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My Heart is Gladder than All these Because My Love is Come to Me!
The only abnormality is the incapacity to love. The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love. Individuation denotes the process by which a person becomes a psychological “in-dividual,” that is, a separate, indivisible unity or “whole.” It is generally assumed that consciousness is the whole of the psychological individual. However, knowledge of the phenomena that can only be explained on the hypothesis of the unconscious psychic process makes it doubtful whether the ego and its contents are in fact identical with the “whole.” If unconscious processes exist at all, they must surely belong to the totality of the individual, even though they are not components of the conscious ego. If they were part of the ego they would necessarily be conscious, because everything that is directly related to the ego is conscious. Conscious can even be equated with the relation between the ego and the psychic contents. However, unconscious phenomena are so little related to the ego that most people do not hesitate to deny their existence outright. Nevertheless, they manifest themselves in an individual’s behaviour. #RandolphHarris 1 of 26
An attentive observer can detect the ego and psychic content without difficulty, while the observed person remains quite unaware of the fact that one is betraying one’s most secret thoughts or even things that one has never thought consciously. It is, however, a great prejudice to suppose that something we have never thought consciously does not exist in the psyche. There is plenty of evidence to show that consciousness is very far from covering the psyche in its totality. Many things occur semiconsciously, and a great many more remain entirely unconscious. Thorough investigation of the phenomena of dual and multiple personalities, for instance, has brought to light a mass of material with observations to prove this point. (I would refer the reader to the writings of Pierre Janet, Theodore Flournoy, Morton Prince, and others.) The importance of such phenomena has made a deep impression on medical psychology, because they give rise to all sorts of psychic and physiological symptoms. In these circumstances, the assumption that the ego expresses the totality of the psyche has become untenable. #RandolphHarris 2 of 26
It is, on the contrary, evident that the whole must necessarily include not only consciousness but the illimitable field of unconscious occurrences as well, and that the ego can be no more than the center of the field of conscious. You will naturally ask whether the unconscious possesses a center too. I would hardly venture to assume that there is in the unconscious a ruling principle analogous to the ego. As a matter of fact, everything points to the contrary. If there were such a center, we could expect almost regular signs of its existence. Cases of dual personality would then be frequent occurrences instead of rare curiosities. As a rule, unconscious phenomena manifest themselves in fairly chaotic and unsystematic form. Dreams, for instance, show no apparent order and no tendency to systematization, as they would have to do if there were a personal consciousness at the back of them. The philosophers Carus and von Hartmann treat the unconscious as a metaphysical principle, a sort of universal mind, without any trace of personality or ego-consciousness, and similarly Schopenhauer’s “Will” is without ego. #RandolphHarris 3 of 26
Modern psychologist, too, regard the unconscious as an egoless function below the threshold of consciousness. Unlike the philosophers, they tend to derive its subliminal functions from the conscious mind. Dr. Janet thinks that there is certain weakness of consciousness which is unable to hold all the psychic process together. Dr. Freud, on the other hand, favours the idea of conscious factors that suppress certain incompatible tendencies. Much can be said for both theories, since there are numerous cases where a weakness of consciousness actually causes certain contents to fall below the threshold, or where disagreeable contents are repressed. It is obvious that such careful observations as Dr. Janet and Dr. Freud would not have constructed theories deriving the unconscious mainly from conscious sources had they been able to discover traces of an independent personality or of an autonomous will in the manifestations of the unconscious. If it were true that the unconscious consists of nothing but contents accidentally deprived of consciousness but otherwise indistinguishable from the conscious material the one could identify the ego more or less with the totality of the psyche. #RandolphHarris 4 of 26
However, actually the situation is not quite so simple. Both theories are based mainly on observations in the field of neurosis. Neither Dr. Janet nor Dr. Freud had any specifically psychiatric experience. If they had, they would surely have been struck by the fact that the unconscious displays some contents that are utterly different from conscious ones, so strange, indeed, that nobody can understand them, neither the patient oneself nor one’s doctors. The patient is inundated by a flood of thoughts that are as strange to one as they are to a normal person. That is why we call one “crazy”: we cannot understand one’s ideas. Only if we have the necessary premises for doing so, can we understand something. However, where the premises are just as remote from our consciousness as they were from the mind of the patient before one went made. Otherwise one would have never become insane. There is, in fact, no field directly known to us from which we could derive certain pathological ideas. It is not a question of more or less normal contents that became unconscious by accident. They are, on the contrary, products whose nature is at first baffling. #RandolphHarris 5 of 26
The contents differ in every respect from neurotic material, which cannot be said at all bizarre. The material of a neurosis is understandable in human terms, but that of a psychosis is not. (By this I mean only certain cases of schizophrenia.) This peculiar psychotic material cannot be derived from the conscious mind, because the latter lack the premises which would help to explain the strangeness of the ideas. Neurotic contents can be integrated without appreciable injury to the ego, but psychotic ideas cannot. They remain inaccessible, and ego-consciousness is more or less swamped by them. They even show a distinct tendency to draw the ego into their “system.” Such cases indicate that under certain conditions the unconscious is capable of taking over the role of the ego. The consequence of this exchange is insanity and confusion, because the unconscious is not a second personality with organized and centralized functions but in all probability a decentralized congeries of psychic processes. However, nothing produced by the human mind lies absolutely outside the psychic realm. Even the craziest idea must correspond to something in the psyche. #RandolphHarris 6 of 26
We cannot suppose that certain minds contain elements that do not exist at all in other minds. Nor can we assume that the unconscious is capable of becoming autonomous only in certain people, namely in those predisposed to insanity. It is very much more likely that the tendency to autonomy is more or less general peculiarity of the unconscious. Mental disorder is, in a sense, only one outstanding example of a hidden but none the less general condition. This tendency to autonomy shows itself above all in affective states, including those of normal people. When in a state of violent affect one says or does things which exceed the ordinary. Not much is needed: love and hate, joy and grief, are often enough to make the ego and the unconscious change places. Very strange ideas indeed can take possession of otherwise healthy people on such occasions. Groups, communities, and even whole nations can be seized in this way by psychic epidemics. The autonomy of the unconscious therefore begins where emotions are generated. Emotions are instinctive, involuntary reactions which upset the rational order of conscious by their elemental outburst. #RandolphHarris 7 of 26
Affects are not “made” or willfully produced; they simply happen. In a state of affect a trait of character sometimes appears which is strange even to the person concerned, or hidden contents may irrupt involuntarily. The more violent an affect the closer it comes to the pathological, to a condition in which the ego-consciousness is thrust aside by autonomous contents that were unconscious before. So long as the unconscious is in a dormant condition, it seems as if there were absolutely noting in this hidden region. Hence wen something unknow suddenly appears “from nowhere,” we are continually surprised. Afterwards, of course, the psychologist comes along and shows that things had to happen as they did for this or that reason. However, who could have said so beforehand? The experience of the harmonious interpenetrating mix-up was “a paradise in the womb.” This paradise is destroyed by the discovery that firm independent objects exist. From then on, the existence of objects with their resistant, aggressive and ambivalent qualities must be accepted. The moment of this discovery does not coincide with the birth of the body: it marks a rather later moment: the beginning of the individual personality, of the self (called ego). #RandolphHarris 8 of 26
The encounter with something so definitely other that it cannot be controlled is what starts the individual on the process of individuation. Two reactions may come from this discovery. They are called ocnophilic and philobatic. We shall call them home-loving (homebodies) and space-loving (spacebats), which keeps much of the meaning and also most of the letters from the proper titles, so as to minimize confusion. A homebody’s reaction to the discover of the “other” is to create a World based on phantasy that other people and things are useful, reliable, and kind; that they will always be there when needed; and that they will never mind being used as needed. By contrast, a spacebat rection is to create a phantasy World which goes back to a time when there were no others, no obstacles/things, people, only limitless power. A spacebat lives as far as possible in a phantasy of a still existing unity and harmony of limitless contourless expanses. When other people of things cannot be ignored, they are experienced either as dangerous unpredictable obstacles and hazards (of which the autistic child’s reaction is an extreme example) or as emotionally uninteresting equipment to be used as convenient. #RandolphHarris 9 of 26
On the other hand, homebodies’ reaction to the discovery that there are others, people and things, which resist them and which they cannot control, is to turn strongly to these others, to whom they then attribute the power to look after them in this dangerous World. This development leads them to the cultivation of strong relationships with others and to mistrust of their own independent individual endeavours. In these relationships the object is felt as a vitally important support. Any threat of being separated from it creates intense anxiety, and the most frequently used defence against this is clinging. On the other hand, the object becomes so important that no concern or consideration can be given to it. It must have no separate interests from the individual’s, it must simply be there and, in fact, it is taken for granted. The consequences of this type of relationship are an over-valuation of the object and a comparative inhibition against developing personal skills which might make the individual independent from one’s objects. A homebody’s World consists of people and things separated by horrid empty spaces. Homebodies live from person to person, cutting short their time in the empty spaces as far as possible. #RandolphHarris 10 of 26
When separated from their attachment figures, homebodies are frightened; when attachment figure rejoin them, their fear is allayed. Homebodies hold on to people (parents, friends, anyone) or things (toys, clothes, rooms, home-towns) or ideas (in art, philosophy, science, or politics). In the World of ideas they need certainty. Uncertainty and ambiguity are experienced as uncomfortable and somehow wrong. They imagine that as long as they are in touch with a safe attachment-figure they themselves are safe. Spacebats, on the other hand, have the illusion that all they need is the proper equipment. They do not need people, certainly not one particular person. In fact, people are avoided as principal sources of danger. Provided the elements are not too inclement, the pilot is safe in the skies, the sailor on the high seas, the skier on the slopes, the driver on the open read, the parachutist in the air. The spacebat fears danger only from other things and people, which have to be “negotiated”: the pilot has to land, the skier has to skim round trees and rocks, a boss has to be impressed, a lover pleased. The spacebat’s World is one of friendly expanses dotted with dangerous and unpredictable things and people. #RandolphHarris 11 of 26
Spacebats cultivate their skills and ego-functions so that they can look after themselves. Thereafter they can put their trust in the assurance that they can cope, keeping also always a fascination for (but wary mistrust of) the environment (including the people) they were not able to control until they had cultivated the skills to do so. These skills they will continue to test and confirm throughout life, often through deeds of risk and derring-do. Such people’s World is coloured by an unjustified optimism, which actually has its roots in the earlier World of Primary Love when all was well—this memory enables them to hold on to the belief that their skills and equipment will be sufficient to cope with anything as long as they can avoid the hazardous obstacles. Fairground please differ accordingly. The homebodies go for the simple human aggression of the rifle range or the greedy indulgence of hamburgers and candyfloss. Spacebat go for the non-attached thrills of the Big Wheel, the roundabouts, and the dodgems, which over and over assure them of their ability to survive. They look for danger which can be overcome with skill. #RandolphHarris 12 of 26
From them, thrill goes with skill. These thrills are to do with leaving a safe place for somewhere where there is nothing to hold on to, with perhaps the danger of collision, and then a safe return home. This hypothesis is that this is where the fear of separateness (the loss of an attachment figure) could be mastered in play. It is a regression—to that moment when the infant experienced itself as on its own, unattached and unsupported. They very language of caring and relating is permeated by these two contrasting stances: “we are contrasting the World of skin-contact with the World of the more distal sense of vision.” Home-loving relationships are more tactile: homebodies use tact, they like to be in touch, ideas are grasped and comprehended, stories grip them. Speacebat relationships are eye-to-eye, spacebat look after people and tings, they have regard for them, consideration, concern. The three synonymous words: concern, consideration, and regard came from Norman French into English…in their original meaning they all describe a state of intense looking at an object from a distance. #RandolphHarris 13 of 26
To sum up: Homebodies need to feel in turn with their chosen person (attachment figure), presume that they can win the favour of their chosen person, need to be in contact (close, attached); they keep in touch with people. Spacebats need to feel in tune wit the whole World, presume that they can conquer the World without relying on anyone’s favour need to be on the watch (distant, eyes and ears alert); they relate to people by making them safe through the use of interpersonal skills. Most intrepid spacebats hold on to something: skiers to sticks, tightrope-walkers to poles, lion-tamers to whips, and all have to be taught not to tense and hold on with their muscle in the supreme moment of tension. I think this must be the same process as that which Dr. Tustin had in mind when she noticed how autistic children hold on to what she called an auto-sensuous object; she thought it likely that by holding hard on to this, the defenceless and frightened child gave itself a sense that the whole body had something hard to protect it. This is a similar paradox about homebodies. By clinging one gets father and father away from the satisfaction of the original need, which was to be held safely. #RandolphHarris 14 of 26
The profoundly tragic situation is that the more efficiently one clings, the less one is held by the object. This ever-repeated experience during analytic treatment had a large share in building up our theories of ambivalence and frustration. Both home-loving and space-loving are reactions to the emergence of self from (m)other. Both reaction involve the disappearance of something from which separation had been inconceivable. The home-loving reaction would be to cling so closely to the attachment figure that vision, which normally gives a sense of distance, is blurred and obscured and the gap between self and other acutely. The space-loving reaction makes the other dwindle out of sight so that one ceases to be reminded of the separation. Both reactions provide a ready foundation for ambivalence. The home-loving side, so dependent for well-being on the closeness of the others, may make us suspicious, mistrustful, disappointed in the failings of the people we cling to; the space-loving side may make us feel superior and condescending to the very people we need to cooperate with. #RandolphHarris 15 of 26
Both of them are in constant danger of marring or even destroying their relationships to their love-objects by exactly the same methods by which they gained their favour: the ocnophil by too much clinging, the philobat by the use of too much superior skill. From this angle it would be equally correct to describe these two attitudes by words denoting hatred. Less frantically and more constructively, our home-loving side may enable us to cultivate a talent for psychological closeness and intimacy and tolerance, while the space-loving side may go exploring the great featureless expanses—a happy preparation for a safe return home. The teachings of Jesus are deeply rooted in our basic nature. Love expresses itself in the beautiful circles of sufficiency. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. #RandolphHarris 16 of 26
All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilization—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a goldfish. However, it is immortals whom we joke wit, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. All of us have a complex network of relationships built around four natural contacts: biological (relatives and family, and by extension church and family), geographical (where we live), vocational (who we work with), and recreational (where we play). We need to discover our networks, make a list of likely contacts, and begin to pray for them. Finally, as we pray, we must invest out time, talent, and treasure in relationships. Become personally involved in the lives of others. Plan to spend significant time wit those you would like to reach, and then make sure your plan is represented on your calendar. #RandolphHarris 17 of 26
Invite your friends out for lunch or dinner, or to your home for coffee. Do things together. Attend plays, sporting events, art exhibits. Go fishing. Use special days to share your interests—birthday, graduations, holidays, weddings, births. Visit, call, or write a note. Join a service club such as Rotary, Kiwanis, or Lions. Join an interest club: gardening, hunting, cooking, woodworking. Volunteer to coach boys’ or girls’ athletic team, to be a teacher’s assistant, to give your time to the hospital or one of the many charitable organizations. Open your home to the neighbourhood. Be the most hospital home on the block to the people in your community. Spiritual formation, good or bad, is always profoundly social. You cannot keep it to yourself. Anyone who thinks of it as a merely private matter has misunderstood it. Anyone who says, “It is just between me and God,” or “What I do is my own business,” has misunderstood God as well as “me.” Strictly speaking there is nothing “just between me and God.” For all that is between me and God affect who I am; and that, in turn, modifies my relationship to everyone around me. #RandolphHarris 18 of 26
My relationship to others also modifies me and deeply affects my relationship to God. Hence, if I am to be transformed, those relationships must be transformed. Therefore Jesus gave a sure mark of the outcome of spiritual formation under his guidance: we become people who love one another (John 13.35). And he does not leave “love,” that “many splendored thing,” unspecified. Instead he gives “a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another,” reports John 13.34. The age-old command to love is transformed, made a new command, by identification of the love in question with that of Jesus for us. “Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because one has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is his Son. One who has the Son has life; one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he will hear us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him,” reports 1 John 5.10-12. #RandolphHarris 19 of 26
Love of our human family is the supernatural way that allows us to know that we have passed out of death into life. We simply cannot love in that way unless we have a different kind of life in us. And the “love” here in question is identified as that which is in Christ because it is one that makes us ready to lay down our lives for the brethren. Failure to love others as Jesus loves us, on the other hand, chokes off the flow of the eternal kind of life that our whole human system cries out for. The old apostle minces no words: “One who does not love abides in death,” reports 1 John 3.14. Notice he did not say, “one who hates,” but simply, “one who does not love.” The mere absence of love is deadly. It is withdrawal. Notice that Jesus did not say, “One who is not loved,” though that also is true. That too is death, but our purpose cannot be to get others to love us. Love comes to us from God. That must be our unshakable circle of sufficiency. Our purpose must them be to become one who loves others with Christ’s agape. That purpose, when developed, will transform the social dimension of the human self and all of our relations to others. #RandolphHarris 20 of 26
Love is not a feeling, or a special way of feeling, but the divine way of relating to others and oneself that moves through every dimension of our being and restructures our World for good. “And now there began to be a great curse upon all the land because of the iniquity of the people, in which, if a man should lay his tool or his sword upon his shelf, or upon the place wither he could keep it, behold, upon the morrow, he could not find it, so great was the cure upon the land. Wherefore every man did cleave unto that which was one’s own, with one’s hands, and would not borrow neither would he lend; and every human kept the hilt of his sword in his right hand, in the defence of his property and his own life and of his wives and children. And now, after the space of two years, and after the death of Shared, behold, there arouse the brother of Shared and he gave battle unto Coriantumr, in which Coriantumr did beat him and did pursue him to be the wilderness of Akish. And it came to pass that the brother of Shared did give battle unto him in the wilderness of Akish; and the battle became exceedingly sore, and many thousands fell by the sword. #RandolphHarris 21 of 26
“And it came to pass that Coriantumr dwelt with is army in the wilderness for the space of two years, in which he did receive great strength to his army. Now the brother of Shared, whose name was Gilead, also received great strength to his army, because of secret combinations. And it came to pass that his high priest murdered him as he sat upon his throne. And it came to pass that one of the secret combinations murdered him in a secret pass, and obtained unto himself the kingdom; and his name was Lib; and Lib was a man of greater stature, more than any other man among all the people. And it came to pass that in the first year of Lib, Coriantumr came up unto the land of Moron, and gave battle unto Lib. And it came to pass that he forth with Lib, in which Lib did smite upon his arm that he was wounded; nevertheless, the army of Coriantumr did press forward upon Lib, that he fled to the borders upon the seashore. And it came to pass that Coriantumr pursued him; and Lib gave battle unto him upon the seashore. And it came to pass that Lib did smite army of Coriantumr, that they fled again to the wilderness of Akish. #RandolphHarris 22 of 26
“And it came to pass that Lib did pursue him until he came to the plains of Agosh. And Coriantumr had taken all the people with him as he fled before Lib in that quarter of the land wither he fled. And when he had come to the plains of Agosh he gave battle unto Lib, and he smote upon him until he died; nevertheless, the brother of Lib did come against Coriantumr in the stead thereof, and the battle became exceedingly sore, in the which Coriantumr fled again before the army of the brother of Lib. Now the name of the brother of Lib was called Shiz. And it came to pass that Shiz pursued after Coriantumr, and he did overthrow many cities, and he did slay both women and children, and he did burn the cities. And there went a fear of Shiz throughout all the land; yea, a cry went forth throughout the land—Who can stand before the army of Shiz? Behold, he sweepeth the Earth before him! And it came to pass that the people began to flock together in armies, throughout all the face of the land. And they were divided; and a part of them fled to the army of Shiz, and a part of them fled to the army of Coriantumr. #RandolphHarris 23 of 26
“And so great and lasting had been the war, and so long had been the scene of bloodshed and carnage, that the whole face of the land was covered with the bodies of the dead. And so swift and speedy was the way that there was none left to bury the dead, but they did march forth from the shedding of blood, leaving the bodies of both men, women, and children strewed upon the face of the land, to become a prey to the worms of the flesh. And the scent thereof went forth upon the face of the land, even upon all the face of the land; wherefore the people became troubled by day and by night, because of the scent thereof. Nevertheless, Shiz did not cease to pursue Coriantumr; for he had sworn to avenge himself upon Coriantumr of the blood of his brother, who has been slain, and the word of the Lord which came to Ether that Coriantumr should not fall by the sword. And thus we see that the Lord did visit them in the fulness of his wrath, and their wickedness and abomination had prepared a way for their everlasting destruction. And it came to pass that Shiz did pursue Coriantumr eastward, even to the borders by the seashore, and there he gave battle unto Shiz for the space of thee days. #RandolphHarris 24 of 26
“And so terrible was the destruction among the armies of Shiz that the people began to be frightened, and began to flee before the armies of Coriantumr; and they fled to the land of Corihor, and swept off the inhabitants before them, all them that would not join them. And they pitched their tents in the valley of Corihor; and Coriantumr pitched his tents in the valley of Shurr. Now the valley of Shurr was near the hill Comnor; wherefore, Coriantumr did gather his armies together upon the hill Comnor, and did sound a trumpet unto the armies of Chiz to invite them forth to battle. And it came to pass that they came forth, but were driven again; and they came the second time, and they were driven again the second time. And it came to pass that they came again the third time, and the battle became exceedingly sore. And it came to pass that Shiz smote upon Coriantumr that he gave him many deep wounds; and Coriantumr, having lost his blood, fainted, and was carried away as though he were dead. Now the loss of men, women and children on both sides was so great that Shiz commanded his people that they should not pursue the armies of Coriantumr; wherefore they returned to their camp,” reports Ether 14.1-31. #RandolphHarris 25 of 26
Blessed be God, wintertime King, blessed in all the signs of cold’s return, blessed in the scent of freezing Earth, His own true incense rising up in his Praise. Blessed be God who hath compassion upon His creatures. Blessed be God who bestoweth a good reward upon them that revere Him. Blessed be God who liveth forever and endureth to all eternity. Blessed be God who ransometh and delivereth; blessed be His name. Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, O God, merciful Father, praised by Thy people, extolled and glorified by Thy servants, Thy faithful ones. With the psalms of David, Thy servant, we will praise Thee, O Lord our God; with hymns and songs we will extol and glorify Thee; with hymns and songs we will extol and glorify Thee; we will call upon Thy name and proclaim Thee our King. O Thou who art One, the life of the Universe, the King, who art praised and glorified, Thy great names endureth to all eternity. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, divine Ruler, extolled with psalms of praise. O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among peoples. Speak of al His marvellous works. #RandolphHarris 26 of 26
Cresleigh Homes
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The Shoe that Fits One Person Pinches Another for there is No Universal Recipe for Living!
