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I Might Lose Myself in Bottomless Abysses of Ignorance—Cleanse the Horrible Darknesses of Our Mind!
The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved…the ones who…are passionate, compassionate, enthusiastic. In order to seize hold of the fantasies, I frequently imagined a steep descent. I even made several attempts to get to the very bottom. The very first time I reached, as it were, a depth of about a thousand feet; the next time I found myself at the edge of a cosmic abyss. It was like a voyage to the mon, or a descent into empty space. First came the image of a crater, and I had the feeling that I was in the land of the dead. The atmosphere was that of the other World. Near the steep slope of a rock I caught sight of two figures, an old mand with a white beard and a beautiful young lady. I summoned up my courage and approached them as though they were real people, and listened attentively to what they told me. The old man explained that he was Elijah, and that gave me a shock. However, the young lady staggered me even more, for she called herself Salome! She was blind. What a strange couple: Salome and Elijah. However, Elijah assured me that he and Salome had belonged together from all eternity, which completely astounded me. They have a black serpent living with them which displayed an unmistakable fondness for me. #RandolphHarris 1 of 27

I stuck close to Elijah because he seemed to be the most reasonable of the three, and to have a clear intelligence. Of Salome I was distinctly suspicious. Elijah and I had a long conversation which, however, I did not understand. Naturally I tried to find a plausible explanation for the appearance of Biblical figures in my fantasy by reminding myself that my father had been a clergyman. However, that really explained nothing at all. For what did the old man signify? What did Salome signify? Why were they together? Only man years later, when I knew a great deal more then I knew then, did the connection between the old man and the young lady appear perfectly natural to me. In such dream wanderings one frequently encounters an old man who is accompanied by a young girl, and examples of such couples are to be found in many mythic tales. Thus, according to Gnostic tradition, Simon Magus went about with a young lady whom he had picked up in a brothel. Her name was Helen, and she was regarded as the reincarnation of the Trojan Helen. Klingsor and Kundry, Lao-tzu and the dancing girl, likewise belong to this category. I have mentioned that there was a third figure in my fantasy besides Elijah and Salome: the large black snake. #RandolphHarris 2 of 27

In myths the snake is frequently counterpart of the hero. There are numerous accounts of their affinity. For example, the hero has eyes like a snake, or after his death he is changed into a snake and revered as such, or the snake is his mother, et cetera. In my fantasy, therefore, the presence of the snake was an indication of a hero-myth. Salome is an anima figure. She is blind because she does not see the meaning of things. Elijah is the figure of the wise old prophet and represents the factor of intelligence and knowledge; Salome, the erotic element. One might say that the two figures are personifications of Logos and Eros. However, such a definition would be excessively intellectual. It is more meaningful to let the figures be what they were for me at the time—videlicet, events and experiences. Soon after this fantasy another figure rose out of the unconscious. He developed out of the Elijah figure. I called him Philemon. Philemon was a pagan and brought with him an Egypto-Hellenistic atmosphere with a Gnostic colouration. His figure first appeared to me in the following dream. #RandolphHarris 3 of 27
The sky was blue, like the sea, covered not by clouds but by flat brown clods of Earth. It looked as if the clods were breaking apart and the blue water of the sea were becoming visible between them. However, the water was blue sky. Suddenly there appeared from the right a winged being sailing across the sky. I saw that it was an old man with the horns of a bull. He held a bunch of four keys, one of which he clutched as if here were about to open a lock. He had the winds of the kingfisher with it characteristic colours. Since I did not understand this dream-image, I painted it in order to impress it upon my memory. During the days when I was occupied with the painting, I found in my garden, by the lake shore, a dead kingfisher! I was thunderstruck, for kingfishers are quite rare in the vicinity of Zurich and I have never since found a dead one. The body was recently dead—at the most, two or three days—and showed no external injuries. Philemon and other figures of my fantasies brought home to me the crucial insight that there are things in the psyche which I do not produce, but which produce themselves and have their own life. Philemon represented a force which was not myself. #RandolphHarris 4 of 27
In my fantasies I held conversations with him, and he said things which I had not consciously thought. For I observed clearly that it was he who spoke, not I. He said I treated thoughts as if I generated them myself, but in his view thoughts were like animals in the forest, or people in a room, or birds in the air, and added, “If you should see people in a room, you would not think that you had made those people, or that you were responsible for them.” It was he who taught me psychic objectivity, the reality of the psyche. Through hum the distinction was clarified between myself and the object of my thought. He confronted me in an objective manner, and I understood that there is something in me which can say things that I do not know and do not intend, things which may even be directed against me. Psychologically, Philemon represented superior insight. He was a mysterious figure to me. As if here were a living personality, at times, he seemed to me quite real. I went walking up and down the garden with him, and to me he was what the Indians called a guru. Whenever the outlines of a new personification appeared, I felt it almost as a personal defeat. It meant: “Here is something else you did not know until now!” #RandolphHarris 5 of 27
Fear crept over me that the succession of such figures might be endless, that I might lose myself in the bottomless abysses of ignorance. My ego felt devalued—although the success I had been having in Worldly affairs might have reassured me. In my darknesses (horridas nostrae mentis purge tenebras— “cleanse the horrible darkness out of our mind” – the Aurora Consurgens* says) I could have wished for nothing better than a real, live guru, someone possessing superior knowledge and ability, who would have disentangled for me the involuntary creations of my imagination. This task was undertaken by the figure of Philemon, whom in this respect I had willy-nilly to recognize as my psychagogue. And the fact was the he conveyed to me many an illuminating idea. More than fifteen years later a highly cultivated elderly Indian visited me, a friend of Gandhi’s, and we talked about Indian education—in particular, about the relationship between guru and chela. I hesitantly asked him whether he could tell me anything about the person and character of one’s own guru, whereupon he replied in a matter-of-fact tone, “Oh yes, he was Shankaracharya.” #RandolphHarris 6 of 27

“You do not mean the commentor on the Vedas who died centuries ago?” I asked.
“Yes, I mean him,” he said, to my amazement.
“Then you are referring to a spirit?” I asked.
“Of course it was his spirit,” he agreed.
At that moment I thought of Philemon.
“There are ghostly gurus too,” he added. “Most people have living gurus. However, there are always some who have a spirit for teacher.” #RandolphHarris 7 of 27

This information was both illuminating and reassuring to me. Evidently, then, I had not plummeted right out of the human World, but had only experienced the sort of thing that could happen to others who made similar efforts. Later, Philemon became relativized by the emergence of yet another figure, whom I called Ka. In ancient Egypt the “king’s ka” was his Earthly form, the embodied soul. In my fantasy, as if out of a deep shaft, the ka-soul came from below, out of the Earth. I did a painting of him, showing him in his Earth-bound form, as a herm with base of stone and upper part of bronze. High up in the painting appears a kingfisher’s wing, and between it and the head of Ka floats a round, glowing nebula of stars. Ka’s expression has something demonic about it—one might also say, Mephistophelian. In one had he holds something like a coloured pagoda, or a reliquary, and in the other a stylus with which he was working on the reliquary. He is saying, “I am he who buries the gods in gold and gems.” Philemon had a lame foot, but was a winged spirit, where as Ka represented a kind of Earth demon or mental demon. Philemon was the spiritual aspects, or “meaning.” #RandolphHarris 8 of 27

Ka, on the other hand, was a spirit like the Anthroparion of Greek alchemy—with which at the time I was still unfamiliar. [The Anthroparion is a tiny man, a kind of homunculus. He is found, for example, in the visions of Zosimos of Panopolis, an important alchemist of the third century. To the group which includes the Anthroparion belong the gnomes, the Dactyls of classical antiquity, and the homunculi of the alchemists. As the spirit of quicksilver, the alchemical Mercurius was also an Anthroparion.] Ka was he who made everything real, but who also obscured the halcyon spirit, Meaning, or replaced it by beauty, the “eternal reflection.” In time I was able to integrate both figures through the study of alchemy. The archetype of the wise old man, also called the “Mana-personality,” tend to be projected upon human beings who set themselves up as leaders, secular or spiritual. This may have disastrous results, as when religious sects or political movements are led by charlatans or madmen. Alternatively, the subject may identify oneself with the archetype, believing that one oneself has superior wisdom. Analysts and priests, as well as politicians, sometimes succumb to this danger, referred to as “inflation.” #RandolphHarris 9 of 27
I have frequently considered, what could possibly be the reason, why all humankind, though they have ever, without hesitation, acknowledged the necessity, in their whole practice and reasoning, have yet discovered such a reluctance to acknowledge it in words, and have rather shown a propensity, in all ages, to profess the contrary opinion. The matter, I think, may be accounted for, after the following manner. If we examine the operations of body, and the production of effects from their causes, we shall find, that all our faculties can never carry us farther in our knowledge of this relation, than barely to observe, that particular objects are constantly transition, from the appearance of one to the belief of the other. However, though this conclusions concerning human ignorance be the result of the strictest scrutiny of this subject, human still entertain a strong propensity to believe, that they penetrate farther into the powers of nature, and perceive something like a necessary connexion between the cause and the effect. When again they turn their reflections towards the operations of their own minds, and feel no such connexion of the motive and the action; they are thence apt to suppose, that there is a difference between the effects, which result from material force, and those which arise from thought and intelligence. #RandolphHarris 10 of 27
However, being once convinced, that we know nothing father of causation of any kind, than merely the constant conjunction of objects, and the consequent inference of the mind from one to another, and finding, that these two circumstances are universally allowed to have a place in voluntary actions; we may be more easily led to own the same necessity common to all causes. And though this reasoning may contradict the systems of many philosophers, in ascribing necessity to the determination of the will, we shall find, upon reflection, that they dissent from it in words only, not in their real sentiment. Necessity, according to the sense, in which it is here taken, has never yet been rejected, nor can ever, I think, be rejected by any philosopher. It may only, perhaps, be pretended, that the mind can perceive, in the operations of matter, some farther connexion between the cause and effect; and a connexion that has not place in the voluntary actions of intelligent beings. Now whether it be so or not, can only appear upon examination; and it is incumbent on these philosophers to make good their assertion, by defining or describing that necessity, and pointing it out to us in the operations of material causes. #RandolphHarris 11 of 27
When they enter upon it by examining the faculties of the soul, the influence of the understanding, and operations of the will, it would seem, indeed, that humans begin at the wrong end of this question concerning liberty and necessity. Let them first discuss a more simple question, namely, the operations of body and of brute unintelligent matter; and try whether they can there form any idea of causation and necessity, except that of a constant conjunction of objects, and subsequent inference of the mind from one to another. If these circumstances form, in reality, the whole of that necessity, which we conceive in matter, and if these circumstances be also universally acknowledged to take place in the operations of the mind, the dispute is at an end; at least, must be owned to be thenceforth merely verbal. However, as long as we will rashly suppose, that we have some farther idea of necessity and causation in the operations of external objects; at the same time, that we can find nothing farther, in the voluntary actions of the mind; there is no possibility of bringing the question to any determinate issues, while we proceed upon so erroneous a supposition. #RandolphHarris 12 of 27

The only method of undeceiving us, is, to mount up higher; to examine the narrow extent of science when applied to material causes; and to convince ourselves, that all we know of them, is, the constant conjunction and inference above mentioned. We may, perhaps, find, that it is with difficulty we are induced to fix such narrow limits to human understanding: But we can afterwards find no difficulty when we come to apply this doctrine to the actions of the will. For as it is evident, that these have a regular conjunction with motives and circumstances and character, and as we always draw inferences from one to the other, we must be obliged to acknowledge in words, that necessity, which we have already avowed, in every deliberation of our lives, and in every step of our conduct and behaviour. The prevalence of the doctrine of liberty may be accounted for, from another cause, namely, a false sensation or seeming experience which we have, or may have, of liberty or indifference, in may of our actions. The necessity of any action, whether of matter or of mind, is not, properly speaking, a quality in the agent, but in any thinking or intelligent being, who many consider the action. #RandolphHarris 13 of 27

And it consists chiefly in the determination of one’s thoughts to infer the existence of that action from some preceding objects; as liberty, when opposed to necessity, is nothing but the want of that determination, and a certain looseness or indifference, which we feel, in passing, or not passing, from the idea of one object to that of any succeeding one. Now we may observe, that, though, in reflecting on human actions, we seldom feel such a looseness or indifference, but are commonly able to infer them with considerable certainty from their motives, and from the dispositions of the agent; yet if frequently happens, that, in performing the actions themselves, we are sensible of something like it: And as all resembling objects are readily taken for each other, this has been employed as a demonstrative and even intuitive proof of human liberty. We feel, that our actions are subject to our will, on most occasions; and imagine we feel, that the will itself is subject to nothing, because, when by a denial of it we are provoked to try, we feel, that it moves easily every way, and produces an image of itself (or a Velleity, as it is called in the schools) even n that side, on which it did not settle. #RandolphHarris 14 of 27
This image, of faint motion, we persuade ourselves, could, at that time, have been completed into the things itself; because, should that be denied, we find, upon a second trial, that, at present, it can. We consider not, that the fantastical desire of showing liberty, is here the motive of our actions. And it seems certain, that, however we may imagine we feel a liberty within ourselves, a spectator can commonly infer our actions from our motives and character; and even where one cannot, one concludes in general, that one might, were one perfectly acquainted with every circumstance of our situation and temper, and the most secret springs of our complexion and disposition. Now this is the very essence of necessity, according to the foregoing doctrine. However, to proceed in this reconciling project with regard to the question of liberty and necessity; the most contentious question, of metaphysics, the most contentious science; it will not require many words to prove, that all humankind have ever agreed in the doctrine of liberty as well as in that of necessity, and that the whole dispute, in this respect also, have been hitherto merely verbal. For, when applied to voluntary actions, what is meant by liberty? #RandolphHarris 15 of 27

We cannot surely mean, that actions have so little connexion with motives, inclinations, and circumstances, that one does not follow with a certain degree of uniformity from the other, and that one affords no inference by which we can conclude the existence of the other. For these are plain and acknowledged matters of fact. By liberty, then we can only mean a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will; that is, if we choose to remain at rest, we may; if we choose to move, we also may. Now this hypothetical liberty is universally allowed to belong to every one, who is not a prisoner and in chains. Here then is no subject of dispute. Whatever definition we may give of liberty, we should be careful to observe two requisite circumstances; first, that it be consistent with plain matter of fact; secondly, that it be consistent with itself. If we observe these circumstances, and render our definition intelligible, I am persuaded that all humankind will be found of one opinion with regard to it. It is universally allowed, that nothing exists without a cause of its existence, and that chance, when strictly examined, is a mere negative word, and means not any real power, which has any where, a being in nature. #RandolphHarris 16 of 27

However, it is pretended, that some causes are necessary, some not necessary. Here then is the advantage of definitions. Let any one define a cause, without comprehending, as a part of the definition, a necessary connexin with its effect; and let one show distinctly the origin of the idea, expressed by the definition; and I shall readily give up the whole controversy. However, if the foregoing explication f the matter be received, this must be absolutely impracticable. Had not objects regular conjunction with each other, we should never have entertained any notion of cause and effect; and this regular conjunction produces that inference of the understanding, which is the only connexion, that we can have any comprehension of. Whoever attempts a definition of cause, exclusive of these circumstances, will be obliged, either to employ unintelligible terms, or such as are synonymous to the term, which one endeavours to define. Thus, if a cause be defined, that which produces any thing; it is easy to observe, that producing is synonymous to causing. In like manner, if a cause be defined, that by which anything exists; this is liable to the same objection. For what is meant by these words by which? #RandolphHarris 17 of 27
Had it been said that a cause is that after which anything constantly exists; we should have understood the terms. For this is, indeed, all we know of the matter. And this constancy forms the very essence of necessity, nor have we any other idea of it. And if the definition above mentioned by admitted; liberty, when opposed to necessity, not to constraint, is the same thing with chance; which is universally allowed to have no existence. “And it came to pass that the thirty and fourth year passed away, and also the thirty and fifth, and behold the disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ in all the lands round about. And as many as did come unto them, and did truly repent of their sins, were baptized in the name of Jesus; and they did also receive the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every human did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift. And it came to pass that the thirty and seventh year passed away also, and there still continued to be peace in the land. #RandolphHarris 18 of 27
“And there were great and marvelous works wrought by the disciples of Jesus, insomuch that they did heal the sick, and raise the dead, and cause the lame to walk, and the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear; and all manner of miracles did they work among the children of men; and in nothing did they work miracles save it were in the name of Jesus. And thus did the thirty and eighth year pass away, and also the thirty and ninth, and forty and first, and the forty and second, yea, even until forty and nine years had passed away, and also the fifty and first, and the fifty and second; year, and even until fifty and nine year has passed away. And the Lord did prosper them exceedingly in the land; yea, insomuch that they did build cities again where there had been cities burned. Yea, even that great city of Zarahemla did they cause to be built again. However, there were many cities which had been sunk, and waters came up in the stead thereof; therefore these cities could not be renewed. And now, behold, it came to pass that the people of Nephi did wax strong, and did multiply exceedingly fast, and become an exceedingly fair and delightsome people. And they were married, and given in marriage, and were blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them. #RandolphHarris 19 of 27

“And they did not walk any more after the performances and ordinances of the law of Moses; but they did walk after the commandments which they had received from their Lord and their God, continuing in fasting and prayer, and in meeting together oft both to pray and to hear the word of the Lord. And it came to pass that there was no contention among all the people, in all the land; but there were mighty miracles wrought among the disciples of Jesus. And it came to pass that the seventy and first year passed away, and also the seventy and second year, yea, and in fine, till the seventy and ninth year had passes away; yea, even an hundred years had passed away, and the disciples of Jesus, whom he had chosen, had all gone to the paradise of God, save it were the three who should tarry; and there were other disciples ordained in their stead; and also many of that generation had passed away. And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people. And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among al the people who has been created by the hand of God. #RandolphHarris 20 of 27
“There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but there were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God. And how blessed were they! For the Lord did bless them in all their doings; yea, even they were blessed and prospered until an hundred and ten years had passed away; and the first generation from Christ had passes away, and there was no contention in all the land. And it came to pass that Nephi, he that kept this last record, (and he kept it upon the plates of Nephi) died, and his son Amon kept it in his stead; and he kept it upon the plates of Nephi also. And he kept it eighty and four years, and there was still peace in the land, save it were a small part of the people who had revolted from the church and taken upon them the name of Lamanites; therefore there began to be Lamanites again in the land. And it came to pass that Amos died also, (and it was an hundred and ninety and four years from the coming of Christ) and his son Amos kept the record in his stead; and he also kept it upon the plates of Nephi; and it was also written in he book of Nephi, which is this book. And it came to pass that two hundred years had passed away; and the second generation had all passed away save it were a few. #RandolphHarris 21 of 27
“And now I, Mormon, would that ye should know that the people had multiplied, insomuch that they were spread upon all the face of the land, and that they had become exceedingly rich, because of their prosperity in Christ. And now, in this two hundred and first year there began to be among them those who were lifted up in pride, such as the wearing of costly apparel, and all manner of fine pearls, and of the fine things of the World. And from that time forth they did have their goods and their substance no more common among them. And they began to be divided into classes; and they began to build up churches unto themselves to get gain, and began to deny the true church of Christ. And it came to pass that when two hundred and ten years had passes away there were many churches in the land; yea, there were many churches which professed to know the Christ, and yet they did deny the more parts of his gospel, insomuch that they did receive all manner of wickedness, and did administer that which was sacred unto him to whim it had been forbidden because of unworthiness. And this church did multiply exceedingly because of iniquity, and because of the power of Satan who did get hold upon their hearts. #RandolphHarris 22 of 27

“And again, there was another church of Christ, because of their humility and their belief in Christ; and they did despise them because of the many miracles which were wrought among them. Therefore they did exercise power and authority over the disciples of Jesus who did tarry with them, and they did cast them into prison; but by the power of the word of God, which was in them, the prisoners were rent in twain, and they went forth doing mighty miracles among them. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding all these miracles, the people did harden their hearts, and did seek to kill them, even as the Jews at Jerusalem sought to kill Jesus, according to his word. And they did cast them into furnaces of fire, and they came forth receiving no harm. And they also cast them into dens of wild beasts, and they did play with the wild beasts even as a child with a lamb; and they did come forth from among them, receiving no harm. Nevertheless, the people did harden their hearts, for they were led by many priests and false prophets to build up many churches, and to do all manners of iniquity. And they did smite upon the people of Jesus; but the people of Jesus did not smite again. And they thus did dwindle in unbelief and wickedness from year to year, even until two hundred and thirty years had passed away. #RandolphHarris 23 of 27

“And now it came to pass in this year, yea, in the two hundred and thirty and first year, there was a great division among the people. And it came to pass that in this year there arose a people who were called the Nephites, and they were true believers in Christ; and among them there were those who were called by the Lamanites—Jacobites, and Josephites, and Zoramites; therefore the true believers in Christ, and the true worshipers of Christ, (among whom were the three disciples of Jesus who should tarry) were called Nephites, and Jacobites, and Josephites, and Zoramites. And it came to pass that they who rejected the gospel were called Lamanites, and Lemuelites, and Ishmaelites; and they did not dwindle in unbelief, but they did willfully rebel against the gospel of Christ; and they did teach their children that they should not believe, even as their fathers, from the beginning, did dwindle. And it was because of the wickedness and abomination of their fathers, even as it was in the beginning. And they were taught to hate the children of God, even as the Lamanites were taught to hate the children of Nephi from the beginning. #RandolphHarris 24 of 27

“And it came to pass that two hundred and forty and four years had passed away, and thus were the affairs of the people. And the more wicked part of the people did wax strong, and became exceedingly more numerous than were the people of God. And they did still continue to build up churches unto themselves, and adorn them with all manner of precious things. And thus did two hundred and fifty years pass away, and also two hundred and sixty years. And it came to pass that the wicked part of the people began again to build up the secret oaths and combinations of Gadianton. And also the people who were called the people of Nephi began to be proud in their hearts, because of their exceeding riches, and become vain like unto their brethren, the Lamanites. And from this time the disciples began to sorrow for the sins of the World. And it came to pass that when three hundred years had passes away, both the people of Nephi and the Lamanites had become exceedingly wicked one like unto another. And it came to pass that the robbers of Gadinaton did spread over all the face of the land; and there were none that were righteous save it were the disciples of Jesus. And gold and silver did they lay up in store in abundance, and did traffic in all manner of traffic. #RandolphHarris 25 of 27

