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Ignorance of the Law Excuses No Human–Looked Like a Baby-River that was Laying Half Alseep!

July 16, 2020 1:03 am

Surplus of wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in one’s lifetime for the good of the community. Stigma management is a general feature of society, a process occurring wherever there are identity norms. The same features are involved whether a major differentness is at question, of the kind traditionally defined as stigmatic, or a picayune differentness, of which the shamed person is to be ashamed to be ashamed. One can therefore suspect that the role of normal and the role of stigmatized are parts of the same complex, cuts from the same standard cloth. Of course, psychiatrically oriented students have often pointed out the pathological consequences of self-derogation, just as they have argued that prejudice against a stigmatized group can be a form of a sickness. These extremes, however, have not concerned us, for the patterns of response and adaptation considered in this ese seem totally understandable within the framework of normal psychology. One can assume first that persons with different stigmas are in an appreciably similar situation and respond in an appreciably similar way. The neighbourly druggist might talk to the neighbourhood, therefore the neighbourhod drugstores have been avoided by persons seeking al manner of equipment and medication—persons wonderfully diverse who share nothing but a need to control information. #RandolphHarris 1 of 26

And secondly, one can assume that the stigmatized and the normal have the same mental make-up, and that this necessarily is the standard one in our society; one who can play one of these roles, then, has exactly the required equipment for playing out the other, and in fact in regard to one stigma or another is likely to have developed some experience in doing so. Most important of all, the very notion of shameful differences assumes a similarity in regard to crucial beliefs, those regarding identity. Even where an individual has quite abnormal feelings and beliefs, one is likely to have quite normal concerns and employ quite normal strategies in attempting to conceal these abnormalities from others, as the situation of former mental patients suggests: One of the difficulties centers around the meaning of “reasonable employment.” The patients are sometimes unable, but more often unwilling, to explain why a particular job is “unreasonable” or impossible for them. One middle-aged man could not bring himself to explain that he was so terrified of the dark he insisted on sharing his bedroom with his brother, and that he could no possibly work where it meant coming home alone in the dark in Winter. He tries to overcome his fear, but is reduced to a state of physical collapse if left alone at night. #RandolphHarris 2 of 26

In such an instance—and there were many others—the former patient’s fears of ridicule, contempt or harshness make it difficult for him to explain the real reason for refusing or not holding the jobs offered to him. He may then easily be labelled as work-shy or unemployable, which is likely to be financially disastrous. Similarly, when an aging person finds one cannot remember some of the names of one’s immediate friends, one may shy away from going to the meeting places where one is likely to encounter them, thus illustrating an embarrassment and a plan which entail human capacities that have nothing to do with aging. If, then, the stigmatizes person is to be called a deviant, one might better be called a normal deviant, at least to the extent that one’s situation is analyzed within the framework presented here. There is a direct evidence regarding this self-other, normal-stigmatized unity. For example, it seems that persons who suddenly find themselves relieved of a stigma, as in successful plastic surgery, may quickly be seen, by themselves and others, to have altered their personality, an alteration in the direction of acceptable, just as those who have suddenly acquired a defect may relatively quickly experience a change in apparent personality. #RandolphHarris 3 of 26

These perceived changes seem to be a result of the individual’s being placed in a new relationship to the contingencies of acceptance in face-to-face interaction, with consequent employment of new strategies of adaptation. Important additional evidence comes from social experiments, wherein subjects knowingly take on a defect (temporarily, of course), such as partial deafness, and find themselves spontaneously manifesting the reactions and employing the devices that are found among the actually disabled. A further fact should be mentioned. Because a change from stigmatized status to normal status is presumably in a desired direction, it is understandable that the change, when it comes, can be sustained psychologically by the individual. However, it is very difficult to understand how individuals who sustain a sudden transformation of their life from that of a normal to that of a stigmatized person can survive the change psychologically; yet very often they do. That both types of transformation can be sustained—but especially the latter type—suggest that standard capacities and training equip us to handle both possibilities. And once these possibilities are learned, the rest, alas, comes easily. #RandolphHarris 4 of 26

For the individual to learn that one is beyond the pale, or not beyond the pale after having been beyond, is not, then, a complicated thing, merely a new alignment within an old frame of reference, and taking to oneself in detail what one had known about before as residing in other. The painfulness, then, of sudden stigmatization can come not from the individual’s confusion about one’s identity, but from one’s knowing too well what one has become. Taken through time, then, the individual is able to play both parts in the normal-deviant drama. However, one must see that even boxed within a brief social moment, the individual may be able to perform both shows, exhibiting not only a general capacity to sustain both roles, but also the detailed learning and command necessary for currently executing the required role behaviour. His is facilitated, of course, by the fact that the roles of stigmatized and normal are not merely complementary; they also exhibit some striking parallels and similarities. Performers of each role may withdraw from contact with the other as a means of adjustment; each male feel that one is not fully accepted by the other; each may feel that one’s own conduct is being watched too closely—and be correct in this feeling. Each may stay with one’s “own” merely to forgo having to face the problem. #RandolphHarris 5 of 26

Further, the asymmetries or differences between that do exist are often kept within such limits as will further the common and crucial task of maintaining the social situation that is in progress. Aliveness to the role of the other must be sufficient so that when certain adaptive tactics are not employed by one of the normal-stigmatized pair, the other will know how to step in and take on the role. For example, should the stigmatized person fail to present his failing in a matter of fact way, the normal may assume the task. And when normals try tactfully to help the stigmatized person with one’s difficulties, one may grit one’s teeth and accept help gracefully, out of regard for the good will of the effort. Evidence of two-headed role playing is widely available. For example, whether for fun or seriously, people pass, and they do so in both directions, into or out of the stigmatized category. Another source of evidence is psychodrama. This “therapy” assumes that mental patients and others beyond the pale can on stage switch parts and play out the role of normal to someone who is now playing their role to them; and in fact they can perform this theater without much prompting and with reasonable competency. A third source of evidence that the individual can simultaneously sustain command over both the normal and stigmatized role comes to us from behind-scenes joshing. #RandolphHarris 6 of 26

Normals, when among themselves, “take off” on a stigmatized type. More to the point, the stigmatized in similar circumstances takes off on the normal as well as oneself. One jokingly enacts scenes of degradation with one of one’s kind playing the role of the crudest of normals while one affects the complementary role for a moment, only to break into vicarious rebelliousness. As part of this sad pleasure there will be the unserious use of stigma terms of address that are usually tabooed in “mixed” society. It should be restated here that this kind of joking by the stigmatized does not so much demonstrate some kind of chronic distance the individual has from oneself as it demonstrates the more important fac that a stigmatized person is first of all like anyone else, trained first of all in others’ views of persons like oneself, and differing from them first of all in having a special reason to resist stigma derogation when in their presence and the special license to give voice to it when in their absence. A special case of the light use of self-abusing language and style is provided by professional representatives of the group. When representing their group to normals, they may embody in an exemplary way the ideals of the normals, being partly chosen for being able to do so. #RandolphHarris 7 of 26

However, when attending social affairs among their own, they may feel a special obligation to show that they have not forgotten about the ways of the group or their own place, and so on sage may employ native dialect, gestures, and expression in humorous caricature of their identity. (The audience can then dissociate themselves from what they still have a little of, and identify with what they have not yet fully become.) These performances, however, often have a cultivated trim aspect; something has been clearly placed in brackets and raised to an art. In any case, one regularly finds in the same representative the capacity to be more “normal” in manner than are most of the members of one’s category who orient themselves in this direction, while at the same time one can command more of the native idiom than those of one’s category who are oriented in this direction. And where a representative does not have this capacity to manage two faces, one will find oneself under some pressure to develop it. I have often pondered the reasons why, in seminars, the reactions are more strongly negative, and eventually more strongly beneficial. I believe it is due in part to the fact that they were so eager to learn from the “master,” the “guru,” that they were loath to accept my authority. #RandolphHarris 8 of 26

Perhaps another reason is that they were all graduate students, most of them already employed professionally, or like Dr. Tenenbaum, taking the course as a postdoctoral seminar. Such students are, I believe, even more dependent upon authority than are elementary school children. I took up most of the first meeting of the seminar (about twenty-five students) by introducing myself and my purpose and asking if others wished to do the same. After some awkward silences, the students told what brought them to the seminar. I told the group about the many resources I had brought with me—reprints, mimeographed material, books, a list of recommended reading (no requirements), tapes of therapeutic interviews, and films. I asked for volunteers to organize and lend out these materials, to run the tapes, and to find a movie projector. All of this was easily handled, and the session ended. As Dr. Tenenbaum takes up the story: Thereafter followed four hard, frustrating sessions. During this period, the class did not seem to get anywhere. Students spoke at random, saying whatever came into their heads. It all seemed chaotic, aimless, a waste of time. A student would bring up some aspect of Rogers’ philosophy; and the next student, completely disregarding the first, would take the group away in another direction; and a third, completely disregarding the first two, would start something else altogether. #RandolphHarris 9 of 26

At time there were some faint efforts at a cohesive discussion, but for the most part the classroom proceedings seemed to lack continuity and direction. The instructor received every contribution with attention and regard. He did not find any student’s contribution in order or out of order. The class was not prepared for such a totally unstructured approach. They did not know how to proceed. In their perplexity and frustration, they demanded that the teacher play the role assigned to him by custom and tradition; that he set forth for us in authoritative language what was right and wrong, what was good and bad. Had they not come from far distances to learn from the oracle himself? Were they not fortunate? Were they not about to be initiated in the right rituals and practices by the great man himself, the founder of the movement that bears his name? The notebooks were poised for the climactic moment when the oracle would give forth, but mostly they remained untouched. Queerly enough, from the outset, even in their anger, the members of the group felt joined together, and outside the classroom, there was an excitement and a ferment, for even in their frustration, they had communicated as never before in any classroom, and probably never before in quite the way they had. #RandolphHarris 10 of 26

In the Rogers class, they had spoken their minds; the words did not come from a book, nor were they the reflection of the instructor’s thinking, nor that of any other authority. The ideas, emotions, and feelings came from themselves; and this was he releasing and the exciting process. In this atmosphere of freedom, something for which they had not bargained and for which they were not prepared, the students spoke up as students seldom do. During this period, the instructor took many blows; and it seemed to me that many times he appeared to be shaken; and although he was the source of our irritation, we had, strange as it may seem, a great affection for him, for it did not seem right to be angry with a man who was so sympathetic, so sensitive to the feelings and ideas of others. We all felt that what was involved was some slight misunderstanding which once understood and remedied would make everything right again. However, our instructor, gentle enough on the surface, had a “whim of steel.” He did not seem to understand; and if he did, he was obstinate and obdurate; he refused to come around. Thus did this tug-of-war continue. We all looked to Rogers and Rogers looked to us. One student, amid general approbation, observed: “We are Rogers-centered, not student-centered. We have come to learn from Rogers.” #RandolphHarris 11 of 26

After more of this, individual students attempted to take leadership and organize the seminar around certain topics or ways of planning, but these attempts at structure were largely disregarded. Gradually the group became insistent that I lecture. I told them that I was just completing a paper, and would be willing to give that as a lecture, but I also informed them that I was quite willing to have it duplicated so that each could read it. They insisted that I give it as a talk, and I agreed. It was a topic I was much involved in, and I believe I delivered it as well as I was able, taking somewhat more than an hour. Tenenbaum reports the results. After the vivid and acrimonious exchanges to which we had been accustomed, this was certainly a letdown, dull and soporific to the extreme. This experience squelched all further demands for lecturing. By the fifth session, something definite had happened; there was no mistaking that. Students spoke to one another; they by-assed Rogers. Students asked to be heard and wanted to be heard, and what before was a halting, stammering, self-conscious group became an interacting group, a brand-new cohesive unit, carrying on in a unique way; and from them came discussion and thinking such as no other group but this could repeat or duplicate. #RandolphHarris 12 of 26

The instructor also joined in, but his role, more important than any in the group was important, the center, the base of the operation, not the instructor. What caused it? I can only conjecture as to the reason. I believe that what happened was this: For four sessions students refused to believe that the instructor would refuse to play the traditional role. They stilled believed that he would set the tasks; that he would be the center of whatever happened and that he would manipulate the group. It took the class four sessions to realize that they were wrong; that he came to them with nothing outside of himself, outside of his own person; that if they really wanted something to happen, it was they who had to provide the content—an uncomfortable, challenging situation indeed. It was they who had to speak up, with all the risks that that entailed. As part of the process, they shared, they took exception, they agreed, they disagreed. At any rate, their persons, their deepest selves were involved; and from this situation, this special, unique group, this new creation was born. After the fourth session, and progressively thereafter, this group, haphazardly thrown together, became close to one another and their true selves appeared. #RandolphHarris 13 of 26

As they interacted, there were moments of insight and revelation and understanding that were almost awesome in nature; they were what, I believe, Rogers would describe as “moments of therapy,” those pregnant moments when you see a human soul revealed before you, in all its breathless wonder; and then a silence, almost like reverence, would overtake the class. And each member of the class become enveloped with a w warmth and a loveliness that border on the mystic. I for one, and I am quite sure the other also, never had an experience quite like this. It was learning and therapy; and by therapy I do not mean illness, but what might be characterized by a healthy change in the person, an increase in one’s flexibility, one’s openness, one’s willingness to listen. In the process, we all felt elevated, freer, more accepting of ourselves, and others, more open to new ideas, trying hard to understand and accept. This is not a perfect World, and there was evidence of hostility as members differed. Somehow in this setting every blow was softened, as if the sharp edges had been removed; if undeserved, students would go off to something else; and the blow was somehow lost. In my own case, even those students who originally irritated me, with further acquaintance I began to accept and respect. #RandolphHarris 14 of 26

It also occurred to me that I tried to understand what was happening: Once you come close to a person, perceive one’s thoughts, one’s emotions, one’s feelings, one becomes not only understandable but good and desirable. In the course of this process, I saw hard, inflexible, strict and rigid persons, in the brief period of several weeks, change in front of my eyes and become sympathetic, understanding and to a marked degree nonjudgmental. I saw neurotic, compulsive persons ease up and become more accepting of themselves and others. In one instance, a student who particularly impressed me by his change, told me when I mentioned this: “It is true. I feel less rigid, more open to the World. And I like myself better for it. I do not believe I ever learned so much anywhere.” I saw shy persons become less shy and aggressive persons more sensitive and moderate. One might say this appears to be essentially an emotional process. However that, I believe, would be altogether inaccurate in describing it. There was a great deal of intellectual content, but the intellectual content was meaningful and crucial to the person. In fact, one student brought up this very question. “Should we be concerned,” he asked, “only with the emotions? Had the intellect no play?” It was my turn to ask, “Is there any student who has read as much or thought as much for any other course?” #RandolphHarris 15 of 26

The answer was obvious. We had spent hours and hours reading; the room reserved for us had occupants until ten o’clock at night, and then many left only because the university guards wanted to close the building. Students listened to recordings; they saw motion pictures; but best of all, they talked and talked and talked. The starting of a cult to gain a personal following would be abhorrent to the spirit of any truly selfless spiritual guide, but the creation of a school for a spiritual development and philosophical learning one might consider helpful to may earnest but bewildered students life. The true master is to work for the few. There are several agencies who will spread their activities thinly on a wide surface but one’s will penetrate to a deeper level. Theirs will be more showy but one’s more effective. The Rogers method was free and flowing and open and permissive. A student would start an interesting discussion; it would be taken up by a second; but a third student might take us away in another direction, bringing up a personal matter of no interest to the class; and we would all feel frustrated. However, this was like life, flowing on like a river, seemingly futile, with never the same water there, flowing on, with no one knowing what would happen the next moment. #RandolphHarris 16 of 26

However, in this there was an expectancy, an alertness, an aliveness; it seemed to me as near a smear of life as one could get in a classroom. For the authoritarian person, who puts one’s faith in neatly piled up facts, this method I believed can be threatening, for here one gets no reassurance, only an openness, a flowing, no closure. I have nowhere found such a vivid account of the initially chaotic, gradually more fluid way in which the group, as it fearfully takes responsibility for itself, becomes a constructive organism, listening and responding sensitively to its own needs. It is the outwardly confused, inwardly organized, politics of an ever-changing group purpose, as the class moves to meet its intellectual, personal, and emotional needs. Does a person-centered education bring results? We have a definitive answer from research. For ten years Dr. David Aspy has led research studies aimed at finding out whether human, person-centered attitudes in the classroom have any measurable effects and if so what these effects are. He collected 3,700 recorded classroom hours from 550 elementary and high school teachers and used rigorous scientific methods to analyze the results. He and his colleague, Dr. Flora Roebuck, have found that students of more person-centered teachers contrast sharply with students of teachers who are less person-centered. #RandolphHarris 17 of 26

The students showed greater gains in learning conventional subjects. They were more adept at using their higher cognitive processes such as problem solving. They had a more optimistic self-concept than was found in the other groups. They initiated more behaviour in the classroom. They exhibited fewer discipline problems. They had a lower rate of absence from school. They even showed an increase in I.Q. among their students. Teacher can improve their facilitative, person-centered attitudes with as little as fifteen hours of intensive training. Of significance for all of education is he finding that teachers improve in these attitudes only when their trainers exhibit a high level of these facilitative conditions. In ordinary terms this means that such attitudes are “caught,” experientially, from another. They are not simply intellectual learnings. These teachers have a more beneficial self-concept than less person-centered teachers. They are more self-disclosing to their students. They respond more to students’ feelings. They give more praise. They are more responsive to students ideas. They lecture less often. Geographical location of the classes, racial composition, or race of the teachers have not altered these feelings. Whether we are speaking of Black or White or Chicano teachers, Black or White, or Chicano students, classes in the North, the South, the Virgin Islands, England, Canada, or Israel, the findings are essentially the same. #RandolphHarris 18 of 26

To be someone’s disciple is to go farther in relationship than to be one’s student. Some disciples become lay disciples, who limit themselves to intellectual sharing only. The second is to become full disciples, who go all the way with one into the philosophical discipline and life. Dr. Aspy’s findings are confirmed in practical experience in medical education. The Medical School of McMaster University has taken a person-centered facilitative approach to the training of physicians. Though these young men and women have never had the conventional medical courses, they have learned intensively for three years the medical knowledge they need to deal with patients. They show up very well on the tough Canadian licensing exam, and in addition are more creative and humane. As another example, nine hundred of the top-ranking medical educators in the United States of America, concerned about the dehumanizing effects of medical training, have enlisted in the program, Human Dimensions in Medical education. In intensive four and ten-day conferences they have learned to listen, to be more person-centered in their teachings, to be more communicative in their personal relationships. The changes in some of the medical schools are already striking. Whether at the elementary, high school, college or graduate level, person-centered attitudes pay off, changing the politics of education in the process. #RandolphHarris 19 of 26

We must not make ourselves and our “survival” the ultimate point of reference in our World—must not, in effect, treat ourselves as God should be treated, or treat ourselves as God. Thus Paul shockingly said, “Covetousness is idolatry,” reports Colossians 3.5. Is not that somewhat exaggerated? No. Covetousness is self-idolatry, for it makes my desires paramount. It means I would take what I want if I could. To defeat covetousness, we learn to rejoice that others enjoy the benefits they do. Many members of the Church are led into sin by unbelievers—Alma is promised eternal life—those who repent ad are baptized gain forgiveness—Church members in sin who repent and confess to Alma and to the Lord will be forgiven; otherwise, they will not be numbered among the people of the Church. About 120-100 Before Christ. “Now it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers. They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ. And now because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened. #RandolphHarris 20 of 26

“And they would not be baptized neither would they join the church. And they were a separate people as to their faith, and remained so ever after, even in their carnal, and sinful state; for they would not call upon the Lord their God. And now in the reign of Mosiah they were not half so numerous as the people of God; but because of the dissension among the brethren they became more numerous. For it came to pass that they did deceive many with their flattering words, who were in the church, and did cause them to commit many sins; therefore it came expedient that those who committed sin, that were in the church, should be admonished by the church. And it came to pass that they were brought before the priests, and delivered up unto the priests brought them before Alma, who was the high priest. Now king Mosiah had given Alma the authority over the church. And it came to pass that Alma did not know concerning them; but there were many witnesses against them; yea, the people stood and testified of their iniquity in abundance. Now there had not any such thing happened before in the church; therefore Alma was troubled in his spirit, and he caused that they should be brought before the king. And he said unto the king: Behold, here are many whom we have brought before thee, who are accused of their brethren; yea, and they have been taken in divers iniquities. #RandolphHarris 21 of 26

“And they do not repent of their iniquities; therefore we have brought them before thee, that thou mayest judge them according to their crimes. However, king Mosiah said unto Alma: Behold, I judge them not; therefore I deliver them into thy hands to be judged. And now the spirit of Alma was again troubled; and he went and inquired of the Lord what he should do wrong in the sight of God. And it came to pass that after he had poured out his whole soul to God, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying: Blessed art thou, Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi. And blessed art thou, Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words spoken unto them. And blessed art thou because thou hast established a church among this people; and they shall be established, and they shall be my people. Yes, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name; for in my name shall they be called and they are mine. And because thou hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art blessed. Thou art my servant; and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have eternal life; and thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name, and shalt gather together my sheep. #RandolphHarris 22 of 26

“And one that will hear my voice shall be my sheep; and one shall ye receive into the church, and one will I also receive. For behold, this is my church; whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whosoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and one will I freely forgive. For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the World; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto one that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand. For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand. And it shall come to pass that when the second trump shall sound then shall they that never knew me come forth and shall stand before me. And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed. And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them; and they shall depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Therefore I say unto you, that one will not hear my voice, the same shall ye not receive into my church, for one I will not receive at the last day. Therefore I say unto you, Go; and whosoever transgreseth against me, one shall ye judge according to the sins which one has committed; and if one confess one’s sins before thee and me, and repenteth in the sincerity of one’s heart, one shall ye forgive, and I will forgive one also. #RandolphHarris 23 of 26

“Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me. And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, one that forgiveth not one’s neighbour’s trespasses when one says that one repents, the same hat brought oneself under condemnation. Now I say unto you, Go; and whosoever will not repent of one’s sins the same shall not be numbered among my people; and this shall be observed from this time forward. And it came to pass when Alma had heard these words one wrote them down that one might have them, and that one might judge the people of that church according to the commandments of God. And it came to pass that Alma went and judged those that had been taken in iniquity, according to the word of the Lord. And whosoever repented of their sins and did confess them, them one did number among the people of the church; and those that would not confess their sins and repent of their iniquity, the same were not numbered among the people of the church, and their names were blotted out. And it came to pass that Alma did regulate all the affairs of the church; and they began again to have peace and to prosper exceedingly in the affairs of the church, walking circumspectly before God, receiving many, and baptizing many. #RandolphHarris 24 of 26

“And now all these things did Alma and his fellow labourers do who were over the church, walking in all diligence, teaching the word of God in all things, suffering all manner of afflictions, being persecuted by all those who did not belong to the church of God. And they did admonish their brethren, and they were also admonished, every one by the word of God, according to one’s sins, or to the sins which one had committed, being commanded of God to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things,” reports Mosiah 26.1-39. Supreme Ruler of the Visible and Invisible Worlds, my heart is drawn out to Thee for Thy amazing grace and condescension. Thou hast kept my conversion fresh before me, that season of my first spiritual comfort when I passed through the Red Sea by a way I did no expect. I rejoiced then for that unthought-of passage, that delivered me from the fear and lively in my mind. My soul melts when I think of Thy says of old with me, when a poor worthless creature without wisdom to direct or strength to help myself was laid under the happy necessity of living upon Thee and finding Thy consolations large. Thou art my divine treasury in whom all fullness dwells, my life, hope, joy, peace, glory, end; may I be daily more and more conformed to Thee, with the meekness and calmness of the Lamb in my soul. #RandolphHarris 25 of 26

My I also feel a sense of the felicity of Heaven, where I long to join angels free from imperfections, where in me the image of my adored Saviour will be completely restored, so that I may be fit for his enjoyments and employments. I am not afraid to look the king of terrors in the face, for I know I shall be drawn, no driven, out of the World. Until then let me continually glow and burn out for Thee, and when the last great change shall come let me awake in Thy likeness, leaving behind me an example that will glorify Thee while my spirit rejoices in Heaven, and my memory is blessed upon Earth, with those who follow me praising Thee for my life. O God, Who visitest the humble, and consolest us by the affection of our brethren; please extend Thy grace to our fellowship, that by means of those in whom Thou dwellest, we may feel that Thou art come to visit us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. O God, Who makest manifest to us in Thy servants the signs of Thine own Presence, send forth upon us the Spirit of love; that by coming of our brethren and fellow-servants, Thy bountiful grace may be increased in ourselves; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless, O Lord, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. May Thy gifts, O Lord, be our refreshment, and Thy grace our consolation; through our Lord. #RandolphHarris 26 of 26

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We Mortal Cross the Ocean of this World Each in One’s Average Cabin of a Life

July 14, 2020 12:01 am

If you get simple beauty and nought else, you get about the best thing God invents. There is a very interesting consequence of repression. If we make people conscious of the real motives behind their actions, they react with resistance. They reject the information. Even information offered them in their own interests and with the best of will is violently rejected. They refuse to see this reality in themselves. They do not respond to this information the way the driver of an automobile would, for example, if someone else tells one his door is not shut tight or his headlights are not working. The driver is grateful for that information. Not so the people whom we make aware of their repressed motives. They respond with resistance. In all the cases of repression we have discussed in the recent past, if we were to explains to the individuals involved what was really going on inside them, if we told them what their inner reality was as opposed to the fiction they have built up about themselves, we would expect that they would put up resistance. How do people showing resistance behave? A typical reaction is anger, rage, aggression. When people hear what they do not want to hear, they become angry. They want, as it were, to wipe out the witness to their crimes. They cannot very well end the life of him or her—that is a bit too risky—so they dispose of one in a symbolic way. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21

Aggressors blow up and say, “You are speaking out of jealousy, out of some base motive. You hate me. You get pleasure out of saying nasty things about me.” And so on. Sometimes they become so angry that they can become absolutely dangerous. To what extent they show their anger will depend on the circumstances. If it is not politic to sow anger (as in the case of subordinate and one’s chief), then the individual will probably prefer to say nothing and will wait until one goes home, where one may then vent one’s wife or husband. However, when there are no such constraints, as, for example, when the offended individual is the boss oneself, then one can respond to the criticism of a subordinate (and we are always speaking here of criticism that is correct and hits the mark) in as high-handed a manner as one likes. The boss can rub in the subordinate’s inferiority, or one can simply fire the subordinate. And of course the chief does for fire him or her with any awareness that the subordinate has wounded the boss—how, after all, could such a mere underling ever harm the boss? The boss fires one instead with the rationalization that this little person is a slanderer, a mean-spirited person. Another and simpler method a person can use to put up resistance is to ignore what one does not want to hear. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21

People ignore what they do not want to hear because unwelcome information will often be either misunderstood or completely ignored, particularly if it comes in the form of a brief remark that can be pushed aside or if the speaker delivering it does not insist on being heard. It is not always possible to turn a deaf ear, but doing so still remains the simplest and most common form of resistance. Another form is exhaustion or depression. That is the route many marriage partners take with each other. When one partner says something that reveals the true motives behind the other’s actions, the accused partner sinks into gloom and resignation of one’s own: “Just look what you have done. Now I am depressed again because of that remark you made.” Whether the remark is true or not is of no importance. However, whichever partner made the remark will soon learn to refrain from unearthing the other’s unconscious motives again. One knows that one will pay dearly if one does. Another form resistance can take is running away. This often happens in marriages when we feel that our partner has discovered something we would rather keep hidden. We may not even be aware that a game of hide-and-seek is going on, but then one of us feels that the other is seeing more than we are. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21