A government big enough to give us everything we want would be big enough to take from us everything we have. As analysis proceeds, and the individual becomes more aware of the compensatory activity of the unconscious, one may lose one’s symptoms, become relatively well adapted, and feel no need to pursue any further development of one’s personality. However, many patients want, or feel compelled, to go beyond the point of “adaptation.” The human psyche is a thing of enormous ambiguity. In every single case we have to ask ourselves whether an attitude or a so-called habitus is authentic, or whether it may not be just a compensation for its opposite. I must confess that I have so often been deceived in this matter that in any concrete case I am at pains to avoid all theoretical presuppositions about the structure of the neurosis and about what the patient can and ought to do. As far as possible I let pure experience decide the therapeutic aims. This may perhaps seem strange, because it is commonly supposed that the therapist has an aim. However, in psychotherapy it seems to me positively advisable for the doctor not to have too fixed an aim. #RandolphHarris 1 of 28
The doctor can hardly know better than the nature and will to live of the patient. The great decisions in human life usually have far more to do with the instincts and other mysterious unconscious factors than with the conscious will and well-meaning reasonableness. The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no universal recipe for living. Each of us carries one’s own life-form within one—an irrational form which no other can outbid. All this naturally does not prevent us from doing our utmost to make the patient normal and reasonable. If the therapeutic results are satisfactory, we can probably let it go at that. If not, then for better or worse the therapist must be guided by the patient’s own irrationalities. Here we must follow nature as a guide, and what the doctor then does is less a question of treatment than of developing the creative possibilities latent in the patient oneself. What I have to say begins where the treatment leaves off and development sets in. Thus my contribution to psychotherapy confines itself to those cases where rational treatment does not yield satisfactory results. #RandolphHarris 2 of 28
The clinical material at my disposal is of a peculiar composition: new cases are decidedly in the minority. Most of them already have some form of psychotherapeutic treatment behind them, with partial or negative results. About a third of my cases are not suffering from any clinically definable neurosis, but from the senselessness and aimlessness of their lives. If this were called the general neurosis of our age, I should not object. Fully two thirds of my patients are in the second half of life. This peculiar material sets up a special resistance to rational methods of treatment, probably because most of my patients are socially well-adapted individuals, often of outstanding ability, to whom normalization means nothing. As for so-called normal people, there I really am in a fix, for I have no ready-made philosophy of life to hand out to them. In the majority of my cases the resources of the conscious mind are exhausted (or, in ordinary English, they are “stuck”). It is chiefly this fact that forces me to look for hidden possibilities. For I do not know what to say to the patient when one asks me, “What do you advise? What shall I do?” I do not know either. #RandolphHarris 3 of 28
I only know one thing: when my conscious mind no longer sees any possible road ahead and consequently gets stuck, my unconscious psyche will reacts to the unbearable standstill. Reason and reasoning are at work whenever one analyzed, compared, contrasted, and combined items of experience. These activities always involve the handling of ideas and images in a time sequence, and sequential activity always entail ordering and placing. In a word, the activity is discursive. This sort of mental behaviour is sufficiently different from other mental activity to warrant naming it as a distinct faculty. Of course apprehending involved movement. However, the moment is lightning fast, and if one could detect it at all it was only at its end point, the sign or word. One never knew the beginning of inventive activity, it is buried so deeply in experience. In contrast, reasoning is in slow motion. One knows its beginning and end, and when one wishes one could deliberately retrace the movement. Evidence of such motion and some indication of its nature is to be seen in the art of judgment and in the method or disposition of discourse. #RandolphHarris 4 of 28
The ends of judgment are validity and truth. To achieve them is to submit one’s inventions to standards of validity and truth; to judge is to measure the uncertainties of present experience by the certitudes of past experience; and to conduct measurement is systematically to compare, contrast, and look for regularities and consistencies. Two processes of judgment are available, the deductive or syllogistic, and the inductive. Now judgement by Syllogism is but the reduction of propositions to principles in a middle term; the principles being understood as agreed upon and exempted from argument. The proposition or axiom to be tested—in logic, the conclusion of a syllogism—is brought within the meaning of an accepted, or true, principle—the major premise—by connecting the two through another relevant proposition—the minor premise. To conduct the operation validly, the mind consciously applies the rules of correct inference. The rules are called “monitors” of reason. The mind also develops the ability to detect its mistakes, or fallacies. The entire operation of judgment by syllogism is deliberate, sequential, and constrained by boundaries. #RandolphHarris 5 of 28
Compared with the darting, exploratory, ranging activity of its inventive moments, the mind seems at rest. In judgment, the mind stops, as it were, to look at and to criticize its own processes. Accompanying judgment is always the quality of deliberation, or calculation. It is this qualitative aspect of the movement, not its syllogistic character, that distinguishes human beings from animals. When we study the nature of discourses ingenii, it is clear that the distinction between human reason and the sagacity of brutes appears to be a perfectly correct one. Yet there are certain instances of actions performed by animals, by which it seems that brutes too have some power of syllogising; as in the story of the crow which, in time of great drought being half dead with thirst, saw some water in the hollow truck of a tree; and finding it too narrow to get in, proceeded to drop in a number of pebbles, till the water rose high enough for it to drink. The hallmark of reason is mental activity, deliberative and evaluative. This kind of mental movement, moreover, appeared in judging the appropriateness of means with respect to ends. #RandolphHarris 6 of 28
What kind of proofs—and by implication, what kinds of methods and material—were deemed appropriate to what kinds and occasions of discourses? Though judging the logical validity of a process may not be quite the same kind of thing as estimating the fitness and propriety of behaviour, the movement entailed in each case is deliberate and critical. In this sense, among others, the artist and the critic can be said to reason. The inductive process reveals reason at work whenever the mind passes on the “truth” of what it has invented or discovered. The process is the same as that in discovery, for the same action of the mind which discovers the thing in question judges it. Yet the faculties are different, for the understanding invents, the reason judges. Moments of discovery are not attended by deliberation and evaluation; moments of judgment are. In classifying its apprehensions, the understanding is looking for the general idea among particulars, and in apprehending the causes of things it is looking for the presence or absence of a particular quality in recurrent events. It is concerned with nothing else. In judging, on the other hand, the mind retraces its inventive behaviour dominated by concern for truth and for accuracy of the conclusion. #RandolphHarris 7 of 28
Are the mental events faithful to experience? Has the proposition or axiom sprung directly from the particular items of experience? Since in induction there is no mediating movement, no middle term or symbol, between particulars and conclusion, judgment is less complicated, and the guides fewer than is the case in judgment is less complicated and the guides fewer than is the case in judging deductively. With regard to judgment by induction there is nothing to detain us, the operation is not performed by the help of any middle term, but directly, almost in the same manner as by the sense. For the sense in its primary objects at once apprehends the appearance of the object, and consents to the truth thereof. As the Novum Organum shows, the guides for the critical appraisal of inductive processes may be found in disciplined, repeated observation and in the delay of abstraction. Paradox is both the primal and the final truth. Life, whether we approve of it or not, is like that. Things are dual and so is human’s nature a paring of negative and positive. However, even more is the entire cosmos itself both real and unreal. The truest sayings are paradoxical. What is more, we humans meet at times with the most astonishing situations which exemplify paradox to the full. #RandolphHarris 8 of 28
Every individual comes, in time, into possession of that very peace—the highest wisdom, the Mystery behind the World, life, everything. The answer, so often summed up in one word, is paradox. For this is what sums up the World, life, and humans. The nature of the World’s substance is paradoxical. The nature of the World process is dialectical. Questions about them cannot truthfully get a straight clear-cut answer. We are grasping after systems, imprisoned by strict and rigid doctrines in the World. The fact is that the higher truths are embedded in pairs of things and forces and paradoxes of situations and happenings. This applies to the Universe as much as to humans. The truth of paradox is possibly too deep for most persons to accept; apparently it is too self-contradictory. That is why the balanced mind is needed to understand that the contradiction is joined with complementary roles. In Chinese philosophy the Absolute is often represented by a simple symbol: a plain white circle surrounded by a plain black line. Out of the Absolute comes forth a point. The point is the World-Mind. With it there simultaneously manifests balance. Everything comes in pairs as death with life and darkness with light. #RandolphHarris 9 of 28
Whatever seems to be necessary to existence is so only because its opposite is equally necessary. Duality is a governing factor of the World and everything within it including ourselves. That alone is outside the World, is nondual, which is the untouchable Reality. Duality is a fact. It is here. However, it is also an illusion and the opposite truth which completes it is the nondual. We may deplore the illusory nature of our existence, but we need not get lost in it for it is fulfilled, completed, and finalized in its complement the Real. All human thought and experience move through the contrast between two things or through the difference between them. Otherwise, it would not be possible for us to think or to have experience. In all human consciousness there is two-ness: thought and the object of thought, self and the thing it is aware of. However, in the deepest trancelike meditation, this duality vanished and only pure consciousness, the nondual Reality, exists. The Infinite Power divides some of its own stillness into the pairs of opposites and sets them in constant vibration and movement. Everything is polarized, whether in the visible Universe or in the invisible forces of life itself. #RandolphHarris 10 of 28
The World-Mind is able to think the World-Idea only under the form of opposite conditions existing at the same time. No World could possibly come into existence without these contrasts and differences. Their presence accounts for the existence of the Universe; their movement toward equilibrium with one another accounts for its history. If we humanly dislike the very idea of this duality, this constant tension between two forces, this perpetual opposition by evil, disease, destruction, we must remember that if it did not exist then neither the entire Universe itself nor the human being within it could exist as such. The two contrary principles must exist together or not at all. God is breathing out the Universe into physical existence and then back into Himself, not only referred symbolically to the periodic reincarnations of the Universe but also and actually to its moment-to-moment rhythm of interchange of contrasts, differences, and even opposites. It is this interchange which not only makes universal existence possible but also sustains universal equilibrium. Without it there would be no World for humans to behold, no experiences in it for one to develop, no conscious awareness in time and space. #RandolphHarris 11 of 28
Everything in Nature is included within this law of contrasting conditions. Nothing is expected from it. Even the Universe of definite, spherical forms exists in its opposites—formless space. We humans many not like the law; we would prefer light without shadow, joy without pain; but such is the World-Idea, God’s thought. It is the product of infinite wisdom and as such we may trust and accept that it could not be otherwise. The presence of pain, cruelty, even evil seems clear enough n this planet at any rate. So, if they doubt and question God’s goodness or break out in rebellion against God’s wisdom, human must be forgiven. Some of them believe that mere reason is insufficient to convince them of God’s veracity: And that whoever is moved by Faith to asset to it, is conscious of a continued miracle in one’s own person, which subverts all the principles of one’s understanding, and gives one a determination to believe what is most contrary to custom and experience. Therefore, we may tell them that nothing can be created without also creating its opposite. However, that, like all other explanations, will not satisfy the deeply probing intellect, even though that same intellect would be unable to find out how a one-sided planet could possibly exist. #RandolphHarris 12 of 28
Throughout the Universe we see these opposites paired together, for indeed the Universe itself is a manifestation of duality. The opposites come into being because they are needed. Without them the Great Work of the Universe could not be accomplished. Hence, Being and non-being create each other. The World-Idea provides for a network of interwoven forces of contrasting colour and opposing direction. It is this alternate tension and release of opposites which make the Universe what it is. The course of life is so arranged that it gives clear evidence of Nature’s activity. It appears in the contradictions, the opposing attributes of important situations, whether personal or national, and it appears in Nature in climatic oppositions during the changing year. If form only, and not matter, belonged to natural things, then in all respects natural things would exist more truly in the divine mind, by the ideas of them, than in themselves. For which reason, in fact, Plato held that the “separate” man was the true man; and that man as he exists in matter, is man only by participation. “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them,” reports Genesis 5.1-2. #RandolphHarris 13 of 28
Since matter enters into the being of natural things, we must say that those things have simply being in the in the divine mind more truly than in themselves, because in man, or horse, for example, has this being more truly in its own nature than in the divine mind, because it belongs to human nature to be material, which, as existing in the divine mind, it is not. Even so a house has nobler being in the architect’s mind than in matter; yet a material house is called a house more truly than the one which exists in the mind; since the former is actual, the latter only potential. Although bad things are in God’s knowledge, as being comprised under that knowledge, yet they are not in God as created by Him, or preserved by Him, or as having their type in Him. They are known by God through the types of good things. Hence it cannot be said that bad things are life in God. Those things that are not in time may be called life in God in so far as life means understanding only, and inasmuch as they are understood by God; but not in so far as life implies a principle of operation. There is will in God, as there is intellect: since will follows upon the intellect. For as natural things have actual existence by their form, so the intellect is actually intelligent by its intelligible form. #RandolphHarris 14 of 28
Now everything has this aptitude towards its natural form, that when it has it not, it tends towards it; and when it has it, it is at rest therein. It is the same with every natural perfection, which is a natural good. This aptitude to good in things without knowledge is called natural appetite. Whence also intellectual natures have a like aptitude as apprehended through its intelligible form; so as to rest therein when possessed, and when not possessed to seek to possess it, both of which pertain to the will. Hence in every intellectual being there is will, just as in every sensible being there is animal appetite. And so there must be will in God, since there is intellect in Him. And as His intellect is His own existence, so is His will. Although nothing apart from God is His end, yet He Himself is the end with respect to all things made by Him. And this by His essence, for by His essence He is good, as shown above: for the end has the aspect of good. Will in us belongs to the appetitive part, which, although named from appetite, had not for its only act the seeking what it does not possess; but also the loving and the delighting in what it does possess. In this respect will is said to be in God, as having always good which is its object, since, as already said, it is not distinct from His essence. #RandolphHarris 15 of 28
A will of which the principal object is a good outside itself, must be moved by another; but the object of the divine will is His goodness, which is His essence. Hence, since the will of God is His essence, it is not moved by another than itself, but by itself alone, in the same sense as understanding and willing are said to be movement. This is what Plato meant when he said that the first mover moves itself. So when we come to deal with spiritual formation of our social dimension, we have to start from woundedness. It is hard to imagine anyone in this World who has not been deeply injured in one’s relationships to others. The exact nature of the poison of sin in our social dimension is fairly easy to describe, though extremely hard to deal with. It has two forms. They are so closely related that they are two forms of the same thing: of lovelessness, lack of proper regard and care for others. These two forms are assault or attack and withdrawal of distancing. They are so much a part of ordinary human existence that most people think they are just “reality,” and never imagine that we could live without them. #RandolphHarris 16 of 28
If spiritual formation in Christ is to succeed, the power of these two forms of evil in our own life—within our self—absolutely must be broken. So far as it is possible, they must be eliminated as indwelling realities, as postures we take towards others. They also must be successfully disarmed as they come toward us. And they must be eliminated in our social environment—especially in the fellowships of Christ’s followers—so far as that is possible. Perhaps we must be reconciled to the fact that they cannot be entirely eliminated from our World, or even from our fellowships of Christian believers, until a new epoch dawns, but we can eliminate them from our own being. We can live without them. When we act against what is good for others, even with their consent, we assault them. It is not only when we harm them or cause them pain against their conscious will. Hence, seduction is assault, as is participation in or even compliance with the social structures that institutionalize wrongdoing and evil. The more explicit and well-known forms of assault are dealt with in the last six of the Ten Commandments—murder, adultery, theft, and so on. #RandolphHarris 17 of 28
The last six of the Ten Commandments that deal with assault are deepened in their meaning by the teaching of Jesus, especially in his Sermons on the Mount and on the Plain (Matthew 5-7; Luke 6) and the teachings of Paul in such passages as Colossians chapters 3-5 and 1 Corinthians 13. We withdraw from someone when we regard their well-being and goodness as matters of indifference to us, or perhaps go so far as to despise them. We “do not care.” Both assault and withdrawal primarily involve our relations to those close to us, those affected by what we do and who we are in the natural course of our living. Clearly that means members of our family or household, those who live intimately with us—our “nigh boors”—those with whom we work or play, and those with whom we share common goods, our community. In the modern World it is hard to draw a boundary to the latter because of significant Worldwide connections for everyone, though in practice some distinctions must be made because of our finitude. We cannot effectively extend care or receive it from very many people. #RandolphHarris 18 of 28
Now we always “distance” ourselves from those we assault, and withdrawal—including threats or suggestions thereof—is nearly always a way of assaulting those we withdraw from. So we should think of the distinction between assault and withdrawal as only a matter of emphasis, useful for the understanding of how lovelessness works. The LORD said, “What have you done?” Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on Earth,” reports Genesis 5.10-12. There are people who will join the army only if they can be officers, who will do evangelism if they are evangelists. However, the true evangelist’s heart is a selfless heart. “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed by your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Please give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but please deliver us from the evil one,” reports Matthew 6.9-13. #RandolphHarris 19 of 28
Our attitude makes all the difference in bringing people to Christ. Are we optimistic about what Christ can do? If so, we will see Him turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. A heart we should all emulate is a knowledgeable heart, a magnetized heart, a selfless heart, an optimistic heart, and an expansive heart—a heart which any ordinary Christian can have if one wants it, as one yields to the work of the Spirit. A pre hard not only challenges but hallows everyday, ordinary, average life. The greatest joys are not in the extraordinary events of ministry, but in the normal avenues of everyday witness—in bring people to Christ. A whopping 90 percent of people come to church through influence of friends or relatives. We must understand that we have a sovereign God who orders all of life, including our relationships, and that our friendships, as well as casual encounters, are not a list of social accidents. God has placed un in our particular families, neighbourhoods, and workplaces for a reason: God has put us next to people He want us to influence for Christ. Every one has an eternal soul of immense value whom we ought to regard with the same weight with which God regards them. #RandolphHarris 20 of 28
“And now I, Moroni, proceed to finish my record concerning the destruction of the people of whom I have been writing. For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have it that all humans should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof,” reports Ether 13.1-2. For centuries the Lord kept American hidden until the time was right to unveil her for her destiny in the last days. “It is wisdom that this land should be kept as yet from the knowledge of other nations,” said Lehi, “for behold, many nations would overrun the land, that there would be no place for an inheritance,” reports 2 Nephi 1.8. In the Lord’s due time His Spirit wrought upon Christopher Columbus, the pilgrims, the Puritans, and others to come to America. They testified of God’s intervention in their behalf, “And I looked and beheld a man among the Gentiles, who was separated from the seed of my brethren by the many waters; and I beheld the Spirit of God, that it came down and wrought upon the man; and he went forth upon the many waters, even unto the seed of my brethren, who were in the promised land. #RandolphHarris 21 of 28
“And it came to pass that I beheld the Spirit of God, that it wrought upon other Gentiles; and they went forth out of captivity, upon the many waters,” reports 1 Nephi 13.12-13. They humbled “themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them,” reports 1 Nephi 13.16. Our Father in Heaven planned the coming forth of the Founding Fathers and their form of government as the necessary great prologue leading to the restoration of the gospel. “We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscious, the right and control of property, and the protection of life, reports Doctrine and Covenants. Life, liberty, property—humankind’s three great rights. “And that it was the place of the New Jerusalem, which should come down out of Heaven, and the holy sanctuary of the Lord. Behold, Ether say the days of Christ, and he spake concerning a New Jerusalem upon the land. And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come—after it should be destroyed it should be built up again, a holy city unto the Lord. #RandolphHarris 22 of 28
“Wherefore, it could not be a new Jerusalem for it has been in a time of old; but it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built unto the house of Israel—and that a New Jerusalem should be built unto the house of Israel—and that a New Jerusalem should be built up upon this land, unto the remnant of the seed of Joseph, for which things there has been a type. For as Joseph brought his father down into the land of Egypt, even so he died there; wherefore, the Lord brought a remnant of the seed of Joseph out of the land of Jerusalem, that he might be merciful unto the seed of Joseph that they should perish not, even as he was merciful unto the father of Joseph that he should perish not. Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the Earth shall pass away. And there shall be a new Heaven and a new Earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new. #RandolphHarris 23 of 28
“And then cometh the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph, who were of the house of Israel. And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarter of the Earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham. And when these things come, bringeth to pass the scriptures which saith, there are they who were first, who shall be last; and there are they who were last, who shall be first. And I was about to write more, but I am forbidden; but great and marvelous were the prophecies of Ether; but they esteemed him as naught, and cast him out; and he hid himself in the cavity of a rock by day, and by night he went forth viewing the things which should come upon the people. #RandolphHarris 24 of 28
“And as he dwelt in the cavity of a rock he made the remainder of this record, viewing the destructions which came upon the people, by night. And it came to pass that in that same year in which he was cast out from among the people there began to be a great war among the people, for there were many who rose up, who were mighty men, and sought to destroy Coriantumr by their secret plans of wickedness, of which hath been spoken. And now Coriantumr, having studied, himself, in all the arts of war and all the cunning of the World, wherefore he gave battle unto them who sought to destroy him. However, he repented not, neither his fair sons nor daughters; neither the fair sons and daughters of Cohor; neither the fair sons and daughters of Corihor; and in fine, there were none of the fair sons and daughters upon the face of the whole Earth who repented of their sins. Wherefore, it came to pass in the first year that Ether dwelt in the cavity of a rock, there were many people who were slain by the sword of those secret combinations, fighting against Coriantumr that they might obtain the kingdom. #RandolphHarris 25 of 28
“And it came to pass that the sons of Coriantumr fought much and bled much. And in the second year the word of the Lord came to Ether, that he should go and prophesy unto Coriantumr that, if he would repent, and all his household, the Lord would give unto him his kingdom and spare the people—otherwise they should be destroyed, and all his household save it were himself. And he should only live to see the fulfilling of the prophecies which had been spoken concerning another people receiving the land for their inheritance; and Coriantumr should receive a burial by them; and every soul should be destroyed save it were Coriantumr. And it came to pass that Coriantumr repented not, neither his household, neither the people; and the wars ceased not; and they sought to kill Ether, but he fled from before them and hid again in the cavity of the rock. And it came to pass that here arose up Shared, and he also gave battle unto Coriantumr; and he did beat him, insomuch that in the third year he did bring him into captivity. And the sons of Coriantumr, in the fourth year, did beat Shared, and did obtain the kingdom again unto their father. #RandolphHarris 26 of 28
“Now there began to be a war upon all the face of the land, every human with one’s band fighting for that which one desired. And there were robbers, and in fine, all manner of wickedness upon all the face of the land. And it came to pass that Coriantumr was exceedingly angry with Shared, and he went against him with his armies to battle; and they did meet in great anger, and they did meet in the valley of Gilgal; and the battle became exceedingly sore. And it came to pass that Shared fought against him for the space of thee days. And it came to pass that Coriantumr beat him, and did pursue him until he came to the plains of Heshlon. And it came to pass that Shared gave him battle again upon the plains; and behold, he did beat Coriantumr, and drove him back again to the valley of Gilgal. And Coriantumr gave Shared battle again in the valley of Gilgal, in which he beat Shared and slew him. And Shared wounded Coriantumr in his thigh, that he did not go to battle again for the space of two years, in which time all the people upon the face of the land were shedding blood, and there was none to restrain them,” reports Ether 13.1-31. #RandolphHarris 27 of 28
I pray to you, God, to remind you of the Winter. Please show us your joy, Father of Rain and Snow. Please cool the Earth, make the ground wet, so we may have a beautiful spring and summer, with green trees and plush grass and plenty of water to drink. Please let your full power be known so every one will see what you have done. Now it is the time to begin these great deeds. Please bring us the winter, that together we might rest. Please cool the Earth, that the plants might rest and display your gifts in the spring and summer. With your tears cried for happiness, and your cool breath, bring on the rain and winter’s snow and nourish the dry Earth. May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and life for us and all of America; and say ye, Amen. May He who establish peace in the Heavens, grant peace unto us and unto all of America; and say ye, Amen. Blessed be He who spoke and the World came into being; blessed be He. Blessed be He who created the World in the beginning. Blessed be He who speaketh and doeth. Blessed be He who ordaineth and fulfilleth. Blessed be He who hath compassion on the Earth. #RandolphHarris 28 of 28
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Once More You Hover Near Me, Forms and Faces!