“And it came to pass that after three hundred and five years had passed away, (and the people did still remain in wickedness) Amos died; and his brother, Ammaron, did keep the record in his stead. And it came to pass that when three hundred and twenty years had passed away, Ammaron, being constrained by the Holy Ghost, did hide up the records which were sacred—yea, even all the sacred records which had been handed down from generation to generation, which were sacred—even until the three hundred and twentieth year from the coming of Christ. And he did hide them up unto the Lord, that they might come again unto the remnant of the house of Jacob, according to the prophecies and the promises of the Lord. And thus is the end of the record of Ammaron,” reports 4 Nephi 1.1-49. Night is called the first of all things because of the common belief that the World came out of darkness. In part, this reflects the obvious truth that before something there was nothing, and that “nothing” is equated with darkness. The connection between these two is not so subtle, however. For, after all, if light (and everything else) was born out of darkness be thought of as nothing? It is a creative force in itself. #RandolphHarris 26 of 27
Thus, among the Celts and Germans, the day began with night, and the year with Winter. To this day, our day begins in the middle of night and our year in the middle of Winter. The World rests beneath night’s blanket and I sit quietly, finally myself at rest. All day, I have been the one talking; my time for silence has arrived. Speak to me, Holy Ones, and I will listen. Here I am, waiting to hear your words. Lord of the World, the King supreme, ere aught was formed, He reigned alone. When by His will all things were wrought, then was His sovereign name made known. And when in time all things shall cease, He still shall reign in majesty. He was, He is, He shall remain all-glorious eternally. Incomparable, unique is He, no other can His Oneness share. Without beginning, without end, Dominion’s might is His to bear. He is my living God who saves, my Rock when grief or trials befall, my Banner and my Refuge strong, my bounteous Portion when I call. My soul I give unto His care, asleep, awake, for He is near, and with my soul, my body, too; God is with me, I have no fear. #RandolphHarris 27 of 27
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Only when truth already exists in the mind of the teacher can one convey it in one’s teaching. If it does not, then one is merely indulging in a piece of pantomime. It has been my feeling that we are not as innocent as we said, or as guilty as they said. For an agreement to be valid, the parties must be able to honour it under all relevant and foreseeable circumstances. There must be a rational assurance that one can carry through. The two principles of justice are the Principle of Equal Liberty and Difference Principle. The Principle of Equal Liberty states that each person has an equal right to the most extensive liberties of all. Difference Principle states that social and economic inequalities should be arranged so that they are both (a) to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged persons, and (b) attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of equality of opportunity. The arguments adduced fit under the heuristic schema suggested by the reasons for following the maximin rule. The maximin rule states that we should compare alternatives by the worst possible outcomes under each alternative, and we should choose one which maximize the utility of the worst outcome. That is, they help to show that the two principles are an adequate minimum conception of justice in a situation of great uncertainty. #RandolphHarris 1 of 22

Any further advantages that might be won by the principle of utility, or whatever, are highly problematical, whereas the hardship if things turn out badly are intolerable. It is at this point that the concept of a contract has a definite role: it suggests the condition of publicity and sets limits upon what can be agreed to. Thus justice as fairness uses the concept of contract to a greater extent than the discussion so far might suggest. The first confirming ground for the two principles can be explained in terms of what I earlier referred to as the strains of commitment. I said that the parties have a capacity for justice in the sense that they can be assured that their undertaking is not in vain. Assuming that they have taken everything into account, including the general facts of moral psychology, they can rely on one another to adhere to the principles adopted. Thus they consider the strains of commitment. They cannot enter int agreements that may have consequences they cannot accept. They will still avoid those that they can adhere to only with great difficulty. Since the original agreement is final and made in perpetuity, there is no second chance. In view of the serious nature of the possible consequences, the question of the burden of commitment is especially acute. #RandolphHarris 2 of 22

A person is choosing once and for all the standards which are to govern one’s life prospects. Moreover, when we enter an agreement we must be able to honour it even should the worst possibilities prove to be the case. Otherwise we have not acted in good faith. The Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing—in general, every contract contains an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing. This duty requires that neither party will do anything that will destroy or injure the right of the other part to receive the benefits of the contract. The doctrine of utmost good faith is a principle used in contract, legally obliging all parties to act honestly and not mislead or withhold critical information from one another. Violations of the doctrine of good faith can result in contracts being voided and sometimes even legal action. Thus the parties must weigh with care whether they will be able to stick by their commitment in all circumstances. Of course, in answering this question they have only a general knowledge of the human psychology to go on. However, this information is enough to tell which conception of justice involves the greater stress. #RandolphHarris 3 of 22
In this respect the two principles of justice have a definite advantage. Not only do the parties protect their basic rights but they insure themselves against the worst eventualities. They run no chance of having to acquiesce in a loss of freedom over the course of their life for the sake of a greater good enjoyed by other, an undertaking that in actual circumstances they might not be able to keep. Indeed, we might wonder whether such an agreement can be made in good faith at all. Compacts of this sort exceed the capacity of human nature. How can the parities possibly know, or be sufficiently sure, that they can keep such an agreement? Certainly they cannot base their confidence on a general knowledge of moral psychology. To be sure, any principle chosen in the original position may require a large sacrifice for some. The beneficiaries of clearly unjust institutions (those founded on principles which have no claim to acceptance) may find it hard to reconcile themselves to the changes that will have to be made. However, in this case they will know that they could not have maintained their position anyway. Yet should a person gamble with one’s liberties and substantive interests hoping that the application of the principle of utility might secure one a greater well-being, one may have a difficulty abiding by one’s undertaking. #RandolphHarris 4 of 22

A second consideration invokes the condition of publicity as well as that of the constraints on agreements. When the basic structure of society is publicly known to satisfy its principles for an extended period of time, those subject to these arrangements tend to develop a desire to act in accordance with these principles and to do their part in institutions which exemplify them. When the public recognition of its realization by the social system tends to bring about the corresponding sense of justice, a conception is stable. Now whether this happens depends, of course, on the laws of moral psychology and the availability of human motives. We may observe that the principle of utility seems to require a greater identification with the interests of others than the two principles of justice. Thus the later will be a more stable conception to the extent that this identification is difficult to achieve. When the two principles are satisfied, each person’s liberties are secured and there is a sense defined by the difference principle in which everyone is benefited by social cooperation. Therefore we can explain the acceptance of the social system and the principles it satisfies by the psychological law that persons tend to love, cherish, and support whatever affirms their own good. #RandolphHarris 5 of 22
Since everyone’s good is affirmed, all acquire inclinations to uphold the scheme. When the principle of utility is satisfied, however, there is no such assurance that everyone benefits. Allegiance to the social system may demand that some should forgo advantages for the sake of the greater good of the whole. Thus the scheme will not be stable unless those who must make sacrifices strongly identify with interests broader than their own. However, this is not easy to bring about. When all or some must pitch in for the common good, the sacrifices in question are not those asked in times of social emergency. The principles of justice apply to the basic structure of the social system and to the determination of life prospect. What the principle of utility asks is precisely a sacrifice of these prospects. We are to accept the greater advantages of others as a sufficient reason for lower expectations over the whole course of our life. This is surely an extreme demand. In fact, when society is conceived as a system of cooperation designed to advance the good of its members, it seems quite incredible that some citizens should be expected, on the basis of political principles, to accept lower prospects of life for the sake of others. #RandolphHarris 6 of 22
It is evident then why utilitarians should stress the role of sympathy in moral learning and the central place of benevolence among the moral virtue. Their conception of justice is threatened with instability unless sympathy and benevolence can be widely and intensely cultivated. Looking at the question from the standpoint of the original position, the parties recognize that is would be highly unwise if not irrational to choose principles which may have consequences so extreme that they cud not accept them in practice. They would reject the principle of utility and adopt the more realistic idea of designing the social order on a principle of reciprocal advantage. We need not suppose, of course, that persons never make substantial sacrifices for one another, since moved by affection and bonds of sentiment they often do. However, such actions are not demanded as a matter of justice by the basic structure of society. Furthermore, the public recognition of the two principles gives greater support to human’s self-respect and this in turn increases the effectiveness of social cooperation. Both effects are reasons for choosing these principles. It is clearly rational for humans to secure their self-respect. #RandolphHarris 7 of 22

If they are to pursue their conception of good wit zest and to delight in its fulfillment, a sense of their own worth is necessary. Self-respect is not so much a part of any rational plan of life as the sense that one’s pan is worth carrying out. Now our self-respect normally depends upon the respect of others. If not impossible, unless we feel that our endeavours are honoured by them, it is difficult for us to maintain the conviction that our ends are worth advancing. Hence for this reason, especially when the claims of others are overruled, the parties would accept the natural duty of mutual respect which asks them to treat one another civilly and to be willing to explain the grounds of their actions. Moreover, one may assume that those who respect themselves are more likely to respect each other and threatens their good as much as envy does. Self-respect is reciprocally self-supporting. Thus a desirable feature of a conception of justice is that it should publicly express human’s respect for one another. In this way they insure a sense of their own value. Now the two principles achieve this end. For when society follows these principles, everyone’s good is included in a scheme of mutual benefit and this pubic affirmation in institutions of each human’s endeavours supports human’s self-esteem. #RandolphHarris 8 of 22
The establishment of equal liberty and the operation of the difference principle are bound to have this effect. The two principles are equivalent, as I have remarked, to an undertaking to regard the distribution of natural abilities as a collective asset so that the more fortunate are to benefit only in ways that help those who have lost out. I do not say that the parties are moved by the ethical propriety of this idea. However, there are reasons for them to accept this principle. For by arranging inequalities for reciprocal advantage and by abstaining from the exploitation of the contingencies of nature and social circumstances within a framework of equal liberty, persons express their respect for one another in the very constitution of their society. In this way they insure their self-esteem as it is rational for them to do. Another way of putting this is to say that the principles of justice manifest in the basic structure of society human’s desire to treat one another as means only but as ends in themselves. The notion of treating humans as ends in themselves and never as only a means obviously needs an explanation. There is even a question whether it is possible to realize. #RandolphHarris 9 of 22

How can we always treat everyone as an end and never as a means only? Certainly we cannot say that it comes to treating everyone by the same general principles, since this interpretation makes the concept equivalent to formal justice. On the contract interpretation of treating humans as ends in themselves implies at the very least treating them in accordance with the principle to which they would consent in an original position of equality. For in this situation humans have equal representations as moral persons who regard themselves as ends and the principles they accept will be rationally designed to protect the claims of their person. The contract view as such defines a sense in which humans are treated as ends and not as means only. Whoever has attained this stage can pass on to the proper persons both a foretaste of mystical experiences which lie beyond them and an impetus to their quicker self-development. If one is only a mystic one may do so quite unconsciously, but if one is a philosopher one will give this wordless instruction quite consciously. The enlightened human who has to deal with those who are not sensitive enough to receive clearly in the silence that which is one’s best communication, meaning most people, must then give it in a more familiar and easier form—words! #RandolphHarris 10 of 22

However, here the illuminate may oneself be at a disadvantage. One may lack fluency and have a limited vocabulary—be inarticulate. If the illuminate has a wide command of good language, if one can teach in sentences that are clear, beautiful, powerful; if one is eloquent, here others will be served better. One whose course embraces a mission of spiritual service to others is invested with a greater power and enlightenment than ne has actually earned. This does not make one greater than one is. However, as the excess of inspiration gradually uses one as its channel, it becomes gradually integrated into one’s own character little by little over a period of several years. We may sit before the saintly phenomenon and enjoy the peace issuing from one. However, when we leave one, the peace leaves us, too. When working with a Master, we may have no such dramatic experience. However, one will guide our feet each step of the way; one will listen to our difficulties, problems, or questions and give us one’s wise counsel. That is the wide difference between these two types of illuminated humans. It is true that many of those who attained enlightenment gave some of their wisdom or counsel to others but did so only incidentally or occasionally and to a limited extent. #RandolphHarris 11 of 22

Ohers made it their chief and whole-time mission in life to teach others and preach truth. Those who did so had better capacities for teaching and preaching than those who did not. Moreover, they had to leave an example of conduct in their own lives worthy of being imitated—a duty which was no incumbent upon the non-teachers and was sometimes disregarded by them. There has occasionally been a human who entered into awareness of God without the help of the teacher and without the laboured struggles of most other humans. One is like a horse which has crossed the river by swimming around without touching the ground. Such a human does not usually go out of one’s way to teach the path to others nor try to help them individually, or even to announce the truth to the World. One is satisfied with one’s own place and with the knowledge that “God is in His Heaven, all is well with the World.” One is an inward-looking mystic who has a perfect right to enjoy one’s attainment. There are two types of illumined human, of those who have attained spiritual perfection. The first have sought the goal of their own sake alone and are satisfied to rest on their labours with the attainments. The second type does not accept this rest, for their very search was made with the intention to share with others. #RandolphHarris 12 of 22

The first type have been called, in the scholastic, intellectual, business and religions centers. The second type have been called preachers, teachers, and compassion consolers. In the case of the first type, the renunciation of the World is usually abrupt and sudden, though the period spent between renunciation and the attainment of Enlightenment may be long and weary. It is possible for one to become a Silent Master while yet a lay person, but, in the case, the marks of lay persons, such as the clothes one wears, immediately disappear. The spiritual attainment of a Preaching Master and those of a Silent Master are alike; but in the case of the latter, though one attains to supreme and perfect insight, yet one’s enlightenment is individual. One’s enlightenment is of benefit to oneself alone; one does not proclaim to the World the great Truths discovered by one. One cannot instruct others “effectively”; one’s realization of the Truth is “like a dream seen by a deaf-mute.” “Silent” is unsatisfactory because they do preach to those who come to them, though their preaching is restricted to admonitions regarding good, righteous, and proper conduct. They even have personal attendants whom the World may regard as disciples, but they give no instruction other than ethical instruction. #RandolphHarris 13 of 22
There are humans of enlightenment who cannot down a bridge from where they are to where they once were, so that others too can cross over. They do not know or cannot describe in detail the way which others must follow to reach the goal. Such humans are not the teaching-masters, and should not be mistaken for them. The human of enlightenment who have never been a learner, who suddenly gained one’s state by the overwhelming good spiritual blessings of God’s grace, is less able to teach others than the ones who slowly and laboriously worked one’s way into the state—who remembers the trials, pitfalls, and difficulties one had to overcome. The Master has fund one’s way to God; one daily enjoys the blessing of God’s presence; one has passed from mere existence into significant living, and one knows there is peace and love at the heart of the Universe. One wants now to help other share in the fruits of one’s discoveries. The Master, who is a dedicated teacher also, wishes ardently for others on the Path to attain the goal and share its bliss. Do we then lose ourselves? To succeed in identifying our will with God’s will is not, as is often mistakenly said, to have no will of our own. Far from it. To have no will is impossible. It would be to not even be a person. #RandolphHarris 14 of 22

Rather, it is for the first time to have a will that is fully functional, not at war with itself, and capable of directing all of the parts of the self in harmony with one another under the direction of God. Now we do not hesitate to do what is right; and to do wrong would have to work against ourselves. A person with a well-kept heart is a person who is prepared and capable of responding to the situations of life in ways that are good and right. When through spiritual transformation we have in some measure come to know the well-kept heart in real life, we experience it as a gift of grace, no matter how hard we may have had to struggle in the process of growing into it. And it is a gift in which we find, precisely, ourselves as Jesus taught: “One who has lost one’s life for My sake shall find it,” reports Matthew 10.39. For the first time we not only have a fully functional will, but we also have a clear identity in the eternal kingdom of God and can day by day translate out time into an eternity embedded in our own life and in the lives of those near us. The will of God is not foreign to our will. Our heart sings, sweet will of God, oh, hold me closer, util I am wholly lost in Thee. #RandolphHarris 15 of 22

If in the moment of choice we are always dependent upon the thoughts and feelings we have at the moment, how can we be responsible for our character? How can we purposively set about to change our own character (with God’s assistance of course)? What kind of person is God actively seeking? What is the condition of the will in a “lost” person (one who is lost in one’s Worldly ways)? How do duplicity, deception, and darkness descend upon those who would be their own God? What would it be like for you to be wholly lost in the will of God? We can gather to what things life belongs, and to what it does not, from such things as manifestly possess life. Now life manifestly belongs to animals, for that in animal’s life is manifest. We must, therefore, distinguish living from lifeless things, by comparing them to that by reason of which animals are said to live; and this it is in which life is manifested first and remains last. We say then that animals are said to live: and this it is in which life is manifested first and remains last. We say then that an animal begins to live when it begins to move of itself: and as long as such movement appears in it, so long as it is considered to be alive. When it no longer has any movement of itself, but is only moved by another power, then its life is said to fail, and the animal to be dead. #RandolphHarris 16 of 22

Whereby it is clear that those things are properly called living that move themselves by some kind of movement, whether it be movement properly so called, as the act of an imperfect being, id est, of a thing in potentiality is called movement; or movement in a more general sense, as when said the act of a perfect thing, as understanding and feeling are called movement. Accordingly all things are said to be alive that determine themselves to movement or operation of any kind: whereas those things that cannot by their nature do so, cannot be called living, unless by a similitude. These words of the Philosopher may be understood either of the first movement, namely, that of the celestial bodies, or of the movement in its general sense. In either way is movement called the life, as it were, of natural bodies, speaking by a similitude, and not attributing it to them as their property. The movement of the Heavens is in the Universe of corporeal natures as the movement of the heart, whereby life is preserved, is in animals. Similarly also every natural movement in respect to natural things has a certain similitude to the operations of life. Hence, if the whole corporeal Universe were one animal, so that its movement came from an “intrinsic moving force,” as some in fact have held, in that case movement would really be the life of all natural bodies. #RandolphHarris 17 of 22

To bodies, whether heavy or light, movement does not belong, expect in so far as they are displaces from their natural conditions, and are out of their proper place; for when they are in the place that is proper and natural to them, then they are at rest. Plants and other living things more with vital movement, in accordance with the disposition of their nature, but not by approaching thereto, or by receding from it, for in so far as they recede from such movement, so far do they recede from their natural disposition. Heavy and light bodies are moved by an extrinsic force, either generating them and giving them form, or removing obstacles from their way. They do not therefore move themselves, as do living bodies. Waters are called living that have a continuous current: for standing waters, that are not connected with a continually flowing source, are called dead, as in cisterns and ponds. This is merely a similitude, inasmuch as the movement they are seen to possess makes them look as if they were alive. Yet this is not life in them in its real sense, since this movement of theirs is not from themselves but from the cause that generates them. The same is the case with the movement of other heavy and light bodies. #RandolphHarris 18 of 22

Were a person, whom I know to be honest and opulent, and with whom I live in intimate friendship, to come into my house, where I am surrounded with my servants, I rest assured, that one would not stab me before one leaves it, in order to rob me of my silver standish; and I no more suspect this event, than the falling of the house itself which is new, and solidly built and founded. However, one may have been seized with a sudden and unknown frenzy. Do you know anyone who cannot tell the difference between desire and will, and hence does not know how to oppose one’s own desires? Because a man who at noon leaves his purse full of gold on the pavement at Charing-Cross, may as well expect that it will fly away like a feather, as that he will find it untouched an hour after. Above one half of human reasonings contain inferences of a similar nature, attended with more or less degrees of certainty, proportioned to our experience of the usual conduct of humankind in such particular situations. Does it make sense to you that spiritual disciplines could retrain the will and reform character? “And now behold, I say unto you that when the Lord shall see fit, in his wisdom, that these sayings shall come unto the Gentiles according to this word, then ye may know that the covenant which the Father hath made with the children of Israel, concerning their restoration to the lands of their inheritance, is already beginning to be fulfilled. #RandolphHarris 19 of 22

“And ye may know that the words of the Lord, which have been spoken by the holy prophets, shall all be fulfilled; and ye need not say that the Lord delays his coming unto the children of Israel. And ye need not imagine in your hearts that the words which have been spoken are vain, for behold, the Lord will remember his covenant which he hath made unto his people of the house of Israel. And when ye shall see these sayings coming forth among you, then ye need not any longer spurn at the doings of the Lord, for the word of his justice is in his right hand; and behold, at that day, if ye shall spurn at his doing he will cause that it shall soon overtake you. Wo unto him that spurneth at the doings of the Lord; yea, wo unto one that shall deny the Christ and his works! Yea, wo unto one that shall deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost! Yea, and wo unto one that shall say at that day, to get gain, that there can be n miracle wrought by Jesus Christ; for one that doeth this shall become like unto the son of perdition, for whom there was no mercy, according to the word of Christ. #RandolphHarris 20 of 22

“Yea, and ye need not any longer hiss, nor spurn, nor make game of the Jews, nor any of the remnant of the house of Israel; for behold, the Lord remembereth his covenant unto them, and he will do unto them according to that which he hath sworn. Therefore ye need not suppose that ye can turn the right hand of the Lord unto the left, that he may not execute judgment unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the house of Israel,” reports 3 Nephi 29.1-9. “Hearken, O ye Gentiles, and hear the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, which he hath commanded me that I should speak concerning you, for, behold he commandeth me that I should write saying: Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways; and repent of your evil doings, of your lyings and deceivings, and of your secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, and your priestcrafts, and your envyings, an your strifes, and from all your wickedness and abominations, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel,” reports 3 Nephi 30.1-2. Welcome sleep, I spread my arms in response to your ever-open ones. #RandolphHarris 21 of 22
Please take me to yourself softly, as a knitter returns a scattered skein to order, rolling it into a ball; even so, draw me in, restore me, please open the door to your World that I might enter, my Lord and Saviour. The living God O magnify and bless, transcending time and here eternally. One Being, yet unique in unity; a mystery of Oneness, measureless. Lo! form or body He has one, and humans no semblance of His holiness can frame. Before Creation’s dawn He was the same; the first to be, though never He began. He is the World’s and every creature’s Lord; His rule and majesty are manifest, and through His chosen, glorious sons exprest in prophecies that through their lips are poured. Yet never like to Moses rose a seer, permitted glimpse behind the veil divine. This faithful prince of God’s prophetic line received the Law of Truth for Israel’s ear. The Law God gave, He never will amend, nor ever by another Law replace. Our secret things are spread before His face; in all beginnings He beholds the end. The saint’s reward He measures to one’s meed; the sinner reaps the harvest of one’s ways. Messiah He will send at end of days, and all the faithful to salvation lead. God will the dead again to life restore in His abundance of almighty love. Then blessed be His name, all names above, and let His praise resound forevermore. #RandolphHarris 22 of 22