We can put up with the game; we do not want to grant the other’s insight any validity, because we do not want to change. We want to stay the way we are, so the only solution is to go away. The same thing happens frequently in psychoanalysis. If the analyst says something they do not want to hear, patients will often break off treatment. And then the patient is likely to say: “I quit treatment because the analyst is crazy himself. He said things about me that prove he is crazy. How could anyone but a madman have said things like that?” Everyone else will see that the analyst was quite correct (assuming they are not being paid to be fictitious), but the person directly affected, who is terrified of working any changes in one’s self, can respond only with violence (and all the modes of resistance we have discussed here are forms of violence): “Get out of my sight. I do not want to hear that ever again.” When a person is ready for change, the picture is entirely different. When is read to understand oneself, when one is read to know the real truth about oneself so that one can begin to change, then one will tend to react not with anger or by running away. One will be grateful that someone will tell one what one needs to know for the sake of one’s own growth. One will be as grateful as one would be to a physician who diagnoses an illness for one. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21

However, most people are not intent on changing. All they want is proof that it is not they but everyone else who should change. Now we come to the concept of transference. Dr. Freud describes transference as the tendency of a patient to perceive the analyst as a personage from one’s early childhood, as one’s father or mother. The patient’s reaction to the analyst is therefore not appropriate to the person who is actually siting across from one or behind one. The patient sees that analyst as someone else (father or mother or possibly a grandparent) and ascribes to the analyst the role that personage played in one’s childhood. Let me cite an example that vividly illustrates this point. An analyst once told me about a female patient who had been coming to see one for three weeks. As she was about to leave his office one day, she looked at him closely and said, “What You do not have a beard?” The analyst had never worn a beard. For three weeks she had thought he had a beard, because her father had worn a beard. The analyst was a cipher for her. Not even visually had se perceived him as a real human being. As far as she was concerned, he was her father, and therefore he had a beard. But the concept of transference has significance far beyond its application in psychoanalytical therapy. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21

Transference is probably one of the most common reasons for human error and conflict in sizing up reality. It makes us see the World through the glasses of our own wishes and fears and consequently makes us confuse illusion with reality. We do not see other people as they really are but the way we want then to be or fear that they are. Those illusions about other people take the place of reality. We do not perceive others as they are but as they appear to us to be, and when we react to them, we are reacting not to real human beings in their own right but to products of our imagination. Now let us look at a few examples. Take two people who fall in love. This happens less frequently than it used to, because there are simpler means for achieving the same ends these days, but I do not want to get sidetracked on that issue. So let us assume that two people fall genuinely in love. They are totally overwhelmed by the beauty, the virtues, the noble qualities of the other and are hugely attracted to each other. All this may lead to marriage, but then, six months later, both partners discover that they are not married to the person they fell in love with. This is somebody else altogether. They had both fallen in love with phantoms, with transference objects. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21

They saw in the other only what they wanted to see in these phantoms with transference objects qualities they may not really be there. Such as goodness, cleverness, honesty perhaps, or perhaps qualities their mothers or fathers had had. And they had not noticed that they were dealing with an illusion. Then what often happens is that both partners wind up hating each other, because they feel their partner has disappointed them. However, what they have both really done is deceive themselves; they saw only illusion and not reality. However, things do not have to happen that way; they should not happen that way. And in fact, if people would only learn to understand transference, they would not happen that way. The same phenomenon can be observed in the realm of politics. Consider for a moment the kind of wild enthusiasm that millions upon millions of people can develop for political leaders (it has happened not only in Germany but in other countries as well). Sometimes those leaders have been bad; sometimes they have been good. That, however, is not the key question here, important though that question may be. More significant for our discussion is the fact that most people—and perhaps we should say “Thank God” here, although the tendency is also extremely dangerous—have a deep longing for someone who will come alone and save the World, someone who will speak the truth, who will make us safe, who will lead, who means well by us. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21

And when someone comes along who knows how to play the part of this well-meaning leader, then people transfer their expectations into one and are convinced that one is their saviour, their redeemer, even when one is in fact a destroyer who will bring catastrophe down on them and their country. Even minor leaders often exploit people’s expectations. Many politicians make deliberate and conscious use of the people’s tendency for transference and achieve great successes by ding so. They manage to impress the voters because they have a good TV presence, because they tell people what they want to hear, because they kiss babies, and because they reinforce the illusion that they mean well. After all, if they adore children, they cannot be all bad. If people understood more about transference, if they took the trouble to notice when their own expectations colour what they see and when they perceive things impartially, if they would finally try to be a bit critical, none of this would happen. Sometimes small, seemingly insignificant actions are more revealing than a person’s major speeches or what one chooses to emphasize about oneself. If all of us could learn to see through the illusions born of transference, our loves, our marriages, and our political lives could be essentially freed of a great curse. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21

By seeing through the illusion born of transference, people could also be freed of the confusion between reality and fictitious images. It is not easy to distinguish between those two things. It requires study; it requires daily practice. Our everyday lives offer us an ample field for such practice. Also, along with many disadvantages it has, television offers us one great advantage: It is very revealing of human character, because it allows us to observer faces, gestures, and expressions at close range. We can learn a great deal about a political leader by watching one and hearing one speak on the television. However, we will not learn much about one unless we have developed our powers of observation. From everything I have been saying here we can see how important an understanding of transference could be in improving the quality of our personal and political lives. During the recent protests following a few highly contested uses of force by law enforcement, a bystander said on a TV interview how surprised she was the people were acting like animals. What was unclear was why this should surprise anyone, given that we are taught in public school that this is exactly what we are—evolved animals. That idea may be why people act like wild animals and not civilized human beings. However, “I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them,” reports Moses 2.27. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21

Our bodies are sacred. They were created in the image of God. They are marvelous, the crowing creation of Deity. No camera has ever matched the wonder of the human eye. No pump was ever built that could run so long and carry such heavy duty as the human heart. The ear and the brain constitute a miracle. These, with others of our parts and organs, represent the divine, omnipotent genius of God. God our Father has ears with which to hear our prayers. He has eyes with which to see our actions. He has a mouth with which to speak to us. He has a heart with which to feel compassion and love. He is real. He is living. We are his children made in his image. We look like him and he looks like us. There are many who think their bodies are their own and that they can do with them what they will but Paul makes it plain that they are not their own, for they are bought with a price, and that “If any human defile the temple of God, one shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are,” reports 1 Corinthians 3.17. So, while some aspects of the theory of evolution are true, it is false that we are evolved animals and should never want to compare ourselves to them. Portions of the theory of evolution are in place to remove God from our lives and make us forget that we have divine parents and must behave with respect and dignity. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21

You notice people in the royal family are not out in the streets shouting and screaming like they lost their minds, nor manipulating people, nor harassing them, and that is because they have a legacy to maintain, and are children of God, we all do. “We should come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent,” reports Joh 17.3. To know God is to think what he thinks, to feel what he feels, to have the power he possesses, to comprehend the truths he understands, and to do what he does. Those who know God become like him, and have his kind of life, which is eternal life. Did your mother and father ever remind you to remember that you are a child of God and must act accordingly? Missionaries wear a badge as a constant reminder to dress modestly and comely, to treat people with politeness, and to strive to have Christ’s image in their countenances. By covenant, we too have all taken up ourselves Christ’s name. His name should be engraven inwardly upon our hearts. Likewise, we are expected to act as worthy children of Heavenly Father, who, at least figuratively, has sent us to Earth with admonition, “Remember who are!” Our judgements about right and wrong, virtue ad vice, and appropriate or inappropriate lifestyles depend largely upon what we take a human being to be. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21

More personally, an individual’s sense of well-being is in good measure a function of one’s self-concept. Thus, a proper grasp of what we are and how we function is foundational to a well-ordered society and a life well lived. The Bible has a rich, deep anthropology expressed in terms like soul, spirit, heart, and mind. Properly understood, they convey important insights about what we are and how we function. Terms in a language have a wide field of meaning. The term “red” can mean a colour, being embarrassed, or being a communist. Caution should be exercised in grasping just exactly how the term is used in a specific context. For example, “my book is red” is not saying that my book is embarrassed or communist, even though these are correct meanings for “red” in other contexts. “Today we are engaged in a final, all-out battle between communistic atheism and Christianity. The modern champions of communism have selected this as the time, and ladies and gentlemen, the chips are down—they are truly down. High treason, and betray of a scared trust, the blasphemy is so great that it awakened the dormant indignation of the American people has lighted the spark which is resulting in a moral uprising and will end only when the whole sorry mess of twisted and warped thinkers are swept from the national ugly so ugly that we may have a new birth of national honesty and decency in government,” Senator Joseph McCarthy. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21

The method of a philosophic teacher is not to make the decisions of the pupil for one, but rather to lead one to make them for oneself. The teacher will outline the process of arriving at the correct conclusion, but one will not deprive the pupil of the responsibility of trusting that process and accepting its outcome. The teacher may even make available information which will be helpful to the student in arriving at a decision, but beyond that one cannot go if the student is to arrive at independence and maturity. The relationship which we find in mystical or Old-World circles, which leaves the pupil completely or continuously dependent upon one’s guide and causes one to come constantly running hither and tither for advice as to what one should do next, will only increase the helplessness of the pupil. The philosophic way is to help one develop one’s own ability to dispose of problems and confront situations effectively. The philosophic method is to lead the pupil to the point where one requires no teacher. The mystical method is to lead one to the point where one cannot do without a teacher. The teacher who demands blind obedience from one’s pupil belongs to a vanishing age. The teacher who strives to make one’s pupil’s own mind understand each step of the way one travels belongs to the coming age. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21

The first often ends by enslaving one’s followers, whereas the second ends by liberating them. The first is a dictator, the second a companion. The first creates nonentities, the second, humans. A wise teacher will not lecture to one’s students, will not try the superficial way of telling them every detail of truth. However, by discussion questions and encouragement one will help them to elicit it for themselves and thus enable them to make it deeply and lastingly their own. The right way to teach people is to propose truth, not impose it. Self-denial must never be confused with self-rejection; or is it to be thought of as a painful and strenuous act, perhaps repeated from time to time against great internal resistance. It is, rather, an overall, settled condition of life in the kingdom of God, better described as muting of self. In this and in this alone lies the keys to the soul’s restoration. Christian spiritual formation rests on this indispensable foundation of muting of the self an cannot proceed except insofar as that foundation is being firmly laid and sustained. However, what is his self-denial or muting of the self, which goes hand in hand with restoration of the soul and eventually that whole person? At first it sounds like some dreadfully negative thing that aims to annihilate us. And frankly, from the point of view of the ruined soul, self-denial is and will always be every bit as brutal as it seems to most people on first approach. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21

The ruined life is not to be enhanced but replaced. We must simply lose our life—that ruined life about which most people complain so much anyway. “Those who have found their life (soul) shall lose it,” Jesus said, “while those who have lost their life (soul) for my sake shall find it,” reports Matthew 10.39. And again, “Whatever aims to save their life shall lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake shall find it. For what have you gained by possessing the entire World if in the process you forfeit your life (soul)—lose yourself. What would you trade for your very soul? We must always remember, in hearing these words of Jesus about the worth of the soul, that the art of the great teacher is to put things in ways you will remember even if you do not yet understand them. In that way you can keep working on them (and they on you) until you do understand them. Jesus is the master teacher of the human race, and he teaches accordingly. And we have, I think, an intuitive sense that he is right about the worth of the soul. A German soldier fighting in the trenches along France’s Marne river in World War I, where one million soldiers died on the Western front in 1914, wrote home: “What is the good of escaping all the bullets and shells if my soul is injured.” Some losses are so great that nothing on Earth can make recompense for them. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21

You shall not press down upon the brow of labour this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify humankind upon a cross of gold. “And it came to pass that Amulon did gain favour in the eyes of the king of the Lamanites; therefore, the king of the Lamanites granted unto him and his brethren that they should be appointed teachers over his people, yea, even over the people who were in the land of Shemlon, and in the land of Shemlon, and in the land of Shilom, and in the land of Amulon. For the Lamanites had taken possession of all these lands; therefore, the king of the Lamanites had appointed kings over all these lands. And now the name of the king of the Lamanites was Laman, being called after the name of his father; and therefore he was called king Laman. And he was king over a numerous people. And he appointed teachers of the brethren of Amulon in every land which was possessed by his people; and thus the language of Nephi began to be taught among all the people of the Lamanites. And they were a people friendly one with another; nevertheless they knew not God; neither did the brethren of Amulon teach them anything concerning the Lord their God, neither the law of Moses; nor did they teach them the words of Abinadi. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21

“However, they taught them that they should keep their record, and that they might write one to another. And thus the Lamanites began to increase in riches, and began to trade one with another and wax great, and began to be a cunning and a wise people, as to the wisdom of the World, yea, a very cunning people, delighting in all manner of wickedness and plunder, except it were among their own brethren. And not it came to pass that Amulon began to exercise authority over Alma and his brethren, and began to persecute him, and cause that his children should persecute their children. For Amulon knew Alma, that he had been one of the king’s of priests and that it was he that believed the words of Abinadi and was driven out before the king, and therefore he was worth with him; for he was subject to king Laman, yet he exercised authority over them, and put tasks upon them, and put taskmasters over them. And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God. And Amulon commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he put guards over them to watch them, that whosever should be found calling upon God should not be put to death. And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21

“And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this I will do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord. And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage. Now it came to pass that Alma and his people in the night-time gathered their flocks together, and also of their grain; yea, even all the night-time were they gathered their flocks together. And in the morning the Lord caused a deep sleep to come upon the Lamanites, yes, and all their task-masters were in a profound sleep. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21

“And Alma and his people departed into the wilderness; and when they had traveled all day they pitched their tents in a valley, and they called the valley Alma, because he led their way in the wilderness. Yea, and in the valley of Alma they poured out their thanks to God because he had been merciful unto them, and eased their burdens, and had delivered them out of bondage; for they were in bondage, and none could deliver them except it were the Lord their God. And they gave thanks to God, yes, all their men and all their women and all their children that could speak lifted their voices in the praises of their God. And now the Lord said unto Alma: Haste thee and get thou and this people out of this land, for the Lamanites have awakened and do pursue thee; therefore get thee out of this land, and I will stop the Lamanites in this valley that they come no further in pursuit of this people. And it came to pass that they departed out of the valley, and took their journey into the wilderness. And after they had been in the wilderness twelve days they arrived in the land of Zarahemla; and king Mosiah did also receive them with joy,” Mosiah 24.1-25. A philosophic teacher often prefers to let the student make one’s own discoveries on the basis of clues provided rather than lead one into rigid imprisoning doctrines and covenants. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21

O LORD of exceeding goodness, Maker of the Universe, Whose mercy is immeasurable, Whose benignity is incomprehensible, Who didst take away all our iniquities and nail them to Thy Cross, that Thou, the sinless One, mightiest sanctify us; before Thee we venture to fall down in supplication, O forbearing Lord, and looking upon the great deep of Thine ineffable and immeasurable benignity, to cry unto Thee, our Lord, Who are easy to be reconciled, “Save us.” Not in the spirit of the Pharisee, but in the spirit of the Publican, do we offer Thee our worship; nor d we imitate that heartless robber, but like that other good-hearted and grateful one, we cry to Thee with the Prayer, “Remember.” Remember us, O Lord, in mercy and compassions; send down to us the holy guardian Angel to whom Thou hast entrusted our life, that he may rescue us from this terrible raging death, and this unexpected sword; that through this deliverance and release, we may glorify Thee. O LORD, I live here as a fish in a vessel of water, only enough to keep me alive, but in Heaven I shall swim in the ocean. Here I have a little air in me to keep me breathing, but there I shall have sweet and fresh gales; here I have a bream of Sun to lighten my darkness, a warm ray to keep me from freezing; yonder I shall live in light and warmth forever. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21

My natural desires are corrupt and misguided, and it is Thy mercy to destroy them; my spiritual longings are Thy planting, and Thou wilt water and increase them; quicken my hunger and thirst after the ream above. Here I can have the World, there I shall have Thee in Christ; here is a life of longing and prayer, there is assurance without suspicion, asking without refusal; here are gross comforts, more burden than benefit, there is joy without sorrow, comfort without suffering, love without inconstancy, rest without weariness. Please give to me the eye affects the heart, and the continual viewing of Thy beauty keeps the soul in continual transports of delight. Please give me to know that Heaven is all peace, where error, pride, rebellion, passion raise no head. Please give to me to know that Heaven is all joy, the end of believing, fasting, praying, mourning, humbling, watching, fearing, repining; and lead me to it soon, please. We render thanks to Thee, O Lord, Who relievest us from the pressure of temporal affliction, that Thou mayest set us forward on the way to everlasting joys; through Jesus Christ our Lord. We intreat Thy mercy with our whole heart, that as Thou defendest us against things adverse to the body, so Thou wilt set us free from the enemies of the soul; and as Thou grantest us to rejoice in outward tranquility, so vouchsafe to us Thine inward peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21

MILLS STATION AT CRESLEIGH RANCH

Rancho Cordova, CA |

Now Selling!

Residence Two at Mills Station is a two story home that has all the conveniences of a single story! At 2,317 square feet, this home features the Owner’s suite on the first floor with two secondary bedrooms on the “pop top” second story. Take advantage of the vaulted ceilings offered in this plan! The open floor plan includes three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, Home Hub, Loft and more! Walk into the great room and feel the height of the ceilings and all the light brought in from the high windows.

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Almighty and everlasting God, Who healest us by chastening, and preservest us by pardoning; grant unto Thy suppliants, that we may both rejoice in the comfort of the tranquility which we desired, and also use the gift of Thy peace for the effectual amendment of our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Soldiers, Consider that from the Summit of these Pyramids, Forty Centuries Look Down Upon You!

July 13, 2020 2:15 am

Humans are indeed controlled by their own environment, but we must remember, for the most part, it is an environment largely of their own making. The evolution of a culture is a gigantic exercise in itself of control. Justice is a complete virtue in the fullest sense, because it is the active exercise of complete virtue; and it is complete because its possessor can exercise it in relation to another person, and not only by oneself. Many communities have created restorative justice programs, yet these programs are often reactionary. They typically focus on trying to heal the offender, victim, and the community only after a criminal act has occurred. While these alternative justice programs are important components in restoring justice within communities, they are hampered by Western-imposed structures and Eurocentric concepts of crime and punishment. In the United States of American today, the American criminal justice system holds approximately 2.3 million people in 1,833 state prisons, 110 federal prisons, 1,772 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,134 local jails, 218 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in the U.S. territories. Every year, 600,000 people enter prison gates, but people go to jail 10.6 million times each year. #RandolphHarris 1 of 26

Jail churn is particularly high because most people in jails have not been convicted. Some have just been arrested and will make bail within hours or days, while many others are too poor to make bail and remain behind bars until their trial. Only a small number (about 160,000 on any given day) have been convicted, and are generally serving misdemeanor under a year; at least 25 percent of people who go to jail will be arrested again within that same year—often those dealing with poverty, mental illness, and substance abuse disorders, whose problems only worsen with incarceration. It is thought that the use of judgement and punishment actually works against the healing process. An already unbalanced person is moved further out of balance. What the threat of incarceration does do is generally keep people from coming forward and taking responsibility for the hurt they are causing. It reinforces the silence, and therefore promotes, rather than breaks, the cycle of violence that exists. In reality, rather than making the community a safer place, the threat of jail places the community at more risk. If people committed crimes by accident and were truly sorry, that argument would be true. However, many people commit crimes because they want to and believer they will not be caught. #RandolphHarris 2 of 26

When a person knows what they are doing is wrong, but keeps doing it, they do not need therapy nor rehabilitation, they need punishment to serve as an inhibitor to breaking the law. Yet, it true that some people do break the law by accident or necessity and rehabilitation may help those individuals, much like it does first time offenders. That is why in some branches of the law judges rely on standards rather than strict rules and precedents, enjoying, in effect, wide discretion, or the law authorizes administrators to decide cases on their merits in the light of very general cans of policy, subject only to procedural safeguards of impartiality. The dominant American justice paradigm is not an extension of the slavery catch and release program and some officers are extremely lenient with suspects, but in many cases it is perceived as a further imbalance and disrespect, for justice does not always seek to restore or heal the offender, the immediate family, friends who are also victims, or the entire community that is forced out of balance by the transgression. Today, it is mostly without social structures, practices, and teachings that could help prevent injustice. #RandolphHarris 3 of 26

Although there is much cultural diversity among North American Indian nations, traditional practices emphasize civil rather than criminal sanctions. The goal of indigenous justice is to promote peace, heal the network of relationships, and eradicate political, spiritual, and emotional injustices. And that model may be a blue print that people consider using, but then it may lead to imprisoning people for not paying debts, or it would allow the wealthy to commit crimes without ever being held accountable. The Great Circle of Justice consists of interrelated socialization structures and practices that provide a multidimensional system of checks and balances that work in unison to retain diversity and harmony within communities and society. The preventative mechanisms are found within the traditional teachings—for examples, in ceremonies, songs, dance, television programs, movies, news, stories, novels, history, kinship relations, education and religion. Society should plant in the minds of people, in order to keep harmony, the concepts of compassion, cooperation, love, unity, equity, coexistence, power, respect, generosity, reciprocity, friendliness, unselfishness, peacefulness, and all other beneficial values which create an intense, diffuse, and enduring solidarity. #RandolphHarris 4 of 26

Peace should be maintained to heal the body and mind, and to establish diversity and harmony, which will prevent injustices to the natural World and protect future generations. The keepers of knowledge can help identify and provide invaluable insights into the traditional teachings found within ceremony, prayer, and foundational narratives and stories. Narratives and stories are not extrinsic niceties, but are basic life forces needed to establish and to preserve communities and develop a common culture of shared understandings, and deeper, more vital ethics. Narratives are relevant because they serve as more than just entertainment. Narratives preserve cultural teachings and history; they transmit knowledge of the community’s norms and values. Teachings can show people how they are to live with each other and the natural World and so them what happens to people who violate the law. The duties and responsibilities of each person in the society are given and reaffirmed every time the people come together for ceremonies and social activities. This is a holistic way to strengthen the prevention of injustice, and restore balance when a transgression occurs. Church helps people, it is a system of checks and balances that depends not only on people not wanting to commit a transgression, but also know that is they commit a violent act that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” report Romans 6.23. #RandolphHarris 5 of 26

Many American Indian nations’ wedding preparation involve young couples being instructed in the importance of marriage to the nation as well as in acceptable behaviour, which includes not abusing each other. Traditional Haudenosaunee marriages, which still occur today, are more than the combining of two people, for they bring together clans and extended family. All present the joining of the couple are reminded of these acceptable norms and their duty in making sure that they are not broken. Such indigenous justice is multidimensional, and a balancing process that contains and is dependent on numerous practices and social structures that function as preventative and restorative mechanisms in the maintenance of justice. For centuries, North American indigenous socialization practices worked to maintain balance within societies. Colonization and imposed Western structures, values, and beliefs, however, have displaced major indigenous political and spiritual structures. The displacement of these traditional structures, practices, values, and beliefs as created disharmony within many communities. Mandatory boarding schools, laws to prevent spiritual practices, and imposed political structures have been implemented to strip North American Indians of their cultural identity, languages, ceremonies, and other cultural values and practices needed to maintain healthy societies. #RandolphHarris 6 of 26

With displacement of traditional indigenous practices has come fractionalization and an increase in the criminal activity, arrest, and incarceration of American Indians. The Bureau of Justice and Statistics has concluded that additional external controls in the form of stricter laws, additional law enforcement officers, and funding are needed to decrease crime. Stricter laws and forms of enforcement, however, are not the answer to the prevention of crimes, and neither will they heal and protect the character of diverse communities, which is why the United States of America’s Supreme Court ruled that 3 million acres of eastern Oklahoma—including most of Tulsa—remains American Indian reservation land. This should help restore the Great Circle of Justice, by identifying, understanding and, where possible, recreating cultural social practices and structures to maintain social balance, diversity, and harmony with their societies. Imposed forms of government and laws via colonization, the loss of lands, and policies to assimilate the North American Indian have caused many of the traditional indigenous justice mechanism to become lost or damaged. Today there are numerous tribal courts that only replicate the Western-imposed beliefs and practices of an adversarial system of justice, instead of using traditional indigenous justice methods and values. #RandolphHarris 7 of 26

Such tribal courts and forms of governance may be a form of internalized colonialism. These types of court continue assimilation and cause disharmony within the community as they do not preserve cultural traditions, and neither do they heal the community. This replication of imposed laws, practices, and ideas had seeped into many aspects of North American Indian governments. Many tribal codes, for example, are now merely restatements of federal and state law and devoid of indigenous knowledge, values, and norms. The Great Circle of Justice needs to be restored within American Indian restoration practices. Peacemaking and tribal courts are often transformed gradually into bureaucratic reactive models unless care is paid to the traditional codes. An important part of traditional codes is their grounding in tradition and their connection with nature. If we follow the traditional codes, then the indigenous “justice-as-healing” paradigm will replace the case-processing, primarily reactive dominant justice paradigm and its adversarial foundation. For the system to work properly, for there to be a needs-meeting justice, communities must assert their power by redefining and redesigning imposed structures. #RandolphHarris 8 of 26

The traditional teachings, socialization practices, and structures that once worked to prevent social injustices can be replanted. As realists, we recognize that there are practices that probably cannot be replicated, such as living in a long house with one’s entire matrilineal, extended family. We suggest, however, that some of the traditional indigenous teachings contain the seeds of how people can once again live in Skennen (peace) or Hozho (balance and Harmony). Prior to colonization, “law” was relatively direct and accessible to indigenous North Americans since it was based on concrete notions of the individual and collective good rather than on a modern abstraction imposed by the nation-state as the ideal (largely for political purposes) to which people must conform (or be punished) in order ostensibly to have security and private property. For most North American Indians, law was accessible: the oral tradition allowed it to be carried around as part of them, rather than confined to legal institutions and inaccessible experts who largely control the language as well as the cost of using the law. Social diversity, the recognition that humans are part of nature (not separate from it), and harmony are essential to justice are what is really meant by the right to equal consideration—to be treated alike unless relevant differences have been proved. #RandolphHarris 9 of 26

Communal restorative justice is essential. It can reduce social and economic injustice and it can continue to limit the impact of imprisonment, especially imprisonment that is directly related to unemployment, debt, suicide, and innumerable diseases. We need to achieve a rational understanding of human emotions, particularly the irrational ones. It is important to understand what the cases or breeding grounds are for hate, love, submissiveness, destructiveness, envy, jealousy—for all the emotions that the greater writers (take Shakespeare or Balzac or Dostoevski, for example) have treated so incisively in their plays and novels. We want to make all those emotions the subject of scientific inquiry. What are the human emotions and how can we understand them? All the psychiatrists want to know is how people can be cured of symptoms that either cause them pain or interfere with their adjustment to society and with their own success in life. However, there is also a moral purpose. We want human beings to be able to understand themselves, to discover their unconscious, so that they can achieve independence. The goal is a rule of reason, the destruction of illusion. We want to see people become free and mature. #RandolphHarris 10 of 26