It is the final proof of God’s omnipotence that he need not exist in order to save us. However, I could prove God statistically. As you can see, I too have had to refer to the “inner voice,” the vocation, and define it as a powerful objective-psychic factor in order to characterize the way in which it functions in the developing personality and how it appears subjectively. Mephistopheles, Amel, in Anne Rice’s novel, The Queen of the Damned, is not personified merely because this creates a better dramatic or theatrical effect, as though Queen Akasha were her own moralist and painted her private devil on the wall. The opening words in the theatrical version, spoken by Prince Lestat—“There comes a time for every vampire when the idea of eternity becomes momentarily unbearable. Living in the shadows, feeding in the darkness with only your own company to keep, rots into a solitary, hollow existence. Immortality seems like a good idea, until you realize you’re going to spend it alone. So I went to sleep, hoping that the sounds of the passing eras would fade out, and a sort of death might happen. But as I lay there, the World didn’t sound like the place I had left, but something different. Better. #RandolphHarris 1 of 25
“It became worthwhile to rise again as new gods were born and worshipped. Night and day, they were never alone. I would become one of them,” are more than just an aesthetic flourish. Like the concretism of the devil, they are an admission of the objectivity of psychic experience, a whispered avowal that this was what actually happened, not because of subjective wishes, or fears, or personal opinions, but somehow quite of itself. Naturally only a dreamer thinks of vampires, but something like a primitive dreamer seems to lurk beneath the surface of our reasonable daytime consciousness. Hence the eternal doubt whether what appears to be the objective psyche is really objective, or whether it might not be imagination after all. However, then, the question arises: have I imagined such and such a thing on purpose, or has it been imagined by something in me? It is a similar problem to that of the neurotic who suffers from an imaginary carcinoma. One knows, and has been told a hundred times before, that it is all imagination, and yet one asks me brokenly, “But why do I imagine such a thing? I don’t want to do it!” To which the answer is: the idea of the carcinoma has imagined itself in him without his knowledge and without his consent. #RandolphHarris 2 of 25
The reason is that a psychic growth, a “proliferation,” is taking the place in his unconscious with his being able to make it conscious. In the face of this interior activity he feels afraid. But since he is entirely persuaded that there can be nothing in his own soul that he does not know about, he must relate his fear to a psychical carcinoma which he knows does not exist. And if he should still be afraid of it, there are a hundred doctors to convince him that his fear is entirely groundless. The neurosis is thus a defence against the objective, inner activity of the psyche, or an attempt, somewhat dearly paid for, to escape from the inner voice and hence from the vocation. For this “growth” is the objective activity of the psyche, which, independently of conscious volition, is trying to speak to the conscious mind through the inner voice and lead him towards wholeness. Behind the neurotic perversion is concealed his vocation, his destiny: the growth of personality, the full realization of the life-will that is born with the individual. It is the man without amor fati who is the neurotic; he, truly, as missed his vocation, and never will he be able to say, “Such reverence for mortals! Then you should have left me as one!” #RandolphHarris 3 of 25
To the extent that a human is untrue to the law of one’s being and does not rise to personality, one has failed to realize one’s life’s meaning. Fortunately, in her kindness and patience, Nature never puts the fatal question so to the meaning of their lives into the mouths of most people. And where no one asks, no one needs to answer. The neurotic’s fear of carcinoma is therefore justified: it is not imagination, but the consistent expression of a psychic fact that exists in a sphere outside consciousness, beyond the reach of one’s will and understanding. If he withdrew into the wilderness and listened to his inner life in solitude, he might perhaps hear what the voice has to say. However, as a rule the miseducated, civilized human being is quite incapable of perceiving the voice, which is something not guaranteed by the current shibboleths. Primitive people have a far greater capacity in this respect; at least the medicine-people are able, as part of their professional equipment, to talk with spirits, trees, and animals, these being the forms in which they encounter the objective psyche or psychic non-ego. #RandolphHarris 4 of 25
Because neurosis is a developmental disturbance of the personality, we physicians of the soul are compelled by professional necessity to concern ourselves with the problem of personality and the inner voice, however remote it may seem to be. In practical psychotherapy these psychic facts, which are usually so vague and have so often degenerated into empty phrases, emerge from obscurity and take visible shape. Nevertheless, it is extremely rare for this to happen spontaneously as it did with the Old Testament prophets; generally the psychic conditions that have caused the disturbance have to be made conscious with considerable effort. However, the contents that then come to light are wholly in accord with the inner voice and point to a predestined vocation, which, if accepted and assimilated by the conscious mind, conduces to the development of personality. Just as the great personality acts upon society to liberate, to redeem, to transform, and to heal, so the birth of personality in oneself has a therapeutic effect. It is as if a river that had run to waste in sluggish side-streams and marshes suddenly found its way back to its proper bed, or as if a stone lying on a germinating seed were lifted away so that the shoot could begin its natural growth. #RandolphHarris 5 of 25
The inner voice is the voice of a fuller life, of a wider, more comprehensive consciousness. That is why, in mythology, the birth of the hero or the symbolic rebirth coincides with sunrise, for the growth of personality is synonymous with an increase of self-consciousness. For the same most heroes are characterized by solar attributes, and the moment of birth of their greater personality is known as illumination. The fear that most people naturally have of the inner voice is not so immature as might be supposed. The contents that rise up and confront a limited consciousness are far from harmless, as is shown by the classic example of the temptation of Christ. In mainstream Christianity, the Devil (or Satan) is a fallen angel who rebelled against God (the most Supreme power ever). Satan was expelled from Heaven and sent to Earth. The Devil is often identified as the serpent in the Garden of Eden, whose persuasion led to the situation that Christian doctrine calls original sin and for which it sees Redemption by Jesus Christ (the Son of God) as the cure. Satan is also identified as the accuser of Job, the tempter of the Gospels, Leviathan and the dragon in the Book of Revelation. #RandolphHarris 6 of 25
As a rule, those legends signify the specific danger to which the person concerned is liable to succumb. If not actually evil, what the inner voice whispers to us is generally something negative. This must be so, first of all because we are usually not as unconscious of our virtues as of our vices, and then because we suffer less from the good than from the bad in us. The inner voice, as I have explained above, makes us conscious of the evil from which the whole community is suffering, whether it be the nation or the whole human race. However, it presents this evil in an individual form, so tat one might at first suppose it to be only an individual characteristic. The inner voice brings the evil before us in a very tempting and convincing way in order to make us succumb. If we do not partially succumb, nothing of this apparent evil enters into us, and no regeneration or healing can take place. (I say “apparent,” though this may sound too optimistic.) If we succumb completely, then the contents expressed by the inner voice act as so many devils, and a catastrophe ensues. However, if we can succumb only in part, and if by self-assertion the ego can save itself from being completely swallowed, then it can assimilate the vice, and we realize that the evil was, after all, only a semblance of evil, but in reality a bringer of healing and illumination. #RandolphHarris 7 of 25
In fact, the inner voice is a “Lucifer” in the strictest and most unequivocal sense of the word, and it faces people with ultimate moral decision without which they can never achieve full consciousness and become personalities. The highest and the lowest, the best and the vilest, the truest and the most deceptive things are often blended together in the inner voice in the most baffling way, thus opening up in us an abyss of confusion, falsehood, and despair. It is naturally absurd for people to accuse the voice of Nature, the all-sustainer and all-destroyer, of evil. If she appears inveterately evil to us, this is mainly due to the old truth that the good is always the enemy of the better. If we did not cline to the traditional good for as long as possible, like the singer Aaliyah in the 2001 Blackground Records Music video We Need a Resolution, we would be foolish indeed. But as Prince Lestat says, “We are the powerful, we are the immortal! We should walk fearless in the open.” A good thing is unfortunately not a good forever, for otherwise there would be nothing better. If better is to come, good must stand aside. Therefore Meister Eckhart says, “God is not good, or else he could be better.” #RandolphHarris 8 of 25
There are times in the World’s history—and our own time may be one of them—when good must stand aside, so that anything destined to be better first appears in evil form. This shows how extremely dangerous it is even to touch these problems, for evil can so easily slip in on the plea that it is, potentially, the better! The problems of the inner voice are full of pitfalls and hidden snares. Treacherous, slippery ground, as dangerous and pathless as life itself once one lets go of the railings. However, one who cannot lose one’s life, neither shall one save it. The hero’s birth and the heroic life are always threatened. The serpents sent by Hera to destroy the infant Hercules, the python that tries to strangle Apollo at birth, the massacre of the innocents, all these tell the same story. To develop the personality is a gamble, and the tragedy is that the daemon of the inner voice is at once our greatest danger and an indispensable help. It is tragic, but logical, for it is the nature of things to be so. If they erect protective barriers, hold up wonder-working images, and point out the roads that wind safely past the abyss, can we, therefore, blame humanity, and all the well-meaning shepherds of the flock and worried fathers of the family? #RandolphHarris 9 of 25
However, in the end, the hero, the leader, the Saviour, is one who discovers a new way to greater certainty. Everything could be left undisturbed did not the new way demand to be discovered, and did it not visit humanity with all the plagues of Egypt until it finally is discovered. The undiscovered vein within us is a living part of the psyche; classical Chinese philosophy names this interior way “Tao,” and likens it to a flow of water that moves irresistibly towards its goal. To rest in Tao means fulfillment, wholeness, one’s destination reached, one’s mission done; the beginning, end, and perfect realization of the meaning of existence innate in all things. Personality is Tao. The earlier non-existence of the cosmos is only physically and not metaphysically true. Even when its form was not developed, its essence was and shall ever be. Whether as hidden seed or grown plant, the appearance and dissolution of the cosmos is a movement without beginning and without end. Science established that the cosmos is in perpetual movement. Philosophy establishes what is the primal substance which is moving. Although the cosmos is a manifestation of World-Mind, it is not and never could be anything more than a fragmentary and phenomenal one. #RandolphHarris 10 of 25
The World-Mind’s own character as undifferentiated undergoes no essential change and no genuine limitation through such a manifestation as thoughts. This is a Universe of unceasing change, both within its atoms and within itself—here of unceasing movement in the same two categories. It is an active Universe. Yet at the heart of each atom there is quiescence, that mysterious stillness of the unseen Power which must be, and is, the Power of God. The new physics finds creation to be a continuous process, which has never had a dated beginning in the past. Its atoms and Universes appear and disappear. What does this indicate? That the unspaced untimed No-Thing out of which all this comes is itself the Reality, and the Universe a showing-forth. One certain thing about the Universe is change. This is because from the moment that Spirit began to go out into seeming time, place, form, relativity, and individual souls, it left behind the infinite stillness of Absolute Being, the motionless Void. The appearances taken could only be fleeting and changing and could only keep this same characteristic until they returned to the still Source. This restlessness was the inevitable consequence of consciousness’ becoming immersed in the unconscious, of Reality’s becoming the victim of illusion, of the Perfect’s becoming shrunk into the imperfection. #RandolphHarris 11 of 25
Reality can not be content to remain with such limitations. So desire for change begins but is never satisfied, is ever active but is ever changing its objects to new ones. Each thing is proceeding back to its origin. This is why change is incessant in the Universe, why only the Origin is without it, and to understand the Changeless is to be enlightened. Lao Tzu wrote: “I come back to the Beginning! I beat down to the very origin of things. It is astonishingly new. Yet it is also the End of all. It is both return and going-out. All begins in death.” There is a central clam behind the Universe’s agitation. The fluidity of human life, ever moving onward and onward and carrying us all with it, is a hint that it is not the ever-real. Energy radiates, whether in the form of continuous waves of disconnected particles—“moment to moment” Buddha called it. It is this cosmic radiation which becomes “matter.” Andrew from the Christian Bible, who met Christ personally and developed an intimate knowledge of Him, possessed an extraordinary heart that had been magnetized by Christ. He was so drawn to Christ, he was sure that if others could just once be exposed to Jesus, it would be enough. “The first thing Andrew did,” the Scriptures tells us, “was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah,’” reports John 1.41. #RandolphHarris 12 of 25
Certainly Andrew has the right idea! For unlike the caricatures of Christ, the Christ of Scriptures is so winsome, so radically different, so utterly unlike the stereotypes, that when He is truly seen, He draws the most resistant to Himself. Though men and women have always resisted Christ, and will continue to do so, there are untold thousands who will be magnetized to Him when they understand the truth about Him. If we want Andrew-like hearts, we must repeatedly expose ourselves to the raw realities of Christ as they are recorded in the Gospels. Magnetized hearts draw others to Christ. Most people know a great deal about being rejected, being left out, or just not received, not welcome, not acceptable. As the parent/child relationship is perhaps the most perfect illustration of a circle of sufficiency in human life, so it is also the place where the deepest and most lasting wounds can be given. If a child is totally received in its early years by its parents and siblings, it will very likely have a rootedness about it that enables it to withstand most forms of rejection that may come upon a human being in a lifetime. #RandolphHarris 13 of 25
The child will carry its solid relationship to and from its family members throughout life, being sustained by them even long after those loved ones are dead. The child will receive a steady stream of rest and strength from them. By contrast, a small child not adequately received can actually die from not being held and loved; or if the child survives, the individual is likely to be incapable of giving and receiving love in decent human relationships for the rest of its life. If only in the child’s imagination, the delicate human being will be perpetually “left out.” And in this matter, imagination can have the force of reality. Thus the final words of the Old Testament speak of one who must come and “restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers” to avoid a curse coming to rest upon the land (Malachi 4.6). Of course severe wounds to our rootedness in others may also occur in later life. Failures of various kinds, real or imagined, can bring rejection or detachment from parents and other significant figures. Unfaithfulness is a mate, divorce, failure in career advancement, collapse of a profession, disloyalty of children, or just never making it “in,” wherever “in” may be—all of these break up our human circles of sufficiency. #RandolphHarris 14 of 25
Dysfunction, failure, and deviance in our lives may leave us unconnected to others at levels of our soul where lack of nourishment from deep connections with others means spiritual starvation and loss of wholeness in every dimension. Framing all the many human rejections and broken circles is real or imagined rejection by God because of sin, and a sense of worthlessness from moral failures, often too deep for conscious awareness or words. “My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God,” reports Psalms 83.3. Life is in the highest degree properly in God. In proof of which it must be considered that since a thing is said to live in so far as it operates of itself and not as moved by another, the more perfectly this power is found in anything, the more perfect is the life of that thing. “What was made, in Him was life,” reports John 1.3,4. However, all things were made, except God. Therefore all tings are life in God. In God to live is to understand. In God intellect, the thing understood, and the act of understanding, are one and the same. Hence whatever is in God as understood is the very living or life of God. #RandolphHarris 15 of 25
Now, wherefore, since all tings that have been made by God are in Him as things understood, it follows that all things in Hum are the divine life itself. Creatures are said to be in God in a twofold sense. In one way, so far they are held together and preserved by the divine power; even as we say that things that are in our power are in us. And creatures are thus said to be in God, even as they exist in their own natures. In this sense we must understand the words of the Apostle when he says, “In Him we live, move, and be”; since our being, living, and moving are themselves caused by God. In another sense things are said to be in God, as in Him who knows them, in which sense they are in God through their proper ideas, which in God are not distinct from the divine essence. Hence things as they are in God are the divine essence. And since the divine essence is life and not movement, it follows that things existing in God in this manner are not movement, but life. The thing modelled must be like the model according to the form, not the mode of being. For sometimes the form has being of another kind in the model from that which it has in the thing modelled. #RandolphHarris 16 of 25
Thus the form of a house has in the mind of the architect immaterial and intelligible being; but in the house that exists outside one’s mind, material and sensible being. Hence the ideas of things, though not existing in themselves, are life in the divine mind, as having a divine existence in that mind. “And it came to pass that the days of Ether were in the days of Coriantumr; and Coriantumr was king over all the land. And Ether was a prophet of the Lord; wherefore Ether came forth in the days of Coriantumr, and began to prophesy unto the people, for he could not be restrained because of the Spirit of the Lord which was in him. For he did cry from the morning, even until the going down of the sun, exhorting the people to believe in God unto repentance lest they should be destroyed, saying unto them that by faith all things are fulfilled—wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better World, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God. #RandolphHarris 17 of 25
“And it came to pass that Ether did prophesy great and marvelous things unto the people, which they did not believe, because they saw them not. And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the World that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith. For it was by faith that Christ showed himself unto our father, after he had risen from the dead; and he showed not himself unto them until after they had faith him; wherefore, it must needs be that some had faith in him, for he showed himself not unto the World. However, because of the faith of men Christ has shown himself unto the World, and glorified the name of the Father, and prepared a way that thereby others might be partakers of the Heavenly gift, that they might hope for those things which they have not seen. Wherefore, if ye will but have faith, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift. Behold it was by faith that they of old were called after the holy order of God. Wherefore, by faith was the law of Moses given. However, in the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way; and it is by faith that it hath been fulfilled. #RandolphHarris 18 of 25
“For if there be no faith among the children of men, Hod can do no miracle among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith. Behold, it was the faith of Alma and Amulek that caused the prison to tumble to the Earth. Behold, it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that wrought the change upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost. Behold, it was the faith of Ammon and his brethren which wrought so great a miracle among the Lamanites. Yes, and even all they who wrought miracles wrought them by faith, even those who were before Christ and also those who were after. And it was by faith that the three disciples obtained a promise that they should not taste of death; and they obtained not the promise until after their faith. And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God. And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad. #RandolphHarris 19 of 25
“And behold, we have seen in this record that one of these was the brother of Jared; for so great was his faith in God, that when God put forth his finger he could not hide it from the sight of the brother of Jared, because of his word which he had spoken unto him, which word he had obtained by faith. And after the brother of Jared had behold the finger of the Lord, because of the promise which the brother of Jared had obtained by faith, the Lord could not withhold anything from sight; wherefore he showed him all things, for he could no longer be kept without the veil. And it is by faith that my fathers have obtained the promise that these things should come unto their brethren through the Gentiles; therefore the Lord hath commanded me, yes, even Jesus Christ. And I said unto him: Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things, because of our weakness in writing; for Lord thou hast made us mighty in word by faith, but thou hast not made us mighty in writing; for thou hast made all this people that they could speak much, because of the Holy Ghost which thou hast given them; and thou hast made us that we could write but little, because of the awkwardness of our hands. #RandolphHarris 20 of 25
“Behold, thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art, unto the overpowering of a man to read them. Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, wen we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words. And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Floods mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness; and if humans come unto me I will show unto them their weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all humans that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness. #RandolphHarris 21 of 25
“And I, Moroni, having heard these words, was conformed, and said: O Lord, thy righteous will be done, for I know that thou workest unto the children of men according to their faith; for the brother of Jared said unto the mountain Zerin, Remove—and it was removed. And if he had no had faith it would not have moved; wherefore thou workest after men have faith. For thus didst thou manifest thyself unto thy disciples; for after they had faith, and did speak in thy name, thou didst show thyself unto them in great power. And I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more excellent hope; wherefore man must hope, or one cannot receive an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared. And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the World, even unto the laying down of thy life for the World, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men. And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father. #RandolphHarris 22 of 25
“Wherefore, I know by this thing which thou hast said, that if the Gentiles have not charity, because of our weakness, that thou wilt prove them, and take which they have received, and given unto them who shall more abundantly. And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace, that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the siting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansion of my Father. And now I, Moroni, bid farewell unto the Gentiles, yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood. And then shall ye know that I have seen Jesus, and that he hath talked with me face to face, and that he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things; and only a few have I written, because of my weakness in writing. #RandolphHarris 23 of 25
“And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in your forever. Amen,” reports Ether 12.1-41. Dear Lord in Heaven, please let down from your place on high, and fitting a shaft to your bow, let loose your bowstring. Please sink in deep into the sky the shaft of lighting and cause the clouds to burst soaking the World, please bring the Winter’s rain that we so desperately need. The snow skinks back into the Earth, there to nourish the sleeping life that waits patiently for its time to come. God of Winter, you will preform this miracle through many ages. Please transform, again, this dry dusty ground into the frozen white so we may have the pliant green in the summer and spring. Please work, again, the ancient magic, and bring a cold and wet winter to our land. We sing praises unto you Lord, we are Your faithful ones, and give thanks to Your holy name. For while God’s anger is but for a moment, His favour is for a lifetime; weeping many tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning. #RandolphHarris 24 of 25
I have said in my security: “I shall never be disturbed.” O Lord, in Thy favour, Thou didst set up for me mountains of strength; but when Thou didst turn away from me, I was affrighted. Unto Thee, O Lord, did I call, and unto the Lord I made supplication: “What profit is there in my death, in my going down to the nether World? Can the dust praise Thee? Can it declare Thy truth? Hear, O Lord, and be gracious unto me; Lord, be Thou my helper.” Then Thou didst turn my mourning into dancing; Thou didst loose my sackcloth, and gird me with gladness, so that my soul might continually sing praise to Thee and not be silent; O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto Thee forever. Magnified and sanctified by 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 God’s great name be blessed forever 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. #RandolphHarris 25 of 25
Dear Lord Jesus, I confess that I am a guilty sinner and that I need to be saved. I believe that you died on the cross to pay my sin debt. Please forgive my sins, come into my heart, and save my soul. I turn my life over to you. Please help me to live for you from now on. Amen.
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A Person that Does Not Have Any Tears Does Not Have Any Heart!
To have no friends at all is the worst state of humans. To have only one good friend is enough. You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you. Our personality develops in the course of our life from germs that are hard or impossible to discern, and it is only our deeds that reveal who we are. We are like the sun, which nourishes the life of the Earth and brings forth every kind of strange, wonderful, and evil thing; we are like the mothers who bear in their wombs untold happiness and suffering. At first we do not know what deeds or misdeeds, what destiny, what good and evil we have in us, and only the autumn can show what spring has engendered, only in the evening will it be seen what the morning began. Personality, as the complete realization of our whole being, is an unattainable ideal. However, unattainability is no argument against the ideal, for ideals are only signposts, never the goal. Just as the child must develop in order to be educated, so the personality must begin to sprout before it can be trained. And this is where the danger begins. For we are handling something unpredictable, we do not know how and in what direction the budding personality will develop, and we have learned enough of nature and the World to be somewhat chary of both. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
On top of that, we were brought up in the Christian belief that human nature is intrinsically evil. However, even those who no longer adhere to the Christian teaching are by nature mistrustful and not a little frightened of the possibilities lurking in the subterranean chambers of their being. Even enlightened psychologists like Dr. Freud give us an extremely unpleasant picture of what lies slumbering in the depths of the human psyche. So it is rather a bold venture to put in a good word for the development of personality. Human nature, however, is fully of the strangest contradictions. We praise the “sanctity of motherhood,” yet would never dream of holding it responsible for all the human monsters, the homicidal maniacs, dangerous lunatics, epileptics, idiots, and physically disabled of every description who are born every day. At the same time, when it comes to allowing the free development of personality, we are tortured with doubts. “Anything might happen then,” people say. Or they dish up the old, feeble-minded objection to “individualism.” However, individualism is not and never has been a natural development; it is nothing but an unnatural usurpation, a freakish, impertinent pose that proves its hollowness by crumpling up before the least obstacle. What we have in mind is something very different. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
Clearly no one develops one’s personality because somebody tells one that it would be useful or advisable to do so. Nature has never yet been taken in by well-meaning advice. The only thing that moves nature is causal necessity, and that goes for human nature, too. Without necessity nothing budges, the human personality least of all. It is tremendously conservative, not to say torpid. Only acute necessity is able to rouse it. The developing personality obeys no caprice, no command, no insight, only brute necessity; it needs the motivating force of inner or outer fatalities. Any other development would be no better than individualism. That is why when flung at the natural development of personality, the cry of “individualism” is a cheap insult. The words “many are called, but few are chosen” are singularly appropriate here, for the development of personality from the germ-state to full consciousness is at once a charisma and a curse, because its first fruit is the conscious and unavoidable segregation of the single individual from the undifferentiated and unconscious herd. This means isolation, and there is no more comforting word for it. Neither family nor society nor position can save one from this fate, nor yet the most successful adaptation to one’s environment, however smoothly one fits in. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
The development of personality is a favour that must be paid for dearly. However, the people who talk most loudly about developing their personalities are the very ones who are lest mindful of the results, which are such as to frighten away all weaker spirits. Yet the development of personality means more than just the fear of hatching forth monsters, or of isolation. It also means fidelity to the law of one’s own being. For the word “fidelity” I should prefer, in this context, the Greek word used in the New Testament, which is erroneously translated “faith.” It really means “trust,” “trustful loyalty. Fidelity to the law of one’s own being is a trust in this law, a loyal perseverance and confident hope; in short, an attitude such as a religious human should have towards God. It can now be seen how portentous is the dilemma that emerges from behind our problem: personality can never develop unless the individual chooses one’s own way, consciously and with moral deliberation. Not only the causal motive—necessity—but conscious moral decision must lend its strength to the process of building personality. If the first is lacking, then the alleged development is a mere acrobatics of the will; if the second, it will get stuck in unconscious automatism. However, if one holds one’s own way to be the best, a human can make a moral decision to go that way. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
The other ways are conventionalities of a moral, social, political, philosophical, or religious nature. The fact that the conventions always flourish in one form or another only proves that the vast majority of humankind do not choose their own way, but convention, and consequently develop no themselves but a method and a collective mode of life at the cost of their own wholeness. Just as the psychic and social life of humankind at the primitive level is exclusively a group life with a high degree of unconsciousness among the individuals composing it, so the historical process of development that comes afterwards is in the main collective and will doubtless remain so. That is why I believe convention to be a collective necessity. It is a stopgap and not an ideal, either in the moral or in the religious sense, for submission to it always means renouncing one’s wholeness and running away from the final consequences of one’s own being. To develop one’s own personality is indeed an unpopular undertaking, a deviation that is highly uncongenial to the herd, an eccentricity smelling of the cenobite, as it seems to the outsider. Small wonder, then, that from earliest times only the chosen few have embarked upon this strange adventure. Had they all been fools, we would safely dismiss them as mentally “private” persons who have no claim on interest. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
However, unfortunately, these personalities are as a rule the legendary heroes of humankind, the very ones who are looked up to, loved, and worshipped, the true sons of God whose names perish not. They are the flower and the fruit, the ever fertile seeds of the tree of humanity. This allusion to historical personalities makes it abundantly clear why the development of personality is an ideal, and why the cry of individualism is an insult. Their greatness has never lain in their abject submission to convention, but on the contrary, in their deliverance from convention. They towered up like mountain peaks above the mass that still clung to its collective fears, its beliefs, laws, and systems, and boldly chose their own way. To the man in the street it has always seemed miraculous that anyone should turn aside from the beaten track with its known destinations, and strike out on the steep and narrow path leading into the unknown. Hence, if not actually crazy, it was always believed that such a human was possessed by a daemon or a god; for the miracle of a human being able to act otherwise than as humanity has always acted could only be explained by the gift of daemonic power or a divine spirit. How could anyone but a god counterbalance the dead weight of humanity in the mass, with its everlasting convention and habit? #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
From the beginning, therefore, the heroes were endowed with godlike attributes. According to the Nordic view they had snake’s eyes, and there was something peculiar about their birth or descent; certain heroes of ancient Greece were snake-souled, others had a personal daemon, were magicians or the elect of God. All these attributes, which could be multiplied at will, show that for the ordinary human the outstanding personality is something supernatural, a phenomenon that can only be explained by the intervention of some daemonic factor. What is it, in the end, that induces a human to go one’s own way and to rise out of unconscious identity with the mass as out of a swathing mist? Not necessity, for necessity comes to many, and they all take refuge in convention. Not moral decision, for nine times out of ten we decide for convention likewise. What is it then, that inexorable tips the scales in favour of the extra-ordinary? It is what is commonly called vocation: an irrational factor that destines a human to emancipate oneself from the herd and from its well-worn paths. True personality is always a vocation and puts its trust in it as in God, despite its being, as the ordinary human would say, only a personal feeling. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
However, vocation acts like a law of God from which there is no escape. The fact that many a human who goes one’s own way ends in ruin means nothing to one who has a vocation. One must obey one’s own law, as if it were a daemon whispering to one of new and wonderful paths. Anyone with a vocation hears that voice of the inner human: one is called. That is why the legend say that one possesses a private daemon who counsels one and whose mandates one must obey. The best known example of this is Faust, and an historical instance is provided by the daemon of Socrates. Primitive medicine-humans have their snake spirits, and Aesculapius, the tutelary patron of physicians, has for ones emblem the Serpent of Epidaurus. He also has, as his private daemon, the Cabir Telesphoros, who is said to have dictated or inspired his medical prescriptions. Nonetheless, always choose a vocation where you will be happy. You will spend at least eight hours a day or more at it through all the foreseeable future. Choose something that you enjoy doing. The original meaning of “to have a vocation” is to be addressed by a voice.” The clearest examples of this are to be found in the avowals of the Old Testament prophets. That it is not just a quaint old-fashioned way of speaking is proved by the confessions of historical personalities such as Goethe and Napoleon, to mention only two familiar examples, who made no secret of the feeling of vocation. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
When it comes to a vocation, income is important, but you do not need to be a multimillionaire or a billionaire to be happy. In fact, if wealth becomes your only objective, you are more likely to be unhappy. You will become a slave t it. It will colour all your decisions. You need enough to get along on. You need enough to provide well for your family. Vocation, or the feeling of it, is not, however, the prerogative of great personalities; it is also appropriate to the small ones all the way down to humble personalities, but as the size decreases the voice become more and more muffled and unconscious. It is as if the voice of the daemon within were moving further and further off, and spoke more rarely and more indistinctly. The smaller the personality, the dimmer and more unconscious it becomes, until finally in merges indistinguishably with the surrounding society, thus surrendering its own wholeness and dissolving into the wholeness of the group. In the place of the inner voice there is the voice of the group with its conventions, and vocation is replaced by collective necessities. However, even in this unconscious social condition there are not a few who are called awake by the summons of the voice, whereupon they are at once set apart from the others, feelings themselves confronted with a problem about which the others know nothing. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
In the most cases it is impossible to explain to others what has happened for any understanding is walled off by impenetrable prejudices. “You are no different from anybody else,” they will chorus, or, “there is no such thing,” and even if there is such a thing, it is immediately branded as “morbid” and “most unseemly.” For it is “a monstrous presumption to suppose anything of that sort could be of the slightest significance” –it is “purely psychological.” This last objection is extremely popular nowadays. It stems from a curious underestimation of anything psychic, which people apparently regard as personal, arbitrary, and therefore completely futile. And this, paradoxically enough, despite their enthusiasm for psychology. The unconscious, after all, is “nothing but fantasy.” We “merely imagined” so and so, et cetera. People think themselves magicians who can conjure the psyche hither and thither and fashion it to suit their moods. They deny what strikes them as inconvenient, sublimate anything nasty, explain away their phobias, correct their faults, and feel in the end that they have arranged everything beautifully. In the meantime they have forgotten the essential point, which is that only the tiniest fraction of the psyche is identical with the conscious mind and its box of magic tricks. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
The much greater part of the mind is sheer unconscious fact, hard and immitigable as granite, immovable, inaccessible, yet ready at any time to come crashing down upon us at the behest of unseen powers. The gigantic catastrophes that threaten us today are not elemental happenings of a physical or biological order, but psychic events. To a quite terrifying degree we are threatened by wars and revolutions which are nothing other than psychic epidemics. At any moment several millions of human beings may be smitten with a new madness, and then we shall have another World war or devastating revolution. Instead of being at the mercy of wild beasts, earthquakes, landslides, and inundations, modern humans are battered by the elemental forces of one’s own psyche. This is the World Power that vastly exceeds all other powers on Earth. The Age of Enlightenment, which stripped nature and human institutions of gods, overlooked the God of Terror who dwells in the human soul. If anywhere, fear of God is justified in face of the overwhelming supremacy of the psychic. However, all this is so much abstraction. Everyone knows that the intellect, that clever jackanapes, can put it this way or any other way one pleases. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
When the psyche, as an objective fact, hard as granite and heavy as lead, confronts a human as an inner experience and addresses one in an audible voice, saying, “This is what will and must be,” it is a very different thing. Then one feels oneself called, just as the group does when there is a war on, or a revolution, or any other madness. It is not for nothing that our age calls for the redeemer personality, for the one who can emancipate oneself from the inescapable grip of the collective and save at least one’s own soul, who lights a beacon of hope for others, proclaiming that here is at least one person who has succeeded in extricating oneself from that fatal identity with the group psyche. For the group, because of its unconsciousness, has no freedom of choice, and so psychic activity runs on it like an uncontrolled law of nature. There is thus set going a chain reaction that comes to a stop only in catastrophe. When they feel the danger of psychic forces, the people always long for a hero, a slayer of dragons; hence the cry for personality. We know that God is our ultimate Saviour. Sabbath fulfilled in human life is really celebration of God. Sabbath is inseparable from worship, and, indeed, genuine worship is Sabbath. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
