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Redemption Sparkles and Will Mingle Kindly with the Meadow Air!
When a person points a finger at someone else, one should remember that four of one’s fingers are pointing at oneself. I have never met anyone who believed in democracy. I have met many who prefer it to any other form of government and who are willing to die for it. I have met many who are willing to abide by majority opinion, but I have never met anyone who believed in mass judgment. That is what democracy is. Also, it seems, indeed, that there are two behaviour patterns that might have been genetically programmed through hunting behaviour: cooperation and sharing. Cooperation between members of the same band was a practical necessity for most hunting societies; so was the sharing of food. Since meat is perishable in most climates except that of the Arctic, it could not be preserved. Luck in hunting was not equally divided among all hunters; hence the practical outcome was that those who had luck today would share their food with those who would be lucky tomorrow. Assuming hunting behaviour led to genetic changes, the conclusions would be that modern humans have an innate impulse for cooperation and sharing, rather than for killing and cruelty. #RandolphHarris 1 of 26
Unfortunately, humanity’s record of cooperation and sharing is rather spotty, as the history of civilization shows. One might explain this by the fact that hunting life did not produce genetic changes, or that the impulses for sharing and cooperation have become deeply repressed in cultures whose organization discouraged these virtues and instead encourages ruthless egotism. Nevertheless, one might still speculate whether the tendency to cooperate and to share which we find in many societies today outside of the modern industrialized World do not point to the innate character of these impulses. In fact, even in modern warfare, in which the soldier by and large does not feel much hate against one’s enemy, and only exceptionally indulges in cruelty, we find a remarkable degree of cooperation and sharing. While in civilian life most people do not risk their lives to save another human’s life or share their food with others, in war this is a daily occurrence. Perhaps one might even go further and suggest that one of the factors which make war attractive is precisely the possibility of practising deeply buried human impulses which our society when at peace, considering—in fact, although not ideologically—to be foolish. #RandolphHarris 2 of 26
Modern society, with its almost limitless readiness for destruction of human lives for political and economic ends, can best defend itself against the elementary human question of its right to do so by the assumption that destructiveness and cruelty are not engendered by our social system, but are innate qualities in humans. Fortunately, our knowledge of hunting behaviour is not restricted to speculations; there is a considerable body of information about still existing primitive hunters and food gatherers to demonstrate that hunting is not conducive to destructiveness and cruelty, and that primitive hunters are relatively unaggressive when compared to their civilized brothers. There are certain direct data on the life of the prehistoric hunter to be found in animal cults which point to the fact that they lacked the alleged innate destructiveness. The cave paintings associated with the life of prehistoric hunters did not exhibit any fighting between humans. Colin Turnbull, a specialist in this study, has reported: “In the two groups known to me, there is almost total lack of aggression, emotional or physical, and this is borne out by the lack of warfare, feuding, witchcraft, and sorcery. #RandolphHarris 3 of 26
“I am also not convinced that hunting is itself an aggressive activity. This is something that one must see in order to realize; the act of hunting is not carried out in an aggressive spirit at all. Due to the consciousness of depleting natural resources, there is actually a regret at killing life. In some cases, this killing may even bear an element of compassion. My experience with hunters has shown them to be very gentle people, and while it is certainly true that they lead extremely hard lives, this is not the same thing as being aggressive.” The most obvious and probably most crucial characteristic of the hunting-gathering societies is their nomadism, required by the foraging economy which leads to loose integration of families into a “band” society. As for their needs—in contrast to modern humans who require a house, an automobile, clothing, electricity, and so on—for the primitive hunter food, and the few devices employed by obtaining it, is the focus of economic life…in a more fundamental sense than it is in more complicated economies. Anything we are capable of experiencing cannot, in and of itself, be pathogenic. #RandolphHarris 4 of 26
Rather, it is the suppression of the experience that gives rise to distortions in consciousness that we associate with psychopathology. Hence anything that we are called upon to experience must have a purpose. We are accustomed, because of the nature of our own economy, to think that human beings have a natural propensity to truck and bater, and that economic relations among individuals or groups are characterized by economizing, by maximizing the result of effort or by selling dear and buying cheap. Primitive peoples do none of these things, however; in fact, most of the time it would seem that they do the opposite. They give things away, they admire generosity, they expect hospitality, they punish thrift as selfishness. And the strangest of all, the more dire the circumstances, the more scarce (or valuable) the goods, the less “economically” will they behave and the more generous do they seem to be. We are considering, of course, the form of exchange among persons within a society and these persons are, in band society, all kinsmen of some sort contrasts directly with the principles ascribed to the formal economy. We “give” food, do we not, to our children? We “help” our brothers and “provide for” aged parents. Others do, or have done, or will do, the same for us. #RandolphHarris 5 of 26
At the generalized pole, because close social relations prevail, the emotions of love, the etiquette of family life, the morality of generosity all together condition the ways goods are handled, and in such a way that the economic attitude toward the goods is diminished. Anthropologists have sometime attempted to characterize the actual transaction with words like “pure gift” or “free gift” in order to point up the fact that this is not trade, but barter, and that the sentiment involved in the transaction is not one of a balanced exchange. However, these words are not quite evocative of the actual nature of the act; they are even somewhat misleading. Once Peter Freuchen was handed some meat by an Eskimo hunter and responded by gratefully thanking him. The hunter was cast down, and Freuchen was quickly corrected by an old man: “You must not thank for your meat: it is your right to get parts. In this country, nobody who gives or gets gifts, for thereby you become dependent. With gifts you make slaves just as with whips you make dogs.” #RandolphHarris 6 of 26
The word “gift” has overtones of charity, not of reciprocity. In no hunting-gathering society is gratitude expressed, and, as a matter of fact, it would be wrong even to praise a human as “generous” when one shares one’s game with one’s campmates. On another occasion one could be said to be generous, but not in response to a particular incident of sharing, for then the statement would have the same implications as an expression of gratitude: that the sharing was unexpected, that the giver was not generous simply as a matter of course. It would be right to praise a human for one’s hunting prowess on such an occasion, but not for one’s generosity. Of particular importance, both economically and psychologically is the question of property. One of the most widespread cliches today is that the love for property is an innate trait in humans. Usually the confusion is made between property in instruments one needs for one’s work and in certain private items like ornaments, et cetera, and property in the sense exclusive possession other people can be made to work for oneself. Such means of production in the industrial society are essentially machines or capital to be invested in machine production. In primitive society the means of production are land and hunting areas. #RandolphHarris 7 of 26
In no primitive band in anyone denied access to the resources of nature—no individual owned these resources. The natural resources on which the bands depend are collective, or communal, property, in the sense that the territory might be defended by the whole band against encroachment by strangers. Within the band, all families have equal right to acquire these resources. Moreover, kinsmen in neighbouring bands are allowed to hunt and gather at will, at least on request. The most common instance of apparent restriction in rights to resources occurs with respect to nut or fruit-bearing trees. In some instances, particular trees or clumps of trees are allocated to individual families of the band. This practice is more a division of labour, however, then a division of property, for its purpose seems to be to prevent the waste of time and effort that would occur if several scattered families headed for the same area. It is simply to conventionalize that allotted use of the several groves, inasmuch as trees are much more permanently located than game or even wild vegetables and grasses. At any rate, even if one family acquired many nuts or fruits and another failed, the rules of sharing would apply so that no one would go hungry. #RandolphHarris 8 of 26
Things that seem most like private property in prehistoric society are those that are made and used by individual persons. Weapons, knives and scrapers, clothing, ornaments, amulets, and the like, are frequently regarded as private property among hunters and gathers. However, it could be argued that in primitive society even these personal items are not private property in the true sense. Inasmuch as the possession of which things is dictated by their use, they are functions of the division of labour rather than an ownership of the means of production. Private ownership of such things is meaningful only if some people possess them and others do not—when, so to speak, an exploitative situation becomes possible. However, it is hard to imaging (and impossible to find in ethnographic accounts) a case of some person or persons who, though some accident, owned no weapons or clothing and could not borrow or receive such things from more fortunate kinsmen. A true guide wills surely serve one’s disciples, sometimes without the title of teacher, certainly without the pay for one’s work for self. One will teach a small number so that, after attaining a certain degree of mystical understanding and practical achievement, they in turn may become helpful guides of others. #RandolphHarris 9 of 26
In modern times, neurosis is the consequence extremely personal secrets that we somehow hide from ourselves. These secrets are repressed from consciousness because they concern terrible disappointments we experienced early in our development. Suppressing our knowledge of these experiences by “forgetting” them temporarily relives the anguish and frustration they originally elicited. So, yes, you can forget a person whom caused a painful situation and/or memory. The suppression of painful experiences produces psychical conflicts which, in turn, may give rise to psychopathology, symptomatic expressions of pain that was being denied. That is why it is important to be completely candid with one’s therapist during the analytic hour. If carried out sincerely, the exercise of candour should reverse the conflicts that have been caused by repression. Our tendency to conceal painful experiences from ourselves could be compounded by families who keep secrets from each other: I know what you are thinking, but you deny it and pretend to think the opposite; or I know how I feel, but you insist that I really believe the opposite. This kind of mystification can become so extreme that a child does not know what one thinks. #RandolphHarris 10 of 26
One’s sense of reality becomes so compromised that one seeks refuge in a psychotic—rather than merely neurotic—withdrawal from an intolerable situation. However, experience cannot be reduced simply to one’s subjective awareness of or involvement in an event, in the sense that I have an experience of writing this sentence. When I truly experience something, I am affected by it. It comes as a shock. It changes everything. My experience of something confronts me with the unexpected. It violates my familiar view of things by forcing something new into consciousness. Due to its intrinsically unsettling nature, experience elicits despair because it disturbs my cozy accommodation to reality. On the other hand, despair lead so to something new because experience always occasions a transformation of some kind. In other words, since experience displaces what is familiar to me, it does not simply cause change: It is change. Experience is not simply subjective. It is also transcendental because it takes me outside myself and places me inside a situation that alters my perspective. The effect that my experience has over me changes, to some degree, who I am. #RandolphHarris 11 of 26
This dialectical process which consciousness executes on itself—n its knowledge as well as on its object—in the sense that out of it the new and true object arises, is precisely what is termed Experience. There are revelatory aspects of experience as well as transformative ones. In other words, experience does not merely change the World inhabit, it also reveals things to me that I had not known. Consequently, experience elicits truth. One’s experience could be nudged in a certain direction for a specific purpose so long as one prepared oneself for it. In other words, by anticipating my experiences purposefully, deliberately, and thoughtfully, I can make use of experience to gain knowledge about myself. There are degrees to which I experience things; it is not all or nothing. Experiences do not just fall on me whether I want them to our not. I am capable of resisting experience. In turn, the degree to which I am able to experience something is determined by how willing I am to submit to whatever it is that I was to experience. To undergo an experience with something—be it a thing, a person, or a god—means that this something befalls us, strikes us, overcomes us, overwhelms and transforms us. #RandolphHarris 12 of 26
When we talk of “undergoing” an experience, we mean specifically that the experience is not of our own making; to undergo here means that we endure it, suffer it, receive it as it strikes us and submit to it. It is this something itself that comes about, comes to pass, happens. The extent to which I am able or willing to listen to what my experience tells me will determine how fully I experience that I am doing, whether I am eating a meal, solving a problem, or undergoing psychoanalysis. Because experience is transformative, I am afraid of it and resist it by holding it back. I am perfectly capable of suppressing my experiences (if they happen to be painful) and even repressing the significance or memory of experiences I have had in order to “forget” them. In other words, I can resist change by suppressing experience, just as I can elicit change by being open to it. Sometimes, however, when one attempts both to escape the experience of an unlivable situation and hold on to that which one is escaping this is what is known as a “psychotic breakdown.” In other words, the psychotic individual is simply trying to be true to one’s experience. Because of the opposition that one encounters in one’s environment, one is compelled to withdraw from the reality that one is in order to protect what experience tells one. #RandolphHarris 13 of 26
This “compromise” comprises one’s psychosis. The psychotic gets stuck in one’s psychosis and cannot find one’s way out of it. “Are you unaware that your body is a shrine to the Holy Spirit from God, Who is within you? And that you are not your own property? A price has been paid for you. So make your body a showplace of God’s grace,” reports 1 Corinthians 6.19-20. “No longer present the parts of your body to sin as weapons of wickedness, but present yourselves to God like people, who coming out of death, have eternal life; and present your bodily part to him as weapons of righteousness,” reports Romans 6.13. Although it is seen as just a mental process the mind is the brain, and the brain is physical. Therefore, it is also part of our body and it is important are our brains are functioning at their best. There are so many problems in society today because people lack mental fitness. Mental health challenges can impact anyone, regardless of education, geography, faith, calling, or family. They are nothing to be ashamed of and should be met with love. Spiritual transformation into Christlikeness is the process of forming the inner World of the human self in such a way that it takes on the character of the inner being of Jesus himself. #RandolphHarris 14 of 26
The result is that the “outer” life of the individual increasingly becomes a natural expression of the inner reality of Jesus and of his teachings. Doing what he said and did increasingly becomes a part of who we are. However, for this to happen our body and mind must increasingly be poised to do what is good and refrain from what is evil. The inclinations to wrongdoing that literally inhabit its parts must be eliminated. The body must come to serve us as a primary ally in Christlikeness. For good or for evil, the body lies right at the center of the spiritual life—a strange combination of words to most people. One can immediately see all around us that the human body is a (perhaps in some cases even the) primary barrier to conformity to Christ. However, this certainly was not God’s intent for the body and mind. It is not in the nature of our being as such. (The being is not inherently evil.) Nor is it caused by the body or mind. However, still it is a fact that the body and mind usually hinders people in doing what they know to be good and right. Being formed in evil it, in turn, fosters evil and constantly runs ahead of our good intentions—but in the opposite direction. #RandolphHarris 15 of 26
Still our total being is a good thing. God made if for good. That is why the way of Jesus Christ is so relentlessly incarnational. The complete being should be cherished and properly cared for, not as our master, however, but as a servant of God. For most people, on the other hand, their body governs their live and they ignore their conscience. And that is the problem. Even professing Christians, by and large, devote to their spiritual growth and well-being a tiny fraction of the time they devote to their body, and If we include what one worries about, it is an even tinier fraction. What is going on here? Can our holistic being truly become our ally in Christlikeness? It can and it must, but its essential role in spirituality is the one thing most likely to be overlooked in understanding and practicing growth in grace. We find an aspect of Joshua’s preparation for leadership in Exodus 33, where we glimpse his growing devotion to God. He was serving in the Tabernacle with Moses while the pillar of the cloud towered above the tent. Verse 11 tells us: “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friends. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.” #RandolphHarris 16 of 26
Though he was not privileged, like Moses, to speak with God face to face, Joshua was so overcome by God’s presence that he would not leave the Tabernacle! There is such passion in this picture. “Lord, You are so wonderful, I cannot leave this room. I beg You, let me stay.” Joshua’s New Testament counterpart is Mary of Bethany, who would not leave the room where Jesus was as she sat enraptured at His feet despite her sister’s scolding. And she was so right! As we have it from the Lips of our Lord, “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her,” reports Luke 10.42. It was this same Mary who poured a year’s fortune on Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair and of whom Jesus said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me,” report Mark 14.6. True spiritual leadership is born for devotion and demands to be closeted with God. We cannot name one great leader in the Church who has not made personal worship a top priority. Such were the lives of Luther, Bunyan, Edwards, Wesley, Muller, Lloyd-Jones, and every other truly spiritual leader. There is no spiritual leadership apart from passionate devotion. Such is the grace of God that it inspires humans of the most different types to arise and help their fellow. #RandolphHarris 17 of 26
One hundred years ago the great C.J. Vaughn said, “If I wished to humble anyone, I should question one about one’s prayers. I know nothing to compare with the topic for its sorrowful confessions.” Humans, leaders, how would you answer such a question? Humans as widely apart as General Booth, who founded the Salvation Army, and the late Lord Haldane, who sought to translate his philosophical vision into unselfish public service were inspired by the grace of God. Thus, even in the darkest epochs someone eventually appears to help the most unenlightened, the most sinful, and the most illiterate, even as someone eventually appears to guide the virtuous, educated, and intellectual. Inability to comprehend the highest truth or inability to live up to the loftiest ethics is not made by true self-actualized beings a bar to bestowing help. They assist the undeveloped from where they now stand. And such is the wisdom of the self-actualized that they know just how much to give and in what form it can best be assimilated, even as they know when it is better to convey material assistance only and when ethical, religious, mystical, or philosophical instruction should also be given. #RandolphHarris 18 of 26
