Human reason is an adequate instrument for dealing with Earthly affairs, that is, the maintaining of physical subsistence (ooeconmia) and the regulation of life in society (politia). Keeping the needs of others and nature in mind is at the heart of a successful life. Once we stop looking at the World from what is called a subject-object perspective (in which we are the subject and the World exists only as it relates to us) and begin to see it from a subject-subject viewpoint (wherein the World, and everything in it, is a living entity worthy of respect), we will begin to see how our personal growth can contribute to the betterment of the World. The justice of God in Romans 1.17, is not a divine attribute expressed in punishment and reward, but is the activity by which God makes people just (justifies them). This justice of God is identical with his grace: it is not conditional upon human merit, but is received by faith alone (faith itself being a work of God in humans). The sacrament is like preaching, a form of the divine Word, by which God offers humans his justice and creates the response of faith. By being the first in your family to accept the gospel, you become the first generation, a chosen generation through which generations past, present, and future may be blessed. The Law of God can only demand and condemn; it cannot be used by humans as a means of self-salvation through strict obedience. The security of human beings before God is firmly in the Gospel, with its word of free forgiveness. “Ask in sincerity of heart that God will forgive you,” reports 1 Moroni 6.8. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8

The World and other people inevitably fail to satisfy our boundless needs. We learn very quickly that we can get some of our needs met if we separate ourselves from our own desires, delay the gratification of our needs, deny some potentials and capitalize on others. In some cases, we split off our needs and potentials from our awareness completely. The World tames us, dictating how we ask, when we ask, and, to some degree, what we ask for. Many of the radicals sought to establish communities in which the ethic of the Sermon on the Mount should be sole rule of social conduct. However, just as it is wrong to place Law between God and the conscience, so it is wrong to regulate society by the Gospel. The conscience needs the gospel of forgiveness, but society can only be founded upon the law of retributive justice (though Law should always be the agency of love). The two realms or kingdoms, of Heaven and Earth—this is, the two ways in which God rules over the World of humans—are not to be confused. Our faith and testimonies are a great strength and blessing to others. Through experience and exposure, we gain a deeper understanding of gospel principles and our testimonies are strengthened. We add great strength to the Church when we use our testimony, talents and abilities, and energy to build the Kingdom of God. We reach out in kindness to those around us, lifting and blessing them through inspired service. As we live the gospel of God at home, those around us will feel the Savior’s love through us. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8

People know that we are engaged in something good, even if they do not understand it or have enough faith to accept it. We must be patient and kind, pray each day to know how we can serve them, and the Lord will help us and bless us to influence or family for good. By being consistently good and upright, we will establish patterns of faithfulness and righteousness. Those patterns will shape our life, but more importantly, they will become a standard for our family and posterity. Through the process of selective satisfaction, delayed gratification, denial of pleasures of the flesh, and repression of sinful pride, we give birth to our divine nature. Not only do we separate our social self from our personal self, we also maintain our sense of separateness from the World at large. We still operate in what some call a subject-object dynamic, in which the person (subject) interacts with the World and others in it (objects) for the self-serving purpose of getting needs met and realized potentials, but we are also the key to opening the Lord’s blessings to family members who passes away without hearing the gospel and receiving saving ordinances. Ours is the unique privilege to begin this work on their behalf. These ordinances will bind us to our ancestors and bring great spiritual power into our life. The power of human’s decision for God is located in the Gospel itself, and in the secret influence of the Holy Spirit. God does not act coercively, thereby doing violence to human’s will, but God is sovereign over the will and can direct it to his ends. People act voluntarily (that is, as God wills) even in matters that concern their salvation. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8

However, the will itself is controlled by God. It cannot change itself from an evil to a good will: it must be changed under the influence of the Spirit. The greatest of God’s gifts are the inventress and mistress of all the arts, of medicine and law, of whatever wisdom, power, virtue and glory people possess in this life. Reason sets people apart from the brute beasts and give them dominion over the World. In adulthood growth occurs and we continue to mature, we soon become aware of the potential of Unified Self. It is self serving and World-serving in its striving to meet needs and realize potentials. We attempt to merge the personal and social self into one congruent, unified source of personhood. Once we operate as a largely Unified Self, we finally become capable of forming deep bonds with others, nature, and the World at large. This connection is the ultimate cure of our sense of alienation that creates such profound discontent. Can you see now why the first generation is so important? Can you understand the position you occupy and the influence you can have for good? Please never underestimate who you are and the power that you have to affect others. The adversary understands who you are and will do all possible to entice you to make wrong choices. At times, despite our best efforts, we all make mistakes. Fortunately, Heavenly Father has prepared a way for us to overcome them through repentance and reliance on the Atonement. If you make mistakes, do not make mistakes. #RandolpHarris 4 of 8

Make a habit of thinking of the needs of everyone and everything with which you come into contact. Repenting and continuing to press forward are perhaps the most important patterns to develop in the first generation. Be patient and move forward in obedience. Live each day meeting the challenges of family, work, and faith. Live good, ordinary lives and be faithful serving the Lord and blessing your families. When we fall down, we get back up and move on. Now, those of us who are descendants of people who follow God look back with reverence and gratitude for their faithfulness. Make proper choices and people with honor you. Past and future generations will admire you. However, most importantly, God will celebrate your for being faithful. In spiritual affairs reason has no understanding of what it is that commends human to God. Therefore God has given his Word (in the Scriptures), and reliance upon reason could, in this realm, only be perverse and presumptuous. The way of salvation could never have been thought out by rational enquiry, for all God’s work and words transcend reason. The Word of God is apprehended, not by reason, but by faith. However, this does not mean that reason must be totally excluded from theology. There is a possibility to tame reason’s presumptuous. It then becomes a handmaid of faith. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8

Reason as illuminated by faith, is regenerated, or born new. It regenerates reason as the human capacity for orderly thought being exercised upon material provided by the Word. Perhaps this is the correlation of Scripture and reason, as it gives one the ability to be persuaded either by direct Biblical citations or by plain inferences from them. Yet, this certainly does not mean that we set reason beside Scripture as an independent and supplementary source of theological knowledge. We have to distinguish between natural reason, ruling within it own domain (the Earthly Kingdom); presumptuous reason, encroaching on the domain of faith (the Heavenly Kingdom); and regenerate reason, serving faith in subjection to the Word of God. Still, reason can be the greatest of God’s gifts in the Earthly Kingdom and an excellent instrument of Godliness in the Heavenly Kingdom. It is necessary, however, to carry the analysis further and show the invective against reason is focused upon a quite specific blunder than reason makes when it trespasses, unregenerate, upon the domain of faith. It then appears that the sacrificum intellectus cannot be understood simply as epistemological doctrine, but rests upon a more strictly theological (or soteriological) concern. This expresses the colorful invective against reason because its constant astonishment at the heart of Gospel: the unconditioned character of God’s. Reason must be terminated because it cannot comprehend the miracle of divine forgiveness, and therefore stands in the way of human’s receiving the justice of God. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8

Reason is identified with the religious attitude of the natural (that is, unregenerate) human, who can conceive only of a strictly legalistic relationship to God. Ratio becomes virtually synonymous with a definite opinio, and it is by no means accidental that two words can be found side by side in several passages. Nor, of course, was is this usage wholly eccentric, since Lewis and Short’s Latin-English dictionary reports as one of the meanings of ratio a “view or opinion resting upon reasonable grounds.” And we fully acknowledge a certain reasonableness about the assumption that a just God must require good works as the precondition of communion with him. Consequently, the proclamation of an unconditioned grace—which demands nothing, save the acceptance of faith—can be greeted by reason only with incredulity. What needs to be sacrificed, therefore, is not human rationality, without qualification, but rather the legalistic mentality of the natural human. Grace must take us out of ourselves, and we must learn to rise above reason. The concept of reason is not formal, but material. Ratio is a concrete attitude rather than the faculty or structure of reasoning. When the natural human turns one’s thoughts to religion, one carries over into the Heavenly Kingdom presuppositions, which, however appropriate in dealing with social existence in the Earthly Kingdom, no longer apply. For the Kingdom of God is a realm, not of law, but of grace (das Reich der Gnaden). #RandolphHarris 7 of 8