Cresleigh Homes


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When entering this expansive home, take note of the two story ceiling height at the entry. There is a bedroom on the first floor, located off the entry, with its own bathroom making it ideal for a guest suite or multigenerational living. The formal dining room provides ample space for entertaining and has convenient access to the kitchen via Butler’s Pantry. The kitchen comes fully equipped with a large eat-in island, stainless steel appliances, and quartz counters and opens onto the spacious great room.
Upstairs you’ll find the Owner’s retreat, two bedrooms, and the loft perfect for a game room or TV lounge. The Owner’s retreat is spacious and inviting with a large bedroom and spa like bathroom featuring a free-standing soaking tub, walk-in shower, dual vanities, and two walk-in closets. https://cresleigh.com/brighton-station/residence-4/
At this brand new community, you will open your eyes to new possibilities. Brighton Station is an elevated living experience that thrives from the energy and expression of the unrivaled architecture and the natural beauty of the region. #CresleighHomes
Ye Shall be Changed in the Twinkling of an Eye from Mortality to Immortality!
To understand a society it is essential to understand how people climb. If there are more than two people together, if there are three, one of them is climbing. Where do ideas come from? To a considerable extent they come from other ideas picked up during our learning years, from teachers and from books. They also come from our experience of life. In addition, writers on psycho-analytically based theories draw on their experiences with their patients. Typically they use a kind of backward reasoning which asks, “If people can talk to me, a psychotherapist (or psycho-analyst), in this way, what does this tell us about their mental processes?” “What kind of experiences of life must this person have had, particularly at the time when the personality was being formed, for one to be relating to me in this way?” They feel justified in this kind of theory—building because of particular assumptions: That people related to others on the basis both of their past experience (Hayek’s map) and of present perceptions of their situation (Hayek’s working model); that people at times experience the psychotherapist or psycho-analyst in terms of the past (map) more than in terms of the present (model). #RandolphHarris 1 of 26
In psycho-analytic language, a transference can be observed; that people can at times experience the therapist or analyst in terms of quite early maps. In psycho-analytic language, regression can be observed. What happens in regression and transference provides the material from which theories of personality-development can be constructed. Classical psycho-analysis concerns itself with experiences which, though perhaps repressed, come from a time of life when words are already available, and when people are recognized as whole persons and are not just fragments of experience which come and go. The very complex process of ambivalence belongs to this period of life—quite a late and sophisticated stage of development, relative to the very early processes we have been considering. When a person is barely barely capable of experiencing self and others as differentiated, this is the narcissistic level of experiences. The other is not exactly a person at this stage, but more like an environment, a not-self. This level of experience is pre-verbal and patients can at first convey it to their therapist only by action, analogy, and implication; the phenomena belonging to this level have to be interpreted in the context of what the patient is actually doing in the relationship with the therapist—in the transference. #RandolphHarris 2 of 26

The next level is called the “area of creation,” in which there are as yet no distinctions between self and other. Coming from a very different starting point. According to this theory, the individual is born in a state of intense relatedness to one’s environment, both biologically and libidinally. Prior to birth, self and environment are harmoniously “mixed up,” in fact they interpenetrate each other. In this World there are as yet no objects, only limitless substances and expanses. Here are no persons, no words, and no boundaries: to talk to a person in this state is to remove them from that state. If that is thought undesirable, the person must not be addressed until one is out of it and ready to talk. Being allowed to be in that regressed limitless state of mind is sometimes exactly what people need in order to get better. The important thing will have been that they got to feel like that and were allowed to be like that, not that it was discussed with the therapist and interpreted. People who have seen deeply into the hidden meaning of life are the one’s best qualified to guide us in matters of conduct and motive. #RandolphHarris 3 of 26
The infant’s first experiences are at this deepest level, where what is called Primary Love is to be found, a term preferred on humane and theoretical grounds to the more generally used “narcissism”—Primary Love, the first rudimentary experience of relationship with others. The harmonious interpenetrating mix-up is what comes across in various contexts, called by such terms as merging, symbiosis, primary narcissism, facilitating environment, self-object states, oceanic feelings, the pure sense of being; and so on. These words attempt to describe a state of mind in which self and other merge and drift apart like seaweeds in the sea, as it may be at the very start of the e-merging of self from mother. If we consider how this might be experienced by the foetus in the womb, it seems that it is an existence with hardly any structure, in particular with no sharp boundaries. Environment and individual penetrate into each other, they exist together in a “harmonious mix-up.” An important example of this harmonious interpenetrating mix-up is the fish in the sea (one of the most archaic and most widely occurring symbols). It is an idle question to ask whether the water in the gills or in the mouth is part of the sea or of the fish. #RandolphHarris 4 of 26

Exactly the same holds true of the foetus. Foetus, amniotic fluid, and placenta are such a complicated interpenetrating mix-up of foetus and environment-mother, that its histology and physiology are among the most dreaded questions in medical examinations. It is worth remembering that our relationship to the air surrounding us has exactly the same pattern. We use the air, in fact we cannot live without it. We inhale it in order to take parts our of it and we use the as we want. Then, after putting substances into it that we want to get rid of, we exhale it—without paying the slightest attention to it. In fact, the air must be there for us, and as long as it is there insufficient supply and quality, we do not take any notice of it. This kind of environment must simply be there, and as long as it is there—we take its existence for granted, we do not consider it as an object, that is, separate from us; we just use it. If the environment is altered—if the supply of air is interfered with for instance; then the apparently negligible environment assumes immense importance. All this is relevant to our interest in the question: Where is the boundary between self and other? How does the infant come to experience some things as “me” and others as “nor me”? Consequently, when that life flowers into bloom, one becomes its fullest embodiment. #RandolphHarris 5 of 26
When dealing with “Object and Subject,” note that first the “object has two different meanings, more of less according to whether the word is being used as noun or verb. It can mean “objective” as in “target” (and the Hungarian word for object is targy). When Dr. Freud chose the word for his instinct-based theory, where the object is the body-area to which the instinctive drive is directed, this is the meaning which he had in mind. The other meaning has to do with “objecting to” something, experiencing something as having to be pushed away. The other meaning of “object” seems to be “obstacle in the way of action,” in fact a resistant obstacle that has to be negotiated…our very first perceptions about objects may be those of resistance, id est something firm against which we may pitch our strength…This conception is certainly in harmony, with the cluster of associations surrounding the word “object.” For quite a time, nature—or life—was conceived as a collection of solid, separate, clearly defined and sharply contoured entities called “objects.” If one had not oneself done so, one could not tell others how to struggle out of the depths, or how to realize the soul. One has cultivated the special virtue of compassion for others throughout the whole course of one’s mystical life. #RandolphHarris 6 of 26

Parts of the external World which are felt to be firm, resistant, and sharply contoured are called by a special somewhat aggressive name—“object”—which suggests both resistance against our wishes and aim or target for our strivings. Other parts of the same World, which are not solid, do not resist much, and have no real contours, are called by non-aggressive names, such as substance, substrate, both showing similarity to “subject,” denoting ourselves. A third very generally used word—matter—describing these not so sharply contoured less resistant parts of the World, derives from a root denoting mother. The inescapable inference is that at ne time there must have been a harmonious mix-up in our mind between ourselves and the World around us, and that our “mother” was involved in it. Though this mix-up strikes us as childish and primitive, we must admit that it preceded our “modern,” “adult” or “scientific” picture of the World which, so to speak, grew out of it. This touches on the possibility that we may experience some stimuli as intrusive and lumpy—impinging. There is something that comes to mind, like the frightened reason of some children to lumps in their food—it may be remembered that autistic children might be experiencing these as scary not-self intrusions into the smooth evenness of life which they wanted so much. #RandolphHarris 7 of 26
In psycho-analytic theory we are wont to classify mother’s milk among the earliest objects, but it is arguable whether milk, a liquid, is ever considered to be an object by an unprejudiced common-sense human. One cannot reject out of hand the suspicion that the idea of milk as an object emerged in the mind of sophisticated analysts and not necessarily in the mind of infants. If I am right, milk would be another instance of the friendly expanses with no objects in it, a matter, a substance. If we accept this then the widespread inexplicable fads in many people about the skin in milk might be understood. The skin is hazardous object appearing in the substance “milk,” painfully disturbing the primitive harmony. From the view of reason and for further insight into the nature of understanding, one must see rational activities as they were supposed to function. This is to view them with reference to their uses and objects. This is handled under the notion of logic, which we offer under the caption Artes Logicae, or Logical Arts. The logical arts are four in number: the art of invention in which humans systematizes ways of finding or discovering that which one seeks. All qualified teachers are illumined but not all illumined people are teachers. #RandolphHarris 8 of 26
The art of judgment, in which humans arrange and dispose what one has found so as to weigh its relevance and consistency with respect to the requirements of truth; the art of memory, in which humans train oneself to retain what one has learned; and the art of transmission or communication, in which human discourses for and with others. Discourse requires an organ of thought, id est, speech sounds, words, and their management in grammatical forms; requires methods of structuring discourse in unified wholes that all may be clear and appropriate to the many purposes of communication; and finally, calls for ways of illustrating discourses, in which imagination is applied to ideas that they may be rendered vivid and acceptable. In brief, when they are dominated by certain ends: invention, judgment, remembrance, and communication, there are ways in which understanding, reason, memory, and imagination behave. The logical arts were so maned because first, they were methodological in nature. When it was directed to useful tasks, they engage the mind. Some have greater powers to inquire; they can show the goal but not the path to it; others have a greater capacity to lead aspirants step by step along the path. #RandolphHarris 9 of 26

Second, they involved a number of faculties working in close concert or sequence, the dominant ones being understanding and reason. The terms “Intellectual Arts,” and “Arts of Reason,” can be defined as a primary source of Advancement. Thus suggestive to the fact that methodical and purposive behaviour of the mind involves more than one faculty. Memory is recognized because the mind must draw upon its past experience Imagination is mentioned because in discourse and communication that thought of a speaker is made tangible to others as words and speech sounds, which are images of thought. In communication, also, imagination joins with reason in producing images whose meanings are fitting and appropriate to the audience addressed. When it is said to “exercise,” the conception of the logical arts is derived from traditional analyses of the mind. When it works, or is “in act,” it is inventing, judging, remembering, or interpreting Interpretatio, id est, the transmission or communication of ideas to others, referred to excogitation, the physical basis, the events or carriers, necessary for the transmission of thought, and to signification, the sign of thought associated with codes and symbols and affording meanings for one who listens. #RandolphHarris 10 of 26

It is immediately apparent that the vocabulary of logical arts directly reflects the vocabulary customarily employed to describe the mind at work. The analysis of mind transmitting its experience, however, seems to be a refinement upon tradition. When it is engaged in invention, the understanding searches around in available materials and in likely “places.” From them it abstract and apprehends and comes up with ideas. If they reach the level of imagery and logical scrutiny, as we have indicated, ideas are revealed in phrasal terms and statements. In a desire to improve the ways of interpreting nature, we lay great emphasis on two modes of searching. One is labeled, “Remembrance or Suggestion, with an application,” where the end is to find arguments for speeches and popular discourse. The sources of search lay in one’s own experience and in books and literature. Guides for rousing expectancy and directing attention to likely places of search were the topics and categories of invention that had been built up for centuries by rhetoricians and logicians. This mode of search amounts to a systematic prodding of memory, heightened by some expectation that would find what one was looking for. #RandolphHarris 11 of 26
Not all those who attain enlightenment necessarily become teachers in the personal sense. Such a one is entitled to choose anonymity. Unknown to the World at large, one still by virtue of that very attainment is a benignant presence mentally. The mind ranged comfortably over materials that the understanding itself has made and that imagination presents to it. They were the material of every person’s reason. What was sought was in a sense familiar, and direct experience with nature is easily ignored. In fact, literary materials were once or twice removed from natural phenomena. As “letters” they were but a degree and rudiment of nature. So traditional guides and habits of invention are useless in discovering truths of nature. The nature of the inventive process does not—and cannot—yield new knowledge and this reminds one of Descartes’ belief that when reason and imagination team up in creative endeavour, their product is not really new. Since images by their nature involve shape and magnitude, and compared with apprehensions are concrete, the understanding is being assisted by the species [of things] depicted in the phantasy; and…nothing can be asserted of magnitudes in general save what can be found to hold true of some magnitude in specie. #RandolphHarris 12 of 26
Again: When something hitherto unknown is deduced from something previously known, we are not thereby discovering some new kind of entity: all we are doing is to extend our total knowledge in such a way that we are enabled to see that the thing sought participates in this or that way in the nature of the data being provided in the question which is being asked. What is discovered is a sort of equality of ratios. The complaint that syllogistic reasoning is useless in scientific discovery rests on the perception that the minor premise reveals psychologically two ratios which are identified in accord with the context, or concrete question, which prompted them. Is Socrates mortal? He is, because he is a man. The rations involved are: Men: individual man:: men: Socrates. Men in general are related to man in particular in the same way that men in general are related to Socrates. To see these ratios is to allow the possibility of transferring whatever is familiar and known about all humans, or about most humans, to the object posed by the question, namely Socrates. The operation thus has had so much of the old and familiar imbedded in it that one cannot regard the product—the conclusion—as being new in the same ways that the product of scientific thinking was new. #RandolphHarris 13 of 26

When one is looking for something, inventive activity of the understanding is marked by searching movements, by a flitting to and fro of the spirit stuff. The materials explored are the materials of memory; hence whatever is found always feels familiar. The second mode of search is called “new logic” or new induction. We deliberately try to hook the understanding directly to sensory data, and to control and restrict the abstracting process, to sharpen and make accurate the apprehending of comparable qualities of experience, and to discipline such conceptualization as went on in the production of an axiom. Thus the mind is to discover what no human has known before. Either mode of invention is the ordinary use of the understanding in inquiring and discovering. Just as a think has being by its proper form, so the knowing faculty has knowledge by the likeness of the thing known. Hence, as natural things cannot fall short of the being that belongs to them by their form, but may fall short of accidental or consequent qualities, even as a human may fail to possess two feet, but not fail to be a human; so the faculty of knowing cannot fail in knowledge of the thing with the likeness of which it is informed; but may fail with regard to something consequent upon that form, or accidental thereto. #RandolphHarris 14 of 26

For it has been said that sight is not deceived in its proper sensible, but about common sensibles that are consequent to that object; or about accidental objects of sense. Now as the sense is directly informed by the likeness of its proper object, so is the intellect by the likeness of the essence of a thing. Hence the intellect is not deceived abut the essence of a thing, as neither the sense about is proper object. However, in affirming and denying, the intellect may be deceived, by attributing to the thing of which it understands the essence, something which is not consequent upon it, or is opposed to it. For the intellect is in the same position as regards judging of such things, as sense is as to judging of common, or accidental, sensible objects. There is, however, this difference, as before mentioned regarding truth, that falsity can exist in the intellect not only because the intellect is conscious of that knowledge, as it is conscious of truth; whereas in sense falsity does not exist as known. However, because falsity of the intellect is concerned essentially only with the composition of the intellect, falsity occurs also accidentally in that operation of the intellect whereby it knows the essence of at thing, in so far as composition of the intellect is mixed up in it. #RandolphHarris 15 of 26
This can take place in two way. In one way, by the intellect applying to one thing the definition of proper to another; as that of a circle to a human. Wherefore the definition of one thing is false of another. In another way, by composing a definition of parts which are mutually exclusive. For thus the definition is not only false of the thing, but false in itself. A definition such as “a reasonable four-footed animal” would be of this kind, and the intellect false in making it; for such a statement as “some reasonable animals are four-footed” is false itself. For this reason the intellect cannot be false in tis knowledge of simple essences; but it is either true, or it understands nothing at all. Because the essence of a thing is the proper object of the intellect, we are properly said to understand a thing when we reduce it to its essence, and judge of it thereby; as taken place in demonstrations, in which there is n falsity. In this sense Augustine’s words must be understood, “that one who is deceived, understands not that wherein one is deceived;” and not in the sense that no one is ever deceived in any operation of the intellect. The intellect is always right as regards first principles; since it is not deceived about them for the same reason that it is not deceived about that a thing is. #RandolphHarris 16 of 26
For self-known principles are such as are known as soon as the terms are understood, from the fact that the predicate is contained in the definition of the subject. There is a widespread belief among questers that a human who becomes enlightened automatically becomes a teacher and attaches followers to oneself for instruction. This is not inexorably so. One may, or may not. Few have penetrated the secrets of being, fewer still have revealed them to others. Not everyone who is illumined becomes a spiritual teacher of humanity. Only one whose previous tendency, genera character, constant aspiration, allotted destiny, or personal capacity fits one for that function becomes a teacher. It is not every spiritually enlightened human who is called to hold one’s chandelier in humankind’s darkness, or is required to be a teacher of others. This is a special art and requires special gifts. Those who attain enlightenment fall into two grades: the first, mystics who are possessed by God but who can neither show others the way to this state nor expound in detail the truth they have realized; the second, self-actualized beings who can do both these things. To be a teacher, to be able to educate others in philosophic doctrines, to prepare pupils for the wise life, requires qualities which knowledge alone does not necessarily confer. #RandolphHarris 17 of 26

Every self-actualized being must be a teacher because every self-actualized being must wish to promote the enlightenment of humankind. A major service of spiritual disciplines—such as solitude (being alone with God for long periods of time), fasting (learning freedom from food and how God directly nourishes us), worship (adoration of God), and service (doing good for others with no thought of ourselves)—is to cause the duplicity and malice that is buried in our will and character to surface and be dealt with. Those disciplines make room for the Word and the Spirit to work in us, and they permit destructive feelings—feelings that are usually veiled by standard practices and circumstances and by long accepted rationalizations—to be perceived and dealt with for what they are: our will and not God’s will. Those feelings are normally clothed in layer upon layer of habitual self-deception and rationalization. Typically, they will have enslaved the will, and it in turn will have coerced the mind to conceal or rationalize what is really going on. When you begin to deny fulfillment to your desires, your mind will really “talk to you,” and you will find how subtle and shameless it is. I know this from experience. #RandolphHarris 18 of 26
For example, our “righteous judgments” on others may, as we practice solitude or service, be recognized as ways of putting them down and us up. Our extreme busyness may be revealed as inability to trust God or unwillingness to give others a chance to contribute. Our readiness to give our opinions may turn out to be contempt for the thoughts and words of others or simply a willingness to shut them up. Truly becoming one who wills above all to act with the kingdom of God and to have one’s kind of goodness (Matthew 6.33) will not happen overnight. However, upon a path of clear intention and decision, with appropriate spiritual disciplines and accompanying grace to illumine and correct us when we fail, it is not as far away as many would suppose. The duplicities, entanglements, and evil intents that infect our will can be clarified and eliminated as we keep our eyes on Jesus, who initiated and perfects our faith, and “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God,” reports Hebrews 12.2. “And it came to pass when Jesus had said these words, he spake unto his disciples, one by one, saying unto them; What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father? #RandolphHarris 19 of 26

“And they all spake, save it were three, saying: We desire that after we have lived unto the age of man, that our ministry, wherein thou hast called us, many have an end, that we may speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom. And he said unto them: Blessed are ye because ye desired this thing of me; therefore, after that ye are seventy and two years old ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest. And when he had spoken unto them, he turned himself unto the three, and said unto them: What will ye that I should do unto you, when I am gone unto the Father? And they sorrowed in their hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing which they desired. And he said unto them: Behold, I know your thoughts, and ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry, before that I was lifted up by the Jews desire of me. Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of Heaven. #RandolphHarris 20 of 26
“And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father. And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the World; and all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of humans unto me, while the World shall stand. And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one. And the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and the Father giveth the Holy Ghost unto the children of humans, because of me. And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he touched every one of them with his finger save it were the three who were to tarry, and then he departed. And behold, the Heavens were opened, and they were caught up into Heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things. #RandolphHarris 21 of 26

“And behold, the Heavens were opened, and they were caught up into Heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things. And it was forbidden them that they should utter; neither was it given unto them power that they could utter the things which they saw and heard; and whether they were in the body or out of the body, they could not tell; for it did seem unto them like a transfiguration of them, that they were changed from this body of flesh into an immortal state, that they could behold the things of God. However, it came to pass that they did again minister upon the face of the Earth; nevertheless they did not minister of the things which they had heard and seen, because of the commandment which was given them in Heaven. And now, whether they were mortal or immortal, from the day of their transfiguration, I know not; but this much I know, according to the record which hath been given—they did go forth upon the face of the land, and did minister unto all the people, uniting as many to the church as would believe in their preaching; baptizing them, and as many as were baptized did receive the Holy Ghost. And they were cast into prison by them who did not belong to the church. And the prisons could not hold them, for they were rent in twain. #RandolphHarris 22 of 26
“And they were cast down into the Earth; but they did smite the Earth with the word of God, insomuch that by his power they were delivered out of the depths of the Earth; and therefore they could not dig pits sufficient to hold them. And thrice they were cast into a den of wild beasts; and behold they did play with the beasts as a child with a suckling lamb, and received no harm. And it came to pass that thus they did go forth among all the people of Nephi, and did preach the gospel of Nephi, and did preach the gospel of Christ unto all people upon the face of the land; and they were converted unto the Lord, and were untied unto the church of Christ, and thus the people of that generation were blessed, according to the word of Jesus. And now, I Mormon, make an end of speaking concerning these things for a time. Behold, I was about to write the names of those who were never to taste of death, but the Lord forbade; therefore I write them not, for they are hid from the World. However, behold, I have seem them, and they have ministered unto me. And behold they will be among the Gentiles, and the Gentiles shall know them not. They will also be among the Jews, and the Jews shall know them not. #RandolphHarris 23 of 26

“And it shall come to pass, when the Lord seeth fit in his wisdom that they shall minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and shall bring out of them unto Jesus many souls, that their desire may be fulfilled, and also because of the convincing power of God which is in them. And they are as the angels of God, and if they shall pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus they can show themselves unto whatsoever man it seemeth them good. Therefore, great and marvelous works shall be wrought by them, before the great and coming day when all people must surely stand before the judgment-seat of Christ; yea even among the Gentiles shall there be a great and marvelous work wrought by them, before that judgment day. And if ye had all the scriptures which give an account of the marvelous works of Christ, ye would, according to these things must surely come. And wo be unto one that will not hearken unto the words of Jesus, and also to them whom he hath chosen and sent among them; for whoso recieveth not the words of Jesus and the words of those whom he hath sent recieveth not him; and therefore he will not receive them at the last day. #RandolphHarris 24 of 26
“And if they had not been born, it would be better for them. For do ye suppose that ye can get rid of the justice of an offended God, who hath been trampled under feet of men, that thereby salvation might come? And now behold, as I spake concerning those whom the Lord hath chosen, yea, even three who were caught up into the Heavens, that I knew not whether they were cleansed from mortality to immortality—but behold, since I wrote, I have inquired of the Lord, and he hath made it manifest unto me that there must needs be a change wrought upon their bodies, or else it needs be that they must taste death; therefore, that they might not taste of death there was a change wrought upon their bodies, that they might not suffer pain nor sorrow save it were for the sins of the World. Now this change was not equal to that which shall take place at the last day; but there was a change wrought upon them, insomuch that Satan could have no power over them, that he could not tempt them; and they were sanctified in the flesh, that they were holy, and that the powers of the Earth could not him them. And in this state they were to remain until the judgment day of Christ. #RandolphHarris 25 of 26