Human ruin comes from placing oneself at the center of one’s Universe, in place of God. If not inevitable, this naturally leads to worship of the body and to the life of sensuality that results. If not the only instrument, the body becomes our primary source of gratification and the chief for getting what we want. That is perversion of the role of the body in life as God intended it; and it results in “death,” in alienation from God and the loss of all we will have invested our lives in. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A human reaps what one sows. The one who sows to please one’s sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to tall people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers,” reports Galatians 6.7-10. The capacity to receive truth is limited by the moral, intellectual, and intuitional limitations of the receiver. The first work of the self-actualized is to plow up the field of one’s pupil’s mind, to make it fit to receive fresh seed. One has no desire to get humans interested in one’s own personality, to have them turn to, and rely on, oneself but would rather turn them toward their own higher nature. #RandolphHarris 19 of 26
The master who gives truth is a greater creator of values and contributor to humanity than the greatest music composer. When eloquence is untied with enlightenment, we may expect sentences which pierce us with their rightness, which are rich in truth and stimulating to goodness. One’s statements make truth clearer; one’s declarations are like a sparkling glass of eternal water. “And it came to pass in that same year there began to be a war again between the Nephites and the Lamanites. And notwithstanding I being young, was large in stature; therefore the people of Nephi appointed me that I should be their leader, or the leader of their armies. Therefore it came to pass that in my sixteenth year I did go forth at the head of an army of the Nephites, against the Lamanites; therefore three hundred and twenty and six years passed away. And it came to pass that in the three hundred and twenty and seventh year the Lamanites did come upon us with exceedingly great power, insomuch that they did frighten my armies; therefore they would not fight, and they began to retreat toward the norther countries. And it came to pass that we did come to the city of Angola, and we did take possession of the city, and make preparations to defend ourselves against the Lamanites. #RandolphHarris 20 of 26
“And it came to pass that we did fortify the city with our might; but notwithstanding all our fortification the Lamanites did come upon us and did drive us out of the city. And they did also drive us forth out of the land of David. And we marched forth and came to the land of Joshua, which was in the borders west by the seashore. And it came to pass that we did gather in our people as fast as it were possible, that we might get them together in one body. However, behold, the land was filled with robbers and with Lamanites; and notwithstanding the great destruction which hung over my people, they did not repent of their evil doings; therefore there was blood and carnage spread throughout all the face of the land, both n the part of the Nephites and also on the part of the Lamanites; and it was one complete revolution throughout all the face of the land. And now, the Lamanites had a kind, and his name was Aaron; and he came against us with an army of forty and four thousand. And behold, I withstood him with forty and two thousand. And it came to pass that I beat him with my army that he fled before me. And behold, all this was done, and three hundred and thirty years had passed away. #RandolphHarris 21 of 26
“And it came to pass that the Nephites began to repent of their iniquity, and began to cry even as had been prophesied by Samuel the prophet; for behold no man could keep that which was his own, for the thieves, and the robbers, and the murderers, and the magic art, and the witchcraft which was in the land. Thus there began to be a mourning and a lamentation in all the land because of these things, and more especially among the people of Nephi. And it came to pass that when I, Mormon, saw their lamentation and their mourning and their sorrow before the Lord, my heart did begin to rejoice within me, knowing the mercies and the long-suffering of the Lord, therefore supposing that he would be merciful unto them that they would again become a righteous people. However, behold, this my joy was vain, for their sorrowing was not unto repentance, because of the goodness of God; but it was rather the sorrowing of the damned, because the Lord would not always duffer them to take happiness in sin. And they did not come unto Jesus with broken hearts and contrite spirits, but they did curse God, and wish to die. Nevertheless they would struggle with the sword for their lives. #Randolphharris 22 of 26
“And it came to that my sorrow did return unto me again, and I saw that the day of grace was passed with them, both temporally and spiritually; for I saw thousands of them hewn down in open rebellion against their God, and heaped up as dung upon the face of the land. And this three hundred and forty and four years had passed away. And it came to pass that in the three hundred and forty and fifth year the Nephites did begin to flee before the Lamanites; and they were pursued until they came even to the land of Jashon, before it was possible to stop them in their retreat. And now, the city of Jashon was near the land where Ammaron had deposited the records unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed. And behold I have gone according to the word of Ammaron, and take the plated of Nephi and did make a record according to the words of Ammaron. And upon the plates of Nephi I did make a full account of all the wickedness and abominations; but upon these plated I did forbear to make a full account of their wickedness and abominations, for behold, a continual scene of wickedness and abominations has been before mine eyes ever since I have been sufficient to behold the ways of man. #RandolphHarris 23 of 26
“And wo is me because of their wickedness; for my heart has been filled with sorrow because of their wickedness, all my days; nevertheless, I know that I shall be lifted up at the last day. And it came to pass that in this year the people of Nephi again were hunted and driven. And it came to pas that we were driven forth until we had come northward to the land which was called Shem. And it came to pass that we did fortify the city of Shem, and we did gather in our people as much as it were possible, that perhaps we might save them from destruction. And it came to pass in the three hundred and forty and sixth year they began to come upon us again. And it came to pass that I did speak unto my people, and did urge them with great energy, that they would stand boldly before the Lamanites and fight for their wives and children, and their houses, and their homes. And my words did arouse them somewhat vigour, insomuch that they did not flee from before the Lamanites, but did stand with boldness against them. And it came to pass that we did contend with an army of fifty thousand. And it came to pass that we did stand before the with such fairness that they did flee from us. And it came to pass that when they had fled we did pursue them with our armies, and did meet them again, and did beat them. #Randolphharris 24 of 26
“Nevertheless the strength of the Lord was not with us; yea, we were left to ourselves, that the Spirit of the Lord did not abide in us; therefore we had become weak like unto our brethren. And my heart did sorrow because of this great calamity of my people, because of their wickedness and their abominations. However, behold, we did go forth against the Lamanites and the robbers of Gadianton, until we had again taken possession of the lands of our inheritance. And the three hundred and forty and ninth year had passed away. And in the three hundred and fiftieth year we made a treaty with the Lamanites and the robbers of the Gadianton, in which we did get the lands of our inheritance divided. And the Lamanites dud give unto us the land northward yea, even to the narrow passage which led into the land southward. And we did give unto the Lamanites all the land southward,” reports Mormon 2.1-29. When the proper time has passed, the womb of night will give birth to day. Though I long for day, in my heart I know that the way things are is done rightly. Here in the dark, I remember this and rest in the sure concern of the Holy Ones. O Lord our God, please grant that we all and Thy people, the house of Israel, find delight in the study of the Scripture. #RandolphHarris 25 of 26
May we and our children and all the future generations of the house of Israel know Thy name and learn Thy Scripture for its own sake. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who Teachest the Scripture to Thy people Israel. Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of Universe, who hast chosen us from among all peoples by giving us Thy Scripture. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, Giver of the Scripture. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make His countenance shine up thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord turn His countenance unto thee, and grant thee peace. May the gifts of your fruits guide you on your pilgrimage, offering sanctuary, and deeds of lovingkindness. May you enjoy your fruits while in this life, and may the principal remain for you to all eternity. Be sure to honour your mother and father, and perform deeds of lovingkindness towards them. May God make peace between all humans. God’s spirit will guide us through the darkness and stand as a wall, and protect us from all terrors. The soul which God has blessed you with is pure and will bring peace into the lives of others. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commanded,” reports Hebrews 11.1-2. #RandolphHarris 26 of 26
Cresleigh Homes
Nothing wakes you up quite like a game of bocce ball in the crisp fall air. At least, that’s what we’re guessing — we’re still wrapped up in bed hoping “accio coffee” will finally work. 23rd time’s the charm, right? 😉🧙♂️
Head to the @HUBApts profile to learn more about living in the heart of #Folsom.
Enjoy the best of upscale living.
Ye Shall be Changed in the Twinkling of an Eye from Mortality to Immortality!
To understand a society it is essential to understand how people climb. If there are more than two people together, if there are three, one of them is climbing. Where do ideas come from? To a considerable extent they come from other ideas picked up during our learning years, from teachers and from books. They also come from our experience of life. In addition, writers on psycho-analytically based theories draw on their experiences with their patients. Typically they use a kind of backward reasoning which asks, “If people can talk to me, a psychotherapist (or psycho-analyst), in this way, what does this tell us about their mental processes?” “What kind of experiences of life must this person have had, particularly at the time when the personality was being formed, for one to be relating to me in this way?” They feel justified in this kind of theory—building because of particular assumptions: That people related to others on the basis both of their past experience (Hayek’s map) and of present perceptions of their situation (Hayek’s working model); that people at times experience the psychotherapist or psycho-analyst in terms of the past (map) more than in terms of the present (model). #RandolphHarris 1 of 26
In psycho-analytic language, a transference can be observed; that people can at times experience the therapist or analyst in terms of quite early maps. In psycho-analytic language, regression can be observed. What happens in regression and transference provides the material from which theories of personality-development can be constructed. Classical psycho-analysis concerns itself with experiences which, though perhaps repressed, come from a time of life when words are already available, and when people are recognized as whole persons and are not just fragments of experience which come and go. The very complex process of ambivalence belongs to this period of life—quite a late and sophisticated stage of development, relative to the very early processes we have been considering. When a person is barely barely capable of experiencing self and others as differentiated, this is the narcissistic level of experiences. The other is not exactly a person at this stage, but more like an environment, a not-self. This level of experience is pre-verbal and patients can at first convey it to their therapist only by action, analogy, and implication; the phenomena belonging to this level have to be interpreted in the context of what the patient is actually doing in the relationship with the therapist—in the transference. #RandolphHarris 2 of 26
The next level is called the “area of creation,” in which there are as yet no distinctions between self and other. Coming from a very different starting point. According to this theory, the individual is born in a state of intense relatedness to one’s environment, both biologically and libidinally. Prior to birth, self and environment are harmoniously “mixed up,” in fact they interpenetrate each other. In this World there are as yet no objects, only limitless substances and expanses. Here are no persons, no words, and no boundaries: to talk to a person in this state is to remove them from that state. If that is thought undesirable, the person must not be addressed until one is out of it and ready to talk. Being allowed to be in that regressed limitless state of mind is sometimes exactly what people need in order to get better. The important thing will have been that they got to feel like that and were allowed to be like that, not that it was discussed with the therapist and interpreted. People who have seen deeply into the hidden meaning of life are the one’s best qualified to guide us in matters of conduct and motive. #RandolphHarris 3 of 26
The infant’s first experiences are at this deepest level, where what is called Primary Love is to be found, a term preferred on humane and theoretical grounds to the more generally used “narcissism”—Primary Love, the first rudimentary experience of relationship with others. The harmonious interpenetrating mix-up is what comes across in various contexts, called by such terms as merging, symbiosis, primary narcissism, facilitating environment, self-object states, oceanic feelings, the pure sense of being; and so on. These words attempt to describe a state of mind in which self and other merge and drift apart like seaweeds in the sea, as it may be at the very start of the e-merging of self from mother. If we consider how this might be experienced by the foetus in the womb, it seems that it is an existence with hardly any structure, in particular with no sharp boundaries. Environment and individual penetrate into each other, they exist together in a “harmonious mix-up.” An important example of this harmonious interpenetrating mix-up is the fish in the sea (one of the most archaic and most widely occurring symbols). It is an idle question to ask whether the water in the gills or in the mouth is part of the sea or of the fish. #RandolphHarris 4 of 26
Exactly the same holds true of the foetus. Foetus, amniotic fluid, and placenta are such a complicated interpenetrating mix-up of foetus and environment-mother, that its histology and physiology are among the most dreaded questions in medical examinations. It is worth remembering that our relationship to the air surrounding us has exactly the same pattern. We use the air, in fact we cannot live without it. We inhale it in order to take parts our of it and we use the as we want. Then, after putting substances into it that we want to get rid of, we exhale it—without paying the slightest attention to it. In fact, the air must be there for us, and as long as it is there insufficient supply and quality, we do not take any notice of it. This kind of environment must simply be there, and as long as it is there—we take its existence for granted, we do not consider it as an object, that is, separate from us; we just use it. If the environment is altered—if the supply of air is interfered with for instance; then the apparently negligible environment assumes immense importance. All this is relevant to our interest in the question: Where is the boundary between self and other? How does the infant come to experience some things as “me” and others as “nor me”? Consequently, when that life flowers into bloom, one becomes its fullest embodiment. #RandolphHarris 5 of 26
When dealing with “Object and Subject,” note that first the “object has two different meanings, more of less according to whether the word is being used as noun or verb. It can mean “objective” as in “target” (and the Hungarian word for object is targy). When Dr. Freud chose the word for his instinct-based theory, where the object is the body-area to which the instinctive drive is directed, this is the meaning which he had in mind. The other meaning has to do with “objecting to” something, experiencing something as having to be pushed away. The other meaning of “object” seems to be “obstacle in the way of action,” in fact a resistant obstacle that has to be negotiated…our very first perceptions about objects may be those of resistance, id est something firm against which we may pitch our strength…This conception is certainly in harmony, with the cluster of associations surrounding the word “object.” For quite a time, nature—or life—was conceived as a collection of solid, separate, clearly defined and sharply contoured entities called “objects.” If one had not oneself done so, one could not tell others how to struggle out of the depths, or how to realize the soul. One has cultivated the special virtue of compassion for others throughout the whole course of one’s mystical life. #RandolphHarris 6 of 26
Parts of the external World which are felt to be firm, resistant, and sharply contoured are called by a special somewhat aggressive name—“object”—which suggests both resistance against our wishes and aim or target for our strivings. Other parts of the same World, which are not solid, do not resist much, and have no real contours, are called by non-aggressive names, such as substance, substrate, both showing similarity to “subject,” denoting ourselves. A third very generally used word—matter—describing these not so sharply contoured less resistant parts of the World, derives from a root denoting mother. The inescapable inference is that at ne time there must have been a harmonious mix-up in our mind between ourselves and the World around us, and that our “mother” was involved in it. Though this mix-up strikes us as childish and primitive, we must admit that it preceded our “modern,” “adult” or “scientific” picture of the World which, so to speak, grew out of it. This touches on the possibility that we may experience some stimuli as intrusive and lumpy—impinging. There is something that comes to mind, like the frightened reason of some children to lumps in their food—it may be remembered that autistic children might be experiencing these as scary not-self intrusions into the smooth evenness of life which they wanted so much. #RandolphHarris 7 of 26
In psycho-analytic theory we are wont to classify mother’s milk among the earliest objects, but it is arguable whether milk, a liquid, is ever considered to be an object by an unprejudiced common-sense human. One cannot reject out of hand the suspicion that the idea of milk as an object emerged in the mind of sophisticated analysts and not necessarily in the mind of infants. If I am right, milk would be another instance of the friendly expanses with no objects in it, a matter, a substance. If we accept this then the widespread inexplicable fads in many people about the skin in milk might be understood. The skin is hazardous object appearing in the substance “milk,” painfully disturbing the primitive harmony. From the view of reason and for further insight into the nature of understanding, one must see rational activities as they were supposed to function. This is to view them with reference to their uses and objects. This is handled under the notion of logic, which we offer under the caption Artes Logicae, or Logical Arts. The logical arts are four in number: the art of invention in which humans systematizes ways of finding or discovering that which one seeks. All qualified teachers are illumined but not all illumined people are teachers. #RandolphHarris 8 of 26