 The continuity between nature and grace, as presented in the classical scholastic scheme, is broken. There is no rational preamble to faith, because reason is not a neutral instrument for the discovery of objective truths; it is misled by its own bias and even corrupted by sin—that is, by the egocentricity of the understanding of humans. For humans in sin actually prefers a God law, upon whom one can establish a claim. Revelation does not confirm or supplement reason: it stands in contradiction to reason, until the natural human is born anew. The religion of reason is not merely insufficient or imperfect, but perverted and erroneous. We do not deny that a limited knowledge of God is available to reason; but the egocentricity of humans in sin is a fatal defect, productive of idolatry and superstition. Reason makes God as it wills him to be, and turns this natural knowledge into idolatry. The god of reason is a false God. “And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles. And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of humans is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust. Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in God, doubting nothing, whatsoever one shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted one; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the Earth,” reports Mormon 19-21. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8

When people know (or enter into any other relation with) social entities—whether these are institutions or economic goods or another age’s culture—the relation established is not the sort of relation they have with the natural objects studied by physical science. Social entities are reified personality or alienated spirit, while people themselves are the product of historical forces. The knower and the known, subject and object, are moments of one entity, society, and their relations are necessarily ambiguous, two-way, or dialectical. At the turn of the century, adults sought psychological help for concrete symptoms, such as paralysis medical doctors could not explain, or obsessional thoughts that would not go away. Of those seeking treatment, they were sick in the sense the word “sickness” is used in medicine; something prevented them from functioning socially as the so-called normal person functions. Their concept of wellness was—not to be sick. In modern times, however, people with presenting symptoms such as those mentioned above are in the minority of psychologists’ clientele; most people coming to a psychologist at the end of the twentieth century are not certain what they suffer from. They come in complaining of anxiety or depression or low self-esteem because their marriages are in trouble, or their productivity is falling off. #RandolphHarris 1 of 10

As personal interests become autonomous in the shape of class interests, the personal conduct of the individual becomes reified and alienated and thereby becomes a thing apart from one, an independent force. It is just such alienated forms of conduct that make up society. The most common sources of psychological suffering today stem from three levels of alienation: Alienation from oneself, alienation from other human beings, and alienation from nature. Because of the development of industry, material forces were saturated with spiritual life, while human existence was made primitive, becoming a material force. The spirit has become thing and things are steeped in spirit, so that history is a fabric of meanings-becoming-forces. This dialectical relation of subject and object was most marked in the case of the proletariat because the proletariat has been reduced by capitalism to labor, a mere economic commodity, and yet it can still take cognizance of itself as a commodity by acquiring class consciousness. Thereupon, it has seen through the supposed natural law of economics and revolutionized capitalism. For this class, self-knowledge means at the same time correct knowledge of the whole of society so this class is at once subject and object of knowledge. Its self-knowledge is history knowing itself and in that total clarity lies the promise of a return from alienation. #RandolphHarris 2 of 10

Most people experience some degree of separation on each level, from self, other human beings, and from nature. If our alienation on any one level becomes too great, symptoms of emotional distress appear. The symptoms of alienation breed a profound sense of helplessness and hopelessness expressed in the awareness that life runs out of one’s hand like the American and Sacramento River into the Twin Tunnels project to Southern California leaving us with nothing to care for our yards and trees. This is so pronounced in adulthood because we are no longer being taken care of by our parents, we have our own families we have to care for and we have to protect ourselves from predators.  Some people fear that one will die without having lived; that one lives in the midst of plenty and yet is joyless. “However, let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing,” reports James 1.4. Not only must our relationship to God be right, but the outward expression of that relationship must also be right. Ultimately, God will allow nothing to escape; every detail of our lives is under God’s scrutiny. God never tries of bringing us back to that one point until we learn the lesson, because God’s purpose is to produce the finished product. God’s wonderful work in us makes us know that overall we are right with him. Whatever it may be, God will point it out with persistence until we become entirely his. #RandolphHarris 3 of 10

On our mortal journey, we hope to begin to cure the alienation from the self that is often so pronounced in adulthood. It is instructive to trace the relation of these forms of alienation to anxiety. When we fear we or someone near us may not live to our full potential, the repressed emotions have found a way of avoiding the censorship—and the distortion for which the censorship is responsible. An invariable concomitant phenomenon, then, is that painful emotions are felt in our subconscious. Similarly, we have conscious episodes of anxiety, which occurs only when the censorship is entirely or partially overpowered, and on the other hand, the overpowering of the censorship is facilitated when the actual sensation of anxiety is already present in somatic (of the body, especially as distinguished from a bodily part, the mind, or the environment; physical) sources. It thus becomes obvious for what purpose the censorship performs its office and practices reality-distortion; it does so in order to prevent the development of anxiety or other forms of painful affect. However, when we make mutually satisfying connections with others, and will notice a great paradox. While we really do not care much about the judgments of others, we care more than ever about the quality of the lives of others and everything around us. We are therefore likely to find oneself forgetting ourselves more often, because are so engaged in the World. #RandolphHarris 4 of 10

Spiritually looking up is not a one-time experience.  Truth exists, but it exists only in the future tense; it is the presumptive totality to be attained by permanent self-criticism. The criterion of truth is grasp of reality, but reality is not at all to be confounded with empirical being, what actually exists. Reality is not; it becomes—and without the collaboration of thought (ibid). The dialectical unity of subject and object in society; the promise of a return from alienation when society, through the proletariat, attains self-knowledge; and the notion of truth as a totality yet to be achieved—are attractive to some. Disillusionment means having no more misconceptions, false impressions, and false judgments in life; it means being free from these deceptions. However, though no longer deceived, our experience of disillusionment may actually leave us cynical and overly critical in our judgment of others. Yet, the disillusionment that comes from God brings us to the point where we see people as they really are, yet without any cynicism nor any stinging and bitter criticism. When we lose ourselves inside the love of God, we affirm our oneness with all of life. Daring to let go of our hard-won sense of identity is the ultimate communion with God. Whenever we can, we should merge into altruism. And enjoy an experience free of thought, self-consciousness, striving, or judgment. #RandolphHarris 5 of 10

When asked, many of us are happy to offer our help. It feels good to be needed, but it is particularly fulfilling when our efforts actually advance someone else’s endeavors. Yet, when it is our turn to ask for help, many of us give up our place in line. Instead of taking our turn, fair and square, we walk away or go to the end of the queue. Why do we give up in this way? In some cases, we become comfortable with the line. Waiting becomes a safe and secure buffer zone. Some people believe that asking for help is a sign of weakness. Even our originality is called into question when we canvas people for their opinions, as if seeking others points of view will diminish our own ideas. In some cases, we may just be afraid of rejection. What if someone says, “No, I am sorry. I cannot help you?” Then what? Well, we move on. It is that simple. Look how Justin Timberlake did Britney Spears back in 2007 when people were threatening to take her life, stealing her cars, extorting her for $50 million in exchange for her babies, and declared her incompetent so they could control her estate, while she still had to work and was only giving her $1,500.00 a month. She asked Justin for help, and he told her, “No, I am afraid you will hurt my career.” Now no one knows who Justin Timberlake is and Britney Spears is an even bigger star than ever. Many have never seen someone with such a dynamic catalog of music, and so many performances. #RandolphHarris 6 of 10