“And at that day they were to receive a greater change, and to be received into the kingdom of the Father to go no more out, but to dwell with God eternally in the Heavens,” reports 3 Nephi 28.1-40. Sleep, little one, in the comforting night that spreads like a blanket over your bed. Goddess is waiting to guide you to sleep in His arms that are ready to rock you so gently. The God stands by, watching to keep you from harm, to lay His cool hand on your head as you sleep. Sleep, little one, in the gathering dark, wrapped in the love of your Mother and Father, wrapped in the love of your mother and father. Magnified and sanctified be the name of God throughout the World which He hath created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom during the days of your life and during the life of all the house of Israel, speedily, yea, soon; and say ye, Amen. May His great name be blessed for ever and ever. Exalted and honoured be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, whose glory transcends, yea, is beyond all praises, hymns and blessings that humans can render unto Him; and say ye, Amen. May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and life for us and for all Israel; and say ye, Amen. May He who establisheth peace in the Heavens, grant peace unto us and unto all Israel; and say ye, Amen. #RandolphHarris 26 of 26

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Adults All Too Easily Engage in these Conspiracies of Silence!
Do not wait for the last judgement. It takes place everyday. Anger is often felt during bereavement and is then a part of separation anxiety. At first sight, it appears to serve no useful function. The reason that is occurs so often nonetheless, even after a death, is that during the early phases of grieving a bereaved person usually does not believe that the loss can really be permanent; one therefore continues to act as though it were still possible not only to find and recover the lost person but to reproach one for one’s actions. For the lost person is not infrequently held to be at least in part responsible for what has happened, in fact to have deserted. As a result, anger comes to be directed against the lost person, as well as, of course, against others thought to have played a part in the loss or in some way to be obstructing reunion. Grief is the emotional, and often physical response we have when we experience loss. The more profound the loss, the more profound the grief will be. Grief can involve virtually every emotion or can leave us feeling numb and disconnected from the World around us. Manifestations of grief may include hopelessness, anxiety, anger, denial, guilt, incapacitating fatigue, difficulty in controlling emotions, lack of concentration, loss of interest in people or activities, and feelings of being overwhelmed. #RandolphHarris 1 of 23
Anxiety is a species’ reaction to the absence of the attachment figure when one is still needed for the well-being of the infant (or of the infant in us all). The protest which follows such an absence is meant t bring the needed person back (or at least bring someone) so that there may be some protection from the threat of predators or whatever is experienced as threatening by the infant. What happens when the needed person never comes back? Anxiety eventually ceases, and is replaced by pain, grief, and mourning, and perhaps despair. We may never get over the pain of the loss. Worse, sometimes a loss leads to an apparently lasting inability to make any new relationship in which another person could become an important attachment figure. Others do find the concept of successful, healthy, mourning. The successful effort is depicted by the individual’s effort to accept both that a change has occurred in their external World and that they are required to make corresponding changes in their internal World, and to recognize and perhaps re-orient their attachment behaviour accordingly. If they persisted, in the course of this effort, there may be reactions which seem neurotic and in which certainly would not lead to well-being. #RandolphHarris 2 of 23
Some behaviours that we want to avoid so we do not become neurotic are: persistent disbelief that the loss is permanent, a repeated urge to call for, search for, and recover the lost person, prolonged yearning for the lost person, a sense of reproach against the lost person, combined with unremitting self-reproach, and compulsive caring for other people. Any of these reactions may be conscious or unconscious. If unconscious, the consequent behaviour, feelings, and mood swings may seem very puzzling both to the mourners and to their friends, thus adding the pain. The irrationality of some reactions may be obvious, and yet the feelings are sincerely felt; for “healthy mourning,” they need to be expressed and recognized, understood and accepted by those around, as part of the process of accepting the loss. It is because of this that we warn against the dangers of preventing people from expressing the anguish they feel. Particularly, in the present context, children should not be prevented from doing so: they should not be told that they should not cry, or need not cry, or are silly to cry, or that they will be “if they do not stop crying, they will given something to cry about.” #RandolphHarris 3 of 23
We also must not tell youth that they should not cry in order to spare other people’s feelings. If they have been made to deny their own fears and griefs, adults all too easily engage in these conspiracies of silence. Denial and detachment are characteristics of a badly mourned loss. These reactions are comparable to scar-tissues which prevents and distorts the development of later healthy growth. The detachment consequent upon badly mourned losses does seem very like what some autistic children do when they turn away from people. It is as though the autistic child is experiencing a loss—actually called a hole—where it should (constitutionally) experience an attachment figure. The anxiety is traced back to the unattached infant’s fear of predators and has real echoes. The unsuccessfully mourning person is left with a deep sense of helplessness and vulnerability. Small wonder. In most forms of depressive disorder, including that of chronic mourning, the main issue about which a person feels so terrible is the impossibility (as it seems) of ever again finding someone to love who will love them and make them feel safe, when the most important one has slipped from their grasp without their having been able to prevent it. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23
Some people may question their Heavenly Father because the pain is so overwhelming. They find it difficult to recognize the help the Lord is extending. Reassuring is the promise from Isaiah: “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,” reports Isaiah 53.4. Sometimes the hardest part about grief is simply not understanding what is happening. Knowing a few principles can help us successfully make our own journey through grief. Grief hurts, but when it is allowed to do its work appropriately, grief can be the salve that helps us heal. The first step in handling grief is to recognize that the pain is a normal part of the process. It needs to be acknowledged, not avoided. Grieving is not a brief process. Be patient with it and give it time. As with a physical wound, the pain of losing a loved one requires time to heal. The Saviour has said, “Thou shalt live together in love, insomuch that thou shalt weep for the loss of them that die,” reports Doctrine and Covenants. When a loved one passes from this side of the veil to the other, they continue to be just as important to us as when they were with us. Because we really love them, we cannot really expect to completely “get over” losing them. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23
Sometimes the veil between this life and the life beyond becomes very thin. Our loved ones who have passed on are not far from us. “Is any one of you in trouble? One should pray. Is any one happy? Let one sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? One should call the elders of the church to pray over one and anoint one with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise one up. If one has sinned, one will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective,” reports James 5.13-16. Now, the primary source of our entanglement is our desires—really, not just our desires themselves, but our enslavement to them and confusion about them. Temptation to sin always originates in desire. “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Do not they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but do not get it. You will and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures,” reports John 4.1-3. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23
We have set our hearts on too many different things, some of which are wrong or evil, and wall of which are in conflict with some other. “Blessed is the one who preserves under trial, because when one has stood the test, one will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be temped by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by one’s own evil desire, one is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift from above, coming down from the Father of the Heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first-fruits of all he created,” reports James 1.12-18. Here, perhaps, we need to add that habitual following of a desire leads to strengthening like the power of inertia in the physical realm. It is easier to do what you have done. You tend to keep on doing what you have done; and the more so, the more you have done it. That is spiritual inertia. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23
We may come to identify our will with our desire, and a powerful desire may throw us into something like a hypnotic state in order to achieve its satisfaction—often in horrible deeds. In addition when the will is enslaved to a desire, it will in turn enslave the mind. To justify itself in satisfying the desire, the will enlists the intellect to provide rationalizations, frequently so bizarre that they amount to selective insanity. Then of course the individual in question does and says things that make no sense to anyone. They are hypnotized by their evil desires. That is where the entanglements of the will with desire can lead and do lead. The “news” and the media keep cases of this constantly before us, and we need to understand what we are looking at. Otherwise we too will stand at a loss with those who say, “How could people do such things?” We need to realize that the less sensational entanglements of ordinary lives—perhaps Christian lives—are precisely what keep well-intentioned people from following Christ into the depths and heights of spiritual transformation. Our primary, practical aim in stepping free from “entanglements” must be to overcome duplicity. And to overcome it we must become conscious of it, confront it, and take appropriate steps to forsake it. #RandolphHarris 8 of 23
The point of reference in all of this is the explicit teaching of the Bible concerning the will of God. He that “has my commandments and keeps them, he it is that loves me,” reports Jesus in John 14.21. The person who intends to will what God wills—to identify one’s will with God’s—begins with what God has said he wills. And we do not need to know all he has said, though under New Testament teaching that is not as difficult as it sounds. “If it is serving, let one serve; if it is teaching, let one teach; if it is encouraging, let one encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let one give generously; if it is leadership, let one govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let one do it cheerfully. Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honour one another above yourselves,” reports Romans 12.8-10. “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for one who loves one’s fellow human has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covert,” and whatever the other commandments there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbour as yourself. Love does no harm to its neighbour. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law,” reports Romans 13.8-10. We can begin with what we know he has said. Let us firmly decide to do that. This will quickly lead us into the depth of spiritual transformation, including adequate knowledge of all of his will for us. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23
Who does not know, for example, that it is God’s will we should be without guile and malice? Then let us decide never to mislead people and never to do or say things merely to cause pain or harm. Let us decide that today, right now, we will not do such things. One might think that this is a very small part of identifying with God’s will. However, in fact lying and malice are foundational sins. They make possible and actual many other sins. If one removed them, the structure of evil in the individual and in society would be very largely eliminated. From family fights and breakups to warfare, the human landscape would be transformed beyond recognition. Of course when we begin to implement our decision, we discover that it is no simple task. We discover what a grip duplicity and malice have on us in every dimension of our being. Our thoughts and feelings and our usual routines of action, and perhaps even forces beyond our conscious grasp or understanding, have an influence over our choices that is much more powerful and complicated than we ever imagined while we simply went along with them. We can never sufficiently emphasize the fact that spiritual formation cannot be a matter of just changing the will itself. That is central, of course, but it cannot be accomplished except by transformation of the other dimensions of the self. #RandolphHarris 10 of 23
We discover that mere intention or effort of will is not enough to bring about the change in us that we have hoped for and to free us from duplicity and malice. Still, we must hold to that intention and sincerely make the effort, and then we will find that help is available. In Exodus 24, in the midst of the account which describes Moses’ ascent of Mount Sinai to receive the Law. That chapter tells us that Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel (of whom Joshua was one) were called up the mountain. After climbing some distance and seeing a far-off vision of God’s glory, the seventy remained behind, and Joshua and Moses went further up (v.13). Here Joshua was with Moses six days when the glorious cloud covered Sinai (v.16). However, on the seventh day Moses went on alone, leaving Joshua alone on Sinai for forty days (v.18). The Sinai experience left its mark on Joshua. His initial vision of God majestically standing over a pavement of sapphire (v.10), and his subsequent forty days of solitary meditation—while Moses, up the glowing, thundering cloud of Sinai, received the Law—branded his heart with a deep sense of God’s glory, holiness, and power. The Christian leader’s vision of God makes all the difference in one’s life. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23
There is a grand visionary chain which links the great leaders in God’s work Consider Moses amidst the thunderings and lightnings of Sinai as God hides him in the cleft of a rock and makes His glory pass by him (Exodus 33.21-23). Joshua not only sat below Moses on Sinai viewing God’s glory, but later, on the eve of the battle for Jericho, he met God—“the captain of the Lord’s hosts”—as a warrior in full battle dress, his sword bare and gleaming in the moonlight—and Joshua worshipped (Joshua 5.13-15). Young David’s vision of God grew so great as he shepherded under the stars and contemplated God’s vastness that when he saw Goliath challenging leaderless Israel he cried, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Samuel 17.26) and charged headlong into battle. Isaiah “saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple,” and this immense vision launched him into spectacular leadership and service—“Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6.1, 8). Peter, James, and John saw Jesus transfigure, so that His glory shone as the sun—and they went forward as key leaders in the apostolic Church (Mark 9.2-8). #RandolphHarris 12 of 23
Paul, who was not a part of the apostolic band, became the missionary leader of the Church, fueled by being caught up to the third Heaven and hearing and seeing things e could not describe (2 Corinthians 12.1-6). An immense, growing vision of God is the sine qua non, the grand distinction, the continental divide of spiritual leadership. It is said that Robert Dick Wilson, the celebrated Old Testament scholar who served at Princeton Seminary at the beginning of this century, upon hearing that an alumnus was returning to preach would slip into the back of Miller Chapel and listen only once saying, “When my boys come back, I come to see if they are big godders or little godders and then I know what their ministry will be.” One’s vision of God, his visio Dei, is everything! However, at the same time do not put putt off or sell your leadership potential short because you have had no beatific vision. You do not need such a vision because you have two great books of vision, the book of Scripture which repeatedly reveals God’s glory—and the book of creation, which continuously witnesses to God’s greatness. Take for example, the stars—“Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard,” reports Psalm 19.2, 3. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23
The massive vision is always before you—if you will just look. Read the great Bible passages to enlarge your vision of God’s greatness. Look up at the stars and around at creation. Pray for a growing revelation of God’s vastness and for the grace to believe what you read and see. The affection of the sense is its sensation itself. Hence, from the fact that sense reports as it is affected, it follows that we are not deceived in the judgment by which we judge that we experience sensation. Since, however, sense is sometimes affected erroneously of that object, it follows that it sometimes reports erroneously of that object; and thus we are deceived by sense about the object, but not about the fact of sensation. Falsity is said not to be proper to sense, since sense is not deceived as to its proper object. Hence in another translation it is said more plainly, “Sense, about its proper object, is never false.” Falsity is attributed to the imagination, as it represents the likeness of something even in its absence. Hence, when anyone perceives the likeness of a thing as if it were the thing itself, falsity results from such an apprehension; and for this reason the Philosopher says (Metaph. v, 34) that shadows, pictures, and dreams are said to be false inasmuch as they convey the likeness of things that are not present in substance. #RanolphHarris 14 of 23
This argument proves that the false is not in the sense, as in that which knows the true and false. The persuasive influence of an enlightened person’s mind and the pellucid truth of one’s sentences do not register with many people. Nor is one going to reveal everything one knows at the first few meetings even with those who want to find the truth. Unlike insane self-titled “Messiahs,” the enlightened individual has no program of saving the whole World from its sinfulness, for the chances of such an enterprise are microscopic; but one has a program of finding one’s own kindred—those whose aspiration thought and prenatal relationship with one make them one’s natural followers. Such a person may have many acquaintances, may make a modest number of friends, but one is unlikely to find more than a few intimates. One sees that there is nothing one can do for people whose point of view is so undeveloped, so materialistic, so concerned with surfaces and appearances. One does not engage in the futile task of meddling with their lives. One does not attempt the impossible task of changing them suddenly. One leaves them to the natural process of growth and to the cosmical forces responsible for their past and future course. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23
One is the silent background counsellor for a few humans who have the opportunity and capacity to serve humankind. These adepts help the few who are in a position and attitude to help a multitude. One seeks no personal devotees but is glad over each person who becomes a follower of impersonal Truth. The illumined human becomes a channel of the Holy Ghost, a chalice of the Prophet’s Wine. Yet even one cannot turn the absolute mystical silence into finite comprehensible speech for more than a sensitive few. With most people one finds oneself utterly dumb because they are themselves utterly deaf. This is the tragic pity of it, that just because one’s words have a value far beyond that of other human’s there is no audience for them, so few ears to receive them. “And it came to pass that as the disciples of Jesus were journeying and were preaching the things which they had both heard and seen, and were baptizing in the name of Jesus, it came to pass that the disciples were gathered together and were united in mighty prayer and fasting. And Jesus again showed himself unto the, for they were praying unto the Father in his name; and Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, and said unto them: What will ye that I shall give unto you? #RandolphHarris 16 of 23
“And they said unto him: Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the name whereby we shall call this church; for there are disputations among the people concerning this matter. And the Lord said unto them: Verily, verily, I say unto you, why is it that people should murmur and dispute because of this thing? Have they not read the scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name? For by this name shall ye be called at the last day; and whoso taketh upon him in my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day. Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name; therefore ye shall call the church in my name; therefore ye shall call the church in my name; and ye shall call upon the Father in my name that he will bless the church for my sake. And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; for if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel. Verily I say unto you, that ye are built upon my gospel; therefore ye shall call whatsoever things ye do call, in my name; therefore if ye call upon the Father, for the church, if it be in my name the Father will hear you. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23
“And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it. However, if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the works of human, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you they have joy in their works for a season, and by and by the end cometh, and they are hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence there is no return. For their words do follow them, for it is because of their works that they are hewn down; therefore remember the things that I have told you. Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the World to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all humans unto me, that as I have been lifted up by humans even so should humans be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—and for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all humans unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23
“And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the World. And one that endureth not unto the end, the same is one that also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father. And this is the words which he hath given, and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words. And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end. Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the Earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day. Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the words which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do; therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23
“Write the things which ye have seen and heard, save it be those which are forbidden. Write the works of this people, which shall be, even as hath been written, of that which hath been written, of that which hath been. For behold, out of the books which have been written, shall this people be judged, for by them shall their works be known unto humans. And behold, all things are written by the Father; therefore out of the books which shall be written shall the World be judged. And know ye that ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgment which I shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what manner of humans ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am. And now I go unto the Father. And verily I say unto you, whatsoever things ye shall ask the Father in my name shall be given unto you. Therefore, ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for one that asketh, recieveth; and unto one that knocketh, it shall be opened. And now, behold, my joy is great, even unto fullness because of you, and also this generation; yea, and even the Father rejoiceth, and also all the holy angels, because of you and this generation; for none of them are lost. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23
“Behold, I would that ye should understand; for I mean them who are now alive of this generation; and none of them are lost; and in them I have fulness of joy. However, behold, it sorroweth me because of the fourth generation from this generation, for they are led away captive by him even as was the son of perdition; for they will sell me for silver and for gold, and for that which moth doth corrupt and which thieves can break through and steal. And in that day will I visit them, even in turning their works upon their own heads. And it came to pass that when Jesus had ended these sayings he said unto his disciples: Enter ye in at the strait gate; for the strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it; but wide is the gate, and broad the way which leads to death, and many there be that travel therein until the night cometh, wherein no human can work,” reports 3 Nephi 27.1-33. As I go to bed, I pray to the High God. I offer you my worship, and ask you to bless my family. I ask if I have done anything today to offend you. If I have, I ask for forgiveness and for guidance, that I might walk the sacred path in peace and in beauty. As I go to bed, I pray to God of my household. I offer you my worship and ask you to bless my family. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23
I ask if I have done anything today to offend you. If I have, I ask for forgiveness and for guidance, that I might walk the sacred path in peace and in beauty. As I go to bed, I pray t the Ancestors. I do you honour and ask you to please bless my family. I ask if I have done anything today to offend you. If I have, I ask for forgiveness and guidance, that I might walk the sacred path in peace and in beauty. As I go to bed, I pray to the Land Spirits. I do you honour and ask you to bless my family. I ask if I have done anything today to offend you. If I have, I ask for forgiveness and for guidance, that I might walk the sacred path in peace and in beauty. As I go to bed, I pray to all numinous being. I do you honour and ask that you please extend your blessings over me and mine. Before I go to sleep, I extend my thoughts to all in my house and ask that we might live together in peace. Before I go to sleep, I extend my thoughts to the human community, and ask that we might live together in peace. Before I go to sleep, I extend my thoughts to all living creatures, and ask that we might live together in peace. Before I go to sleep, I extend my thoughts to all living creatures, and ask that we might live together in peace. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23
Before I go to sleep, I extend my thoughts to the Holy Ones, and ask that we might live together in peace. Shining ones, whose care extends over the whole World, bless the World with peace. May the Lord and Holy Ghost protect me as I lie in the bed. May they bring me dreams of pleasure and guidance. May they wake me in the morning rested and refreshed. Almighty and eternal Father, in adversity as in joy, Thou, our source of life, art ever with us. As we recall with affection those whom Thou hast summoned unto Thee, we thank Thee for the example of their lives, for our sweet companionship with them, for the cherished memories and the undying inspiration they leave behind. In tribute to our departed who are bound with Thee in the bond of everlasting life, may our lives be consecrated to Thy service. Comfort, we pray Thee, all who mourn. Though they may not comprehend Thy purpose, keep steadfast their trust in Thy wisdom. Do Thou, O God, give them strength in their sorrow, and sustain their faith in Thee as they rise to sanctify Thy name. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven, for in the same way they persecute the prophets who were before you,” reports Matthew 5.11-12. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23
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When the Morning Blesses Thee for Enlivening All the Cheerful Eyes the Heart Upsprings!
Change is the biggest story in the World today, and we are not covering it adequately. Leadership is a work one everyone’s lips. The young attack it and police seek it. Experts claim it and artists spurn it, while scholars want it…bureaucrats pretend they have it, politicians wish they did. Everybody agrees that there is less of it than there used to be. The pessimistic consensus and longing for leadership extends to the Church, which many today believe suffers from an alarming lack of leadership when compared to history as recent as the decades between the forties and seventies (decades which produces leaders of the stature of Harold John Ockenga, Billy Graham, Carl F.H. Henry and Francis Schaeffer, as well as dynamic local church and layleaders). Is there really less leadership than there used to be? It appears so, but objective analysis is difficult. Statistics do indicate this, however: male leadership in the Church is on the decline as women outnumber men, for men comprise only 41 percent of adult church attenders, and some smaller churches cannot find even one man to fill the office of elder. More and more men are content to let others shoulder the heavy responsibilities while they go along for the ride. #RandolphHarris 1 of 25
It is certainly true that leadership is more difficult today due to the sheer complexity of life and the size of today’s institutions, and because of the contemporary confusion as to what leadership is. Secular analysis has produced more than 350 definitions of leadership. Leadership, to some, is like the Abominable Snowman, whose footprints are everywhere but he is nowhere to be seen. However, none of this excuses today’s Church—or today’s Christian humans. Unlike our culture, the Bible provides clear instruction regarding leadership through the lives of its great leaders and through specific teachings regarding the character, qualifications, and commitment of spiritual leaders. In addition to this, amidst our culture’s confusion about leadership there are some astute analysts who have pinpointed the essentials of leadership and are providing information which has immense benefits for the general culture, including the Church. As we tackle the topic of the discipline of leadership, we will draw from both sources, with the greatest reliance being upon God’s word. When the Saviour was on the Earth, He taught His Apostles about leadership service: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you. #RandolphHarris 2 of 25
“These things I command you, that ye love one another,” reports John 15.16-17. After His ascension into Heaven, His disciples became greater leaders and built up the Church in their day. The first mention of Joshua comes in Exodus 17.8, 9 after the Amalekites’ attack upon the stragglers at Israel’s rear: “Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.’” Moses, then in his eighties, took the rod of God with which he had parted the Red Sea and ascended a nearby hill. Joshua, in his fighting prime, took charge of the army below. In the ensuing battle, when Moses lifted his hands in intercessory prayer, Israel prevailed. However, as Moses wearied and began to lower his arms, the tide of battle turned to the Amalekites. Then again, as Moses mustered all his power and elevated his hands, the advantage returned to Israel. Israel’s fate ebbed and flowed with Moses’ aged hands. Soon Aaron and Hur were called to assist Moses, seating him on a stone and standing at his sides to hold his hands Heavenward. When sunset came, Moses’ hands were still reaching upward to God, and Israel had carried the day. #RandolphHarris 3 of 25
The lessons for Joshua were clearly manifest. He learned that the real power was not in his sword, but in God. The victory undoubtedly tempted him to forget that. He was an instant hero, and that night all the campfires sang the name of Joshua. However, fixed in Joshua’s mind was the image of Aaron and Hur coming to Moses’ side and lifting his hands up to God. No one attains true spiritual leadership who thinks one’s power is one’s own or the past victories are due to one’s own genius. The overriding lesson Joshua learned that day was the backbone of any work done for God is prayer. Those who have effective leadership are not leaders because of brilliancy, but because, by the power of prayer, they could command the power of God. How contrary this is to conventional thinking on leadership. The first thing the World (and all too often the Church!) considers is a leader’s magnetism and elan—does one have the charisma to magnetize people? But the Holy Spirit places prayer first. In our day we are called on to be leaders and to beckon others to follow Jesus’s teachings. You may be a leader in your ward or branch or among your group of friends. Young people in the Church are learning. “I learned not to just pay attention to how things are done, but to go to individuals and help them in whatever way they need,” said Leo. #RandolphHarris 4 of 25
There may be time when we do not know what to do and that is when one should recall to open up the scriptures. Also, keep in mind that Christian leadership includes helping everyone feel welcome. Now, when we set out on the path of the surrendered will we find we must come to grips with our fallen character. This character will have taken over our habitual or “automatic” ways of thinking and feeling, shaped our social World past and present, permeated our body and its responses, and even sunk down into the unconscious depths of our soul. In their fallen character thoughts, feelings, social interactions, body, character, will, and the soul will usually not be in accordance with the genuine intentions of our reborn spirit or will. The fallen character in fact poises every element of our being against God. When we are subjected to environments where people may or may not have willfully, knowingly and enthusiastically submitted to the influence of Satan and are attacking us, we must remember to seek spiritual counsel even more, and commit to more Bible study so our souls do not become sucked into their blackhole of evil. #RandolphHarris 5 of 25
We do not want to end up in the adversary’s web because we want to go to Heaven and not suffer any legal consequences while on Earth either because the bad people are going to get themselves in trouble with God and human’s laws. The condition we find ourselves in can best be described as one of entanglement. By contrast, the condition we must move to is that of single-minded focus upon doing the will of God in everything, distracted by nothing. Do not care about anything but Christ. Make sure your intention is that you and your team care for nothing before Christ, which means the ways of the Lord must come first. Nothing should be allowed to detract from that or conflict with it. All lesser desires have to be done away with (hence they are macabre baggage!). Some people, of course, are more concerned about language they think is wrong than about hearts not set wholly on Christ. In our fallen World very few people live with a focused will, even a will focused on an evil. The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. #RandolphHarris 6 of 25
However, in fact—and we can be thankful for this—even “the worst” rarely have much intensity about them. There are always hecklers in this World, however. Evil people who are genuinely focused can gain the great power they do over others because of the fact that good people and evil people alike are, for the most part, simply drifting through life. The “Chief Executive Officer” of the self has abandoned its post to other dimensions of the self and is dragged hither and thither by them. If it is recognized at all, in our culture today the direction of the self is usually left to feelings; and the will is either identified with feelings or else regarded as helpless in the face of feelings. The cognitive aide of the mind is hijacked to renationalize it all by producing or borrowing suitable “insights,” usually lying ready to hand in surrounding culture. David Hume’s eighteenth-century claim that “reason is and ought only to be the slave of the passions” was prophetic of a World to come—our present World—to the existence of which e significantly contributed: a World of perpetual drift in which manipulation and entanglement of the will is simply unavoidable. Purity of heart is to will one thing. #RandolphHarris 7 of 25
Before we can come to rest in such single-mindedness as the habitual orientation of all dimensions of our being, to allow it and to sustain it, a serious battle is required. However, the call of grace and wisdom is nonetheless to “lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus,” reports Hebrews 12.1-2. “No soldier in active service entangles oneself in the affairs of everyday life,” Paul reminded Timothy, “so that one may please the one who enlisted one as a soldier,” reports 2 Timothy 2.4. Dear Martha was “worried and bothered about so many things,” as Jesus pointed out, while only a few things are necessary, really only one, “Many has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her,” reports Luke 10.41-42. And Paul’s own testimony was that he really did only one thing, which was to “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus,” reports Philippians 3.13-14. According to the classical principle of utility, the best actions produce the greatest amount of utility for the greatest number of individuals, and the best actions maximize the average utility which may be enjoyed by each individual. Now it is tempting to argue against the principle that it presupposed a real and equal acceptance of risk by all members of society. #RandolphHarris 8 of 25
At some time, one wants to say, everyone must actually have agreed to take the same chances. Since clearly there was n such occasion, the principle is unsound. Consider an extreme case: when confronted by his slaves, a slaveholder, in his attempts to justify his position to them by claiming that, first of all, given the circumstances of their society, the institution of slavery is in fact necessary to produce the greatest average happiness; and secondly, that in the initial contractual situation he would choose the average principle even at the risk of its subsequently happening that he is justifiably held a slave. Now offhand we are inclined to reject the slaveholder’s argument as beside the point, if not outrageous. One may think that it makes no difference what one would choose. Unless individuals have actually agreed to a conception of justice subject to real risk, no one is bound by its requirements. On the contract view, however, the general form of the slaveholder’s argument is correct. It would be a mistake for the slaves to retort that his contentions are irrelevant since there has been no actual occasion of choice, no equal sharing of risk as to how things would turn out. #RandolphHarris 9 of 25
The contract doctrine is purely hypothetical: if a conception of justice would be agreed to in the original position, its principles are the right ones to apply. It is no objection that such an understanding has never been nor ever will be entered into. We cannot have it both ways: we cannot interpret the theory of justice hypothetically when the appropriate occasions of consent cannot be found to explain individuals’ duties and obligations, and then insist upon real situations of risk-bearing to throw out principles of justice that we do not want. Thus in justice as fairness the way to refute the slaveholder’s argument is to show that the principle one invokes would be rejected in the original position. We have no alternative but to exploit the various aspects of this initial situation (on the favoured interpretation) to establish that the balance of reasons favours the two principles of justice. People can often say that everyone makes choices and decisions and because they have a troubled life that you should also have to suffer a life of hardships and they may manufacture a situation to make sure that you do. The issues here is, while what they are saying is true, there life turned out bad because of the probability of the choices and decisions they made. Usually people are not victims of a conspiracy. #RandolphHarris 10 of 25
In many cases the lot of evidence shows that a particular coin is unbiased, but when a group of people plot to ruin a person and no one step in to help, even after the situations are reported, not only is that biased, but it is illegal, unconstitutional and unfair. What is distinctive about the use of the principle is that it enables one to incorporate different kinds of information within one strictly probabilistic framework and to draw inferences about probabilities even in the absence of knowledge. Prior probabilities however arrived at are part of one theory along with estimates of chances based on random sampling. The limiting case of no information does not pose a theoretical problem. As evidence accumulates the prior probabilities are revised anyway and the principle of insufficient reason at least insures that no possibilities are excluded from the outset. Now I shall assume that the parties discount likelihoods arrived at solely on the basis of this principle. This supposition is plausible in view of the fundamental importance of the original agreement and the desire to have one’s decision appear responsible to one’s descendants who will be affected by it. #RandolphHarris 11 of 25
We are more reluctant to take great risks for our descendants than for ourselves; and we are willing to do so only when there is no way to avoid these uncertainties of the original position. Recall that the original position is an elegant thought experiment. It asks one to imagine that they are temporarily ignorant (veil of ignorance) about certain things, including important facts about themselves, such as how well off they are especially talented, and what their core personal values—religious or otherwise—are. One is then to ask oneself: If I did not know these things, what principle of justice would I choose to regulate the basic institutions of society? To be a little more precise, we are employing a vision of the familiar idea of a social contract. The parties to the contract are choosing basic principles of justice for their society. However, they are behind what is referred to as the veil of ignorance: they do not know how well off they are especially talented, and what their core personal values are. In such a situation, given certain additional stipulations, it would be rational for the parties to choose the following two principles of justice. First, a principle that guaranteed each citizen a robust package of liberal rights to such things as freedom of conscience, freedom to vote and stand in elections, and rights to due process in law. #RandolphHarris 12 of 25
Second, a principle that ensured fair equality of economic opportunity as well as shares of income and wealth that were maximally beneficial to people with the least amount of income and wealth. So the people in our scenario can guarantee the protection of their liberties and a reasonably satisfactory standard of life as the conditions of their society permit. In fact, it is questionable whether the choice of the average principle really offers a better prospect anyway, waiving the fact that it is based on the principle of insufficient reason. It seems, then, that the effect of the veil of ignorance is to favour the two principles. This conception of justice is better suited to the situation of complete ignorance. If they were sound, there are, to be sure, assumptions about society that would allow parities to arrive at objective estimates of equality. The idea is to formulate certain reasonable assumptions under which it would be rational for self-interested parties to agree to the standard of utility as a political principle to assess social policies. The necessity for such a principle arises because the political process is not a competitive one and these decisions cannot be left to the market. Some other method must be found to reconcile divergent interests. #RandolphHarris 13 of 25
The principle of utility would be agreed to by self-interested parties as the desired criterion. Over the long run of many occasions, the policy of maximizing utility on each occasion is most likely to give the greatest utility for any person individually. Consistent application of this standard to taxation and property legislation, and so on, is calculated to give the best results from any one human’s point of view. Therefore by adopting this principle self-interested parties have reasonable assurance that they will not lose out in the end, in fact, will best improve their prospects. However, there are some flaws in these positions, especially the basic structure. For one, people who move from one social position to another in random fashion must live long enough for gains and losses to average out, or else there is some mechanism which insures that legislation guided by the principle of utility distributes its favours evenly over one time. However, clearly society is not a stochastic process of this type; and some questions of social policy are much more vital than others, often causing large and enduring shifts in the institutional distribution of advantage. Therefore, we must not be enticed by mathematically attractive assumptions into pretending that the contingencies of human’s social positions and the asymmetries of their situations somehow even out in the end. #RandolphHarris 14 of 25
Rather, we must choose our conceptions of justice fully recognizing that this is not and cannot be the case. From our point of view it is often easy enough to appraise another individual’s situation as specified say by one’s social position, wealth, and the like, or by one’s prospects in terms of primary goods. We put ourselves in one’s shoes, complete with our character and preferences (not the individual’s), and take account of how our plans would be affected. We can go much further. We can assess the worth to us being in another’s place with at least some of one’s traits and aims. Knowing our plan of life, we can decide whether it would be rational for us to have those traits and aims, and therefore advisable for us to develop and encourage them if we can. It suffices to observe here that what we cannot do is to evaluate another person’s total circumstances, one’s objective situation plus one’s character and system of ends, without any reference to the details of our conception of our good. If we are to judge these things from our standpoint at all, we must know what our plan of life is. The worth to us of the circumstances of others is not, as the constructed expectation assumes, its value them. #RandolphHarris 15 of 25
Furthermore, as we have seen, the clearest basis for interpersonal comparisons is in terms of primary goods, things that every rational person is presumed to want whatever else one wants. The more we ascend to the higher aims and aspects of the person and try to assess their worth to us, the more tenuous the procedure becomes. The reason for this is that these evaluations contemplate more fundamental changes in our way of life, more far-reaching revisions in our plans. Indeed, it seems pointless to try to define a measure between persons which includes the full range of final ends. The problem is similar to comparing different styles of art. There are simply many things in which human beings become engaged and find fully worthwhile depending upon their inclinations. The expectation finally arrived at in the reasoning for the average principle seems spurious for two reasons: it is not, as expectations should be, founded on one system of aims; and since the veil of ignorance excludes the knowledge of the parties’ conception of their good, the worth to a person of the circumstances of others simply cannot be assessed. The argument ends up with a purely formal expression for an expectation that is without meaning. #RandolphHarris 16 of 25
This difficult about expectations is analogous to that concerning the knowledge of probabilities. In both instances the reasoning carries on with these notions aster the basis for their legitimate use has been ruled out by the conditions of the original position. Anger at the absence of an attachment figure is not like the anger that is felt when an instinctual drive is frustrated (unless we take attachment to be the frustrated instinct) and it is not like the anger felt during an experience of deprivation or persecution—two frequent sources of anger mentioned in psycho-analytic literature. Whenever separation is only temporary, which in the large majority of cases it is, anger has two functions: first, it may assist in overcoming such obstacles as there may be to reunion; second, it may discourage the loved person from going away again. This is coercive anger, and is thought of as the anger of hope. Angry coercive behaviour, acting in the service of an affectional bond, is not uncommon. It is seen when a mother, whose child has run foolishly across the road, berated and punishes it with an anger born of fear. It is seen whenever one berates one’s partner for being or seeming to be disloyal. #RandolphHarris 17 of 25
Dysfunctional anger, on the other hand, occurs whenever a person becomes so intensely or persistently angry that the bond of affection is weakened instead of strengthened. Clinical experience suggests that the situations of separation and loss with which this work is concerned are especially liable to result in anger that crosses the threshold of intensity and becomes dysfunctional. Separations, especially when prolonged or repeated, have a double effect. On the one hand, anger is aroused; on the other, love is attenuated. Thus not only many angry discontented behaviour alienate the attachment figure but, within the attached, a shift can occur in the balance of feeling. Instead of a strongly rooted affection laced occasionally with “hot displeasure,” such as develops in a child brough up by affectionate parents, there grows a deep-running resentment, held in check only partially by an anxious uncertain affection. “And now it came to pass that when Jesus had told these things he expounded them unto the multitude; and he did expound all things unto them, both great and small. And he saith: These scriptures, which ye had not with you, the Father commanded that I should give unto you; for it was wisdom in him that they should be given unto future generations. #RandolphHarris 18 of 25
“And he did expound all things, even from the beginning until time that he should come in his glory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the Earth, even until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the Earth should be wrapt together as a scroll, and the Heavens and the Earth should pass away; and even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—if they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of damnation; being on a parallel, the one on the one hand and the other on the other hand, according to the mercy, and the justice, and the holiness which is in Christ, who was before the World began. And now cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people; however, behold the plated of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he taught the people. And thee things have I written, which he taught the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus hath spoken. #RandolphHarris 19 of 25
“And when they shall have received this, which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it shall so be that they shall believe thee things then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them. And if it is so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be made manifest unto them. And if it so be that they will not believe these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their condemnation. Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people. Therefore I, Mormon, do write the things which have been commanded me of the Lord. And now I, Mormon, make an end of my sayings, and proceed to write the things which have been commanded me. Therefore, I would that ye should behold that the Lord truly did teach the people, for the space of three days; and after that he did show himself unto them oft, and did break bread oft, and bless it, and give it unto them. And it came to pass that he did teach and minister unto the children and multitude of whom hath been spoken, and he did loose their tongues, and they did speak unto their fathers great and marvelous things, even greater than he had revealed unto the people; and he loosed their tongues that they could utter. #RandolphHarris 20 of 25
“And it came to pass that after he had ascended into Heaven—the second time that he showed himself unto them, and had gone unto the Father, after having healed all their sick, and their lame, and opened the eyes of their blind and unstopped the ears of the deaf, and even had done all manner of cures among them, and raised a man from the dead, and had shown forth his power unto them, and had ascended unto the Father—behold, it came to pass on the morrow that the multitude gathered themselves together, and they both saw and heard these children; yea, even babes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things; and the things which they did utter were forbidden that there should not any human write them. And it came to pass that the disciples whom Jesus had chosen began from that time forth to baptize and to teach as many as did come unto them; and as many as were baptized in the name of Jesus were filled with the Holy Ghost. And many of them saw and heard unspeakable things, which are not lawful to be written. #RandolphHarris 21 of 25
“And they taught, and did minister one to another; and they had all things common among them, every human dealing justly, one with another. And it came to pass that they do all things even as Jesus had commanded them. And they who were baptized in the name of Jesus were called the church of Christ,” reports 3 Nephi 26.1-21. If one can look back and reflect that a hundred people have firmly grounded their minds in truth and planted their feet on the road to eternal liberation through the word done by this transitory body, one will count the years gloriously spent. For those who welcome the Truth-bringer must needs be few, those who want the truth must be fewer still, and of these again those who can endure it when brought face to face with it are rare. The sages of old deliberately restricted the public from their full knowledge so that their immediate following was always numerically insignificant. Yet the paradox was that they excised an indirect influence disproportion to their small numbers. This was achieved by a concentrating their tuition on humans in positions of high authority or leadership, and establishing popular religions and cults suited to the capacity of the multitude. #RandolphHarris 22 of 25
For a religious leader to try to convince others of the truth would require that they are seeking the truth. However, how many are consciously and deliberately doing so? Falsity is not to be sought in the senses except as truth is in them. Now truth is not in them in such a way that the senses know truth, but in so far as they apprehend sensible things truly. And this takes place through the senses apprehending things as they are, and hence it happens that falsity exists in the sense through their apprehending or judging things to be otherwise. The knowledge of things by the senses is in proportion to the existence of their likeness in the senses; and the likeness of a thing can exist in the senses in three ways. In the first way, primarily and of its own nature, as in sight there is the likeness of colours, and of other sensible objects proper to it. Secondly, of its own nature, though not primarily; as in sight there is the likeness of shape, size, and of other sensible objects common to more than one sense. Thirdly, neither primarily nor of its own nature, but accidentally, as in sight, there is the likeness of a human, not as a human, but in so far as it is accidental to the coloured object to be a human. #RandolphHarris 23 of 25
Sense, then, as no false knowledge about its proper objects, expect accidentally and rarely, and then, because of the unsound organ it does receive the sensible form rightly; just as other passive subjects because of their indisposition receive defectively the impressions of the agent. Hence, for instance, it happens that on account of an unhealthy tongue sweet seems bitter to a sick person. However, as to common objects of sense, and accidental objects, even a rightly disposed sense may have a false judgment, because it is referred to them not directly, but accidentally, or as a consequence of being directed to other things. Our Holy King lowers Himself to bed to rest for tomorrow’s travel. I, too, will soon go to my bed, resting with the dreams of the Holy Ones send. Eternal God, who sendest consolation unto all sorrowing hearts, we turn to Thee for solace in this, our trying hour. Though bowed in grief at the passing of our loved ones, we affirm our faith in Thee, our Father, who art just and merciful, who healest broken hearts and art ever near to those who are afflicted. #RandolphHarris 24 of 25
Israel’s hope for Thy true kingdom here on Earth, impel us to help speed that day when peace shall be established through justice, and all humans recognize their brotherhood in Thee. With trust in Thy great goodness, we who mourn, rise to sanctify Thy name. Life is good and life’s tasks must be performed. Help us, O Lord, to rise above our sorrow and face the trials of life with courage in our hearts. Please give us insight in this hour of grief, that from the depths of suffering may come a deepened sympathy for all who are bereaved, that we may feel the heartbreak of our fellow beings and find our strength in helping them. Heartened by this hymn of praise to Thee, we bear our sorrow with trustful hearts, and knowing Thou art near, shall not despair. With faith in Thine eternal wisdom, we who mourn, rise to sanctify Thy name. As around our home the darkness grows, I light the evening lights. As the daytime spirits depart, I say my goodbyes: you will stay in our hearts the whole night through. As the nighttime spirits gather about, I give greetings to them: may these lights honour you who come with the darkness. Where there is shadow, there is light. #RandolphHarris 25 of 25
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When there are No Dinosaurs to be Caught and Cooked, a Dinosaur-Hunting School Loses Relevance!