As the fourth commandment, Sabbath is the fulfillment in practice of the first three. When we come to the place where we can joyously “do no work” it will be because God is so exalted in our minds and bodies that we can trust him with our life and our World and can take our hands off of them. Now, for most of us Sabbath is first to be achieved in the practice of solitude and silence. Thee must be carefully sought, cultivated, and dwelt in. When they become established in our soul and our body, they can be practiced in company with others. However, the body must be weaned away from its tendencies to always take control, to run the World, to achieve and produce, to attain gratification. These are its habitual tendencies learned in a fallen World. Progress in the opposite direction can only be made in solitude and silence, for they “take our hands off our World” as nothing else does. And that is the meaning of Sabbath. Rest is one primary mark of the condition of sabbath in the body, as unrest is a primary mark of its absence. So if we really intend to submit our bodies as living sacrifices to God, our first step well might be to start getting enough sleep. Sleep is a good first use of solitude and silence. It is also a good indicator of how thoroughly we trust in God. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
The psalmist, who knew danger and uncertainty well, also slept well: “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustains me” (3.5-6), he said, and “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for Thou alone, O LORD, dost make me to dwell in safety,” (4.8). Of course we do not mean that we can just seep our way to sainthood. Sometimes people sleep because they are depressed, or are sad, or have a physical condition, or are just evading reality. Nor do we mean that really godly people—call them saints—do not work hard and are never exhausted. However, the saints who have separated their bodies to God have resources not at the disposal of the ordinary person running on fumes and promises, where so many of us find ourselves today. We have to learn how to get where those resources are and to take our bodies into the rest of God. If we are not rested, on the other hand, the body moves to the center of our focus and makes its presence more strongly felt, and the tendencies of its parts call out more strongly for gratification. He sensual desires and ego demands will have greater power over us through our desperate body and its parts. In addition, our awareness of what it is doing—it is very subtle—and what is happening around us will be less sharp and decisive. Confusion is the enemy of spiritual orientation. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
Rest, properly taken, gives clarity to the mind. Weariness, by contrast can make us seek gratification and energy from food or drugs, or from various illicit relationships, or from egoistic postures that are, in Paul’s words, “upon the Earth.” They pull us away from reliance upon God and from living in his power. Much more could be said of the role of spiritual disciplines on behalf of the spiritual formation of the body. A full discussion of disciplines focused on the body would have to deal with how exercise and diet can contribute to easing the influence of the “sin that is in our members.” As finite, bodily creature we cannot ignore such things. In particular, specific disciplines go far in retraining particular parts of our body away from the specific tendencies to sin that are localized in them. They enable us to stop the practice and remove the tendency in question by entering special contrary practices and circumstances, and thereby breaking the force of habit that has us in bondage. God has made every provision for the body we actually have to serve us and him well for his purposes in putting us here on Earth. There may be severe problems with our bodies, at least from the human point of view. We do not mean to deny or disregard that. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
However, as Peter said to women apprentices of his day (and of course it applies equally well to men), the real power of life lies in who we are as redeemed people and how our behaviour is caught up in that. So we should “not let [our] adornment be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God,” reports 1 Peter 3.3-4. This is no legalistic ban on jewelry and so on—though such things can be wrongly used, and perhaps nearly always are. However, it is a clear indication of where genuine beauty, health, and strength of the body come from and what incredible grace lies in the spiritual transformation of the body. “And it came to pass that Sez, who was a descendant of Heth—for Heth had perished by the famine, and all his household save it were Shez—wherefore, Shez began to build up again a broken people. And it came to pass that Shez did remember the destruction of his fathers, and he did build up a righteous kingdom; for he remembered what the Lord had done in bringing Jared and his brother across the deep; and he did walk in the ways of the Lord; and he begat sons and daughters. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
“And his eldest son, whose name was Shez, did rebel against him; nevertheless, Shez was smitten by the hand of a robber, because of his exceeding riches, which brought peace again unto his father. And it came to pass that his father did build up many cities upon the face f the land, and the people began again to spread over all the face of the land. And Shez did live to an exceedingly old age; and he begat Riplakish. And he died, and Riplakish reigned in his stead. And it came to pass that Riplakish did not do that which was right in the sight of the Lord, for he did have many wives and concubines, and did lay that upon most men’s shoulders which was grievous to be borne; yea, he did tax them with heavy taxes; and with the taxes he did build many spacious buildings. And he did erect him an exceedingly beautiful throne; and he did build many prisons, and whoso would not be subject unto taxes he did cast into prison; and whoso was not able to pay taxes did cast into prison; and he did cause that they should labour continually for their support; and whoso refused to labour he did cause to be put to death. Wherefore he did obtain all his fine work, yea, even his fine gold he did cause to be refined in prison; and all manner of fine workmanship he did cause to be wrought in prison. And it came to pass that the did afflict the people with his whoredoms and abominations. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
“And when he had reigned for the space of forty and two years the people did rise up in rebellion against him; and there began to be war again in the land, insomuch that Riplakish was killed, and his descendants were driven out of the land. And it came to pass that after the space of many years, Morianton (he being a descendent of Riplakish) gathered together an army of outcasts, and went forth and gave battle unto the people; and he gained power over many cities; and the war became exceedingly sore, and did last for the space of many years; and he did gain power over all the land, and did establish himself king over the land. And after that he had established himself king he did ease the burden of the people, by which he did gain favour in the eyes of the people, and they did anoint him to be their king. And he did do justice unto the people, but not unto himself because of his many whoredoms; wherefore e was cut off from the presence of the Lord. And it came to pass that Morianton built up many cities, and the people became exceedingly rich under his reign, both in buildings, and in gold and silver, and in raising grain, and in flocks, and herds, and such things which has been restored unto them. And Morianton did live to an exceedingly great age, and then he begat Kim. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
“And Kim did reign in the stead of his father; and he did reign eight years, and his father died And it came to pass that Kim did not reign in righteousness, wherefore he was not favoured of the Lord. And his brother did raise up in rebellion against him, by which he did bring him into captivity; and he did remain in captivity all his days; and he begat sons and daughters in captivity, and in his old age he begat Levi; and he died. And it came to pas that Levi did serve in captivity after the death of his father, for the space of forty and two years. And he did make war against the king of the land, by which he did obtain unto himself the kingdom. And after he had obtained unto himself the kingdom he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord; and the people did prosper in the land; and he did live to a good old age, and begat sons and daughters; and he also begat, Corom, whom he anointed king in his stead. And it came to pass that Corom did that which was good in the sight of the Lord all his days; and he begat many sons and daughters; and after he had seen many days he did pass away, even like unto the rest of the Earth; and Kish reigned in his stead. And it came to pass that Kish passed away also, and Lib reigned in his stead. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
“And it came to pass that Lib also did that which was good in the sight of the Lord. And in the days of Lib the poisonous serpents were destroyed. Wherefore they did go into the land southward, to hunt food for the people of the land, for the land was covered with animals of the forest. And Lib also himself became a great hunter. And they built a great city by the narrow neck of the land, by the place where the sea divides the land. And they did preserve the land southward for a wilderness, to get game. And the whole face of the land northward was covered with inhabitants. And they were exceedingly industrious, and they did buy and sell and traffic one with another, that they might get gain. And they did work in all manner of ore, and they did make gold, and silver, and iron, and brass, and all manner of metals; and they did dig it out of the Earth; wherefore, they did cast up mighty heaps of Earth to get ore, of gold, and of silver, and of iron, and of copper. And they did work all manner of fine work. And they did have silks, and fine-twined linen; and they did work all manner of cloth, that they might clothe themselves from their nakedness. And they did make all manner of tools to till the Earth, both to plow and to sow, to reap and to hoe, and also to thrash. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
“And they did make all manner of tools which they did work their beasts. And they did make all manner of weapons of war. And they did work all manner of work exceedingly curious workmanship. And never could be a people more blessed than were they, and more prospered by the and of the Lord. And they were in a land that was choice above all lands, for the Lord has spoken it. And it came to pass that Lib did live many years, and begat sons and daughters; and he also begat Hearthom. And it came to pass that Hearthom reigned in the stead of his father. And when Hearthom had reigned twenty and four years, behold, the kingdom was taken away from him. And he served many years in captivity, yea, even all the remainder of his days. And he begat Heth, and Heth lived in captivity all his days. And Heth begat Aaron, and Aaron dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Amnigaddah, and Amnigaddah also dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Coriantum, and Coriantum dwelt in captivity all his days; and he begat Com. And it came to pass that Com drew away the half of the kingdom. And he reigned over the half of the kingdom forty and two years; and he went to battle against the king, Amgid, and they fought for the space of many years, during which time Com gained power over Amgid, and obtained power over the remainder of the kingdom. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24
“And in the days of Com there began to be robbers in the land; and they adopted the old plans, and administered oaths after the manner of the ancients, and sought again to destroy the kingdom. Now Com did fight against them much; nevertheless, he did not prevail against them,” reports Ether 10.1-34. Dear Lord in Heaven, as we approach this New Year, may it be born from You; praise, blessings, and honours are due for this gift! Please hear my words, Lord, as you give birth to everything. A newly born year will take its place among your wonders, one more thing for which You might rightly be praised. Sweet hymns shall be my chant and women songs, for Thou art all for which my spirit longs—to be within the shadow of Thy hand, and all Thy mystery to understand. The while Thy glory is upon my tongue, my inmost heart with love is of Thee is wrung. So though Thy mighty marvels I proclaim, these songs of love wherewith I greet Thy name. I have not seen Thee, yet I tell Thy praise, nor known Thee, yet I imagine forth Thy ways. For by Thy seers’ and servants’ mystic speech Thou didst Thy sov’ran splendor darkly teach, and from the grandeur of Thy work they drew the measure of Thy inner greatness, too. They told of Thee, but not as Thou must be, since from Thy work they tried to body Thee. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
To countless visions did their pictures run, behold through all the visions Thou art One. I glorify Him, for He joys in me, my crown of beauty He shall ever be! His head is like pure gold: His forehead’s flame is graven glory of His holy name. And with that lovely diadem this graced, the coronal His people there have placed. Like Nature, the World, I myself, all of existence is subject to change. It is inevitable. What can we do except accommodate ourselves to this inexorable law? If there is any law which governs human existence it is the law of change. We forget it at our peril. Most ancient societies forgot it and suffered. For they cannot escape change, nor the sorrow that change bring, nor the loss of individual existence which is also brings. Such is the universal law which dominates all things and all creatures. When we try to press a permanent happiness out of this World of impermanent things, we are deceiving ourselves. Whether one comes to this truth near the end of a lifetime after long and varied experience or early in it by intuition, the effect is salutary, if saddening: perfect and continual happiness would include perfect and continual functioning of the body, good health, oral hygiene, good vision, good digestion, and all of the rest. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
How many of the saints and the wise in history’s records had excellent bodily condition until the end? Nothing remains; everything is subject to change. Whether you rebel against this stark fact or resignedly accept it, it stares you in the face unaffected by your personal attitude. Jesus said: “This World will pass away.” It is hard to bear the remembrance that whatever else may happen change is certain, in one way or another, at some time or another. This is the “eternal flow” of ancient Greek thinkers. Not only is everything subject to change but everything also exists in relation to something else. Thus change and relativity dominate the World scene. Even Nature, used to existences extending through millions of years, is itself subject to this ever-changing process. What chance is then is there for the creations of humans? How could they hope to endure? We may think of the Sphinx and the Pyramid as likely to outlast the hours—but stay! Look at their neighbour, Sahara: today a vast sea of sand, but formerly a vast sea of water. So we must conclude that all is perishable—yet, to complete the picture, we must admit also that all is renewable. The one feature of life and thus Universe which does not change is change itself! It is an inexorable law. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24
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Let Go of the Past, but Keep the Lessons it Taught!
Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans. The use of dream-analysis in psychotherapy is still a much debated question. Many practitioners find it indispensable in the treatment of neuroses, and consider that the dream is a function whose psychic importance is equal to that of the conscious mind itself. Others, on the contrary, dispute the value of dream-analysis and regard dreams as a negligible by-product of the psyche. Obviously, if s person holds the view that the unconscious plays a decisive part in the aetiology of neuroses, one will attribute a high practical importance to dreams as direct expressions of the unconscious. Equally obviously, if one denies the unconscious or at least thinks it aetiologically insignificant, one will minimize the importance of dream-analysis. Although the unconscious, as some say is unjustly, controversial, we are going to deal exclusively with a few practical questions. Without it, the dream is a mere freak of nature, a meaningless conglomeration of fragment left over from the day. Were that really so, there would be no excuse for the present discussion. The attempt at analyzing and interpreting dreams is theoretically justified from a scientific standpoint point. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
If we are successful at analyzing and interpreting the dream, we may expect this attempt to give us scientific insight into the structure of psychic causality, quite apart from any therapeutic results that may be gained. The practitioner may believe that the explanatory insight so gained is of therapeutic value, in which case one will elevate dream-analysis to a professional duty. It is well known that the Freudian school is of the firm opinion that very valuable therapeutic results are achieved by throwing light upon the unconscious causal factors—that is, by explaining them to the patient and thus making one fully conscious of the sources of one’s trouble. When one is projecting one’s intimate feelings and the caring of their cultural tradition onto the symbols of one’s dream, one is able to integrate cognitively and affectively one’s tribal moral tradition as it was expressed in the dream. Dreams can make a person aware that the choices one was making had been taking one away from one’s “path of life,” causing one to be psychologically and spiritually out of balance. Sometimes an individua may use alcohol and drugs to mask the pain of one’s feelings of disharmony, discomfort, and suffering. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
I was consulted by a man who held a prominent position in the World. He was afflicted with a sense of anxiety and insecurity, and complained of dizziness sometimes resulting in nausea, heaviness in the head, and constriction of breath—a state that might easily be confused with mountain sickness. One had had an extraordinarily successful career, and had risen, by dint of ambition, industry, and native talent, from one’s humble origins as the son of a poor peasant. Step by step one had climbed, attaining at last a leading position which held every prospect of further social advancement. One has now in fact reached the spring-board from which one could have commenced one’s flight into the empyrean, had not his neurosis suddenly intervened. At this point in his story the patient could not refrain from that familiar exclamation which begins with the stereotyped words: “And just now, when…” The fact that one had all the symptoms of mountain sickness seemed highly appropriate as a drastic illustration of is peculiar impasse. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
He had also brought to the consultation two dreams from the preceding night. The first dream was as follows: “I am back again in the small village where I was born. Some peasant lads who went to school with me are standing together in the street. I walk past, pretending not to know them. Then I hear one of the say, pointing at me: ‘He does not often come back to our village.’” It requires no feat of interpretation to see in this dream a reference to the humble beginnings of the dreamer’s career and to understand what this reference means. The dream says quite clearly: “You forgot how far down you began.” Here is the second dream: “I am in a great hurry because I want to go on a journey. I keep on looking for things to pack, but can find nothing. Time flies, and the train will soon be leaving. Having finally succeeded in getting all my things together, I hurry along the street, only to discover that I have forgotten a brief-case containing important papers. I dash back all out of breath, find it at last, then race to the station, but I make hardly any headway. With a final effort I rush on to the platform only to see the train just steaming out of the station yard. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
“It is very long, and it runs in a curious S-shaped curve, and it occurs to me that if the engine-driver does not look out, and put on steam when he comes int the straight, the rear coaches will still be on the curve and will be thrown off the rails by the gathering speed. And this is just what happens: the engine-driver puts on steam, I try to cry out, the rear coaches give a frightful lurch and are thrown off the rails. There is a terrible catastrophe. I wake up in terror.” Here again no effort is needed to understand the message of the dream. It describes the patient’s frantic haste to advance oneself still further. However, since the engine-driver in front steams relentlessly ahead, the neurosis happens at the back: the coaches rock and the train is derailed. It is obvious that, at the present phase of his life, that patient has reached the highest point of his career; the strain of the long ascent from his lowly origin has exhausted his strength. He should have rested content with his achievements, but instead of that his ambition drives him on and one, and up and up into an atmosphere that is too thin for him and to which he is not accustomed. Therefore his neurosis comes upon him as a warning. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
Circumstances prevented me from treating the patient further, nor did my view of the case satisfy him. The upshot was that the fate depicted in the dream ran its course. He tried to exploit the professional openings that tempted his ambition, and ran so violently off the rails that the catastrophe was realized in actual life. Thus, what could only be inferred from the conscious anamnesis—namely that the mountain sickness was a symbolic representation of the patient’s inability to climb any further—was confirmed by the dreams as a fact. Here we come upon something of the utmost importance for the applicability of dream-analysis: the dream describes the inner situation of the dreamer, but the conscious mind denies its truth and reality, or admits it only grudgingly. Consciously the dreamer could not see the slightest reason why he should not go steadily forward; on the contrary, he continued his ambitions climbing and refused to admit his own inability which subsequent events made all too plain. So long as we move in the conscious sphere, we are always unsure in such cases. The anamnesis can be interpreted in various ways. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
After all, the common soldier carries the marshal’s baton in his knapsack, and many a son of poor parents has achieved the highest success. Why should it not be the case here? Since my judgment is fallible, why should my conjecture be better than his? At this point the dream comes in as the expression of an involuntary, unconscious psychic process beyond the control of the conscious mind. It shows the inner truth and reality of the patient as it really is: not as I conjecture it to be, and not as he would like it to be, but as it is. I have therefore made it a rule to regard dreams as I regard physiological facts: if sugar appears in the urine, then the urine contains sugar, and not albumen or urobilin or something else that might fit in better with my expectations. That is to say, I take dreams as diagnostically valuable facts. As is the way of all dreams, my little dream example gives us rather more than we expected. It gives us not only the aetiology of the neurosis but a prognosis as well. What is more, we even know exactly where the treatment should begin: we must prevent the patient from going full steam ahead. This is just what he tells himself in the dream. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
As one’s story unfold and the healing process beings, one should find expressed the feelings of safety, security, belonging, and love the one receives from the experience of being known by the Creator. Being known by the Creator allows a unity of consciousness and a peak experience for one in the concrete reality of life. Of course we are all aware that we have certain boundaries. The Creator sometimes reminds us of these boundaries to keep us in touch within the sacred cathedral of our path. The symbols can bring about a psychological transformation of our attitude from one of the depression, constriction, and limitedness to one of joyfulness, expansiveness, and freedom. Dreams can sometimes tell us that we are losing our sense of being and our sense of identity. When we see out limitedness within our dreams, we should also be inspired and excited about claiming our freedom by not feeling driven down to conform to standards that are not within our realm of possibility. Whereas before one may have felt driven to contract or enlarge, inhibit or stand out, one will learn that is it okay to be more flexible about our capacities—more deliberate. An individual’s life is a rich tapestry of experience. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
Some of the experiences that make up our tapestry of life are composed of threads that we weave with our own hands, and some that the hands of fate weave for us. One needs to grow up to this truth, and in that way it will reach one’s heart, and the appeal goes deeper and works more powerfully. God, the infinite power, is everywhere present and always active. All beings draw their little power for the purposes of their transient self-centered lives from it. In the same way the infinite Mind provides the mainspring for the activity of each little egotistic mind. The smallest one-celled creature is alive with an energy which comes from the universal energy that is the expression of the World-Mind. The same energy which runs in waves or flows in streams of particles through the Universe’s atoms courses through human beings. In both cases it issues forth from a center which is divine. There is no moment when the unseen divine activity is not present in the Universe. Everything is being carried on by the divine Power and divine Wisdom. The secret stream of a diviner life flows ceaselessly beneath our blessed existence. It is a process that requires the individual to face one’s problems and that taxes one’s powers of conscious judgement and decision. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
Coming to understand our place in the Universe is nothing less than a direct challenge to one’s ethical sense, a call to arms that must be answered by the whole personality. As regards the maturation of the personality, therefore, the analytical approach is of a higher order than suggestion, which is a species of magic that works in the dark and makes no ethical demands upon the personality. The view that dreams are merely repressed wishes is hopelessly out of date. There are, it is true, dreams which manifestly represent wishes or fears, but what about all other things? Dreams may contain ineluctable truths, philosophical pronouncements, illusions, wild fantasies, memories, plans, anticipations, irrational experiences, even telepathic visions, and Heaven knows what besides. One thing we ought never to forget: almost half our life is passed in a more or less unconscious. Just as the psyche has a diurnal side which we call consciousness, so also it has a nocturnal side: the unconscious psychic activity which we apprehend as dreamlike fantasy. The cosmic order is divine intelligence expressed, equilibrium sought through contrast and complementaries. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
It is certain that the conscious mind consists not only in wishes and fears, but of vastly more besides; and it is highly probable that our dream psyche possesses a wealth of contents and living forms equal to or even greater than those of the conscious mind, which is characterized by concentration, limitation, and exclusion. God multiplies Himself in countless forms, the Supreme will establish according to higher laws. The World-Mind is hidden deep within our individual minds. The World-Idea begets all our knowledge. Whoever seeks aright finds the sacred stillness inside and the sacred activity in the Universe. It is not only humans that are made in the image of God: the whole Universe likewise is also an image of God. It is not only by coming to know oneself that human beings discover the divine life hidden deep in one’s heart: it is also by listening in the stillness of Nature to what she is forever declaring, that one discovers the presence of an infinite World-Mind. One comes to see the whole cosmos as a manifestation of the Supreme Being. It follows that involuntarily, spontaneously, one brings oneself—mind and body, heart and will—into harmony with this view. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
Each individual center of life and intelligence is a replica in minuscule of the World-Mind itself. Humans and nature are metaphysically an appearance, physically an expression, and religiously a creative projection of God. The World-Idea is slowly but rhythmically unfolded from the Infinite Mind. Yet if we could speak in spatial terms of what transcends space, we could say that the Idea and its process of unfoldment occupy no more than a single point in that vast Mind. Although the Universe expressed Mind, it does not exhaust it. The Universe is not the entire God-Consciousness. If the Infinite Being is represented by an infinite number of atoms, ways, creatures, and relationships, both harmonies and oppositions, this is only to be expected. If it is itself inexhaustible, its manifestations must be the same. The Universe only partially expresses the characteristics of the World-Mind. Its own tremendous spaciousness strives—but of course always strives in vain—to unfold the infinite of World-Mind. Not only were humans made in the image of God, but also the Universe. It is as geometrically infinite as God is absolutely infinite. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
There is no limit to the number of things in the Universe, no limit to the differences among those things, and no limit to the space it occupies. The number of objects and creatures, stars and suns is by a natural necessity infinite. Infinite being can only express itself infinitely. The Worlds cannot be counted; the space which contains them cannot be measured. No one doubts the importance of the conscious experience; why then should we doubt the significance of our psychic existence of the unconscious which overshadows our daily lives? They are also part of our life, and sometimes more truly a part of it for weal or woe than any happenings of the day. Compensation is not as a rule merely an illusory wish-fulfilment, but an actual fact that becomes still more actual the more we repress it. We do not stop feeling thirsty by repressing our thirst. In the same way, the dream-content is to be regarded with due seriousness as an actuality that has to be fitted into the conscious attitude as a codetermining fact. If we fail to do this, we merely persist in that eccentric frame of mind which evoked the unconscious compensation in the first place. It is then difficult to see how we can arrive at a sane judgment of ourselves or at a balanced way of living. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
The unconscious does not harbour in itself any explosive materials unless an overweening or cowardly conscious attitude has secretly laid up stores of explosives there. All the more reason, then, for watching our step. This gives expression to the view that the ultimate aim and strongest desire of all humankind is to develop that fulness of life which is called personality. Nowadays, “personality training” has become an educational ideal that turns its back upon the standardized, mass-produced, “normal” human being demanded by the machine age. It thus pays tribute to this historical fact that the great liberating deeds of World history have sprung from leading personalities and never from the inert mass, which is at all times secondary and can only be prodded into activity by the demagogue. Much of the vastness of humanity lies dormant, like a Sleeping Beauty, in our brains. Obviously, this is why there are half-baked educators who are not human beings at all, but walking personifications of method. Anyone who wants to educate must oneself be educated. However, the parrot-like fake news and book learning and mechanical use of methods that is still practiced today is no education either for the child or for the educator. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
People are everlastingly saying that the child’s personality must be trained, but so must the adult’s personality. What are some things that can be done to place our body and is parts full at the disposal of the redeeming power that God intends to live in them? It is extremely helpful in thinking about our body and our spiritual life. We must actually release our body to God. That is what Paul means when he tells us “to present our body to God as a living sacrifice,” reports Romans 12.1. It needs to be a definite action, renewed as appropriate, perhaps on a yearly basis. You will not drift into this position before God, and you will not, without decisive action, stay there. Perhaps you could do like this. Decide to give your body to God on the basis of understanding how important it is and the scriptural teachings requires it. Know, therefore, that it is a good and indispensable thing to do. Then take a day in silent and solitary retreat. Quiet your soul and your body, and let them get clear of the fog of your daily burdens and preoccupations. Meditatively pray some central Scriptures before the Lord, especially those dealing directly with the body. What you want to do is ask God to take charge of your body and each part, to fill it with his life and use it for his purposes. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
Accentuate the good; do not just think of not sinning with your body. You will find this following naturally from active consecration of it to God’s power and his purposes. Remember, a sacrifice is something to be take up in God. No longer idolize your body. Do not worry what will happen to it—sickness, repulsiveness, aging, death—for you have placed God in charge of all that, and any issues that arise in this area you freely take up with him in prayer. You take good care of your body, but only within the framework of values clearly laid down by God and exemplified in Jesus Christ. You do not live in fear of your body and what it might “do to you.” Closely allied with the above is that you do not misuse your body. This means primarily two things: First, you do not use it as a source of sensual gratification, and you do not use it to dominate or manipulate others. Addictions of various kinds are cases where sensual gratification is accepted as a necessity. Theses are, whatever else must be said about them, misuses of the body. Bodily pleasure is not in itself a bad thing. However, when it is exalted to a necessity and we become dependent upon it, then we are slaves of our body and its feelings. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
Also, do not overwork your body. In our current World this is a primary misuse of the body. It is now said that work is the new “drug of choice. Other this is associated with excessive competition and trying to beat others out in some area of our common life. Sometimes this is just a matter of wearing our body out in order to succeed—often in circumstances that we regard (perhaps rightly) as imposed upon us by others. It is still a misuse of the body and a failure to work things out with God. God never gives us too much to do. He long ago gave us these words: “It is vain for you to rise early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep,” reports Psalm 127.2. The body is to be properly honoured and care for. That is, the body is to be regarded as holy, because it is owned and inhabited by God. We live in a Universe which is only one amid an infinity of other Universes whose patterns, as we find with individual living things, show infinite difference of detail while sharing certain basic general forms. If there is infinite variety in the teeming life of the Universe, this arises partly because of the need to satisfy the infinite number of possibilities through which the infinite life can alone express itself. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
In the World’s life there is every kind of joy and every kind of suffering, because there is every kind of creature. If it had not manifested infinite variety as an expression of infinitude of the divine power behind it, the World could not have been manifested at all. Surely this is what Plato saw when he described tie as the moving image of eternity. “And it came to pass that Shule begat Omer, and Omer reigned in his stead. And Omer begat Jared; and Jared begat sons and daughters. And Jared rebelled against his father, and came and dwelt in the land of Heth. And it came to pass that he did flatter many people, because of his cunning words, until he had gained the half of the kingdom. And wen he had gained the half of the kingdom he gave battle unto his father, and he did carry away his father into captivity, and did make him serve in captivity; and now, in the days of the reign of Omer he was in captivity the half of his days. And it came to pass that he begat sons and daughters, among whom were Esrom and Coriantumer; and they were exceedingly angry because of the doings of Jared their brother, insomuch that they did raise an army and gave battle unto Jared. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
“And it came to pass that they did give battle unto Jared by night. And it came to pass that then they had slain the army of Jared they were about to slay him also; and he pled with them that they would not slay him, and he would give up the kingdom unto his father. And it came to pass that they did grant unto him his life. And now Jared became exceedingly sorrowful because of the loss of the kingdom, for he had set his heart upon the kingdom and upon the glory of the World. Now the daughter of Jared being exceedingly expert, and seeing the sorrows of her father, thought to devise a plan whereby she could redeem the kingdom unto her father. Now the daughter of Jared was exceedingly fair. And it came to pass that she did talk with her father, and said unto him: Whereby hath my father so much sorrow? Hath he not read the record which our fathers brought across the great deep? Behold, is there not an account concerning them of old, that they by their secret plans did obtain kingdoms and great glory? And now, therefore, let my father send for Akish, the son of Kimnor; and behold, I am faire, and I will dance before him, and I will please him, that he will desire me to wife; wherefore if he shall desire of thee that ye shall give unto him me to wife, then shall ye say: I will give her if ye will bring unto me the head of my father, the king. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
“And now Omer was a friend to Akish; wherefore, when Jared had sent for Akish, the daughter of Jared danced before him that she pleased him, insomuch that he desired her to wide. And it came to pass that he said unto Jared: Give her unto me to wife. And Jared said unto him: I will give her unto you, if ye will bring unto me the head of my father, the king. And it came to pass that Akish gathered in unto the house of Jared all his kinsfolk, and said unto them: Will ye swear unto me that ye will be faithful unto me in the thing which I shall desire of you? And it came to pass that they all sware unto him, by the God of Heaven, and also by the Heavens, and also by the Earth, and by their heads, that whoso should vary from the assistance which Akish desired should lose his head; and whoso should divulge whatsoever thing Akish made known unto them, the same should lose one’s life. And it came to pass that thus they did agree with Akish. And Akish did administer unto them the oaths which were given by them of old who also sought power, which had been handed down even from Cain, who was a murderer from the beginning. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
And they were kept up by the power of the devil to administer these oaths unto the people, to keep them in darkness, to help such as sought power to gain power, and to murder, and to plunder, and to life, and to commit all manner of wickedness and whoredoms. And it was the daughter of Jared who put it into the heart of Akish; wherefore, Akish administered it unto his kindred and friends, leading them away by fair promises to do whatsoever thing he desired. And it came to past that they formed a secret combination, even as they of old; which combination is most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God; for the Lord worketh not in secret combinations, neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath forbidden it, from the beginning of man. And now I, Moroni, do not write the manner of their oaths and combinations, for it hath been made known unto me that they are had among people, and they are had among the Lamanites. And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking, and also the destruction of the people of Nephi. #RnadolphHarris 21 of 24
“And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of his saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet he avenge them not. Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom is God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be. Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you; or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
“For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguile our first parents, yea, even that same lair who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of humans that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning. Wherefore, I, Moroni, am commanded to write these things that evil may be done away, and that the time may come that Satan may have no power upon the hearts of the children of humans, but that they may be persuaded to do good continually, that they may come unto the fountain of all righteousness and be saved,” reports Ether 8.1-26. Lord, please open our hearts and keep them aware of you. Please change in us what changes in you. Bring us through dark times. Bring rebirth. During our dark ours, may we glimpse the mystery and see ahead of the newly rising light. From this dark time, please bring light to our World. It is good to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O Most High. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
To declare Thy lovingkindness each morning, and Thy faithfulness every night, with an instrument of ten strings and the lute, with sacred music upon the harp. For Thou, O Lord, hast made me rejoice in Thy work; I will glory in the works of Thy hands. How great are Thy deeds, O Lord! Thy thoughts are very deep. The ignorant human does not know, nor does the fool understand this—the wicked may spring up as the grass, and the workers of iniquity may flourish, only to be destroyed forever. However, Thou, O Lord, shalt be exalted forever. For lo, Thine enemies, O Lord, for lo, Thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. However, Thou, doest raise me to high honour; I am anointed with fragrant oil. Mine eyes have seen the defeat of my foes, mine ears have heard the doom of evil doers that rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, and grown might like a cedar in the forest of the Eternal Trees. Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish in the courts of our God. Even in old age they shall bring forth fruit, they shall be full of vigour and strength, declaring that the Lord is just, my Rock in whom there is no unrighteousness. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24
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Rancho Cordova, CA |
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The Best Humans Cannot Suspend their Fate: The Good Die Early, and the Bad Die Late!