Our moral goals are those of the Enlightenment, or rationalism. However, these goals go beyond what other psychologists set as their own goals or understand the goals of their field to be. The only goal those psychologists set themselves was to help people function better. The human model we envision as our goal coincides in many respects with that projected by the great philosophers of the Enlightenment. An important concept is unconscious or of repression. This concept is usually forgotten today. When people think of psychoanalysis, the first thing that come to their minds are the ego, the superego, and the id; the Oedipus complex; and the theory of libido. So let us begin with repression. We often act on motives of which we are completely unconscious. A little example will show what I mean. Not so long ago I received a visit from a colleague who I know does not particularly like me. Indeed, I was rather amazed that he wanted to come see me at all. He rand the doorbell; I opened the door; he held out his hand cheerfully: “Goodbye.” Translation: His unconscious mind was already wishing he could be gone. He had not been looking forward to this visit, and he revealed that by saying “goodbye” instead of “hello.” What could either of us do? Nothing at all. #RandolphHarris 11 of 26

Being a psychoanalyst himself, he realized that he had given himself away. He could not apologize by saying: “That is not what I meant to say.” That would have been hopelessly naïve, for we both knew that what a psychoanalyst does with a slip of the tongue is see what it really reveals, not try to make it mean something else after the fact. The situation could be nothing but embarrassing, and we both said nothing. That is just one example of the kind of thing that happens hundreds of times. Or take another example: a sadistic father who beats his son. I think it occurs less often today than it did one hundred years ago, but let us take this example: a sadistic father, a man who takes pleasure in causing others pain or in exercising strict control over them. If you should ask hum why he does what he does (and ordinarily you will not have to bother asking, because such people are usually quite willing to volunteer the information), he will say, “I have to do it so that my son will become (or remain) a decent person. I do it out of love for him.” Do you believe that? Maybe, and then maybe not. However, just look at his face. Notice his expression when he gives his son a whipping. You will see strong emotion in his eyes. What you will see in the face of a man who is full of hate and at the same time fully of joy at being able to beat another human being. #RandolphHarris 12 of 26

The same quality of hate and joy at hurting others turns un in a police officer (not, of course, all of them), in nurses, in prison guards, and in any number of private relationships. Such people will hide is quality more or less, depending on how much self-interest demands that they hide it. However, let us go back to our example of the sadistic father. If we see him in action, we know that his motive is not what he claims it is. It is not his son’s well being that interests him. That is a “rationalization.” His real motive is his sadistic impulse, but he is totally unaware of that. Or take an example of much greater historical importance: Adolph Hitler. In his conscious mind Hitler always assumed he wanted only what was best for Germany: Germany’s greatness, Germany’s vitality, Germany’s position of power in the World, and who know what all. Although he issued the cruelest of orders, he never clearly felt—as far as we can tell—that he acted out of cruelty. He always felt he was acting out of a desire to help Germany. He was acting to make manifest the laws of history; he was acting in the name of fate, in the name of race, in the name of Providence. He was not aware that he had become a man who enjoyed destruction. He could not bear the sight of dead soldiers or destroyed buildings. That is why Hitler never visited the front during World War II. #RandolphHarris 13 of 26

The explanation is not personal cowardice on Hitler’s part but rather a reluctance to see the concrete consequences of one’s own lust to destroy. We observe a similar phenomenon in people who wash compulsively. Their conscience desire is to be clean all the time. However, when we analyze such individuals, we find that they know, in their unconscious minds, that they have blood or filth on their hands. They want to free themselves from what they are consciously carrying about with them: a crime, perhaps only a potential one, a criminal intent they have to be constantly washing away. Therefore, the manifestation of COVID-19, and the need to keep social distancing and washing of the hands could be symbolic that Jesus did not die in vain and the fact that human beings are paying the consequences for continuing in sin and inequity, after all “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Chris Jesus or Lord,” reports Romans 6.23. Hitler himself had an obsessive-compulsive disorder. He was not a compulsive washer, but many observers noticed that he was fastidious beyond the limits of normal cleanliness. There is a parallel between Hitler and the sadistic father. Hitler did not want to own up to the reality of his destructive impulses, but perhaps that is because there was more to his motive than just simple destructiveness. #RandolphHarris 14 of 26

Nonetheless, Hitler repressed his destructive impulses and admitted only his good intentions. Hitler was getting revenge because he felt the Jewish people had taken over Germany and were ruining it economically and also because a Jewish doctor had killed his mother. So he believed that he was a Messiah and was protecting the German race. Much like sadistic fathers have a reason from projecting their hatred on to their sons. It usually has to do with something they suffered in childhood that they want to inflict on their own child as an act or revenge or because they truly believe that their sadistic behaviour will save their son from suffering something they had to endure. In general, however, sadists have a pure lust for destruction. It is usually always present, but remains repressed and rationalized until, one day, there is no keeping I secret any longer. Examples like this—dramatic ones and undramatic ones—can be found everywhere every day. People remain unaware of their real motives because, for any number of reasons, they cannot bear to know things about themselves that either go against their own consciences or against public opinion. If they became aware of their real motives, they would find themselves in a very uncomfortable situation. And so they prefer to remain unconscious of those things and not to come into conflict with what they regard as their “better selves” or what most “respectable people” think. #RandolphHarris 15 of 26

During a family time one evening, my two-year-old daughter, Annie, complained that if she only could see God, say, sitting in a chair, then prayer would be much easier. I pointed out that not only has she never seen God, neither had she ever seen me. She could see my body, but she could not see my I, myself, my ego, nor could she see my thoughts, feelings, and so forth. Persons, I told her, are invisible objects and, since God is too big to have a body, He is not perceivable in the same way a chair or a person’s body is. That evening, I expressed to Annie the Christian understanding of human persons. Historically and biblically, Christianity has held to a dualistic notion of human being. A human being is a unity of two distinct realities—body and soul. More specifically, I am my soul and I have a body. The soul, while not by nature immortal, is nevertheless capable of entering an intermediate disembodied state upon death and, eventually, being reunited with a resurrected body. The forma; name for this position is “substance dualism.” The soul (which is the same thing as the self or the I) is that immaterial, invisible thing that makes me a conscious, living human being. The soul is what I am aware of when I engage in various acts of introspection in which I am aware of what is going on “inside” me. I go where my soul goes. #RandolphHarris 16 of 26

If God took my soul and put it into your body and placed your soul into my body, we would have different bodies. If my soul leaves my body, I leave my body because I am my soul. All reasoning may be divided into two kinds, namely demonstrative reasoning, or that concerning relations of ideas, and moral reasoning, or that concerning matter of fact and existence. That there are no demonstrative arguments in the case, seems evident; since it implies no contradiction, that the course of nature may change, and that an object, seemingly like those which we have experienced, may be attended with different or contrary efforts. May I not clearly and distinctively conceive, that a body falling from the clouds, and which, in all other respects, resembles snow, has yet the taste of salt or feeling of fire? Is there any more intelligible proposition than to affirm, that all the trees will flourish in December and January, and decay in May and Just? Now whatever is intelligible, and can be distinctly conceived, implies no contradiction, and can never be proved false by any demonstrative argument or abstract reasoning a priori. If we be, therefore, engaged by arguments to put trust in past experience, and make it the standard of our future judgment, these arguments must be probable only, or such as regard matter of fact and real existence, according to the division above mentioned. #RandolphHarris 17 of 26

However, that there is no argument of this kind, must appear, if our explication of that species of reasoning be admitted as solid and satisfactory. We have said, that all arguments concerning existence are founded on the relation of cause and effect; that our knowledge of that relation is derived entirely from experience; and that all our experimental conclusions proceed upon the supposition, that the future will be conformable to past. To endeavour, therefore, the proof of this past supposition by probably arguments, or arguments regarding existence, must be evidently going in a circle, and taking that for granted, which is the very point in question. In divine knowledge there is no discursion; the proof of what is as follows. In our knowledge there is a twofold discursion: one is according to succession only, as when we have actually understood anything, we turn ourselves to understand something else; while the other mode of discursion is according to causality, as when through principles we arrive at the knowledge of conclusions. The first kind of discursion cannot belong to God. For many things, which we understand in succession if each is considered in itself, we understand simultaneously if we see them in some one thing; if, for instance, we understand the parts in the whole, or see different things in a mirror. #RandolphHarris 18 of 26

Now, God sees all things in one (thing) which is Himself. Therefore God sees all things together, and not successively. Likewise the second mode of discursion cannot be applied to God. First, because this second mode of discursion presupposed the first mode; for whosoever proceeds from principles to conclusions does not consider both at once; secondly, because to discourse thus is to proceed from the known to the unknown. Hence it is manifest that when the first is known, the second is still unknown; and thus the second is known not in the first, but from the first. Now the term discursive reasoning is attained when the second is seen in the first, by resolving the effects into their causes; and then the discursion ceases. Hence as God sees His effects in Himself as their cause, His knowledge is not discursive. Although there is only one act of understanding in itself, nevertheless many things may be understood in one (medium), as shown above. God does not know by their causes, known as it were previously, effects unknow; be He knows the effects in the cause; and hence His knowledge is not discursive, as was shown above. God sees the effect created causes in the causes themselves, much better than we can; but still not in such a manner that the knowledge of the effects is caused by him by the Knowledge of the created causes, as is the case with us; hence His knowledge is not discursive. #RandolphHarris 19 of 26

“And now Alma, having been warned of the Lord that the armies of king Noah would come upon them, and having made it known to his people, therefore they gathered together their flocks, and took of their grain, and departed into the wilderness before the armies of king Noah could not overtake them to destroy them. And they fled eight days’ journey into the wilderness. And they came to a land, yea, even a very beautiful and pleasant land, a land of pure water and they pitched their tents, and began to till the ground, and began to build buildings; yea, they were industrious, and did labour exceedingly. And the people were desirous that Alma should be their king, for he was beloved by his people. However, he said unto them: Behold, it is not expedient that we should have a king; for thus saith the Lord: Ye shall not esteem one flesh above another, or one humans shall not think oneself above another; therefore I say unto you it is not experience that yet should have a king. Nevertheless, if it were possible that ye could always have just humans to be your king it would be well for you to have a king. However, remember the iniquity of king Noah and his priests; and I myself was caught in a snare, and did many things which were abominable in the sight of the Lord, which caused me sore repentance. #RandolphHarris 20 of 26

“Nevertheless, after much tribulation, the Lord did hear my cries, and did answer my prayers, and has made me an instrument in his has in bringing so many of you to a knowledge of his truth. Nevertheless, in this I do not glory of myself. And now I say unto you ye have been oppressed by king Noah, and have been in bondage to him and his priests, and have been brought into iniquity by them; therefore ye were bound with the bands of iniquity. And now as ye have been delivered by the power of God out of these bonds; yea, even out of the hands of king Noah and his people, and also from the bonds of iniquity, even so I desire that ye should stand fast in this liberty wherewith ye have been made free, and that ye trust no human to be a king over you. And also trust no one to be your teacher nor your minister, expect one be a human of God, walking in God’s ways and keeping God’s commandments. Thus did Alma teach his people, that every human should love one’s neighbour as oneself, that there should be no contention among them. And now, Alma was their high priest, he being the founder of their church. And it came to pass that none received authority to preach or to teach expect it were by one from God. Therefore God consecrated all their priests and all their teachers; and none were consecrated except they were just humans. #RandolphHarris 21 of 26

Therefore they did watch over their people, and did nourish them with things pertaining to righteousness. And it came to pass that they began to prosper exceedingly in the land; and they called the land Helam. And it came to pass that they did multiply and prosper exceedingly in the land of Helman; and they built a city of Helam. Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith. Nevertheless—whosever puteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus is was with this people. For behold, I will show unto you that they were brought into bondage, and none could deliver them but the Lord their God, yea, even that God of Abraham and Isaac and of Jacob. And it came to pass that he did deliver them, and he did show forth his mighty power unto them, and great were their rejoicings. For behold, it came to pass that while they were in the land of Helam, yes, in the city of Helam, while tilling the land round about, behold an army of the Lamanites was in the borders of the land. Now it came to pass that the brethren of Alma fled from their fields, and gathered themselves together in the city of Helam; and they were much frightened because of the appearance of the Lamanites. #RandolphHarris 22 of 26

“However, Alma went forth and stood among them, and exhorted them that they should not be frightened but that they should remember the Lord their God and he would deliver them. Therefore they hushed their fears, and began to cry unto the Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites, that they would spare them, and their wives, and their children. And it came to pass that the Lord did soften the hearts of the Lamanites. And Alma and his brethren went forth and delivered themselves up into their hands; and the Lamanites took possession of the land of Helam. Now the armies of the Lamanites, which had followed after the people of king Limhi, had been lost in the wilderness for many days. And behold, they had found those priests of king Noah, in a place which they called Amulon; and the had begun to possess the land of Amulon and had begun to till the ground. Now the name of the leader or those priests was Amulon. And it came to pass that Amulon did plead with the Lamanites; and he also sent forth their wives, who were there daughters of the Lamanites to plead with their brethren, that they should not destroy their husbands. And the Lamanites had compassion on Amulon and his brethren and did not destroy them, because of their wives. #RandolphHarris 23 of 26

“And Amulon and his brethren did join the Lamanites, and they were traveling in the wilderness in search of the land of Nephi when they discovered the land of Helam, which was possessed by Alma and his brethren. And it came to pass that the Lamanites promised unto Alma and his brethren, that if they show them the way which led to the land of Nephi that they would grant unto them their lives and their liberty. However, after Alma had shown them the way that led to the land of Nephi the Lamanites would not keep their promise; but they set guards round about the land of Helam, over Alma and his brethren. And the remainder of them wen to the land of Nephi; and a part of them returned to the land of Helman, and also brought with them wives and the children of the guards who had been left in the land. And the king of the Lamanites had granted unto Amulon that he should be a kind and a ruler over his people, who were in the land of Helman; nevertheless he should have no power to do anything contrary to the will of the king of the Lamanites,” reports Mosiah 23.1-39. Please spare and forgive us, O benignant Master; please stay the scourge which is deservedly coming down upon us. Please let the multitude of Thy compassions overcome the hateful mass of our sins; please let the great deep of Thine infinite goodness cover the bitter sea of our wickedness. #RandolphHarris 24 of 26

We have eminent examples of Thy benignity in robbers, and harlots, and publicans, and the prodigal son; like them we also make our confession unto Thee, and fall down before Thee; please receive us, O Master, and although we fall short of their conversion and their sincere repentance, let Thine infinite goodness make up for the defect, yea, make up for everything, for in everything we utterly fall short. Every scourage and plague, and every form of destruction, which is bearing down upon us, is slight and small in comparison of our innumerable transgressions. Wherefore on account of the multitude of our sins we have no ground of confidence, O Lord the righteous Judge, whereon to supplicate of Thy goodness a relief from this terrible menace,–but the exceeding greatness of Thy tenderness and the abyss of Thy compassions, O Master full of pity, please compel us boldly to entreat what is beyond our desverings. For this cause, O God of exceeding goodness, O Lord of mercy, we beseech Thee, of Thy gentleness, to stay this sharp sword of untimely death. Please accept, O benignant Lord, the common contrition and heart-felt sorrow of us all, as Thou didst accept the tears of Hezekiah in the affliction of his heart, and didst rescue him from death. #RandolphHarris 25 of 26

Please remember, O benignant One, Thy Cross and Death voluntary Passion, which Thou didst endure for us the condemned. From Thee alone do we beg assistance and relief from these horrors; for with Thee alone are possible things which are impossible with humans. Blessed art Thou forever. Lord Jesus, true God, everlasting Life, redeemer of sinners, I give my body, soul, intellect, will affection to Thee. I call the day, Sun, Earth, trees, stones, wind, rain, frost, snow, my home, bed, table, food, books, drink, clothes, to witness that I come to Thee for rest of soul from the thunders of guilt and dread of eternity. Please grant me a circumcised heart that I may love Thee, a right spirit that I may seek Thy glory, a principle within which Thou wilt own, an interest in the blood that cleanses, the righteousness that justifies, the redemption that delivers, that I may not be found a hypocrite on Judgement Day. For the sake of Thy cruel death take my time, strength, gifts, talents, usefulness, piety, which in full purpose of heart I consecrate to Thee. Let not sin find a place in my heart to becloud my vision, and may no foolish act wither my gift. Please preserve me from the falls by which others stumble, that Thy name may not be blasphemed or wounded, that Thy people may not be grieved, the Thine enemies may not be hardened, that my peace may not be injured. #RandolphHarris 26 of 26

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Please give me a heart full of love to Thyself and to others. Please let me discover in this life what I am before Thee, that I may not find myself another character hereafter. Prepare me for death, that I may not die after long affliction or suddenly, but after sort illness, with no confusion nor disorder, and a quiet discharge in peace, with adieu to brethren. Please let not my days end like rubbish, but give me a silent removing from the World to another. Inscribe these petitions in Thy book, present them to Thy Father, Set Thine Amen to them, as I do on my part of the covenant. We do not keep silence, O Lord, from praising Thee; because by releasing us from the evils which we deserved, Thou enablest us to celebrate Thy good gifts with gladness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #CresleighHomes

Ours is the Only Country Deliberately Founded on a Good Idea!

July 8, 2020 12:43 am

The American continents are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any other powers. We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the amicable relations existing between the United States of America and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any external power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. However, with the governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any external power, in any other lights than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United Sates of America. Still, Manifest Destiny is a religious scripture, which has declared that the United States of America is ordained—by God, to expand its dominion and spread democracy and capitalism across the entire World through globalization, free trade, and legal immigration. Yet, each solution still gives rise to a new question as difficult as the foregoing, and leads us on to father enquires. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24

When it is asked, What is the nature of our reasonings concerning matter of fact? the proper answer seems to be, that they are founded on the relation of cause and effect. “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth,” reports 3 John 2-4. Manifest Destiny is not simply a cloak for American imperialism and justification for America’s territorial ambitions. It is biblical and firmly anchored in a long standing and deep sense of a special and unique American Destiny, the belief that in the words of historian Conrad Cherry, “America is a nation called to a special destiny by God.” The notion that there was some providential purpose to the European discovery and eventual conquest of the land masses “discovered” by Christopher Columbus was present from the beginning. Legend actually explains that spirit called him to America to spread Christianity, and there is evidence of Vikings and Africans in American prior to Columbus. Thus stands the cause between God and us. We are entered into Covenant with God for this work, we have taken out a commission, and America seems to be a land with some special spiritual powers that God wants to harness and magnify. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24

If the Lord shall please to hear us and bring us in peace to the place we desire, America is supposed to be a spiritual beacon of light and prosperity, and hath God ratified this Covenant and sealed our Commission and will expect a strict performance of the Articles contained in it. Follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together in this work as one being, we must entertain each other in humanly affection, we must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities for the supply of others necessities. If we are faithful to our mission, we shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when tens of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when God shall makes us a praise and a glory, that humans shall say of succeeding plantations: the Lord make it like New England, for we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill, the eyes of all people upon us. The Great Awakening is now and it is a time that is extraordinary in the out pouring of God’s saving grace. God has chosen America for a special destiny and it is resurrected in a new form. The latter-day glory, in the new Millennium, the end times will bring the second coming of Jesus Christ to Earth and spread the King of God across the World, and this begins in America. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24

When again it is asked, What is the foundation of all our reasonings and conclusions concerning that relation? it may be replied in one word, EXPERIENCE. However, if we still carry on our sifting humour, and ask, What is the foundation of all conclusions from experience? All providential development since, and all the existing signs of the times, lend corroboration to it. However, if it is by the march of revolution and civil liberty, that the way of the Lord is to be prepared, where shall the central energy be found, ad from what nation shall the renovating power go forth? This nation is, in the providence of God destined to lead the way in the moral and political emancipation of the World. The relation between God and the United States of America is a fusion between God’s will and the nation’s democratic character gives divine sanction to the United States of America’s bonded arrangements of liberty and democracy. At the same time, it makes the nation, itself, an instrument in the new millennium. In the Holy City of wilderness, this has been declared the gathering place for the Saints from which they will radiate influences that will turn the entire World, through the American continent acting as a conduit, into the World of God’s Kingdom. Understanding and accepting this divine right is the best and most expedient way to prevent confusion. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24

Manifest Destiny will even help us be modest in our pretensions; and even assist us in discovering the difficulty ourselves before it is objected to us. By this means, we may a kind of merit of our very enlightened state. It must certainly be allowed, that nature has kept us at a great distance from all her secrets, and has afforded us only the knowledge of a few superficial qualities of objects; while she conceals from us those powers and principles, on which the influence of these objects entirely depends. Our senses inform us of the colour, weigh, and consistence of bread; bit neither sense nor reason can ever inform us of those qualities, which fit it for the nourishment and support of a human body. Sight or feeling conveys an idea of the actual motion of bodies; but as to that wonderful force or power, which would carry on a moving body for ever in a continued change of place, and which bodies never lose but by communicating it to others; of this we cannot form the most distant conception. However, notwithstanding this ignorance of natural powers and principles, we always presume, when we see like sensible qualities, that they have like secret powers, and expect, that effects, similar to those which we have experiences, will follow from them. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24

If a body of like colour and consistence with that bread, which we have formerly ear, be presented to us, we make no scruple of repeating the experiment, and foresee, with certainty, like nourishment and support. Now this is a process of the mind or thought, of which I would willingly know the foundation. It is allowed on all hands, that there is no known connexion between the sensible qualities and the secret powers; and consequently, that the mind is not led to form such a conclusion concerning their constant and regular conjunction, by anything which it knows of their nature. As to past Experience, it can be allowed to give direct and certain information of those precise objects only, and that precise period of time, which fell under its cognizance: However, why this experience should be extended to future times, and to other objects, which for aught we know, may be only in appearance similar; this is the main question on which I would insist. The bread, which I formerly eat, nourished me; that is, a body of such sensible qualities, was, at that time, endued with such secret powers: However, does it follow, that other bread must also nourish me at another time, and that like sensible qualities must always be attended with like secret powers? The consequence seems nowise necessary. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24

At least, it must be acknowledged, that there is here a consequence drawn by the mind; that there is a certain step taken; a process of thought, and an inference, which wants to be explained. These two propositions are far from being the same, I have found that such an object has always been attended with such an effect, and I foresee, that other objects, which are, in appearance, similar will be attended with similar effects. Our analysis of the main symbols of Christianity has prescinded from the question of the historical character of the Christian faith. One could treat Christianity as a set of religious symbols with no historical content. The notion of symbols may have been actually realized in the historical situations of human beings, or again they may not. The Cross could be a suggestive symbol of self-transcendence even if Jesus the Christ had not died on a cross. A historical problem is thus raised by Christology: was the Christ a historical figure whose life is historically documented? The historical elements of Christology may also be seen from another viewpoint. Even if we avoided the questions of the historical existence of Jesus, we cannot bypass the patent fact of the World-historical importance of Christology. To define the true scope of this importance is a second problem and the Christological problem of today. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24

The Christological problem of today has for us the same importance as the problem of the two natures of Christ in the fifth century. We are no more able to continue the old discussions concerning the unity of two natures or two wills in Christ, expect in transforming them into the problem of our present situation, that is the problem of interpretation of history. The question of the two natures in Christ must now be posited as concerning the human and the divine in history. Insofar as the picture of the Christ dominates history, this remains a Christological problem. The Church as a living reality must permanently mediate its eternal foundation with the demands of this historical situation. The doctrine of the Christ should not be announced in the abstract, as though formulas expressing it were understandable in all times and all places. The presentation of the message should, on the contrary, be partly moulded on the sort of questions which arises from each historical situation. Christianity is historical in the sense that its timeless good tidings are announced in time; if the content of the message does not change, the form does according to circumstances of time and place. Thus there exists a new historical problem: the influence of history on the forms of the Christian doctrine. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24

The historical power of Christology changes the usual perspective of theologians. Few include an interpretation of history in their Christological treaties. They commonly restrict the historical problem of Christ to be a study of the documents of early Christianity and their reliability as historical sources. This—the first problem we have mentioned is not based on an empirical or scientific study of document. Supposing the documents were discarded, the picture of Jesus as the Christ would remain in the Christian conscience and it would still be true that this picture has dominated history for twenty-one centuries. The second is therefore the basic historical problem. To recognize this one thing; to deem it as important for our times as the question of the two natures of Christ in the patristic era is another. The universal quest for the Christ shapes the cultures of the various historical periods in different patterns. Many factors, among which fate and freedom are constantly interplaying, have influences successive cultures. Always linked, these cultures have nevertheless evolved. Like the surface of the ocean, culture is always the same and always changing. Always the same, it formulates the quest for the Christ, the longing for the eternal the search for the New Being. Always changing, it alters the stress, colour or intensity of this continuous seeking. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24

Every spiritual phenomenon of a period expresses its eternal content and one of the most important characteristics of a time has been defined when we have discovered which of the various aspects of culture is most expressive of its real meaning. The main aspect of modern-day culture is that it is caught in a flux. At the end of the period of autonomy, it hesitates between a return to heteronomy and a search for theonomy. Secular culture has reached the end of its tether in the professed atheism of many modern movements. Many are not merely using the teacher as a spiritual guide, which is quite correct, but also as a material guide, leaning-post, and father-mother, which is quite wrong. They want to shunt their own responsibilities and shift their personal burdens onto the bac of a master or at least to share them with one. Such a concept of discipleships is a wrong one. Also it is an unfair one. Instead of using the master as a source of principles and inspirations to be applied by themselves in practical life, they try to exploit one, to avoid the responsibility for making their own decisions by saddling it upon one’s shoulders. The master cannot solve all their personal problems or carry all their burdens. This task rests with the disciples themselves. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24

To seek to shift their responsibility for it onto the master’s shoulders is to demand the impossible, the unfair, and the unwise. If successful, it would defeat the very purpose of their incarnation. It would rob hem of the benefit of the experience to which they have been led by their own God. Such excessive reliance on the guide makes one more and more incapable of independent thought and judgment. However, it should be the object of a competent guide to help them develop these very things and grow in spiritual strength, as it should be the ai of a sincere one not dictatorially to rule their conduct but suggestively to elevate it. If they are to advance to higher levels, disciples must learn to rely on their own endeavours. No master can relieve them of this responsibility. It is not the work of a philosophic teacher to save students from having to make decisions for themselves. It is, on the contrary, one’s duty to encourage them to face up to rather than to flee from the responsibility and profit of working out their own solutions. The prudent master will leave them to work out for themselves how to apply philosophy to their personal situations. For one to manage their lives, settle their problems, and negotiate their difficulties might please their egos but would weaken their characters. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24

Hence, one does not wish to interfere in their lives nor assume responsibility from forming decisions on those personal, domestic, family, employment, and business problems which they ought to arrive at for themselves. At best one can point out the general direction for travel, not supply a definite map; one can lay down the general principles of action and it is for them to find out the best way of applying these principles. The agony of coming to a right judgment is part of the educative process in developing right intuitions. Each experience looked at in this way brings out their independent creative faculty, that is, makes the truly self-reliant. The principles of such solutions are partially in their hands; practical horse-sense must be harnessed to shrewd reason and guided by ethical ideals and intuitions. It is not right for the would-be disciple to take the new relationship as an excuse for releasing oneself from all personal responsibilities, all personal decisions. One should not expect the teacher to accept such a position, to play a role consisting of father and mother and God combined into a single person toward an individual who has reached adult life. It will not help a disciple to let one evade one’s responsibilities and shirk one’s decisions. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24