The art of judgment, in which humans arrange and dispose what one has found so as to weigh its relevance and consistency with respect to the requirements of truth; the art of memory, in which humans train oneself to retain what one has learned; and the art of transmission or communication, in which human discourses for and with others. Discourse requires an organ of thought, id est, speech sounds, words, and their management in grammatical forms; requires methods of structuring discourse in unified wholes that all may be clear and appropriate to the many purposes of communication; and finally, calls for ways of illustrating discourses, in which imagination is applied to ideas that they may be rendered vivid and acceptable. In brief, when they are dominated by certain ends: invention, judgment, remembrance, and communication, there are ways in which understanding, reason, memory, and imagination behave. The logical arts were so maned because first, they were methodological in nature. When it was directed to useful tasks, they engage the mind. Some have greater powers to inquire; they can show the goal but not the path to it; others have a greater capacity to lead aspirants step by step along the path. #RandolphHarris 9 of 26
Second, they involved a number of faculties working in close concert or sequence, the dominant ones being understanding and reason. The terms “Intellectual Arts,” and “Arts of Reason,” can be defined as a primary source of Advancement. Thus suggestive to the fact that methodical and purposive behaviour of the mind involves more than one faculty. Memory is recognized because the mind must draw upon its past experience Imagination is mentioned because in discourse and communication that thought of a speaker is made tangible to others as words and speech sounds, which are images of thought. In communication, also, imagination joins with reason in producing images whose meanings are fitting and appropriate to the audience addressed. When it is said to “exercise,” the conception of the logical arts is derived from traditional analyses of the mind. When it works, or is “in act,” it is inventing, judging, remembering, or interpreting Interpretatio, id est, the transmission or communication of ideas to others, referred to excogitation, the physical basis, the events or carriers, necessary for the transmission of thought, and to signification, the sign of thought associated with codes and symbols and affording meanings for one who listens. #RandolphHarris 10 of 26
It is immediately apparent that the vocabulary of logical arts directly reflects the vocabulary customarily employed to describe the mind at work. The analysis of mind transmitting its experience, however, seems to be a refinement upon tradition. When it is engaged in invention, the understanding searches around in available materials and in likely “places.” From them it abstract and apprehends and comes up with ideas. If they reach the level of imagery and logical scrutiny, as we have indicated, ideas are revealed in phrasal terms and statements. In a desire to improve the ways of interpreting nature, we lay great emphasis on two modes of searching. One is labeled, “Remembrance or Suggestion, with an application,” where the end is to find arguments for speeches and popular discourse. The sources of search lay in one’s own experience and in books and literature. Guides for rousing expectancy and directing attention to likely places of search were the topics and categories of invention that had been built up for centuries by rhetoricians and logicians. This mode of search amounts to a systematic prodding of memory, heightened by some expectation that would find what one was looking for. #RandolphHarris 11 of 26
Not all those who attain enlightenment necessarily become teachers in the personal sense. Such a one is entitled to choose anonymity. Unknown to the World at large, one still by virtue of that very attainment is a benignant presence mentally. The mind ranged comfortably over materials that the understanding itself has made and that imagination presents to it. They were the material of every person’s reason. What was sought was in a sense familiar, and direct experience with nature is easily ignored. In fact, literary materials were once or twice removed from natural phenomena. As “letters” they were but a degree and rudiment of nature. So traditional guides and habits of invention are useless in discovering truths of nature. The nature of the inventive process does not—and cannot—yield new knowledge and this reminds one of Descartes’ belief that when reason and imagination team up in creative endeavour, their product is not really new. Since images by their nature involve shape and magnitude, and compared with apprehensions are concrete, the understanding is being assisted by the species [of things] depicted in the phantasy; and…nothing can be asserted of magnitudes in general save what can be found to hold true of some magnitude in specie. #RandolphHarris 12 of 26
Again: When something hitherto unknown is deduced from something previously known, we are not thereby discovering some new kind of entity: all we are doing is to extend our total knowledge in such a way that we are enabled to see that the thing sought participates in this or that way in the nature of the data being provided in the question which is being asked. What is discovered is a sort of equality of ratios. The complaint that syllogistic reasoning is useless in scientific discovery rests on the perception that the minor premise reveals psychologically two ratios which are identified in accord with the context, or concrete question, which prompted them. Is Socrates mortal? He is, because he is a man. The rations involved are: Men: individual man:: men: Socrates. Men in general are related to man in particular in the same way that men in general are related to Socrates. To see these ratios is to allow the possibility of transferring whatever is familiar and known about all humans, or about most humans, to the object posed by the question, namely Socrates. The operation thus has had so much of the old and familiar imbedded in it that one cannot regard the product—the conclusion—as being new in the same ways that the product of scientific thinking was new. #RandolphHarris 13 of 26
When one is looking for something, inventive activity of the understanding is marked by searching movements, by a flitting to and fro of the spirit stuff. The materials explored are the materials of memory; hence whatever is found always feels familiar. The second mode of search is called “new logic” or new induction. We deliberately try to hook the understanding directly to sensory data, and to control and restrict the abstracting process, to sharpen and make accurate the apprehending of comparable qualities of experience, and to discipline such conceptualization as went on in the production of an axiom. Thus the mind is to discover what no human has known before. Either mode of invention is the ordinary use of the understanding in inquiring and discovering. Just as a think has being by its proper form, so the knowing faculty has knowledge by the likeness of the thing known. Hence, as natural things cannot fall short of the being that belongs to them by their form, but may fall short of accidental or consequent qualities, even as a human may fail to possess two feet, but not fail to be a human; so the faculty of knowing cannot fail in knowledge of the thing with the likeness of which it is informed; but may fail with regard to something consequent upon that form, or accidental thereto. #RandolphHarris 14 of 26
For it has been said that sight is not deceived in its proper sensible, but about common sensibles that are consequent to that object; or about accidental objects of sense. Now as the sense is directly informed by the likeness of its proper object, so is the intellect by the likeness of the essence of a thing. Hence the intellect is not deceived abut the essence of a thing, as neither the sense about is proper object. However, in affirming and denying, the intellect may be deceived, by attributing to the thing of which it understands the essence, something which is not consequent upon it, or is opposed to it. For the intellect is in the same position as regards judging of such things, as sense is as to judging of common, or accidental, sensible objects. There is, however, this difference, as before mentioned regarding truth, that falsity can exist in the intellect not only because the intellect is conscious of that knowledge, as it is conscious of truth; whereas in sense falsity does not exist as known. However, because falsity of the intellect is concerned essentially only with the composition of the intellect, falsity occurs also accidentally in that operation of the intellect whereby it knows the essence of at thing, in so far as composition of the intellect is mixed up in it. #RandolphHarris 15 of 26
This can take place in two way. In one way, by the intellect applying to one thing the definition of proper to another; as that of a circle to a human. Wherefore the definition of one thing is false of another. In another way, by composing a definition of parts which are mutually exclusive. For thus the definition is not only false of the thing, but false in itself. A definition such as “a reasonable four-footed animal” would be of this kind, and the intellect false in making it; for such a statement as “some reasonable animals are four-footed” is false itself. For this reason the intellect cannot be false in tis knowledge of simple essences; but it is either true, or it understands nothing at all. Because the essence of a thing is the proper object of the intellect, we are properly said to understand a thing when we reduce it to its essence, and judge of it thereby; as taken place in demonstrations, in which there is n falsity. In this sense Augustine’s words must be understood, “that one who is deceived, understands not that wherein one is deceived;” and not in the sense that no one is ever deceived in any operation of the intellect. The intellect is always right as regards first principles; since it is not deceived about them for the same reason that it is not deceived about that a thing is. #RandolphHarris 16 of 26
For self-known principles are such as are known as soon as the terms are understood, from the fact that the predicate is contained in the definition of the subject. There is a widespread belief among questers that a human who becomes enlightened automatically becomes a teacher and attaches followers to oneself for instruction. This is not inexorably so. One may, or may not. Few have penetrated the secrets of being, fewer still have revealed them to others. Not everyone who is illumined becomes a spiritual teacher of humanity. Only one whose previous tendency, genera character, constant aspiration, allotted destiny, or personal capacity fits one for that function becomes a teacher. It is not every spiritually enlightened human who is called to hold one’s chandelier in humankind’s darkness, or is required to be a teacher of others. This is a special art and requires special gifts. Those who attain enlightenment fall into two grades: the first, mystics who are possessed by God but who can neither show others the way to this state nor expound in detail the truth they have realized; the second, self-actualized beings who can do both these things. To be a teacher, to be able to educate others in philosophic doctrines, to prepare pupils for the wise life, requires qualities which knowledge alone does not necessarily confer. #RandolphHarris 17 of 26
Every self-actualized being must be a teacher because every self-actualized being must wish to promote the enlightenment of humankind. A major service of spiritual disciplines—such as solitude (being alone with God for long periods of time), fasting (learning freedom from food and how God directly nourishes us), worship (adoration of God), and service (doing good for others with no thought of ourselves)—is to cause the duplicity and malice that is buried in our will and character to surface and be dealt with. Those disciplines make room for the Word and the Spirit to work in us, and they permit destructive feelings—feelings that are usually veiled by standard practices and circumstances and by long accepted rationalizations—to be perceived and dealt with for what they are: our will and not God’s will. Those feelings are normally clothed in layer upon layer of habitual self-deception and rationalization. Typically, they will have enslaved the will, and it in turn will have coerced the mind to conceal or rationalize what is really going on. When you begin to deny fulfillment to your desires, your mind will really “talk to you,” and you will find how subtle and shameless it is. I know this from experience. #RandolphHarris 18 of 26
For example, our “righteous judgments” on others may, as we practice solitude or service, be recognized as ways of putting them down and us up. Our extreme busyness may be revealed as inability to trust God or unwillingness to give others a chance to contribute. Our readiness to give our opinions may turn out to be contempt for the thoughts and words of others or simply a willingness to shut them up. Truly becoming one who wills above all to act with the kingdom of God and to have one’s kind of goodness (Matthew 6.33) will not happen overnight. However, upon a path of clear intention and decision, with appropriate spiritual disciplines and accompanying grace to illumine and correct us when we fail, it is not as far away as many would suppose. The duplicities, entanglements, and evil intents that infect our will can be clarified and eliminated as we keep our eyes on Jesus, who initiated and perfects our faith, and “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God,” reports Hebrews 12.2. “And it came to pass when Jesus had said these words, he spake unto his disciples, one by one, saying unto them; What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father? #RandolphHarris 19 of 26
“And they all spake, save it were three, saying: We desire that after we have lived unto the age of man, that our ministry, wherein thou hast called us, many have an end, that we may speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom. And he said unto them: Blessed are ye because ye desired this thing of me; therefore, after that ye are seventy and two years old ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest. And when he had spoken unto them, he turned himself unto the three, and said unto them: What will ye that I should do unto you, when I am gone unto the Father? And they sorrowed in their hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing which they desired. And he said unto them: Behold, I know your thoughts, and ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry, before that I was lifted up by the Jews desire of me. Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of Heaven. #RandolphHarris 20 of 26
“And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father. And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the World; and all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of humans unto me, while the World shall stand. And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one. And the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and the Father giveth the Holy Ghost unto the children of humans, because of me. And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he touched every one of them with his finger save it were the three who were to tarry, and then he departed. And behold, the Heavens were opened, and they were caught up into Heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things. #RandolphHarris 21 of 26
“And behold, the Heavens were opened, and they were caught up into Heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things. And it was forbidden them that they should utter; neither was it given unto them power that they could utter the things which they saw and heard; and whether they were in the body or out of the body, they could not tell; for it did seem unto them like a transfiguration of them, that they were changed from this body of flesh into an immortal state, that they could behold the things of God. However, it came to pass that they did again minister upon the face of the Earth; nevertheless they did not minister of the things which they had heard and seen, because of the commandment which was given them in Heaven. And now, whether they were mortal or immortal, from the day of their transfiguration, I know not; but this much I know, according to the record which hath been given—they did go forth upon the face of the land, and did minister unto all the people, uniting as many to the church as would believe in their preaching; baptizing them, and as many as were baptized did receive the Holy Ghost. And they were cast into prison by them who did not belong to the church. And the prisons could not hold them, for they were rent in twain. #RandolphHarris 22 of 26
“And they were cast down into the Earth; but they did smite the Earth with the word of God, insomuch that by his power they were delivered out of the depths of the Earth; and therefore they could not dig pits sufficient to hold them. And thrice they were cast into a den of wild beasts; and behold they did play with the beasts as a child with a suckling lamb, and received no harm. And it came to pass that thus they did go forth among all the people of Nephi, and did preach the gospel of Nephi, and did preach the gospel of Christ unto all people upon the face of the land; and they were converted unto the Lord, and were untied unto the church of Christ, and thus the people of that generation were blessed, according to the word of Jesus. And now, I Mormon, make an end of speaking concerning these things for a time. Behold, I was about to write the names of those who were never to taste of death, but the Lord forbade; therefore I write them not, for they are hid from the World. However, behold, I have seem them, and they have ministered unto me. And behold they will be among the Gentiles, and the Gentiles shall know them not. They will also be among the Jews, and the Jews shall know them not. #RandolphHarris 23 of 26
“And it shall come to pass, when the Lord seeth fit in his wisdom that they shall minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and shall bring out of them unto Jesus many souls, that their desire may be fulfilled, and also because of the convincing power of God which is in them. And they are as the angels of God, and if they shall pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus they can show themselves unto whatsoever man it seemeth them good. Therefore, great and marvelous works shall be wrought by them, before the great and coming day when all people must surely stand before the judgment-seat of Christ; yea even among the Gentiles shall there be a great and marvelous work wrought by them, before that judgment day. And if ye had all the scriptures which give an account of the marvelous works of Christ, ye would, according to these things must surely come. And wo be unto one that will not hearken unto the words of Jesus, and also to them whom he hath chosen and sent among them; for whoso recieveth not the words of Jesus and the words of those whom he hath sent recieveth not him; and therefore he will not receive them at the last day. #RandolphHarris 24 of 26
“And if they had not been born, it would be better for them. For do ye suppose that ye can get rid of the justice of an offended God, who hath been trampled under feet of men, that thereby salvation might come? And now behold, as I spake concerning those whom the Lord hath chosen, yea, even three who were caught up into the Heavens, that I knew not whether they were cleansed from mortality to immortality—but behold, since I wrote, I have inquired of the Lord, and he hath made it manifest unto me that there must needs be a change wrought upon their bodies, or else it needs be that they must taste death; therefore, that they might not taste of death there was a change wrought upon their bodies, that they might not suffer pain nor sorrow save it were for the sins of the World. Now this change was not equal to that which shall take place at the last day; but there was a change wrought upon them, insomuch that Satan could have no power over them, that he could not tempt them; and they were sanctified in the flesh, that they were holy, and that the powers of the Earth could not him them. And in this state they were to remain until the judgment day of Christ. #RandolphHarris 25 of 26
“And at that day they were to receive a greater change, and to be received into the kingdom of the Father to go no more out, but to dwell with God eternally in the Heavens,” reports 3 Nephi 28.1-40. Sleep, little one, in the comforting night that spreads like a blanket over your bed. Goddess is waiting to guide you to sleep in His arms that are ready to rock you so gently. The God stands by, watching to keep you from harm, to lay His cool hand on your head as you sleep. Sleep, little one, in the gathering dark, wrapped in the love of your Mother and Father, wrapped in the love of your mother and father. Magnified and sanctified be the name of God throughout the World which He hath created according to His will. May He establish His kingdom during the days of your life and during the life of all the house of Israel, speedily, yea, soon; and say ye, Amen. May His great name be blessed for ever and ever. Exalted and honoured be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, whose glory transcends, yea, is beyond all praises, hymns and blessings that humans can render unto Him; and say ye, Amen. May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and life for us and for all Israel; and say ye, Amen. May He who establisheth peace in the Heavens, grant peace unto us and unto all Israel; and say ye, Amen. #RandolphHarris 26 of 26
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When there are No Dinosaurs to be Caught and Cooked, a Dinosaur-Hunting School Loses Relevance!