Love at eighteen is largely an attempt to find out who we are by listening to our echoes in the words of another, and it means always apologizing first, even when you think you did nothing wrong. The phenomena of the World-form tyrannously and completely masks its reality, so completely that only a dwindling number of people even suspect there is any reality behind it. Spiritual intuition has never been so dormant among the race as during the past hundred and fifty years. Form, which should have been a wicket-gate giving entry to its diviner significance, has become a prison in which they are held captive by their own obtuseness. There is great beauty in the silent Universe. There is an intrinsic principle in created things which is not expressed. The self-actualized looks back to the beauty of the Universe and penetrates into this principle. These seeming shadows of the spiritual domain are more real than the tangible things which are everywhere taken for reality. The question, “Are inanimate things included in the infinite life?” must answer itself, if you take one of the meanings of this term as being the Great, the All. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
As a matter of fact, however, science now knows that there are no inanimate things. Its high-power microscopes reveal the presence of minute living cells in materials and substances and liquids which are seemingly dead, and its sensitive electrical instruments reveal the presence of energies in others, such as steel. In the end we have to come back to the basic idea that the Universal existence is like (but is not actually) a dream inasmuch as it is all a series of mental experiences projected from one’s own mind. And because even the inanimate things such as tables and houses which a dreamer sees are really one’s ideas—that is, reflections of one’s own mind and therefore of one’s own life-energy—consequently they are no really dead things. So too for the mountains and rivers in God’s dream. From this standpoint there is no such thing as death, only life. However, of course, when compared to the life of the divine World, the life of a limited World is poetically like death. There is a marked intelligence within every atom of the cosmos and within every living creature within the cosmos. So far as the human mind shows forth its own native intelligence it reveals, however faintly, the presence of that master-intelligence out of which it spends itself. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
The circling Earth makes its way through space just as a human makes one’s way through city streets. It is an intelligent living entity. If there is life in the plant kingdom, there must be consciousness also. What, then, is this consciousness? It is like that of a deep sleep. Nay, we may even go back further and assert of the mineral kingdom that there is life in it, too. For the cells of plants are built up out of the molecules. It is impossible for the human mind to conceive of what the mineral consciousness is like, but the closet description would be that of the deepest trance. Whether in the fragile China Doll tree or the sturdy redwood three there is life, intelligence, and being. They are fellow dwellers on this curious planet just like all of us. American-Indian ceremonies emphasize the sacredness of the human personality. The Hupa Boat Dance ritual creates sacred space for a community mysticism that revitalized the community and makes the trial members feel special in the perceptions of the Creator. This is a spirituality in which the tribal members “know” they are recognized by the Creator. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
The Boat Dance honours the dead and helps their spirits to make the crossing into the Great Mystery. It is also a ritual for reminding the living that they are sacred and that every individual is important in this communitarian Worldview. The archetypal sounds from the dance and the archetypal experiences of the observer/participants allow this serious ontological enactment of death to become an experience of beauty. In certain communities it is a cultural norm not to talk about the deceased for the death experience is supposed to be settled in ritual ceremony. However, the emotional trauma of a death can lead to substance abuse problems due to the emotional trauma surrounding a death; and the therapist unfamiliar with the culture will label the nondisclosing, nonverbal youth as untreatable. Often in such a case, the district attorney will recommend that the youth be placed in a residential treatment facility or in the state’s youth prison. These placements are usually far from the youth’s home, separating one from the healing, cultural matrix of family, tribe, landscape, and associates. This separation further aggravates the grief process, and for most youth, superimposes post-traumatic stress symptoms upon the death and grief trauma. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
The psychology and Worldview of some American cultures, especially those connected to the Old World, holds that it is in the solitude of the mind and heart, along with the ceremonial way, that one understands one’s “limitations and freedoms.” When these youth are pressured by the dominant culture’s mental health professionals to speak about a death in the family, one becomes painfully caught in a clash of cultural values. The cultural conflict over how to process the experience of death brings about feelings of dread, despair, anxiety, isolation, and limitedness. Certain Old World cultures have norms he prescribe that one can only speak with respect for the dead; and it is better not to speak at all than to risk drawing the spirit of the deceased back into the World. The therapist’s unenlightened disposition of the silence, words, rituals, and ancestors disrupts the dialogical healing process in the meeting of client and therapist. The family tradition is a stronger determinant of what the youth will share with the psychotherapist than is the court’s intimidation. There are many highest principles both of life and of philosophy, and accordingly there are just as many different forms of compensation by opposition. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
It has come to light that on closer investigation that different types of personalities have a predilection to marry its opposite, each being unconsciously complementary to the other. So, that is something to keep in mind with any kind of relationship one is trying to establish with an individual. Nonetheless, the reflective nature of the introvert causes one always to think and consider before acting. This naturally makes one slow to act. One’s shyness and distrust of things induces hesitation, and so one always has difficulty in adapting to the external World. Conversely the extravert has a positive relation to things. One is, so to speak attracted by them. New, unknown situations fascinate one. In order to make closer acquaintance with the unknown one will jump into it with both feet. As a rule one acts first and thinks afterwards. Thus one’s action is swift, subject to no misgivings and hesitations. The two types therefore seem created for a symbiosis. The ne takes care of reflection and the other sees to the initiative and practical action. When the two types marry, they may effect an ideal union. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
So long as they are fully occupied with their adaptation to the manifold external needs of life they fit together admirably. However, when the dominant person in the relationship as made enough money, or if a fine legacy should drop from the skies and external necessity no longer presses, then they have time to occupy themselves with one another. Hitherto they stood back to back an defended themselves against necessity. However, now they turn face to face and look for understanding—only to discover that they have never understood one another. Each speaks a different language. Then the conflict between the two types begins. This struggle is envenomed, brutal, full of mutual depreciation, even when conducted quietly and in the greatest intimacy. For the value of the one is the negation of value for the other. It might reasonably be supposed that each, conscious of one’s own value, could peaceably recognize the other’s value, and that in this way any conflict would be superfluous. I have seen a good number of cases where this line of argument was adopted, without, however, arriving at a satisfactory goal. Where it is a question of normal people, such critical periods of transition will be overcome fairly smoothly. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
By “normal” I mean a person who can somehow exist under all circumstances which afford one the minimum needs of life. However, many people cannot do this; therefore not so very many people are normal. What we commonly mean by a “normal person” is actually an ideal person whose happy blend of character is a rare occurrence. By far the greater number of more or less differentiated persons demand conditions of life which afford considerably more than the certainty of food and sleep. For these the ending of a symbiotic relationship comes as a severe shock. It is not easy to understand why this should be so. Yet if we consider that no human is simply introverted or simply extraverted, but has both attitudes potentially in one—although one has developed only one of them as a function of adaption—we shall immediately conjecture that with the introvert extraversion lies dormant and undeveloped somewhere in the background, and that introversion leads a similar shadowy existence in the extravert. And this is indeed the case. The introvert does possess an extraverted attitude, but it is unconscious, because one’s conscious gaze is always turned to the subject. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
In the introvert the influence of the object produces an inferior extraversion, while in the extravert an inferior introversion takes the place of one’s social attitude. And so we come back to the proposition from which we stared: “The value of the one is the negation of value for the other.” Positive as well as negative occurrences can constellate the inferior counter-function. When this happens, sensitiveness appears. Sensitiveness is a sure sign of the presence of inferiority. This provides the psychological basis for discord and misunderstanding, not only as between two people, but also in ourselves. The essence of the inferior function is autonomy: it is independent, it attacks, it fascinates and so spins us about that we are no longer master of ourselves and can no longer rightly distinguish between ourselves and others. And yet it is necessary for the development of character that we should allow the other side, the inferior function, to find expression. We cannot in the long run allow one part of our personality to be care for symbiotically by another; for the moment when we have a need of the other function may come at any time and find us unprepared. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
And the consequences maybe bad: the extravert loses one’s indispensable relation to the object, and the introvert loses one’s to the subject. Conversely, it is equally indispensable for the introvert to arrive at some form of action not constantly bedeviled by doubts and hesitations, and for the extravert to reflect upon oneself, yet without endangering one’s relationships. In extraversion and introversion it is clearly a matter of two antithetical, natural attitudes or trends, which Goethe once referred to as diastole and systole. They ought, in their harmonious alternation, to give life a rhythm, but it seems to require a high degree of art to achieve such a rhythm. Either one must do it quite unconsciously, so that the natural law is not disturbed by any conscious act, or one must be conscious in a much higher sense, to be capable of willing and carrying out the antithetical movements. Since we cannot develop backwards into animal unconsciousness, there remains only the more strenuous way forwards into higher consciousness. Certainly that consciousness, which would enable us to live the great Yea and Nay of our own free will and purpose, is an altogether superhuman ideal. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
Still this superhuman ideal is the goal. Perhaps our present mentality only allows us consciously to will the Yea and to bear with the Nay. When that is the case, much is already achieved. The problem of opposites, as an inherent principle of human nature, forms a further stage in our process of realization. As a rule it is one of the problems of maturity. The practical treatment of a patient will hardly ever begin with this problem, especially not in the case of young people. The neuroses of the young generally come from a collision between the forces of reality and an inadequate, infantile attitude, which from the causal point of view is characterized by an abnormal dependence on the real or imaginary parents, and from the teleological point of view by unrealizable fictions, plans, and aspirations. Here the reductive methods of Dr. Freud and Dr. Adler are entirely in place. However, there are many neuroses which either appear only at maturity or else deteriorate to such a degree that the patients become incapable of work. Naturally one can point out in these cases that an unusual dependence on the parents existed even in youth, and that all kinds of illusions were present. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
However, all that did not prevent them from taking up a profession, from practising it successfully, from keeping a marriage of sorts until that moment in riper years when the previous attitude suddenly failed. In such cases it is of little help to make them conscious of their childhood fantasies, dependence on the parents, et cetera, although this is a necessary part of the procedure and often has a not unfavourable result. However, the real therapy only begins when the patient sees that it is no longer father and mother who are standing in one’s way, but oneself—id est, an unconscious part of one’s personality which carries on the role of father and mother. Even this realization, helpful as it is, is still negative; it simply says, “I realize that it is not father and mother who are against me, but I myself.” However, who is it in one that is against one? What is this mysterious part of one’s personality that hides under the father- and mother-imagoes, making one believe for years that the cause of one’s trouble must somehow have got into one from outside? This part is the counterpart to one’s conscious attitude; and it will leave one no peace and will plague one until it has been accepted. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
For young people a liberation from the past may be enough: a beckoning future lies ahead, rich in possibilities. It is sufficient to break a few bonds; the life-urge will do the rest. However, we are faced wit another task in the cause of people who have left a large part of their life behind them, for whom the future no longer beckons with marvelous possibilities, and nothing is to be expected but the endless round of familiar duties and the doubtful pleasures of old age. If ever we succeed in liberating young people from the past, we see that they always transfer the imagos of their parents to more suitable substitute figures. For instance, the feeling that clung to the mother now passes to the wife, and the father’s authority passes to respected teachers and superiors or to institutions. Although this is not a fundamental solution, it is yet a practical road which the normal human treads unconsciously and therefore with no notable inhibitions and resistances. The problem for the adult is very different. One has put this part of the road behind one with or without difficulty. One has cut loose from one’s parents, long since dead perhaps, and has sought and found the mother in the wife, or, in the case of a woman, the father in the husband. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
One has duly honoured one’s fathers and their institutions, has oneself become a father, and, with all this in the past, has possibly come to realize that what originally meant advancement and satisfaction has now become a boring mistake, part of the illusion of youth, upon which one looks back with mingled regret and envy, because nothing now awaits one but old age and the end of illusions. Here there are no more fathers and mothers; all the illusions one projected upon the World and upon this gradually come home to one, jaded and way-worn. The energy streaming back from these manifold relationships falls into the unconscious and activates all the things one had neglected to develop. In a young man, the instinctual forces tied up in the neurosis give him, when released, buoyance and hope and the chance to extend the scope of one’s life. To the human in the second half of life the development of the function of opposites lying formant in the unconscious means a renewal; but this development no longer proceeds via the solution of infantile ties, the destruction of infantile illusions and the transference of old imagos to new figures: it proceeds via the problem of opposites. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
There is no balance, no system of self-regulation, without opposition. The psyche is just such a self-regulating system. If the psyche is regarded as a self-regulating system, it follows that the attitude of consciousness is compensated by the attitude of the unconscious. In Jungian analysis, the principal, though not the only, way of discovering the attitude of the unconscious is through the study and interpretation of the patient’s dream. Neurotic symptoms, also, can be compensatory to a distorted, one-sided conscious attitude, and may this be valuable pointers toward a new adaptation rather than being simply disagreeable. I am not altogether pessimistic about neurosis. In many cases we have to say: “Thank Heaven he could make up his mind to be neurotic.” Neurosis is really an attempt at self-cure, just as any physical disease is in part an attempt at self-cure. We cannot understand a disease as an ens per se any more, as something detached which not so long ago it was believed to be. Modern medicine—internal medicine, for instance—conceives of disease as a system composed of a harmful factor and a healing factor. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
It is exactly the same with neurosis. It is an attempt of the self-regulating psychic system to restore the balance, in no way different from the function of dreams—only rather more forceful and drastic. When we gaze observantly and reflectively around an object—whether it be a microscope—revealed cell or a telescope—revealed star—it inescapably imposes upon us the comprehension that an infinite intelligence rules this wonderful cosmos. The purposive way in which the Universe is organized betrays, if it be anything at all, the working of a Mind which understands. God’s immanence is reflected throughout the whole Universe. God’s reality is indicated by the very existence of the Universe. God’s intelligence is revealed by the intelligence of the creatures in the Universe. To recognize that the order of the cosmos is superbly intelligent beyond human invention, mysterious beyond human understanding, and even divinely holy is not to lapse into being sentimental. It is to accept the transcendence and self-sufficiency of THAT WHICH IS. Thought is the spirit of the Universe, thoughts are the forms of the Universe. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
Everything in the Universe testifies to a super-intelligent power being behind it. We live in a Universe that is spun out of the divine intelligence and sustained by the divine energy. At the center of each human, each animal, each plant, each cell, and each atom, there is complete stillness. A seemingly empty stillness, yet it holds the divine energies and the divine Idea for that thing. For many of us today, our body is in a constant state of agitation and discomfort. That is the contemporary condition and explains our astonishing degree of dependence on prescription and drugs and vaccines. In some cases, of course, this may be due to strictly physical conditions. However, more often, it is not so, but is due to tendencies of the self that have settled into our body’s parts and put it at war with itself. Wounds, fears, unsatisfied desires, shames, losses, and unhealthy ambitions and images of the self sink beneath the horizon of our awareness. We may even deny them. However, they continue to disrupt our body and can even take over our life through the body’s “automatic” responses. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
Frank Laubach—partly because, to be “noble,” he had voted for the other candidate—was denied a position as president of a college in the Philippines, where he had been serving as a missionary. He lost by one vote. He was frustrated and bitter, and for two years was almost continuously ill. A biographer writes, “He suffered from flu, appendicitis, paratyphoid, a strained leg muscle, an ulcerated eye, and shingles! In a sate of bitter self-pity, he hobbled around, work inefficiently, and wore a patch over one eye much of the time. His failure to accept the defeat was costing him his health. The fact that his desire to exercise Christian principles resulting in him hurting himself increased the inner tension and conflict These were years of despondency and aimlessness. He was fighting the battle of his soul. In fact, what we see in such a cast is soul disruption manifesting itself in disorders of the body, which in turn threaten to take over life as a while and could even lead to physical death. Thank God, Laubach in time found the spiritual key to turning all this around and bringing one’s body into the health of a person radiant with the presence of Christ. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
The Void which humans find at the center—whether of one’s own being or of the Universe’s—is divine. It holds both godlike Mind and godlike Energy. It is still and silent, yet it is the source of all the dynamic energies, human and universal. “And it came to pass that Orihan did execute judgment upon the land in righteousness all one’s days, whose days were exceedingly many. And he begat sons and daughters; yea, he begat thirty and one, among whom were twenty and three sons. And it came to pass that ne also begat Kib in his old age. And it came to pass that Kib reigned in his stead; and Kib begat Corihor. And when Corihor as thirty and two years old he rebelled against his father, and went over and dwelt in the land of Nehor; and he begat sons and daughters, and they become exceedingly fair; wherefore Corihor drew away many people after him. And when he had gathered together an army he came up unto the land of Moron where the king dwelt, and took him captive, which brought to pass the saying of the brother of Jared that they would be brought into captivity. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
“Now the land of Mormon, where the kind dwelt, was near the land which is called Desolation by the Nephites. And it came to pass that Kib dwelt in captivity, and his people under Corihor his son, until he became exceedingly old; nevertheless Kib begat Shule in his old age, while he was yet in captivity. And it came to pass that Shule was angry with his brother; and Shule waxed strong, and become mighty as to the strength of a human; and he was also mighty in judgment. Wherefore, he came to the hill Ephraim, and he did molten out of the hill, and made swords out of steel for those whom he had drawn away with him; and after he had armed them with swords he returned to the city Nehor, and gave battle unto his brother Corihor, by which means he obtained the kingdom and restored it unto his father Kid. And now because of the thing which Shule had done, his father bestowed upon him the kingdom; therefore he began to reign in the stead of his father Kib. And now because of the thing which Shule had done, his father bestowed upon him the kingdom; therefore he began to reign in the stead of his father. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
“And it came to pass that he did execute judgment in righteousness; and he did spread his kingdom upon all the face of the land, for the people had become exceedingly numerous. And it came to pass that Shule also begat many sons and daughters. And Cori repented of the many evils which he had done; wherefore Shule have him power in his kingdom. And it came to pass that Corihor had many sons and daughters. And among the sons of Corihor there was one whose name was Noah. And it came to pass that Noah rebelled against Shule, the king, and also his father Corihor, and drew away Cohor his brother, and also all his brethren and many of the people. And he gave battle unto Shule, the kind, in which he did obtain the land of their first inheritance; and he became king over that part of the land. And it came to pass that he gave battle again unto Shule, the king; and he took Shule, the king, and carried him away captive into Moron. And it came to pass as he was about to put him to death, the sons of Shule crept into the house of Noah by night and slew him, and broke down the door of the prison and brought out their father, and placed him upon his throne in his own kingdom. #RandolpHarris 21 of 24
“Wherefore the son of Noah did build up his kingdom in his stead; nevertheless they did not gain power any more over Shule the king, and the people who were under the reign of Shule the king did prosper exceedingly and wax great. And the country was divided; and there were two kingdoms, the kingdom of Shule, and the kingdom of Cohor, the son of Noah. And Cohor, the son of Noah, caused that his people should give battle unto Shule, in which Shule did beat them and did slay Cohor. And now Cohor had a son who was called Nimrod; and Nimrod gave up the kingdom of Cohor unto Shule, and did gain favour in the eyes of Shule; wherefore Shule did bestow great favours upon him, and he did do in the kingdom of Shule according to his desires. And also the reign of Shule there came prophets among the people, who were sent from the Lord, prophesying that the wickedness and idolatry of the people was bring a curse upon the land, and they should be destroyed if they did not repent. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
“And it came to pass that the people did revile against the prophets, and did mock them. And it came to pass that king Sule did execute judgment against all those who did revile against the prophets. And he did execute a law throughout all the land, which gave power unto the prophets that they should go whithersoever they would; and by this cause the people were brought unto repentance. And become the people did repent of their iniquities and idolatries the Lord did spare them, and they began to prosper again in the land. And it came to pass that Shule begat sons and daughters in his old age. And there were no more wars in the days of Shule; and he remembered the great things of the Lord had done for his fathers in brining them across the great deep into the promised land; wherefore he did execute judgment in righteousness all his days,” reports Ether 7.1-27. It will be a dark night indeed, for, even though the stars give what light they can, it comes from far away, and is scattered and spent when it falls on the Earth. Where is the light that comes from nearer, from our own World’s companion, our own World’s sister? She hides from us tonight. Tonight there will be no Moon. Tonight we will have no companion to guide us through the darkness. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
However, though we cannot see you, you live in our hearts. Strengthen us in the darkness: is that not what darkness is for? Raised against the empty Winter sky, the barren limbs of trees and my hands reach out in prayer. I ask from the gods of Winter the strength I will need to endure until spring and the wisdom I require to learn from the dark and the cold the lessons they will teach. May I receive them without flinching. With silent steps you come, snow spirits, silently descending, silently landing. You who silence the World with your falling, silence it so I can hear from you: I hear silence. Please drop welcome tears upon the Earth, fertile sky. Awaken it to new life, please feed its thirsty mouth. The Lord reigneth; He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed, He hath girded Himself with strength. Now is the Earth firmly established; it shall not be moved. Thy throne is established of old; thou art from everlasting. The waters lift up their voices, O Lord, the water lift up their roaring; yet above the voices of many waters, above the breakers of the sea, Thou, O Lord, art mighty. Thy law is true and unfailing; holiness is becoming to Thy house, O Lord, forevermore. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24
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With Every Morn their Love Grew Tender, with Every Eve Deeper and Tenderer Still!