Even if you are afraid of asking for help when you really need it, it could be because you do not like to burden people. However, when people who never ask for anything need a favor, it is probably because they are at a really low point in their lives that they have never experienced. Certainly, some people ask the same people for help too often and they may feel put upon and even a little resentful. Some of us do not like to be indebted to others for anything. We avoid asking so that we will not feel beholden. However, for the most part, seeking support will help us to more easily turn the life we are living into the life we want. Delegating household duties, asking for assistance on the job, and recruiting our friends and family for emotion sustenance are essential is we want to revision and change our lives. Clearly, asking for help is not easy. At first, it feels terribly uncomfortable, like we have our pants on backwards in front of a classroom of high school students. That may have actually been a fashion statement in your parents time. And although we can still walk, we feel vulnerable. However, the vulnerability is really a form of truth, not a sign of weakness. Some of our best leaders in business and government are successful because they surrounded themselves with a strong and steady support system. #RandolphHarris 7 of 10

 Icons like Reese Witherspoon, Paris Hilton, Tomi Lahren, Aaliyah, Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Mary Kay, and Bill Gates built successful teams that allowed them to bring their visions to life. You Can to the same with similar results. Seeking emotional support from others is not a display of incompetence; it is a demonstration of your intelligence, whether you are trying to add to your base of knowledge or learn something new. When we ask for help we are acknowledging the splendor and fundamental need for a circle of giving. Besides, some people love to share their experiences, which in many cases will be all you need. It is rewarding for you and them. Eventually, we will learn how to ask for help with grace and diplomacy. It will feel as right as our favorite song. Some friendships even suffer because some people neglect to be direct and honest when asking for help. Instead of speaking in precise terms, many ask for help in roundabout ways that leave their intentions and needs unclear. When they do not receive the help they need, they find themselves confused and bewildered. When we ask for help, we have to be clear so that people know exactly what we want. If they can help, they usually will. If they cannot, they will let us know that, too. #RandolphHarris 8 of 10

However, do not use vague language just because one is afraid or comfortable This will only lead to misunderstandings, which in the long run will be a waste of time for everyone. And be gracious no matter what. When you ask for help, try to be gracious no matter what. “Thank you anyway” (with a smile words wonders even when someone says, “no.” Pouting only makes matter worse. Remember that most people want to help but, in some cases, cannot because of all sorts of circumstances beyond their control. Do not make people feel worse by dwelling on their inability (or unwillingness) to provide support. Besides, just because people cannot help does not mean they do not want to help. Indeed, if we respond graciously, they may be more inclined to think of someone else who can help us. They may even reconsider and offer to help us after all. Our patience and understanding (versus impatience and resentment) will almost always be in our best interest. And if we exercise our faith and look to God for help, we will not be overwhelmed with the burdens of life. Believe in God; believe that he is alive; believe that God has all wisdom, and all power, both in Heaven and in Earth. In many cases that will allow our hearts to fund the comfort we seek. We could feel weighed down by our responsibilities. However, instead, we must exercise great faith and be filled with optimism, wisdom, and love for others. #RandolphHarris 9 of 10

We must have the attitude that we can do and will do. We must trust the Lord a, and rely on him for strength, and the Lord will bless us. Experience has taught many people that if we exercise our faith and look to God for help, we will not be overwhelmed with burdens of life. We will not feel incapable of doing what we are called to do or need to do. We will be strengthened, and our lives will be filled with peace and joy. We will come to realize that most of what we worry about is not of eternal significance—and if it is, the Lord will help us. However, we must have the faith to look up and the courage to follow God’s direction. Why is it a challenge to consistently look up in our lives? Perhaps we ack the faith that such a simple act can our problems. For example, when the children of Israel were bitten by poisonous serpents, Moses was commanded to raise up a brass serpent on a pole. The brass serpent represented our Savior. Those who looked up at the serpent, as admonished by the prophet, were healed. However, many others failed to look up, and they perished. As we remember God and trust in his power, we receive strength through our Savior’s Atonement. It is the means whereby we can be relieved of our anxieties, our burdens, and our suffering. It is the resource whereby we can be forgiven and healed from the pain of our sins. It is the means whereby we can receive the faith and strength to endure all things. #RandolphHarris 10 of 10

Joy and happiness come through determination and the practice of carrying on under all conditions. Legends make reality, and become more useful than the facts. We have to see to restore the ontological weight to human experience so that we will have an assurance of fulfillment which is part of faith’s apprehension of God as Absolute Presence. Otherwise people will experience complicated situations in which persons find themselves trapped, challenged, and confused; and thus indirectly they explore the nature of the exile into which the soul enters as it becomes alienated from itself, from those it loves, and from God. When we have faith, one finds a foretaste or presentient of the perfect harmony and communion toward which all authentic human existence strives. In our efforts to teach our generation how to use the wisdom in ancient myths to change our lives for the better, it becomes clear that all heroes experience trauma so that they themselves can be reborn and so that they can serve as icons of strength and perseverance in the global society for the continuum necessary to redeem the society and bring it to a higher level of functioning. Reality shares both in the tension that is the essence of drama and in the harmony which is the essence of faith. Its starting point is a metaphysical “dis-ease” like that of a person in a fever who shifts around searching for a comfortable position. This search for a home in the wilderness, a harmony in disharmony, a transcendent source of assurance in a transient life takes place through a reflective process called secondary reflection. #RandolphHarris 1 of 11

Problem and mystery brings to light two different kinds of thinking or reflection. Primary reflection examines its object by abstraction, by analytically breaking it down into its constituent parts. It is concerned with definitions, essences, and technical solutions to problems. Primary reflection, as exemplified in scientific and technical thought, has allowed us to possess and manipulate our World more completely and is therefore indispensable to human culture. However, intellectual and more confusion results when primary reflection becomes imperialistic and claims the right to judge all knowledge and truth by criteria appropriate only to the realm of the objective and the problematic. When this happens, abstraction gives way to the spirit of abstraction, the use of techniques gives way to technocracy, and the inexhaustible riches of a kaleidoscope World are forced to conform to a black-and-white logic. The complexity of human character, dynamically moved in al directions, very rarely accommodates itself to the arbitrament of a simple alternative, as out antiquated primary reflection would have it. Secondary reflection is concrete, individual, heuristic, and open. Strictly speaking, it is concerned not with objects but with presences. It contemplation beings not with curiosity or doubt but with wonder and astonishment. Hence, it is humble in its willingness to be confronted to categories created by that on which it is focused. #RandolphHarris 2 of 11

Salvation and exaltation are here emphasized as being based primarily upon commitment and enduring. Secondary reflection remains open to its object as a love does to his beloved—not as a specimen of class but a unique being. This openness is not a methodological principle as in scientific thought but arises from the possibility of something new being created in the relationship. Secondary reflection is dialogical, not dialectical. Rather than searching for information about the other and dealing with it abstractly, secondary reflection seeks the revelation of total presence, whether the presence be that f my body, the World, the other person, or God. Thus, secondary reflection is brought to bear on data or questions from which the thinker as existing person cannot legitimately abstract himself or herself: “Am I free?” “Is there meaning and value in life?” “Can I commit myself to this person?” In other words, secondary reflection is concerned not with problems but with mystery. A mystery initially appears to be merely a problem that is difficult to solve. Reflection, shows, however, that in dealing with a genuine mystery the distinction between the subject and object, between what is in me and what is before me, breaks down. Faced with questions about freedom, the meaning of life, the existence of God, and so forth, no objective standpoint can be found from which a universally valid answer may be discovered. #RandolphHarris 3 of 11