Like a magic show, speak your dreams into existence. Abra kadabra, alakazam! A person is not finished when one is defeated; one is finished when one quits. The World goes on—reality is like a projective test. Humans can construe it in myriad ways. The World discloses itself ceaselessly to human consciousness, which refract it, and attach meaning to this disclosure in ways that vary from time to time, and place to place. A given World view gains dominance in each society. This is a way to structure the World, to attach value and meaning to it. “Worlds” are structure by projects, or goals, and values. Change these and “Worlds” collapse, to be replaced by new ones. All this is elementary existential phenomenology. The “World” most us of us in America share is a World that once was haunted by European memories of poverty and material scarcity. The aim was to get rich, and we actually have the productive means available whereby everyone can be rich, at least in a material sense. As automation, powered with nuclear and natural sources of energy proceeds, we can in principle feed, clothe and shelter the World, even a World with a more fully exploded population than the one Malthusians prophets of doom say we have now. Our past and current patterns of childrearing, our aims and methods of schooling, even our ways of playing in leisure hours all gain their relevance and intelligibility from the fact of scarcity—scarcity that long since has ceased to exist. #RandolphHarris 1 of 18
In a way, as we socialize and train to a nonexistent reality, we can say that our very socialization and training is mad. It is akin to training people in the art of stalking, capturing and cooking dinosaurs. When there are no dinosaurs to be caught and cooked, the values, skills, ways of relating to others that make up the curriculum of a dinosaur-hunting school somehow loses relevance. However, “Worlds” die hard. Each of us lives in a World that I can best liken to an envelope, capsule, or bubble with semi-permeable walls. These walls screen off much of what is, and admit to our consciousness only as much of being as is relevant to our projects. The World beyond the capsule is filled, according to folklore and popular imagination with bogeymen, snakes, slime, and everything hideous. Shatter the membrane, and let this World in, and people become terrified. Rather than face the prospect of posing new projects and values, in order to construct new “Worlds,” people patch the rents in walls of their present “World.” Seeing becomes a way of being, blind, blind to other possibilities that the World embodies. In American, young people, mature women, and marginalized men all are in process of awakening—some with delight, but more with anger, and rage at the dirty joke that has been played upon them. They are breaking out of their capsules. #RandolphHarris 2 of 18
The World is not necessarily what humans have told them it is. It has not been ordained by God that people should be uneducated, employed in menial tasks, and housed in bedbug infested slums with portly people who otherwise look like members of a death camp. Nor did God necessarily demand that women should die of boredom and overeating in automated households. And young people—below the age of 18—are wondering if Go want them to put on gray flannel suits to become professional consumers, or to go into the army. Young people especially, as I encounter them in the halls of training and learning, are beginning to demand inspiration and enlightenment, not stupefaction at the feet of their instructors. They are beginning to look at instructors as entire humans, not solely as repositories of alienated skill or knowledge, and they are wondering if they are to become like these humans. Increasing numbers of young men and women are dropping out. They are finding that schools and colleges, instead of enlightening them as to how things are now, or turning them on to challenging new projects and possibilities are training them for a slot in professions or corporate enterprise, which support a way of life and experience they find meaningless. And so they turn to the Internet and start blogging to obtain sponsorships so they can promote products and live free and happy. #RandolphHarris 3 of 18
Nonetheless, I still believe a college education and corporate job is the best way to freedom and to overcome poverty. Humans can dissect nature in order the better to control it. They can build machines to work for them. They extend their sense organs and muscles with machinery—but then lose their capacity to see, hear, smell, and move. All these things are done for them, in the name of efficiency, by the very machines they have created. Not only are the various media—extensions of humans leaching humans of their power; but in order that humans might not notice the loss of their wholeness and their creative possibilities, they are stupefied more deliberately. Radio, television, social media, movies, books all help keep people in a stupor. If a person begins to sicken, and suffer boredom, pain, or anxiety—those signs that all is not well in the way one is living one’s life—the medical profession then steps in with some pharmaceutical product that enables the person to continue living the meaningless life, but without feeling the pain and suffering. We effect those praxes upon our own consciousness which constrict our World. We repress, distort, close off entire sensory channels, banalize our imaginations, and end up helpless to live in a social and material World we made ourselves and helpless to change it. We only endure it with the help of religion, therapy, and medication. #RandolphHarris 4 of 18
The institutions of education are becoming increasingly automated. “Teaching machines” are being incorporated into more schools, as a desperate response to overcrowding and an insufficiency of instructors. Indeed, desperate instructors try to program themselves—their lectures and demonstrations—so that students will be able to blacken the correct spaces on an IBM sheet at the end of a term. However, this is not education and it is not desirable. Automation will release human energy from the necessity to spend it making goods essential to life. However, it will not thereby make life more livable, challenging, and rich in experience. Education must be the liberation of human consciousness in its various modes (especially imagination) from the bonds imposed by simply training. The salvation of humans, with the hope one will invent better forms of economic, social, political and interpersonal existence, is education, not training. And education requires teachers, people who awaken and enliven consciousness, not constrain it, like trainers do. Teachers are hard to find. They are as scarce as white whales. Teachers illuminate what is; they are existential explorers, groping for new meaning as they challenge old ones. They are not solely repositories of skill or corpus of information. #RandolphHarris 5 of 18
Teachers are people who have been awakened from the illusion that there is only one sane, right and legal way to experience the World and behave in it. One has become turned on such that one’s imagination is vivid. One can perceive the World as others see it, and more: liberated from convention as one is, one sees what others are blind to. The walls of one’s capsule have been shattered, and rebuilt so that more World is included in one’s consciousness. One feels, thinks, imagines, and remembers more fully than the average human. One can, perhaps, dance, feel one’s body, move it and live in it. If such a human, a teacher, discloses the wonder of life as it is for one to pupils, some will indeed flip. They will be turned on. Their old “World” will explode, or better, implode, when more being is admitted, under the guidance of the teacher. If this teacher is oneself committed to responsibility for some corner of the World—not for money and fame, but for authentic concern and love—then one’s pupils may be ready to take over when one dies, or extend one’s vision and responsibility while one still lives. Where do we find such teachers? How can we disseminate their expanded consciousness of some aspect of the World? It is for the lack of such teachers that young people turn to drugs and liquor. #RandolphHarris 6 of 18
By being what one is, there is nothing to impede the flow of pure consciousness from one to those the teacher contacts. The ego does not intervene, the lower nature does not interrupt, and without one’s making any deliberate effort something passes through and from one to benefit them. Without one’s trying to influence others, one’s influence will still appear whether they know its true source or not, and whether it is after the lapse of many years or not. Nor does one ask any credit for this result for one gives that to the World-Mind whose World-Idea is being realized in this and many other ways. Quite often one does not need to do anything; it is enough if one beneficently remembers the person before emerging from one’s own periods of contemplation. Sometimes, even merely being present may act as a catalyst for remedial forces. If however one goes father than this, and performs a specific act, the result must come. Such a power is like a catalyst in chemistry. Itself invisible, it inspires others to visible deeds. As the light of truth passes into one, one in turn refracts it to others, although only some will let the enlightenment in. Grace flows from such a being as light flows from the Sun; one does no have to give it. It will suffice for one to be what one is and thirty seekers will draw from one in a mysterious, silent way what they need of one’s power and wisdom, one’s love and serenity. #RandolphHarris 7 of 18
It is the lives like the stars, which simply pour down on us the calm light of their bright and faithful being, up to which we look, and out of which we gather the deepest calm and courage. One can take no credit of one’s own for the service rendered, and calls no attention to oneself. How could the teacher honestly do so when one is fully aware that it is only be ceasing from one’s own activities, by being inwardly still, and by abandoning one’s own ego that the power which really renders the service manifests itself? Where do these phenomena originate? Not always from oneself, but more often from out outside oneself, from the mysterious and unknown mind which is the soul of the Universe and the ground in which all individual minds are rooted. Teachers of this kind are needed more, today, than anther cadre of astronauts, or more riot police, psychiatrists, narcotics agents or school counselors. Society has this great ability and so many facilitators in place at training, mystifying, and stupefying masses of people. This possibility is made possible through TV, social media, news, and other media, of getting even better at it. However, we also have the possibility of turning on and awakening more people to expanded perspectives on the World, new challenges, possible ways to experience the World and our own embodied being than ever has been possible before. #RandolphHarris 8 of 18
I do not believe that there is an insoluble educational crisis before us. I believe rather that we need to sort out our values, to see if we are as serious about educating our population as we have been about training them for the status quo. We equate training with education, and mistakenly assume that we are giving the people public education when we are really giving them public training. When consuming more goods, getting richer, or getting ahead in the corporation cease to be viable goals, what will be the point of much of our child-training practices—which inspire children to be greedy and bottomless consumers, competitive, false, role dominated, and upwardly mobile? And what will we do wit out time? Watch TV? We will have to learn to enter into dialogue with one another—but there is nobody there. Our dilemma is unparalleled in human history. If we are not to die of boredom, or of invasion by the envious, we have two tasks—first, to help the rest of the World solve its material problems, and then to explore how to live, learn and find meaning when there is no work to be done. If colleges and universities are to fulfill their function of education and enlightenment as effectively as they train people into unquestioning conformity, they must encourage teachers to stand forth, and declare themselves in any ways that time, money, versatility, and electronic hardware have made possible. #RandolphHarris 9 of 18
Let teachers disclose, not just the techniques for chemical analysis, or the rules for declining verbs—but also what all this means, how it challenges them in the meaningful pursuit of their lives. Let education approximate to dialogue, and not shaping. Let a college community of fellow seekers, not a place where we, the faculty, train them, the students. Let the students have contact with heroes with a small “h”—humans who are truly seeking enlightenment and wholeness, finding challenges and new values when old ones have worn out. Training will never become obsolete, and we can always find trainers. The social system at large is well protected with safeguards to insure that any change in the fabric of society will be orderly, and not violent or arbitrary. If the is true, and I believe it is, then schools from kindergarten up through university can be places where explorers and trainers cohabit and coexist, where there is a place for learning necessary roles and skills and knowledge, and a place for enlivening and embodying the creative imagination. It is of first importance to recognize that God’s very nature is that of spiritual beings. God is an immaterial, spiritual being, not a material object. Since material objects like idols are located at specific places, it makes sense to localize worship where those idols are. #RandolphHarris 10 of 18
However, since God is an omnipresent spirit, He is not confined to one place and, thus, geographical location is not crucial for worship, given God’s spiritual nature. As David reminds us in Psalm 139.7-12, there is nowhere we can go where God is not present. Another meaning of spirit is more relevant to our topic. Throughout the Old Testament, when God is referred to as spirit it is often to emphasize that He is a living, active being who initiates towards His creatures and gives them life. Thus, in Genesis 1.2 it is the Spirit of God who hovers over the waters. In John’s writings, this same meaning is frequently associated with God as a spirit. For example, in John 6.63 it is the Spirit who gives life, and in John 7.37-39 it is the Spirit who produces rivers living water in the lives of God’s children. What does this have to do with worship? Simply this: Worship is not under the control of human beings, nor is the form it takes up to their whims. Rather, worship is a response to a God who initiates toward His people, give them life, and shows Himself active on their behalf. We should use our minds more carefully in supplication before God. In supplication we strengthen prayer and make it effectively by a certain form of persuasion. #RandolphHarris 11 of 18
Supplication is a form of reasoning with God. The Scriptures regularly depict supplication as a way of approaching God in which the worshiper brings one’s “case” before God (Jeremiah 12.1, 20.12). The Hebrew word for “case” is rib, and it means a reasoned legal case brought before a judge and the reasons for them before we approach God. We then reason that case before His throne and truth the He will take our case into consideration. Individual devotion, adoration, and praise are enriched by intellectual engagement no less than is corporate worship. Much could be said about the development of intellectual engagement in personal worship. It is therefore, important to learn how to read well. There are two different types of reading, each with its own style and characteristic effects: devotional and intellectual reading. The distinction between these is not one of different types of books rad, but of different ways of reading. In devotional reading, one reads quietly, slowly, and with a sense of spiritual attentiveness and openness to God. The goals of devotional reading is not so much gathering new information or mastering content, though that may indeed happen. The goal is to deepen and nourish the soul by entering into the passage and allowing it to be assimilated into one’s whole personality. #RandolphHarris 12 of 18
Certain steps are required in order to enter correctly into the process of devotional reading. First, one must get int a position of being ready to listen with the heart to the Holy Spirit as His quiet voice speaks to you about what you are reading. Sit quietly, confess any sin that comes to mind (and promise to make reconciliation if that is needed), and express tender devotion to God with whatever sincerity you can muster at this stage of the process. Then invite God to speak to your heart about what you are reading. Secondly with a spirit of expectancy and an attitude of openness and vulnerability, read the selected text slowly, calmly, and with an open, vulnerable heart. The goal here is not to read a lot of material, but to enter into a small portion of a boo or of the Scripture. While reading, seek to monitor what is happening inside your own soul. Do not try to master the passage, but allow the passage to master you. Third, throughout the process of reading, you may sense the need to stop, to meditate and contemplate a specific meaning in the text, and to enter into a dialogue with God about that meaning. Finally, it is important to recognize that this type of slow, contemplative reading will frequently be met with hindrances that distraction or discourage. Especially discouraging is the sense that the text is not as moving as you have hoped. #RandolphHarris 13 of 18
The proper response to deal with text when it is not meeting your expectations is to stop reading, allow yourself to feel whatever is going on inside, offer the situation to God, and rededicate yourself to continuing to learn how to get better at this type of reading. With practice and persevering dedication, one will benefit deeply from such contemplative openness before God. Often, it takes several chapters for an idea to be developed with sufficient care and depth to offer something to apply to one’s life and thought. Sometimes you need to be patient and stay with a line of thought for several weeks before things get clear to you. Intellectual reading is never a quick fix, and its value is measures in the long-term maturity that comes from practicing this type of reading. Also, get into the habit of reading books that are somewhat beyond your ability too grasp. If you spend all of your time reading material that requires little intellectual effort, you will not stretch your mind and grow appreciably. Furthermore, when you undertake to read a book seriously, you cannot treat that book as a novel to be read for recreation. #RandolphHarris 14 of 18
Compared to intellectual reading, recreational reading is fairly passive, can be done quickly, and does not require a great deal of work or engagement on the part of the reader. In intellectual reading, you simply must have a better grasp of the flow of argument in what has been read, or you have not practiced intellectual reading successfully. God is constantly seeking and always monitoring hearts. And as for those whose heart is at its core completely given to him, who completely relies on and hopes in him, “The eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the Earth that He may strongly support” them (2 Chronicles 16.9). And “the eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry,” reports Psalm 34.15. Little children, whose hearts are not fully formed are especially cared for by God. “Their Angels in Heaven are always in direct contact with my Father in the Heavens,” reports Matthew 18.10. Knowing what happens to little children in this World, how could one keep their sanity without such an assurance? Jesus assure us that children are cared for by God, no matter how things appear to our senses. “And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah. #RandolphHarris 15 of 18
“For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake. Therefore give heed to my words; write the things which I have told you; and according to the time and the will of the Father they shall go forth unto the Gentiles. And whosoever will hearken unto my words and repenteth and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Search the prophets, for many there be that testify of these things. And now it came to pass that when Jesus had said these words he said unto them again, after he had expounded all the scriptures unto them which they had received, he said unto them: Behold, other scriptures I would that ye should write, that ye have not. And it came to pass that he said unto Nephi: Bring forth the record which ye have kept. And when Nephi had brought forth the records, and laid them before him, he cast his eyes upon them and said: Verily I say unto you, I commanded my servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many saints who should rise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so? #RandolphHarris 16 of 18
“And his disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according to thy words, and they were all fulfilled. And Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that any saints did arise and appear unto many and did minster unto them? And it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written. And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he commanded. And now it came to pass that when Jesus had expounded all the scriptures in one, which they had written, he commanded them that they should teach the things which he had expounded unto them,” reports 3 Nephi 23.1-14. The eagle ends his flight and goes to his well-earned sleep in one’s western aerie. So too will I go to mine when the time is right, that I mist rise again tomorrow and take flight with God. We therefore hope in Thee, O Lord our God, that we may soon behold the glory of Thy might, when Thou wilt remove the abominations from the Earth and when all idolatry will be abolished. We hope for the day when the World will be perfected under the kingdom of the Almighty, and all humankind will call upon Thy name; when Thou wilt turn unto Thyself all the wicked of the Earth. #RandolphHarris 17 of 18
May all the inhabitants of the World perceive and know that unto Thee every knee must bend, every tongue vow loyalty. Before Thee, O Lord our God, may they bow in worship, giving honour unto Thy glorious name. May they all accept the yoke of Thy kingdom and do Thou rule over them speedily and forevermore. For the kingdom is Thine and to all eternity Thou wilt reign in glory; as it is written in Thy Torah: The Lord shall reign for ever and ever. And it has been foretold: The Lord shall be King over all the Earth; on that day the Lord shall be One, and His name One. The Lord is the spirit of the imperishable in humans, because He is eternal, He refuses to acknowledge death as triumphant, because He permits the withered blossom, fallen from the tree of humankind to flower and develop again in the human heart, the Lord possesses sanctifying power. To know that when one dies there will remain those who wherever they may be on this wide Earth, whether they be affluent of unaffluent, will send prayers after you, to know that they will cherish your memory as their dearest inheritance—what more satisfying or sanctifying knowledge can you ever hope for? And such is the knowledge bequeathed to us by the Scripture. “Everyone must submit oneself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God,” reports Romans 13.1. #RandolphHarris 18 of 18
Cresleigh Homes
When entering this expansive home, take note of the two story ceiling height at the entry. There is a bedroom on the first floor, located off the entry, with its own bathroom making it ideal for a guest suite or multigenerational living. The formal dining room provides ample space for entertaining and has convenient access to the kitchen via Butler’s Pantry.
The kitchen comes fully equipped with a large eat-in island, stainless steel appliances, and quartz counters and opens onto the spacious great room. Upstairs you’ll find the Owner’s retreat, two bedrooms, and the loft perfect for a game room or TV lounge. The Owner’s retreat is spacious and inviting with a large bedroom and spa like bathroom featuring a large soaking tub, walk-in shower, dual vanities, and two walk-in closets.
Already feeling the desire to relax in a cozy home for the holidays? Check out today’s blog post to learn all about how to “quiet” your home. Link in bio! https://cresleigh.com/blog/
Best of all, each Cresleigh home comes fully equipped with an All Ready connected home! This smart home package comes included with your home and features great tools including: video door bell and digital deadbolt for the front door, connect home hub so you can set scenes and routines to make life just a little easier. Two smart switches and USB outlets are also included, plus we’ll gift you a Google Home Hub and Go.
By what Magic Could this be Done and One’s Peace Remain, One’s Sanity Kept?