We take a handful of sand from the endless landscape of awareness around us and call that handful of sand the World. Time is not the fourth dimension, and should not be so identified. Time is only a relative observation. Existentialism of Personalism embraces interconnected attitudes of aesthetic, sacred consciousness with social, political awareness. Transpersonal and existential realities are captured in the sacred and profane events of life. The ecstasy and numinous awesomeness of an I-and-Thou encounter with the Supreme Personality can be experienced in any time and in any place and through any object, person, or event. It is not limited to an inner, individualistic mysticality, nor is it particular to community worship and ceremony. The personal relationship with Supreme Personality creates a “sense of being” and “becoming” that is spontaneous and goes on ceaselessly in a constant dialogue with self, other, and nature. It is contained in form and is experienced in existential, concrete, everyday life. Flora Jones, Wintu medicine woman, speaks about the spirits like they are living personalities in a partnership of existence with human beings. #RandolphHarris 1 of 27
Witness the following statement from Flora Jones: “This is what the spirit tells me—get my people together. Whoever has sacred places must wake them up, the same as I am doing here—to keep my old World within my heart and with the spiritual. For them to help me and for me to help my people.” The personalism expressed by Flora Jones is the basis of most Victorian, African-American and American-Indian traditions. All of these cultures have a dual theme of Being-in-the World and Being-beyond-the-World. The Supreme Personality is experienced as an integrated intelligence and love that is expressed through the archetypes of mythologies, rituals, worship, dreams, and visions. The archetypal spirituality of the meeting in the Between confirms that the Supreme Personality lies within the human personality and in the meeting as he Ground of Being. The Supreme Personality, as a living personality, offers love, knowledge, mystery, gift giving, and sharing in relationship with the human person. The I-and-Thou encounter bring to “awareness” constellations of fascination and fear, destiny and freedom, death and life, anxiety and joy, interest and surprise, love and shame, and guilt and excitement. #RandolphHarris 2 of 27
Existentialism of Personalism came out of my practice and theory in a circle of understanding and interpretation through dialogue with American Indians, Victorian people, and African-Americans. Alex Haley in his book Roots (1976) describes how the father of Kunta Kinte presented his infant son to the Universe. He writes, “Carrying little Kunta in his strong arms, he walked to the edge of the village, lifted his baby up with his face to the Heavens, and said softly….Behold—the only thing greater than yourself” (p.13). Haley is showing that the living Universe is the father/mother of Kunta Kinte and that the child’s personality is sacred. In the Navajo tradition, the man who holds his infant up to Father Sun and says, “Father Sun, this is your child,” is expressing that the Universe is personal and loving. The Navajo infant is a direct descendant of the living Universe, and, therefore, its personality is sacred. American-American, Victorian, and American Indian traditions demonstrate a continual dialogue between the human personality and the Supreme Personality that reveals the sacred and the profane as not separated but forming an interconnected metaphysical reality that is remythologized in every I-and-Thou meeting. #RandolphHarris 3 of 27
However, philosophy does not accept the Semitic belief in a World created for the first time by a personal creator, and this is as true of the highest Greek philosophy as expressed, for instance, in Aristotle’s work on metaphysics as in the highest Asiatic philosophy associated with Buddhism and Hinduism. The word “creation” is inadmissible here for it signifies producing something out of nothing. No one, not even God himself, can produce something out of nothing. Therefore, the orthodox Christian idea of a mysterious creation is completely untenable. That the existence of manufactured things indicates a manufacturer is sound logic, but to apply the same analogy to the World is not. For the World is something quite other than them; it is in a category not only altogether apart from them but altogether by itself. There was never a time when the Universe was created or fabricated by a Creator or Maker. This is a case of man making God in his own image. Through successive cycles of the Universe comes and goes, is born and dies, as the World-Mind rethinks the World-Idea or lets it lapse. #RandolphHarris 4 of 27
The Universe was never created for the first time for it has always and incessantly appeared and disappeared, activated and rested, come forth, evolved, and retreated into latency. There has never been a time when there was not a Universe, by which I do not mean our own. There is nothing arbitrary in this “creation.” It is really self-determined. Everything brings itself into existence under the necessity of its own being and the laws of its own possibilities. Where a circle begins it also ends; the Universe is like that: it has n real beginning or ending. It is not a creation in the Biblical sense but an intermittent continuation. Aristotle: “The Universe unfolds out of its own essence, not being made.” We could add that its pattern unfolds too out of the World-Idea. The Universe has never had a beginning, and cannot have an end, but its forms and states may change and therefore must have a beginning and end. It is more correct to speak of the Universe’s birth, not of its creation. The Universe was not made, in a workshop sense; it was emanated. It flowed out of the Original Source and it will flow back there at the appointed time. The cosmos is neither a phantom to be disdained nor an illusion to be dismissed. #RandolphHarris 5 of 27
The cosmos is more of a remote expression in time and space and individuality of that which is timeless, spaceless, and infinite. If it is not the it is not the Reality in its ultimate sense, it is an emanation of the Reality. Hence it shares in some way the life of its source. To find that point of sharing is the true object of incarnation for all creates within the cosmos. The World of external Nature, being eternal, is not brought into existence by an act of sudden creation out of nothing. Furthermore, this World is rooted in the divine substance and is consequently not an empty illusion but an indirect manifestation of divine reality. A thought exists in intimate relation with the World-Mind, God. The World is not bereft of reality although it does not possess ultimate reality. The World is neither a trap nor an illusion, neither a degradation of the divine essence nor an indication of the divine absence. What is the meaning of the World? If it is nothing more than an illusion, it can have no real meaning at all. However, if it is an expression of the infinite intelligence it must everywhere pervaded by immense meaning. #RandolphHarris 6 of 27
The truth is ever here, whether unwritten and bodiless or scripted and described. The image of it can be looked at by other generations long afterwards, but the reality of it remains always in the World-Idea and is never lost. If the World is sheer illusion, how could man—himself a part of this illusion—ever know the Real? Were humans merely an illusion man and woman could see only further illusions. Were one part of the Real one could see only further reality. Since our experience of illusion is itself in accordance with the World-idea, why should we be afraid of admitting its existence? What we should be afraid of is letting it blot out Reality. The whole Universe is a symbol, whose meaning can be read only when we have learned the alphabet of philosophic laws and experiences. Our World is but a fleeting symbol, yet we may not disdain it. For it is the arched entrance under which we must pass through to the infinite life. The World is a spectacle presented for our meditation in depth. It is a clue, a pointing sign, and even a mystery play. What is the Universe but a gigantic symbol of God? Its infinite variety hints at the infinite endless of the Absolute itself. #RandolphHarris 7 of 27
The World stands for something else: it is, first, a token that God exists, second, an image of God’s being. The Universe is a cipher which needs to be decoded. The scientist does this on one level of investigation, the metaphysician on a different level; the religionist does not attempt the effort but reveres the cipher’s Author. Was it not Goethe who wrote: “Everything which happens is only a symbol”? Is not the whole gigantic cosmic effect in the end only a symbolic expression indicating that paradoxically it is and is not? The more we learn about the Universe, the more mysterious it becomes. Once, in America, I was consulted by a business man about twenty-five, whose case is a good illustration of the sublimation of free energies. He was a typical American self-made man who had worked his way up from a novice to an expert. He had been very successful and had founded an immense business. He has also succeeded in organizing it in such a way that he was able to think of retiring. Two years before I saw him, he had in fact taken his farewell. #RandolphHarris 8 of 27
Until then he had lived entirely for his business and concentrated all his energies on it with the incredible intensity and one-sidedness peculiar to successful American business men. He had purchased a splendid estate where he thought of “living,” by which he meant horse, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Porsche, golf, tennis, parties and what not. However, he had reckoned without his host. The energy which should have been at his disposal would not enter into these alluring prospects, but went capering off in quite another direction. A few weeks after the initiation of the longed-for life of bliss, he began brooding over peculiar, vague sensations in his body, and a few weeks more sufficed to plunge him into a state of extreme hypochondria. He had a complete nervous collapse. From a healthy man, of uncommon physical strength and abounding energy, he became a peevish child. That was the end of all his glories. He fell from one state of anxiety to the next and worried himself almost to death with hypochondriacal mopings. He then consulted a famous specialist, who recognized at once that there was nothing wrong with the man but lack of work. The patient saw the sense of this, and returned to his former work. #RandolphHarris 9 of 27
However, to his immense disappointment, no interest in the business could be aroused. Neither patience nor resolution was of any use. His energy could not by any means be forced back into the business. His condition naturally became worse than before. All that had formerly been living, creative energy in him now turned against him with terrible destroying force. His creative genius rose up, as it were, in revolt against him; and just as before he had built up great organizations in the World, so now his daemon spun equally subtle systems of hypochondriacal delusion that completely annihilated him. When I saw him, he was already a hopeless moral ruin. Nevertheless I tried to make clear to him that though such a gigantic energy might be withdrawn from the business, the question remained, were should I go? The finest horses, Porches, Mercedes and farms, even the most amusing parties may very likely fail to allure the energy, although it would be rational enough to think that a man who had devoted his whole life to serious work had a sort of natural right to enjoy himself. Yes, if fate behaved in a humanly rational way, it would certainly be so: first work, then well-earned rest. #RandolphHarris 10 of 27
However, fate behaves irrationally, and the energy of life inconveniently demands a gradient agreeable to itself; otherwise it simply gets dammed up and turns destructive. It regresses to former situations—in the case of this man, to the memory of an internal inflammatory condition of the medical nature. Yet even this was only a stage on the way to the resuscitation of infantile reminiscences which had all but vanished in the meantime. It was the original relation to his mother that mapped the course of his symptoms: there were an “arrangement” whose purpose it was to compel the attention and interest of is long-dead mother. Nor was this stage the last; for the ultimate goal was to drive him back, as it were, into his own body, after he had lived since his youth only in his head. He had differentiated one side of his being; the other side remained in an inert physical state. He would have needed this other side in order to “live.” The hypochondriacal “depression” pushed him down into the body he had always overlooked. Had he been able to follow the direction indicated by his depression and hypochondriacal illusion, and make himself conscious of the fantasies which proceed from such a condition, that would have been the road to my salvation. #RandolphHarris 11 of 27
My argument naturally met with no response, as was to be expected. A case so far advanced can only be cared for until death; it can hardly be cured. This example clearly shows that it does not lie in our power to transfer “disposable” energy at will to a rationally chosen object. The same is true in general of the apparently disposable energy which is disengaged when we have destroyed its unserviceable forms through the corrosive of reductive analysis. This energy, as we have said, can at best be applied voluntarily for a short time. However, in most cases it refuses to seize hold, for any length of time, of the possibilities rationally presented to it. Psychic energy is a very fastidious thing which insists on fulfillment of its own conditions. However much energy may be present, we cannot make it serviceable until we have succeeded in finding the right gradient. The question of the gradient is an eminently practical problem which crops up in most analyses. For instance, when in a favourable case the disposable energy, the so-called libido (psychic energy, which is equivalent to the intensity with which psychic contents are charged), does seize hold of a rational object, we think we have brought about the transformation through conscious exertion of the will. #RandolphHarris 12 of 27
However, we are deluded, because even the most strenuous exertions would not have sufficed had there not been present at the same time a gradient in that direction. How important the gradient is can be seen in the cases when, despite the most desperate exertions, and despite the fact that the object chosen or the form desired impresses everybody with its reasonableness, then transformation still refuses to take place, and all that happens is a new repression. It has become abundantly clear to me that life can flow forward only along the path of the gradient. However, there is no energy unless there is tension of opposites; hence it is necessary to discover the opposite to the attitude of the conscious mind. It is interesting to see how this compensation by opposites also plays its part in the historical theories of neurosis: Dr. Freud’s theory espoused Eros, Dr. Adler’s the will to power. Logically, the opposite of love is hate, and of Eros, Phobos (fear); but psychologically it is the will to power. Where love reigns, there is no will to power; and where the will to power is paramount, love is lacking. The one is but the shadow of the other: the human who adopts the standpoint of Eros finds one’s compensator opposite in the will to power, and that of the human who puts the accent on power is Eros. #RandolphHarris 13 of 27
Seen from the one-sided point of view the conscious attitude, the shadow is an inferior component of the personality and is consequently repressed through intensive resistance. However, the repressed content must be made conscious so as to produce a tension of opposites, without which no forward moment is possible. The conscious mind is on top, the shadow underneath, and just as high always longs for low and hot for cold, so all consciousness, perhaps without being aware of it, seeks its unconscious opposite, lacking which it is domed to stagnation, congestion, and ossification. Life is born only of the spark of opposites. It was a concession to intellectual logic on the one had and to psychological prejudice on the other that impelled Dr. Freud to name the opposite of Eros the destructive or death instinct. For in the first place, Eros is not equivalent to life; but for anyone who thinks it is, the opposite of Eros will naturally appear to be death. And in the second place, we all feel that the opposite of our own highest principle must be purely destructive, deadly, and evil. We refuse to endow it with any beneficial life-force; hence we avoid and fear it. #RandolphHarris 14 of 27
Before there are any outward disciplines of giving, there must be a disciplined understanding of giving. First, you must bear in mind that giving is not a meritorious work which will enhance your position before God. Similarly, giving will not make you better than other Christians. Second, you need to understand that while giving will not gain favour with God, giving does bring blessing! Jesus said: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you,” reports Luke 6.38. Correspondingly, Paul wrote: “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously,” reports 2 Corinthians 9.6. Admittedly these blessings are essentially spiritual. However, which would you rather have—a spiritual blessing or a bigger bank and bigger Benz (The bigger the bank, the bigger the Benz, the better the chance I have to get close to his rich friends, bank accounts in the Philippines, blank note to take everything! )—inner contentment or a new yacht? Third, you must keep in mind that giving which pleases God is generous and sacrificial. As we have seen, the Macedonians gave out of their deep poverty. #RandolphHarris 15 of 27
We can also profitably reflect on what Jesus said about the poor widow who humbly gave only a fraction of a penny: “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others,” reports Mark 12.43. Fourth, you must understand that what you give is to be determined between you and God. Giving should never be decided casually or flippantly, but through serious prayer—asking God what He wants you to give. With the mental disciplines of giving firmly in mind, the way is ready for the act of giving. To begin with, the act of giving should be accompanied by offering oneself to the Lord, just as did the Macedonians who “gave themselves first to the Lord,” reports 2 Corinthians 8.5. This should be done silently, not so someone will see out pious act of worship. And giving oneself to God is need worship. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship,” reports Romans 12.1. Second, it is strongly recommended, in light of the great giving requirements imposed on God’s ancient people Israel, that everyone should at least consider the first 10 percent as a starting point in giving—a minimum. #RandolphHarris 16 of 27
And in the case of the Macedonians’ grace giving, the amount must have been way over 10 percent because a tenth of their “extreme poverty” (1 Corinthians 8.2) would not have helped anyone. Third, your giving ought to be regular. Paul advised this same Corinthians church on another occasion, “On the first day of every week, each one of your should set aside a sum of money in keeping with one’s income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made,” report 1 Corinthians 16.2. The apostle knew that regular, systematic giving would help the people meet their regular obligations and most emergencies. Fourth, you must begin giving now. The natural tendency is to put giving off until you feel able to give. Such thinking keeps many from ever giving. A preacher came to see a farmer and asked him, “If you had $2,00.00, would you give $1,000.00 or it to the Lord?” “I would.” “If you have two Ultimate Driving Machines, would you give one of them to the Lord?” “Sure.” “If you had two Cresleigh Homes, would you give one of them to the Lord?” The farmer said, “Now that is not fair! You know I have two Cresleigh Homes.” #RandolphHarris 17 of 27
Giving should not only be regular, but responsive to need, spontaneous, like that of the Macedonians and Mary of Bethany who in anointing Jesus so lavishly poured out her resources. High Heaven rejects the lore of nicely calculated les and more. Finally, your giving should be joyous—“for God loves a cheerful giver,” reports 2 Corinthians 9.7. As we have been so often reminded, “cheerful” can be translated “hilarious,” suggesting a joy which leaps over all restraints. The act of giving is a blessed state. We do well to remember that our Lord Jesus Himself said, “It is more blessed to give then to receive,” reports Acts 20.35. May we be faithful and disciplined in giving ourselves and all we have to God! What does the phrase “grace giving” mean to you? What does grace have to do with giving? When you give to the church or various Christian ministries, do you generally do so out of obligation or willingness? How much of your income do you believe God wants you to give to Him? Support your answers with Scripture; then ask God in prayer whether He agrees. “Will a human rob god? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. #RandolphHarris 18 of 27
“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of Heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will present pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cause their fruit,” says the LORD Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the LORD Almighty,” reports Malachi 3.8-12. What did God speak to you about most specifically, most powerfully in this essay? Talk to Him about it right now! The World-idea has been represented by Churches and statues, and stained-glass windows. They are seen as places and refuge and the images tell a story. There are pictorial stories because people could not always read and also because they wanted the stories to pass on for generations. The statues also serve a purpose. The World-Mind has been embodied in images and idols. These things can be and are used in religious worship and mystic meditation. The idols act as reminders to its devotees; one is not a fool to confuse a piece of stone with the power of God. #RandolphHarris 19 of 27
We live in what appears as a multiverse, a timed and spaced existence—in a short, a finite one. However, those who can pierce through to its secret—and some have done so—find that it is actually the Unconditioned revealing itself as if it were the Conditioned. This Universe appearing in time and space under innumerable forms, its particles and planets ever in motion, hides as its supreme secret THAT which is timeless and placeless, without shape, intangible and immobile. Is this not the greatest paradox, this solid something whose essence is Nothing? Few humans know God even when they see Him, as they are unrealizingly do when they look around at the World or even when they merely look at it. “And now I, Moroni, proceed to give the record of Jared and his brother. For it came to pass after the Lord had prepared the stones which the brother of Jared had carried up into the mount, the brother of Jared came down out of the mount, and e did put forth the stones into the vessels which were prepared, one in each end thereof; and behold, they did give light unto the vessels. And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness. #RandolphHarris 20 of 27
“And it came to pass that when they had prepared all manner of food, that thereby they might subsist upon the water, and also food for their flocks and herds, and whatsoever beast or animal or fowl that they should carry with them—and it came to pass that when they had done all these things they got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God. And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and this they were tossed upon the waves of the seas before the wind. And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind. And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ask of Noah; therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters. #RandolphHarris 21 of 27
“And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind. And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord. And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water. And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water. And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them. And it came to pass that they went forth upon the face of the land, and began to till the Earth. #RandolphHarris 22 of 27
“And Jared had four sons; and they were called Jacom, and Gilgah, and Maha, and Orihah. And the brother of Jared also begat sons and daughters. And the friends of Jared and his brothers were in number about twenty and two souls; and they also begat sons and daughters before they came to the promised land; and therefore they began to be many. And they were taught to walk humbly before the Lord; and they were also taught from on high. And it came to pass that they began to spread upon the face of the land, and to multiply and to till the Earth; and they did wax strong in the land. And the brother of Jared began to be old, and saw that he must soon go down to the grave; wherefore he said unto Jared: Let us gather together our people that we may number them, that we may know of them what they will desire of us before we go down to our graves. And accordingly the people were gathered together. Now the number of the sons and daughters of the brothers of Jared were twenty and two souls; and the number of sons and daughters of Jared were twelve, he having four sons. And it came to pass that they did number their people; and after that they had numbered them, they did desire of them the things which they would that they should do before they went down to their graves. #RandolphHarris 23 of 27
“And it came to pass that the people desired of them that they should anoint one of their sons to be a king over them. And now behold, this was grievous unto them. And the brother of Jared said unto them: Surely this thing leadeth into captivity. However, Jared said unto his brother: Suffer them that they may have a king. And therefore he said unto them: Choose ye out from among our sons a king, even whom ye will. And it came to pass that they chose even the firstborn of the brother of Jared; and has name was Pagag. And it came to pass that he refused and would not be their kind. And the people would that his father should constrain him, but his father would not; and he commanded them that they should constrain no human to be their king. And it came to pass that they chose all the brothers of Pagag, and they would not. And it came to pass that neither would the sons of Jared, even all save it were one; and Orihah was anointed to be king over the people. And he began to reign, and the people began to prosper; and they became exceedingly rich. And it came to pass that Jared died, and his brother also. #RandolphHarris 24 of 27
“And it came to pass that Orihah did walk humbly before the Lord, and did remember how great things the Lord had done for his father, and also taught his own people how great things the Lord had done for their fathers,” reports Ether 6.1-30. Winter is not just a single day. It takes time. Pay attention to its different stages, and adjust your prayers accordingly. As the cold time begins, I turn toward it with courage, knowing I do not face it alone. All the Holy Ones are with me; we will face it together. The leaves may fall, the grass may die, but the Land Spirits live, and to them I pray. Though some may sleep, others awake to face the cold, to bless the Earth with the gifts only they can give. Spirit of rock and tree, Spirits of running and still water, Spirits of Earth and sky: to the ones who now go to sleep, farewell until the warm time. To those who now awake, once again I greet you, as the Earth once again enters Winter. Cry the Winter rains to prepare the way, to mourn the darkness now enfolding. Cry the Winter rains to prepare the way, to wash pure the World as it lies here waiting. Cry the Winter rains, sky overarching, but soon the sorrows’ tears will turn to joy. Light will return to the covered Earth. #RandolphHarris 25 of 27
Cry, rain spirits, as this time demands. The sickle of reaping is low in the sky in the period just before down. The Sun’s halo soon will hide it, but it will be there, at the back of my mind, at the bottom my heart, poised to perform its acts of loving mercy. Waning Moon, passes over me, and pass on by. Please grant me your wisdom, but withhold your power. Sing joyously unto God our strength; sing along unto the God of Jacob. Take up the melody, and sound the timbrel, the sweet harp with the psaltery. Blow the Shofar at the New Moon, at the full Moon for our festival. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob, when God made a testimony for Joseph, when Her went forth against the land of Egypt. I hear a mysterious voice: “I, the Lord, removed the burden from your shoulder; your hands were freed from the heavy hod. O Israel, you called, and I delivered you; I answered you in the thunder; I tested you are the waters of Meribah, saying: ‘Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you; O America, if you would only Hearken unto Me! There shall be no strange god in your midst; nor shall you worship any foreign god. I am the Lord your God, Who brought you up out of the land of Egypt; open you mouth, and I will grant you of My bounty.’ #RandolphHarris 26 of 27
“But my people hearkened not to My Voice; and American would not obey. So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart. Let them walk in their own evil counsels! Oh that My people would hearken unto Me, that America would walk in My ways! I would soon subdue their enemies, and place My hand upon their adversaries. The enemies of the Lord would cringe before Him, and their doom would be everlasting. However, you would I feed with the fat of wheat; and with the honey out of the rock would I satisfy you.” So the two brothers and their murdered man rode past fair Florence, to where Arno’s stream gurgles through straitened banks, and still doth fan itself with dancing bulrush, and the bream keeps head against the freshest. Sick and wan the brothers’ faces in the ford did seem, Lorenzo’s flush with love. They passed the water into a forest quiet for the slaughter. There was Lorenzo slain and buried in, there in that forest did his great love cease; ah! when a soul doth thus its freedom win, it aches in loneliness—is ill at peace as the break-covert blood-hounds od such sin: They dipped their swords in the water, and did tease their horses homeward, with convulsed spur, each richer by his being a murderer. #RandolphHarris 27 of 27
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The Events of this Wide World I Would Seize Like a Strong Giant and My Spirit Tease!