If the atmosphere between them is surcharged with emotion alone without the restraining balances of reason and common sense, this is the kind of situation which is likely to be brought about. A wise teacher will try to meet disciples upon the proper ground between accepting such helpless dependence and rebuffing it brusquely together. Any other meeting would be unhealthy emotionally and unsound intellectually. Why insist on rash personal relations with your friend? Why go to one’s house, or know one’s mother and brothers and sisters? Why be visited by one at your own? Are these things material to our covenant? Leave this touching and clawing. Let one be to me a spirit. A message, a thought, a sincerity, a glance from one I want, but not news nor pottage. I can get politics and shat, neighbourly convenience from less expensive companions. Should not the society of my friend be to me poetic, pure, universal and as great as nature itself?—There words are just as applicable to the disciple. Whoever entrusts oneself to a master or one’s mind to a teaching, cannot escape one’s own personal responsibility for what one does. This is not to absolve either the guru or the author of the teaching from their own responsibility, which they also have, but it is to make clear that the followers share it too. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24

When people know the appropriate manners for a given situation and use them, everything is great, and we all move on. When they do not, that is when confusion and hurt feelings can arise. There are four simple steps that help to make people think highly of you from the moment you first greet them: Here they are: Stand up. This is always the start of a good greeting, whether you are a man or a woman. By standing up, you engage the person you are greeting on an equal level—eye to eye. Remaining seated, on the other hand, sends the signal that you think you are more important than the other person and do not need to stand—not the message you want to convey at the start of an interaction, to say the least. If you are seated in a place where getting up is awkward, make a clear attempt to rise and apologize briefly as you greet the other person: “It is a pleasure to meet you, Davey Fisher. Please excuse me—it is a little cramped in here.” If you are meeting someone who is in a wheelchair, bend down as you shake hands to get your eyes to a more even level with his or hers. Smile and make eye contact. A smile indicates warmth, openness, and a genuine interest in the person you are greeting. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24

Making eye contact is also critical. Looking into a person’s eyes shows that you are focused on and interested in that person. Doing the opposite, on the other hand—looking away as you greet someone—will make you appear aloof, disinterested, or rude. State your name and repeat the other person’s name. If you are the person who is initiating the greeting, your opening should be along these lines: “Hello, my nae is Dylan O’Brien.” If you are on the receiving end of the greeting, your response should be something like: “Hi Dylan, I am Parker Gregory. I am pleased to meet you.” If there are others in your group, you might add, “This is Paris Hilton and John Lowe. Please join us. We were just talking about Manifest Destiny and Destiny’s Child.” The key is to offer or acknowledge the spoken greeting, then invite the person joining the group into the conversation. Shake hands. The handshake is symbolic of an agreement not to harm a person. It is a seminal moment in a greeting. The right handshake makes everything flow smoothly. The wrong handshake turns the focus to the error. There are three types of handshakes—only one of which is acceptable: Wrong is the bone crusher handshake. Handshaking should not be a macho contest or a means of showing superiority, and it should never leave the other person in pain or discomfort. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24

Wrong handshake is the limp-wrist handshake for this handshake makes you feel like the person is a sly and devious and untrustworthy. It conveys neither warmth nor interest. The right handshake is the firm handshake. Grip firmly and warmly, without squeezing hard. Two or three pumps are all that is needed—so do not prolong the event by holding on longer than is necessary. When it is obvious that someone has an injured right arm or is missing a right arm or hand, it is perfectly okay to extend your left hand for a shake. Overly friendly handshakes should be reserved for very good friends. Shaking hands is one of them most time-honoured traditions we have. Not shaking clearly puts all the focus on why you chose not to shake rather than on building a relationship. One of the few times not shaking is not only appropriate but really important is when you have a cold or other communicable disease. If you say something like, “Nicky, please excuse me for not shaking, but I have a cold and do not want to give it to you. It is so nice to meet you,” people will appreciate your honesty and sincerity. Or you might have just sneezed into your hand and not had a chance to get to a washroom. Historically, men were not expected to shake hands with women. Today, as part of meeting and greeting, everyone is expected to shake hands with everybody, and remember to take your gloves off to shake a woman’s hand. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24

Making introductions—there you are talking with someone cute and interesting you have just met at debutante ball, when suddenly your great-aunt Mrs. Betty approaches. Instant panic: You want to make the introduction correctly, but several problems immediately occur: Who do you introduce to whom, how do you do it, and what exactly was Cute-and-interesting’s name, again? The fist bump is very unamerican. High fives, complicated handshake rituals, and hug/shake combinations—these are alternate means of greeting. When you are with friends and people you know who appreciate these forms of greeting, they are acceptable alternatives to the traditional handshake. However, if you do not know the person well, it is a business situation, or you simply are not sure, default to the traditional handshake. Traditionally, American men do not greet each other with a hug, at least not compared to many of their international counterparts. However, that is changing. I see young men enjoying a friendly handshake-hug combo when they meet. As long as both of you are comfortable with the hug, it is okay. Go for it. However, if you sense any hesitancy, do the other guy a favour and back off. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24

Who Do You Introduce to Whom: Okay—let us take a deep breath and start at the beginning: Just talk to the more important person first. CORRECT: “Mr. President, I would like to introduce my boss Laurent.” INCORRECT: “Laurent, I would like to introduce the President to you.” When Aunt Betty approaches, first make the decision that she is the more important person in this encounter and say, “Aunt Betty, how nice to see you!” (Kiss, kiss on the cheeks.) “Please, let me introduce cute-and-interesting FOX News Contributor Tomi Lahren to you.” Next, turn to (Cute-and-interesting) Tomi Lahren and say, “Cute-and-interesting,” this is Mrs. Witherspoon, my great-aunt Betty. I am so pleased to introduce you.” Then turn back to Aunt Betty and continue, “Aunt Betty, we were talking about Manifest Destiny and whether Destiny’s Child was a reminder of the prophecy? You just came from Church. What are your thoughts on the subject?” And that is a great opening to start a conversation. God usually exerts that power in connection wit certain prior conditions of the human mind, and it should be ours to create, so far as we can, with the help of God, those favourable conditions for the reception of the gospel. False ideas are the greatest obstacles to the reception of the gospel. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24

We may preach with all the fervour of a reformer and yet succeed only in winning a straggler here and there, if we permit the whole collective thought of the nation or of the World to be controlled by ideas which, by the resistless force of logic, prevent Christianity from being regarded as anything more than a harmless delusion. Learning to value, develop, deepen, and use your intellect in the overall process of spiritual transformation is a lot like being an auto science engineer. We have examined the serious problems in society due to an emergence of anti-intellectualism in the body of Christ. We also learned that there are solid biblical grounds for nurturing and developing our intellectual lives. However, if this were all we had, we would be like a person tied to a step-by-step set of instructions. What we need is an understanding of what the mind is and how it fits into the process of human transformation and spiritual growth. The mind is the crucial component in the spiritual journey cannot be accurately denied. One of the first duties of a spiritual guide is to correct the beginner, show where one has mistaken one’s way, and expose all one’s fallacies of thought, feeling, and conduct. A competent guide will be quick to perceive and fearless to point out these matters however unpleasant a duty it be and however unpalatable to the pupil. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24

It is part of the task of a spiritual director to point out tactfully but firmly the faults and deficiencies of one’s disciples, to make them more away of what is needed in their moral self-correction. “And it came to pass that the army of the king returned, having searched in vain for the people of the Lord. And now behold, the forces of the kind were small, having been reduced, and there began to be a division among the remainder of the people. And the lesser part began to breathe out threatenings against the king, and there began to be a great contention among them. And now there was a man among them whose name was Gideon, and he being a strong man and an enemy to the king, therefore he drew his sword, and swore in his wrath that he would slay the king. And it came to pass that he fought with the king; and when the king saw that he was about to overpower him, he fled and ran and got upon the tower which was near the temple. And Gideon pursued after him and was about to get upon the tower to slay the king, and the king cast his eyes round about towards the land of Shemlon, and behold, the army of the Lamanites were within the borders of the land. And now the king cried out in the anguish of his soul, saying: Gideon, spare me, from the Lamanites are upon us, and they will destroy us: yea, they will destroy my people. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24

“And now the king was not so much concerned about his people as he was about his own life; nevertheless Gideon did spare his life. And the king commanded the people that they should flee before the Lamanites, and he himself did go before them, and they did flee into the wilderness, with their women and their children. And it came to pass that the Lamanites did pursue them, and did overtake them, and began to slay them. Now it came to pass that the king commanded them that all the men should leave their wives and their children, and flee before the Lamanites. Now there were many that would not leave them, but had rather stay and perish with them. And the rest left their wives and their children and fled. And it came to pass that those who tarried with their wives and their children caused that their fair daughters should stand forth and plead with the Lamanites that they would not slay them. And it came to pass that the Lamanites had compassion on them, for they were charmed with the beauty of their women. Therefore the Lamanites did spare their lives, and took them captive and carried them back to the land of Nephi, and granted unto them that they might possess the land, under the conditions that they would deliver up king Noah into the hands of the Lamanites, and deliver up their property, even one half of all they possessed, one half of their gold, and their sliver, and all their precious things, and thus they should pay tribute to the king of the Lamanites from year to years. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24

“And now there was one of the sons of the king among those that were taken captive, whose name was Limhi. And now Limhi was desirous that his father should not be destroyed; nevertheless, Limhi was not ignorant of the iniquities of his father, he himself being a just man. And it came to pass that Gideon sent humans into the wilderness secretly, to search for the king and those that were with him. And it came to pass that they met the people in the wilderness, all save the king and his priests. Now they had sworn in their hearts that they would return to the land of Nephi, and if heir wives and their children were slain, and also those that had tarried with them, that they would seek revenge, and also perish with them. And the king commanded them that they should not return; and they were angry with the king, and caused that he should suffer, even unto death by fire. And there were about to take the priests also and put them to death, and they fled before them. And it came to pass that they were about to return to the land of Nephi, and they met the men of Gideon. And the men of Gideon told them of all that had happened to their wives and their children; and that the Lamanites had granted unto them that they might possess the land by paying a tribute to the Lamanites of one half of all they possessed. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24

“And the people told the men of Gideon that they had slain the king, and his priests had fled from them farther into the wilderness. And it came to pass that after they had ended the ceremony, that they returned to the land of Nephi, rejoicing, because their wives and their children were not slain; and they told Gideon what they had done to the king. And it came to pass that the king of the Lamanites made an oath unto them, that his people should not slay them. And also Limhi, being the son of the king, having the kingdom conferred upon him by the people, made oath unto the king of the Lamanites that his people should pay tribute unto him, even one half of all they possessed. And it came to pass that Limhi began to establish the kingdom and to establish peace among his people. And the king of the Lamanites set guards round about the land, that he might keep the people of Limhi in the land, that they might not depart into the wilderness; and he did support his guards out of the tribute which he did receive from the Nephites. And now king Limhi did have continual peace in his kingdom for the space of two years, that the Lamanites did not molest them nor seek to destroy them,” reports Mosiah 19.1-29. The illusions that times that were are better than those that are, has probably pervaded all ages. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24

Glorious God, it is the flame of my life to worship Thee, the crown and glory of my soul to adore Thee, Heavenly pleasure to approach Thee. Give me power by Thy Spirit to help me worship now, that I a forget the World, be brought into fullness of life, be refreshed, comforted, blessed. Please give me knowledge of Thy goodness that I might not be over-awed by Thy greatness; please give me Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God, that I might not be terrified, but be drawn near with filial love, with holy boldness; He is my mediator, brother, interpreter, branch, daysman, lamb; Him I glorify, in him I am set on high. Crowns to give I have none, but what Thou hast given I return, content to feel that everything is mine when it is thine, and the more full mine when I have yielded it to Thee. Please let me live wholly to my Saviour, free from distractions, from carking care, from hindrances to the pursuit of the narrow way. I am pardoned through the blood of Jesus—give me a new sense of it, continue to pardon me by it, may I come every day to the fountain, and every day be washed anew, that I may worship Thee always in spirit and truth. O God, Who desirest not the death, but the repentance of sinners, we beseech Thee, in Thy loving-kindness, to turn Thy people to Thyself; that when they devote themselves to Thee, Thou mayest remove the scourges of Thine anger; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24

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We beseech Thee, O Lord, mercifully to drive away from Thy faithful, together with their own errors, the destructive fury of disease; that as Thou deservedly scourgest them when they go astray, Thou mayest cherish them with Thy pity when they are brought back; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #CresleighHomes

Remember that Time is Money—You Cannot Fight Against the Future for Time is on Our Side!

July 4, 2020 1:04 am

The only war I ever approved of was the Trojan war; it was fought over a woman and the men knew what they were fighting for. If one person is inadequate or poorly equipped in responding in a mature and authentic love relationship, the other person many find that one cannot continue giving. Mutuality, the giving-taking circle, replenishes and nourishes and assists the growth of each person in a relationship. Another aspect of a love relationship is respect. Not fear or awesome deference, but appreciation of the uniqueness and selfhood of another. In true respect there is no need to do anything to diminish or hurt the other person, to ridicule or damage another’s integrity. There is acceptance in the active, beneficial sense: “There you are. I see, take in, readily acknowledge you and what you are. I really dig you!” Respect also implies active concern. It means that if I respect you, I want the best for you: I want you to grow and become all that you are, and I do not want you to become anything for me! If you became what I wanted you to, then you would not be you; you would be come kind of me-shaped or me-coloured reflection. Then, I would not be acknowledging you as you. I would be saying I can only love the me I see in you. And this is narcissism, an exploitive form of conceit far removed from real other-love. In the Old World, people used to steam letters open to obtain tidbits of juicy information, but in the New World, we have new concerns. #RandolphHarris 1 of 20

E-mail can sometimes feel intimate in the same way a private conversation does, but the reality is that email is anything, but private. In fact, e-mails are one of the most easily intercepted and duplicated forms of communication, especially if they are unencrypted. The absolute bottom line: if you cannot post it on a bulletin board, then do not send it. Hackers are not the only threat to e-mail privacy in the workplace; employers, law enforcement officials and even internet service providers all have the ability to monitor and review e-mail communications. For businesses and organizations, this can easily become an issue, not least of all because it has the potential to violate key e-mail privacy laws, and regulations. The E-mail Privacy Act: This update to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 prevents electronic and remote communication service providers from voluntarily disclosing the contents of e-mails, requires the government to obtain a warrant to compel the disclosure of email contents and revises the process for obtaining a delayed notification order. General Data Protection Rule (GDPR): stipulates that all personal data, including personal data contained in e-mail, must be processed lawfully and in a transparent manner, must be kept up to date and must be kept in a form which permits identification of data subject for no longer than is necessary. #RandolphHarris 2 of 20

All reasonings concerning matter of fact seem to be founded on the relation of Cause and Effect. By means of that relation alone we can go beyond the evidence of our memory and senses. If you were to ask a man, why he believers any matter of fact, which is absent; for instance, that his friend is in the country, or in CANADA; he would give you a reason; and this reason would be some other fact; as a letter received from hu, or the knowledge of his former resolutions and promises. A man, finding a watch or any other machines in a desert island, would conclude, that there had once been humans on in that island. All our reasonings concerning fact are of the same nature. And here it is constantly supposed, that there is a connexion between the present fact and that which is inferred from it. Were there nothing to bind them together, the inference would be entirely precarious. The hearing of an articulate voice and rational discourse in the dark assures us the presence of some person: Why? because these are the effects of the human make and fabric, and closely connected with it. If we anatomize all the other reasonings of this nature, we shall find, that they are founded on the relation of cause and effect, and that this relation is either near or remote, direct or collateral. #RandolphHarris 3 of 20

Heat and light are collateral effect of fire, and one effect may justly be inferred from the other. If we would satisfy ourselves, therefore, concerning the nature of that evidence, which assures us of matters of fact, we must enquire how we arrive at the knowledge of cause and effect. I shall venture to affirm, as a general proposition, which admits of no exception, that the knowledge of this relation is not, in any instance, attained by reasonings a priori; but arises entirely from experience, when we find, that any particular objects are constantly conjoined with each other. Let an object be presented to a person of ever so strong natural reason and abilities; if that object be entirely new to one, one will not be able, by the most accurate examination of its sensible qualities, to discover any of its cases. ADAM, though his rational faculties be supposed, at the very first, entirely perfect could not have inferred from the fluidity, and transparency of water, that it would suffocate him, or from the light and warmth of fire, that it would consume him. No object ever discovers, by the qualities which appear to the senses, either the causes which produce it, or the effects which will arise from it; nor can our reason, unassisted by experience, ever draw any inference concerning real existence and matter of fact. #RandolphHarris 4 of 20

This proposition, that causes and effects are discoverable, not by reason, but by experience, will readily be admitted with regard to such objects, as we remember to have once been altogether unknown to us; since we must be conscious of the utter inability, which we then lay under, of foretelling, what would arise from them. Present two smooth pieces of marble to a human, who had no tincture of natural philosophy; one will never discover, that they will adhere together, in such a manner as to require great force to separate them in a direct line, while they make so small a resistance to a lateral pressure. Such events, as bear little analogy to the common course of nature, are also readily confessed to be known only by experience; nor does any human imagine that explosion of gunpowder, or the attraction of a loadstone, could ever be discovered by arguments a priori. In like manner, when an effect is supposed to depend upon an intricate machinery or secret structure of part, we make no difficulty in attributing all our knowledge of it to experience. Who will assert, that one can give the ultimate reason, why milk or bread is proper nourishment for a human, not for a lion or a tiger, bird or dog? #RandolphHarris 5 of 20

However, the same truth may not appear, at first sight, to have the same evidence with regard to events, which have become familiar to us from our first appearance in the World, which bear a close analogy to the whole course of nature, and which are supposed to depend on the simple qualities of objects, without any secret structures of parts. We are apt to imagine, that we could discover these effects by the mere operation of our reason, without experience. We fancy, that were we brought, on a sudden, into this World, we could at first have inferred, that one Billiard-ball would communicate motion to another upon impulse; and that we needed not to have waited for the event, in order to pronounce with certainty concerning it. Such is the influence of custom, that, where it is strongest, it not only covers our natural ignorance, but even conceals itself, and seems not to take place, merely because it is found in the highest degree. However, to convince us, that all the laws of nature, and all the operations of bodies without exception, are known only by experience, the following reflections may, perhaps, suffice. Were any object presented to us, and were we required to pronounce concerning the effect, which will result from it, without consulting past observation; after what manner, I beseech you, mist the mind proceed in this operation? #RandolphHarris 6 of 20

It must invent or imagine some event, which it ascribes to the object as its effect; and it is plain that this invention must be entirely arbitrary. The mind can never possibly find the effect in the supposed cause, by the most accurate scrutiny and examination. For the effect is totally different from the cause, and consequently can never be discovered in it. Motion in the second Billiard-ball is a quite distinct event from motion in the first; nor is there any thing in the one to suggest the smallest hint of the other. A stone or piece of metal raised into the air, and left without any support, immediately falls: However, to consider the mater a priori, is there anything we discover in this situation, which can beget the idea of a downward, rather than an upward, or any other motion, in the stone or metal? And as the imagination or invention of a particular effect, in all natural operations, is arbitrary, where we consult not experience; so must we also esteem the supposed bond or connexion between the cause and effect, which binds them together, and renders it impossible, that any other defect could result from the operation of that cause. When I see, for instance, a Billiard-ball moving in a straight line towards another; even supposed motion in the second ball should by accident be suggested to me, as the result of their contact or impulse; may I not conceive, that a hundred different events might as well follow from that cause? #RandolphHarris 7 of 20

May not both these balls remain at absolute rest? May not the first ball return in a straight line, or leap off from the second in any line or direction? All these suppositions are consistent and conceivable. Why then should we give the preference to me, which is no more consistent or conceivable than the rest? All our reasonings a priori will never be able to show us any foundation for this preference. In a word, then, every effect is a distinct event from its cause. It could not, therefore, be discovered in the cause, and the first invention or conception of it, a priori, must be entirely arbitrary. And even after it is suggested, the conjunction of it with the cause must appear equally arbitrary; since there are always many other effects, which, to reason, must seem fully as consistent and natural. In vain, therefore, should we pretend to determine any single even, or infer any cause or effect, without the assistance of observation and experience. Hence we may discover the reason, why no philosopher, who is rational and modest, has ever pretended to assign the ultimate cause of any natural operation, or to show distinctly the action of that power, which produces any single effect in the Universe. #RandolphHarris 8 of 20

It is confessed, that the utmost effort of human reason is, to reduce the principles, productive of natural phenomena, to a greater simplicity, and to resolve the many particular effects into a few general causes, by means of reasonings from analogy, experience, and observation. However, as to the causes of these general causes, we should in vain attempt their discovery; nor shall we ever be able to satisfy ourselves, by any particular explication of them. These ultimate springs and principles are totally shut up from human curiosity and enquiry. Elasticity, gravity, cohesion of parts, communication of motion by impulse; these are probably the ultimate causes and principles which we shall ever discover in nature; and we may esteem ourselves sufficiently happy, if, by accurate enquiry and reasoning, we can trace up the particular phenomena to, nor near to, these general principles. The most perfect philosophy of the natural kind only staves off our ignorance a little longer: As perhaps the post perfect philosophy of the moral or metaphysical kind serves only to discover larger portions of it. Thus the observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy, and meets us, at every turn, in spite of our endeavours to elude or avoid it. #RandolphHarris 9 of 20

Nor is geometry, when take into the assistance of natural philosophy, ever able to remedy this effect, or lead us into the knowledge of ultimate causes, by all that accuracy of reasoning, for which it is so justly celebrated. Every part of mixed mathematics (equivalent to what would today be called “applied mathematics,” or the application of mathematics or mathematical principles to the physical World and experience, as, for instance, in astronomy, surveying, or the calculation of empirical probabilities) proceeds upon the position, that certain laws are established by nature in her operations; and abstract reasonings are employed, either to assist experience in the discovery of these laws, or to determine their influence in particular instances, where it depends upon any precise degree of distance and quantity. Thus, it is a law of motion, discovered by experience, that the moment of force of any body in motion is in the compound ratio or proportion of its solid contents and its velocity; and consequently, that a small force may remove the greatest obstacle or raise the greatest weight, if, by any contrivance or machinery, we can increase the velocity of that force, so as to make it an overmatch for its antagonist. #RandolphHarris 10 of 20

Geometry assists us in the application of this law, by giving us the just dimensions of all the parts and figures, which can enter into any species of machine; but still the discovery of the law itself is owing merely to experience, and all the abstract reasonings in the World could never lead us one step towards the knowledge of it. When we reason a priori and consider merely any object or cause, as it appears to the mind, independent of all observation, it never could suggest to us the notion of any distinct object, such as its effect; much less, show us the inseparable and inviolable connection between them. A human must be very sagacious, who could discover by reasoning, that crystal is the effect of heat, and ice of cold, without being previously acquainted with the operation of these qualities. Among all possible spirits the spirits of the parents are in practice the most important; hence the universal incidence of the ancestor cult. In its original form it served to conciliate the revenants, but on a high level of culture it became an essentially moral and educational institution, as in China. For the child, the parents are one’s closet and most influential relations. In dealing with psychoanalysis, the imago is an unconscious idealized mental image of someone, especially a parent, which influences a person’s behaviour. #RandolphHarris 11 of 20

As one grows older this influence is split off; consequently the parental imagos become increasingly shut away from consciousness, and on account of the restrictive influence they sometimes continue to exert, they easily acquire a negative aspect. In this way the parental imagos remain as alien elements somewhere “outside” the psyche. In place of the parents, woman now takes up her position as the most immediate environmental influence in the life of the adult man. She becomes his companion, she belongs to him in so far as she shares his life and is more or less of the same age. She is not of a superior order, either by virtue of age, or authority, or physical strength. She is, however, a very influence factor and, like the parents, she produces an imago of a relatively autonomous nature—not an imago to be split off like that of the parents, but one that has to be kept associated with consciousness. Woman, with her very dissimilar psychology, is and always has been a source of information about things for which a man has no eyes. She can be his inspiration; her intuitive capacity, often superior to man’s, can give him timely warning, and her feeling, always directed towards the personal, can show him ways which is own less personally accepted feeling would never be discovered. Here, without a doubt, is one of the main sources for the feminine quality of the soul. However, it does not seem to be the only source. #RandolphHarris 12 of 20

No man is so entirely masculine that he has nothing feminine in him. The fact is, rather, that very masculine men have—carefully guarded and hidden—a very soft emotion life, often incorrectly described as “feminine.” A man counts it’s a virtue to repress his feminine traits as much as possible, just as a woman, at least until recently, considered it unbecoming to be “mannish.” The repression of feminine traits and inclinations naturally causes these constresexual demand to accumulate in the unconscious. No less naturally, the imago of woman (the soul-image) becomes a receptacle for these demands, which is why a man, in his love-choice, is strongly tempted to win the woman who best corresponds to his own unconscious femininity—a woman, in short, who can unhesitatingly receive the projection of his soul. Although such a choice is often regarded and felt as altogether ideal, it may turn out that the man has manifestly married his own worse weakness. This would explain some highly remarkable conjunctions. It seems to me, therefore, that a part from the influence of woman there is also the man’s own femininity to explain the feminine nature of the soul complex. There is no question here of any linguistic “accident,” of the kind that makes the Sun feminine in German and masculine in other languages. #RandolphHarris 13 of 20

Once more we are caught in the snare of ontology. If we do not grasp the glory of the cross, life is wasted. Cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain. What was once imprudence to us—a crucified God-must become our wisdom and our power and our only boast in this World. We have ontologized the symbol of the Cross. The term sacrifice now means sacrifice of the individual Jesus to the ground of being in him. It is not the Father of the New Testament story that receives the sacrifice, but the power of being inside everyone of us. The God of the Old Testament is the God of Theism, a God of love and condescension who guides his people because he loves them. The God of Jesus, his Father, is likewise the God of a religion, to whom we have a relationship of reverence, adoration and even of friendship, but this is not the God of the Cross some think of. The symbol of the Cross reaches above the God for theism. For the Crucified…cried to God who remained his God after the God of confidence had left him in the darkness of doubt and meaninglessness. Taking its cut from this, the Church under the Cross, as now interpreted, raises itself in its message and its devotion to the God above the God of theism without sacrificing its concrete symbols. #RandolphHarris 14 of 20

The Church stand for the power of being-itself or for the God who transcends the God of all religions. In this view, the God of theism, the God who has been adored in all religions and who, as it was hitherto believed by Christians, revealed himself in Jesus the Christ, is only a convenient source of concrete symbols for a philosophical theory concerning the power to be. It itself is a symbol of the power to be, the fathomless abyss and ground of being on the surface of which our consciousness floats. The living God is not the God of the philosophers, but the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, they could not be more mistaken. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of the prophets, the God of Jesus, the God of the Christian tradition, is a concrete but inadequate symbol for the God of the philosophers. That is probably because some of them were born prior to Christ and before the prophecies of him coming to be. The myth of the Cross is a convenient image for the death of the God of theism and his replacement by the power to be. Faith is simply a more or less confused awareness of being-itself, beneath all the concrete experiences of human’s existence. The Christ represents this ground of being when it is known in an intense intuition and feeling of regeneration. The Christ is thus the New Being, the New Creation. #RandolphHarris 15 of 20