Like a magic show, speak your dreams into existence. Abra kadabra, alakazam! A person is not finished when one is defeated; one is finished when one quits. The World goes on—reality is like a projective test. Humans can construe it in myriad ways. The World discloses itself ceaselessly to human consciousness, which refract it, and attach meaning to this disclosure in ways that vary from time to time, and place to place. A given World view gains dominance in each society. This is a way to structure the World, to attach value and meaning to it. “Worlds” are structure by projects, or goals, and values. Change these and “Worlds” collapse, to be replaced by new ones. All this is elementary existential phenomenology. The “World” most us of us in America share is a World that once was haunted by European memories of poverty and material scarcity. The aim was to get rich, and we actually have the productive means available whereby everyone can be rich, at least in a material sense. As automation, powered with nuclear and natural sources of energy proceeds, we can in principle feed, clothe and shelter the World, even a World with a more fully exploded population than the one Malthusians prophets of doom say we have now. Our past and current patterns of childrearing, our aims and methods of schooling, even our ways of playing in leisure hours all gain their relevance and intelligibility from the fact of scarcity—scarcity that long since has ceased to exist. #RandolphHarris 1 of 18

In a way, as we socialize and train to a nonexistent reality, we can say that our very socialization and training is mad. It is akin to training people in the art of stalking, capturing and cooking dinosaurs. When there are no dinosaurs to be caught and cooked, the values, skills, ways of relating to others that make up the curriculum of a dinosaur-hunting school somehow loses relevance. However, “Worlds” die hard. Each of us lives in a World that I can best liken to an envelope, capsule, or bubble with semi-permeable walls. These walls screen off much of what is, and admit to our consciousness only as much of being as is relevant to our projects. The World beyond the capsule is filled, according to folklore and popular imagination with bogeymen, snakes, slime, and everything hideous. Shatter the membrane, and let this World in, and people become terrified. Rather than face the prospect of posing new projects and values, in order to construct new “Worlds,” people patch the rents in walls of their present “World.” Seeing becomes a way of being, blind, blind to other possibilities that the World embodies. In American, young people, mature women, and marginalized men all are in process of awakening—some with delight, but more with anger, and rage at the dirty joke that has been played upon them. They are breaking out of their capsules. #RandolphHarris 2 of 18
The World is not necessarily what humans have told them it is. It has not been ordained by God that people should be uneducated, employed in menial tasks, and housed in bedbug infested slums with portly people who otherwise look like members of a death camp. Nor did God necessarily demand that women should die of boredom and overeating in automated households. And young people—below the age of 18—are wondering if Go want them to put on gray flannel suits to become professional consumers, or to go into the army. Young people especially, as I encounter them in the halls of training and learning, are beginning to demand inspiration and enlightenment, not stupefaction at the feet of their instructors. They are beginning to look at instructors as entire humans, not solely as repositories of alienated skill or knowledge, and they are wondering if they are to become like these humans. Increasing numbers of young men and women are dropping out. They are finding that schools and colleges, instead of enlightening them as to how things are now, or turning them on to challenging new projects and possibilities are training them for a slot in professions or corporate enterprise, which support a way of life and experience they find meaningless. And so they turn to the Internet and start blogging to obtain sponsorships so they can promote products and live free and happy. #RandolphHarris 3 of 18