This does not mean that mystery is unknown nor unknowable and lies in a realm of vague feelings over which thought has no grasp. Rather, knowledge of mystery presupposed an immediate participation, or a blinded intuition, but this participation is understood only with the assistance of a conceptual process. Unassisted intuition is not an adequate philosophical instrument. However, secondary reflection penetrates into the mystery of existence and being only when it works in conjunction with love, fidelity, faith, and other concrete approached. It yields a kind of knowledge and illuminates our lives. Two foci of mystery may be distinguished, although never separated. The mystery of existence is dealt with in concrete ontology. Concrete philosophy is with the existing subject, the incarnate being who is already in the World. The experience of the inexhaustible concreteness of the existing World can be neither deduced, doubted, not demonstrated. Existence is not a thing, a quality, nor a discrete content of thought which can be isolated and pointed out; rather it is that which the subject participates from which thought beings its quest for meaning. The assurance of existence which we have is not of the intellectual order but is an outcome of our direct participation in the World by the way of (via) sensation and feeling. Because sensation and feeling are inseparable from the body, our knowledge of existence is tied up with our being incarnate. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make your free,” reports John 8.31-32. #RandolphHarris 4 of 11

The basic truths about life before we came to Earth bless us with wonderful insights. “How old are you?” is easy to answer. Birthdays measure the age of our physical body. However really, we are much older than that. Each of us is a beloved spirit son or daughter of Heavenly parents with a divine nature and destiny. Before our spirit bodies were created, we each existed as intelligence, which had no beginning, neither will it have an end. Knowing that we are eternal beings with Heavenly Parents changes out lives by helping us see ourselves and our lives from a truly eternal perspective. In our premortal life, we were taught lesson that prepared us to assist our Heavenly Father in bringing about the salvation of his children. We also had the agency to follow and obey God. Some of Father’s children distinguished themselves thought their exceeding faith and good works and were foreordained, or given assignments, to serve in specific ways on Earth. While in our premortal state, we were all present when God the Father explained his plan for the salvation of his children. We learned that a Savior would be needed to overcome the problems brought on by the conditions of mortal life. Incarnation is the central given of metaphysics, the absolute starting point for an external philosophy, because it is on the analogy of my experience of my body that the World is understood. I project into the World the sense of destiny and presence that I experience when I become aware of my own body. The World exists for me only in the way in which I am related to my own body. #RandolphHarris 5 of 11

As I am not even ideally separable from my body, I am likewise inseparable from my situation. When we pass through the veil to the other side, nothing is going to startle us more than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar his face is to us. Knowing that Heavenly Father knew and loved us changes our lives by making our prayers more personal and intimate. Those habitual surroundings and historical conditions which shape my life enter into the very fiber of what I am. Insofar as I recognize that my situation enters into the constitution of my own being, and hence that I am not able to abstract myself from it completely and view it with objective detachment of a spectator, I may speak of the family which nurtured me or of an infirmary that shaped me as having a mysterious character. There is no way to make sense out of life without a knowledge of the doctrine of premortal life. When we understand the doctrine of premortal life, then things fit together and make sense. “The righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God,” reports Romans 8.5-9. #RandolphHarris 6 of 11

The range of meanings borne by the term flesh in the Bible starts from the literal use denoting the material of which the human body is chiefly constructed but takes on others senses. The basic reference is to the human body, as distinguished from the soul. A concrete philosophy must also affirm the immediacy of our being with others. The principle of the intentionality of consciousness applies in our relations both to persons and to the World. Philosophy beings not with I am but with we are. The significance of this intersubjectivity will be determined by the type of relations which characterize one’s life. The self who treats other persons as objects to be manipulated and used is condemned because of its conflict between our primitive self and our ethical self, between what Dr. Freud calls the Id and the Ego. To make ourselves more explicit, it will be necessary to say something about the elements of the psychic apparatus. According to Dr. Freud’s formulation the child brings into the World an unorganized chaotic mentality called the Id, the sole aim of which is the gratification of all needs, the alleviation of hunger, self-preservation, and love, the preservation of the species. However, as the child grows older, that part of the id which comes in contact with the environment through the sense learns to know the inexorable reality of the outer World and becomes modified into what Dr. Freud calls the ego. This ego, possessing awareness of the environment, henceforth strives to curb the lawless id tendencies whenever they attempt to assert themselves incompatibly. #RandolphHarris 7 of 11

The neurosis, as we see it here, is, therefore, a conflict between the ego and the id. The ego, aware of the forces of civilization, religion and ethics, refuses to allow motor discharge to the powerful sexual (flesh) impulses emanating from the lawless id, and thus block them from attainment of the object toward which they aimed. The ego then defends itself against these impulses by repressing them. If people cannot control their id, the repressed material will struggle against fate, finally break through as a substitutive formation on paths over which the ego has no control, and obtrude itself on the ego as symptoms. As a result of this process, the ego finds itself more or less impoverished, its integrity is threatened and hurt, living in a World lacking in ontological depth, and hence it will be prey to despair when the thrill of possession wears thin. To endeavor to allow the other person to become present as a thou is to enter into a relationship within which the assurance of fulfillment is received. “The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs: heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together,” reports Romans 8.16 and 17. No word is more difficult to define or richer in meaning than “being.” It refers neither to the sum total of all objects that exit nor to some universal substratum underlying all particulars. Being is eternal and inexhaustible. It is that which does not allow itself to be dissolved by the dialectics of experience. #RandolphHarris 8 of 11

Only by participation in being can isolation, despair, and tragedy be overcome. The quest for being is thus identical with the quest for salvation. To deny being is to say that all is vanity, that nothing has intrinsic worth. To affirm being is to declare that corresponding to the deepest exigency of the human spirit is a fulfillment of which an earnest is given in experiences of creativity, joy, and love. Thanks to our diligent journey of being, we have won the power to see with newfound wisdom to listen with newfound compassion, and to act with newfound purpose and integrity. We can reenter the World as a more powerful and more effective being than we were when we left. Our renewed self, no longer lacking the courage and confidence, finally has the strength and vision to tackle all worthwhile goals that plagued us so long ago, back before we were able to do anything about them. Our journey of being is not complete until our new beings step back into the World with the intent of learning to answer the Earth’s needs, just as we have learned to answer our own. The question of being cannot be approached objectively and problematically. Being can be affirmed only if I can discover within experience some presence which testifies to being. Two elements in human experience seem to offer such testimony. First, at the heart of the human condition is an ontological exigence, an impulse to transcendence which is present in all authentic human life, the exigence to penetrate to a level of experience saturated with meaning and value. #RandolphHarris 9 of 11

The mere existence of such an exigence is no guarantee in itself that a corresponding satisfaction exists. It could be the case that human beings are a useless passion. However, by way of a phenomenological analysis, certain experiences of love, joy, hope, and faith, as understood from within, present beneficial testimony to the existence of an inexhaustible presence. This assuring presence, which might be called the immanence of being in human experience, is never a possession but is constantly created anew as an I enters into relations with an empirical thou or the Absolute Thou (God). Although the assurance of being never becomes conceptually clear, it prides the illumination making creative, open existence possible. Never allow tribulations nor the cares of this World to separate you from remembering that God loves you. The concrete approaches to being are identical with the approaches to others persons and to God. To enter into a loving relationship requires that a person exorcise the spirit of selfishness and possession and become spiritually available (disponible) to others. If the unconditional demands of love are to be satisfied, a vow of creative fidelity is likewise necessary. In approaching God, fidelity becomes faith and disponibilite becomes hope. In love, fidelity, hope, and faith human approaches the mystery of being and is overtaken with the assurance that one is accompanied by the eternal fulfilling Presence that seeks to know. #RandolphHarris 10 of 11