The Christ is also the Word of God; for the New Being is identical with being-itself, the Ultimate, for which the word “God” provides a traditional symbol. He is the Word because he represents the ground of being in its second aspect, its life-containing capacity. He is crucified because the Cross is an adequate symbol of self-transcendence through self-sacrifice, of the subservience of conscious being to being-itself. The Christ is therefore not merely the God of Christianity; he is the Universal God for whom all have been seeking and whom all have obscurely perceived even in their ignorance and doubt. There are those who claim that truth may be held in error, light in blindness and knowledge in ignorance. While people have faith in the ground of being of philosophers above the concrete being of the Christian God we may say with them: “But it is a mockery to attribute the name of faith to pure obliviousness.” Some may take that view because they are objecting to the concept of implicit faith found in Roman Catholic theology. How much more to the point this protest is as we face the even more remotely implicit faith of some believers with their ontological transcendence of concrete symbols! Whoever knows a thing perfectly, must know all that can bad accidental to it. Now there are some good things to which corruption by evil may be accidental. Hence God would not know good things perfectly, unless He also knows evil things. #RandolphHarris 16 of 20

Now a thing is knowable in the degree in which it is; hence since this is the essence of evil that is the privation of good, by the fact that God knows good things, He knows evil things also; as by light is known darkness. God through Himself receives the vision of darkness, not otherwise seeing darkness expect through light. God redeems humans from their lost and fallen state—Those who are carnal remain as though there were no redemption—Christ brings to pass a resurrection to endless life or to endless damnation. About 148 Before Christ. “And now, it came to pass that after Abinadi had spoken these words he stretched forth his hand and said: The time shall come when all shall see the salvation of the Lord; when every nation, kindred, tongue, and people shall see eye to eye and shall confess before God that his judgments are just. And then shall the wicked be cast out, and they shall have cause to howl, and weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth; and this because they would not hearken unto the voice of the Lord; therefore the Lord redeemeth them not. For they are carnal and devilish, and the devil has power over them; yea, even that old serpent that did beguile our first parents, which was the cause of their fall; which was he cause of all humankind becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting themselves to the devil. #RandolphHarris 17 of 20

“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. However, remember that one tat persists in one’s own carnal nature, and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in their fallen state and the devil hath all power over them. Therefore one is as though there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an enemy to God. And now if Christ had not come into the World, speaking of things to come as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption. And if Christ had not come into the World, speaking of tings to come as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption. And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection. However, there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ. He is the light of life of the World; yea, a light that is endless that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death. #RandolphHarris 18 of 20

“Even this mortal shall put on immorality, and this corruption shall be put on incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the car of God, to be judged of one according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil—if they be god, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation, being delivered up to the devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation—having gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent. And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sins, and remember that only in and through Christ ye can be saved? Therefore, if ye teach the law of Moses, also teach that it is a shadow of those things which are to come—teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father. Amen,” reports Mosiah 16.1-15. God of the passing hour, another week has gone and I have been preserved in my going out, in my coming in. #RandolphHarris 19 of 20

Thine has been the vigilance that has turned threatened evils aside; thine the supplies that have nourished me; thine comforts that have indulged me; thine the relations and friends that have delighted me; thine the means of grace which have edified me; thine the Book, which, amidst all my enjoyments has told me that his is not my rest, that in all success one thing alone is needful, to love my Saviour. Nothing can equal the number of Thy mercies but my imperfections and sins. These, O God, I will neither conceal nor palliate, but confess with a broken heart. In what condition would secret reviews of my life leave me were it not for the assurance that with Thee there is plenteous redemption, that Thou art a forgiving God, that Thou be feared! While I hope for pardon through the blood of the cross, I pray to be clothed with humility, to be quickened in Thy way, to be more devoted to Thee, to keep the end of my life in view, to be cured of the folly of delay and indecision, to know how frail I am, to number my days and apply my heart unto wisdom. Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to our prayers, that all we who enter this temple, (the dedication of which we celebrate on this anniversary,) may please Thee with full and perfect devotion of soul and body; that while we now render to Thee our prayers, we may by Thy help be enabled to attain Thine eternal rewards; through our Lord Jesus Christ. #RandolphHarris 20 of 20

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You Do Not Love Me, You Do Not Care What Happens to Me! Give the Heaven’s Above More than Just a Passing Glance!

June 22, 2020 1:09 am

For some people it is difficult to find peace. They can forgive from their heart of hearts, but find no rest, for then the doubt awakens; they are the one who caused the problem; they are the occasion of the calamity; it was their pride that craved the unusual. Then they repent, but one will find no rest, for then the accusing thoughts acquits one of the charges: the aggressor was the one who with their cunning instilled this plan into their souls. Then the individual hates; one’s heart finds relief in curses, but one still finds no repose. Once again one reproaches oneself—reproaches oneself because one has hated, one who oneself is a sinner, reproaches oneself because regardless of how cunning the aggressor was one’s self always remains guilty. It is oppressive for the individual that someone has decided to deceive them, but still more oppressive, one is almost tempted to say, that one is no longer listens humbly to one’s voice but is able to hear the many voices at the same time. Then recollection awakens in one’s soul, and one forgets blame and guilt; able to recollect the beautiful moments, and is dazed in an unnatural exaltation. With an indescribable but cryptic, blissful, unnamable anxiety, one is able to listen to music the one’s self evoked and yet did not evoke; always there was harmony. Yet, it is terrible that one can scarcely control the anxiety that grips one. #RandolphHarris 1 of 25

One is carried along into that kingdom of mist, into that dreamland where one is frightened by one’s own shadow at every moment. Often, futilely trying to tear away from it; following along like an ominous shape, like an accuser who cannot speak. How strange! One has allowed someone else to spread the deepest secrecy over everything, and yet there is an even deeper secrecy, that one’s self is in on the secret and that one came to know I in an unlawful way. To forget the whole thing is not possible. Some Black women are comfortable with the many different ingredients of their identity, and they are women committed to freedom from oppression. They find themselves constantly being encouraged to pluck out some one aspect of themselves, and present that as the meaningful whole, eclipsing or deny the other parts of themselves. They do not want to isolate themselves from their White, Hispanic, or Asian counterparts, but would like the ability to be included in the discussion. The need for multiple consciousness in feminist movement—a social movement encompassing law, literature, and everything in between—has long been apparent. Since the beginning of the feminist movement in the United States of America, Black women have been discussing the fact that their experience calls into question the notion of a unitary “women’s experience.” #RandolphHarris 2 of 25

In the first wave of the feminist moment, Black women’s realization that White leaders of the suffrage may have not been aware of what women of colour have to suffer with, especially when they do not adhere to typical gender status. However, through conversations, publications of a diverse voice of authors, and television shows and movies, the second wave of Black women are again speaking loudly and persistently, and at many levels their voices have begun to be heard. Feminist have adopted the notion of multiple consciousness as appropriate to describe a World in which people are not oppressed only or primarily on the basis of gender, but also on the basis of race, class, sexual orientation, and other categories in inextricable webs. Moreover, multiple consciousness is implicit in the precepts of the feminism itself. Feminist method starts with the very radical act of taking women seriously, believing that what they say about themselves and their experience is important and valid, even when (or perhaps especially when) it had little or no relationship to what has been or is being said about them. In feminist legal theory, however, the move away from univocal toward multivocal theories of women’s experience and feminism has been slower than other areas. #RandolphHarris 3 of 25

In feminist legal theory, the pull of the second voice, the voice of abstract categorization, is still powerfully strong: “We the People” seems in danger of being replaced by “We the women.” And in feminist legal theory, as in the dominant culture, it is mostly White, heterosexual, and socioeconomically privileged people who speak for all women. Not surprisingly, because of the cries of the unheard are becoming so strong, the story they tell about “women,” despite its claim to universality, seems to actually be becoming more inclusive. Some of the best examples have been in the film in TV industry. Little Fires Everywhere, starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington examines the roles of women of different ethnic backgrounds, classes, and socioeconomic backgrounds. How to Get Away With Murder, starring Viola Davis was extremely powerful, especially final episode where she has to defend herself and her lifestyle. The Family That Prey’s Together, Good Deeds, Why Did I Get Married, Temptations: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, by Tyler Perry are also good film the help others to understand the plight of women of colour, as well as Losing Isaiah starring Halle Berry. So even if feminist theories are still catching up to modern times, art is imitating life. And White middle-class women, as well as the rest of the World are becoming more aware of what their sisters have to endure. #RandolphHarris 4 of 25

The notion that there is a monolithic “women’s experience” that can be described independent of other facets of experience like race, class, and sexual orientation is called gender essentialism. Gender essentialism is no longer reducing the lives of people who experience multiple forms of oppression because racism, sexism, and homophobia are being discussed and are now better understood by different people all over the World. Those who produce the “story of woman” are making sure they appear in it. They are ensuring that they are storytellers and, in a position, to decide which of all the many facts about women’s lives are going into the story, and which ought to be left out. Women want to make sure that none of their voiced are at the bottom of a hierarchy of oppression. Middle-class American women, tradition suggest, feel emotion more than men do. The definitions of “emotional” and “cogitation” in the Random House Dictionary of the English Language reflect a deeply rooted cultural idea. Yet women are also thought to command “feminine wiles,” to have the capacity to premeditate a sigh, an outburst of tears, or a flight of joy. In general, they are thought to manage expression and feeling not only better but more often than men do. How much the conscious feelings of women and men differ is an issue I leave aside here. #RandolphHarris 5 of 25

However, women are, in fac, more likely to have access to their emotions. Early in childhood boys but no girls must relinquish their primary identification with the mother. To achieve this difficult task, the boy (but not the girl) must repress feelings associated with the other in the difficult effort to establish himself as “not like mother,” as a boy. The consequence is a repression of feeling generally. The girl, on the other hand, because she enters a social and sexual category the same as that as her mother, does not have to relinquish identification with her or sacrifice her access to feelings through repression. If this interpretation is valid (and I find it plausible), we might expect women to be more in touch with their feelings, which are, as a consequence, more available for conscious management. Men may manage feelings more by subconscious repressing, women more by conscious suppressing. Therefore, the evidence seems clear that most women do more emotion managing than men. And because the well-managed feeling has an outside resemblance to spontaneous feeling, it is possible to confuse the condition of being more “easily affected by emotion” with the action of willfully managing emotion when the occasion calls for it. #Randolphharris 6 of 25

Especially in the American middle class, women tend to manage feeling more because in general they depend on men for a level of support, and one of the various ways of repaying their debt is to do extra emotion work—especially emotion work that affairs, enhances, and celebrates the well-being and status of others. When the emotional skills that children learn and practice at home move into the marketplace, the emotional labour of women becomes more prominent because men in general have not been trained to make their emotions a resource and are therefore less likely to develop their capacity for managing feeling. There is also a difference in the kind of emotion work that men and women tend to do. Many studies have also told us that women adapt more to the needs of others and cooperate more than men do. These studied often imply the existence of gender-specific characteristics simply exist passively in women? Or are they signs of a social work that women do—the work of affirming, enhancing, and celebrating the well-being and status of others? I believe that much of time, the adaptive, cooperative women is actively working showing difference. This deference requires her to make an outward display called the “seriously” good girl in her and to support this effort by evoking feelings that make the “nice” display seem more natural. #RandolphHarris 7 of 25

Girls are generally trained to be “seriously” good and to be ashamed of being bad whereas boys are asked to be good in formalistic ways but covertly invited to be ashamed of being “too” good. Oversocialization into “sugar-and-spice” demeanor produces feminine skills in delivering deference. Women who want to put their own feelings less at the service of other must still confront the idea that if they do so, they will be considered less “feminine.” What it takes to be more “adaptive” is suggested in a study of college students. Students were asked “If a boy or girl had all the other qualities you desire, would you marry this person if you were not in live with him or her?” In response, 64 percent of men, but only 24 percent of the women said No. Most of the women answered that they “did not know.” As one put it: “I do not know, if he were that good, may I could bring myself around to loving him.” Other research indicates that men have a more romantic orientation to love, women a more realistic orientation. That is, males may find cultural support for a passive construction of love, for seeing themselves as falling head over heels, or walking on air. The female is not pushed hither and yon by her romantic compulsions. On the contrary, she seems to have a greater measure of rational control over her romantic inclinations than the male. #RandolphHarris 8 of 25

Women are more often than men describing themselves as “trying to make myself love,” “talking myself into not caring,” or “trying to convince myself.” A content analysis of 260 protocols showed that more women than men (33 percent versus 18 percent) spontaneously used the language of emotion work to describe their emotions. The image of women as “more emotional,” more subject to uncontrolled feelings, has also been challenged by a study of 250 students at UCLA, in which only 20 percent of the men but 45 percent of the women said that they deliberately show emotion to get their way. This pattern is also socially reinforced. When women sent direct messages (persuading by logic, reason, or an onslaught of information), they were later rated as more aggressive than men who did the same thing. As one woman put it: “I pout, frown, and say something to make the other person feel bad, such as ‘You do not love me, you do not care what happens to me.’ I am not the type to come right out with what I want; I will usually hint around. It is all hope and a lot of beating around the bush.” The emotional arts that women have cultivated are analogous to the art of feigning among those whose wishes outdistance their opportunities for class advancement. As for many others who are less affluent, it has been in the woman’s interest to be the better actor. #RandolphHarris 9 of 25

The use of feminine wiles (including flattery) is felt to be a psychopolitical style of the subordinate; it is therefore disapproved of by women who have gained a foothold in the man’s World and can afford to disparage what they do no need to use. As the psychologist would say, the techniques of deep acting have usually high “secondary gains.” Yet these skills have long been mislabeled “natural,” a part of woman’s “being” rather than something of her own making. The intensity of devotion rather than the value of offerings must always govern the master’s response. The self-actualized has an official position, which is accompanied by appropriate duties. They include: taking a personal interest in the disciples’ inner welfare and growth; instructing them in the truth, and in the way to its attainment; inspiring them telepathically with glimpses of the higher states; encouraging them to persevere in traveling along the way; warning them against the pitfalls and obstacles. The teacher’s duty is to give direction, provide knowledge, warn against pitfalls, correct errors. It is not one’s duty to save others necessary efforts of will and thinking. The master powerfully removes the sluggishness of the intellect of one’s disciple; clarifies one’s ideas about what is eternal and what is perishable, what is real and what is unreal, what is material and what is mental; and what open to one the realm of truth slowly but unmistakably by constant appeal to one’s reason. #RandolphHarris 10 of 25

The first service of the Master is to point out the way, both inwardly and outwardly, to the disciple. This shortens one’s journey by several lifetimes, which would otherwise have to be spent in wanderings, explorings, gropings, and searchings. It is to expound truth and correct errors, to place an example before the others, and to purify them by one’s company that such a teacher appears in the outer World. Another phase of one’s work is to stimulate the yearning for higher attainment where it exists, and to inculcate it where it does not. Nature, also, mourns for a lost good. “Day unto day utter speech, and night unto night show knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the Earth, and their words to the end of the World. In them has one set a tabernacle for the Sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of one’s chamber, and rejoice as a strong human to run a race,” reports Psalm 19.2-5. It is one’s work to show others what they cannot see for themselves—their own higher possibilities. One’s function is to interpret humans—and more especially spiritual humans—to themselves. One’s task is to make known to other humans their God like possibilities within themselves. One’s mission is not to being humans pleasure, but to raise them to appreciate truth. #RandolphHarris 11 of 25

The teacher assists one’s students to attain a degree of concentration beyond that which they are able to achieve by themselves. One detonates the higher potentialities of each disciple, breaks the closed circle of one’s senses, and leads one toward a moral and mystical regeneration. “For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of one who has subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travels in pain together until now,” reports Romans 9.19-22. The duty of any spiritual teacher is to lead the seeker to God, to find one’s own source of inner light and strength and thus not to lean on outside human beings. A self-actualized individual who is quite competent does help the learner: one shows the way, illuminates problems, untangles knots, dispels confusions, explains meanings, and encourages effort. Tutelage has its place. One who directs anyone’s wakening spiritual faith that person’s teacher. If one guides us to notice hitherto unobserved truths, if one lead our thought and faith away from hitherto strongly held errors, then a teacher fulfills a useful function. #RandolphHarris 12 of 25

A teacher’s services include the unveiling and exposing of psychic or mystic experiences which are merely self-suggested or mainly hallucinatory. One cannot do more than help them find and fulfill their own ways to the goal, but it is enough. A teacher has to be firm at some times, gentle at others. “And I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth: for the first Heaven and the first Earth were passed away; and there was no more sea…And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of nations,” reports Revelations 21.1, 22.1-2. Each year when Good Friday and Easter Sunday approach us our thoughts turn toward the great drama of redemption, culminating in the pictures of the Cross and Resurrection. Who is redeemed? Some humans alone; or humankind, including all nations; or the World, everything that is created, including nature, the stars and the clouds, the winds and the oceans, the stones and the plants, the animals and our own bodies? The Bible speaks again and again of the salvation of the World, as it speaks of the creation of the World, and the subjection of the World to anti-Divine forces. And World means nature as well as humans. #RandolphHarris 13 of 25

So let us ask today: what does nature mean to us? What does it mean to itself? What does it mean to the great drama of creation and salvation? A threefold answer is contained in the words of the psalmist, the apostle and the prophet: the psalmist sings of the glory of nature; the apostle shows the tragedy of nature: and the prophet pronounces the salvation of nature. The hymn of the psalmist praises the glory of God in the glory of nature; the letter of the apostle links the tragedy of nature to the tragedy of humans; and the vision of the prophet sees the salvation of nature in the salvation of the World. So let us listen once more to the words of the psalmist, about the glory of nature, in their precise meaning. “The Heavens are telling the glory of God, and the firmament shows the work of his hands. Day unto day pour forth the story, night unto night announces the knowledge. There is no speech, no language! Their voice cannot be heard! However, their music goes out through all the Earth, and their words to the end of the World.” The 19^th Psalm points to an antique belief held by the ancient World and expressed by poets and philosophers: that the Heavenly bodies, the Sun and the Moon and the Stars, produce by their movement a harmony of tines, sounding day and night from one end of the World to the other. #RandolphHarris 14 of 25

These voices of the Universe are not heard by human ears; they do not speak in human language. However, they exist, and we can perceive them through the organs of our spirit. Shakespeare says: “There is not the smallest orb which thou beholds, but in his motion like an angel sings, such harmony is in immortal souls; but whilst this muddy vesture of decay does grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.” The psalmist has heard it; he knows that the stars are sounding: the glory of creation and its Divine Ground. Are we able to perceive the hidden voice of nature? Does nature speak to us? Does it speak to you? Or has nature become silent to us, silent to the humans of our period? Some of you may say, “Never before in any period has nature been so open to humans as it is today. The mysteries of the past have become the knowledge of children. Through every scientific book, through every laboratory, through every machine, nature speaks to us. The technical use of nature is the revelation of its mystery.” The voice of nature has been heard by the scientific mind, and the answer is the conquest of nature. However, is this all that nature says to us? If one only arouses the human to recognition of the necessity of taking a new road, a spiritual guide’s duty to an erring human will not be fully carried out. It will not be enough to show one the path. One must also keep them steadfast on the path. #RandolphHarris 15 of 25

I was sitting under a tree with a great biologist. Suddenly he exclaimed, “I would like to know something about this tree!” He, of course, knew everything that science had to say about it. I asked him what he meant. And he answered, “I want to know what this tree means for itself. I want to understand the life of this tree. It is so strange, so unapproachable.” He longed for a sympathetic understanding of the life of nature. However, such an understanding is possible only by communion between human and nature. Is such communion possible in our period of history? Is nature not completely subjected to the will and willfulness of humans? This technical civilization, the pride of humankind, has brought about a tremendous devastation of original nature, of the land, of animals, of plants. It has kept genuine nature in small reservations and has occupied everything for domination and ruthless exploitation. And worse: many of us have lost the ability to live with nature. We fill it with the noise of empty talk, instead of listening to its many voices, and, through them, to the voiceless music of the Universe. Separated from the soil by a machine, we speed through nature, catching glimpses of it, but never comprehending its greatness or feelings it power. Who is still able t penetrate, meditating and contemplating, the creative ground of nature? #RandolphHarris 16 of 25

A Chinese emperor asked a famous painter to paint a picture of a rooster for him. The painter assented, but said that it would take a long time. After a year the emperor reminded him of his promise. The painter replied that after a year of studying the rooster he had just begun to perceive the surface of its nature. After another year the artist asserted that he had just begun to penetrate the essence of this kind of life. And so on, year after year. Finally, after ten years of concentration on the nature of the rooster, he painted the picture—a work described as an inexhaustible revelation of the divine group of the Universe in one small part of it, a rooster. Compare the emperor’s wise patience and the painter’s saintly contemplation of an infinitely small expression of the divine life, with the exuberances of our contemporaries, who rush in their cars to some famous view and exclaim, “How lovely!”—referring, no doubt, not to the view, but to their own appreciation of beauty. What blasphemy of the glory of nature! and consequently of the divine ground, the glory of which sounds through the glory of nature. Praising the glory of nature does not mean speaking of the beauty of nature alone and forgetting its overwhelming greatness and terrible power. Nature never manifest shallow beauty or merely obvious harmony. #RandolphHarris 17 of 25

We must try to conform to the humanity, intuition, sensitivity, and the intelligence needed to understand the message from the Universe. One who teachers well, learns oneself. Many of the historical statues in American are representations for hopes of a greater time. The welcoming of the second coming of Christ. Some of these monuments are universally admired and accepted by all people of all nations as the symbol of FREEDOM, and many of these relics evokes a profound veneration and strike a responsive chord from all liberty-loving people everywhere. To make these statues of these great characters and to erect in them that part of the country which gave them their early development and growth into public life is an honour. Human spirit finds its expression through a particular individual, likewise a spirit in finding its self-expression in permanent materials of bronze or stone and deserves to be focalized and located so that they may have a place and standing in our World. When life sinks to a low, these monuments constantly fed the human spirit with hope and promise. The closer the arts bring us to our souls’ ideal the more worthy are they to their exalted mission. These statues bring us in contact with the harmonies of nature, awakening responsive echoes in our innermost souls. #RandolphHarris 18 of 25

This art, these wizard-like creations, revives he ashes of the past, makes us appreciate how far we have some, so we never forget our roots. If we destroy our history, we will forget our past and are doomed to recreate the same mistakes. We have a new wave of immigrants who know nothing about our culture, and these monuments serve as reminders that we must never repeat slavery, genocide, nor economic oppression. They stand for the freedom of this nation and are part of its founding. Without these markers, Americans will lose their way. For instance, no one can find reference to the Prison’s of the River in Sacramento. The only place I found it recorded was on a fading, plastic plague in Sacramento. It was a reference to the Witch Trials that took place in this city in the mid-1800s. The LaGrange served as Sacramento’s jail until November 1859 when it sank in a week-long storm, killing 449 people. There were more than 950 suspected witches and Jewish refugees on board. In February of 1986, archaeologist located what is believed to be wreckage of LaGrange, which was imprisoned by the rip-rap and must, just south of the “I” Street Bridge. Now, it would be nice to have a monument to remember these people and their sacrifice. #RandolphHarris 19 of 25

Certain teachers develop an unhealthy lust for power, imposing their personal will on hapless disciples. The teacher whose motives get mixed up, whose desire to help and serve others twins around one’s desire to gain money, prestige, influence, or power is one who begins to teach before one is ready to do so. Both one and one’s disciples will have to pay the price for one’s premature activities. It is better to have no teacher at all than to have one who has psychologized oneself into the delusion that one has reached the God-realized state, who mistakes self-deception for self-realization. The Saints become the sons and daughters of Christ through faith—they are then called by the name of Christ—King Benjamin exhorts them to be steadfast and immovable in good works. About 124 Before Christ. “And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin has thus spoken to this people, he sent among them, desiring to know of his people if they believed the words which he had spoken unto them. And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou has spoken unto us; and also, we know their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. #RandolphHarris 20 of 25

“And we, ourselves, also, though the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy of all things. And it is the faith which we have had on things which our kind has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy. And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never-ending torment, as has been spoken by the Angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God. And now, these are the words which king Benjamin desired of them; and therefore he said unto them: Ye have spoken the words that I desired; and the covenant which ye have made is a righteous covenant. And now, because of the covenant which ye shave made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he has spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and daughters. And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. #RandolphHarris 21 of 25

“There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives. And it shall come to pass that whosoever does this shall be found at the right hand of God, for one shall know he name by which one is called; for one shall be called by the name of Christ. And now it shall come to past, that whosoever shall not take upon one the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, one finds oneself on the left hand of God. And I would that ye should remember also, that this is the name that I said I should give unto you that never should be blotted out, except it be through transgression; therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not be blotted out of your hearts. I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts, that ye are not found on the left hand of God, but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which God shall call you. For how knows a human the master who one has not served, and who is a stranger unto one, and is far from the thoughts and intents of one’s heart? And again, does a human take a mule which belongs to one’s neighbour, and keep him or her? #RandolphHarris 22 of 25

“I say unto you, Nay; one will not even suffer that one shall feed among one’s flocks, but will drive one away, and cast one out. I say unto you, that even so shall it be among you if ye know not the name by which ye are called. Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, hat you may be brought to Heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of one who created all things, in Heaven and in Earth, who is God above all. Amen,” reports Mosiah 5.1-15. Up to a certain point it is good for us to know that there are people in the World who will give us love and unquestioned loyalty to limit of their ability. I doubt, however, if it is good for us to feel assured of this without the accompanying obligation of having to justify this devotion by our behaviour. And the important thing was that you never let down doing the best that you were able to do—it might be poor because you might not have very much within you to give, or to help people with, or to live your life with. However, as long as you did the very best that you were able to do, then that was what you were put here to do and that was what you were accomplishing by being here. #RandolphHarris 23 of 25

O my Lord, please forgive me for serving Thee in sinful ways—by glorying in my own strength, by forcing myself to minister through necessity, by accepting the applause of others, by trusting in assumed grace and spiritual affection, by a faith that rests upon my hold on Christ, not on Him along, by having another foundation to stand upon besides Thee; for thus I make flesh my arm. Please help me to see that it is faith stirred by grace that does the deed, that faith brings a human nearer to Thee, raising Him above mere human, that Thou does act upon the soul when thus elevated and lifted out of itself, that faith centres in Thee as God all-sufficient, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, as Go efficient, mediately, as in Thy commands and promises, immediately, in all the hidden power that faith sees and knows to be in Thee, abundantly, with omnipotent effect, in the revelation of Thy will If I have not such faith I am nothing. It is m duty to set Thee above all others in the mind and eye; but it is my sin that I place myself above Thee. Lord, it is the special evil of sin that every breach of Thy laws arises from contempt of Thy Person, from despising Thee and Thy glory, from preferring things before Thee. Please help me to abhor myself in comparison of Thee, and please keep me in a faith that words by love, and serves by grace. #RandolphHarris 24 of 25

I give Thee thanks, O Lord, holy Father, Almighty, everlasting God, Who hast refreshed me with the most holy Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord; and I pray that this Sacrament of our salvation, which I, unworthy sinner have received, may not turn to my judgment nor condemnation, according to my deserts, but to the profit of my body and soul, unto life eternal. Lord Jesus Christ, Almighty and everlasting God, please be merciful to my sins through my reception of Thy Body and Blood. For Thou has said, “He that Eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood dwells in Me, and I in One.” Therefore I humbly beseech Thee to create in me a clean heart, and renew a right spirit within me, and strength me with Thy free Spirit, and cleanse me from all vices and the crafts of the devil, that I may attain to the partaking of Heavenly joys; Who lives and reigns in God. The person who constantly tries to make other persons over into a copy of oneself, who tries to change their living habits or thinking-ways into the same as one’s own, who seeks zealously to proselytize their religious beliefs, is too often merely asserting one’s own ego and practising a subtler, more self-deceptive form of egotism. If one really felt love for them, as one often professes, one would leave their freedom to choose what suit them, not thrust oneself and one’s own beliefs aggressively upon them. #RandolphHarris 25 of 25

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Rancho Cordova, CA |

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Diary of the Seducer—Expecting Nothing of Life He Was Entirely Absorbed by the Game itself!