Nonetheless, I still believe a college education and corporate job is the best way to freedom and to overcome poverty. Humans can dissect nature in order the better to control it. They can build machines to work for them. They extend their sense organs and muscles with machinery—but then lose their capacity to see, hear, smell, and move. All these things are done for them, in the name of efficiency, by the very machines they have created. Not only are the various media—extensions of humans leaching humans of their power; but in order that humans might not notice the loss of their wholeness and their creative possibilities, they are stupefied more deliberately. Radio, television, social media, movies, books all help keep people in a stupor. If a person begins to sicken, and suffer boredom, pain, or anxiety—those signs that all is not well in the way one is living one’s life—the medical profession then steps in with some pharmaceutical product that enables the person to continue living the meaningless life, but without feeling the pain and suffering. We effect those praxes upon our own consciousness which constrict our World. We repress, distort, close off entire sensory channels, banalize our imaginations, and end up helpless to live in a social and material World we made ourselves and helpless to change it. We only endure it with the help of religion, therapy, and medication. #RandolphHarris 4 of 18

The institutions of education are becoming increasingly automated. “Teaching machines” are being incorporated into more schools, as a desperate response to overcrowding and an insufficiency of instructors. Indeed, desperate instructors try to program themselves—their lectures and demonstrations—so that students will be able to blacken the correct spaces on an IBM sheet at the end of a term. However, this is not education and it is not desirable. Automation will release human energy from the necessity to spend it making goods essential to life. However, it will not thereby make life more livable, challenging, and rich in experience. Education must be the liberation of human consciousness in its various modes (especially imagination) from the bonds imposed by simply training. The salvation of humans, with the hope one will invent better forms of economic, social, political and interpersonal existence, is education, not training. And education requires teachers, people who awaken and enliven consciousness, not constrain it, like trainers do. Teachers are hard to find. They are as scarce as white whales. Teachers illuminate what is; they are existential explorers, groping for new meaning as they challenge old ones. They are not solely repositories of skill or corpus of information. #RandolphHarris 5 of 18

Teachers are people who have been awakened from the illusion that there is only one sane, right and legal way to experience the World and behave in it. One has become turned on such that one’s imagination is vivid. One can perceive the World as others see it, and more: liberated from convention as one is, one sees what others are blind to. The walls of one’s capsule have been shattered, and rebuilt so that more World is included in one’s consciousness. One feels, thinks, imagines, and remembers more fully than the average human. One can, perhaps, dance, feel one’s body, move it and live in it. If such a human, a teacher, discloses the wonder of life as it is for one to pupils, some will indeed flip. They will be turned on. Their old “World” will explode, or better, implode, when more being is admitted, under the guidance of the teacher. If this teacher is oneself committed to responsibility for some corner of the World—not for money and fame, but for authentic concern and love—then one’s pupils may be ready to take over when one dies, or extend one’s vision and responsibility while one still lives. Where do we find such teachers? How can we disseminate their expanded consciousness of some aspect of the World? It is for the lack of such teachers that young people turn to drugs and liquor. #RandolphHarris 6 of 18

By being what one is, there is nothing to impede the flow of pure consciousness from one to those the teacher contacts. The ego does not intervene, the lower nature does not interrupt, and without one’s making any deliberate effort something passes through and from one to benefit them. Without one’s trying to influence others, one’s influence will still appear whether they know its true source or not, and whether it is after the lapse of many years or not. Nor does one ask any credit for this result for one gives that to the World-Mind whose World-Idea is being realized in this and many other ways. Quite often one does not need to do anything; it is enough if one beneficently remembers the person before emerging from one’s own periods of contemplation. Sometimes, even merely being present may act as a catalyst for remedial forces. If however one goes father than this, and performs a specific act, the result must come. Such a power is like a catalyst in chemistry. Itself invisible, it inspires others to visible deeds. As the light of truth passes into one, one in turn refracts it to others, although only some will let the enlightenment in. Grace flows from such a being as light flows from the Sun; one does no have to give it. It will suffice for one to be what one is and thirty seekers will draw from one in a mysterious, silent way what they need of one’s power and wisdom, one’s love and serenity. #RandolphHarris 7 of 18

It is the lives like the stars, which simply pour down on us the calm light of their bright and faithful being, up to which we look, and out of which we gather the deepest calm and courage. One can take no credit of one’s own for the service rendered, and calls no attention to oneself. How could the teacher honestly do so when one is fully aware that it is only be ceasing from one’s own activities, by being inwardly still, and by abandoning one’s own ego that the power which really renders the service manifests itself? Where do these phenomena originate? Not always from oneself, but more often from out outside oneself, from the mysterious and unknown mind which is the soul of the Universe and the ground in which all individual minds are rooted. Teachers of this kind are needed more, today, than anther cadre of astronauts, or more riot police, psychiatrists, narcotics agents or school counselors. Society has this great ability and so many facilitators in place at training, mystifying, and stupefying masses of people. This possibility is made possible through TV, social media, news, and other media, of getting even better at it. However, we also have the possibility of turning on and awakening more people to expanded perspectives on the World, new challenges, possible ways to experience the World and our own embodied being than ever has been possible before. #RandolphHarris 8 of 18

I do not believe that there is an insoluble educational crisis before us. I believe rather that we need to sort out our values, to see if we are as serious about educating our population as we have been about training them for the status quo. We equate training with education, and mistakenly assume that we are giving the people public education when we are really giving them public training. When consuming more goods, getting richer, or getting ahead in the corporation cease to be viable goals, what will be the point of much of our child-training practices—which inspire children to be greedy and bottomless consumers, competitive, false, role dominated, and upwardly mobile? And what will we do wit out time? Watch TV? We will have to learn to enter into dialogue with one another—but there is nobody there. Our dilemma is unparalleled in human history. If we are not to die of boredom, or of invasion by the envious, we have two tasks—first, to help the rest of the World solve its material problems, and then to explore how to live, learn and find meaning when there is no work to be done. If colleges and universities are to fulfill their function of education and enlightenment as effectively as they train people into unquestioning conformity, they must encourage teachers to stand forth, and declare themselves in any ways that time, money, versatility, and electronic hardware have made possible. #RandolphHarris 9 of 18

Let teachers disclose, not just the techniques for chemical analysis, or the rules for declining verbs—but also what all this means, how it challenges them in the meaningful pursuit of their lives. Let education approximate to dialogue, and not shaping. Let a college community of fellow seekers, not a place where we, the faculty, train them, the students. Let the students have contact with heroes with a small “h”—humans who are truly seeking enlightenment and wholeness, finding challenges and new values when old ones have worn out. Training will never become obsolete, and we can always find trainers. The social system at large is well protected with safeguards to insure that any change in the fabric of society will be orderly, and not violent or arbitrary. If the is true, and I believe it is, then schools from kindergarten up through university can be places where explorers and trainers cohabit and coexist, where there is a place for learning necessary roles and skills and knowledge, and a place for enlivening and embodying the creative imagination. It is of first importance to recognize that God’s very nature is that of spiritual beings. God is an immaterial, spiritual being, not a material object. Since material objects like idols are located at specific places, it makes sense to localize worship where those idols are. #RandolphHarris 10 of 18

However, since God is an omnipresent spirit, He is not confined to one place and, thus, geographical location is not crucial for worship, given God’s spiritual nature. As David reminds us in Psalm 139.7-12, there is nowhere we can go where God is not present. Another meaning of spirit is more relevant to our topic. Throughout the Old Testament, when God is referred to as spirit it is often to emphasize that He is a living, active being who initiates towards His creatures and gives them life. Thus, in Genesis 1.2 it is the Spirit of God who hovers over the waters. In John’s writings, this same meaning is frequently associated with God as a spirit. For example, in John 6.63 it is the Spirit who gives life, and in John 7.37-39 it is the Spirit who produces rivers living water in the lives of God’s children. What does this have to do with worship? Simply this: Worship is not under the control of human beings, nor is the form it takes up to their whims. Rather, worship is a response to a God who initiates toward His people, give them life, and shows Himself active on their behalf. We should use our minds more carefully in supplication before God. In supplication we strengthen prayer and make it effectively by a certain form of persuasion. #RandolphHarris 11 of 18

Supplication is a form of reasoning with God. The Scriptures regularly depict supplication as a way of approaching God in which the worshiper brings one’s “case” before God (Jeremiah 12.1, 20.12). The Hebrew word for “case” is rib, and it means a reasoned legal case brought before a judge and the reasons for them before we approach God. We then reason that case before His throne and truth the He will take our case into consideration. Individual devotion, adoration, and praise are enriched by intellectual engagement no less than is corporate worship. Much could be said about the development of intellectual engagement in personal worship. It is therefore, important to learn how to read well. There are two different types of reading, each with its own style and characteristic effects: devotional and intellectual reading. The distinction between these is not one of different types of books rad, but of different ways of reading. In devotional reading, one reads quietly, slowly, and with a sense of spiritual attentiveness and openness to God. The goals of devotional reading is not so much gathering new information or mastering content, though that may indeed happen. The goal is to deepen and nourish the soul by entering into the passage and allowing it to be assimilated into one’s whole personality. #RandolphHarris 12 of 18

Certain steps are required in order to enter correctly into the process of devotional reading. First, one must get int a position of being ready to listen with the heart to the Holy Spirit as His quiet voice speaks to you about what you are reading. Sit quietly, confess any sin that comes to mind (and promise to make reconciliation if that is needed), and express tender devotion to God with whatever sincerity you can muster at this stage of the process. Then invite God to speak to your heart about what you are reading. Secondly with a spirit of expectancy and an attitude of openness and vulnerability, read the selected text slowly, calmly, and with an open, vulnerable heart. The goal here is not to read a lot of material, but to enter into a small portion of a boo or of the Scripture. While reading, seek to monitor what is happening inside your own soul. Do not try to master the passage, but allow the passage to master you. Third, throughout the process of reading, you may sense the need to stop, to meditate and contemplate a specific meaning in the text, and to enter into a dialogue with God about that meaning. Finally, it is important to recognize that this type of slow, contemplative reading will frequently be met with hindrances that distraction or discourage. Especially discouraging is the sense that the text is not as moving as you have hoped. #RandolphHarris 13 of 18

The proper response to deal with text when it is not meeting your expectations is to stop reading, allow yourself to feel whatever is going on inside, offer the situation to God, and rededicate yourself to continuing to learn how to get better at this type of reading. With practice and persevering dedication, one will benefit deeply from such contemplative openness before God. Often, it takes several chapters for an idea to be developed with sufficient care and depth to offer something to apply to one’s life and thought. Sometimes you need to be patient and stay with a line of thought for several weeks before things get clear to you. Intellectual reading is never a quick fix, and its value is measures in the long-term maturity that comes from practicing this type of reading. Also, get into the habit of reading books that are somewhat beyond your ability too grasp. If you spend all of your time reading material that requires little intellectual effort, you will not stretch your mind and grow appreciably. Furthermore, when you undertake to read a book seriously, you cannot treat that book as a novel to be read for recreation. #RandolphHarris 14 of 18

Compared to intellectual reading, recreational reading is fairly passive, can be done quickly, and does not require a great deal of work or engagement on the part of the reader. In intellectual reading, you simply must have a better grasp of the flow of argument in what has been read, or you have not practiced intellectual reading successfully. God is constantly seeking and always monitoring hearts. And as for those whose heart is at its core completely given to him, who completely relies on and hopes in him, “The eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the Earth that He may strongly support” them (2 Chronicles 16.9). And “the eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry,” reports Psalm 34.15. Little children, whose hearts are not fully formed are especially cared for by God. “Their Angels in Heaven are always in direct contact with my Father in the Heavens,” reports Matthew 18.10. Knowing what happens to little children in this World, how could one keep their sanity without such an assurance? Jesus assure us that children are cared for by God, no matter how things appear to our senses. “And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah. #RandolphHarris 15 of 18

“For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake. Therefore give heed to my words; write the things which I have told you; and according to the time and the will of the Father they shall go forth unto the Gentiles. And whosoever will hearken unto my words and repenteth and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Search the prophets, for many there be that testify of these things. And now it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words he said unto them again, after he had expounded all the scriptures unto them which they had received, he said unto them: Behold, other scriptures I would that ye should write, that ye have not. And it came to pass that he said unto Nephi: Bring forth the record which ye have kept. And when Nephi had brought forth the records, and laid them before him, he cast his eyes upon them and said: Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should rise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so? #RandolphHarris 16 of 18

“And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled. And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that any saints did arise and appear unto many and did minster unto them? And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written. And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded. And now it came to pass that when Jesus had expounded all the scriptures in one, which they had written, he commanded them that they should teach the things which he had expounded unto them,” reports 3 Nephi 23.1-14. The eagle ends his flight and goes to his well-earned sleep in one’s western aerie. So too will I go to mine when the time is right, that I mist rise again tomorrow and take flight with God. We therefore hope in Thee, O Lord our God, that we may soon behold the glory of Thy might, when Thou wilt remove the abominations from the Earth and when all idolatry will be abolished. We hope for the day when the World will be perfected under the kingdom of the Almighty, and all humankind will call upon Thy name; when Thou wilt turn unto Thyself all the wicked of the Earth. #RandolphHarris 17 of 18
May all the inhabitants of the World perceive and know that unto Thee every knee must bend, every tongue vow loyalty. Before Thee, O Lord our God, may they bow in worship, giving honour unto Thy glorious name. May they all accept the yoke of Thy kingdom and do Thou rule over them speedily and forevermore. For the kingdom is Thine and to all eternity Thou wilt reign in glory; as it is written in Thy Torah: The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. And it has been foretold: The Lord shall be King over all the Earth; on that day the Lord shall be One, and His name One. The Lord is the spirit of the imperishable in humans, because He is eternal, He refuses to acknowledge death as triumphant, because He permits the withered blossom, fallen from the tree of humankind to flower and develop again in the human heart, the Lord possesses sanctifying power. To know that when one dies there will remain those who wherever they may be on this wide Earth, whether they be affluent of unaffluent, will send prayers after you, to know that they will cherish your memory as their dearest inheritance—what more satisfying or sanctifying knowledge can you ever hope for? And such is the knowledge bequeathed to us by the Scripture. “Everyone must submit oneself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God,” reports Romans 13.1. #RandolphHarris 18 of 18

Cresleigh Homes

When entering this expansive home, take note of the two story ceiling height at the entry. There is a bedroom on the first floor, located off the entry, with its own bathroom making it ideal for a guest suite or multigenerational living. The formal dining room provides ample space for entertaining and has convenient access to the kitchen via Butler’s Pantry.
The kitchen comes fully equipped with a large eat-in island, stainless steel appliances, and quartz counters and opens onto the spacious great room. Upstairs you’ll find the Owner’s retreat, two bedrooms, and the loft perfect for a game room or TV lounge. The Owner’s retreat is spacious and inviting with a large bedroom and spa like bathroom featuring a large soaking tub, walk-in shower, dual vanities, and two walk-in closets.
Already feeling the desire to relax in a cozy home for the holidays? Check out today’s blog post to learn all about how to “quiet” your home. Link in bio! https://cresleigh.com/blog/
Best of all, each Cresleigh home comes fully equipped with an All Ready connected home! This smart home package comes included with your home and features great tools including: video door bell and digital deadbolt for the front door, connect home hub so you can set scenes and routines to make life just a little easier. Two smart switches and USB outlets are also included, plus we’ll gift you a Google Home Hub and Go.
By what Magic Could this be Done and One’s Peace Remain, One’s Sanity Kept?

The basic fact of today is the tremendous pace of change in human life. If an artist, though one’s disclosed experience, induces a viewer to imagine new possibilities of action; if one broadens and deepens a human’s understanding of some aspect of the World; if one alters a human’s experience and concept of oneself—one is thereby mediating growth of the other. This change in the other will mediate changed behavior—as, voting behaviour, interpersonal behaviour. This all produces consequences in the social order. If an artist can be invalidated, by being regarded as a mad-person, then one’s message may be kept from the World. It likely takes courage to be an artist. One’s beneficent spiritual influence may profoundly affect others to the point of revolutionizing their attitude of life, yet one may be unaware of both the influence and its effect! The part of one’s mind which knows what is happening is not the true source of the grace; this flows through one and is not created by one. Let us not ascribe to the ordinary human of self what belongs to God. The mystical phenomena, the “inner” experiences engendered by an adept, are done though one, not by one. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21

Help comes, inspiration is derived, peace is felt, and the support of moral fortitude is obtained without personal intervention by the self-actualized or without even one’s personal knowledge of the matter. It is automatic, a response from grace to faith. The catalyst which by its presence enables chemical elements to change their forms does not itself change. In the same way the illuminate may be used by higher forces to affect, influence, or even change others without any active personal move on one’s part to being about this result. One may not even feel, see, or know what is happening, yet one has started it! One is an agent for the work of Providence, a carrier of its messages and forces. At times one is used with one’s conscious knowledge and acceptance but at other times without them. In a way, artists, at least in America as Henry Miller experienced and described it, need a certain measure of protection, if they are to flourish. It is not too farfetched to say that artists experience the World vicariously for the philistine. Just as people with strangled imaginations let the comics, movies, social media, and TV do their imagination for them, so an artist whose work is allocated to the museum and art gallery is doing imagining for other people. People go for a titivating peek now and then, only to return to sameness. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21

If producing and surviving artists are protected, or learn to protect themselves so they can survive and get on with their work, it is also true that the public is somehow shielded from the possible impact of an artist’s work on its consciousness. Public education is such as to insure that poetry, painting, drama, and innovations in the novel and dancing will not be sampled. They are the fare of oddballs, snobs, the avant-garde, who are not to be taken seriously by practical humans, and good fellows who stay busy, as they ought. If an artist’s work does see the light of day, it most assuredly reaches the consciousness of only the few. The layperson, trained and brainwashed to be suspicious of any innovations in one’s experience, feels comfortable only with the cliché. One’s patronage of the arts is limited to TV, Sports Illustrated pinups, Instagram, movies, popular tunes, and the poetry page of the Saturday Evening Post, which is not a magazine calculated to awaken people to enlightenment about their socioeconomic system. Take any art form, and ask is I designed to enlarge and stretch human consciousness, or does it function so as to keep people with their experiencing modes and habits confirmed. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21

Look at architecture, automobiles, matchbook covers, the sounds on radio and music streaming—the media for expression. The artists’ consciousness is separated from all these possible sources of encounter with one’s fellow human, the philistine who is asleep. Much occult phenomena of the adept is performed without one’s conscious participation and above one’s personal knowledge, as when various people claim to be aware of receiving help from one which one as no recollection of having given. It is God which is really giving the help, their contact with one being merely like the switch which turns on a light. However, a switch is not the same as the electric current which, in this simile, represents God. Yet a switch is not less necessary in its own place. If one does not use it, a person may grope in vain around a dark room and not find what one is seeking there. The contact with an adept turns some of the power that the adept is oneself in touch with into the disciple’s direction. The flick of a switch is done in a moment, whereas the current of light may flow into the light bulb for many hours. The contact with an adept takes a moment, but the spiritual current may emanate from one for many years, even for a lifetime. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21

Just as in the ordinary person’s deep sleep no ego is working, so this is the perfect and highest state because no ego is working here either. It reproduces deep sleep by eliminating egotism but transcends deep sleep by retaining consciousness. Thus it brings the benefit without the spiritual blankness of deep sleep into the waking state. If it be said, in criticism of one’s unawareness of so much occult phenomena manifesting in one’s name, that this lessens one’s mental stature, one must answer that it also preserves one’s mental sanity. How, with a thousand devotees, could one be attending to all of them at one and the same time? By what magic could this be done and one’s peace remain, one’s sanity be kept? God alone knows all things in a mysterious everywhereness and everywhereness. How could one be as God and yet remain as human, much more deal with other humans? For all occult phenomena belong to the World of finite form, time and space, not to the World of infinite spirit, to illusion and not to reality And, if, in further criticism, it be said that one’s unawareness makes one seem weaker than an adept should be, one can only answer humbly that because one has surrendered one’s personal rights one is weaker and more helpless than the most ordinary human, that one’s situation was tersely described in Jesus’ confession, “I have no power in myself, but only from the Father.” #RandolphHarris 5 of 21

The strain of these hundreds of questioning, eager, demanding, struggling, and perhaps suffering minds constantly directed toward one’s own would be so tremendous if one had to bear it in the ordinary way that one’s own mind would creak under it. One is given n rest from one’s task. However, one’s extraordinary attainment provides one’s protection. They reach one mostly through the subconscious self, which automatically takes care of them and leaves one free of the burden. The message or the manifestation may, on the surface, appear to come directly from the master. This may be quite true n some bases but it could not possibly be true in all cases. If it were, then one would have to look in a dozen different direction every minute of every day. However, the fact is that one helps most people with being consciously and directly aware of them. There is magical power in the thoughts of such a human. The mind, the being, the eh in one being mastered, many other things become mastered as a consequence. Do God’s will as if it were thy will, that He may do thy will as if it were His will. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21
Annul thy will before God’s will, that He may annul the will of others before thy will. Jesus put in somewhat differently: “Seek ye first the kingdom of Heaven and all these things shall be added you. Ask whatsoever ye will and it shall be done unto you” Those religionists who take the latter cannot properly be said of persons who have not attained sufficient mastery of self, who give nothing from within themselves except wishes and the words which clothe them. One may well be unaware how subtly the force is working within one until one begins to notice its effects on others, as they themselves draw attention to it. Such is the wonderful infinite of the soul that the human who succeeds in identifying one’s everyday consciousness with it, succeeds also in making one’s influence and inspiration felt in any part of the World where there is someone who puts faith in one and gives devotion to one. One’s bodily presence of visitation is not essential. The soul is one’s real self and operates on subconscious levels. Whoever recognizes this truth and humbly, harmoniously, places oneself in a passive receptive attitude towards the spiritual adept, find a source of blessed help outside one’s own limited powers. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21