As we have experiences harassment, destruction, vandalism, and even the loss of lives, the attitude of children of God is not one of being afraid but of marching forward in a spirit of carry on. Even when the winds of fire, destruction, and danger have blown into our paths, we stand firm as the mountains around us. God will continue you help us to carry on, and our work will not be thwarted but will be enhanced and prosperous. God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest children, who will help bear off the Kingdom triumphantly. And that is where we come it, for we are the generation that must be prepared to meet our God. Make no mistake about it—we are a marked generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time as there is of us. Each day we personally make many decisions that show where our support will go. The final outcome is certain—the forces of righteousness will finally win. What remains to be seen is where each of us personally, now and in the future will stand in this fight—and how tall we will stand. Will we be true to our last-days, foreordained mission? God does not keep his children immune from trouble. It does not matter how real nor intense the adversities may be; nothing can ever separate us from our relationship to God. Tribulation is never a grand, highly welcomed event; but whatever it may be—whether exhausting, irritating, or simply causing some weakness—it is not able to separate us from the love of God. #RandolphHarris 11 of 11

It is impossible to escape the impression that people commonly use false standards of measurement—that they seek power, success and wealth for themselves and admire them in others, and that they underestimate what is of true value in life. It is certain that the fewer desires a person has and the less covets, the more easy one is to oneself. The more one loves peace and concord, the more charity one has for one’s neighbor, and the more one shines in real virtue, there is no doubt but that in proportion one is acceptable to God and humans. However, let us be just, what benefit can these things be of, or what Earthly good can they do, to promote the wealth, the glory and Worldly greatness of nations? A legend, typically, is a short story reflecting in a psychological level a symbolic representation of folk belief and collective experiences and serving as a reaffirmation of commonly held values of the group to whose tradition it belongs. The chief characteristic of the system of religion is a consistent dualism which rejects any possibility of tracing the origins of good and evil to one and the same source. Evil stands as a completely independent principle against Good, and redemption from the power of Evil is to be achieved by recognizing this dualism and following the appropriate rules of life. The opposition of God and Matter is seen in the realm of nature as the conflict of Light and Darkness, Truth and Error. The present World, and human beings in particular, presents a mixture of Good and Evil, the result of a breach of the original limits by the powers of evil. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8

Out of small things proceeds that which is great. The whole purpose of the founding of the Universe was to separate the two principles and restore the original state of affairs, rendering Evil forever harmless and preventing any future repetition of the intermingling. It is the special task of spiritual beings, the ones who have been brought to the light, to collaborate in this separation. Through the God-sent mind that is in one and that sets one apart from the other creatures, one must become aware of the mixture present in all things. One must thus discover the true meaning and significance of the World and conduct oneself accordingly, in such a way as to avoid any further contamination of the light and promote its release from its mixture with the darkness. The death of the body is thus redemption; and true life is the release of the soul, which is light, from its imprisonment in the body and its return to its true abode. The two primal principles of Light and Darkness, each dwelling in its own realm, coeternal but independent represent very different concepts. Perception of Light excites envy, greed, and hate in Darkness, and provokes it to attack the Light. In response the Father of Greatness calls forth the Primal Man, who arms himself with five powers and descends to battle with the Darkness. He is defeated, however, and the five powers of Darkness devour a part of his light and thus bring the mixture into being. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8

In some versions this is explained as part of a deliberate plan to satisfy the powers of Darkness temporarily by the cession of a portion of the light and thus to prevent further attack. The captive portion of light, the armor of the Primal Man, is identified with the soul, which this becomes subject to the affections of Matter. The Primal Man appeals to the Father of Greatness, who sends the Living Spirit to deliver him. The archons, or powers of Darkness, are now overcome (although they do not lose their power of action), and Heaven and Earth are made from their carcasses. From the purest part of the Light in the archons the Sun and Moon are formed, but even so only a small part of the Light has been delivered. A fresh appeal from the powers of the Lights leads the Father of Greatness to send a Third Messenger, whose appearance inspires the Darkness to produce Adam and Eve in the image of his glorious form and to enclose in them the Light still at its disposal. The creation of Eve has a special purpose, in that she is more subservient to the demons and serves as their instrument for the seduction of Adam. Procreation serves the ends of Darkness, since each birth means a further dispersal of the Light, another subject for the realm of Darkness, and a prolonging of the captivity of the Light. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8

The powers of Light accordingly send Christ on a mission of revelation to Adam, who is still innocent but subsequently disobeys, is seduced by Eve, and so sets the chain of reproduction in motion. This protracts the drama of salvation, and with it the mission of Christ, into the history of humankind. The cosmogonic myth provides the basis and substructure for ethics and hope of redemption. The ethics are rigorously ascetic: since procreation only prolongs the reign of the powers of darkness, marriage must be rejected. Those who adopt to these principals must abstain from all ensouled things and eat only vegetables, so as to avoid, as far as possible, any injury to the Light. Legends are important to us today for a number of reasons. They have value as literature, offering timeless and universal themes; they give us insight into other times and places; and they help us to see how much humankind had and has in common.  We want to know how we came to be, we want to understand the natural World around us, and we yearn for some deity we can praise and blame. When we learn to trust enough in the wisdom of our own soul to accept how all the various aspects of our personality come together, we discover the miraculous truth that the whole that is in us transcends our individual personality traits. Viewed at a composite, our life has an almost magical coherence and continuity. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8

The Lord loves you; that is why he has given you commandments and the words of prophets to guide you on your journey through life. One of the best ways to appreciate the wonder of our essential self is to look at our lives as a story—a fairy tale, fable, or epic. Most people confess tat the last vestiges of meaninglessness or futility in their lives are shattered when they crystallize their sense of their best self in this manner. Read your story, and root for the hero. Have compassion for him or her. Have faith in the hero’s ability to attain the much-desired happiness ever after. Honor the valor and persistence of your hero. Look at the amazing feats he or she has accomplished, at the nobility of the goals. Revel in how far this marvelous person has come, from a tiny infant to a fully grown adult, with many skills and accomplishments. Now look at your hero dispassionately and see if you can instruct him or her in the ways that happiness can best be achieved. Sometimes it may help to stop trying to get people to understand your story and understand it yourself. Perhaps your character is taking the wrong path too often. Have your hero’s heroic acts been misplaced? May his or her standards are too high. Write yourself a happy ending. The next time you face a personal challenge, think of yourself as the hero of your own story. Realize that each day gives you the opportunity to make the tale a richer, more rewarding one. Look for opportunities to display your best self wherever you can. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8

We live in a time of great challenges and opportunities. As spirit children of Heavenly parents, you are free to make the right choices. When our purpose is to seek God and to discover his will for us, daydreaming is right and acceptable. However, when our inclination is to spend time daydreaming over what we have already been told to do, it is unacceptable and God’s blessing is never on it. God will take the initiative against this kind of daydreaming by prodding us to action. Your best self is the aspect of you that brings out the best in others and the World, that graces ordinary experiences with extraordinary clarity, and that, if the believers are correct, goes with you into the next World. Self-actualized individuals operate on a kind of meta-need level, in which they strove to satisfy their personal, higher-order yearnings for truth, beauty, justice, emotional self-sufficiency, and altruism. Once a person earns the rewards of personal integrity in adulthood, his or her inner desire to benefit others grows stronger. Integrated adults do not merely believe they should help others; they desire to help others in much the same way a thirsty person desires water. Once all personal needs are met, altruism become a basic human trait. When you become more yourself, you have more of yourself to give away. Daydreaming about something in order to do it properly is right, but daydreaming about it when we should be doing it is wrong. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8