The basic fact of today is the tremendous pace of change in human life. If an artist, though one’s disclosed experience, induces a viewer to imagine new possibilities of action; if one broadens and deepens a human’s understanding of some aspect of the World; if one alters a human’s experience and concept of oneself—one is thereby mediating growth of the other. This change in the other will mediate changed behavior—as, voting behaviour, interpersonal behaviour. This all produces consequences in the social order. If an artist can be invalidated, by being regarded as a mad-person, then one’s message may be kept from the World. It likely takes courage to be an artist. One’s beneficent spiritual influence may profoundly affect others to the point of revolutionizing their attitude of life, yet one may be unaware of both the influence and its effect! The part of one’s mind which knows what is happening is not the true source of the grace; this flows through one and is not created by one. Let us not ascribe to the ordinary human of self what belongs to God. The mystical phenomena, the “inner” experiences engendered by an adept, are done though one, not by one. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21
Help comes, inspiration is derived, peace is felt, and the support of moral fortitude is obtained without personal intervention by the self-actualized or without even one’s personal knowledge of the matter. It is automatic, a response from grace to faith. The catalyst which by its presence enables chemical elements to change their forms does not itself change. In the same way the illuminate may be used by higher forces to affect, influence, or even change others without any active personal move on one’s part to being about this result. One may not even feel, see, or know what is happening, yet one has started it! One is an agent for the work of Providence, a carrier of its messages and forces. At times one is used with one’s conscious knowledge and acceptance but at other times without them. In a way, artists, at least in America as Henry Miller experienced and described it, need a certain measure of protection, if they are to flourish. It is not too farfetched to say that artists experience the World vicariously for the philistine. Just as people with strangled imaginations let the comics, movies, social media, and TV do their imagination for them, so an artist whose work is allocated to the museum and art gallery is doing imagining for other people. People go for a titivating peek now and then, only to return to sameness. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21
If producing and surviving artists are protected, or learn to protect themselves so they can survive and get on with their work, it is also true that the public is somehow shielded from the possible impact of an artist’s work on its consciousness. Public education is such as to insure that poetry, painting, drama, and innovations in the novel and dancing will not be sampled. They are the fare of oddballs, snobs, the avant-garde, who are not to be taken seriously by practical humans, and good fellows who stay busy, as they ought. If an artist’s work does see the light of day, it most assuredly reaches the consciousness of only the few. The layperson, trained and brainwashed to be suspicious of any innovations in one’s experience, feels comfortable only with the cliché. One’s patronage of the arts is limited to TV, Sports Illustrated pinups, Instagram, movies, popular tunes, and the poetry page of the Saturday Evening Post, which is not a magazine calculated to awaken people to enlightenment about their socioeconomic system. Take any art form, and ask is I designed to enlarge and stretch human consciousness, or does it function so as to keep people with their experiencing modes and habits confirmed. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21
Look at architecture, automobiles, matchbook covers, the sounds on radio and music streaming—the media for expression. The artists’ consciousness is separated from all these possible sources of encounter with one’s fellow human, the philistine who is asleep. Much occult phenomena of the adept is performed without one’s conscious participation and above one’s personal knowledge, as when various people claim to be aware of receiving help from one which one as no recollection of having given. It is God which is really giving the help, their contact with one being merely like the switch which turns on a light. However, a switch is not the same as the electric current which, in this simile, represents God. Yet a switch is not less necessary in its own place. If one does not use it, a person may grope in vain around a dark room and not find what one is seeking there. The contact with an adept turns some of the power that the adept is oneself in touch with into the disciple’s direction. The flick of a switch is done in a moment, whereas the current of light may flow into the light bulb for many hours. The contact with an adept takes a moment, but the spiritual current may emanate from one for many years, even for a lifetime. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21
Just as in the ordinary person’s deep sleep no ego is working, so this is the perfect and highest state because no ego is working here either. It reproduces deep sleep by eliminating egotism but transcends deep sleep by retaining consciousness. Thus it brings the benefit without the spiritual blankness of deep sleep into the waking state. If it be said, in criticism of one’s unawareness of so much occult phenomena manifesting in one’s name, that this lessens one’s mental stature, one must answer that it also preserves one’s mental sanity. How, with a thousand devotees, could one be attending to all of them at one and the same time? By what magic could this be done and one’s peace remain, one’s sanity be kept? God alone knows all things in a mysterious everywhereness and everywhereness. How could one be as God and yet remain as human, much more deal with other humans? For all occult phenomena belong to the World of finite form, time and space, not to the World of infinite spirit, to illusion and not to reality And, if, in further criticism, it be said that one’s unawareness makes one seem weaker than an adept should be, one can only answer humbly that because one has surrendered one’s personal rights one is weaker and more helpless than the most ordinary human, that one’s situation was tersely described in Jesus’ confession, “I have no power in myself, but only from the Father.” #RandolphHarris 5 of 21
The strain of these hundreds of questioning, eager, demanding, struggling, and perhaps suffering minds constantly directed toward one’s own would be so tremendous if one had to bear it in the ordinary way that one’s own mind would creak under it. One is given n rest from one’s task. However, one’s extraordinary attainment provides one’s protection. They reach one mostly through the subconscious self, which automatically takes care of them and leaves one free of the burden. The message or the manifestation may, on the surface, appear to come directly from the master. This may be quite true n some bases but it could not possibly be true in all cases. If it were, then one would have to look in a dozen different direction every minute of every day. However, the fact is that one helps most people with being consciously and directly aware of them. There is magical power in the thoughts of such a human. The mind, the being, the eh in one being mastered, many other things become mastered as a consequence. Do God’s will as if it were thy will, that He may do thy will as if it were His will. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21
Annul thy will before God’s will, that He may annul the will of others before thy will. Jesus put in somewhat differently: “Seek ye first the kingdom of Heaven and all these things shall be added you. Ask whatsoever ye will and it shall be done unto you” Those religionists who take the latter cannot properly be said of persons who have not attained sufficient mastery of self, who give nothing from within themselves except wishes and the words which clothe them. One may well be unaware how subtly the force is working within one until one begins to notice its effects on others, as they themselves draw attention to it. Such is the wonderful infinite of the soul that the human who succeeds in identifying one’s everyday consciousness with it, succeeds also in making one’s influence and inspiration felt in any part of the World where there is someone who puts faith in one and gives devotion to one. One’s bodily presence of visitation is not essential. The soul is one’s real self and operates on subconscious levels. Whoever recognizes this truth and humbly, harmoniously, places oneself in a passive receptive attitude towards the spiritual adept, find a source of blessed help outside one’s own limited powers. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21
One takes no credit to oneself for these things. One feels one is only an instrument. All that one can do is to invoke the higher power, and it is this which makes these things possible. It is not really any power of one’s own that does it. However, quite often one does not even have to invoke the power—and yet these things will happen all the same. Nevertheless, one’s followers are not attributing power to one which one does not possess. For these happenings, after all, occur only as the result of the contact with one. One knows that in some mysterious way one is the link between the power and the event. Although the master may not directly transmit the message or prompt the manifestation, one does exercise an influence which indirectly cases this to happen and indicated the direction in which it is to happen. The power to inspire or comfort others can operate without one’s personal awareness and even without one’s own consent. Sometimes it will manifest itself merely as if one were present and close, to be felt but not seen mentally. Sometimes, a like form of one’s body or face will appear to the mind’s eye along with this same feeling. Those whom one never meets but who direct their thought and faith towards one, receive inspiration automatically. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21
The impact of one’s personality helps those whom one does meet, if they are sympathetic, but often without one’s even being aware of it. It is not necessary for one to preach and sermonize others. Sometimes in a purely secret and unnoticed way, sometimes in a half-conscious way, those who cross one’s path temporarily and those who associate with one permanently fell that the good id being strengthened in them. This is one’s silent service. Just by being oneself, without preaching, without trying, the self-actualized may awaken in others whose lives touch one’s a longing for the higher life. One has a peculiar power which acts upon the subconscious minds of those who have any contact or association with one. I am reminded here of an ingenious plan outlined by Alexander Trocchi, a British novelist and poet. He has described “Project Sigma, a revolutionary proposal for an invisible insurrection of a million minds.” He speaks, not of a political revolution, but f a cultural coup de monde. “The cultural revolt must seize the grids of expression and the power houses of the mind,” as Trotsky seized the railway station and powerhouses while the police guarded the Kremlin. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21
Trocchi continues: “Intelligence must become self-conscious, realize its own power and dare to exercise it. What is to be seized is not an arsenal nor a capital city, but ourselves (the million or so creative, artistic consciousness which presently are in contact with Every human only through the mediation and monitoring of middle-business people, politicians, establishment people who insure that only those products of consciousness reach Every human after they have first been assessed for money-earning power, and political asepsis). We reject the ideal of a frontal attack. Mind cannot withstand brute force in open battle. It is rather a question of perceiving what are the forces that are at work in the World and out of whose interaction must come to be; and by a kind of mental ju-jitsu that is ours by virtue of intelligence, modifying, correcting, polluting, deflecting, corrupting, eroding, outflanking, inspiring, what we might call the invisible insurrection. It will come on the mass of humans, if it comes at all, not as something they voted for or fought for, but like the changing season. Contemporary humans expect to be entertained; art is something of which the majority seldom things, expect derisively. This sorry state of affairs is unconsciously sanctioned (even fostered, I add) by the stubborn philistinism of cultural institutions. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21
“Museums have approximately the same hours of business as churches, the same sanctimonious orders and silences, and a snobbish presumption in direct spiritual opposition to the vital people whose works are closeted there. What have those silent corridors to do with Rembrant, and the no smoking signs to do with Van Gogh? Art can have no existential significance for civilization that draws a line between life and art and collects artifacts like ancestral bones for reverence. Art must inform the living; we envisage a situation in which life is continually renewed (I would say consciousness is continually renewed and expanded) by art, a situation imaginatively and passionately constructed to inspire each individual to respond creatively. We envisage it, but it is we, now, who must create it. For it does not exist.” Trocchi points out that the political-economic structure of Western society is such that the gears of creative intelligence mesh with those of power such that creative intelligence is prohibited from initiating anything, and it acts only at the behest of vested interests that are antipathetic toward it. Trocchi suggest that the creative intelligences must have control of their means of expression, by eliminating the brokers. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21
How to being?—asks Torcchi. At a chosen moment in a vacant country house not far from London, he proposes to foment a kind of cultural “jam session.” Out of this will evolve the prototype of a spontaneous university. The building will be large enough for a pilot group of astronauts of inner space to situation itself, the entire site to allow for spontaneous architecture and eventual town planning. The adventure, in a capitalist society, must pay. Trocchi envisions an agency to handle all the work of individuals associated with the university. Art is fantastically profitable, but it is not the creators who reap the benefits. An agency founded by the creators and operated by highly paid professional could harvest new talent long before professional agencies were aware it existed. He envisions an international organization with branch universities all over the World, near every capital city, autonomous, unpolitical, economically independent. Resident professors will be creators; staff and students international. Membership in one branch entitles one to membership in others, travel being encouraged. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21
The object of each branch is to supercharge the cultural life of each capital city as it promotes cultural exchange internationally, and function as a nonspecialized experimental school and creative workshop. Each branch serves as the nucleus of an experimental town to which people will be attracted; and after a stay, they will derive a renewed and infectious sense of life. The economic structure would come from commissions on sales of original work; money from patents and applications; retail income from a museum restaurant, music performances, et cetera; and fees and gifts and subsidies. Trocchi concludes: “The cultural possibilities of this movement are immense, and time is ripe for it. The World is awfully near to the brink of disaster. Scientist, artist, teachers, creative people of good will everywhere are in suspense. Waiting. Remembering that it is our kind of expression, we should have no difficulty in recognizing the spontaneous university as the possible detonator of the invisible insurrection.” Alexander Trocchi’s vision and the beginnings at an action-blueprint seem to me to be prophetic, and even practical. Certainly, if my analysis of the phenomenology of being-an-artist is sound, there must be implications for growth of persons exposed to art, and repercussions on the structure of society. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21
I think we need to produce and live in a spiritual and professional World, where other people and the material surroundings have a consciousness-expanding effect upon us, awakening the artist in all of us, unifying our heard with our hearts and bodies and our imaginations with our feelings and intellect, and bringing an artistic dimension into everything we do and are. The alternative is to be a turned-off, useful tool, or an impotent, ignored or martyred creator whose creations collect dust. The heart (will, spirit) is precisely what God observes and addresses in human beings. He cares little or nothing for outward show. He responds to the heart because it is, above all, who we are: who we choose and have chosen to be. What God wants of us can only come from there. He respects the centrality of our will and will not override it. God seeks Godly character in us and for us, to fulfill the eternal destiny He has in mind for us. However, on the other hand, God is sensitive to the slightest move of the heart toward Him. This is the witness of both the Bible and of life. It does not matter whether you are “religious” or not (“Jew” or “Greek”), for “The same one is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for ‘Whoever will call upon the nae of the LORD will be saved,’” reports Romans 10.12-13. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21
Multitudes of people have come to a full knowledge of God because in a moment of complete hopelessness they prayed “The Atheist’s Prayer” or something like it: “O God, if there is a God, save my soul if I have a soul.” When that is the true cry of the heart, of the inmost spirit of the individual, who has no longer any hope other than God, God hears and responds without fail. It is as if he has a “heart monitor” installed in every person. And when the heart truly reaches out to God as God, no longer looking to itself or others, he responds with the gift f “life from above.” In fact, God is constantly looking for people who will worship him “in spirit and in truth.” What does it mean? It means people who have freehearted and wholehearted admiration, respect, and commitment to God as the highest being of all. They never try to conceal anything from Him and always reply completely on Him. God is actively seeking such people, whoever they may turn out to be. God is spirit, we recall, and nothing is hidden from him. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21
So those who worship God must worship Him and spirit and therefor in truth. “Yet time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth,” reports John 4.23-24. At the level of the human spirit, nothing can be hidden. Lying always depends upon the use of our body. “And verily I say unto you, I give unto you a sign, that ye may know the time when these things shall be about to take place—that I shall gather in, from their long dispersion, my people, O house of Israel, and shall establish again among them my Zion: and behold, that is the thing which I will give unto you for a sign—for verily I say unto you that when these things which I declare unto you, and which I shall declare unto you hereafter of myself, and by the power of the Holy Ghost which shall be given unto you of the Father, shall be made known unto the Gentiles that they may know concerning this people who are a remnant of the hose of Jacob, and concerning this my people who shall be scattered by them; verily, verily, I say unto you, when these things shall be made known unto them of the Father, and shall come forth of the Father, from them unto you; #RandolphHarris 16 of 21
“For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth from them unto a remnant of your seed, that the covenant of the Father may be fulfilled which he hath covenanted with his people, O house of Israel; therefore, when these words and the works which shall be wrought among you hereafter shall come forth from the Gentiles, unto your seed which shall dwindle in unbelief because of the iniquity; for thus it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the Gentiles, that he may show forth his power unto the Gentiles, for this cause that the Gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent and come unto me and be baptized in my name and know of the true points of my doctrine, that they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel; and when these things come to pass that they seed shall be a sign unto them, that they may know that the work of the Father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the house of Israel. And when that day shall come, it shall come to pass that kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21
“For in that day, for my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them those who will not believe it, although a human shall declare it unto them. However, behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt one, although one shall be marred because of them. Yet will heal one, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil. Therefore it shall come to pass that whosoever will not believe in my words, who am Jesus Christ, which the Father shall cause one to bring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he shall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be done even as Moses said) they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the covenant. And my people who are a remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, yea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Their hand shall be lifted up upon their adversaries, and all their enemies shall be cut off. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21
“And I will cut off the cities of thy land, and throw down all thy strongholds; and I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy land, and thou shalt have no more soothsayers; thy graven images I will also cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee, and thou shalt no more worship the works of thy hands; and I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee; so will I destroy thy cities. And it shall come to pass that all lyings, and deceivings, and envyings, and strifes, prestcrafts, and whoredomes, shall be done away. For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that say whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off from among my people, O house of Israel; and I will execute vengeance and fury upon them, even as upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. However, if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land and for their inheritance; and they shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob, and also as many of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city, which shall be called the New Jerusalem. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21
“And then shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in, who are scattered upon all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem. And then shall the power of Heaven come down among them; and I also will be in the midst. And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when this gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people. Verily I say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among all the dispersed of my people, yea, even the tribes which have been lost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem. Yea, the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people, with the Father to prepare the way whereby they may come unto me, that they may call on the Father in my name. Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father among all the nations in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home to the land of their inheritance. And they shall go out from all nations; and they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward,” reports 3 Nephi 21.1-29. You who guide travelers, please slide me through traffic. You who grant patience, please help me calmly wait. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21
The ship reaches its haven. The wagon reaches its home. Today’s journey is over and all can rest. Those who have guided the Sun in its journey: Thank you. May you guide me as well. Great blackness, promiser of mysteries, bringer of dreams: greeting to you, Father Night, as you cast your blanket over the World. “I am about to fulfill the precept of the counting of the Omer, as it is written in the Law: Ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the day of rest, from the day that ye brought an omer of grain as a wave-offering, seven complete weeks they shall be; until the morrow of the seventh week shall ye number fifty days,” reports Leviticus 23.15. Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God Ruler of the Universe, who hast sanctified us by Thy precepts and hast enjoined upon us the counting of the Omer. This is the first day of the mer. This is the sixth day of the Omer. This is the seventh day, making one week of the Omer. May the All-merciful restore worship in the Temple on its ancient site. May it be Thy will, O Lord our God and God of our fathers, to grant our portion in Thy Torah and may the Temple be rebuilt in our day. There will serve Thee with awe as in the days of old. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21
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I Roam in Pleasant Darkness, More Unseen than Saturn in His Exile!