May 30, 2020 2:00 am

The deepest hunger in the American soul today is for something truly useful to do with one’s life. If, as in so often the case in America now, the end result is human exploitation, environmental destruction, or debasement of values, what values does work really have? What does it mean to be an adult? It means certain rights and privileges that do not belong to children and adolescents, for one thing. However, as for any such “fringe benefits,” there are dues to pay. These dues come in the form of responsibilities, obligations, and expectations of other individuals and society. Morality is based on individual rights and standards which have been critically examined and agreed upon by the whole society. A sharp distinction has been drawn between the situation of the discredited with tension to manage and the situation of the discreditable with information to manage. The stigmatized employ an adaptive technique, however, which requires the student to bring together these two possibilities. The difference between visibility and obtrusiveness is involved. It is a fact that persons who are ready to admit possession of stigma (in many cases because it is known about or immediately apparent) may nonetheless make a great effort to keep the stigma from looming large. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21

The individual’s object is to reduce tension, that is, to make it easier for oneself and the others to withdraw covert attention from the stigma, and to sustain spontaneous involvement in the official content of the interaction. However, the means employed for this task are quite similar to those employed in passing—and in some cases identical, since what will conceal a stigma from unknowing persons may also ease matters for those in the know. It is thus that a girl who gets around best on her artificial leg employs crutches or an artful but patently artificial limb when in company. This process will be referred to as covering. Many of these who rarely try to pass, routinely try to cover. One type of covering involves the individual in a concern over the standards incidentally associated with one’s stigma. Thus the visually impaired, who sometimes have a facial disfigurement in the region of the eyes, distinguish among themselves according to whether this is the case or not. Dark glasses sometimes worn to give voluntary evidence of blindness may at the same time be worn to cover evidence of defacement—a case revealing unsightedness while concealing unsightliness: The blind, in all conscience, have enough advertisement of their condition without adding a cosmetic factor to it. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21

I think of nothing that would add so much to the tragedy of a blind man’s position as the feeling that, in the fight to regain his vision, he had lost not only the fight but the wholesomeness of his appearance as well. Similarly, since blindness can lead to the appearance of clumsiness, there may occur a special effort to re-learn motor propriety, an “ease and grace and adeptness at all those motions which the sighted World looks upon as ‘normal.’” A related type of covering involves an effort to restrict the display of those failings most centrally identified with the stigma. For example, a near-blind person who knows that the persons present know about one’s differentness may yet hesitate to read, because to do this one would have to bring the book up to a few inches of one’s eyes, and this one may feel expresses to glaringly the qualities of blindness. This type of covering, it should be noted, is an important aspect of the “assimilative” techniques employed by members of minority ethnic groups; the intent behind devices such as change in name and change in nose shape is not solely to pass, but also to restrict the way in which a known about attribute obtrudes itself into the center of attention, for obtrusiveness increases the difficulty of maintaining easeful inattention regarding the stigma. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21

The most interesting expression of covering, perhaps, is that associated with the organization of social situations. As already suggested, anything which interferes directly with the etiquette and mechanics of communication obtrudes itself constantly into the interaction and is difficult to disattend genuinely. Hence individuals with stigma, especially those with a physical disability, may have to learn about the structure of interaction in order to learn about the lines along which they must reconstitute their conduct if they are to minimize the obtrusiveness of their stigma. From the efforts, then, one can learn about features of interaction that might otherwise be too much taken for granted to be noted. For example, the hard of hearing learn to talk with the degree of loudness that listeners feel is appropriate for the situation, and also to be ready to deal with those junctures during interaction that specifically require hearing if the properties are to be maintained: Frances figure out elaborate techniques to cope with ‘dinner lulls,’ intermissions at concerts, football games, dances, and so on, in order to protect her secret. However, they served only to make her more uncertain, and in turn more cautious, and in turn more uncertain. Thus, Frances had it down pat that at a diner party she should sit next to someone with a strong voice; if someone asked her a direct question, choke, cough, or get hiccups; take hold of the conversation herself, ask someone to tell a story she had already heard, ask questions the answers to which she already knew. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21

Similarly, the blind sometimes learn to look directly at the speaker even though this looking accomplishes no seeing, for it prevents the blind from staring off into space or hanging the head or otherwise unknowingly violating the code regarding attention cues through which spoke interaction is organized. Now, let us consider some typical sadistic attitudes. We can best observe these in persons who are fairly uninhibited in expressing their sadistic tendencies toward others, whether they themselves are conscious of having such tendencies or not. When, in the following, I speak of a sadistic person, I mean a person whose attitudes toward others are predominantly sadistic. Such a person may want to enslave others or to enslave the partner in particular. One’s “victim” must be a superhuman’s slave, a creature not only without wishes, feelings, or initiative of one’s own but without any claims whatever upon the master. This tendency may take the form of molding or educating the victim, as Professor Higgings in Pygmalion molds Eliza. At best it can have some constructive aspects, as in the case of parents with children or teachers with pupils. Occasionally this aspect obtains in relations dealing with pleasures of the flesh, particularly if the sadistic partner is the more mature. It is sometimes conspicuous in homosexual relations between an older and a young man. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21

However, even there if the slave gives any indication of meaning to go one’s own way, of having friends or interests of one’s own, the devil’s horns will show themselves. Frequently, though not invariably, the master is haunted by a possessive jealousy and uses it as a means of torture. It is peculiar to sadistic relationships of this kind that keeping a hold over the victim is of more absorbing interests than the person’s own life. One will neglect one’s career, forego the pleasures or advantages of meeting other persons rather than grant the partner any independence. The ways in which the partner is kept enslaved are characteristic. They vary only within a comparatively limited range and depend on the personality structure of both members. The sadistic person will give the partner just enough to make the relationship appear worth one’s while. One will fulfill certain of the partner’s needs—though rarely more than will keep one at a minimum subsistence level, psychically speaking. And one will impress upon one the unique quality of what one gives. Nobody else, one will point out, could give one such understanding, such support, so much satisfactions in pleasures of the flesh or so many interests; nobody else, indeed, would ever put up with one. Again, one may hold one with the lure of better times—implicitly or explicitly, one will promise love or marriage or a better financial status or better treatment. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21

Sometimes one will stress one’s own need of the partner and appeal to one on that ground. All these tactics are the more effective in that by being so possessive and so disparaging one isolates the partner from others. If the latter is made sufficiently dependent one may finally threaten to leave one. still further means of intimidation may be employed, but these have so much a life of their own that they will be discussed separately, in another context. Naturally, we cannot understand what goes on in such a relationship without taking into account the characteristics of the partner. Often one is of the complaint type and hence in dread of desertion; or one may be a person who has profoundly repressed one’s own sadistic drives and is helpless on that account—as will be shown later. The mutual dependence that accrues from such a situation arouses resentment not only in the enslaved but in the enslaver as well. If the latter’s need for detachment is pronounced, one is especially resentful of the partner’s absorbing so much of one’s thought and energy. Not realizing that one oneself has created these cramping ties, one may reproach the partner for being grasping or clinging. One’s wanting to break away on such occasions is as much an expression of fear and resentment as a means of intimidation. Not all sadistic craving aims at enslavement. Another sort finds its satisfaction in playing on the emotions of another person as on an instrument. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21

A man or woman who expects nothing of one’s own life can be entirely absorbed in the game of playing with your emotions, which in turn gives them a reason to live. One knows when to show interest and when to be indifferent. One is hypersensitive in anticipating and observing the girl’s reactions to one. One knows what will arouse and what will check his or her desires for pleasures of the flesh. However, one’s sensitivity is limited to the requirements of the sadistic play: one is totally unconcerned with what this experience might mean to the young lady or young man’s life. This conscious shrewd calculation, more often goes on unconsciously. However, it is the same game of attracting and rejecting, charming and disappointing, elevating and degrading, bringing joy and brining grief. Another characteristic is to exploit the partner. Exploitation is not necessarily a sadistic enterprise; it may be employed merely for the sake of gain. In sadistic exploitation, too, gain may be a consideration, but it is often illusory and wholly out of proportion to the affect put into its pursuit. For the sadist, exploitation becomes a kind of passion in its own right. What matters is to experience the triumph of getting the better of others. Its specifically sadistic colouring appears in the means used for exploitation. The partner is subjected, directly and indirectly, to ever mounting demands, and is made to feel guilty humiliated if one does not fulfill them. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21

The sadistic person can always find a justification for feeling discontented or unfairly treated, and for demanding still more on the account. The fulfilling of such demands never evokes gratitude, and how the demands themselves are often prompted by the desire to hurt the other person and put one in one’s place. They may have to do with material things or needs involving pleasures of the flesh or assist in establishing a career; they may be demands for special consideration, exclusive devotion, boundless tolerance. There is nothing specifically sadistic in their content: what does point to sadism is the expectation that the partner should, by whatever means are available, fill out a life that is emotionally empty. This, too, is well illustrated by constant complaints of feeling bored and wanting stimulation and excitement. The need to feed, vampirelike, on the emotional vitality of another person is as a rule completely unconscious. However, it is probable that it is at the bottom of the craving to exploit and that it is the soil from which the expressed demand draw their sustenance. When we realize that there is simultaneously a tendency to frustrate others, the nature of the exploitation becomes still clearer. It would be a mistake to say that the sadistic person never wants to give anything. Under certain conditions one may even be generous. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21

What is typical of sadism is not a stinginess in the sense of withholding but a much more active, though unconscious, impulse to thwart others—to kill their joy and to disappoint their expectations. Any satisfaction or buoyancy of the partner’s almost irresistibly provokes the sadistic person to spoil it in some way. If the partner looks forward to seeing one, one tends to be sullen. It the partner wants pleasures of the flesh, one will be frigid or impotent. One may not even have to do, or fail to do, anything beneficial. By simply radiating gloom one acts as a depressant. One did not have to do anything: it was enough for one just to be. They shriveled and turned morbid by mere infection. What an exquisite refinement of the will to power, what an elegant cruelty! And what an amazing gift for that contagious gloom which damps even the highest spirits and stifles the very possibility of joy. As significant as any of these is the sadistic person’s tendency to disparage and humiliate others. One is remarkably keen at seeing shortcomings, at discovering the weak spots in others and pointing them out. One knows intuitively where others are sensitive and can be hurt. And one tends to use one’s intuition mercilessly for derogatory criticism. This may be rationalized as honesty or as a wish to be helpful; one may believe oneself to be sincerely troubled by doubts in regard to the other person’s competence or integrity—but if the sincerity of one’s doubts are questioned, one will become panicky. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21

It may also appear as mere suspiciousness. The individual may say: “If only I could trust that person!” However, after having translated one in one’s dreams into everything loathsome from a worm to a germ, how could one expect to trust him or her! In other words, suspiciousness can be merely a consequence of disparaging another person in one’s own mind. And if the sadistic person is unaware of one’s disparaging attitude one may be conscious only of the resulting suspiciousness. Again it would seem more appropriate to speak of a passion for fault-finding than of simply tendency. One not only turns one’s searchlight on actual flaws but is extremely adept at externalizing one’s own faults and so building up a case against the other fellow. If, for instance, one has upset someone by one’s own behavior, one will immediately show concern or even contempt for that person’s emotional instability. If the partner, being intimidated, is not entirely frank with one, one will reproach him or her for one’s secrecy or for lying. One will reproach one for being dependent on one when one oneself has one all one could to make one so. Such undermining is not just a matter of words but is accompanied by all sorts of scornful behaviour. Humiliating and degrading practices of pleasures of the flesh can be one of its expression. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21

When any of these drives is frustrated, or when the tables are turned and the sadistic person feels oneself dominated, exploited, or scored, one may have spells of an almost insane rage. In one’s imagination, then, no torture is great enough to inflect upon the offender: one may kick him or her, beat him or her, slice him or her to pieces. These spells of sadistic rage can in turn be repressed, and give raise to a state of acute panic or some functional somatic disturbance pointing to an increase of inner tension. What, then, is the meaning of these trends? What are the inner necessities that compel a person to behave with such cruelty? The assumption that sadistic trends are the expression of a perverted drive in dealing with pleasures of the flesh has n basis in fact. It is true that they can be expressed in behaviour that is based in pleasures of the flesh. In this they are no exception to the general rule that all our character attitudes are bound to manifest themselves in the sphere of pleasures of the flesh—as they do in our way of working, in our gait, in out handwriting. It is also true that many sadistic pursuits are carried on with a certain excitement or, as I have said repeatedly, with an absorbing passion. The conclusion, however, that these affects of thrill or excitement are involved in the nature of pleasures of the flesh, even when they are not felt as such, merely rests on the premise that every excitement is in itself dealing with pleasure of the flesh. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21

However, there is no evidence to substantiate such a premise. Phenomenologically the two sensations of sadistic thrill and abandonment in pleasures of the flesh are entirely different in nature. The assertion that sadistic impulses are a persisting infantile trend has a certain appeal in that young children are often cruel to animals or younger children, and apparently get a thrill out of it. In view of this superficial similarity one might say that the elementary cruelty of the child has merely been refined. However, actually it is not only refined: the cruelty of the adult sadist is different in kind. As we have seen, it has distinct characteristics which are lacking in the child’s outright cruelty. The child’s cruelty seems to be a comparatively simple response to feeling oppressed or humiliated. One asserts oneself by exercising one’s vengeance on weaker folk. Specifically sadistic trends are more complicated and grow from more complicated roots. Besides, like every attempt to account for later peculiarities by relating them directly to early experiences, this one, too, leave an all-important question unanswered that we will come back to at a later date. Now that we have explored the issue of freedom as an expression of grace, we can quote the remainder of Galatians 5.13, “But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” #RandolphHarris 13 of 21

The moral law, rightly understood, does not squelch grace or abridge our freedom in Christ. God’s grace provides the only proper motive, as well as the only powerful motivation, to obey His commands. Our obedience, to be true obedience, must arise out of love for God and gratitude for His grace. The moral law of God gives direction to our love. If I truly desire to express my love to God, I need to know how to do that appropriately. Jesus gave us very simply directions (simple to understand, if not to practice): “If you love me, you will obey what I command,” reports John 14.15. Though the law gives direction, it provides no power to enable us to obey it. However, God, by delivering us from the reign of sin and the law, and bringing us unto His realm of grace, has provided the power in Christ and through His Spirit. So God by His grace has given us the right motive, the right rule of direction, and the needed power to live a life of love. Only when we understand these basic truths are we in a position to respond to Paul’s exhortation not to abuse our freedom, but instead, to serve one another in love. Here is a spiritual principle: We cannot exercise love unless we are experiencing grace. You cannot truly love others unless you are convinced that God’s love for you in unconditional, based solely on the merit of Christ, not on your performance. John said, “We love because we first loved us,” reports 1 John 4.19. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21

Our love, either to God or to others, can only be a response to His love for us. There are five words all beginning with the letter “L” that we need to keep in right relationship to one another. All five are either used or implied in Galatians 5.13-14. They are law, liberty, love, license, and legalism. (I have not used license up to now, and by that word I mean an abuse of our freedom in order to indulge our sinful nature.) We need to learn to live within the right relationships of law and love, law and liberty, and liberty and love. Only when we have those relationships in proper order will we avoid the traps of license on the one hand and legalism on the other. Grace keeps the law, love, and liberty in right relationship to one another. In one southern state, a narrow two-lane highway has been built through a swampland by building up the road bed above the swamp. You must be extra alert not to drift off the rod because there is no margin for error. If you go off the road, you do not end up on a grassy shoulder but rather submerged in a swamp. The built-up roadbed can also represent grace that allows you to drive safely through the swampland of legalism and license. When you focus on grace in the fullness of its meaning, you will keep the law, liberty, and love in their proper relationship to one another. However, if you focus on anyone of the instead of on grace, you will invariably end up in the swamp of legalism or license. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21

What do I mean by the phrase, “grace in the fullness of its meaning?” An expression often used in a pejorative sense is cheap grace. The term denotes an attitude that, since God’s grace is unconditional, I may live as I please; I may sin as much as I want because God will still love me and forgive me. That is the attitude of license. It results from focusing exclusively on liberty and denigrating God’s law. To counteract this sinful attitude, some of us in Christian ministry have fallen into legalism. We have taught, either directly or implicitly, that God’s grace is conditional, that there is a degree to which it is based on our performance. We have unduly focused on God’s law and disparaged liberty. However, the reality is that there is no such things as cheap grace. To us, the recipients, grace is not cheap; it is unconditionally free. However, grace is not cheap to God either. Although grace is part of essential nature of God, the extending of His grace to us cost Him the most expensive price every paid, the death of His own dear Son. So grace is never cheap. It is absolutely free to us, but infinitely expensive to God. That is what I mean by grace in the fullness of its meaning. Anyone who is prone to use grace as a license for irresponsible, sinful behaviour, surely does not appreciate the infinite price God paid to give of His grace. However, anyone who tends to use legalism as a hedge against license, just as surely forget that grace cannot be earned by our behaviour. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21

All of us need to diligently apply ourselves to learning to live under the reign of God’s transforming grace. Then love, liberty, and the law will take their proper places in our lives, and we will avoid the swamplands of both legalism and license. The Book of Jacob who is the Brother of Nephi—the words of his preaching unto his brethren. He confoundeth a person who seeketh to overthrow the doctrine of Christ. A few words concerning the history of the people of Nephi. Jacob and Joseph seek to persuade humans to believe in Christ and keep His comandments—Nephi dies—wickedness prevails among the Nephites. About 544-421 Before Christ. “For behold, it came to pass that fifty and five years had passed away from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem; wherefore, Nephi gave me, Jacob, a commandment concerning the small plates, upon which these things are engraven, And he gave me, Jacob, a commandment that I should write upon these plates a few of the things which I considered to be most precious; that I should not touch, save it were lightly, concerning the history of this people which are called the people of Nephi. For he said that the history of his people should be engraven upon his other plates, and that I should preserve these plates and hand them down unto my seed, from generation to generation. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21

“And if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people. For because of faith and great anxiety, it truly had been made manifest unto us concerning our people, what things should happen unto them. And we also had many revelations, and the spirit of much prophecy; wherefore, we knew of Christ and his kingdom, which should come. Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means one should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness. Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all humans not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all humans would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the World; wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfill the commandment of my brother Nephi. Now Nephi began to be old, and he saw that he must soon die; wherefore, he anointed a human to be a kind and a ruler over his people now, according to the reigns of the kings. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21

“The people having loved Nephi exceedingly, he having been a great protector for them, having wielded the sword of Laban in their defence, and having labored in all his days for their welfare—wherefore, the people were desirous to retain in remembrance his name. And whoso should reign in his stead were called by the people, second Nephi, third Nehip, and so forth, according to reigns of the kings; and thus they were called by the people, let them be of whatever name they would. And it came to pass that Nephi died. Now the people which were not Lamanites were Nephites; nevertheless, they were called Nephites, Jacobites, Josephites, Zoramites, Lamanites, Lemuelites, and Ishamaelites. However, I, Jacob, shall not hereafter distinguish them by these names, but I shall call them Lamanites that seek to destroy the people of Nephi, and those who are friendly to Nephi I shall call Nephites, or the people of Nephi, according to the reigns of the kings. And now it came to pass that the people of Nephi, under the reign of the second king, began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, such as like unto David of old desiring many wives and concubines, and also Solomon, his son. Yea, and they also began to search much gold and silver, and began to be lifted up somewhat in pride. Wherefore I, Jacob, gave into them these words as I taught them in the temple, having first obtained mine errand from the Lord. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21

“For I, Jacob, gave unto them these words as I taught them in the temple, having first obtained mine errand from the Lord. For I, Jacob, and my brother Joseph had been consecrated priests and teachers of this people, by the hand of Nephi. And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by labouring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day,” reports Jacob 1.1-19. May the oblation, O Lord, be of good effect, which I humbly offer to Thy Majesty for the welfare of your children; that their lives, amid prosperity and adversity, may everywhere be guided by Thy providence; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Lord Jesus, please give me to love Thee, to embrace Thee, though I once took lust and sin in my arms. Thou didst love me before I loved Thee, an enemy, a sinner, a loathsome work. Thou didst own me when I disclaimed myself; thou dost love me as a son, and weep over me as over Jerusalem. Love brought Thee from Heaven to Earth, from Earth to the cross, from the cross to the grace. Love caused Thee to be weary, hungry, tempted, scorned, scourged, buffeted, spat upon, crucified, and pierced. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21

Love led Thee to bow Thy head in death. My salvation is the point where perfect created love and the most perfect uncreated love meet together; for thou dost welcome me, not like Joseph and his brothers, loving and sorrowing, but loving and rejoicing. Thy love is not intermittent, cold, changeable; it does not cease or abate for all my enmity. Holiness is a spark from Thy love kindled to a flame in my heart by Thy Spirit, and so it ever turns to the place from which it comes. Let me see Thy love everywhere, not only in the cross, but in the fellowship of believers and in the World around me. When I feel the warmth of the Sun of righteousness with healing power. When I feel the tender rain may I think of the gospel showers that water my soul. When I walk by the river side may I praise thee for that stream that makes the eternal city glad, and washes white my robes that I may have the right to the tree of life. Thy infinite love is a mystery of mysteries, and my eternal rest lies in the eternal enjoyment of it. “You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed in God, and it was credited to hum as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend. You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone,” reports James 2.22-24. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21

Cresleigh Homes

Craving the perfect summer backyard, but not sure where to start? Check out today’s blog post for major backyard inspo! Link in bio. 👉 https://www.instagram.com/p/CAyfEnoARLB/https://www.instagram.com/p/CAyfEnoARLB/

Please be present, be present, Jesus, Good High Prisent, in the midst of us, as Thou wast in the midst of Thy disciples. Please sanctify this oblation. (If you are interested in a home, you can contact Cresleigh Homes Customer Care Department at 3001 Douglas Boulevard #110, Roseville, California 95661. You can fax it to this number: 916-781-6080. Or you can call 916-526-3642. When you move into you new home, everything should be in working order.)

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The Spirit of Liberty is the Spirit Which is Not too Sure that it is Right and Seeks to Understand Minds

May 27, 2020 11:28 pm

The great want which humankind labours under at this present moment is sleep. The World should recline its vast head on the first convenient pillow and take an age-long nap. Which is a more effective learning strategy: reward or punishment? This question is still undecided. At present, evidence for each side is about equal. The following guidelines, however, can be applied in teaching situations, especially those involving young children. In general, rewarding desired behaviours is more effective than punishing undesired behaviours—you can still catch more files with honey than with vinegar. If punishment is necessary, it is most effective if used immediately after the undesired response. For instance, if a child must be punished, it is best done right after the child has acted incorrectly. If one parents says to the child, “Just wait until your father (or mother) gets home—then, you will get it,” the child learns to fear the arrival of the punisher and, in the process, often forgets the offense for which he or she is being punished. If punishment must be used, the reason for the punishment should be explained. “I am only doing this for your own good,” or “This hurts me more than it does you,” is less likely to teach a child a specific behaviour than saying, “I am not letting you go to the movies because you socked your little brother. This hurts him and makes him cry, and I do not want you to do it again.” #RandolphHarris 1 of 23

If it is possible, combine reward and punishment. If necessary, punish the undesired behaviour, but also be sure to reward the desired behaviour. For example, do not just spank a child for playing in the street; also praise and reward the child for playing in the yard instead. Punish the undesired behaviour, not the behaver. For instance, communicate to a child that you feel his or her behaviour is “bad”—not that you think the child is bad. Most punishment do not work on very young children. Under about one year of age, children do not understand that some behaviours are acceptable and some are not and why this is so. They may think they are being punished just for being there, and more often than not they begin to associate the punisher with punishment. When you feel emotionally charged, especially if you are filled with rage, never, never, never punish a child. Adults often forget their own strength. Children are fragile and easily hurt. The only thing a child learns through abuse is hatred and fear. There is a great distinction between negative reinforcement and abusive punishment. In many cases, punishment only suppresses or limits the undesired behaviour; it does not really extinguish it. The self-actualized open to all qualified and eager seekers the mysteries and treasures of one’s own inner experience, that they may profit by one’s past struggles and present success. #RandolphHarris 2 of 23

The self-actualized brings revelations to meet our gropings, inspirations to meet our doubts. One becomes, for those docile enough to receive them, a bearer of grace and a vessel of truth, a bestower of comfort and a dispenser of confidence. Prophets and the self-actualized, teachers and saints receive the urge to share their knowledge and experience with others. Whence does this urge derive? Both lower and higher, personal and nonpersonal sources are possible. However, if from the highest, then we may say that God sends His messages to humankind through these channels. The self-actualized who starts a movement or puts one’s thoughts out, acts as a lighthouse which guides many a fumblings but aspiring soul. If one does not accept disciples individually it is because one serve humans otherwise. Those who try to get such acceptance and find themselves rebuffed may consider one selfish, cold, remote. However, they will be greatly mistaken. One can serve humankind—not each person separately but in groups or masses—and one may do this by lecturing, by writing or simply by directing one’s prayer in the appropriate way. For a writer’s books spread not only one’s ideas but also something of oneself. One can put thought on a high level but the way in which one does this depends upon one’s circumstances. #RandolphHarris 3 of 23

The self-actualized can put thought on a high level personally as a private teacher, impersonally as a public lecturer or writer, or anonymously as a proficient contemplative. All these people who have attained Reality inevitably leave a record for others or for posterity, but not necessarily with their name attached. Has anyone of the self-actualized ever vanished without leaving behind a trace of Power, knowledge, goodness, and inspiration? Even if not in words or deeds, something is left in the unseen atmosphere. They are not usually members of any sect, but circumstances or necessity may sometimes render it desirable that they be such. The self-actualized may or may not descend into the arena of action but if not one will still find ways and means to inspire, guide, or ennoble the actions of other people. One does this by teaching them and travelling among the, or by sitting still and meditating alone, or by disseminating writings among them. Even when one is unheard publicly one can help by the concentrated mind’s great power. One does what one can to introduce here and there into the consciousness of others, through whatever means one possesses, the seeds of higher ideas. These seeds may not grow and certainly may not fructify for many years, but that is not one’s affair. One knows that the vitality in these seeds and depth of mental ground in which they have been sown will inevitably lead to some result. It is enough. One has sown seed. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23