Once you think that your own mind is not your friend anymore, you are on your way to insanity. In 1923 a very significant meeting was held at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. Attending that famous gathering were nine of the World’s most successful financiers. The president of the largest independent steel company, the president of the largest utility company, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, a member of the President’s Cabinet, the greatest bear on Wall Street, the head of the World’s greatest monopoly, and finally the president of the Bank of International Settlement were all present. If there ever was one, a high-powered group was for sure present. These humans were supreme masters of the finance World! Twenty-five years later, in 1948 the picture was much different. After living on borrowed money for the last five years of his life, Charles Schwab had died bankrupt. A fugitive from justice, penniless in a foreign land is how Samuel Insull died. Howard Hopson was insance. Arthur Critten died abroad, insolvent. Richard Whitney has just been released from Sing Sing. Being pardoned from prison so he could die at home was the fate of Albert Fall. Death by suicide was the date with destiny for Leon Fraser and Ivar Kreuger. #RandolphHarris 1 of 26
All those men, master of finance, were mastered by wealth! The extraordinary sameness of the hellish gravity of their famous lives is a divine warning, for God set the ghost of these financial giants as spectral, mid-century witnesses to a nation about to run amok in materialism. Today their ghost have faded, and a new gallery of forlorn spirits is assembling, with names like Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Jeff Bezos, Amancio Ortega, and Elon Musk. Yet few take serious notice. Perhaps it is because most, especially if they are Christians, do not aspire to be the head of the World’s greatest monopoly or to the vulgar display of the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Instead they are quite content to cultivate a less encumbering level of wealth—not realizing that the dangers for themselves are the same for the super rich: a growing delusion that this World is everything that someday they will be content, the “providing for one’s family” means being able to give them more and better, that relationships will be enriched by wealth, that wealth will make them better people. Clearly, the abiding reality is that wealth presents substantial dangers for all, and especially for today’s increasingly prosperous Christian population. #RandolphHarris 2 of 26
However, what can we do to escape the power of materialism? Step out of the competitive World? Abandon Wall Street? Avoid the professions? Join a commune? Some think so, despite Christ’s firm admonitions against isolation. We all need stuff—stuff to wear, stuff to eat, stuff for home, stuff for school. And, of course, beyond the necessities there is also the stuff we want but do not really need, as well as the stuff we dream about but may not be able to obtain at the moment. If we are not careful, we can have a hard tie seeing past all that stuff. Material possession (both those we have and those we want) can obstruct our view of who we really are and what life is really about. There is a better way, actually, and it is taught repeatedly in God’s World. In fact, Scripture presents it as a grace—the grace of giving. The most explicit teaching on this subject is 2 Corinthians 8, where the Apostle Paul deftly instructs the Corinthian church regarding giving by citing the beautiful example of the Macedonian church’s giving. He begins: “And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace [meaning the grace of giving] that God have given the Macedonian churches,” reports 2 Corinthians 8.1. #RandolphHarris 3 of 26
For Paul, giving is so much a grace that he uses the Greek word five times in this short text: verse 1, “the grace” (charin); verse 4, “the privilege” (charas); verse 6, “this act of grace” (charin); verse 7, “this grace of giving” (charity); and verse 9, “the grace” (charin). Giving is a matter of grace from beginning to end, as we shall see. Grace is the divine help or strength extended to us through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the grace of God, everyone who has lived will be resurrected—our spirits will be reunited with our bodies, never again to be separated. Through His grace, the Lord also enables those who live His gospel to repent and be forgiven. Grace is a gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ. The word grace, as used in the scriptures, refers primarily to enabling power and spiritual healing offered through the mercy and love of Jesus Christ. The grace of giving has nothing to do with being well-off. It is not dictated by ability. It is a willingness to give. Giving is viewed as a privilege. It is joyously enthusiastic and pleads for the opportunity to give more. What else produces such giving? Paul gives the answer in verse 5 as he relates the vertical and horizontal angles of the Macedonians’ commitment. #RandolphHarris 4 of 26
Yes, we will often feel inadequate, but fortunately God knows us far better than we know ourselves. “And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us keeping with God’s will,” reports 2 Corinthians 8.5. Their remarkable giving was the result of their first giving themselves to God. It is so simple: when all one has is given to God, giving to others becomes the natural reflex of the soul. When we have already given the whole, it is easy to surrender part. This was shown in the life of a young Norwegian named Peter Torjesen when at the age of seventeen his heart was so stirred by a challenge to missionary giving that he opened his wallet and poured all his money into the offering. As an afterthought he also included a scrap of paper on which he wrote “Og mit liv” (“And my life”). Significantly, young Torjesen went on to lead a fruitful life as a missionary in China. The Macedonians did things right away: they gave their hearts to God, then they gave themselves to their fellow believers, which in turn resulted in their giving what they had to the work of Christ. #RandolphHarris 5 of 26
This is where grace giving must begin—given ourselves completely to God. Grace giving cannot exist without this. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship,” reports Romans 12.1. A selfless person is one who is more concerned about the happiness and well-being of another than about one’s own convenience or comfort, one who is willing to serve another when it is neither sought for nor appreciated, or one who is willing to serve even those whom one dislikes. A selfless person displays a willingness to sacrifice, a willingness to purge from one’s mind and heart personal want, and needs, and feelings. Instead of reaching for and requiring praise and recognition for oneself, or gratification of one’s own wants, the selfless person will meet these very human needs for others. Remember the words of the Saviour as he taught his disciples on an occasion when personal recognition was being sought: “But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. #RandolphHarris 6 of 26
“But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many,” reports Mark 10.42-45. There is another word that sound almost like the one we have been using. However, it is an ugly word. It describes a characteristic of satanic proportions. We will not say much of this word, for it is not pleasant to think about, as we do not like to use it. The word is selfish. The dictionary describes a selfish person as ne who is “concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself: seeking pleasure of well-being without regards for others.” May we add, a selfish person is often who refers to “I,” “me,” and “mine” rather than to “we,” “ours,” “yours,” or “theirs.” This person is anxious to be in the limelight, to be on center stage in life’s little dramas. One may not be a good listener, or a conversation monopolizer. Selfishness is the great unknown sin. No selfish person ever thought oneself to be selfish. The shinning example of the Macedonians’ giving was held high by the apostle Paul so as to convict and motivate the Corinthian church. #RandolphHarris 7 of 26
Now Paul left no doubt as to what we hoped would happen: “So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. However, just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this giving grace,” reports 2 Corinthians 8.6-7. The Corinthians were a gifted group who excelled in many commendable things other than giving. However, Paul knew that despite all their excellences they would never become what they could and should be until they learned the grace of giving. The abiding spiritual fact is, there is no way to grow into spiritual maturity without committing one’s giving to the Lord. God can have our money and not have our hearts, but He cannot have our hearts without having all our money. Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” reports Matthew 6.21. The specters of the fallen Wall Street giants are not the only ones to announce the dangers of money. The entire New Testament is full of repeated warnings, many of which are from the lips of Jesus Himself, who informed His listeners about money than about Heaven and Hell, immorality involving pleasures of the flesh, or violence. #RandolphHarris 8 of 26
After the rich young ruler turned away sorrowing because Jesus told him to sell all, Jesus told the disciples, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” reports Mark 10.25—His point being that it is impossible for a human who trusts in riches to get into Heaven. “The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, ‘Who then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God,’” reports Mark 10.26-27. Indeed, if we depend on wealth rather than on God, we can understand why Jesus consistently presented Wealth as a spiritual obstruction. At the end of the Sermon on the mount He recommended: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. However, store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal,” reports Matthew 6.19-20. #RandolphHarris 9 of 26
A little later Jesus warned, “No one can serve two masters. Either one will hate the one and love the other, or one will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money,” Matthew 6.4. And to a human grabbing for an inheritance Christ shouted, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed: a human’s life does not consist in the abundance of one’s possessions,” reports Luke 12.15. Then He related the story of the rich man who built bigger barns only to die that night, ending His parable with a solemn pronouncement: “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for oneself but is not rich toward God,” reports Luke 12.21. Humans, the “rich toward God” are those who give not only themselves, but also their riches—thus laying up their treasures in Heaven. The key to liberation from the power of materialism is not an exodus from culture—abandoning Wall Street or leaving the wealth of the nation to others—but the grace of giving. Grace giving goes beyond a mere tithe, but rather giving till it hurts. Grace giving affects one’s lifestyle. When one indulges in grace giving, there are things one cannot have and things foregone. #RandolphHarris 10 of 26
If our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, et cetera, is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them. Givers for God disarm the power of money. They invite God’s grace to flow through them. “Silver and gold. Silver and gold. I’d rather have Jesus than silver and gold. No fame or fortune, no riches untold, I’d rather have Jesus than silver and gold. Don’t give me a mansion on top of the hill. Don’t give me the World with a shallow thrill, but just give me a Saviour my life He can hold. I’d rather have Jesus than silver and gold,” (Silver and Gold, by Kirk Franklin). It is possible you have reached a sticking point in your spiritual development and are perplexed. After all, you are attending church regularly, you enjoy the fellowship of Christians, you even read your Bible and pray regularly. The problem may be that you are not giving—the God simply does not have that part of you. If so, what you seen is the grace of giving. #RandolphHarris 11 of 26
The firstfruits giving is when one gives to God one’s best up-front, trusting that He will provide the rest; joyous freewill giving such as the Israelites experienced when Moses had to say “stop!”; the grace giving of the Macedonians whose liberality overflowed as they begged for the opportunity to give more. The apostle has made his point convincingly, but he caps it with a supreme illustration: “For you know the face of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich,” reports 2 Corinthians 8.9. Though Jesus could put His finger on every star, He emptied Himself and became a poor Earthly servant for us. That is Heaven’s “stewardship” program, and it is the pattern for us. The Corinthians were not clubbed into giving by fear or some gimmicky financial appeal. Rather, it was the ultimate example of giving—“the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ”—that produced the grace of giving in their lives. It was simply because of Jesus. We must understand that God’s grace in our lives demands discipline. This is why the great apostle of grace says, “discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness,” reports 1 Timothy 4.7. #RandolphHarris 12 of 26
And in this manner of the grace of giving, there must be the discipline of giving as well. Because of personal choices, everyone also experiences effects of sin. “Thus all humankind were lost; and behold, they would have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their lost and fallen state,” reports Mosiah 16.4. These effects are called spiritual death. No one can return to the divine grace. Through the Atonement, we all can be forgiven of our sins; we can become clean before God. To receive this enabling power, we must obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes having faith in Him, repenting of our sins, being baptized, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and trying to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ for the rest of our lives. The grace of God helps us every day. It strengthens us to do good works we could not do on our own. The Lord promised that if we humble ourselves before Him and have faith in Him, His grace will help us overcome all our personal weaknesses. “And if humans come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto humans weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all humans that humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them,” reports Ether 12.27. #RandolphHarris 13 of 26
Christ delivers from body hatred. A burning sese of these powers of evil actually inhabiting our body and specific parts thereof is one of the reasons body hatred, throughout the ages and across cultures, has been such a dreadful fact. Sincere people really do find evil in their body and wrongly blame the body for it. This misguided and terribly harmful attitude toward the body correctly sees the power of sin that really is in the actual body and its parts, and does not know how to think about the readiness to sin, the sinful meanings and intentions, that have come to possess those parts through their habituation in a World of sin. In this respect Paul’s teaching, explained above, that we are to “present our bodily parts as servants to righteousness for sanctification,” as reported in Romans 6.19, stand in shocking opposition to the assumptions of the classical thought of his day, as well as to those of most human thinking up to now. The same is true for his teaching that the body of the redeemed is a shrine of the Holy Spirit, and that therefore “the body is meant not meant for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body,” reports 1 Corinthians 6.16. “Do you now know,” he continues to say, “that your bodies are members [mela] of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 6.16). #RandolphHarris 14 of 26
Our bodies are the tabernacles of our spirits. He who is the Father of those spirits would have us build strength and virtue into these personal tabernacles. Dressing in neat, modest clothing invites the Spirit into our lives because it shows respect for our bodies and helps us to be an example for others. Satan is jealous of everyone who has a body, because he cannot have one. He tempts us to ruin our body’s purity by wearing inappropriate clothing or taking harmful substances. He even tempts us to be ashamed of our bodies—to think that they are not good enough, tall enough, strong enough, or pretty enough. If we follow the Spirit, we will be able to build strength and virtue into our bodies, and we will not believe the devils lies about them. Heavenly Father is pleased with the Earthly temples created for our spirits. We must show reverence for our bodies and treat them as holy temples. Well, they did not know, we can be sure, and could hardly think or imagine such a thing. We today do little better. In the past, theirs was the same understanding of the body that led Paul’s hearers in Athens to scoff at the idea of resurrection of the body. #RandolphHarris 15 of 26
A holy temple is considered the house of the Lord. Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. However, “When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, ‘We want to hear you again on this subject,’” reports Acts 17.32. Yet, some still thought, “Who wants that thing back?” It was inconceivable to them that the physical body and its parts should be honoured and treasured as the habitation of God in redeemed human personality. And the same is true for most people today—and indeed for most professing Christians. For usual human beings in the usual circumstances, their body runs their life. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?” reports Matthew 6.25. Contrary to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6.25, life is, for them, not more than food, nor the body more than clothing. As a matter of simple fact, their time and energy is almost wholly, if not entirely, devoted to how their body looks, smells, and feel, and to how it can be secured and used to meet ego needs such as admiration, gratification in pleasures of the flesh, and power over others. #RandolphHarris 16 of 26
It is this bodily orientation of the self that runs the human cosmos, as the elderly apostle John pointed out: “For all that is in the World, the lost of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the World,” report 1 John 2.16. This is “the mind of the flesh” discussed earlier from Paul, which is in opposition to “the mind of the spirit,” reports Romans 8.4-11. And John saw exactly the same outcomes for these two human options that Paul and all of the biblical writers knew: “The World is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever,” reports 1 John 2.17. By keeping the commandments and living righteously, you invite the Holy Ghost to be your constant companion. “Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all humans, and to the house of faith and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from Heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever,” reports Doctrine and Covenants 121.45-46. #RandolphHarris 17 of 26
Nothing can come to pass that is contray to the will of the World-Mind, or that is not already mysteriously present in the World-Idea. All is formed according to the World-Idea, shaped and permeated by its expression of the Divine Will. All things which exist and all events which happen fulfill the World-Idea and are necessary to it. In the ultimate sense, all history—whether planetary or racial or personal—is pre-ordained. No chance event, no human planning can defeat the divine World-Idea. The Universe takes the pattern it does out of realization of its own inherent and latent possibilities. The Divine prevails everywhere within it, from atom to planet. The World-Idea must subsist through all the spectacles of history, must remain the beginning, the middle, and the end of it all, must operate and dominate inside and outside human’s will. The World-Idea is what is ordained for the Universe, its divine prescription. In the end the World-Idea must triumph. Nature, whose guests we all are, issues her dictates and executes them by her own power. #RandolphHarris 18 of 26
All things must in the end as in the beginning conform to the World-Idea or there would be no order in the Universe. Universal laws will not suffer defeat. All is known to the World-Mind—not only as it was in the past but also as it will be in the future. If it were otherwise then the World-Mind would not be able to maintain the Universe in complete function and all its parts in complete relation, nor would it be able to move all the planets in rhythmic revolution. If everything were not exactly knowable and every consequence predictable in advance, God could not be God. However, that in its turn could not be unless everything were predeterminable too. This is contrary to common modern and Western belief that it is what we, as human beings, freely choose and do, and what we try to get in satisfaction of our desires, which determines what course the future takes. If we all lived in a chaos and not in a cosmos, then it could be said that human’s will was completely free. However, in that case the Sun’s will, the stars’ wills and the moon’s will, would also have to be completely free. All things and all lives would then be subject to caprice, chance, and disorder. #RandolphHarris 19 of 26
The World-Idea is perfect. Since it is God’s Idea, how could it be otherwise? If we fail to become a co-worker with it, nothing of this perfection will be lost. If we do, we add nothing to it. No human can do anything to alter the World-Idea. It is God’s Will in every possible meaning of the word. The World-Idea will be realized anyhow, whatever human beings do or fail to do. “And it came to pass that the brother of Jared, (now the number of the vessels which had been prepared was eight) went forth unto the mount, which they called the mount Shelem, because of its exceeding height, and did molten out of rock sixteen small stones; and they were white and clear, even as transparent glass; and he did carry them in his hands upon the top of the mount, and cried again unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, thou hast said that we must be encompassed about by the floods. Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know that thou art holy and dwellest in the Heavens, and that we are unworthy before three; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually; nevertheless, O Lord, thou hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may receive according to our desires. #RandolphHarris 20 of 26
“Behold, O Lord, thou hast driven us forth, and for these many years we have been in the wilderness; nevertheless, thou hast been merciful unto us. O Lord, look upon me in pity, and turn away thine anger from this thy people, and suffer not that they shall go forth across this ranging deep in darkness; but behold these things which I have molten out of the rock. And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them that they may shine forth in darkness; and they shall shine forth unto us in the vessels which we have prepared, that we may have light while we shall cross the sea. Behold, O Lord, thou canst do this. We know that thou art able to show forth great power, which looks so small unto the understanding of humans. And it came to pass that when the brother of Jared had said these words, behold, the Lord stretched forth his hand and touched the stones one by one with his finger. And the veil was taken from off the eyes of the brother of Jared, and he saw the finger of the Lord. #RandolphHarris 21 of 26
“And the finer of the Lord was like the finger of a man like unto flesh and blood; and the brother of Jared fell down before the Lord for he was stuck with fear. And the Lord saw that the brother of Jared has fallen to the Earth; and the Lord said unto him: Arise, why hast thou fallen? And he saith unto the Lord: I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood. And the Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou fast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen by finger. Sawest thou more than this? And he answered: Nay; Lord, show thyself unto me. And the Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I shall speak? And he answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie. And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you. #RandolphHarris 22 of 26
“Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the World to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall humankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters. And never have I showed myself unto humans whom I have created, for never has humans believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all humans were crated in the beginning after mine own image. Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh. And now, as I, Moroni, said I could not make a full account of these things which are written, therefore it sufficeth me to say that Jesus showed himself unto this man in the spirit, even after the manner and in the likeness of the same body even as he showed himself unto the Nephites. And he ministered unto him even as he minister unto the Nephites; and all this, that this man might know that he was God, because of the many great works which the Lord had showed unto him. #RandolphHarris 23 of 26
“And because of the knowledge of this man he could not be kept from beholding within the veil; and he saw the finger of Jesus, which when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting. Wherefore, having this perfect knowledge of God, he could not be kept from within the veil; therefore he saw Jesus; and he did minister unto him. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt not suffer these things which ye have seen and heard to go forth unto the World, until the time cometh that I shall glorify my name in the flesh; wherefore, ye shall treasure up the things which ye have seen and heard, and show it to no man. And behold, when ye shall come unto me, ye shall write them and shall seal them up, that no one can interpret them; for ye shall write them in a language that they cannot be read. And behold, these two stones will I give unto thee, and ye shall seal them up also with the things which ye shall write. For behold, the language which ye shall write I have confounded; wherefore I will cause in my own due time that these stones shall magnify to the eyes of humans these things which ye shall write. #RandolphHarris 24 of 26
“And when the Lord had said these words, he showed unto the brother of Jared all the inhabitants of the Earth which had been, and also all that would be; and he withheld them not from his sight, even unto the ends of the Earth. For he had said unto him in times before, that if he would believe in him that he could show unto him in times before, that if he would believe in hm that he could show into him all things—it should be shown unto him; therefore the Lord could not withhold anything from him, for he knew that the Lord could show him all things. And the Lord said unto him: Write these things and seal them up; and I will show them in mine own due time unto the children of humans. And it came to pass that the Lord commanded him that he should seal up the two stones which he had received, and show them not until the Lord should show them unto the children of men,” reports Ether 3.1-28. Your silver disk will light the entire night; none of the night will be turned over to the dark. Even as your soft light guides my path tonight, may your gentile influence spread softly through my life. Father, please look down on me in blessing; please light my way through the darkness. #RandolphHarris 25 of 26
With such brilliant light, to rival the Sun, can you be said to move in darkness? A light for the shadows, a lantern for those abroad, a guide for travelers: throughout the night you continue to bless us. However, they neither know nor understand; they walk about in darkness, so that the foundations of the land are shaken. I formerly thought ye were like angels, that ye were all like sons of the Most High. Verily ye shall die like mere mortals, ye shall fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge Thou the Earth; for Thou shalt have dominion over all the nations. O Lord of retribution, O Lord of retribution, reveal Thyself! Rise up, Thou judge of the Earth; render to the arrogant their recompense. Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked exult? Loudly they vaunt their arrogance; all the workers of iniquity bear themselves haughtily. They crush Thy people, O Lord. And afflict Thy Heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. And they say: “The Lord will not see, the God of Jacob will give no heed.” Consider, ye brutish among the peoples; and ye fools, when will ye understand? Doth not He that formed the eye, see? Shall not He that instructeth the nations, and teacheth man knowledge, reprove them? The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are mere vanity. #RandolphHarris 26 of 26
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Today our Problem is not making miracles—but managing them. I am going to build the kind of nation the President Roosevelt hoped for, President Trump is working to create (one of great financial prosperity, where one can still look forward to the American Dream), and President Kennedy died for. Research has indicated that eighty-four percent of Americans agree that a major cause of disrespect in our society is the fact that too many parents are failing to teach respect to their kids. Seventy-five percent of Americans want parents to teach their kids that cursing is always wrong. Only 19 percent of Americans never curse. These last two points highlight a major contradiction in American attitudes toward children’s rude behaviour. As adults, we are all part of the problem—and the potential solution. Whether you are a parent or not, it does not matter. Children learn by mimicking adult behaviour. Let me repeat that: Children learn by mimicking adult behaviour. The key to teaching our children to respect really grows out of self-respect. We need to teach by example and to show our children that we have respect for the, both as our children and as our eternal brothers and sisters. “The Lord God hath given a commandment that all humans should have charity, which charity is love,” reports 2 Nephi 26.30. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
Today we live in times of conflict, differences of opinion, disagreements. There is a need for us, perhaps more than ever before, to allow respect, charity, and forgiveness to influence our actions. Children learn for our behaviour, so if you swear in front of your kids they will think it means, “A grown adult swearing—that must mean that when I get really mad, it is okay to swear.” When children hear adults threatening other people they will think, “A grown adults threatening revenge—that must mean that it is okay to do violence to another person as long as I can justify it.” These horrible and incorrect philosophies will become imprinted in their memories. Therefore you can see, as children are observers, you do not have to have a kid of your own to have an impact on them. When it comes to teaching kids to be more respectful and less rude, there is no magical spell I know of to resolve this matter. It is a process that involves all of us and that will take time. We all need to recognize that how we act will be reflected in the behaviour and attitudes of tomorrow’s adults. We must understand respect, reasons we sometimes act disrespectfully, and find principles in the gospel to help us be better teachers. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
If every adult starts making a conscious decision to model considerate, respectful behaviour in one’s daily life, kids will start reflecting that behaviour. The sooner we do this, the sooner our children’s good behaviour will be reinforced. There are at least two definition of respect. The first refers to being polite or civil to those we meet or with whom we interact. This would include being respectful of a teacher. We hope grandchildren will treat grandparents respectfully during visits. We usually treat strangers with polite respect. Another meaning, however, refers to our feelings toward those who merit respect through honourable living. We admire their commitment or standards. For example, we might respect a supermodel who gave up winning a modeling competition on a yacht to save a man who fell overboard. On the other hand, we do not respect one who embezzles or another who treats the elderly, disabled, or children harshly in the supermarket. Yet if we were to interact with these people, we would likely treat them with respectful or polite manners, regardless of our feelings about their transgressions. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
Ultimately, even if we do not honour or admire their acts, we can treat people respectfully. As parents and leaders, we are to honour both definitions. We want children not only to treat us with respect—using good manners—but also to honour our standards, which we seek to exemplify through Christlike living. Be extra careful around children. You are already influencing children every time you are around them by the way you act, speak, and carry yourself. Being the male parent is not simply a matter of taking a larger role in chores around the house in order to take pressure off your mate so one can focus on raising the children. Being a male, dominant male, parent, or dominant parent also mean being a part of the child care—and not just in the first few weeks. It means being an equal partner in the care of your children for the next few decades of their lives, and then some. Sharing the load sometimes involves serious sacrifice. For instance, on any given Sunday afternoon, just as Tom Brady throws a Hail Mary pass to put the game into overtime, the phone rings. My daughter is one the line: “Can you pick me up now?” My wife is making dinner, so I have to make sure she gets home safely. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
While the gospel teaches us to be respectful toward others without qualification, sometimes we may find ourselves falling into rationalization about being disrespectful based on their behavior. A person who causes a problem is often seen as warranting disrespectful treatment. In other words, if others would have behaved differently, we would not have to behave badly. Going bad on a person is a kind of thinking that shifts responsibility for our behaviour to others. It makes us think that our disrespectful acts are someone else’s fault. Children pick this up quickly. When they are impolite, they often justify their disrespect with the excuse that other humans or living being or inanimate objects do not deserve good treatment. Also, keep in mind, dads cannot always be fun. Discipline is part of parenting, and for it to work, both partners have to participate. The mom, or non-dominant parent cannot always be the judge and jury. If you are always the parent who consoles the children and play good officer, the non-dominant will resent you for making them the enforcer. Be willing to be a parent who enforce the law, and support your spouse in their choices when one has to enforce the law. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
Respect is an expression of our sense of universal humanity—a testimony of our membership in the human family. It acknowledges our common humanity and shows our reverence for children of God. The gospel teaches us that we are to hold the same esteem for others that we hold for ourselves. “And again I say unto you, let every human esteem others humans as oneself,” reports Doctrine and Covenants 38.25. I have heard more primary school holiday concerts than I care to remember. Each one was important to Leo and Annie, and it was so important that both of their parents were there to share in their performance. Whether your child is the star or a member of the chorus, you make time to attend, you applaud thunderously, and you congratulate your child as though it was one’s opening night on Broadways. Acting disrespectfully suggest we do not esteem the other person as ourselves. “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that humans should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets,” reports Matthew 7.12. Take the time to listen to your children. They have wonderful thoughts and an ever-fresh perspective, and talking with them will bring those thoughts out. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
When I was a young parent, I could always tell the kids whose parents listened to them. If I was driving them home after a visit, they were the kids who would talk your ear off, even though you were a relatively unfamiliar adult. Those conversations were always a joy, especially compared to driving a kid home whose vocabulary consisted of grunted, monosyllabic responses to my questions. Time passes quickly. Before you know it, those little toddlers will be off living on their own. So make the effort to share in the raising of your kids. In the process of raising them, you will build a stronger relationship with your spouse and give your kids the best possible opportunity to grow up happy and successful. Prejudice is a result of disrespect for our fellow humans. We cannot participate in attitudes of prejudice without distancing ourselves from others. True respect, then, comes as we develop our ability to love our brothers and sisters as ourselves. Gossip, another everyday form of disrespect, is incompatible with love. What we say about people in their absence should be what we would say to them with love while they are in our presence. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
As adults, we admit that we are modeling bad behaviour, but we want and expect different behaviour from our kids. Learning does not work that way. When my older daughter was in grade school, I discovered this. She had a teacher whom I firmly believed was the perfect example of what is wrong with the guaranteed job policies in private education—and one day I voiced my displeasure about her in from of my daughter. I remember it so clearly. A short while later, during a discussion about a problem my daughter was having with a teacher, I heard my daughter spout my back at me. And then she said, “I pray you get to hear my craft.” The lightbulb immediately went off in my head: How could I possibly expect her to follow my admonition to “respect her teacher” when I was teaching her to disrespect that same person? Kids do not understand, “Do as I say, not as I do.” They do understand “Do as I do.” Feeling empathy for others is a symptom of respectful behaviour, while feeling unsympathetic is a symptom of disrespectful acts. A good friend of mine coaches his son’s lacrosse team. When I learned this, I could not help but think: Here is a formula for disaster. However, it happens every day and dads can do it successfully. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
Be impartial. The key is to look at your child as a team member and not as your son, your daughter, your competition, a pay check, or your enemy. You have taken on the job so you have sone very difficult task. When it is your child sitting on the bench, this can be tough. At the start of the season, talk with your child. Explain that you love him or her but you also have to be the coach for the team and that means no favouritism. It is important not only for both your sakes but for the effect your impartiality will have on the other players and their parents as well. Yelling, berating and/or sarcasm do not work as motivator, especially for children. Children want to learn; they want to improve. And when their teacher, parent, or coach instructs them in a beneficial, constructive way, the child preforms best. Respect is also synonymous with care about. Sometimes we excuse our disrespect, even for people we care about, by holding against them their lack of caring or concern for us. To feel compassion, one has to give up one’s attitude of resentment and disrespect. Protect yourself, defend yourself by transforming yourself and no longer use anyone’s bad behaviour to justify your own poor behaviour. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
We are so proud of our kids. We want them to do well. We want their team to be the best. And sometimes we get caried away: We see a call on the sport’s field that seems unfair, and we scream at the ref. We see the coach call our son or daughter out of the game, and we scream at the coach. We see a teammate make an unwise play, and we scream at the teammate. We see our own son or daughter miss a play they have made hundreds of times in the backyard, and we scream at him or her. All this screaming does not work. The referee is not going to change one’s call; the coach is not about to suddenly see things your way and send your kid back in; the teammate is not going to magically turn into an all-star candidate. And your son or daughter is now likely to be more focused on your incessant, embarrassing screaming than on one’s own play. Youth leagues now have spectator standards, and they are serious about enforcing them. They will even require parents to watch a video and sign a statement promising that they will adhere to the league’s standards of spectator behaviour. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
They are serious: one infraction and the offending parent is placed on probation. A second infraction and they are banded from attending future events. “And ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every human according to that which is one’s due,” reports Mosiah 4.13. To promote greater respect within families and youth groups, we must teach correct principles and share good examples. Chatter. Whispering. Complaining to each other. Parents do it all the time with other parents on their kids’ youth teams. Frankly, it drives the coaches and the league organizers crazy. The parents band together and then approach the coach. “Strength in numbers,” they think t themselves. If you believe this is a good idea, I have a bridge in Oakland I would like to talk to you about. You are a parent, you are in the stands, and you should be supportive not only of your kids, but of the coaches and the program as well. If others start jabbering, try to stop them or at least refuse to be part of their grousing. Respect is an expression of Christlike living. It is closely linked to all other qualities we are counseled to cultivate. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
We must cultivate patience, long-suffering, humanly kindness, and love unfeigned. It is a feature of selfless service and humble repentance. When healing or dissolving hostilities, it is essential. Respect for others shows reverence for God and his creations. Through showing respect, we truly feel more a part of the human family and recognize and honour our common divine parentage. Teach your children to respect their neighbours. Teach your children to respect their bishops and the teachers that come to their homes to teach them. Teach your children to respect their elders. Teach your children when they go to school, they should honour their teachers in that in which is true and honest, in that which is manly and womanly, and worthwhile. Teach your children to honour the law of God and the law of the state and the law of our country. Teach them to respect and hold in honour those who are chosen by the people to stand at their head and execute justice and administer the law. Teach them to be loyal to their country, loyal to righteousness and uprightness and honour, and thereby they will grow up to be men and women of choice above all the men and women of the World. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
How do we know when we are being treated respectfully or disrespectfully? Do we sometime rationalize our treatment of others because of their behaviour? How can we avoid this? Why does developing love for others lead to respectful treatment of them? Are you aware of someone who is being treated disrespectfully? How might you show respect to that person? The greatest danger to our prospects for spiritual transformation at this point is that we will fail to take all this talk about respect and our body being the temple of God literally. It may help us to consider ordinary situations of temptation. Temptation is a matter of being inclined to do what is wrong. However, where do those inclinations primarily reside? The answer is, they primarily exist in the parts of our body. Those inclinations are actually present in those parts and can even be felt there by those who are attentive to their body and who are informed, thoughtful, and willing to admit what they find upon careful reflection. Others, too, can recognize the tendencies present in our bodily parts—hands, feet, shoulder, eyebrows, loins, tongue, overall posture—and they can play upon those tendencies, to trap us, ensnare us, use us, destroy us. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
Those who purposefully prey upon others constantly play upon tendencies they can use to destroy others. They become experts at it. These various tendencies actually present in our bodily parts can move our body into action independently of our overall intentions to the contrary—often quite genuine—and of our conscious thoughts. Thus we act or speak “before we think.” The part of our character that lives in our body carries us away. The tongue, for example. James said that “the tongue is a small part [member, mela] of the body,” reports James 3.5. However, “the tongue is a fire, the cosmos of iniquity. The tongue is set among our members s something which defiles the entire body, setting fire to the natural course of things and itself on fire by hell,” reports James 3.6. James had no doubt observed the incredible power of the tongue to stir up the inclinations of the whole body and of all its parts—our own body as well as that of others. Have you observed this? It is perhaps the last bodily part to submit to goodness and rightness. No one can tame it, James said, and indeed that is right. Physical violence usually always introduced by verbal violence. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
It is only as we habitually subject the tongue to the grace of God as instrument reserved for him, to do His will, that grace comes literally to inhabit and govern it. And when that happens the effects spread throughout all the body. “If anyone does not stumble in word,” James said, “that is a perfect human, able even to guide one’s entire body aright,” reports James 3.2. “The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver,” reports Proverbs 10.20, and “A healing tongue is a tree of life,” reports Proverbs 15.4. Other members of the body, though not as central to life as the tongue, have their own readiness to act wrongly, with the associated feeling states—“Haughty eyes,” the wise man said, “a lying tongue, hands to shed innocent blood, and feet that run quickly to the devil,” reports Proverbs 6.17-18. If they have not already been permeated by the real presence of Christ, the shoulders, the stomach and the private parts, the fists and the face are constantly moving us away from God. A person caught up in rage or lust or resentment—or religious self-righteousness, for that matter—is basically one whose body has taken over and, at least for the moment, is totally running one’s actions or even life. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
Sometimes we say, “I just lost my temper.” “Temper” refers to the capacity to handle all kinds of situations and maintain one’s balance. It is in fact close to character, as when we say of someone that they are “acting out of character” or “are out of pocket” or “are not themselves” today. However, what does one lose one’s temper or character to? Things will be happening around us, of course, and they may get blamed, as a baby spanks the floor where it falls on it. However, what we lose or temper or our “control” to, what begins to govern our action at that point, is precisely our body and the inclinations to wrong that, as Paul and James both knew, actually inhabit its parts as living forces. You can verify this by carefully observing the bodily behaviour of the next person you see in a rage. God does not need us. He is perfectly capable of carrying out His plans without our leadership. However, wonder of wonders, joy of joys, He has chosen to use us. We must take our call to leadership seriously. We must glory in the work, but never in ourselves. Nonetheless, one thing is for sure: leadership must have a dream, a vision, a mental image, a precise goal of what is to be accomplished. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
Vision is the currency of leadership. A vision or dream must grab the leader, and when it does, it will pull others long. The challenge of leadership is so great today because modern humans are dreamless. Next, a leader must not only have a dream, one must be able to communicate it. This is true with artists, educators, military leaders, fast-food franchisers. A great leader communicates with clarity, whether by speech, metaphor, diagram, or model. Good leaders then delegate and orchestrate. They surround themselves with competent people. They build consensus. And they elevate the people with whom they work. Good leaders lead by demonstration. They pull people along with them instead of pushing them. General Eisenhower used to demonstrate the art of leadership in a simple but forceful way. He would place a single piece of sting on a table and say, “Pull it and it follows wherever you want it to go; push it and it goes nowhere. Good leaders are determined. Nothing in the World can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful humans with a great talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
Education will not; the World is full of educated derelicts. Persistence, determination along are omnipotent. Humans, if we wish to be good leaders we must recognize and embrace this conventional wisdom: vision, communication, delegation, and organization, demonstration, and determination. We laud and commend all this, but we must practice it as well. However, there is far more beyond this in our call to spiritual leadership. If we are embraced as disciplines of spiritual leadership, our collective energy will provide the animus for wisely living out conventional leadership wisdom. Put another way, the transcending wisdom of spiritual leadership will energize and elevate other types of wisdom we have received—thus producing dynamic leadership. Mature leadership is rare in the Church. Are you part of the problem or the answer? Be honest with yourself and God. Humans, if we sincerely want to improve our leadership capacities there are some things we must word for: The commitment to and practice of intercessory prayer. The pursuit of a great and growing vision of God. A growing worship of and devotion to God. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
We must also have a big-hearted magnanimity that thrills at the elevation of others. A Faith that transcends the doubts of others. A liberating understanding and embracing of one’s expendability. Rise up, people of God! The Church for you does wait, her strength unequal to her task; rise up, and make her great! In what ways does God want you to take a greater stand of faith? “And it came to pass that Jared and his brother, and their families, and also the friends of Jared and his brother and their families, went down into the valley which was northward, (and the name of the valley was Nimrod, being called after the mighty hunter) with their flocks which they had gathered together, male and female, of every kind. And it came to pass that when they had come down into the valley of Nimrod the lord came down and talked with the brother of Jared; and he was in a cloud, and the brother of Jared saw him not. And it came to pass that the Lord commanded them that they should go for the into the wilderness, yes, int that quarter where there never had man been. And it came to pass that the Lord did go before them, and did talk with them as he stood in a cloud, and gave directions whither they should travel.” #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
“And it came to pass that they did travel in the wilderness, and did build barges, in which they did cross many waters, being directed continually by the hand of the Lord. And the Lord would not suffer that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God has preserved for a righteous people. And he had sworn in his wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise, from that time henceforth and forever, should serve him, the true and only God, or they should be swept off when the fulness of his wrath should come upon them. And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath small come upon them. And the fullness of his wrath cometh upon them when they are ripened in iniquity. For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore one that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fullness of iniquity among the children of the land, that they are swept off. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
“And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God—that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fullness come, that ye may not bring down the fullness of the wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of the land have hitherto done. Behold, this is a choice land, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under Heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ, who hath been manifested by the thing which we have written. And now I proceed with my record; for behold, it came to pass that the Lord did bring Jared and his brethren forth even to the lands. And as they came to the sea they pitched their tents; and they called the name of the place Moriancumer; and they dwelt in tents, and dwelt in tents upon the seashore for the space of four years. And it came to pass at the end of four years that the Lord came again unto the brother of Jared, and stood in a cloud and talked with him. And for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24
“And the brother of Jared repented of the evil which he had done, and did call upon the name of the Lord for his brethren who were with him. And the Lord said unto him: I will give thee and they brethren of their sins; but thou shalt not sin any more, for ye shall remember that my Spirit will not always strive with man; wherefore, if ye will sin until ye are fully ripe ye shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And these are my thoughts upon the land which I shall give you for your inheritance; for it shall be a land choice above all other lands. And the Lord said: Go to work and build, after the manner of barges which ye have hitherto built. And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did go to work, and also his brethren, and built barges after the manner which they had built, according to the instructions of the Lord. And they were small, and they were light upon the water, even like unto the lightness of a fowl upon the water. And they were built after a manner that they were exceedingly tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like a dish; and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
“And I came to pass that the brother of Jared cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, I have performed the work which thou hast commanded me, and I have made the barges according as thou directed me. And behold, O Lord, in them there is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish for in the we cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish. And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: Behold, thou shalt make a hole in the top, and also in the bottom; and when thou shalt suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive the air. And if it be so that the water come upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hold, that ye may no perish in the flood. And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did so, according as the Lord had commanded. And he cried again unto the Lord saying: O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness? And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
“For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in piece; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire. For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth. And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?” reports Ether 2.1-25. As the Sun retreats you enter the sky. Create the night, Great Father. Produce for your children a dark sky. Create our dreams that will fill our sleep. God standeth in the holy assembly, He pronounceth judgment: How long will ye judge unjustly, and favour the persons of the wicked? Do justice to the poor and fatherless; deal righteously with the afflicted and destitute. Rescue the poor and needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked! #RandolphHarris 24 of 24
Cresleigh Homes
Looking for a more minimalist Great Room as we head into the new year? Check out today’s blog post to learn about 7 pieces of furniture you may not actually need! https://cresleigh.com/blog/
Cresleigh makes the kind of homes where guests come to stay–and never leave. That is because every nook and corner of these suburban retreats is designed with entertaining in mind. From the luxury Spanish style house and Mid-Century Modern to the Prairie Style to the Farmhouse, are all cratfed with open-plan layouts, warm woods, other natural textures, and come with optional wall of glass that open to the outside and encourage a welcoming feel.