One takes no credit to oneself for these things. One feels one is only an instrument. All that one can do is to invoke the higher power, and it is this which makes these things possible. It is not really any power of one’s own that does it. However, quite often one does not even have to invoke the power—and yet these things will happen all the same. Nevertheless, one’s followers are not attributing power to one which one does not possess. For these happenings, after all, occur only as the result of the contact with one. One knows that in some mysterious way one is the link between the power and the event. Although the master may not directly transmit the message or prompt the manifestation, one does exercise an influence which indirectly cases this to happen and indicated the direction in which it is to happen. The power to inspire or comfort others can operate without one’s personal awareness and even without one’s own consent. Sometimes it will manifest itself merely as if one were present and close, to be felt but not seen mentally. Sometimes, a like form of one’s body or face will appear to the mind’s eye along with this same feeling. Those whom one never meets but who direct their thought and faith towards one, receive inspiration automatically. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21

The impact of one’s personality helps those whom one does meet, if they are sympathetic, but often without one’s even being aware of it. It is not necessary for one to preach and sermonize others. Sometimes in a purely secret and unnoticed way, sometimes in a half-conscious way, those who cross one’s path temporarily and those who associate with one permanently fell that the good id being strengthened in them. This is one’s silent service. Just by being oneself, without preaching, without trying, the self-actualized may awaken in others whose lives touch one’s a longing for the higher life. One has a peculiar power which acts upon the subconscious minds of those who have any contact or association with one. I am reminded here of an ingenious plan outlined by Alexander Trocchi, a British novelist and poet. He has described “Project Sigma, a revolutionary proposal for an invisible insurrection of a million minds.” He speaks, not of a political revolution, but f a cultural coup de monde. “The cultural revolt must seize the grids of expression and the power houses of the mind,” as Trotsky seized the railway station and powerhouses while the police guarded the Kremlin. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21

Trocchi continues: “Intelligence must become self-conscious, realize its own power and dare to exercise it. What is to be seized is not an arsenal nor a capital city, but ourselves (the million or so creative, artistic consciousness which presently are in contact with Every human only through the mediation and monitoring of middle-business people, politicians, establishment people who insure that only those products of consciousness reach Every human after they have first been assessed for money-earning power, and political asepsis). We reject the ideal of a frontal attack. Mind cannot withstand brute force in open battle. It is rather a question of perceiving what are the forces that are at work in the World and out of whose interaction must come to be; and by a kind of mental ju-jitsu that is ours by virtue of intelligence, modifying, correcting, polluting, deflecting, corrupting, eroding, outflanking, inspiring, what we might call the invisible insurrection. It will come on the mass of humans, if it comes at all, not as something they voted for or fought for, but like the changing season. Contemporary humans expect to be entertained; art is something of which the majority seldom things, expect derisively. This sorry state of affairs is unconsciously sanctioned (even fostered, I add) by the stubborn philistinism of cultural institutions. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21

“Museums have approximately the same hours of business as churches, the same sanctimonious orders and silences, and a snobbish presumption in direct spiritual opposition to the vital people whose works are closeted there. What have those silent corridors to do with Rembrant, and the no smoking signs to do with Van Gogh? Art can have no existential significance for civilization that draws a line between life and art and collects artifacts like ancestral bones for reverence. Art must inform the living; we envisage a situation in which life is continually renewed (I would say consciousness is continually renewed and expanded) by art, a situation imaginatively and passionately constructed to inspire each individual to respond creatively. We envisage it, but it is we, now, who must create it. For it does not exist.” Trocchi points out that the political-economic structure of Western society is such that the gears of creative intelligence mesh with those of power such that creative intelligence is prohibited from initiating anything, and it acts only at the behest of vested interests that are antipathetic toward it. Trocchi suggest that the creative intelligences must have control of their means of expression, by eliminating the brokers. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21
How to being?—asks Torcchi. At a chosen moment in a vacant country house not far from London, he proposes to foment a kind of cultural “jam session.” Out of this will evolve the prototype of a spontaneous university. The building will be large enough for a pilot group of astronauts of inner space to situation itself, the entire site to allow for spontaneous architecture and eventual town planning. The adventure, in a capitalist society, must pay. Trocchi envisions an agency to handle all the work of individuals associated with the university. Art is fantastically profitable, but it is not the creators who reap the benefits. An agency founded by the creators and operated by highly paid professional could harvest new talent long before professional agencies were aware it existed. He envisions an international organization with branch universities all over the World, near every capital city, autonomous, unpolitical, economically independent. Resident professors will be creators; staff and students international. Membership in one branch entitles one to membership in others, travel being encouraged. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21

The object of each branch is to supercharge the cultural life of each capital city as it promotes cultural exchange internationally, and function as a nonspecialized experimental school and creative workshop. Each branch serves as the nucleus of an experimental town to which people will be attracted; and after a stay, they will derive a renewed and infectious sense of life. The economic structure would come from commissions on sales of original work; money from patents and applications; retail income from a museum restaurant, music performances, et cetera; and fees and gifts and subsidies. Trocchi concludes: “The cultural possibilities of this movement are immense, and time is ripe for it. The World is awfully near to the brink of disaster. Scientist, artist, teachers, creative people of good will everywhere are in suspense. Waiting. Remembering that it is our kind of expression, we should have no difficulty in recognizing the spontaneous university as the possible detonator of the invisible insurrection.” Alexander Trocchi’s vision and the beginnings at an action-blueprint seem to me to be prophetic, and even practical. Certainly, if my analysis of the phenomenology of being-an-artist is sound, there must be implications for growth of persons exposed to art, and repercussions on the structure of society. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21

I think we need to produce and live in a spiritual and professional World, where other people and the material surroundings have a consciousness-expanding effect upon us, awakening the artist in all of us, unifying our heard with our hearts and bodies and our imaginations with our feelings and intellect, and bringing an artistic dimension into everything we do and are. The alternative is to be a turned-off, useful tool, or an impotent, ignored or martyred creator whose creations collect dust. The heart (will, spirit) is precisely what God observes and addresses in human beings. He cares little or nothing for outward show. He responds to the heart because it is, above all, who we are: who we choose and have chosen to be. What God wants of us can only come from there. He respects the centrality of our will and will not override it. God seeks Godly character in us and for us, to fulfill the eternal destiny He has in mind for us. However, on the other hand, God is sensitive to the slightest move of the heart toward Him. This is the witness of both the Bible and of life. It does not matter whether you are “religious” or not (“Jew” or “Greek”), for “The same one is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for ‘Whoever will call upon the nae of the LORD will be saved,’” reports Romans 10.12-13. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21

Multitudes of people have come to a full knowledge of God because in a moment of complete hopelessness they prayed “The Atheist’s Prayer” or something like it: “O God, if there is a God, save my soul if I have a soul.” When that is the true cry of the heart, of the inmost spirit of the individual, who has no longer any hope other than God, God hears and responds without fail. It is as if he has a “heart monitor” installed in every person. And when the heart truly reaches out to God as God, no longer looking to itself or others, he responds with the gift f “life from above.” In fact, God is constantly looking for people who will worship him “in spirit and in truth.” What does it mean? It means people who have freehearted and wholehearted admiration, respect, and commitment to God as the highest being of all. They never try to conceal anything from Him and always reply completely on Him. God is actively seeking such people, whoever they may turn out to be. God is spirit, we recall, and nothing is hidden from him. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21

So those who worship God must worship Him and spirit and therefor in truth. “Yet time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth,” reports John 4.23-24. At the level of the human spirit, nothing can be hidden. Lying always depends upon the use of our body. “And verily I say unto you, I give unto you a sign, that ye may know the time when these things shall be about to take place—that I shall gather in, from their long dispersion, my people, O house of Israel, and shall establish again among them my Zion: and behold, that is the thing which I will give unto you for a sign—for verily I say unto you that when these things which I declare unto you, and which I shall declare unto you hereafter of myself, and by the power of the Holy Ghost which shall be given unto you of the Father, shall be made known unto the Gentiles that they may know concerning this people who are a remnant of the hose of Jacob, and concerning this my people who shall be scattered by them; verily, verily, I say unto you, when these things shall be made known unto them of the Father, and shall come forth of the Father, from them unto you; #RandolphHarris 16 of 21

“For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth from them unto a remnant of your seed, that the covenant of the Father may be fulfilled which he hath covenanted with his people, O house of Israel; therefore, when these words and the works which shall be wrought among you hereafter shall come forth from the Gentiles, unto your seed which shall dwindle in unbelief because of the iniquity; for thus it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the Gentiles, that he may show forth his power unto the Gentiles, for this cause that the Gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent and come unto me and be baptized in my name and know of the true points of my doctrine, that they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel; and when these things come to pass that they seed shall be a sign unto them, that they may know that the work of the Father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the house of Israel. And when that day shall come, it shall come to pass that kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21

“For in that day, for my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them those who will not believe it, although a human shall declare it unto them. However, behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt one, although one shall be marred because of them. Yet will heal one, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil. Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause one to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be done even as Moses said) they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant. And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21

“And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds; and I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy land, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers; thy graven images I will also cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands; and I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities. And it shall come to pass that all lyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, prestcrafts, and whoredomes, shall be done away. For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that say whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel; and I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. However, if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land and for their inheritance; and they shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob, and also as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21

“And then shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in, who are scattered upon all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem. And then shall the power of Heaven come down among them; and I also will be in the midst. And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people. Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea, even the tribes which have been lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem. Yea, the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way whereby they may come unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name. Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all the nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance. And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward,” reports 3 Nephi 21.1-29. You who guide travelers, please slide me through traffic. You who grant patience, please help me calmly wait. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21

The ship reaches its haven. The wagon reaches its home. Today’s journey is over and all can rest. Those who have guided the Sun in its journey: Thank you. May you guide me as well. Great blackness, promiser of mysteries, bringer of dreams: greeting to you, Father Night, as you cast your blanket over the World. “I am about to fulfill the precept of the counting of the Omer, as it is written in the Law: Ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought an omer of grain as a wave-offering, seven complete weeks they shall be; until the morrow of the seventh week shall ye number fifty days,” reports Leviticus 23.15. Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God Ruler of the Universe, who hast sanctified us by Thy precepts and hast enjoined upon us the counting of the Omer. This is the first day of the mer. This is the sixth day of the Omer. This is the seventh day, making one week of the Omer. May the All-merciful restore worship in the Temple on its ancient site. May it be Thy will, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, to grant our portion in Thy Torah and may the Temple be rebuilt in our day. There will serve Thee with awe as in the days of old. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21

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Her Shadow Fell Upon Him, and Charmed a Tumult to His Heart, and New Life into His Eyes!

The activist cannot be a perfectionist. One has got to be a realist. And one ought to be an idealist. The genius in the arts is probably a specialized “experiencer,” who from time to time attains a unified and turned-on consciousness. This is part of the story of what an artist is—a person with an unreduced consciousness, capable of functioning fully in modes unavailable to the average being, and capable of moments, days, or a lifetime in a unified state of consciousness. A producing artist must also be an honest portrayer of one’s experience—whether it be visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or other kind of experience. One can have an artistic consciousness and be a poor craftsman, unable to transmute a memory, imagination, fantasy, or thought into the possibility of perceptual, recollective, emotional, or imaginative experience in another person. Unless the artist produces, and produces artfully, one is only an artist in one’s consciousness, and artist-for-oneself. One only becomes an artist-for-others when one externalizes one’s experience, embodies it in some idiom—words, paint, clay, sounds, the movements of the dance. The meeting with a great soul is considered to convey some kind of a blessing. #RandolphHarris 1 of 20
We now see the scientific grounds for this belief, even though the masses themselves are quite unaware of this fact but feel or have the faith that the blessing is there. Once a person has found one’s way to truth one can speak of it simply, directly, and naturally, without personal pretentiousness or ostentation. Yet those who underestimate the worth of what one has to say would be in error. The insensitive and coarse may not feel it but the others will need much dealing with one to find an air of distinction, not easily explicable. There is power and strangeness in one’s presence, for it brings those who are sensitive enough to feel its quality to confess what they can hardly confess to their intimate friends. One has no desires to satisfy through them, no claims to make upon them. Because they instinctively feel that nothing of the personal self enters into one’s dealings with them, they just as instinctively trust one. One becomes their confessional priest. They bring their secrets, their sins and their confidences to one’s ears. One who has conquered one’s own sorrows and abolished one’s own ignorance will find in time that others will come of their own accord to one. #RandolphHarris 2 of 20

One will sit there imperturbable yet sympathetic, inscrutably poised yet gently understanding, while the sorrowful and the aspiring, the World worn and the seeking, pour out their sorrows and aspirations, their sins and ideals as at a priestly confessional—yet without any assumptions of priestly superiority, without any pretense of moral height, and without any quackery of pontifical infallibility. When one speaks, one’s detached, impersonal standpoint will help to reorient their own, will show the truth of a situation and the lesson of an experience as their desire-tossed ego could never show it. And all the while, the impact of one’s aura will gradually strengthen, calm, and uplift them if they are at all sensitive. An artist-for-oneself is one who seeks to produce for one’s reflective awareness a portrayal of one’s imaginative experience of some aspect of the World. Where others only perceive the World in its relevance to their usual concerns, the artist—detached from such concerns—perceives more and different from the average person, receiving more of the possible disclosure of the World. #RandolphHarris 3 of 20

And one enriches one’s perception by unifying it with imagination, memory, and passion. One does not perceive only those aspects one can eat, spend, or use to gratify this need or that. One experiences more of the World-for-itself. Sometimes the mere act of confession to an adept brings release to a troubled mind almost instantaneously and seemingly miraculously. Thus a highly placed government official who was troubled for many years with nightmares in which odious retiled played a prominent role, was entirely and permanently freed from them by nothing more than mentioning one’s case to such an adept in whose attainment one believed. Again, an exceedingly busy businessman, who could find no time for prayer or spiritual study and saw no prospect of doing so for many years, became distressed and worried about this situation. He did not want to be submerged by material activities. He asked an adept for advice. He was told to begin each morning with a three-minute prayer and not worry. Since then his anxiety has vanished and he has enjoyed spiritual peace in the very midst of his work. At other times a question or two by the same adept will ferret out secreted episodes that are stifling progress or will bring up subconscious memories that are poisoning character. #RandolphHarris 4 of 20

The third group of effects are perhaps the most wonderful of all because they deal with causes that are the most deep-rooted of all. The innate tendencies born of former incarnations may themselves be influenced beneficially by the dealing association of an adept. One may sit quietly and listen very sympathetically to the troubled outpouring of a sufferer. At the end of a single session, the healing vibrations of the adept’s interests may spontaneously effect an apparent miracle. The burden of long-felt grievance may fall away, the pressure of agony be taken away. The sufferer’s inner being will give up its secret sins, expose its hidden ugliness, and surrender its private fears only to have them thrown instantly out of one’s mind and life. Only the sensitive are likely to leave one’s presence uplifted, quieted, and reassured in mind. The others—and they are the majority—come with nothing and leave with nothing. One who sit in meditation with a master may find an inner impetus developing out of the contact. One may never utter aloud any prayer on behalf of others or pronounce any benedictory formula over them. Yet the silent descent of one’s grace may be acutely felt and gratefully received. #RandolphHarris 5 of 20

We may borrow inner peace and inner strength by the proximity of such a human. However with its cessation, the peace and strength depart. Without opening one’s lips one communicates a message to every sensitive seek who enters one’s orbit. The effect of this meeting, provided the proper conditions exist, is to give the seeker a powerful psychic and spiritual stimulus. The presence of one human demeans us and makes us seem less than we are, whereas that of another like this adept will dignify us and seem to bring the goal for a while within easy reach. Those who are sensitive to true spirituality will always leave one’s presence feeling of having been greatly benefited. From one’s own unshakable calm, the sensitive draw respite from their troubles. From one’s own unusual experiences, the humble draw priceless counsel. There is danger in the frown of one guided and overshadowed by God, as there is blessing in His favour. To come near God is the path to finding possibility which all possess. One must remain calm amid adversity to a degree so extraordinary that others sharing the same trouble feel less borne down by it and more able to tackle it. #RandolphHarris 6 of 20

In one’s presence we are willing to situ without words merely to enjoy the peace which emanates from one. To have sat within the aura of a great soul is a memorable thing, but to have communed silently with one while doing so is to have received a lifelong blessing. In one’s adept’s presence, some people feel as if they underwent a religious conversion—yet there was no particular brand of religion to which it could be referred. And, since one’s capacity for imagining has not been socialized out of one, one can perceive in a way that is unified, fused with imagination, memory, feeling, et cetera. One can have a tasting experience of a vision, a feeling experience of a sound; and one can experience recalled associations and imagine possible variations of what the average being only sees a little of, and calls a woman’s hip. Now, take this artist-for-oneself. Let one present the objectifications of one’s experience in a painting, novel, poem, play, dance, or song. It now becomes a part of the being of the World. It can have a being-for-others, whereas before the disclosure it had a being only for the artist oneself. Since the artist is part of the World for Others, as they are Other to one, one provides the possibility for these others to experience striking change. #RandolphHarris 7 of 20

Since humans can transmit one’s consciousness to one’s fellows, and since humans seem (unless it is trained out of them) responsive to their fellows as beings like themselves—the disclosure of the artists, which is always metaphor, can affect the consciousness of one’s audience. Consciousness appears to be protean. I can assume an infinite of forms and structures. In principle, I can influence your consciousness of the World. I can clearly influence the ways you construe or name your consciousness of things and people. I can invite you into the imaginative, recollective, or conceptual modes. I may even be able to reintegrate your fragmented consciousness, and trip off a unification that you may experience with explosive force. I may be able to persuade you to suspend your projects, and simply let the being of the World disclose itself to you playfully, pointlessly, so that your perceptual consciousness is expanded, only to shrink when you once more assume your projects. An artist can affect you in these ways. It is because an artist is not entirely socialized that one can experience in modes, channels, and intensities not easily available to one’s fellows. It is because in one’s being one embodies possible modes of being that could be attained by others, that an artist can be an agent of social change and personal growth for others. #RandolphHarris 8 of 20
Political leaders know tis and seek to annihilate or geld artist whose work is inflammatory, threatening to produce new consciousness in many people, consciousness of themselves and of new possibilities in the World that will produce changed behaviour in the World. The politician wants people to behave in ways that will not rock the boat or the prevailing power structure. Behaviour is mediated by consciousness. They have a vested interest in controlling the consciousness of people, so that behaviour will remain the safe, predictable, controllable range. If the grand and great doctrine of the Church tells us anything, it tells us that whoever you are and however busy you may be (whether U.S. President, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a Fortune 5000 business executive, or leader of a parachurch organization), the Church must be at the very center of your life. Church hitchhiking is an aberration! And so is a mild commitment. People, honestly, are you a hitchhiker kind of a “free agent” looking for a tentative place on the roster, here for a season, there for another? #RandolphHarris 9 of 20
If so, you will never attain to your full spiritual humanhood, nor will your family reach its spiritual maturity. People, at the end of the twentieth century both the Church and the lost World need humans who practice the discipline of Church. As part of this matter, you need to commit yourself to regularly attend the worship services of your church. Your schedule ought to bow to your commitment. The constant character of the will apart from God is duplicity—or, more accurately, fragmentation and multiplicity. It wills many things and they cannot be reconciled with each other. Turned away from God, thought and feeling fall into chaos, and the will, for reasons given above, cannot but follow. There is nothing outside it that can pull or push it right. However, this conflicted complexity may go unrecognized or unacknowledged. The will sees very simple when we first reflect upon it. We decide to go to the grocery, for example, to buy milk and bread. We decide to tell the truth (or not) in a difficult situation. The decision or choice seems as simple as a puff of wind on our cheek. However, this is only because it is a nonphysical act or event, which we must strongly exert ourselves to grasp. #RandolphHarris 10 of 20
Who can distinguish darkness from the soul? Compared to a reading lamp or ballpoint pen, for example, its parts do not leap out at us. When we come to reflect more deeply, however, we suddenly realize that a choice or act of will is not simple at all. The understandings, feelings, and purposes that enter into it may be highly complicated, as are the degrees of strength with which it is taken, as well as the other motivations and actions and choices to which it is related. It is rich field for the play of good or evil. In a condition of alienation from God, the complexity of the human will moves irresistibly toward duplicity, not just in the harmless sense of “doubleness,” but in the sense of deception. This is the result of pretending to feel and think one way while acting in another. Often the deception involved is self-deception. Our pride will constantly trap us between desire and fear. Rather than surrender our desire, we will do what we want but conceal it because of fear of the consequences of being known. And perhaps then will also try to conceal our fear because of our pride. We will try to pretend that there is “nothing going on” at all. #RandolphHarris 11 of 20

Accordingly, the natural and proper complexity of the will lead those thus living as their own god in their World into ever-deeper layers of deception, and then into darkness, where they cannot even understand themselves and why they do what they do. Adults who in their childhood had to hold the lives of addicted parents and their family together may be among the clearest illustrations of this heartbreaking condition, but in some degree everyone is subject to it. The existentialist portrayal of sincerity as always bogus is in fact a correct picture of the will apart from God, and its emphasis upon the natural complexity of human will is correct and helpful. That natural complexity is good and God-given. It is an essential part of human greatness. However, the deceitfulness and darkness of the heart apart from God is inevitable to those who trust only themselves and so must try to take charge of their life and their World. Then, as we have quoted previously, “the heart is devious above all else; it is perverse—who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17.9). And the answer to that question is, as the prophet continues in the very next verse to say: “I think LORD test the mind and search the heart, to give to all their according ways.” #RandolphHarris 12 of 20

To God the amazing duplicity of the human heart is totally transparent. Sad to say, we live in a World where others, including our loved ones as well as the institutions of society and government (and those running them) are with distressing regularity engaged in duplicity, deceitfulness, and darkness. It is a rare individual who does not have people around one who cannot be trusted to do what is right when something hey desire or fear is involved. How often we have to deal with someone whom we know at the moment to be simply working out how one is going to mislead us. Perhaps very few of us could honestly say we are untouched in some way by our own duplicity. Few of us could honestly say that we do not sometimes have to struggle to overcome deceit and darkness, within ourselves as well as around us. Our only hope if to entirely place our confidence in the God and Father of Jesus Christ, who is willing to enter the duplicity of our heart and bring it wholly to himself if we earnestly invite him. He is “greater than our heart, and knows all things,” reports 1 John 3.20. “And it came to pass that he commanded the multitude that they should cease to pray, and also his disciples. And he commanded them that they should not cease to pray in their hearts. #RandolphHarris 13 of 20