There is beauty in everybody. You are born with it. It is just a matter of what you do with it, and if you lose it, it is like losing your soul. The experience of surprise is a sign of one’s readiness to grow. Amazement and wonder signify that one’s concepts of self and of the World and of other people are “loose,” ready to be re-formed. The “know-it-all,” the “cool” one, has pledged oneself never to be surprised. Everything that the World discloses is no more than an unfolding of what one has expected and predicted, or so one tries to convey to others. However, when a human can be dumbfounded and surprised at what comes out of one or at what one’s friend or spouse is capable of doing and disclosing, one is a growing person. In fact, if I intentionally adopt the “set” that all of my concepts are tentative and provisional, I invite others, myself, and the World to reveal surprisingly new facets of their being to me, so that even my daily life can be an unfolding of newness, where simply perceiving the World or the self is a source of endless variety and surprise. If I am with you, and I have willfully adopted the set that I do not know and cannot ever fully know all your possibilities, my very presence embodies an invitation to you to surprise, to show off, to transcend your (and my) previous concepts of your being. #RandolpHarris 1 of 23
I can tell when I am in the presence of a person with a closed mind. I feel constrained to shut off most of my possibilities. However, in the present of a wonder-er, I feel an absence of prejudgment, a permissive acceptance; and my terror and self-consciousness about revealing surprises is diminished. In short, if you and I retain our capacity for surprise, we assist and confirm one another’s growth. It seems to me that artists in society embody and disclose possibilities of experiencing that are available to everyone, but are generally stifled. If every mad-person is an ineffective revolutionary, and every sick person is an anarchist who failed, then each artist who produces art successfully points the way toward new modes of experience and action. The true revolutionary, who changes people’s minds and spirits, is not the political fanatic or the religious zealot, but the person who wields the painter’s brush or the poet’s pencil or one who composes and produces sounds no human has heard before. The World—Being—discloses itself without surcease. The World discloses itself in forms and patterns and as change. The being of the World is revealed in splendiferous variety, depending upon the nature of the “surface” from which it is refracted. #RandolphHarris 2 of 23
The human race is a myriad of refractive surfaces staining the white radiance of eternity. Each surface refracts the refraction of refractions of refractions. Each self refracts the refractions of others’ refractions of self’s refraction of other refractions. Here is the glory and wonder and mystery, yet too often we simply wish to ignore or destroy those points of view that refract the light differently from ourselves. The World-for-human is a World refracted in human intentional consciousness. This magnificent and mysterious entity, consciousness, is but little understood. Indeed, it can only be understood by a being such as itself of by another consciousness; for understanding is given only to human consciousness. Being can be refracted by animals, and by human-made instruments; but understanding of the being revealed to an animal or machine is possibly only if the animal or machine somehow transmits its refraction of the being of the World to a human consciousness. And a consciousness can attain some measure of self-understanding by transmuting itself into a reflective consciousness. #RandolphHarris 3 of 23
All people are born with the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong. The ability, called conscience, is a manifestation of the Light of Christ. The light of Christ is the divine energy, power, or influence that proceeds from God through Christ and gives life and light to all things. The Light of Christ influences people for good and prepares them to receive the Holy Ghost. One manifestation of the Light of Christ is what we call conscience. The Light of Christ “proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space.” It is “the light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed,” reports Doctrine and Covenants. This power is an influence for good in the lives of all people. “And that I am the true light that lighteth every human that cometh into the World,” reports Doctrine and Covenants 93.2. Conscience is a manifestation of the Light of Christ, enabling us to judge good from evil. The prophet Mormon taught: “The Spirit of Christ is given to every human, that one may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23
“And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye d not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged,” reports Moroni 7.16,18. The study of consciousness, at least from a disciplined, scientific standpoint, is still in its infancy. We are still in the descriptive and taxonomic stages, with a crude beginning at experimental analysis of experiential change. I shall draw on the little we now know and suspect about that marvelous being—my consciousness and yours—to discuss art, and its relation to human possibility. Reflections shows that any conscious of the World is subject to transmutations, which are miraculous as the alchemical transubstantiation base metal to gold. The differing modes for anything to appear to someone’s consciousness include: the perceptual mode—seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching something. The recollective mode refers to a person’s capacity to re-experience past consciousness; we call it remembering. The conceptual mode is the name for a “thinking” and abstracting consciousness, the awareness of the acts of thinking about something as one of a kind, and reasoning about it. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23
The imaginative mode is the name which refers to an experience of possibility. The fantasy mode is a paradoxical form of consciousness, because it is not conscious at the time of its occurrence, expect under rare and special circumstances. Yet it is always present as a kind of shadowy background to any and all conscious-modes. We know of our fantasy consciousness after it has just gone through a detectable change, as when we experience ourselves as empty, sucked dry, following an encounter with a very dependent bore. Another mode of being-conscious-of-something is the anticipatory consciousness: the experience or expectation that something is going to appear in perception, or memory. Probably this is a subclass of imagination. Construing, or giving-meaning can perhaps be regarded as a mode of experiencing the World, though it seems to be dependent upon the act of reflecting upon one’s perception, or other modes for experiencing. And it is perhaps meaningful to regard the experience of willing (trying to make something appear) as a mode of consciousness. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23
Feeling and emotion may be designed as qualities of intentional experience. In a person with a unified consciousness, feelings are fused with every perception, memory, or imaginative act. The person feels alive because one feels. However, feelings and emotions arise only when an individual is committed to goals and projects in the World, when events and actions help or hinder one’s success. And feelings will be felt only if a person has not excluded them from one’s consciousness by acts of repression. Every mode of consciousness is dependent upon the basic, perceptual consciousness. Without inputs of intentional perception, the other modes of experiencing become static and irrelevant as guides to effective mastery of the World and successful adaptation of the self in the World. All modes of experiencing are fed by inputs of the World’s disclosure, refracted and detected by several sensory channels—the eyes, ear, nose, mouth, and skin. The power to abstract belongs to the understanding. It is of its own nature, prone to abstractions. Characteristically, it is most active when it is not restrained by sensory data. It loves to fly upwards to the highest generalities. It is unfettered movement is often evident in language behaviour when the notions behind words become confused and are over-hastily abstracted from the facts. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23
Indeed, the understanding, enjoying the serene tranquility of abstract wisdom, often leaves the real World so far away that the intellect seems so insubstantial as to be deemed immortal: we must see some of the philosophers which are least divine and most immersed in the senses and denied generally the immortality of the soul, yet come to this point, that whatsoever motions the spirit of humans can act and perform without the organs of the body they thought might remain after death; which are only those of the understanding and not of the affections. The power of abstracting enables and accompanies another characteristic activity of the understanding, namely, that of apprehending. This process seems to be to the understanding what sensing is to the sensorium. Abstracting and apprehending, mutually sport each other, enabling the human being to handle the forms and the formal aspects of things and to deal with the relationships among natural objects and events and among humanmade things, including speech and language. The senses produce organized bits of experience that in an older vocabulary are called “sensible species.” Every sense package goes into the memory whole, as individuals, to be used as the materials of imagining and thinking. #RandolphHarris 8 of 23
The understanding produces what an older terminology labels “intelligible species.” The understanding produces forms and natures. The understanding, a faculty of the rational soul, refers to both the power and the act of apprehending. The sensible soul also is assigned an apprehensive power by which we perceive the species of sensible things, present or absent, and retain them as wax doth the prints of a seal. Consciousness of the World’s disclosure is always patterned and structured. The pattern and structure of your experienced World is a function of your projects, goals, needs, and values. This means that you and I, chronically pursuing security, wealth, fame, love, or whatnot, are cognizant only of those aspects of the World relevant to the attainment of these ends. To all else, we are effectively blind. It is not strictly true to say we are blind to aspects of the Word not relevant to our projects. Rather, the unattended aspects of experience blur into the background of our consciousness. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23
We have a subsidiary consciousness of them rather than a focal awareness. They are ground rather than figure, in the language of Gestalt psychology. Thus, the structure of a given mode of consciousness, say, the perceptual r imaginative mode, can be analyzed into its components of the focal awareness—that which is explicitly attended to—and the subsidiary awareness of the background experience. The possibility of our consciousness functioning in a unified, fully turned-on way is limited by our projects. If attainment of goals is impeded by attention to inputs from some sensory channels, we blot that face of the World out of being. Thus, most of us functionally amputate our noses, our tastes bunds, and our capacity to feel something when we touch it, because these experiences may divert us from attaining our goals in the World. If our imagination diverts from restless or anxious scanning of the World, as we seek the main chance or the chief danger, then we blot this possibility out of being. And if feelings, or a body-consciousness, diverts from our serious business, then we bolt that out. The upshot is that a typical human’s consciousness is a distorted, fragmented, disunified being, only half-functional. #RandolphHarris 10 of 23
The fragmentation, compartmentalization, and mutilation of experience is undertaken by a human oneself. One effects various praxes upon one’s experience, such as I have alluded to. For example, one blots some of one’s consciousness from existence. One separates one’s experience of one’s mind from one’s experience of one’s body, and produces the pernicious and perennial dualism that impedes our attainment of harmony with our World. And by conceptualizing the World, humans freeze it. One must attend to constancies, and give the names, else one could not navigate or transact effectly. And many of us repress our feelings, such that perception, recall, or imagination are cold and lifeless. Every concept is an abstraction from a more global experiencing of the World; and this means that so soon as something is named, the person stops perceiving it: one closes off one’s reception of the being’s transmission of its essence. Thus, must of us live in a conceptual World, unrefreshed by new perceptual experiences of the beings we have named. This can get to be a stagnant World, one that sensitive humans feel to be suffocating and boring. And because the social World in which we live resists change—we are shaped and socialized, such that our imaginative consciousness becomes crippled. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23
Our feeling-consciousness becomes reduced in intensity and variety. Our willing-consciousness virtually vanishes; and we experience ourselves, not as creatures who live and decide, but as beings lived by social pressures, or glandular explosions. We construct barriers that separate our various modes one from the other, and allow ourselves to experience them serially, never in a unified, simultaneously active way. One minute we perceive; the next minute we imagine; the next we remember; the next we think. There is no reason for us to believe that serialized consciousness is natural, more God-given then unified experience, such as happens to average people in rare moments of ecstasy, in “peak experiences” and in so-called mystical or transcendental experiences. Indeed, there is some reason for suspecting that in young children, before they are socialized, a unified consciousness, fully turned-on, is the mode. And in certain mad-persons and outsiders—those who have “checked out” of the usual social games, or who have somehow escaped complete engulfment by their culture—we can suspect that their consciousness has eluded the fate that the average person is subject to, or has willingly submitted to. #Randolphharris 12 of 23
The capacity for a specialized consciousness, one usually atrophied in the average human—as in seeing, or imagining, or thinking and reasoning, or feeling—enter int the evolution of that human we call an artist. The dazzling images of the Church assault us again and again in the New Testament in an effort to raise our thinking to the proper height. As the Church, actually we are Christ’s body (Ephesians 1.22,23). He is the Head, and as members of His Body we have at the same time a profound unity, diversity, and mutuality. We are a temple (Ephesians 2.19-22). Jesus is the cornerstone, and we are living stones (1 Peter 2.5)—forming a living place of worship. We are the bride (Ephesians 5.25-33). And Christ, or groom, loves us with a holy love which will beings us to the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. We are his sheep, and He is the nurturing shepherd (John 10.14-16, 25-30). Jesus is the vine, as we are the branches. We are organically in Him, drawing all our sustenance for life from Him (John 15.5). What should the truth that we are the Church means to us? It should fill us with wonder and thanksgiving. We ought to sing, “I am His body, His temple, His bride, His sheep, His branch. I have come to His city—to Angels—to brothers and sisters—to God Himself—to the Church glorified—to Jesus—to forgiveness through Christ’s blood.” #RandolphHarris 13 of 23
The World is like a great express train hurtling towards disaster—perhaps towards total destruction. And in this truly desperate situation certain passengers are running up and down the corridors announcing to each other that the Church is in great danger! The irony of it would be laughable if it were not so searing. Why, most of the Church’s members have already got out at stations en route. And we ourselves shall be getting out soon anyway. And if the crash comes and the World is burn to askes, then the only thing that will survive the disaster will of course the Church. Personally, the doctrine of the Church ought to tell us that we are part of the grandest institution the Universe has ever know, and that we are tragically diminished by non-participation in Christ’s Body. Correspondingly, the Church is diminished by our nonparticipation as well. You and I need the Church! The Scriptures are most explicit regarding this: “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching,” reports Hebrews 10.25. This straightforward exhortation ought to be enough in itself. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23
However, there are several other powerful reasons for faithful participation in the Church, not the least of which is that, as Cyprian argued, we all need a mother. The Church has certainly been that to me. It was the womb which warmed my soul till it was ready for birth which I was led to Christ. I was lovingly nurtured as a youth attending Church. The Church gave me the milk of the Word through strong teaching of my College Department teacher. The Church teaches us to dedicated our lives to God. I owe so much to Christ’s Church: my life, my character, my Worldview, my calling, my vision, my peace, my hope—everything. I believe in the Church! Understanding, then, is what we need the mothering of the Church, we may also understand that we will never benefit as we should from it apart from commitment to hear Head. The entire Christian life is about commitment—first and above all to Christ, but also to the Church, to family, to marriage, to friendship, to ministry. None of these will ever flourish apart from the commitment. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23
For example, marriage can never produce the security, satisfaction, and growth that it promises unless there is commitment. This is why today’s provisional live-in arrangements are coming up short. Commitment through hood and bad times is what makes a marriage grown and brings the greatest fulfillment. Humans, on the most elementary level, you do not have to go to church to be a Christian. You do not have to go home to be married either. However, in both cases if you do not, you will have a very poor relationship. Among the growth-inducing benefits of commitment to the Church are: Worship—having your soul swept up to God in the unique elevating power of corporate worship. Hearing the Word—so that your soul can feed on its proper food, brining health to your whole being. Attendance at the Lord’s table—so that you are refreshed as you thank God for the atoning work of Christ. Discipleship—as one is committed to the Church through its ups and downs, an appropriate deepening takes place which the uncommitted heart can never know. Vision and mission—as one remains committed, a supernatural vision for life takes hold which results in mission. #RandolphHarris 16 of 23
Humans, you need the Church because the Scriptures say you do, because you need a mother and because without commitment to her you will not grow. “And now it came to pass that when Jesus had ascended into Heaven, the multitude did disperse, and every man did take his wife and his children home. And it was noised abroad among the people immediately, before it was yet dark, that the multitude had seen Jesus, and that he had ministered unto them, and that he would also show himself on the morrow unto the multitude. Yea, and even all the night it was noised abroad concerning Jesus; and insomuch did they send forth unto the people that there were many, yea, an exceedingly great number, did labour exceedingly all that night, that they might be on the morrow in the place where Jesus should show himself unto the multitude. And it came to pass that on the morrow, when the multitude was gathered together, behold, Nephi and his brother whom he had raised from the dead, whose name was Timothy, and also his son, whose name was Jonas, and also Mathoni and Mathonihah, his brother, and Kumen, and Kumenonhi and Jeremiah, and Shemnon, and Jonas, and Zedekiah, and Isaiah—now these were the names of the disciples whom Jesus had chosen—and it came to pass that they went forth and stood in the midst of the multitude. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23
“And behold, the multitude was so great that they did cause that they should be separated into twelve bodies. And the twelve did teach the multitude; and behold, they did cause that the multitude should kneel down upon the face of the Earth, and should pray unto the Father in the name of Jesus. And the disciples did pray unto the Father also in the name of Jesus. And it came to pass that they arose and ministered unto the people. And when they had ministered those same words which Jesus had spoken—nothing varying from the words which Jesus had spoken—behold they knelt again and prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus. And they did pray for that which they most desired; and the desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them. And when they had thus prayed, they went down unto the water’s edge, and the multitude followed them. And it came to pass that Nephi went down into the water and was baptized. And he came up out of the water and began to baptize. And he baptized all those whom Jesus had chosen. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23
“And it came to pass when they were all baptized and had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And behold, they were encircled about as if it were by fire; and it came down from Heaven, and the multitude did witness it, and did bear record; and Angels did come down out of Heaven and did minister unto them. And it came to pass that while the Angels were ministering unto the disciples, behold, Jesus came and stood in the midst and ministered unto them. And it came to pass that he spake unto the multitude, and commanded them that they should kneel down again upon the Earth and also that his disciples should kneel down upon the Earth. And it came to pass that when they had all knelt down upon the Earth, he commanded his disciples that they should pray. And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God. And it came to pass that Jesus departed out of the midst of them and went a little way off from them and bowed himself to the Earth, and he said: Father, I thank thee that thou hast given the Holy Ghost unto these whom I have chosen; and it is because of their belief in me that I have chosen them out of the Word. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23
“Father, I pray thee that thou wilt give the Holy Ghost unto all them that shall believe in their words. Father, thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in me; and thou seest that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and I pray unto me because I am with them. And now Father, I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I ay be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one. And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus prayed unto the Father, he came unto his disciples, and behold, they did still continue, without ceasing, to pray unto him; and they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire. And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them, and behold they were as white as the countenance and also the garments of Jesus; and behold the whiteness thereof did exceed all the whiteness, yea, even there could be nothing upon the Earth so white as the whiteness thereof. And Jesus said unto them: Pray on; nevertheless they did not cease to pray. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23
“And he turned from them again, and went a little way off and bowed himself to the Earth; and he prayed again unto the Father saying: Father, I thank thee that thou hast purified those whom I have chosen, because of their faith, and I pray for them, and also for them who shall believe on their words, that they may be purified in me, through faith on their words, even as they are purified in me. Father, I pray not for the World, but for those whom thou hast given me out of the World, because of their faith, that they may be purified in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one, that I may be glorified in them. And when Jesus had spoken these words he came again unto his disciples; and behold they did pray steadfastly, without ceasing, unto him; and he did smile upon them again; and behold they were white, even as Jesus. And it came to pass that he went again a little way off and prayed unto the Father; and tongue cannot speak the words which he prayed, neither can be written by humans the words which he prayed. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23
“And the multitude did hear and do bear record; and their hearts were open and they did understand in their hearts the words which he prayed. Nevertheless, so great and marvelous were the words which he prayed that they cannot be written, neither can they be uttered by humans. And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying he came again to the disciples, and said unto them: So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief. Verily I say unto you, there are none of them that have seen so great things as ye have seen; neither have they heard so great things as ye have heard,” reports 3 Nephi 19-1-36. Following your course, laid down in ancient times, you have come unerringly to the heights of the sky, there where you can survey the wide Earth with no obstruction. May all on which you gaze be to you liking! May all below follow its course as well as you! Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who createst the fruit of the vine. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God, King of the Universe, who didst choose us for Thy service from among all peoples. Thou didst exalt us above all tongues by making us holy through Thy commandments. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23
In love hast Thou given us, O Lord our God [Sabbaths for rest] holidays for gladness, festivals and seasons for rejoicing. Thou hast granted us [this Sabbath day] this say of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Season of our Freedom, the Feast of Weeks. The Season of the Giving of our Torah, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Season of our Gladness, the Eighth Day Feast of Assembly, the Season of our Gladness, as a holy convocation, commemorating our liberation from Egypt. Thou didst choose us from among all peoples and didst sanctify us by giving us Thy holy [Sabbath and] Festivals as a joyous heritage. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who hallowest [the Sabbath] Israel and the Festivals. Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who creates the light of fire. Hail to you, Father, high as the Sun in the southern sky. A king in full power are you, sitting high in the Heavens’ throne room. And I come to you, as faithful subject, to ask you to please stretch forth your many shining hands, and please lay then on my head in benediction. Your heart fully open, shining. Your glory in full beauty, shining. Your grace in full radiance, shining. Please see me on high, Bright King, please watch over me, shining. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23
Cresleigh Homes
When it comes to building homes, we do not cut corners — unless, of course, those corners will be turned into a window feature. Then it is totally acceptable. 😉 // #MillsStation Residence 1
The kitchen comes fully equipped with a large eat-in island, stainless steel appliances, and quartz counters. The great room is spacious and full of natural light with a covered patio! The Owner’s suite is nestled in the rear of the home separate from the secondary bedrooms, providing maximum privacy. Enjoy a spa like experience in the Owner’s bathroom with a large walk in shower, dual vanities, and makeup counter. https://cresleigh.com/mills-station/residence-1/
This home is designed with Universal Design concepts meaning that its well equipped for life’s transitions and aging in place. Learn more about this unique feature by speaking with a sales associate today!
Best of all, each Cresleigh home comes fully equipped with an All Ready connected home! This smart home package comes included with your home and features great tools including: video door bell and digital deadbolt for the front door, connect home hub so you can set scenes and routines to make life just a little easier. Two smart switches and USB outlets are also included, plus we will gift you a Google Home Hub and Google Mini to help connect everything together!
This masterfully designed home manages to include all the basics–then adds a little more. Note the transform and floor to ceiling windows, the slanted ceilings, the large great room, spacious kitchen. Special amenities makes this home stand-out from others in its class. Note all the natural light, the sliding glass door to the patio and the wealth of closet and storage space.
Of Happy Times, when All He Had Endured Would Seem a Feather to the Mighty Prize!