One does not have to wait for roots to form, stems to grow, fruits to appear. One’s work is done. In this momentous period the true self-actualized has special work to do in trying to protect the human race from its own folly. One way is intercessory prayer which may help to mitigate the effects of the World crisis. This requires solitude. It is an impersonal contemplation and must not be disturbed by those who break into it, either to unload their personal problems or to offer personal service which in the end has the same result. Yes, some of us are genuinely aware of the soul’s existence and intimately know its freedom and blessedness. Modesty has hitherto imposed silence upon us about the fact, although compassion induced us to break it on occasions. However, we mystics must now stand on our own dignity. It is time that the World, brough to its inevitable and by us expected materialistic dead-end, should realize at last that we are not talking out of our hats but out of a real and impeccable experience. It would be an unpardonable treachery to our duty in the final and terrible World-crisis of this materialistic age if, out of false modesty or fear of intimidation by a cynical society, we who daily feel and commune with the divine presence, who realize its tremendous importance for humanity’s present condition and future life, fail to testify to its existence and reality. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23

If today we venture to speak more freely and frequently, our ideas may drop into a few hospitable minds and sublimely penetrate their consciousness. It is not the self-actualizer’s function to tackle the Worldly problems which governments usually deal with: the social, political, economic, and technical ones. One’s particular work is concerned with, first, one’s ordinary duty of professional service through whatever skill one possesses to earn one’s livelihood, and second, making truth available. The mere existence of one who succeeds in identifying oneself with God benefits every sensitive person who meets one, even for a minute or two. Further, it inspires spiritual seekers who never get the chance to meet one but who hear favourably about one and respectfully receive what they hear. Finally, posterity benefits from the records left about one. Each teacher—if one is divinely commissioned—leaves a deposit of truth after he or she dies. The Master who leaves a record of one’s own climb, or a testimony to the goal’s existence, or a path pioneered for those who would follow, or an instructed disciple here and there, leaves something of oneself. Even where help may not directly and outwardly be given when difficult circumstances press on a human, it may yet be indirectly and inwardly given to one’s mind, which has to deal with, or endure, them. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23

One can awaken some persons to this divine presence within themselves, but not all. One may do this mysteriously by some unknown process, or one may do it deliberately and with the display of one’s technique. The abstract does not appeal to the masses, because it gives them nothing. However, an embodied human can be seen, heard, and touched, to that extent can be understood, to that extent one gives them something; one can be followed, admired, feared, reverenced, or worshipped. Secure as one is in one’s own peace of mind, it is inevitable that the more sensitive among those who meet one feel it too. However, those who come with hostility, personal or intellectual, will be avoided if possible or find their time cut to the shortest if not. Such a person has a catalytic action on the minds and even on the lives of those who come into sympathetic contact with one. Just by being oneself one makes the philosophic virtues real to others. One does not need to be conscious of a clearly defined mission before one sets about doing something for the enlightenment of others. There is always some means open to one, some little thing one can do to make this knowledge available or to set an example of right living. It is one’s duty to communicate what one feels there, what one finds there, to those who are excluded from it. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23

If at times, and with sympathetic auditors, one’s duty becomes one’s joy, at other times and with insensitive auditors it becomes one’s cross. Jesus exemplified this in His own history. The illuminate practices a wiser philanthropy than those who are presented as models of this virtue. One has no wish to take charge of anyone’s life or undertake the management of anyone’s affairs. One is not allowed by the code of ethics corresponding to one’s knowledge to make other people’s decisions for them. Hence one can say neither yes nor no to such highly personal questions. However, one can point out the consequences which are likely to follow in each case. Basically, people are just like children. They need attention. Sometimes people are really nervous when meeting people or dealing with new situations. And some of the troublemakers really just want your attention. The people-as-child analogy can be extended to cover sibling rivalry: You cannot play cards with just one person because the other people will get jealous. Think of unruly people just as you would think of a child and that will widen tolerance of them. If their needs are like those of a child, those needs are supposed to come first. The worker’s right to anger is correspondingly reduced; as an adult one must work to inhibit and suppress anger at children. #RandolphHarris 8 of 23

Should the analogy to children fail to induce the necessary deep acting, surface-acting strategies for handling “irate” can be brought into play. People are urged to “work” the customers name in, as in “Yes, Mr. Camdenski,” it is true construction of your new home is talking a little longer than expected.” This reminds the individual that he is not anonymous, that there is at least some pretension to a personal relation and that some emotion management is owed. Again, workers are told to use terms of empathy. Whatever happens, you are supposed to say, I know just how you feel. Lost your light fixture? I know just how you feel? Late for a walk though? I know just how you feel. Did not get that lot you were counting on? I know just how you feel. Employees reports that such expressions of empathy are useful in convincing people that they have misplaced the blame and misaimed their anger. Remember, to treat people like they are guests in your living room, and guests are to be made comfortable and their emotional outburst are expected to be met by support. Never get super angry with a customer, they are the source of revenue. Supervisors never speak officially of an obnoxious or outrageous customer, only of an uncontrolled customer. The term suggests that a fact has somehow attached itself to this customer—not that the customer has lost control or even had any control to lose. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23

Again, the common phrase “mishandled customer” suggests a bungle somewhere up the line, by someone destined to remain lost in the web of workers that stretched from curbside to architecture. By linguistically avoiding any attribution of blame, the idea of a right to be angry at the customer is smuggled out of discourse. Linguistically speaking, the customer never does anything wrong, so he or she cannot be blamed or made the object of anger. One time, a man was waiting for a special ordered light fixture, and one of the other home buyers sagged it and had it installed in her house. The builder responded by saying politely, “I notice this man’s light fixture was installed in your house.” The dirty deed was done, but, the implication was, by no one in particular. Such implicit reframing dulls a sense of cause of effect. It separates object from verb and verb from subject. The home buyer does not feel accused, and the builder does not feel as if he or she is accusing. Emotion work has been accomplished, but it has hidden its tracks with words. Company language is aimed not only at diffusing anger, but at minimizing fear. As in the case when a refrigerator was specially ordered and delivered to the wrong address. This was labeled an incident. The term incident calms the nerves. How could we be terrified at an incident? #RandolphHarris 10 of 23

Thus, the words that workers use and do not use help them avoid emotions inappropriate to a living room full of guest. Dealing with difficult people is part of the job. It makes us angry sometimes. And anger is part of stress. So that is why I would like to talk to you about being angry. I am not saying you should do this [work on your anger] for your corporation. I am not saying you should do it for the home buyers. I am saying do it for yourselves. The only question to be seriously discussed is “How do you rid yourself of anger?” From my experience in supervisory work I know that the problem of hopelessness is often not clearly envisaged by the analyst and hence not properly dealt with. Some of my colleagues have been so overwhelmed by the individual’s hopelessness—which they recognized but did not see as a problem—that they became hopeless themselves. This attitude is of course fatal to an analysis, for no matter how good the technique or how brave the effort, the individual senses that the analyst has really given him or her up. The same holds true outside the analytical situation. Nobody can be a constructively helpful friends or mate who does not believe in the possibility of the companion’s fulfilling one’s own potentialities. Sometimes colleagues have made the opposite mistake of not taking the individual’s hopelessness seriously enough. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23

They felt the individual needed encouragement and gave it—which is commendable, but quite insufficient. When this happens, the individual, even if one appreciates the analyst’s good intentions, is quite justified in being annoyed with one, since deep down one knows that one’s hopelessness is not just a mood that can be dissipated by well-meant encouragement. In order to take the bull by the horns and tackle the problem directly, it is necessary first to recognize from indirect indications like the ones cited above that the individual feels hopeless and the extent to which one feels so. Then it must be understood that one’s hopelessness is fully warranted by one’s entanglements. The analyst must realize and explicitly convey to the individual that one’s situation is hopeless only so long as the status quo persists and is regarded as unchangeable. In simplified form, the whole problem is illustrated by a scene from Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard. The family, faced with bankruptcy, are in despair at the thought of leaving their estate with its beloved cherry orchard. A man of affairs offers the sound suggestion that they build modest homes for rent on a part of the estate. With their hidebound views, they cannot countenance such a project, and since there is no other solution they remain without hope. They ask helplessly, as if they had not heard the suggestion, whether nobody can advise or help them. #RandolphHarris 12 of 23

If their mentor were a good analyst he would say: “Of course the situation is difficult. However, what makes it hopes is your own attitude toward it. If you would consider changing your claims on life there would be no need to feel hopeless.” The belief that the individual can really change, which means essentially that one can really resolve one’s conflicts, is the factor that determines whether or not the therapist dare to tackle the problem and whether one can do it with a reasonable chance of success. It is here that my differences with Dr. Freud come into clear relief. Dr. Freud’s psychology and the philosophy underlying it are essentially pessimistic. This is patent in his outlook on the future of humankind as well as in his attitude toward therapy. And on the basis of his theoretical premises, he cannot be anything but pessimistic. Humans are driven by instincts which at best are only to be modified by “sublimation.” His instinctual drives for satisfaction are inevitably frustrated by society. His “ego” is helplessly tossed about between instinctual drives and the “superego,” which itself can only be modified. The superego is primarily forbidding and destructive. True ideals do not exist. The wish for personal fulfillment is narcissistic. Humans are by nature destructive and a death instinct compels them either to destroy others or to suffer. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23

All these theories leave little room for an optimistic attitude toward change and limit the value of the potentially splendid therapy Dr. Freud originated. In contrast, I believe that compulsive trends in neuroses are not instinctual but spring from disturbed human relationships; that they can be changed when these improve and that conflicts of such origin can really be resolved. This does not mean that therapy based on the principles I advocate has no limitations. Much work remains to be done before we can clearly determine these limitations. However, it does mean that we have well-founded reasons for believing in the possibility of radical change. Why, then, is it so important to recognize and tackle an individual’s hopelessness? In the first place, this approach is of value in dealing with special problems like depression and suicidal tendencies. We can, it is true, lift an individual depression by merely uncovering the particular conflicts in which the person is caught at the time, without touching upon one’s general hopelessness. However, if we want to prevent recurring depressions it has to be tackled because it is the deeper source from which the depressions emanate. Nor can insidious chronic depression be coped with unless one goes to this original source. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23

The same hold true for suicidal conditions. We know that such factors as acute despair, defiance, and vindictiveness lead to suicidal impulses; but it is often too late to prevent suicide after the impulse has become manifest. By paying minute attention to the less dramatic signs of hopelessness and by taking up the problem with the patient at the proper time, it is probable that many suicides could be averted. It is not that collective talk determines the mood of the workers. Rather, the reverse is true: the needed mood determines the nature of the worker’s talk. To keep the collective mood stripped of any painful feelings, serious talk of death, divorce, politics, religion, and news is usually avoided. People want to forget about COVID-19 and feel safe in the modest castles, which they imagine to be in a storybook fairytale. On the other hand, when there is time for it, mutual morale raising is common. As one said: “When one sales agent is depressed, thinking, ‘I am ugly, what am I doing as a sales representative?’ other sales representatives, even without quite knowing what they are doing, try to cheer her up. They straighten her collar for her, to get her up and smiling again. I have done it too, and needed it done.” Once established, team solidarity can have two effect. It can improve morale and thus improve service. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23

However, team solidarity can also become the basis for sharing grudges against the homebuyers or the corporation. Perhaps it is the second possibility that manager meant to avoid wen in Recurrent Training they offered examples of “bad” social emotion management. One teacher cautioned her students: “When you are angry with a homebuyer, do not head for the galley to blow off steam with another sales representative.” In the galley, the second sales representative, instead of calming the angry worker down, may further rile him or her up; one may become an accomplice to the aggrieved worker. Then, as the instructor put it, “There will be two of you hot to trot.” The message is, when you angry, go to a trusted therapist who will calm you down. Consider calling him or her for a phone appoint so not to drive while angry. Even if you are not suicidal, but cannot afford a therapist, a suicide hotline may be worth trying out. Support for anger or a sense of grievance—regardless of what inspires it—is bad for service and bad for the corporation. Thus, the informal ways in which workers check on the legitimacy of a grievance or look for support in blowing off steam become points of entry for company suggestions. Corporations sometimes have Ghost-Buyers who occasionally Ghost-Buy a house, and there may be senior representative on the crew, the base supervisor, and the plainclothes company supervisors who occasionally monitor employee behaviour. #RandolphHarris 16 of 23

One homebuyer was asked to fill out a company-elicited passenger opinion poll and fill out a questionnaire, and the results were presented by letter to the workers. As one male sales representative, seven years with the corporation describes it: We get told how we are doing twice a year when we are sent homebuyer evaluations. They show how the builder is competing. Oh, the homebuyers are asked to rank sales representatives: “genuinely concerned, made me feel welcome. Spoke to me more than required. Wide awake, energetic, eager to help. Seemed sincere when talking to the potential homebuyers and confirmed homebuyers. Helped established a relaxed community atmosphere. Enjoying their jobs. Treated homebuyers as individuals.” We see how this builder is doing in the competition. We are supposed to really get into it. Supervision is thus more indirect than direct. It relies on the sales representative’s sense of what homebuyers will communicate to management, who will, in turn, communicate to workers. Supervisors do more than oversee workers. Even when people are paid to be nice at all times, and when their efforts succeed, it is a remarkable accomplishment. This is possible because of emotion work, feeling rules, and social exchange. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23

A profit motive is slipped in under acts of emotion management, under the rules that govern them, under the gift exchange. Who benefits now, and who pays? The lesson in deep acting—acting “as if the office is your home” and “as if this unruly homebuyer has a traumatic past”—are themselves a new development in deskilling. The mind of the emotion worker, the source of the ideas about what mental moves are needed to settle down an irate, has moved upstairs in the hierarchy so that the worker is restricted to implementing standard procedures. Of more general significance is the fact that the individual’s hopelessness constitutes a hindrance to the cure of any severe neurosis. We have to deal with a counterplay of meticulous and forward-moving forces, with resistance and incentive. Resistance is a collective term for all the forces within the individual that operate to maintain the status quo. One’s incentive, on the other hand, is produced by the constructive energy that urges one on toward inner freedom. This is the motive power with which we work and without which we could do nothing. It is the force that helps that individual overcome resistance. It makes one’s associations productive, there by giving the analyst a chance for better understanding. It gives one the inner strength to endure the inevitable pain of maturing. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23

It makes one willing to take the risk of abandoning attitudes that have given one a feeling of safety and to make the leap into the unknown of new attitudes toward oneself and others. The analyst cannot drag the individual through this process; the individual oneself must want to go. It is this invaluable force that is paralyzed by a condition of hopelessness. And in failing to recognize and tackle it the analyst deprives oneself of one’s best ally in the battle against the individual’s neurosis. The individual’s hopelessness is not a problem that can be solved by any single interpretation. There is already a substantial gain if, instead of being engulfed by a feeling of doom that one regards as unalterable, the individual begins to recognize it as a problem that may eventually be solved. This step liberates one sufficiently to go ahead. There will, of course, be ups and downs. One may feel optimistic, even overoptimistic, if one acquires some helpful insight, only to succumb to one’s hopelessness again as soon as one approaches a more upsetting one. Each time the matter must be tackled anew. However, the hold it has on the individual will relax as one realizes that one can really change. One’s incentive will grow accordingly. It may be limited, at the beginning of the analysis, to a mere wish to get rid of one’s most disturbing symptoms. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23

However, the incentive gains strength as the individual becomes increasingly aware of one’s shackles, and as one gets a taste of how it feels to be free. When we shall apprehend the meaning of life, we may discover that it provides its pre-self-actualized in such prodigies. The highest service one can render is in silent contemplation, which inspires so many aspiring souls to a higher life. This is the truth. If one is sensitive, reflective, and penetrative, the mere fact that these prophets, these light-bringers and way-showers have exited at all is enough to change a human’s life. Even if one does no more than open the human mind to its higher possibilities, one does enough. Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost—humans must pray and gain knowledge for themselves from the Holy Ghost. About 559-545 Before Christ. “And now, behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. However, behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts? Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of Angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of Angels save it were by the Holy Ghost? Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the word of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23

“Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark. For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do. Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do. And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of humans; for they will not search knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be. And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a human to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a human to pray, but teacheth one that one must not pray. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23

“However, behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform anything unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul,” reports 2 Nephi 32.1-9. Please send forth, O Lord, we beseech Thee, the Holy Spirit, to make these present offerings Thy Sacrament unto us, and purify our hearts for its reception. Privileges—O Lord God, please teach e to know that grace precedes, accompanies, and follows my salvation, that it sustains the redeemed soul, that not one link of its chain can ever break. From Calvary’s cross wave upon wave of grace reaches me, deals with my sin, washes me clean, renews my heart, strengthens my will, draws out my affection, kindles a flame in my soul, rules throughout my inner human, consecrates my every thought, word, work, teaches me Thy immeasurable love. How great are my privileges in Christ Jesus! Without him I stand far off, a stranger, an outcast; in him I draw near and touch his kingly sceptre. Without him I dare not lift up my guilt eyes; in him I gaze upon my Father-God and friend. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23

Without him I hide my lips in trembling shame; in him I open my mouth in petition and praise. Without him all is wrath and consuming fire; in him is all love, and the repose of my soul. Without him is gaping hell below me, and eternal anguish; in him its gates are barred to me by his precious blood. Without him darkness spreads its horrors in front; in him an eternity of glory is my boundless horizon. Without him all within me is terror and dismay, in him every accusation is charmed into joy and peace. Without him all things external call for my condemnation; in him they minister to my comfort, and are to be enjoyed with thanksgiving. Praise be to thee for grace, and for the unspeakable gift of Jesus. Although by the revelation of grace in this life we cannot know of God “what He is,” and thus are united to Him as to one unknown; still we know Him more fully according as many and more excellent of His effects are demonstrated to us, and according as we attribute to Him some things known by divine revelation, to which natural reason cannot reach, as, for instance, that God is Thee and One. For the images either received from sense in the natural order, or divinely formed in the imagination, we have so much more excellent intellectual knowledge, the stronger the intelligible light is in humans; and thus through revelation given by the images a fuller knowledge is received by the infusion of the divine light. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23

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May 7, 2020 2:00 am

The essence of our effort to see that every child has a chance must be to assure each an equal opportunity, not to become equal, but to become different—to realize whatever unique potential of body, mind and spirit he or she possess. Philosophers generally stipulate that a conception of justice should be held independently of particular social or historical circumstances, or practices, as a necessary condition for objectivity. In the effort to achieve this universality and objectivity, most modern philosophical accounts seek correct normative principles of social life by adopting a strategy of deriving such principles from a hypothetical starting point. Whether called the state of nature, the original position, the moral point of view, the ideal observer, and so on, this hypothetical starting point purportedly escapes the specificity of actual historical circumstances. The starting point aims to remove all natural and social contingency from human life, leaving only its formal and universal elements. Then political theorists can claim to derive the correct conception of the just social order from this universal and formal starting point. As we have seen, however, each account smuggles into the starting point substantive premises derived more or less directly from the theorist’s social circumstances. #RandolphHarris 1 of 19

The theory of the just social order which emerges, then, merely reflects in idealized and systematized form the actual structure of the society in which the theorist dwells. Thus, many writers argue that classic liberalism makes substantive assumptions about human nature (for example, that human beings are essentially acquisitive) which reflect the particular needs of an emergent bourgeois and capitalist social order. This presents us with a dilemma. If one cannot derive a substantive conception of justice from a formal starting point alone, then it appears inevitable that substantive theories must have substantive premises derived from particular social circumstances. Theories do not err in introducing substantive premises into the starting point, since this is logically necessary if they are to arrive at substantive conclusions. Rather, the error lies in presenting these substantive premises as ahistorical and thus claiming that the substantive conception applies across different social and historical circumstances. Most contemporary social theorists conclude from this that the philosophical ideal of a rationally grounded conception of justice independent of particular social circumstances is an unattainable or fanciful hope or scheme, and a dangerous one at that. #RandolphHarris 2 of 19

Many Marxists, for example, argue that the search for correct, rationally grounded, universal principles of justice is illusory. Each social formation has its own normative principles which arise from and serve to reproduce the particular social relations of that society. Juridical forms, and the principles of justice that govern them, are specific to modes of production. There is, moreover, no transhistocial conception of justice by which these social practices can be judged unjust. There can be no “justice in itself” independent of the particular economic forms and social relations which engender and embody particular economic forms and social relations which engender and embody particular conceptions and principles of justice. It follows that any claim to have a universal and objective theory of justice is necessarily ideological; it makes as disinterested truth what really expresses the interests and values of the dominant class. Similarly, many contemporary non-Marxist social scientists regard with scepticism the possibility of arriving at a normative conception of justice that is not a mere reflection of norms actually operative in a society. For much contemporary social science norms exist only as facts: One can give an account of the norms people actually adhere to and follow in a society. #RandolphHarris 3 of 19

One can show their social origins and give a functional account of how they contribute to the maintenance of social integration. No basis exists, however, for saying that some norms are right while others are not. Given the logical problem outlined above, the traditional philosophical search for a rationally grounded theory of justice appears to be illusory. Yet this conclusion leads to undesirable consequences. The thesis of the impossibility of a rationally grounded conception of justice that is more than a mere reflection of actual social circumstances implies the impossibility of rational social criticism. To criticize a set of social circumstances, and to judge them unjust, one should be able to take a sufficient distance from them that they no longer appear normal or inevitable. This seems to imply that one needs some means of transhistocial evaluation. Herbert Marcuse, was a German-American philosopher, sociologist, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory. He argued that the traditional appeal to normative universals like truth, beauty, freedom and justice serves just its critical function. The projection of universalistic ideas of what ought to be opens up possibilities for thinking, which otherwise would be conditioned by what actually exists. #RandolphHarris 4 of 19

The absence of such philosophical ideals creates the one-dimensional thinking characteristic of contemporary culture. Yet the appeal to universals is necessarily abstract. In the classical philosophical tradition while the motive for the development of an ideal conception of justice may have been critical, the outcome more often than not has been ineffectual. Reflection on the philosophic ideal of just society has most often served as a means of turning one’s back on the real social circumstances and retreating into rarified contemplation. A theory of justice is thus presented with a dilemma. It must provide a means of distancing social criticism from the concrete social conditions under evaluation. The tradition of philosophical criticism has found such a means of distancing only in a priori formal ideal. For a conception of justice to have any substance, however, it must be anchored in the particular social circumstances in which it exists and which it purports to evaluate, and hence be limited in application only to them. So the project of a properly critical theory of justice appears to be contradictory. It must develop a conception of justice independent of particular social circumstances, and yet at the same time derive from particular circumstances and be applicable only to them. I suggest that utilization of the ideal speech situation in what Habermas calls the “model of the suppression of generalizable interests” does just this. #RandolphHarris 5 of 19

Rationalization may be defined as self-deception by reasoning. The common idea that it s primarily used to justify oneself or to bring one’s motives and actions into accord with accepted ideologies is only valid up to a point; the implication there would be that persons living in the same civilization all rationalize along the same lines, whereas actually there is a wide range of individual differences in what is rationalized as well as in the methods employed. That this should be so is only natural if we view rationalization as one way of supporting neurotic attempts to create artificial harmony. In each of the planks of the defensive scaffolding built around the basic conflict, the process can be seen at work. The predominant attitude is strengthened by reasoning—factors that would bring the conflict into sight are either minimized or so remodeled as to fit in with it. How this self-deceptive reasoning assists the streamlining of the personality shows up when one contrasts the complaint type with the aggressive. The former ascribes one’s desire to be helpful to one’s sympathetic feelings, even though strong tendencies to dominate are present; and if these are too conspicuous one rationalizes them as solicitousness. The latter, when one is helpful, firmly denies any feeling of sympathy and lays one’s action entirely to expediency. #RandolphHarris 6 of 19

The idealized image always requires a good deal of rationalization for support: discrepancies between the actual self and the image must be reasoned out of existence. In externalizing, it is brought to bear to prove the relevance of outside circumstances or to show that the traits unacceptable to the individual oneself are merely a “natural” reaction to the behaviour of others. The tendency towards excessive self–control can be so strong that I at one tie counted it among the original neurotic trends. Its function is to serve as a dam against being flooded by contradictory emotions. Though in the beginning it is often an act of conscious will power, in time it usually becomes more or less automatic. Persons who exert such control will not allow themselves to be carried away, whether by enthusiasm, excitement in pleasures of the flesh, self-pity, or rage. In analysis they have the greatest difficulty in associating freely; they will not permit alcohol to lift their spirits and frequently prefer to endure pain rather than undergo anesthesia. In short, they seek to check all spontaneity. This trait is most strongly developed in individuals whose conflicts are fairly out in the open, those who have not taken either of the steps that ordinarily help to submerge the conflicts; clear predominance has not been given to one of the conflicting sets of attitudes, nor has sufficient detachment been developed to put the conflicts out of operations. #RandolphHarris 7 of 19

Such persons are held together merely by their idealized image; and apparently its binding power is insufficient when unaided by one or the other of the primary attempts at establishing inner unity. The image is particularly inadequate when it takes the form of a composite of contradictory elements. The exertion of will power then, consciously or unconsciously, is needed to keep the conflicting impulses under control. Since the most disruptive impulses are those of violence prompted by rage, the greatest degree of energy is directed toward the control of rage. Here a vicious circle is set in motion; the rage, by reason of being suppressed, attains explosive strength, which in turn requires still more self-control is brought to one’s attention one will defend it by pointing to the virtue and necessity of self-control for any civilized individual. What one overlooks is the compulsive nature of one’s control. One cannot help exerting it in he most rigid way and is seized by panic if for any reason it fails to function. The panic may appear as a fear of insanity, which clearly indicates that the function of the control is to ward off the danger of being split apart. Arbitrary rightness has the twofold function of eliminating doubt from within and influence from without. #RandolphHarris 8 of 19

Doubt and indecision are invariable concomitants of unresolved conflicts and can reach an intensity powerful enough to paralyze all action. In such a paralyzing state of doubt, a person is naturally susceptible to influence. When we have genuine convictions we will not be readily swayed; but if all out lives we stand at a crossroad, undecided whether to go in this direction or that, outside agencies can easily be the determining factors, if only temporarily. Moreover, indecision applies not only to possible courses of action but also includes doubts about one-self, one’s rights, one’s worth. All these uncertainties detract from our ability to cope with life. Apparently, however, they are not equally intolerable to everyone. The more a person sees life as a merciless battle, the more will one regard doubt as a dangerous weakness. The more isolated one is and insistent upon independence, the more will susceptibility to foreign influence be a source of irritation. All my observation points to the fact that a combination of predominant aggressive trends and detachment is the most fertile soil for the development of rigid rightness; and the nearer to the surface the aggression, the more militant the rightness. It constitutes an attempt to settle conflicts once and for all by declaring arbitrarily and stick and rigidly that one is invariably right. #RandolphHarris 9 of 19

In a system so governed by rationality, emotions are traitors from within and must be checked by unswerving control. Peace may be attained but it is the peace of the grave. As would be expected, such persona loathe the idea of analysis because it threatens to disarrange the tidy picture. Almost polar to rigid rightness, but likewise an effective defense against it the recognition of conflicts, is elusiveness. Patients inclined toward this kind of defense often resemble those characters in fairy tales who when pursued turn into fish (The Little Mermaid); if not safe in this guise, they turn into deer (Bambi); if the hunter catches up with them, they fly away as birds (Icarus). You can never pin them down to any statement; like Mitt Romney, they always deny having said it or assure you they did not mean it that way. Much like Bernie Sanders, they have a bewildering capacity to becloud issues. These people are also very similar to Hilary Clinton, in the sense that it is often impossible for them to give a concrete report of any incident; should they try to do so the listener is uncertain in the end just what really did happen. The same confusion reigns in their lives. Like Sarah Michelle Gellar (who is similar to Fallon on Dynasty) they are vicious one moment, sympathetic the next; at times overconsiderate, ruthlessly inconsiderate at others; domineering in some respects, self-effacing in others. #RandolphHarris 10 of 19