“And he commanded them that they should arise and stand upon their feet. And they arose up and stood upon their feet. And it came to pass that he brake bread again and blessed it, and gave to the disciples to eat. And when they had eaten he commanded them that they should break bread, and give unto the multitude. And when they had given unto the multitude he also gave them wine to drink, and commanded them that they should give unto the multitude. Now, there had been no bread, neither wine, brought by the disciples, neither by the multitude; but he truly gave unto them to bread to eat, and also wine to drink. And he said unto them: He that eateth this bread eateth of my body to his soul; and he that drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood to his soul; and his soul shall never hunger nor thirst, but shall be filled. Now, when the multitude had all eaten and drunk, behold, they were filled with the Spirit; and they did cry out with one voice, and gave glory to Jesus, whom they both saw and heard. And it came to pass that when they had all given glory unto Jesus, he said unto them: Behold now I finish the commandment which the Father hath commanded me concerning this people, who are a remnant of the house of Israel. #RandolphHarris 14 of 20
“Ye remember that I spake unto you, and said that when the words of Isaiah should be fulfilled—behold they are written, ye have them before you, therefore search them—and verily, verily, I say unto you, that when they shall be fulfilled then is the fulfilling of the convent which the Father hath made unto his people, O house of Israel. And then shall the remnants, which shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the Earth, be gathered in from the east and from the west, and from the south and from the north; and they shall be brought to knowledge of the Lord their God, who hath redeemed them. And the Father hath commanded me that I should give unto you this land, for your inheritance. And I say unto you, that if the Gentiles do not repent after the blessings which they hall receive, after they have scattered my people—then shall ye, who are a remnant of the house of Jacob, go forth among them; and ye shall be in the midst of them who shall be many; and ye shall be among them as a lion among the beast of the forest, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he goeth through both treadeth down and teareth in piences, and none can deliver. #RandolphHarris 15 of 20
“Thy hand shall be lifted up upon thing adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off. And I will gather my people together as a man gathereth his sheaves into the floor. For I will make my people with whom the Father hath covenanted, yea, I will make thy hoofs brass. And thou shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substances unto the Lord of the whole Earth. And behold, I am he wo doeth it. And it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that the sword of my justice shall hang over them at that day; and except they repent it shall fall upon them, saith the Father, yea, even upon all the nations of the Gentiles. And it shall come to pass that I will establish my people, O house of Israel. And behold, this people will I establish in this land, unto the fulfilling of the covenant which I made with your father Jacob; and it shall be a New Jerusalem. And the powers of Heaven shall be in the midst of this people; yea, even I will be in the midst of you. Behold, I am he of whom Moses spake, saying: A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people. #RandolphHarris 16 of 20

“Verily I say unto you, yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have testified on me. And behold, ye are the children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel; and ye are the covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the Earth be blessed. The Father having raised me up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the covenant—and after that ye were blessed then fulfilleth the Father the covenant which he made with Abraham, saying: In thy seed shall all the kindreds of the Earth be blessed—unto the pouring out of the Holy Ghost through me upon the Gentiles, which blessing upon the Gentiles shall make them mighty above all, unto the scattering of my people, O house of Israel. And they shall be a scourge unto the people of this land. Nevertheless, when they shall have received the fulness of my gospel, then if they shall harden their hearts against me I will return their iniquities upon their own heads, saith the Father. And I will remember the covenant which I have made wit my people; and I have covenanted with them that I would gather them together in mine own due time, that would give unto them again the land of their fathers for their inheritance, which is the promised land unto them forever, saith the Father. #RandolphHarris 17 of 20
“And it shall come to pass that the time cometh, when the fullness of my gospel shall be preached unto them; and they shall believe in me, that I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and shall pray unto the Father in my name. Then shall their watchmen lift up their voice, and with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye. Then will the Father gather them together again, and give unto them Jerusalem for the land of their inheritance. Then shall they break forth into joy—Sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Father hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Father hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the Earth shall see the salvation of the Father; and the Father and I are one. And then shall be brought to pass that which is written: Awake, awake again, and put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. #RandolphHarris 18 of 20

“Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith the Lord: Ye have sold yourselves for naught, and ye shall be redeemed without money. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that my people shall know my name; yea, in that day they shall know hat I am he that doth speak. And then shall they say: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of one that bringeth good tidings unto them, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings unto them of good, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings unto them of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion: Thy God reigneth! And then shall a cry go forth: Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch not that which is unclean; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. For ye shall not go out with haste nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel shall be your rearward. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. As many were astonished at thee—his visage was so marred, more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men—so shall he sprinkle man nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him, for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. #RandolphHarris 19 of 20
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, all these things shall surely come, even as the Father hath commanded me. Then shall this covenant which the Father hat covenanted with his people be fulfilled; and then shall Jerusalem be inhabited again with my people, and it shall be the land of their inheritance,” reports 3 Nephi 20.1-46. With the day over, let me rest, Holy Ones. I have earned this quiet time by my day’s labours. Please come and share my ease, please come and rest wit me. Please surround me and support me, be my rest, my peace, my home. Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast made a distinction between the sacred and the secular, between light and darkness, between Israel and the heathens, between the seventh day of rest and the six days of work. Thou hast set a distinction between the higher sanctity of the Sabbath and the lesser sanctity of the Festival, and hast hallowed the Sabbath above the six days of work. Thus Thou hast sanctified Israel by Thy holiness. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who distinguishest between the Sabbath and the Festivals. Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast kept us in life, and hast preserved us and enabled us to reach this season. #RandolphHarris 20 of 20

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Of Happy Times, when All He Had Endured Would Seem a Feather to the Mighty Prize!

I must be getting absent-minded. Whenever I complain that things are not what they used to be, I always forget to include myself. Humans grow and fulfill their peculiar possibilities—physical, mental, and spiritual—only through struggle, and, moreover, struggle to find one’s own way. To eliminate it is virtually to annihilate all possibilities save the one actualized, the possibility of being like somebody else. Behavioural engineers are correct when they discuss the undisputable value of programmed instruction, say, of the content of textbooks. It removed “needless struggle” from the teachers’ effort to impart knowledge. They argue that elimination of struggles saves time, and frees teacher and pupil alike for free dialogue, discussion, and other unprogrammable encounters. What is overlooked is that there is something monstrous, at least to me, of having one thousand pupils reading the same book in the same way—which is what a “programmed text” requires the reader to do. The fact is, there are many ways for people to master skills or subject matter, and many ways to read a book. It has by no means been proven that programmed materials are better, than, say, lectures, demonstrations, and the struggle on a student’s part to learn efficient ways to tackle subject-matter. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21
We may have been sold a bill of goods. We may be so enamored of the scientific aura exuded by “learning packages,” that we have become blind to shortcomings. However, since there may be something of value in programed instruction for schools and universities, “P.I.” should be optional, not compulsory. One high school student I know is obliged to study English grammar from a programmed text, and it is driving him silly. I advised him to get hold of an old fashioned book and read it sub rosa. Programmers can program humans who conform to Hitler’s or Himmler’s image of the ideal, useful (to the state) human. They can program humans who conform to the image of humans who have made it in the United States of America. They only thing they cannot so far program is commitment itself. Perhaps soon they will, and scientific knowledge will thereby be advanced. That is good. However, each human must, by oneself and for oneself, select goals worth one’s struggle to achieve them. It is the meaningful struggle itself—not the product, the success or failure—that makes humans. Guaranteed success without full engagement produces suave but moronic “nebbishes.” We may have to develop a new kind of specialist, as automation and programming of behaviour eliminate struggle and risk from more realms of existence. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21
The new specialist might be called a struggleologist, or a “de-programmer” (in fact, this is what the guru and therapist are). It will be one’s task to treat with “programmed humans” who have enough soul left to realize one is bored to death. Perhaps one too can develop a program, whereby, in small incremental steps, one will reintroduce one’s client to tolerate increasing degrees of uncertainty, increasing degrees of challenge. One will be a coach of spiritual weightlifting. One’s will be an “antiprogram” program. As I see them, programmers are invaluable in settings where humans want or need to function like interchangeable parts in a social system, where “training” is the objective. Some kind of learning-programs is necessary to train soldiers, or to indoctrinate people in traffic rules, or the rules in Emily Post etiquette book. Perhaps programmed instruction is best seen as the swiftest way for a society to impart some of its past—its culture, knowledge, and skills—to the oncoming generations. However, for education, which entails inventing and actualizing the future, I do not believe packaged teaching programs are relevant. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21
Imagine the fully programmed human sitting, waiting for the next frame in one’s teaching machine to appear—and the electricity breaks down. One no longer knows how to search for facts, though one may be surrounded by them. One is like the city boy who starves to death in the jungle, surrounded by enough protein and carbohydrates to feed a million humans—but not in the form of bread, streak, caramel apple tarts, New York cheesecake, cobb salad, and espresso. Survival training in the army and outwardbound training in the Peace Corps are embodiments of antiprogramming. However, as fast as these antiprogram programs are evolved, new programs spring up. I think that like antibiotics, programming is a mixed curse-blessing. A sterile gut produced by massive doses of penicillin and aureomycin cannot cope with minor infection. A sterile soul, produced by massive doses of programming, cannot cope with the unprogrammed disclosure of the World. Once one is on those giant shoulders of the master one chooses, if one is to grow, one must leap, grope, and struggle to fulfill new possibilities. The quest cannot be simplified, and it takes courage in the face of repeated failure to make actual what was an invented possibility. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21
Scientific programming may be the way in which humans skills are quickly attained for this new Utopia we face. However, if a human is not to go mad, or become wholly robot-like oneself in this impending World, ten Education—with a capital E—must be reorganized, so as to awaken imagination and courage to struggle in millions. Imagination is called for so people can invent new values, beyond comfort, ease, and sensual enjoyment, worth pursuing (these latter will be produced automatically, by machines). And courage will be called for, so that meaningful struggle, that vital ingredient, will remain in the World. Then, the new World will be populated by humans, not humanoids. And these humans will have the inner resources to keep inventing and producing new Worlds, whenever their present World becomes static and not fit for the whole human to live in. The implication for education is clear: where training is called for, let it be done quickly and efficiently with all the technical help available. However, let the schools and universities have on their staff those who expertise is, not training, but rather the talents of the guru. These humans will aim at helping learners to transcend their own programming, to invent new goals, and to address them with vigour and courage. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21
Change is in the World. The being of the World is always changing. My body is in the World, and it changes from instant to instant. Things and other people are in the World; and they metamorphose swiftly or ever so slowly. I may not be aware of the change that is the World. The World-for-me may not appear to change; but rather it may seem congealed, constant, fixed. I may also experience my own being as unchanging. In fact, people strive to construct a stable World, a World they can control and get their bearings in. A view of the World exclusively as constant is an achievement—a praxis, not a “given.” A naïve view of the World sees it as both a “buzzing, blooming confusion” and as stable and “structured.” We simply cannot navigate in a World that changes swiftly. And so we “freeze” it by pledging not to notice change until it has reached some critical degree, until it has gone so far it can no longer be ignored. Then, we might acknowledge it. If everything changed during the night, and you awakened to a new experience of yourself and the World, you might be terrified. However, if suddenly, the World froze, so that as everything now is, it would remain for eternity, you would be horrified. It would be hell—a hell of perfect predictability and boredom. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21
A growth cycle can also be triggered when goals and projects turn stale; when money can no longer buy anything that the person wants; when the fame that was once the person’s glory has turned to ashes; and when the love of that woman, long-pursued, is now experienced as cloying, suffocating possessiveness. The lack of fulfillment when long-enjoyed goals are achieved signifies, however, indirectly, that our personal being has changed, unnoticed by us. Our concept of ourselves, as the person who would be fulfilled by this pleasure or be made happier by that “success,” has gotten out of touch with the reality of our being. We are in for some surprises. The boredom signified the imminence of growth. The time is ripe for the experience of new goals, and new unfoldings of our being. It is time to let the World and ourselves disclose their being to our experience. We may undergo this new experience (if we let it happen) in delight, or in the terrifying realization that we are going out of our minds. The World is full of Being, of many beings—some human, some animal, some inanimate. Being has many forms. Every being in the World can be likened to a kind of broadcasting station, transmitting signals of its being to the World. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21
This transmission is ceaseless. As people and things and animals exit, they change; and they broadcast the fact of this change into the World. You and I are both beings, but beings of a special kind. We have (or are) awareness. We are embodied consciousness. We experience the transmissions that originate in our bodies; and through our bodies, we experience some of the transmissions of being that originate elsewhere. As human beings, we originate transmissions of our being, and we receive transmissions from other beings. My being discloses itself to me—I experience my own being—and it is disclosed to you through my appearance and behaviour. My experience of my being is different from your experience of my being. And my experience of the being you disclose to me differs from your experience of your own being. Humans are concept-makers. They form concepts of the being of the World, and of one’s own self-being. A concept is an abstraction from what is. From a phenomenological and existential perspective, a concept is a commitment to stop noticing the changing disclosures (disclosures of change) incessantly being transmitted by the beings in the World. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21
I will suspend my concepts when my projects in life (which depend on accurate concepts of reality for their fulfillment) are thwarted, when my predictions about how things will act or react prove wrong. Then, if I adopt the attitude of “let the World disclose itself to me,” I will have grown. My concepts of being can change under more pleasant circumstances than failure. In those rare moments when I have gratified all of my urgent needs—I have done my work, I feel good and fulfilled, and I want nothing out f the World just now—then the World will disclose all kinds of new faces to me. I am letting the World “be itself, for itself.” I may then notice all kinds of things about my friends, trees, the beautiful Sky, animals, whatever is there; things that call upon me to enlarge my previous concepts of those same beings. Thus, success and gratification can be psychedelic (consciousness-expanding). They can open up my World for me and let me experience it in new dimensions. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21
You may notice that I appear different from the last time you saw me. My behaviour and my verbal disclosures will show a change to you. You will say of me, “He has changed, he has grown.” You will have to modify your concept of me at that time. If you do, then you will have grown. Your action toward me will reflect your changed concept of me, your changed experience of me. And I shall then say to you, “You have changed; you have grown.” You will feel confirmed in your being. You will feel understood; you will feel that the disclosure of your changed being—in words and actions—has been received and acknowledged by me. I have a certain concept of my being, of myself. This is my self-concept. It is my belief about my own being. My being discloses itself to me in the form of my intentional experience of myself. I experience the feel of my body’s existence. I experience my own action from the inside. I form a concept of myself—what I am like, how I react, what I am capable of and what I cannot do—on the basis of this self-experience. You may also tell me what and who you think I am, on the basis of your experience of the outside of my being; and I take your belief into account. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21
We may agree that I am thus and such a kind of person—a man, a psychologist, kind, strong, able to play a fair game of handball, unable to sing in keys, et cetera. Once I have formed this concept of who and what I am, I proceed to behave in the World as if that is all and everything I am or can be. My behaviour, my self-disclosure, endlessly confirms my self-concept. It is as if I have taken a pledge to present this and only this as my being. In fact, my being, like all Being, is changed. This change discloses itself to me though my experience and to others through my behaviour. However, if you and I have formed a concept of my being, neither of us pays attention to the ceaseless transmission of my changing being. It is transmitted, but no receiver is tuned in to acknowledge the change. Things can get more complicated. I may notice the changes, and change my concept of myself accordingly. You may not notice the changes. You treat me as if I were the same person. I do not recognize myself as the one you believe I am. I feel you are talking to somebody else, not me. Or, you may notice the changes before I do, and change your concept of me accordingly. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21
Again, I may not recognize the “me” that you seem to be addressing. Your concept of me is disjunctive from my self-concept. Or, I may display and disclose the newly experienced facets of my being to you. You may say, “I do not recognize you. You are not yourself today. I do not like the person you seem to be. I will come see you when you have gotten back into your ‘right mind.’” If you thus disconfirm my newly experienced and tentatively disclosed being, and if I am unsure of myself, I may try to suppress and repress my newly emerged being and seek to appear to you and to me as the person I was. If I do this chronically, and successfully, I enter an untenable situation; and I may become mad. When I experience you, I may not be undergoing a perceptual experience, but rather an imaginative experience of your being. I tune out your disclosed being, and I replace it by an imaginative experience. Or a fantasy experience. Imagination veils perception. In fact, much of our experience of the people in our lives, even when they are face-to-face with us, is not perceptual, but imaginative, or fantastical. It is like a mode of experience embodied in one’s conscious experience of the World, but may not be true. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21
Sometimes we have to realize that our instincts and intuition may not be accurate or there may be some reason they are not applicable in this situation. We may be reading the person correctly, but there may be something about their being that is acting as an obstruction to our desires. Perhaps the person is just fascinated by our attention, perhaps the person is in a relationship, or perhaps the individual is just nice? The perceptual mode of experiencing entails the readiness to receive inputs of disclosure from the other, such that one’s awareness of the other is a changing awareness. However, the imaginative and fantasy modes of experiencing “tune out” fresh disclosures. My image of you remains fixed, unhanged by your disclosures, because I do not pay them any attention. Now, if you can break through my imaginative experience, or my fantasy image, of you; if you can catch my attention, by a shout, a blow, a scream of pain or joy—I may, as it were, “wake up” from my daydream-like experience of your being and undergo a fresh perceptual experience of you. You will surprise me. If you do this, if you get me “un-hung” from fixation on these modes of experiencing you—the imaginative and the fantasy modes—so that I can now perceive you, I shall have grown. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21
My consciousness of you will have expanded. My awareness will have grown; and where I had previously been aware of you only as an image or a concept (though I was not reflectively aware that his was an image), now I can experience you perceptually. If my consciousness expands so that I can experience you or the World in many more modes than I could hitherto—imaginatively, perceptually, recollectively, in the mode of fantasy—then I have grown. I am my awareness; and if my awareness expands, I have grown. My World of awareness may not only be fixed in one mode of experiencing, exempla gratia, the abstracting, conceptual mode or the imaginative mode; my World may also be confined to some one or two sensory “channels” of awareness. For example, I may limit my clear awareness only to visual and auditory impressions and exclude the Worlds of smelling, tasting, or the feel of my own being. If you can turn me on to my feelings, to smells, to tastes; if you can wake my imagination; if you can get me to experience my being–you will have expanded my awareness and helped me to grow. In deep moments of intercession with God, we let the World disclose more of its changing being to us; and we may find ourselves experiencing more of the variety in the World. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21
When we let our personal being happen—we do not try to monitor and control it so that it conforms to a concept, yours or mine, of my being. Fascinated engagement at anything can let change happen and be experienced such that the next time I reflect upon myself, I find my experience of myself different from how I remember it the last time I reflected. And my concept of myself will have to change to encompass the new experiencing I have undergone. Challenge, fascination, total involvement in some task or project such that self-consciousness and self-conceptualizing is not the mode of experience, will permit the changed self-being to experienced. Certainly the will of a spiritual being is the one thing in His creation that God chooses not to override and force to take on a specific character. He allows it to go its way or ways. However, that does not mean that such a being gets what it wants. Indeed, that proves to be impossible for such a will, which is following a delusion. It only means that God will not force it to do what He wants. It has its choice-though it does not have its choice of the consequences of choosing what it wants. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21
And one of the consequences of choosing what one wants without regard to God’s will is enslavement to one’s own self-conflicted will. On the path of self-will people eventually come to the place where they cannot choose what God wants and cannot want God. They can only want—themselves! “I wake and feel the fell of dark,” the poet Gerard Manly Hopkins wrote, “The lost are like this and their scourge to be as I am mine, their sweating selves.” This is the condition of the “lost.” Obviously there is something very deep here and something crucial to God’s purposes in creating human beings, which we at present cannot understand. Thus God permits there to be a World such as we live in, where the wills of human beings are often set on what is evil, wrong, or foolish and where even good and wise inclinations are frequently defeated by other components of the persons involved: the “sin in our members,” social influences, mistaken ideas, overwhelming feelings, or disconnections and ruptures in the depths of the soul. The outcome may be a whole person (or even a whole society) intently focused upon accomplishing evil, or it may be a person (or society) baffled and torn by the chaos and evil it finds within itself—as the “modern liberal” person and society of today. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21
Some self-actualized beings do not wish to enter into any precise relationship with others. They do not give personal initiation or accept disciples formally. However, the sensitive will feel that some sort of inner benefit was got by the contact, non-visible and impersonal though it was. The meeting with a higher personage, whether on the physical plane or on an inner one, is to be considered fortunate, and a blessing upon one’s own higher endeavours. The body is a battery and there are electrical radiations from certain parts of the body, certain centers—the most important center being the eye—and that through those radiations, a part of the aura is actually projected outwards. This would also explain why some do not like to have their food looked at by others, which they consider a polluting act. “Behold, now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked round about again on the multitude, and he said unto them: Behold, my time is at hand. I perceive that ye are weal, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time. Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and pinder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21
“However, now I go unto the Father, and also to show myself unto the lost tribes of Israel, for they are not lost unto the Father, for he knowneth whither he hath taken them. And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them. And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you. Have ye any that are sick among you? Being them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Being them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy. For I perceive that ye desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, for I see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you. And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21
“They also went forth with their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him. And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears. And it came to pas that he commanded that their little children should be brought. So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him. And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should knew down upon the ground. And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel. And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the Earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21
“And after this manner do they bear record: They eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father; and no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father. And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome. And it came to pas that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise. And they arose from the Earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now, behold, my joy is full. And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them. And when he had done this he wept again; and he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones. And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards Heaven, and they saw the Heavens open, and they saw Angels descending out of Heaven as it were in the midst of fire. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21
“And the Angels came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the Angels did minister unto them. And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children,” reports 3 Nephi 17.1-25. Look up, look up, at the glorious Sun, the World calls to me, and says, “Look up!” From high above, I can feel the heat descending, warming me as I walk here below. I wish to look up, but my eyes are not meant for such power. I will feel the warmth, though, and thank you, Lord. Our God and God of our fathers, please accept our rest. Please sanctify us through Thy commandments, and please grant our portion in Thy Torah. Please give us abundantly of Thy goodness and please make us rejoice in Thy salvation. Please purify our heart to serve Thee in truth. In Thy loving favour, O Lord our God, please gran that Thy holy Sabbath be our joyous heritage, and may Israel who sanctifies Thy name, rest thereon. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who hallowest the Sabbath. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21
Cresleigh Homes

Take a look into Residence One at #Riverside, located at #PlumasRanch, in our blog post today. Link in bio! https://cresleigh.com/blog/