I must be getting absent-minded. Whenever I complain that things are not what they used to be, I always forget to include myself. Humans grow and fulfill their peculiar possibilities—physical, mental, and spiritual—only through struggle, and, moreover, struggle to find one’s own way. To eliminate it is virtually to annihilate all possibilities save the one actualized, the possibility of being like somebody else. Behavioural engineers are correct when they discuss the undisputable value of programmed instruction, say, of the content of textbooks. It removed “needless struggle” from the teachers’ effort to impart knowledge. They argue that elimination of struggles saves time, and frees teacher and pupil alike for free dialogue, discussion, and other unprogrammable encounters. What is overlooked is that there is something monstrous, at least to me, of having one thousand pupils reading the same book in the same way—which is what a “programmed text” requires the reader to do. The fact is, there are many ways for people to master skills or subject matter, and many ways to read a book. It has by no means been proven that programmed materials are better, than, say, lectures, demonstrations, and the struggle on a student’s part to learn efficient ways to tackle subject-matter. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21
We may have been sold a bill of goods. We may be so enamored of the scientific aura exuded by “learning packages,” that we have become blind to shortcomings. However, since there may be something of value in programed instruction for schools and universities, “P.I.” should be optional, not compulsory. One high school student I know is obliged to study English grammar from a programmed text, and it is driving him silly. I advised him to get hold of an old fashioned book and read it sub rosa. Programmers can program humans who conform to Hitler’s or Himmler’s image of the ideal, useful (to the state) human. They can program humans who conform to the image of humans who have made it in the United States of America. They only thing they cannot so far program is commitment itself. Perhaps soon they will, and scientific knowledge will thereby be advanced. That is good. However, each human must, by oneself and for oneself, select goals worth one’s struggle to achieve them. It is the meaningful struggle itself—not the product, the success or failure—that makes humans. Guaranteed success without full engagement produces suave but moronic “nebbishes.” We may have to develop a new kind of specialist, as automation and programming of behaviour eliminate struggle and risk from more realms of existence. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21
The new specialist might be called a struggleologist, or a “de-programmer” (in fact, this is what the guru and therapist are). It will be one’s task to treat with “programmed humans” who have enough soul left to realize one is bored to death. Perhaps one too can develop a program, whereby, in small incremental steps, one will reintroduce one’s client to tolerate increasing degrees of uncertainty, increasing degrees of challenge. One will be a coach of spiritual weightlifting. One’s will be an “antiprogram” program. As I see them, programmers are invaluable in settings where humans want or need to function like interchangeable parts in a social system, where “training” is the objective. Some kind of learning-programs is necessary to train soldiers, or to indoctrinate people in traffic rules, or the rules in Emily Post etiquette book. Perhaps programmed instruction is best seen as the swiftest way for a society to impart some of its past—its culture, knowledge, and skills—to the oncoming generations. However, for education, which entails inventing and actualizing the future, I do not believe packaged teaching programs are relevant. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21
Imagine the fully programmed human sitting, waiting for the next frame in one’s teaching machine to appear—and the electricity breaks down. One no longer knows how to search for facts, though one may be surrounded by them. One is like the city boy who starves to death in the jungle, surrounded by enough protein and carbohydrates to feed a million humans—but not in the form of bread, streak, caramel apple tarts, New York cheesecake, cobb salad, and espresso. Survival training in the army and outwardbound training in the Peace Corps are embodiments of antiprogramming. However, as fast as these antiprogram programs are evolved, new programs spring up. I think that like antibiotics, programming is a mixed curse-blessing. A sterile gut produced by massive doses of penicillin and aureomycin cannot cope with minor infection. A sterile soul, produced by massive doses of programming, cannot cope with the unprogrammed disclosure of the World. Once one is on those giant shoulders of the master one chooses, if one is to grow, one must leap, grope, and struggle to fulfill new possibilities. The quest cannot be simplified, and it takes courage in the face of repeated failure to make actual what was an invented possibility. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21
Scientific programming may be the way in which humans skills are quickly attained for this new Utopia we face. However, if a human is not to go mad, or become wholly robot-like oneself in this impending World, ten Education—with a capital E—must be reorganized, so as to awaken imagination and courage to struggle in millions. Imagination is called for so people can invent new values, beyond comfort, ease, and sensual enjoyment, worth pursuing (these latter will be produced automatically, by machines). And courage will be called for, so that meaningful struggle, that vital ingredient, will remain in the World. Then, the new World will be populated by humans, not humanoids. And these humans will have the inner resources to keep inventing and producing new Worlds, whenever their present World becomes static and not fit for the whole human to live in. The implication for education is clear: where training is called for, let it be done quickly and efficiently with all the technical help available. However, let the schools and universities have on their staff those who expertise is, not training, but rather the talents of the guru. These humans will aim at helping learners to transcend their own programming, to invent new goals, and to address them with vigour and courage. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21
Change is in the World. The being of the World is always changing. My body is in the World, and it changes from instant to instant. Things and other people are in the World; and they metamorphose swiftly or ever so slowly. I may not be aware of the change that is the World. The World-for-me may not appear to change; but rather it may seem congealed, constant, fixed. I may also experience my own being as unchanging. In fact, people strive to construct a stable World, a World they can control and get their bearings in. A view of the World exclusively as constant is an achievement—a praxis, not a “given.” A naïve view of the World sees it as both a “buzzing, blooming confusion” and as stable and “structured.” We simply cannot navigate in a World that changes swiftly. And so we “freeze” it by pledging not to notice change until it has reached some critical degree, until it has gone so far it can no longer be ignored. Then, we might acknowledge it. If everything changed during the night, and you awakened to a new experience of yourself and the World, you might be terrified. However, if suddenly, the World froze, so that as everything now is, it would remain for eternity, you would be horrified. It would be hell—a hell of perfect predictability and boredom. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21
A growth cycle can also be triggered when goals and projects turn stale; when money can no longer buy anything that the person wants; when the fame that was once the person’s glory has turned to ashes; and when the love of that woman, long-pursued, is now experienced as cloying, suffocating possessiveness. The lack of fulfillment when long-enjoyed goals are achieved signifies, however, indirectly, that our personal being has changed, unnoticed by us. Our concept of ourselves, as the person who would be fulfilled by this pleasure or be made happier by that “success,” has gotten out of touch with the reality of our being. We are in for some surprises. The boredom signified the imminence of growth. The time is ripe for the experience of new goals, and new unfoldings of our being. It is time to let the World and ourselves disclose their being to our experience. We may undergo this new experience (if we let it happen) in delight, or in the terrifying realization that we are going out of our minds. The World is full of Being, of many beings—some human, some animal, some inanimate. Being has many forms. Every being in the World can be likened to a kind of broadcasting station, transmitting signals of its being to the World. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21
This transmission is ceaseless. As people and things and animals exit, they change; and they broadcast the fact of this change into the World. You and I are both beings, but beings of a special kind. We have (or are) awareness. We are embodied consciousness. We experience the transmissions that originate in our bodies; and through our bodies, we experience some of the transmissions of being that originate elsewhere. As human beings, we originate transmissions of our being, and we receive transmissions from other beings. My being discloses itself to me—I experience my own being—and it is disclosed to you through my appearance and behaviour. My experience of my being is different from your experience of my being. And my experience of the being you disclose to me differs from your experience of your own being. Humans are concept-makers. They form concepts of the being of the World, and of one’s own self-being. A concept is an abstraction from what is. From a phenomenological and existential perspective, a concept is a commitment to stop noticing the changing disclosures (disclosures of change) incessantly being transmitted by the beings in the World. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21
I will suspend my concepts when my projects in life (which depend on accurate concepts of reality for their fulfillment) are thwarted, when my predictions about how things will act or react prove wrong. Then, if I adopt the attitude of “let the World disclose itself to me,” I will have grown. My concepts of being can change under more pleasant circumstances than failure. In those rare moments when I have gratified all of my urgent needs—I have done my work, I feel good and fulfilled, and I want nothing out f the World just now—then the World will disclose all kinds of new faces to me. I am letting the World “be itself, for itself.” I may then notice all kinds of things about my friends, trees, the beautiful Sky, animals, whatever is there; things that call upon me to enlarge my previous concepts of those same beings. Thus, success and gratification can be psychedelic (consciousness-expanding). They can open up my World for me and let me experience it in new dimensions. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21
You may notice that I appear different from the last time you saw me. My behaviour and my verbal disclosures will show a change to you. You will say of me, “He has changed, he has grown.” You will have to modify your concept of me at that time. If you do, then you will have grown. Your action toward me will reflect your changed concept of me, your changed experience of me. And I shall then say to you, “You have changed; you have grown.” You will feel confirmed in your being. You will feel understood; you will feel that the disclosure of your changed being—in words and actions—has been received and acknowledged by me. I have a certain concept of my being, of myself. This is my self-concept. It is my belief about my own being. My being discloses itself to me in the form of my intentional experience of myself. I experience the feel of my body’s existence. I experience my own action from the inside. I form a concept of myself—what I am like, how I react, what I am capable of and what I cannot do—on the basis of this self-experience. You may also tell me what and who you think I am, on the basis of your experience of the outside of my being; and I take your belief into account. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21
We may agree that I am thus and such a kind of person—a man, a psychologist, kind, strong, able to play a fair game of handball, unable to sing in keys, et cetera. Once I have formed this concept of who and what I am, I proceed to behave in the World as if that is all and everything I am or can be. My behaviour, my self-disclosure, endlessly confirms my self-concept. It is as if I have taken a pledge to present this and only this as my being. In fact, my being, like all Being, is changed. This change discloses itself to me though my experience and to others through my behaviour. However, if you and I have formed a concept of my being, neither of us pays attention to the ceaseless transmission of my changing being. It is transmitted, but no receiver is tuned in to acknowledge the change. Things can get more complicated. I may notice the changes, and change my concept of myself accordingly. You may not notice the changes. You treat me as if I were the same person. I do not recognize myself as the one you believe I am. I feel you are talking to somebody else, not me. Or, you may notice the changes before I do, and change your concept of me accordingly. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21
Again, I may not recognize the “me” that you seem to be addressing. Your concept of me is disjunctive from my self-concept. Or, I may display and disclose the newly experienced facets of my being to you. You may say, “I do not recognize you. You are not yourself today. I do not like the person you seem to be. I will come see you when you have gotten back into your ‘right mind.’” If you thus disconfirm my newly experienced and tentatively disclosed being, and if I am unsure of myself, I may try to suppress and repress my newly emerged being and seek to appear to you and to me as the person I was. If I do this chronically, and successfully, I enter an untenable situation; and I may become mad. When I experience you, I may not be undergoing a perceptual experience, but rather an imaginative experience of your being. I tune out your disclosed being, and I replace it by an imaginative experience. Or a fantasy experience. Imagination veils perception. In fact, much of our experience of the people in our lives, even when they are face-to-face with us, is not perceptual, but imaginative, or fantastical. It is like a mode of experience embodied in one’s conscious experience of the World, but may not be true. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21
Sometimes we have to realize that our instincts and intuition may not be accurate or there may be some reason they are not applicable in this situation. We may be reading the person correctly, but there may be something about their being that is acting as an obstruction to our desires. Perhaps the person is just fascinated by our attention, perhaps the person is in a relationship, or perhaps the individual is just nice? The perceptual mode of experiencing entails the readiness to receive inputs of disclosure from the other, such that one’s awareness of the other is a changing awareness. However, the imaginative and fantasy modes of experiencing “tune out” fresh disclosures. My image of you remains fixed, unhanged by your disclosures, because I do not pay them any attention. Now, if you can break through my imaginative experience, or my fantasy image, of you; if you can catch my attention, by a shout, a blow, a scream of pain or joy—I may, as it were, “wake up” from my daydream-like experience of your being and undergo a fresh perceptual experience of you. You will surprise me. If you do this, if you get me “un-hung” from fixation on these modes of experiencing you—the imaginative and the fantasy modes—so that I can now perceive you, I shall have grown. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21
My consciousness of you will have expanded. My awareness will have grown; and where I had previously been aware of you only as an image or a concept (though I was not reflectively aware that his was an image), now I can experience you perceptually. If my consciousness expands so that I can experience you or the World in many more modes than I could hitherto—imaginatively, perceptually, recollectively, in the mode of fantasy—then I have grown. I am my awareness; and if my awareness expands, I have grown. My World of awareness may not only be fixed in one mode of experiencing, exempla gratia, the abstracting, conceptual mode or the imaginative mode; my World may also be confined to some one or two sensory “channels” of awareness. For example, I may limit my clear awareness only to visual and auditory impressions and exclude the Worlds of smelling, tasting, or the feel of my own being. If you can turn me on to my feelings, to smells, to tastes; if you can wake my imagination; if you can get me to experience my being–you will have expanded my awareness and helped me to grow. In deep moments of intercession with God, we let the World disclose more of its changing being to us; and we may find ourselves experiencing more of the variety in the World. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21
When we let our personal being happen—we do not try to monitor and control it so that it conforms to a concept, yours or mine, of my being. Fascinated engagement at anything can let change happen and be experienced such that the next time I reflect upon myself, I find my experience of myself different from how I remember it the last time I reflected. And my concept of myself will have to change to encompass the new experiencing I have undergone. Challenge, fascination, total involvement in some task or project such that self-consciousness and self-conceptualizing is not the mode of experience, will permit the changed self-being to experienced. Certainly the will of a spiritual being is the one thing in His creation that God chooses not to override and force to take on a specific character. He allows it to go its way or ways. However, that does not mean that such a being gets what it wants. Indeed, that proves to be impossible for such a will, which is following a delusion. It only means that God will not force it to do what He wants. It has its choice-though it does not have its choice of the consequences of choosing what it wants. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21
And one of the consequences of choosing what one wants without regard to God’s will is enslavement to one’s own self-conflicted will. On the path of self-will people eventually come to the place where they cannot choose what God wants and cannot want God. They can only want—themselves! “I wake and feel the fell of dark,” the poet Gerard Manly Hopkins wrote, “The lost are like this and their scourge to be as I am mine, their sweating selves.” This is the condition of the “lost.” Obviously there is something very deep here and something crucial to God’s purposes in creating human beings, which we at present cannot understand. Thus God permits there to be a World such as we live in, where the wills of human beings are often set on what is evil, wrong, or foolish and where even good and wise inclinations are frequently defeated by other components of the persons involved: the “sin in our members,” social influences, mistaken ideas, overwhelming feelings, or disconnections and ruptures in the depths of the soul. The outcome may be a whole person (or even a whole society) intently focused upon accomplishing evil, or it may be a person (or society) baffled and torn by the chaos and evil it finds within itself—as the “modern liberal” person and society of today. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21
Some self-actualized beings do not wish to enter into any precise relationship with others. They do not give personal initiation or accept disciples formally. However, the sensitive will feel that some sort of inner benefit was got by the contact, non-visible and impersonal though it was. The meeting with a higher personage, whether on the physical plane or on an inner one, is to be considered fortunate, and a blessing upon one’s own higher endeavours. The body is a battery and there are electrical radiations from certain parts of the body, certain centers—the most important center being the eye—and that through those radiations, a part of the aura is actually projected outwards. This would also explain why some do not like to have their food looked at by others, which they consider a polluting act. “Behold, now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked round about again on the multitude, and he said unto them: Behold, my time is at hand. I perceive that ye are weal, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time. Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and pinder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you again. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21
“However, now I go unto the Father, and also to show myself unto the lost tribes of Israel, for they are not lost unto the Father, for he knowneth whither he hath taken them. And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them. And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you. Have ye any that are sick among you? Being them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Being them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy. For I perceive that ye desire that I should show unto you what I have done unto your brethren at Jerusalem, for I see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you. And it came to pass that when he had thus spoken, all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21
“They also went forth with their afflicted, and their lame, and with their blind, and with their dumb, and with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him. And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears. And it came to pas that he commanded that their little children should be brought. So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him. And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should knew down upon the ground. And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel. And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the Earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21
“And after this manner do they bear record: They eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father; and no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father. And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome. And it came to pas that Jesus spake unto them, and bade them arise. And they arose from the Earth, and he said unto them: Blessed are ye because of your faith. And now, behold, my joy is full. And when he had said these words, he wept, and the multitude bare record of it, and he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them. And when he had done this he wept again; and he spake unto the multitude, and said unto them: Behold your little ones. And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards Heaven, and they saw the Heavens open, and they saw Angels descending out of Heaven as it were in the midst of fire. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21
“And the Angels came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the Angels did minister unto them. And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children,” reports 3 Nephi 17.1-25. Look up, look up, at the glorious Sun, the World calls to me, and says, “Look up!” From high above, I can feel the heat descending, warming me as I walk here below. I wish to look up, but my eyes are not meant for such power. I will feel the warmth, though, and thank you, Lord. Our God and God of our fathers, please accept our rest. Please sanctify us through Thy commandments, and please grant our portion in Thy Torah. Please give us abundantly of Thy goodness and please make us rejoice in Thy salvation. Please purify our heart to serve Thee in truth. In Thy loving favour, O Lord our God, please gran that Thy holy Sabbath be our joyous heritage, and may Israel who sanctifies Thy name, rest thereon. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who hallowest the Sabbath. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21
Cresleigh Homes
Take a look into Residence One at #Riverside, located at #PlumasRanch, in our blog post today. Link in bio! https://cresleigh.com/blog/
Uneasy Lies the Head that Wears a Crown for He Hath Eaten Me Out of House and Home!