If you trust the Lord and obey him, he will help you achieve the great potential he sees in you. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything we think of as ideal work. It is the utterly hard, menial, tiresome, and dirty work. The inspiration of God is required if drudgery is to shine with light of God upon it. In some cases, the way a person does a task makes that work sanctified and holy forever. It may be a very common everyday task, but after we have seen it done, it become different. When the Lord does something through us, he always transforms it. When you have (if not constant) access to your best self, amazing things can happen. You are eligible for a kind of genius. You have become open to new ideas, more able to weigh tough options, more creative in the way your approach the problems in your life. You may also begin to get a dose of cosmic truths whose promise makes every moment an adventure. Some people believe that coincidences are fate; other believe that they are evidence of God’s hand reaching out to us. Even if you believe that serendipitous experiences have no meaning at all, why not accept these little gifts as they come your way, and create a welcoming place for them if there appears to be a pattern to their manifestation? We can earn that cosmic present through hard work and perseverance. For some of us, it is not the first time the Universe has rewarded us for our efforts, and, since we have a lot of say in the matter, it will not be the last. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8

We are all dedicated to the same purpose: to assist in accomplishing the divine work and glory of God, our eternal Fathers, which is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of all humans,” reports Moses 1.39. That is why we are studying the answers to eternal questions, and truths are taught, and ordinances performed so that we can live with an understanding of our divine inheritance as children of God and with an awareness of our potential as eternal beings. The house of the Lord helps us to see the end from the beginning. Just as the temples of God are sacred, so are our temporal bodies. “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s,” reports 1 Corinthians 6.19-20. Let us use out own thoughts, our minds and hearts, and our bodies with the respect and dignity worthy of a scared temple given to us by our Heavenly Father. When we live by truths and scriptures, we will be able to do our life’s work with greater wisdom and skill and bear trials with greater courage. We will have the help of the Holy Ghost. We will be worthy to go to the temple to receive holy ordinances. These blessings and many more can be ours. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8

Ever since people began to reflect on the moral life, they have been aware of some perfect ideal of character and conduct toward which they must strive. The concept of perfection has two closely allied and often overlapping meanings. First it means completeness, wholeness, or integrity: one is perfect when he or she (or it) is free from all deficiencies. Second it means the achievement of an end or a goal. This meaning emerges most clearly from the connection between the Greek words teleios (perfect) and telos (end or goal). An entity is perfect when it has achieved its goal by actualizing its potentialities and realizing its specific form. Bringing these two meanings together, one would say that a thing is complete or entire when it has fulfilled its nature and thereby reached its end. The concept is best examined first under its religious, and second under its moral, aspect. God is id quo nihi maius cogitari possiit (that than which nothing greater can be conceived. God is self-existent, he must be infinite (or limitless) in intelligence, goodness, and power. Love is the element in divine perfection that disciples are to imitate. Personal integrity enables us to balance the ever-changing needs of our bodies, minds, and spirits. It is the ability to take the many dimensions of ourselves and make the best use of them as they are now, all the while keeping in mind what you hope they will be. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6

Hope it the anchor of our souls. There is no one who is not in need of hope—young or old, strong or weak, rich or poor. Wherefore, whoso believes in God might with surety hope for a better World, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope comes of faith, making an anchor to the souls of humans, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God. The integrated self is constantly looking. The integrated self incorporates each aspect of the personality, and grows just as the other selves grow. If you have not done so before, seeing yourself as a whole person will create changes in your life. Wherefore, we must press forward with a steadfastness in God, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all people, feasting upon the word of God, and endure to the end, behold, thus says the Father: You shall have eternal life. Conscious awareness of the different demands of your various sides (your funny and sad sides, your mental and physical sides), as well as the interplay between them, means no longer being able to ignore your own needs and values. Out of this awareness comes choice, the way we prioritize the many demands we make on our body and soul. Choice means making a commitment to living out of our bet self as often as we can. Of course, deciding to operate out of one’s best self does not make daily choices easy. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6

Everybody in this life has their challenges and difficulties. Sometimes we will need to choose between two thing we want (to sit with a sick friend or go to an important environmental meeting), or two you do not (to fire an employee or put of with their bad work). Choice also extends to the manner in which you approach these issues—with kindness or callousness, with creativity or passivity. We are accountable and will ne judged for how we use what we have received. This eternal principle applies to all we have been given. The principle of accountability also applies to the spiritual resources conferred in the teachings we have been given and to the precious hors and days allotted to each of us during our time in mortality. Because of increased life expectancies and modern timesaving devices, most of us have far more discretionary time than our predecessors. We are accountable for how we use that time. And if we are not mindful, the chance will fade away, for life is quick in passing. The significance of our increased discretionary time has been magnified many times by modern data-retrieval technology. For good or for evil, devices like 5^th-Generation Wireless Systems and the new digital audio format called MT9 have put at our fingertips an incredible inventory of information, insights, images, and capabilities. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6

Along with fast food, we have convenience our way, we can order on our time, and pickup an Egg McMuffin or a Sausage McMuffin with Egg on our terms. The effect of these resources on some of us seems to fulfill the prophet Daniel’s prediction that in the last days, “know shall be increased and many shall run to and fro” (Daniel 12.4). With greatly increased free time and vastly more alternatives for its use, it is prudent to review the fundamental principles that should guide us. Temporal circumstances change, but the eternal laws and principles that should guide our choices never change. Choosing is something we must do every day. Even an established choice, such as the choice to be married, must be constantly reaffirmed. Failure to think and rethink choices leads to decisions that do not serve our total self. It is sometimes asked what has posterity done for me that I should do anything for posterity? The question was wrongly put. Posterity is only another name for humankind, and when we pose the question rightly there can be no dispute about the answer. If we put aside the part that belongs to Nature or God, we owe everything to humankind. All that we are, and all that we possess in civilization, we owe to the everlasting aspiration and struggle of humankind before us, and to the slow accumulation of knowledge and art on the topmost level of which we now stand. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6

Our immense debt to humankind in the past can only be repaid to humankind in the future. If we do not regard it as our duty, It is our privilege to pass on, in ever finer shapes, the great traditions which have been handed to us. The most difficult aspect of personal integrity is action. It is not enough to decide, or even verbalize, your priorities. You must act upon them. If your boss wants you to work late (again!) and you have determined that nothing will get in the way of family dinners, you must acct according to your choice. You must have the courage to do what you believe is right. In short, you must take risk. When we put action with awareness and choice, we experience a moment of personal integrity. When it comes to integrating their many facets and desires, far too many mature adults make an uneasy peace with themselves. Unwilling to examine, choose, or act on your inner wisdom, many go through life compartmentalized—perhaps hardworking and aggressive at the office, passive at home, and funny at parties. Wen we deny one of more aspects of ourselves, the imbalance that occurs parallels physical illness. The longer this deterioration continues, the more difficult it is to address the imbalance. You can encourage yourself to form a central, deep, integrated sense of who you are; what you feel, value, believe, and cherish; how you relate; and what you contribute. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6