People who suffer from arbitrary rightness also reach out for a dominating partner, like we have seen Andrew Cuomo do with his relationship with the federal government, only to change to a “doormat,” then back to the former variety. After treating someone badly, they will be overcome by remorse, attempt to make amends, then feel like a “sucker” and turn to being abusive all over again. Nothing is quite real to them. The analyst may well find oneself confused, and, discouraged, feel there is no substance to work with. There one is mistaken. These are simply patients who have not succeeded in adopting the customary unifying procedures: they have not only failed to repress parts of their conflict, but they have established no definite idealized image. In a way they may be said to demonstrate the value of these attempts. For no matter how troublesome the consequences, persons who have so proceeded are better organized and not nearly so lost as the elusive type. On the other hand, the analyst would be equally mistaken were one to count on an easy job by virtue of the fact that the conflicts are visible and need not therefore be dragged out of hiding. #RandolphHarris 11 of 19

Nevertheless one will find oneself up against the patient’s aversion to any transparency, and this will tend to defeat one unless one oneself understands that this is the patient’s way of warding off any real insight. A final defense against the recognition of conflicts is cynicism, the denying and deriding of moral values. A deep-seated uncertainty in respect to moral values is bound to be present in every neurosis, no matter how strict and rigidly the person adheres to the particular aspects of one’s standards that are acceptable to one. While the genesis of cynicism varies, its function invariably is to deny the existence of moral values, thereby relieving the neurotic of the necessity of making clear to oneself what it is one actually believes in. Cynicism can be conscious, and then become a principle in the Machiavellian tradition and be so defended. All that counts is appearance. You can do as you please as long as you do not get caught. Everyone is a hypocrite who is not fundamentally stupid. This kind of patient may be as sensitive to the analyst’s using the term moral, regardless of the context, as those of Dr. Freud’s time were to the mention of pleasures of the flesh. However, cynicism may also remain unconscious and be concealed by lip service to the prevalent ideologies. #RandolphHarris 12 of 19

Unaware though one may be of the hold one’s cynicism has upon one, the way one lives and the way one talks about one’s life will reveal that one acts upon its principles. Or one may involve oneself unwittingly in contradictions, like the patient who was sure one believed in honesty and decency yet was envious of anyone who indulged in crooked maneuvers and resented the fact that one oneself never “got away” with that kind of thing. In therapy it is important to being the patient’s cynicism to full awareness at the proper time and help one to understand it. It may also be necessary to explain why it is desirable for one to establish one’s own set of moral values. The foregoing, then, are the defenses built around the nucleus of the basic conflict. For simplicity I shall refer to the whole system of defenses as the protective structure. A combination of defenses is developed in every neurosis; often all of them are present, though in varying degrees of activity. To change governing ideas, whether the individual or the group, is one of the most difficult and painful things in human life. Genuine “conversation” is a wrenching experience. It rarely happens to the individual or group expect in the form of divine intervention, revolution, or something very like a mental breakdown. It can cause deep and permanent damage to the most intimate of relationships, as Jesus forewarned. #RandolphHarris 13 of 19

“Do you think I came to bring peace on Earth? No, I will you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law,” reports Luke 12.51-53. In fact, we are now undergoing an ever more profound change than in the sixties, though it is less noisy, with the emergence of mass “spirituality” at the end of the twentieth century. This change is the equivalent of a “soul Earthquake” that leaves nothing unshaken and many individuals hurt or destroyed. From one essential perspective, of course, Jesus himself confronted and undermined an idea system and its culture, which in turn killed him. He proved himself greater than any idea system or culture, however, and lives on. He is continuing the process of a Worldwide idea shift that is crucial to his perpetual revolution, in which we each are assigned a part. The Lord’s vineyard (Israel) will become desolate, and His people will be scattered-woes will come upon them in their apostate and scattered state—the Lord will lift an ensign and gather Israel—Compare Isaiah 5. About 559-545 Before Christ. #RandolphHarris 14 of 19

“And then will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved, touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine-press therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes it brought forth wild grapes. And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard—I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down; and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant; and he looked for judgment, and behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold, a cry. Wo unto them that join house to house, till there can be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the Earth! #RandolphHarris 15 of 19

“In mine ears, said the Lord of Hosts, of a truth many houses shall be desolate, and great and fair cities without inhabitant. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephan. Wo unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, that continue until night, and wine inflame them! And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, either consider the operation of one’s hands. Therefore, my people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge; and their honourable people are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore, hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure; and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and one that rejoiceth, shall descend into it. And the mean person shall be brought down, and the mighty person shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled. However, the Lord of Hosts shall be exalted in judgement, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Then shall the lambs feed after their manners, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. We unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope; that say: Let one make speed, hasten one’s work, that we may see it; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it. #RandolphHarris 16 of 19

“We unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Wo unto the wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight! Wo unto the mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink; who justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from one! Therefore, as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, their root shall be rottenness, and their blossoms shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of Hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. Thereofre, is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched forth his hand against them, and hath smitten them; and the hills did tremble, and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out. And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the Earth; and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly; none shall be weary nor stumble among them. None shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken; whose arrows shall be sharp, and all their bows bent, and their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind, their roaring like a lion. #RandolphHarris 17 of 19

“They shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry away safe, and none shall deliver. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if they look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the Heavens thereof,” reports 2 Nephi 15.1-30. I intreat Thee, O Lord, holy Father, everlasting God, command the way of Thy truth and of the knowledge of Thee to be shown to Thy servants who wander in doubt and uncertainty amid the darkness of this World; that the eyes of their souls may be opened, and they may acknowledge Thee, the One God, the Father in the Son, and the Son in the Father, with the Holy Spirit, and enjoy the fruit of this confession, both here and in the World to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord. One seeks no power over others, no claim to rulership over their lives, no disciples of one’s own, no train of followers clinging to one’s coat-tails. Yet one will not refrain from helping where such help is imperative, nor from giving counsel where the young, the inexperienced, the bewildered seekers have desperate need of it. However, the moment after one will appear to have forgotten what one has done, so gracious is one’s delicacy, so strong one’s desires to leave others quite free and unobligated. I pray Heaven to bestow the best blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise people rule under this roof. #RandolphHarris 18 of 19

O Lord, whose power is infinite and wisdom infallible, other things that they may neither hinder, nor discourage me, nor prove obstacles to the progress of Thy cause; stand between me and all strife, that no evil befall, no sin corrupt my gifts, zeal, attainments; may I follow duty and not any foolish device of my own; permit me not to labour at work which thou wilt not bless, that I may serve Thee without disgrace or debt; let me dwell in Thy most secret place under Thy shadow, where is safe impenetrable protection from the arrow that flieth by day, the pestilence that walketh in darkness, the strife of tongues, the malice of ill-will, the hurt of unkind talk, the snares of company, the perils of youth, the temptations of middle life, the mournings of old ages, the fear of death. I am entirely dependent upon Thee for support, counsel, consolation. Uphold me by Thy free Spirit, and may I not think it enough to be preserved from falling, but may I always go forward, always abounding in the work Thou givest me to do. Strengthen me by Thy Spirit in my inner self for every purpose of my Christian life. All my jewels I give to the shadow of the safety that is in Thee—my name anew in Christ, my body, soul talents, character, my success, wife, children, friends, work, my present, my future, my end. Take them, they are thine, and I am thine, now and forever. #RandolphHarris 19 of 19

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I Begin to Suspect that a Human’s Bewilderment is the Measure of One’s Wisdom!

April 28, 2020 12:36 am

I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that one cannot have a chicken in one’s pot every Sunday. Kindness out off until tomorrow may become only a bitter regret. Hegemony is the power or dominance that one social group holds over others. This can refer to the “asymmetrical interdependence” of political-economic-cultural relations between and among nation-states or differences between and among social classes within a nation. However, hegemony is ore than social power itself; it is a method for gaining and maintaining power. Historically, economic position is the strongest predictor of social differences. However, technological developments in the twenty-first century also have made the manner of social domination much more complex than before. Social class differences in today’s World are not determined solely or directly by economic factors. Ideological influence is crucial now n the exercise of social power. Society’s super structure, its ideology-producing institutions, in struggles over meaning and power have created a shift in critical theory and has this made away from a preoccupation with capitalist society’s base (its economic foundation) and towards its dominant dispensaries of ideas. Attention has been given to the structuring of authority and dependence in symbolic environments that correspond to, but are not the same as, economically determined class-based structures and process of industrial production. #RandolphHarris 1 of 20

Such a theoretical turn seems a natural and necessary development in an era when a communication technology is such a pervasive and potent ideological medium. Hegemony is used by the mass media as tools that ruling elites use to perpetuate their power, wealth and status [by popularizing] their own philosophy, culture and morality. The mass media uniquely introduce elements into individual consciousness that would not otherwise appears there, but will not be rejected by consciousness because they are so commonly shared in the cultural community. Owners and managers of media industries can produce and reproduce the content, inflections, and tones of ideas favourable to them far more easily than other social groups because they manage key socializing institutions, thereby guaranteeing that their points of view are constantly and attractively cast into public arena. Mass-mediated ideologies are corroborated and strengthened by an interlocking system of efficacious information-distributing agencies and taken-for-granted social practices that permeate every aspect social and cultural reality. The person who lets oneself be warmed by Sunshine will be able to radiate some of its effect to others. However, they ought not to claim in consequence that one is the Sun! One is not the originator of those effects but only their mediator. #RandolphHarris 2 of 20

Messages supportive of the status quo emanating from schools, businesses, political organizations, trade unions, religious groups, the military, and the mass media all dovetail together ideologically. This inter-articulating, mutually reinforcing process of ideological influence in the essence of influence in the essence of hegemony. Society’s most entrenched and powerful institutions—which all depend in one way or another on the same sources for economic support—fundamentally agree with each other ideologically. Hegemony is a not direct stimulation of thought or action, but, is a framing [of] all competing definitions of reality within [the dominant class’s] range, bringing all alternatives within their horizons of thought. [The dominant class] sets the limits—mental and structural—within which subordinate classes live and make sense of their subordination in such a way as to sustain the dominance of those ruling over them. Similarly, the most potent effect of mass media is how they subtly influence their audiences to perceive social roles and routine personal activities. However, the ocean does not rise any higher when streams flow into it, so the true master does not swell with pride when many disciples attach themselves to one. One takes it as a matter of natural course; for one knows that they come to seek out the true Light, not merely one’s body. #RandolphHarris 3 of 20

Humility will not let a person teach others until one knows oneself what one tries to teach them. The controlling economic forces in society use the mass media to provide a rhetoric [through] which these [concepts] are labeled, evaluated, and explained. Television commercials, for example, encourage audiences to think of themselves as markets rather than as a public, as consumers rather than citizens. I trust I have made it clear that over the years I have moved a long way from some of the beliefs with which I started: that humans were essentially evil; that professionally they were best treated as objects; that help was based on expertise; that the expert could advise, manipulate, and mold the individual to produce the desired result. Let me, in contrast, try to summarize the learnings in which I currently believe and by which I would like to live. As I have indicated, I frequently fail to profit by these learnings, failing many times in small ways and occasionally in enormous blunders. I will list the learnings, not in order in which they occurred in me but in what appears to be a more natural order. I have come to prize each emerging facet of my experience, of myself. I would like to treasure the feelings of anger and tenderness and shame and hurt and love and anxiety and giving and fear—all the beneficial and negative reactions that crop up. #RandolphHarris 4 of 20

Patiently and perseveringly, the true teacher established in oneself awareness of the truth before offering to lead it into others. I would like to treasure the idea that emerge—foolish, creative, bizarre, sound, trivial—all part of me. I like the behavioural impulses—appropriate, crazy, achievement-oriented, those that deal with pleasures of the flesh, and aggressiveness. I want to accept all of these feelings, ideas, and impulses as an enriching part of me. I do not expect to act on all of them, but when I accept all of them, I can be more real; my behaviour, therefore, will be much more appropriate to the immediate situation. One who is to act as a guide to others should oneself have reached the goal toward which one proposes to lead them. If the faith of such a person stimulates those who receive one’s message, they in turn stimulate one’s own. If they feel inspired by the contact with it, one feels awed and humbled by its power over them. Only that person who has overcome the lower nature oneself can help others to overcome it in their turn. The capacity to receive truth is one thing; the power to communicate it to other people is another. Moreover, only one who has oneself lived near to our own experiences of the quest, our own falls and slips and tumbles, who oneself remembers how one struggled step by step along it to reach one’s present height, can best help those one has left far behind one. #RandolphHarris 5 of 20

On the basis of my experience I have found that if I can help bring about a climate marked by genuineness, prizing, and understanding, then exciting things happen. Persons and groups in such a climate move away from rigidity and toward flexibility, away from static living toward process living, away from dependence toward autonomy, away from defensiveness toward self-acceptance, away from being predictable toward an unpredictable creativity. They exhibit living proof of an actualizing tendency. Only one who has securely established one’s own realization can safely guide to others to theirs. Automatic progress on the quest can be guaranteed by nobody. Like all human enterprises it is subject to ups and downs. One who is unhappy in oneself, or whose home is discordant and unhappy, can show the way to happiness only out of intellect, not out of experience. If one’s counsel is to be effective enough to help others, it must spring from a mind which has faced and resolved the same problems within itself. However, it need not necessarily have done so in external conduct. It may have done so in imagination or in intellect only. The quality of the mind will measure the value of such a course. However, hegemony does not mature strictly from ideological articulation. #RandolphHarris 6 of 20

Dominant ideological streams must be subsequently reproduced in the activities of our most basic social units—families, workplace, networks, and friendship group in the many sties and undertakings of everyday life. Hegemony connects ideological representations to culture. Hegemony requires that ideological assertions become self-evident cultural assumptions. Its effectiveness depends on subordinated peoples accepting he dominant ideology as normal reality or common sense…in active forms of experience and consciousness. Because information and entertainment technology is so thoroughly integrated into the everyday realities of modern societies, mass media’s social influence is not always recognized, discussed, or criticized, particularly in societies where the overall standard of living is relatively high. Hegemony, therefore, can easily go undetected. Hegemony implies a willing agreement by people to be governed by principles, rules, and laws they believe operate in their best interests, even though in actual practice they may not. Social consent can be a more effective means of control than coercion or force. The idea of hegemony, in its wide sense, is especially important in societies [where] electoral politics and public opinion are significant factors, and in which social practice is seen to depend on consent to certain dominant ideas which in fact express the needs of a dominant class. #RandolphHarris 7 of 20

Thus, one class exercises hegemony to the extent that the dominating class has interest which the subaltern classes recognize as being in some degree their interests too. Still, the true teacher assists one’s disciples to find their own spiritual feet so that they can walk increasingly without leaning on one or anyone else. It is the duty of an honest disinterested spiritual guide to point out to one’s followers that their dependence on one is a weakness to be overcome, but a virtue to be cultivated. The false teacher, seeking to profit in some way by the situation, makes them utterly dependent on one. The true teacher seeks to bring one’s disciples to learn how to guide themselves. So one patiently explains and willingly discusses one’s own counsel where the false teacher leaves it wrapped in obscurity and involvement. The true guide directs them continually toward that place where in the end they must realize the truth—within themselves—for there is its only source. One is a proper guide who gives each disciple a chance to develop according to one’s own individuality and does not try to make one a copy of the guide. However, such a tutor is rare, and would not even call anyone “my disciple.” Just as the ego-led teachers seek publicity so the egoless teachers seek anonymity. #RandolphHarris 8 of 20

When I am exposed to a growth-promoting climate, I am able to develop a deep trust in myself, in individuals, and in entire groups. I love to create such an environment, in which persons, groups, and even plants can grow. I have learned that in any significant or continuing relationship, persistent feelings had best be expressed. If they are expressed as feelings, owned by me, the result may be temporarily upsetting but ultimately far more rewarding than any attempt to deny or conceal them. I have found that for me interpersonal relationships best exist as a rhythm: openness and expression, and hen assimilation; flow and change, then a temporary quiet; risk and anxiety, then temporary security. I could not live in a continuous encounter group. A true teacher will practise the utmost self-abnegation and will seek and work for the day when one’s influence or interference are brought down to nothing. The ordinary kind of guru points to oneself, one’s necessity and importance; but the rare kind points away from oneself, o the seeker’s own higher self, its reality and availability. It is only the half-baked, half-finished masters who have this craving for power over others, whose little egos need a following of adorning disciples. #RandolphHarris 9 of 20

The fully developed ones—and they are quite rare—remain unaffected but not indifferent. For they recognize in each person who comes to them a heeding of the inner call, a response to the pulling power of their own divine Source. One desires not to win disciples but to lose them! One wants them to seek and follow not mortal humans but the light that burns serenely within their own hearts. For me, being transparently open is far more rewarding than being defensive. This is difficult to achieve, even partially, but enormously enriching to a relationship. It is necessary for me to stay close to the Earthiness of real experience. I cannot live my life in abstractions. So real relationships with persons, hands dirtied in the soil, observing the budding of a flower, or viewing the Sunset, are necessary to my life. At least one foot must be in the soil of reality. I like my life best when it faces outward most of the time. I prize the times when I am inward-looking—searching to know myself, meditating, and thinking. However, this must be balanced by doing things—interacting with people, producing something, whether a flower or a book or a piece of carpentry. I have a deep belief, which can only be a hypothesis, that the philosophy of interpersonal relationships which I have helped to formulate, and which is contained in this paper, is applicable to all situations involving persons. #RandolphHarris 10 of 20

I believe it is applicable to therapy, to marriage, to parent and child, to teacher and student, to persons with high status and those with low status, to persons of one race to person relating to persons of another to promise nothing as a gift but emphasize how necessary it is to apply the teachings to their personal lives honestly and continuously. If the true master imposes no obligations towards oneself on those one helps and demands no rewards from them, this is because one wishes to retain one’s freedom, one’s independence, one’s detachment as much as it is because one gives out of compassion and goodness. The person wo can sometimes make other people aware—however momentarily—of their divinity is a true master. The guide will not only point out the way to spiritual maturity but also will encourage the pupil to follow it. One seeks no other recompense than your loyalty, no better payment that your faith, no superior satisfaction than your own spiritual progress. I am even brash enough to believe that it could be effective in situation now dominated by the exercise of raw power—in politics, for example, especially in our dealings with other nations. I challenge, with all the strength I possess, the current American belief, evident in every phase of our foreign policy, and especially in our insane wars, that might make right. #RandolphHarris 11 of 20

That, in my estimation, is the road to self-destruction. One who imposes oneself has the small, manifest might; one who does not impose oneself has the great, secret might. The mark of real depth is the road of simplicity. If you should say, “This is too profound for me; I cannot grasp it,” you are self-deceptive. For you ought to know that nothing of real importance is too profound for anyone. It is not because it is too profound, but rather because it is too uncomfortable, that you shy away from the truth. Let us not confuse the sophisticated things with the deep things of life. The sophisticated things do not concern us ultimately and it does not matter whether we understand them or not. However, the deep things must concern us always, because it matters infinitely whether we are grasped by them or not. There is a more serious fact about the road to the depth which can be used as an excuse by those who wish to avoid it. The depth in religious language is often used to express the dwelling place of the evil forces, of the daemonic powers, of death and hell. Is not the road into the depth a road into the realm which is controlled by these forces? Are there not the elements of destructiveness and morbidity in the longing for depth? When an American friend of mine expressed to a group of German refugees his admiration of the German depth, we asked ourselves whether we could accept that praise. #RandolphHarris 12 of 20

Was not that depth the soil out of which the most daemonic forces of modern history sprang? Was not that depth a morbid and destructive depth? Let me answer these questions by telling you and old and beautiful myth: when the soul leaves the body, it must pass over many spheres were daemonic forces rule; and only the soul that knows the right and powerful word can continue its way to the ultimate depth of the Divine Ground. No soul can avoid these tests. If we consider the battles of the saints of all times, of the prophets and the reformers, and of the great creators in all realms, we can recognize the truth of that myth. Everyone has to face the deep things of life. That there is danger is no excuse. The danger must be conquered by knowledge of this liberating word. The German people and many people in all nations did not know the word, and therefore, missing the ultimate and saving depth, were caught by the evil forces of the depth. There is no excuse which permits us to avoid the depth of truth, the only way to which lies through the depth of suffering. Whether the suffering comes from outside and we take it upon ourselves as the road to the depth, or whether it can be chosen voluntarily as the only way to deep things; whether it be the way of humility, or the way of the revolution; whether the Cross be internal, or whether it be external, the road runs contrary to the way we formerly lived and thought. #RandolphHarris 13 of 20

That is why Isaiah praises Israel, the Servant of God, in the depths of its suffering; and why Jesus calls those blessed who are in the depth of sorrow and persecution, of hunger and thirst in both body and spirit; and why He demands the loss of our lives for the sake of our lives. That is why two great revolutionaries, Thomas Muenzer of the sixteenth century and Karl Marx of the nineteenth century, speak in similar terms of the vocation of those who stand at the limit of humanity—in the depths of emptiness, as Muenzer calls it; in the depth of inhumanity, as Marx calls it—those of the proletariat to whom they pointed as the bearers of saving future. And as it is in our lives, so it is in our thought; every element seems to be reversed. Religion and Christianity have often been accused of an irrational and paradoxical character. Certainly much stupidity, superstition and fanaticism have been connected with them. The command to sacrifice one’s intellect is more demonic than divine. For if humans cease to be an intellect, humans cease to be human. However, the depth of sacrifice, of suffering, and the Cross is demanded of our thinking. Every step into the depth of thought is a breaking away from the surface of former thoughts. When this breaking away occurred in men like Paul, Augustine and Luther, such extreme suffering was involved that it was experienced as death and hell. #RandolphHarris 14 of 20

However, they accepted such suffering as the road to the deep things of God, as the spiritual way, as the way to truth. They expressed the truth they envisioned in spiritual words—that is, in words which were contrary to all surface reasoning, but harmonious with the depth of reason, which is divine. The paradoxical language of religion reveals the way to the truth as a way to the depth, and therefore as a way of suffering and sacrifice. One alone who is willing to go that way is able to understand the paradoxes of religion. The last thing I was to say about the way to the depth concerns one of these paradoxes. The end of the way is joy. And joy is deeper than suffering. It is ultimate. Let me express this in the words of a person, who, in passionate striving for the depth, was caught by destructive forces and did not know the word to conquer them. Friedrich Nietzsche writes: “The World is deep, and deeper than the day could read. Deep is its woe. Joy deeper still than grief can be. Woe says: Hence, go! But joy wants all eternity, want deep, profound eternity.” Eternal joys is the end of the ways of God. This is the message of all religions. The Kingdom of God is peace and joy. This is the message of Christianity. However, eternal joy s not to be reached by living on the surface. It is rather attained by breaking through the surface, by penetrating the deep things of ourselves, of our World and God. #RandolphHarris 15 of 20

The moment in which we reach the last depth of our lives is the moment in which we can experience the joy that has eternity within it, the hope that cannot be destroyed, and the truth on which life and death are built. For in the depth is truth; and in the depth is hope; and in the depth is joy. Jacob continues reading from Isaiah: In the last days, the Lord will comfort Zion and gather Israel—the redeemed will come to Zion and great joy—compare Isaiah 51 and 52:1-2. About 559-545 Before Christ. “Hearken unto me, ye that follow after righteousness. Look unto the rock from whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham, your father, and unto Sarah, she that bare you; for I called him alone, and blessed him. For the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody. Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation; for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light for the people. My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arm shall judge the people. The isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes to the Heavens, and look upon the Earth beneath; for the Heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the Earth shall wax old like a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. #RandolphHarris 16 of 20

“However, my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart I have written my law, fear ye not the reproach of people, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool. However, my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation. Awake, awake! Put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake as in the ancient days. Art thou not one that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? Art thou not he who hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Therefore, the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy and holiness shall be upon their heads; and they shall obtain gladness and joy; sorrow and mouring shall flee away. I am he; yea, I am he that comforteth you. Behold, who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of man, who shall die, and of the son of man, who shall be made like unto grass? And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the Heavens, and laid the foundations of the Earth, and hast feared continually every day, because of the furry of the oppressor, as if one were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor? #RandolphHarris 17 of 20

“The captive exile hasteneth, that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the spit, nor that his bread should fail. However, I am the Lord thy God, whose waves roared; the Lord of Hosts in my name. And I have put my words in thy mouth, and have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the Heavens and lay the foundations of the Earth, and say unto Zion: Behold, thou art my people. Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord he cup of his fury—thou has drunken the dregs of the cup of trembling wrung out—and none to guide her among all the sons she hath brought forth; neither that taketh her by the hand, of al the sons she hath brought up. These two sons are come unto thee, who shall be sorry for thee—they desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword—and by whom shall I comfort thee? Thy sons have fainted, save these two; they lie at the head of all the streets; as a wild bull in a net, they are full of the fury of the Lord, the rebuke of God. Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, and not with wine: Thus saith thy Lord, the Lord and thy God pleadeth the cause of his people; behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again. #RandolphHarris 18 of 20

“However, I will put it into the hands of them that afflict thee; who have said to thy soul: Bow down, that we may go over—and thou hast laid thy body as the ground and as the street to them that went over. Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion,” 2 Nephi 8.1.25. My Father, if Thy mercy had bounds, where would be my refuge from just wrath? However, Thy love in Christ is without measure. Thus, I present myself to Thee with sins of commission and omission, against Thee, my Father, against Thee, adorable redeemer, against Thee and Thy strivings, O Holy Spirit, against the dictates of my conscience, against the precepts of Thy word, against my neighbours and myself. Enter not into judgment with me, for I plead no righteousness of my own, and have no clock of iniquity. Pardon my day dark with evil. This is night I renew my patience. Every morning I vow to love Thee more fervently, to serve Thee more sincerely, to be more devoted in my life, to be wholly thine; yet I soon stumble, backslide, and have to confess my weakness, misery and sin. #RandolphHarris 19 of 20

However, I bless Thee that the finished work of Jesus needs no addiction from my doings, that His oblation is sufficient satisfaction for my sins. If future days be mine, help me to amend my life, to hate and abhor evil, to flee the sins I confess. Make me more resolute, more watchful, more prayerful. Let no evil fruit spring from evil seeds my hands have sown; let no neighbour be hardened in vanity and folly by my want of circumspection. If this day I have been ashamed of Christ and his word, or have shown unkindness, malice, envy, lack of love, unadvised speech, hasty temper, let it be no stumbling black to others, or dishonor to Thy name. O help me to set an upright example that will ever rebuke vice, allure to goodness, and evidence that lovely are the ways of Christ. Sovereign Lord, our God, Almight, Who willest that all people should be saved, and come to a knowledge of the truth; Who desirest not the death of a sinner, but rather that one should be converted and live; we pray and beseech Thee, loose the soul of this Thy servant from every bound, and free it from every cruse. For Thou art He that loosest the fettered, and raisest up the crushed, O Thou Hope of the hopeless! Command, therefore, O Lord, that the soul of Thy servant be released in peace, and go to rest in Thine eternal tabernacles with all Thy Saints, through Thine Only-begotten Son; with Whom, and with Thy Holy and life-giving Spirit, Thou art blessed now and ever, and unto ages of ages. #RandolphHarris 20 of 20

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Randolph Harris II International Institute

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