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Then Living Earth, with Labouring Thought Won from the Gaze of Many Centuries!
Many great things indeed have been achieved by those who choose not to leap into the mainstream. Although the World is very full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. I do not see myself as a preacher on television at all….I see myself as a doctor in an emergency ward, and those people who are flipping their dials are in pain and dying….I heal through offering what American needs on TV—a philosophy of self-esteem that will make us great once more. The more I see her, the more convinced I am that she is an isolated person. This a man ought never to be, not even a young man, because, since his development depends essentially upon reflection, he must have contact with others. Therefore, a young woman should not be interesting either, for the interesting always involves a reflecting on oneself, just as for the same reason the interesting in art always includes an impression of the artist. A young woman who wants to be pleased by being interesting will, if anything, please herself. From the esthetic side, this is the objection to all kinds of coquetry. It is quite different with what is inappropriately called coquetry, which is nature’s own gesture—for example, feminine modesty, which is always the most beautiful coquetry. #RandolphHarris 1 of 26
An interesting young lady may very well be successful in pleasing, but just as she herself has surrendered her womanliness, so also the men whom she pleases are usually just as unmasculine. Such a young lady first becomes interesting in her relation with men. The woman is usually the more delicate of the two genders, and yet it is much more important for her to stand alone in her youth than for the man; she must be sufficient unto herself, but that by which and in which she is sufficient unto herself is an illusion; it is this dowry with which nature has endowed her like a king’s daughter. However, it is precisely this resting in illusion that isolates her. I have often pondered why it is that there is nothing more corrupting for a young lady than associating a great deal with other young women. Obviously the reason is that this association is neither one thing nor another; it unsettles the illusion but does not clarify it. The woman’s fundamental qualification is to be company for the man, but through association with her own gender she is lead to reflection upon it, which makes her a society lady instead of company. The language itself is very suggestive in this respect; the man is called “master,” but the woman is not called “maidservant” or anything like that—no, a definition of essence is used: she is company, not companymaid. #RandolphHarris 2 of 26
If I were to imagine an ideal young lady, she would always stand alone in the World and thereby be assigned to herself, but mainly she would not have friends among the young ladies. It is certainly true that the Graces were three, but it certainly never occurred to anyone to think of them as talking together; in their silent trinity they form a beautiful feminine unity. In this respect, I could almost be tempted to recommend the virgins’ bower (any of several usually small-flowered and climbing clematises, which is a leather flower within the buttercup family) again, if this constraint were not in turn damaging in its effects. It is always best that a young lady be allowed her freedom, but that the opportunity not be provided. She thereby becomes beautiful and is rescued from becoming interest. To give a virgin’s veil or a bridal veil to a young lady who spends much time in the company of other young women is futile, but one who has sufficient esthetic sensitivity will always find that an innocent young lady in the deeper and best sense of the word is brought to him veiled, even if it is not the custom to use a bridal veil. #RandolphHarris 3 of 26
She has been brought up strictly; I honour her parents in their homes for that; she leads a very reserved life, and in thanks I could hug her aunt for that. She has not become acquainted with Worldly delights, has not become jaded through indulgence. She is proud; she spurns what delights other you ladies, and this is as it should be. It is a falseness that I shall know how to turn my advantage. Frills and finery do not appeal to her as they do to other young women; she is somewhat polemic, but this is necessary for a young lady with her romanticism. She loves in a World of fantasy. If she fell into the wrong hands, it might bring out something very unwomanly in her precisely because there is so much womanliness in her. You may believe in miracles—like those the scripture tell about—but do you believe the Lord can work miracles in your own life? If you do your part, God can and will. A miracle is an extraordinary event caused by the power of God. miracles are an important element in the work of Jesus Christ. They include healings, restoring the dead to life, and resurrection. Faith is necessary in order for miracles to be manifested. Do you have some challenges in your life that seem overwhelming at times Would a miracle help you? How can a miracle come about? #RandolphHarris 4 of 26
The passion of surprise and wonder, arising from miracles, being an agreeable emotion, gives a sensible tendency towards the belief of those events, from which it is derived. And this goes so far, that even those who cannot enjoy this pleasure immediately, nor can believe those miraculous events, of which they are informed, yet love to partake of the satisfaction at second-hand or by rebound, and place a pride and delight in exciting the admiration of others. “For if there be no faith among the children of humans God can do no miracle among them; wherefore, one showed not oneself until after their faith,” reports Ether 12.12. We must have faith to have miracles, specifically faith in Jesus Christ. “And ither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God,” reports Ether 12.18. Trust in God is vital, as is confidence that He will do what He says He will do. For example, we pay tithing with faith. He says that He will open the windows of Heaven, and we have confidence that He will. “And all nation shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of host,” reports Malac 3.11. This is our natural way of thinking. #RandolphHarris 5 of 26
Faith implies enough confidence to act on your belief and to conform your life to truth. The pleasure of telling a piece of news so interesting, of propagating it, and of being the first reporters of it, spreads the intelligence. Prodigies, omens, oracles, judgments, quite obscure the few natural events, that are intermingled with them. Having faith means doing our best to bring about a miracle, but it also requires having the patience to realize the Lord understands His eternal timetable better than we do. There is a memorable story related by Cardinal de Retz, which may well deserve our consideration. When that intriguing politician fled into Spain, to avoid the persecution of his enemies, he passed through Saragossa, the capitol of Arragon, where he was shown, in the cathedral, a man, who has served seven years as a door-keeper, and was well known to every body in town, that had ever paid his devotions at that church. He has been seen, for so long a time, wanting a leg; but recovered that limb by rubbing of holy oil upon the stump; and the cardinal assures us that he saw him with two legs. The use of medical science is not at odds with our prayers of faith and our reliance on priesthood blessings. #RandolphHarris 6 of 26
This miracle was vouched by all the canons of the church; and the whole company in town were appealed to for a confirmation of the fact; whom the cardinal found, by their zealous devotion, to be thorough believers of the miracle. And the cardinal cannot be suspected of any holy fraud. If we are sick, and ask the Lord to heal us, and to do all for us that is necessary to be done, according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation, I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow, without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge, and then to ask my Father in Heaven to sanctify that application to the healing of my body. Of course we do not wait until all other methods are exhausted before we pray in faith or give priesthood blessings for healing. In emergencies, prayers and blessings come first. Most often we pursue all efforts simultaneously. This follows the scriptural teachings that we should “pray always” and that all things should be done in wisdom and order. This is one way we seek the way to transports ourselves into some new World. #RandolphHarris 7 of 26
You have yourself heard many supernatural and marvellos relations. “Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for you good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one another,” reports Doctrine and Covenants 90.24. Human’s inclination to the marvellous has full opportunity to display itself. And thus a story, which is universally exploded in the place where it was first started, shall pass for a certain at a hundred thousand miles distance, maybe even light years. It is reported that January 1600, there was total darkness over the whole Earth for eight days. It was also reported by historians who treat of England, that on the first of January 1600, Queen Elizabeth died; both before and after her death she was seen by her physicians and the whole court, as is usual with persons of her rank; that her successor was acknowledged and proclaimed by the parliament; and that, after being interred a month, she again appeared, resumed the throne, and governed England for three years: I must confess that I should be surprised at the concurrence of so many odd circumstances, but should not have the least inclination to believe so miraculous an event. #RandolphHarris 8 of 26
I believe that all of us can bear witness to these miracles. With Moroni of old, I believe in a God of miracles. Moroni wrote to the people of our dispensation, “Behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, and it is that same God who created the Heavens and the Earth, and all things that are in them are,” reports Mormon 9.11. Moroni proclaimed that Jesus Christ did many mighty miracles, that many mighty miracles were wrought by the hands of the Apostles and that a God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever must be a God of miracles today. “And if there were miracles wrought then, why has Gd ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God and is a God of miracles,” report Mormon 9.19. The World-Idea provides secret invisible patterns for all things that have come into existence. These are not necessarily the forms that our limited perceptions present to us but the forms that are ultimate in God’s Will. #RandolphHarris 9 of 26
The deeper thinkers among our astronomers see no beginning and no end to the Universe; it is t them a process and not a static thing. To this view a philosopher would echo assent, but in accordance with the World-Idea. Just as the wave of life prepares, enters, and leaves our human bodies, so does it prepare, enter, and leave each of the numerous Universes. The World-Idea permeates all existence, patterns all forms, and expresses itself in all evolution. When the revelation of the World-Idea came to religious mystics they could only call it “God’s Will.” When it came to the Greeks, they called it “Necessity.” The Indians called it “Karma.” When its echoes were heard by scientific thinkers, they called it “the laws of Nature.” What we call here the World-Mind’s master image is not quite different from, although not quite the same as, what Plato called the eternal idea and what Malebranche called the archetype of the Universe. Mahat, the divine ideation of the Egyptian teachings, may possibly be correlated with the World-Idea, but I have not examined the doctrine. Nor do I know whether Plato’s divine archetypes meet exactly the same definition. However, I do know that all three constitute the World as seen by the Universal Mind. #RandolphHarris 10 of 26
Plato’s doctrine of a timeless World of archetypal ideas which are copied imperfectly in the physical one may be compared with the doctrine of the World-Idea stated elsewhere in this teaching. Jung’s archetypes, as far as I know his thought, apply to the unconscious of the human being. If you wish to call them by this name, the archetypes of the World-Idea apply universally and are not concerned with the human species alone. The Stoics pointed to Reason (Logos) as the divine spirit which orders the cosmos. Plato pointed to Mind (Nous) in the same reference. There is a universal order, a way which Nature (God) has of arranging things. This is why what we see around us as the World expressed all-pervading meaning, intelligence, and purpose. However, we catch only a mere hint of these veiled qualities—they mystery which recedes from them is immeasurably greater. The intelligence displayed by Nature is an infinite one. This fact, once recognized, forces us to concede that there is a deeper meaning and a wiser purpose in life than our puny intellects can adequately fathom. The World-Idea is secret, its activity is silent, but its effects are everywhere visible and audible to us. #RandolphHarris 11 of 26
Immanuel Kant referred to “the hidden plan of Nature.” Thus, without benefit of any mystical revelation but with that of acutely concentrated deep thinking to guide him, he sensed the presence of the World-Idea. It is safe to assert that nearly all the activities of the cosmos are beyond ordinary human sense observations. Without the assistance of special apparatus or thinking power we are unaware of them. Just as important as these might miracles are the smaller private miracles that teach each of us to have faith in the Lord. These come as we recognize and heed the prompting of the Spirit in our lives. When we are trying to serve Him and do His will, the Lord will help us in every aspect of our lives. I believe that all of us can bear witness to these mighty and modest miracles. We know children who have prayed for their parents to get a new job and buy a home, and they have. We have seen children who pray for toys for Christmas and get them. We have seen adults who pray for a special phone call and it comes in. The World-Idea contains the pattern, intention, direction, and purpose of the cosmos in a single unified thought of the World-Mind. #RandolphHarris 12 of 26
Human understanding is too cramped and too finite to comprehend how this miraculous simultaneity is possible. The World-Idea is the whole idea that no human mind can grasp in its time-long entirety and its spiralled cyclers. In some way that the limited mind of human cannot understand by its ordinary processes, the Universe exists in the World-Idea out of passing time and in an unbroken Now. The World-Idea manifests itself by degree but the Idea itself is a perfect whole. The World-Idea not only includes everything existent but also everything which is yet to exist. We may think of the World-Idea as a kind of computer which has been fed with all possible information and therefore contains all possible potentialities. Just as its progenitor the World-Mind is all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing, it is also possible to think of the World-Idea as being this all-knowing, omniscient aspect of the World-Mind. What is most extraordinary about the cosmos is that although it is a coherent Whole, yet it is one that is greater than, and different from, the sum of is parts. The World-Idea forever realizing itself in the actual, a process which is ceaseless and infinite, without known beginning or known end. #RandolphHarris 13 of 26
Life is in the highest degree properly in God. In proof of which it must be considered that since a thing is said to live in so far as it operates of itself and not as moved by another, the more perfectly this power is found in anything, the more perfect is the life of that thing. In things that move and are moved, a threefold order is found. In the first place, the end moves the agent: and the principal agent is that which acts through it form, and sometimes it does so through some instrument that acts by virtue not of its own form, but of the principal agent, and does no more than execute the action. Accordingly there are things that move themselves, not in respect of any form or end naturally inherent in them, but only in respect of the executing of the movement; the form by which they act, and the end of action being alike determined for them by their nature. Of this kind are plants, which move themselves according to their inherent nature, with regard only to executing the movements of growth and decay. The World-Idea is works itself out in time, which is the form wherein the thoughts appear, and in history, which is the record of time. In the larger workings of the World-Idea we may see the rise and fall of entire culture, civilizations, religions, and even whole continental areas with their inhabitants and races. #RandolphHarris 14 of 26
The World-Mind’s World-Idea unfold with absolute regularity and perfect sequence. The World-Idea is slowly expanding itself on Earth, incarnating itself. My hope is that this rather lengthy discussion of the place of the body in our life and of how the apostle Paul understood its transformation will make very clear why spiritual formation requires the transformation of the body. The proper retaining and nurturing of the body is absolutely essential to Christlikeness. The body is not just a physical thing. As it matures, it increasingly takes on the quality of “inner” life. That is, the body increasingly becomes a major part of the hidden source from which our life immediately flows. The outcome of spiritual formation is, indeed, the transformation of the inner reality of the self in such a way that the deeds and words of Jesus become a natural expression of who we are. However, it is the nature of the human being that the inner reality of the self settles into our body, from which that inner reality then operates in practice. Formed in sin, our character and its body is set against God and God’s ways, and as we look about us, we find it pretty much on its own—at least for a while. #RandolphHarris 15 of 26
When our heart (will, spirit) comes to new life in God, the old “programs” are still running contrary to our new heart, and for the most part they are running in our body and its parts or members. “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! However, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful. We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out,” report Romans 7.12-18. “For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit of death,” reports Romans 7.5. Because my identity before God has been shifted over to another life that is also now in me as God’s gift, my soul has been cleansed. #RandolphHarris 16 of 26
While the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak, I may find myself doing the things I have. However, it really is no longer I who is doing it, but the sin still functioning as a living force in the members of my body. Nonetheless, this is only a transitional state for those who can say with David, “My soul follows hard after you,” reports Psalm 63.8. The law or force of the Spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus is now also a real presence in my body and it opens the way to liberation from the force of sin in my bodily parts. “Therefore, humans, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeed of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of God. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory,” reports Romans 8.12-17. #RandolphHarris 17 of 26
My soul follows after God. The law or force of the Spirit life that is in Christ Jesus is now also a real presence in my body and it opens the way to liberation from the force of sin in my bodily parts. “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin,” reports Romans 7.25. By not walking in terms of the flesh but in terms of the Spirit, we are increasingly able to do the things that Jesus did and taught. “And so he condemned sin in sinful humans, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature,” reports Romans 8.4. We move toward the place where both the spirit is willing and the flesh is strong for God because the Spirit has now occupied it. We have presented the members of our body “as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification,” reports Romans 6.19. To deny the reality of miracles on the ground that the results and manifestations must be fictitious simply because we cannot comprehend the means by which they have happened is arrogant on the face of it. #RandolphHarris 18 of 26
Genuine miracle is the miracle worked though the power of faith, without specifically invoking the power of the priesthood. Most of us are acquainted with miracles that have occurred in our personal lives and the lives of those we love, such as miracles involving births and deaths and miraculous healings. All of these are fulfillments of the Lord’s modern promise to “show miracles, signs, and wonders, until all those who believe on my name,” reports Doctrine and Covenants 35.8. “And now, I speak also concerning those who do not believe in Christ. Behold, will ye believe in the day of your visitation—behold, when the Lord shall come, yea, even that great day when the Earth shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, yea, in that great day when ye shall be brought to stand before the Lamb of God—then will ye say that there is no God? Then will ye longer deny the Christ, or can ye behold the Lamb of God? Do ye suppose that ye shall dwell with him under a consciousness of your guilt? Do ye suppose that ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being, when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt that ye have ever abused his laws? #RandolphHarris 19 of 26
“Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God under a consciousness of your filthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the damned souls in hell. For behold, when ye shall be brought to see your nakedness before God, and also the glory of God, and the holiness of Jesus Christ, it will kindle a flame of unquenchable fire upon you. O then ye unbelieving, turn od who ye unto the Lord; cry mightily unto the Father in the name of Jesus, that perhaps ye may be found spotless, pure, fair, and clean, having been purified by the blood of the Lamb, at that great and last day. And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the interpretation of tongues; behold I say uno you, one that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, one has not read the scriptures; if so, one does not understand them. For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing? And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles. #RnadolphHarris 20 of 26
“However, behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and it is that same God who created the Heavens and the Earth, and all things that in them are. Behold, he created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man. And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all humans are redeemed because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all humans will be awakened by the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed of death, which death is a temporal death. And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still. #RandolphHarris 21 of 26
“And one that is righteous still; one that is happy shall be happy still; one that is unhappy shall be unhappy still. And now, O all ye that have imagined up unto yourselves a god who can do no miracles, I would ask of you, have all these things passed, of which I have spoken? Has the end come yet? Behold I say unto you, Nay; and God has not ceased to be a God of miracles. Behold, are not the things that God hath wrought marvelous in our eyes? Yea, and who can comprehend the marvelous works of God? Who shall say that it was a miracle that by his word the Heaven and the Earth shall be; and by the power of his word man was created of the dust of the Earth and by the power of his word have miracles been wrought? And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles. And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles. #RandolphHarris 22 of 26
“And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust. Behold, I say unto you that whoso believeth in Christ, doubting nothing, whatsoever one shall ask the Father in the name of Christ it shall be granted him; and this promise is unto all, even unto the ends of the Earth. For behold, thus said Jesus Christ, the Son of God, unto his disciples who shall tarry, yea, and also to all his disciples, in the hearing of the multitude: God ye into all the World, and preach the gospel to every creature; and one that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but one that believe not shall be damned; and these signs shall follow them that believe—in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover; and whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, until one will I confirm all my words, even unto the ends of the Earth. And now, behold, who can stand against the works of the Lord? #RandolphHarris 23 of 26
“Who can deny his sayings? Who will rise up against the almighty power of the Lord? Who can deny God’s sayings? Who will rise up against the almighty power of the Lord? Who will despise the works of the Lord? Who will despise the children of Christ? Behold, all ye who are despisers of the works of the Lord, for ye shall wonder and perish. O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things so ever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and being as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him. Be wise in the days of your probation; strip yourselves of all uncleanness; ask not, that ye may consume it on your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and living God. See that ye are not baptized unworthily; see that ye partake not of the sacrament of Christ unworthily; but see that ye do all things in worthiness, and do it in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God; and if ye do this, and endure to the end, ye will in nowise be cast out. #RandolphHarris 24 of 26
“Behold, I speak unto you as though I spake from the dead; for I know that ye shall have my words. Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our own imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been. And now behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech. And if our plates had been sufficiently large we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold, ye would have no imperfection in our record. However, the Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language; and because that none other people knoweth our language, therefore one hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof. And these things are written that we may rid our garments of the blood of our brethren, who have dwindled in unbelief. #RandolphHarris 25 of 26
“And behold, these things which we have desired concerning our brethren, yea, even their restoration to the knowledge of Christ, are according to the prayers of all the saints who have dwelt in the land. And may the Lord Jesus Christ grant that their prayers may be answered according to their faith; and may God the Father remember the covenant which he hath made with the house of Israel; and may he bless them forever, through faith on the name of Jesus Christ. Amen, reports Mormon 9.1-37. Queen of Night, your silver wheels roll silently through the darkness from sunset to sunrise on this night when you are full. I look on you in awe, and praise you. I look to you in love, and honor you. God in her palaces hath made Himself known as a tower of strength. For lo, the kinds assembled themselves, they came onward together. They saw, straightway they were amazed; they were affrighted, they hasted away. Trembling seized them there, shaking, as a woman in travail, as the east wind that breaks the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God—God establish forever. We have meditated on Thy lovingkindness, O God, in midst of Thy Temple. #RandolphHarris 26 of 26
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Randolph Harris II International Institute 