresleigh community coming to Lincoln, CA. With four distinct floor plans to choose from ranging from 2,293 – 3,489 square feet offering up to five bedrooms, we are sure you’ll find your dream home here at Havenwood!

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 Home Mini! https://cresleigh.com/havenwood/