For those who believe in the primacy of God’s will, obedience rather than understanding is to be given the higher value. The more adequate an idea, the more it is pleasing, liberating, and intrinsically human. Because I am principled, I am honest. Because I am loving, I am lovable. Because I am interested in the welfare of others, I am respected. Because my ideas work, I am worth listening to. Because I am determined, I am able to get things done. The culmination of the ethical life—that is, the life devoted to freedom of the intellect—is found in the intellectual love of God. One must lose oneself in order to find oneself, but in so doing, one finds that what one has really discovered is God. “People that had been wrought upon by the Spirit of God, and had been healed; and they did show forth signs also did do some miracles among the people,” reports 3 Nephi 7.22. So, Lord, we want to thank you that the fulfillment of our dreams is on the way, even the secret petitions of our hearts. God, you spoke Worlds into existence, and you have us in the palm of your hand. We believe you, God, that you will make sure we complete what you put us here to do. “And blessed is one that is found faithful unto my covenants at the last day, for they shall be lifted up to dwell in the kingdom prepared for holiness from the foundation of the World. And behold it is I that hath spoken it. Amen,” reports Ether 4.19. When the creator of the Universe placed a dream in your heart, he also set a completion date to bring it to pass. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6

It is important for families and individuals to aggressively seek more of the virtues which go beyond this mortal life. Like most people, you have experienced glimmers of knowing the real you throughout your life. You know in your heart when you are operating out of this best self, because you are able to think clearly, act decisively, and stand your ground with courage. When being true to oneself, one will experience a longing for more—more of the serenity of the occasion, more of the companionship of the Spirit, more of the nurturing that has brightened and blessed the soul. Being your best self requires a quality called Personal Integrity. Contrary to the way most of us perceive it, integrity is not some personality trait to be cultivated. Nor is it a gift bestowed upon that one person in a crowd who is able to behave honorably while others around one are confused or consumed with greed. Integrity is, in fact, the one grace we can all aspire to. Personal integrity is a true integration of all the many parts of ourselves working together as one cohesive whole so we do not act one way at work and another way at home. Everyday, every hour, every minute of your span of mortal years must sometime be accounted for. And it is in this life that you walk by faith and prove yourself able to choose good over evil, right over wrong, enduring happiness over mere amusement. And your eternal reward will be according to your choosing. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8

Christians have a doctrine of nonviolence, but they should also never succumb to the slave morality. Humans were created not for the destruction but for love, friendship, and service to their fellow people. Authority strong enough to enforce peace will also ensure eternal stability in the constituent states. People are that they may have joy—a joy that included a fullness of life, a life dedicated to service, to love and harmony in the home, and the product of honest toil—an acceptance of the Ten Commandments and of its requirements. Only in these will you find true happiness, the happiness which does not fade with the lights and the music and the crowds. With personal integrity is the ability to act out of our most basic, intimate sense of what is right for us and the World. There was once a man who suffered from omnipotence of thought. Omnipotence of thought consists in the belief that one can transform or influence the external Word through one’s thoughts alone. Omnipotence of thoughts underscores a general trait characteristic of neurosis. Neurotics are only affected by what is thought with intensity and pictured with emotion, whereas agreement with external reality is a matter of no importance. He believed that he could conjure people up. If he inquired suddenly about the state of health of an acquaintance whom he had long missed he was sure to hear that this acquaintance had just died, so that he could believe that he had drawn this attention to himself by telepathic means. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8

The omnipotence of thought was so potent in this person that If he uttered a half meant imprecation against a stranger, he could expect to have him die soon thereafter and burden him with the responsibility for his death. He was able to explain most of these cases in the course of the treatment, he could tell how the illusion had originated, and what he himself had contributed towards furthering his superstitious expectations. All compulsion neurotics are superstitious in this manner and often against their better judgment. Neurotics live in a special World in which only the neurotic standard of currency counts, that is to say, only things intensively thought of or affectively conceived are effective with them, regardless of whether these things are in harmony with outer reality. The hysteric repeats in his attacks and fixates through his symptoms, occurrences which have taken place only in his phantasy, though in the last analysis they go back to real events or have been built up from them. The neurotic’s guilty conscience is just as incomprehensible if traced to real misdeeds. A compulsion neurotic may be oppressed by a sense of guilt which is appropriate to a wholesale murderer, while at the same time he acts towards his fellow beings in a most considerate and scrupulous manner, a behaviour which he evinced since childhood. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8

And yet, his sense of guilt is justified: it is based upon the intensive and frequent death wishes which unconsciously manifest themselves towards his fellow beings. It is motivated from the point of view of unconscious thoughts, but not intentional acts. Thus the omnipotence of thought, the over-estimation of psychic process as opposed to reality, proves to be of unlimited effect in the neurotics affective life and in all that emanates from it. However, if we wish to subject him to psychoanalytic treatment, which makes his unconscious thoughts conscious to him he refuses to believe that thoughts are free and is always afraid to express evil wishes lest they be fulfilled in consequence in his utterance. However, through this attitude as well as through the superstition which plays an active part in his life, he reveals to us how close he stands to the savage, who believe he can change the outer World by a mere thought of his. In the animistic stage humans ascribe omnipotence to oneself; in the religious humans have ceded it to the gods, but without seriously giving it up, for one reserves to oneself the right to control the gods by influencing them in some way or other in the interest of one’s wishes. In the scientific attitude towards life there is no longer any room for human being’s omnipotence; one has acknowledged one’s smallness and has submitted to mortality as to all other natural necessities in a spirit of resignation. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8

Nevertheless, in our reliance upon the power of the human spirit which copes with the laws of reality, there still lives on a fragment of this primitive belief in the omnipotence of thought. Many people mention experiencing moments of deep self-knowledge as the progress through understanding their humanity. These marvelous discoveries are the result of breaking down the barriers to ourselves, allowing us to feel important connection between the many facets of our personalities. The Lord’s law of consecration, which as an economic role but, more than that, is an application of celestial law to life here and now. To consecrate is to set apart or dedicate something as sacred, devoted to holy purposes. True success in life comes in consecrating our lives—that is, our time and choices—to God’s purposes. In so doing, we permit him to raise us to our highest destiny. Five elements of consecrated life are: purity, work, respect for one’s physical body, service, and integrity. If you have been fortunate enough to get a glimpse of our best self and your ability to operate out of personal integrity, you know how wonderful it feels. People with personal integrity are more willing to take risk in order to do what they believe to be right, or to earn what they believe is right for them. They view their strengths and weaknesses more as a consequence of their own choices than immutable traits. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8

As the Savior demonstrated, the consecrated life is a pure life, where one refuses to compromise their morals and ethics, no matter what the short-term gains for doing so may be. We must accept our success and failures at face value, as markers for new directions rather than as ends in themselves. Appreciating the complex course of our lives will continue to solidify our relations with reality and God. As we develop a personal philosophy that acknowledges the profound interconnectedness between our inner and outer Worlds, we will be curious about ways we can reconcile all the things we want to be. Consecration therefore means repentance. Stubbornness, rebellion, and rationalization must be abandoned, and in their place submission, a desire for correction, and acceptance of all that the Lord may require. This is called putting off the natural human, yielding to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and becoming a saint through the atonement of the Lord. Such as one is promised the enduring presence of the Holy Spirit, a promise remembered and renewed each time a repentant soul partakes of the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. The person who walks in the light and wisdom and power of God, will at the last, by the very force of association, make the light and wisdom and power of God one’s own—weaving those bright rays into a chain divine linking oneself forever to God and God to one. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8

A consecrated life is a life of labour. The inevitable changes almost always cause us to cultivate a deep interest in issues of personal integrity, but it is a pathway that presents us with more demanding and frightening challenges the father we travel down its terrain. Knowing oneself takes a lot of courage. What if you turn out to be less of a person than you had hoped? What if you cannot live up to the values you espouse? What if you return to Heaven before you have a chance to live with that magical best self as a guiding force? All true work is sacred; in all true work, were it but true hand-labour, there is something of divines. Labour, wide as the Earth, has it summit in Heaven. As with many of life’s important endeavors, in our struggle to gain personal integrity we often are too hard ourselves, failing to recognize success. Fortunately, each time you locate your best self and act on it, you have made a huge leap in your personal development. And it gets easier the next time. Br cautioned not to look at integrity as a state you can achieve. The pathway of personal integrity is one you have been on your entire life, and will continue on until you return to Heaven. If you have attempted to approach your daily routines with honesty and goodwill, you may notice that sometimes you experience a sense of rightness you have never before displayed or felt and will keep doing the right thing. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8

Recognize that no one on Earth experiences his or her best self all the time. Simply strive to find that state as often as you can. Personal integrity is not perfection; it is the ability to pull yourself back onto the path when you find yourself straying. God has designed this mortal existence to require nearly constant exertion. By continuous labour we are enabled to get a comfortable maintenance. By working we sustain and enrich life. It enables us to survive the disappointments and tragedies of the moral experience. Hard-earned achievement beings a sense of self-worth. Work build and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and God. A consecrated life is filled with work, sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, and aspires. Just as honest toil gives rest its sweetness, wholesome recreation is the friend and steadying complain of work. Have a faith that God can see. Put actions behind what you believe. It is not enough to just pray, not enough to just believe. Take it one step further and demonstrate    your faith. You may not see how your dream could ever come true, but as you take steps of faith, you will see God begin to open new doors. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8

The God within the mind distinguishes between virtue and vice, to which allows instinct and social love to flourish. Growth of knowledge begins with the imaginative proposal of hypotheses, a matter of individual and unpredictable insight that cannot be reduced to rule. Celebrate the new aspects of your experience that were born as a result of your willingness to let old habits, behaviors, and attitudes pass by. There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle, the other is as though everything is a miracle. The difference between the two may not only be the key to happiness, but the key to sanity; research from the National Social Survey reports a high correlation between spirituality and mental health. Advances in adulthood spirituality are what allow a person to be the author of his or her own moral life. Adults who have done the demanding work of discovering their own spiritual beliefs are more able than others to make moral decisions and stand by them, even if the decision causes them some pain. These people make the best leaders. Reading and studying the scriptures makes us conscious of the many conditional promises made by the Lord to encourage obedience and righteous living. Remind yourself that every time you have ever let go of something good, you have gotten something else you could appreciate. “Learn wisdom in youth to keep the commandments of God, reports Alma 37.35. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6

Several experiences in the World are instructive to us regarding the importance placed by the Lord on keeping commitments and on being committed to following the commandments and direction God has given us. “Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shat thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I swear unto their fathers to give them,” Joshua 1.5-6. The World was created by God, so it is God’s World. However, some people have chosen to act on a primitive level and they are trying to force that consciousness on the World. However, regardless of how ungodly people behave, we subscribe to the covenants of the Lord, these stories of spiritual rebirth and leadership reflect our psychological truths. Many scholars believe that adulthood offers the best opportunity for deep conversion of the spirit because it is during this period that a person experiences a convergence of life skills, confidence, pain over the harsh realities and compelling necessities of life, and a desire to rethink inconsistencies or untenable spiritual beliefs. “Only be thou strong and very courageous that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, so that thou mayest prosper withersoever thou goest,” reports Joshua. Unexpected struggle and newly acquired leadership can encourage us to take full possession of our moral life. Only after we completely integrate and own our personal spiritual beliefs can we embrace the social and political problems of the World. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6

Even if people have grown up with a strong faith, our faith needs to be reaffirmed or replenished in adulthood. For mature life presents us with a wonderful chance to transcend the boundaries of our own identity and participate in the greater reality of nature, the cosmos, and the God-source. Science is not a system of certain, or well-established, statements. Our science is not knowledge (episteme): it can never claim to have attained truth, nor even a substitute for it, such as probability. We do not know: we can only guess. Life, as we live it today, is more highly socialized, more urbanized, more—so far as external relationships are concerned—standardized than it used to be. The World has become uncomfortably small; we have not yet gained a complete control of our excessive procreational activity; so that there are far too many of us, and, being so closely crowded together, we have to adopt all sorts of new precautions to avoid friction and permit of the greatest amount of mutual freedom available within our unduly narrow frontiers. So many of the old traditional social taboos having become antiquated or no longer adequate, there has been a furious activity in making new laws and regulations, without a due recognition of the fact that old taboos can only be replaced by new taboos, and that mere legal enactments, enforced, or left unenforced, by paid officials or the police, to be effective must themselves become taboos, printed on the fleshly tablets of the individual citizen’s heart. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6

When we return to our home in Heaven, and go to meet God, we are not going to be asked why we did not become a Messiah nor find a cure for spina bifida. Instead, we will be asked, “Why did you not become you?” The idea of becoming oneself may strike you as a bit odd. Clearly, you are already yourself. Others recognize you as you. Who else could be you? At the core of each of us, however, is an essential self, one we have been trying to uncover. God is an eternal Being, what seems to us simple mortals as a drear immensity of wasted time is to him but the twinkling of an eye. We now have good reasons to believe that the surviving life forms are those which adapt to the environment rather than those for whom the environment has been adapted by a beneficent Overseer. “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest,” reports Joshua 1.9. Sometimes we need courage for what we have to do. We need the Lord’s help at every step. Here is a commitment of the Lord to provide that help. With faith in the Lord, we are able to go forward, knowing that God is directing us in the way we should go. Through our obedience we will have success, and although we do not know exactly how we will succeed, we now   have confidence in the result. “Sanctity yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you,” reports Joshua 3.5. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6

Victory will surely come and it will depend upon our willingness to do the will of the Lord. “This day will begin to magnify thee in the sight of all the World, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee,” reports Joshua 3.7. Understand that the miracles of the Lord will continue. Do precisely as instructed, and the promise of the Lord will be fulfilled. The instructions no doubt might seem unusual, but your faith in the outcome should urge you on. The result, of course, will be another long series of miracles that are promised by those who are committed to follow the commandments and the directives of the Lord. God pervades the World; the passions follow the leadership of rational insight; people are here to contemplate and to act. Humanity is the continuous and uninterrupted tradition of the human race, and it is the divinity of God that must be accepted to save our souls. The wisdom and providence of humanity preside infallibly over the realization of progress. At the end of progress there is sociocracy, a new absolutist social regime based on science and the religion of spirit and matter, of God and the World. As we travel down the pathways of mental mastery, physical vigor, emotional vitality, interpersonal effectiveness, exceptional competence, and spiritual serenity, we will undoubtably notice that the key to becoming one’s true self in each of these areas is accepting who we are, making the most of it, and living honorably, rather than becoming something or someone else. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6

The Lord’s will cannot be altered by anything anyone else might do. Be firmly in control of your actions and have your eyes fixed on the commandments of the Lord. Be committed to obedience. Surely the Lord loves, more than anything else, an unwavering determination to obey his counsel. Think of the real you as Sleeping Beauty—beautiful, though untouched and untired—lying behind an overgrowth of brier bushes so tangled that anyone who tried to get in from the outside must ultimately fail. True happiness can only be found once the spell is broken. Your spell, which includes the limitations of circumstance, societal expectations, and your own fears, has, with any luck, begun to break as you performed the spiritual renewal practices and have given yourself some much-needed time and attention. In the moment of such a union the soul has become God, or, rather, is God; the soul has reascended to its original source. And the Lord said, “I will prepare a stone, which shall shine forth in darkness unto light, that I may discover unto my people who serve me, that I may discover unto them the works of their brethren, yea, their secret works, their works of darkness, and their wickedness and abominations. If they do not repent, I will destroy them from off the face of the Earth; and I will bring to light all their secrets and abominations, unto every nation that shall hereafter possess the land,” reports Alma 23-25. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6