The rules seem to be these: if you have written a successful novel, everyone invites you to write short stories. If you have written some good short stories, everyone wants you to write a novel. However, nobody wants anything until you have already proved yourself by being published somewhere else. Western civilization is for the first time in its history in danger of dying. The reason is spiritual. It is losing its life, its soul; that soul is the Christian faith. If the means used to achieve it ultimately contribute to the marginalization of the church and her message, the Devil will allow short-term success in evangelism and church growth. By eschewing the role of reason in evangelism, and substituting in its place an overemphasis on a simple gospel appeal directed at felt needs, short-term gains are to be expected in a culture of empty selves. However, who can deny that while our numbers have grown, our impact has not been proportionate to our numbers? There is too much at stake for this situation to continue. What is needed is a rethinking of the very nature of evangelism, more specifically, of the role of reasoning and argument in the way we do evangelism. First Peter 3.15 commands us to be ready to give a reasoned defense to someone who asks us for a credible reason why we believe what we do. #RandolphHarris 1 of 23
Jude 1.3 admonished us to “contend earnestly” for the faith. “Contend earnestly” carries with it the idea of engaging in a contest, a struggle, a conflict, or a debate by the pious in the heroic struggle for religious truth, justice, and virtue. The term clearly includes the idea of an intellectual struggle, an idea also expressed by Paul when he said spiritual warfare involves “destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,” reports 2 Corinthians 10.5. Spiritual warfare is a struggle with persons, demonic and human, and the primary way persons influence other persons is through the ideas they get other to accept. Thus, intellectual tools and reasoning are an important part, though not the whole of spiritual warfare. The other primary components are spiritual preparedness, discernment, courage, and wisdom. We see examples of apologetics everywhere in the Scriptures. In Acts, Paul argued, reasoned, presented evidence, and tried rationally to persuade others to become Christians. “People, why are you doing this? We too are only human, human like you. We are brining you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made Heaven and Earth and sea and everything in them. In the past, he let all nations go their own way. #RandolphHarris 2 of 23
“Yet, he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from Heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy,” reports Acts 14.15-17. “As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,’ he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women,” reports Acts 17.2-4. “They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household,” reports Acts 16.31. “Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade the Jews and Greeks,” reports Acts 18.4. “Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. However, some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and has discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,” reports Acts 19.8-11. #RandolphHarris 3 of 23
Paul brought to center stage the truth and reasonableness of the gospel, not the fact that it addresses felt needs. Though both are important, there is a clear Pauline emphasis placed on the former. Jesus Christ Himself regularly engaged in logical debate and rational augment with false, destructive ideologies in His culture, and on several occasions He told people to believe in Him, not simply on the basis of His words, but because of the evidence of His miracles. In this way, Jesus and Paul were continuing a style of persuasion peppered throughout the Old Testament prophets. Regularly, the prophets appealed to evidence to justify belief in the Biblical God or in the divine authority of their inspired message: fulfilled prophecy, the historical fact of miracle, the inadequacy of finite pagan deities to be a cause of such a large, well-ordered Universe compared to God of the Bible, and so forth. They did not say, “God said it, that settles it, you should believe it!” They provided a rational defense for their claims. It is sometimes said that Genesis does not try to “prove” the existence of God, it merely assumes it. However, this is inaccurate. True, Genesis does not argue against atheism because atheism was not a major ideology among the pagan nations surrounding Moses and Israel. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23
However, those nations did believe in fickle, finite, immoral deities. In fact, a widespread pagan belief was the idea that each spring the gods copulated, their seed fell to the ground, and that was why crops sprouted and grew each year. Based on that belief, yearly pagan rituals included frenzied orgies to induce the gods to copulate and insure a new season of crops. Genesis takes this view to task and presents a testable claim: The God of Israel delegated to living things the intrinsic power to reproduce after their own kinds, an odd and foreign idea to the nations of the ancient Mideast. However, this claim carried with it a test. If the pagans ceased their orgies, then no crops would grow if their view were correct and the gods needed inducement to copulate. However, if the biblical view were correct, crops would continue to arise. The secret to the peace of God, as great apprentices of Jesus have long known, being abandoned to God, the person who is heartily abandoned to God knows that all shall be well because God is in charge of one’s life. My peace is the greatness of God. Because He, who not only loves me but is Love, is so great, I live beyond harm in His hands; and there is nothing that can happen to me that will not turn out to my good. Nothing. That is what Romans 8.28 really means. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23
Because of this, “Thu wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee,” the ancient texts read in Isaiah 26.3. It makes supreme sense, therefore, that I should accept Paul’s instruction to “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” reports Philippians 4.6-7. The greatness and love of Gd forms my peace, and at the same time, my love and joy. Job had many worrisome questions in the midst of his troubled life. However, when he beheld God, they simply did not matter and no longer seemed to need answering. He did not raise a single one of the questions he earlier had wanted to press upon God. “I know that you can do all things; no plans of your can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes,” reports Job 42.2-6. Job was not bullied into silence by God coming to him, but really saw the all-sufficiency of God to his life and his soul. And this brought love, joy, and peace to him at one stoke. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23
The original position is a central feature of John Rawl’s social contract account of justice. The original position is designed to be a fair and impartial point of view that is to be adopted in our reasoning about fundamental principles of justice. In taking up this point of view, we are to imagine ourselves in the position of free and equal persons who jointly agree upon and commit themselves to principles of social and political justice. The main distinguishing feature of the original position is “the veil of ignorance”: to insure impartiality of judgment, the parties are deprived of all knowledge of their personal characteristics and social and historical circumstances. They do know of certain fundamental interests they all have, plus general fact about psychology, economics, biology, and others social and natural sciences. The parties in the original position are presented with a list of the main conceptions of justice drawn from the tradition of social and political philosophy, and are assigned the task of choosing from among these alternatives the best conception of justice that best advances their interests in establishing conditions that enable them to effectively pursue their final ends and fundamental interests. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23
The only particular facts which the parities know is that their society is subject to the circumstances of justice and whatever this implies. It is taken for granted, however, that they know the general facts about human society. They understand political affairs and the principles of economic theory; they know the basis of social organization and the laws of human psychology. Indeed, the parties are presumed to know whatever general facts affect the choice of the principles of justice. There are no limitations on general information, that is, on general laws and theories, since conception of justice must be adjusted to the characteristics of the system of social cooperation which they are to regulate, and there is no reason to rule out these facts. Given the principles of moral learning, humans develop a desire to act in accordance with its principles. In this case a conception of justice is stable. The veil of ignorance insures not only that the information available is relevant, but that it is at all times the same. We can, to make the circumstances more vivid, imagine that the parties are required to communicate with each other through a referee as intermediary, and that one is to announce which alternatives have been suggested and the reasons offered in their support. #RandolphHarris 8 of 23
One forbids the attempt to form coalitions, and one informs the parties when they have come to an understanding. However, such a referee is actually superfluous, assuming that the deliberations of the parties must be similar. Justice between generations is resolved by altering the motivation assumptions. However, with this adjustment no one is able to formulate principles especially designed to advance one’s own cause. Whatever one’s temporal position, each is forced to choose for everyone. The right course of action is characterized as that which best advanced social aims as these would be formulated by reflective agreement given that the parties have full knowledge of the circumstances and are moved by a benevolent concern for one another’s interest. No effort s made, however, to specify in any precise way the possible outcomes of this sort of agreement. I do not wish here to criticize others; rather, I want to explain the necessity for what may seem at times like so many irrelevant details. If the original position is to yield agreements that are just, the parties must be fairly situated and treated equally as moral persons. The arbitrariness of the World must be corrected by adjusting the circumstances of the initial contractual situation. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23
A conception of justice based on unanimity in these circumstances would indeed be weak and trivial. However, once knowledge is excluded, the requirement of unanimity is not out of place and the fact that it can be satisfied is of great importance. It enables us to say of the preferred conception of justice that it represents a genuine reconciliation of interests. We created the problem of independent learning by the way we taught and trained people to the social roles awaiting them in social structure that resists change. Pedagogues, parents, people in general, invalidated the experience of learners and shut down their capacity to experience wonder and fascination. We created the problem, and it haunts us because, not because “behavioral scientists have expanded our conceptions of human potential by recasting the image of human beings; no, the problem haunts us because we find ourselves at the end of our tether. We are running in circles at its limit. The tether is firmly fixed to a peculiar debasement of once magnificent image—the American Way of Life. Originally revolutionary and dynamic in conception, the American Way of Life is now a design for living that more and more Americans cannot live, without the assistance of tranquilizers and the threats of the ubiquitous commissars. #RandolphHarris 10 of 23
Yet, all the time, we advertise this way of life abroad, and try to sell it as we sell bathroom hygiene paper and Buicks, with hidden persuaders. What is independent learning? No authoritative definitions are available. However, what an observer might call independent learning—learning for oneself—the learning experiences as fascinations with some aspect of the Word, envisioned in the mode of possibility, that is in imagination. Independent learning is the embodiment and implementation of imaginative fascination. Some aspect of the World discloses itself to a person. One flips from the experiential mode of perception to an imaginative consciousness; and one experiences oneself as beckoned, challenged, invited, fascinated, by the possibility. The transmutation of this possibility into an actuality then becomes the dominant project of one’s life. One lives it, and one lives for it. The person in who fascination has been turned on, or awakened, suffers a divine discontent, a magnificent obsession. If others live the individual alone, one will wallow in one’s obsession. One will forget to eat, sleep, play, socialize, or do anything else until one has brough one’s image of possibility into actuality, or lies nurturing the wounds from one’s fumbling, awaiting recovery to renew the onslaught. Then, one may again show an interest in other kinds doing. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23
However, in the midst of one’s learning rampage, one is far from being well-rounded, socially adjusted; in fact one departs hugely from current images of how people should be. Indeed, the turned-on learner needs to be protected from other people, from self-consciousness, from the need to conform to images, from distractions, and from serious self-destructions as one contemplates and absorbs oneself in the encounter with one’s fetish—they mystery or the missing skill. When one is thus turned on, no badly-written text, no stuttering teacher can be an obstacle or a deterrent, so long as they embody some of the knowledge that has become the life quest just then. “This book or that teacher has something I want just now. I will get it out of them somehow!” Independent learning arises when our present existence has reached an impasse, when our experience has gone stale. The project of “staying the same” has lost its meaning, and so the person seeks “a new interest in life.” If one finds one, and one lets oneself be addressed by it, one become possessed of the divine madness. The burden and dilemma that were one’s existence have now been thrown off. One’s existence is now the quest. One is turned on. One will not be diverted. One may appear ruthless as one pursues one’s quest. One cannot be bored by it though one may bore others by one’s talk of it. #RandolphHarris 12 of 23
This state of being, of being involved, of experiencing new possibilities of meaning of one’s life, of being engaged in their fulfillment—this is what I am construing as independent learning. It entails transcending the past—past involvements and interests, social pressure; in short, it is a matter of detachment and liberation from the momentum and inertia of previous ways of being, behaving, and experiencing. The fascinated questing of which I speak can be evoked in a number of ways. It may occur of itself in someone who is desperate enough, whose life has been enlightened. It seems to occur spontaneously in young children before they have been socialized. More commonly, when it does occur, it happens through a relationship between and entrapped person and some other who functions as one’s guru and exemplar—someone who offers a pseudo psychedelic encounter. Indeed, the guru may assist the process of liberation from previous attachments by helping the person experience more keenly the degree to which one feels trapped. The capacity to become fascinated may be impossible until some level of disengagement from usual concerns, ways, and commitments has been reached. Or, the one who is to be the guru may function as a tempter—one’s way of life may excite envy and admiration. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23
One’s serenity or one’s enthusiasm may evoke curiosity. One may appear to be having more fun, living more fully, experiencing more. Or one may disclose images of possibility that attract the attention of the bored, unfulfilled seeker, who them becomes fascinated and subsequently experiences one’s previous involvements as obstacles to one’s pursuit of new meaning and experience. Whatever the occasion for being thus turned on, it is this fascinated engagement with an image of possibility that I define as independent learning. We might call it awakening or inspiration, but it is always intentional—that is, it is always related to something in the World; it is always awakening to something, being inspirited by and for something, fascinated with something. And it is embodied; that is, the person lives and acts one’s experience of awakening. In principle, the turned-on state, which is experienced by the person as different from one’s usual, repetitive experience, should appear different to the other person. We thus have the possibility of a psychology, a physiology, even an epidemiology and sociology, of being turned on. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23
It is to part of this possibility, an exploration or relationships between personality factors and being turned on. Too many disciples commit the fault of being too demanding and too possessive in their attitude towards the teacher. In the end they become a burden, a liability, or even a nuisance to one. They ought to give one devotion, yes; they ought to think often of one for inspiration and guidance; but they ought not to turn themselves into emotional parasites who are unable to live on their own vitality at all. The eagerness to surrender every responsibility, every decision, every care to a spiritual guide—which is so prominent in the Old World—is only praiseworthy in some cases. In others, it is neurotic and infantile, an attempt to secure indulgent pity, protection, and gregarious support despite the fact that childhood has been physically outgrown. To take it as a sign of advancement, and to use it as an excuse to evade pressing work of self-reform and self-discipline, is deplorable. A calm trust in the human’s leadership is one thing, but a hysterical clinging devotion to one’s personality is another. So it is good for people to be independent learners. For one who turns oneself into a burden to one’s teacher by shrinking one’s own responsibilities and throwing them on one’s teacher, is being selfish as well as weak. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23
Whoever does not understand that the guide must lead one to where one will seek one’s own way, will go on endlessly looking for teachers, one after the other, or else become a spiritual hypochondriac, a semi-invalid needing the guru-doctor to dance constantly in attendance on one’s ego-centered symptoms. It may be that the effort to imitate one’s master will enable the disciple to excel oneself. If one is willing to accept the gift of Grace, which a true teacher is forever bearing, through your prior willingness to give one your faith and devotion, and to give it not because one want it or anything else for oneself but because one is a purified channel for God’s power, then you may expect to see the past wiped out as sins are forgiven and the future made brighter as new energies are born in you. “And now it came to pass that the people of the Nephites did all return to their own lands in the twenty and sixth year, every human, with one’s family, one’s flocks, and one’s herds, one’s horses, and one’s cattle, and all things whatsoever did belong unto them. And it came to pass that they had not eaten up all their provisions; therefore they did take with them all that they had not devoured, of all their grain of every kind, and their gold, and their sliver, and all their precious things, and they did return to their own lands and their possessions, both on the north and on the south, both on the land northward and on the land southward. #RandolphHarris 16 of 23
“And they granted unto those robbers who had entered into a covenant to keep the peace of the land, who were desirous to remain Lamanites, lands, according to their numbers, that they might have, with their labours, wherewith to subsist upon; and thus they did establish peace in all the land. And they began again to prosper and to wax great; and the twenty and sixth and seventh years passed away, and there was great order in the land; and they had formed their laws according to equity and justice. And now there was nothing in all the land to hinder the people from prospering continually, except they should fall into transgression. And now it was Gidigiddoni, and the judge, Lachoneus, and those who had been appointed leaders, who has established this great peace in the land. And it came to pass that there were many cities built anew, and there were many old cities repaired. And there were many highways cast up, and many roads made which led from city to city, and from land to land, and from place to place. And thus passes away the twenty and eight year, and the people had continual peace. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23
“However, it came to pass in the twenty and nineth year there began to be some disputings among the people’ and some were lifted up unto pride and boastings because of their exceedingly great riches, yea, even unto great persecutions; for there were many merchants in the land, and also many lawyers, and many officers. And the people began to be distinguished by ranks, according to their riches and their chances for learning; yea, some were ignorant because of their poverty, and others did receive great learning because of their riches. Some were lifted up in pride, and others were exceedingly humble; some did return railings for railing, while others would receive railing and persecution and all manner of afflictions, and would not turn and revile again, but were humble and penitent before God. And thus there became a great inequality in all the land, insomuch that the church began to be broken up; yea, insomuch that in the thirtieth year the church was broken up in all the land save it were among a few of the Lamanites who were converted unto the true faith; and they would not depart from it, for immovable, willing with all diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23
“Now the cause of this iniquity of the people was this—Satan had great power, unto the stirring up of the people to do all manner of iniquity, and to the puffing them up with pride, tempting them to seek for power, and authority, and riches, and the vain things of the World. And thus Satan did lead away the hearts of the people to do all manner of iniquity; therefore they had enjoyed peace but a few years. And thus, in the commencement of the thirtieth year—the people having been delivered up for the space of a long time to be carried about by the temptations of the devil whithersoever he desired to carry them and to do whatsoever iniquity he desired they should—and thus in the commencement of this, the thirtieth year, they were in a state of awful wickedness. Now they did not sin ignorantly, for they knew the will of God concerning them, for it had been taught unto them; therefore they did willfully rebel against God. And now it was in the days of Lachoneus, the son of Lachoneus, for Lachoneus did fill the seat of his father and did govern the people that year. And there began to be humans inspired from Heaven and sent forth standing among the people in all the land, preaching and testifying boldly of the sins and iniquities of the people. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23
“And they were testifying unto them concerning the redemption which the Lord would make for his people, or in other words, the resurrection of Christ; and they did testify boldly of his death and sufferings. Now there were many of the people who were exceedingly angry because of those who testified of these things; and those wo were angry were chiefly the chief judges, and they who had been high priests and lawyers; yea, all those who were lawyers were angry with those who testified of these things. Now there was no lawyer nor judge nor high priest that could have power to condemn any one to death save their condemnation was signed by the governor of the land. Now there were many of those who testified of the things pertaining to Christ who testified boldly, who were taken and put to death secretly by the judges, that the knowledge of their death came not unto the governor of the land until after death. Now behold, this was contrast to the laws of the land, that any human should be put to death except they had a power from the governor of the land. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23
“Therefore a complaint came up unto the land of Zarahemla, to the governor of the land, against these judges who had condemned the prophets of the Lord unto death, not according to the law. Now it came to pass that those judges had many friends and kindreds; and the remainder, yea, even almost all the lawyers and the high priests, did gather themselves together, and unite with the kindreds of those judges who were to be tried according to the law. And they did enter into a covenant one with another, yea, even into that covenant which was given by them of old, which covenant was given and administered by the devil, to combine against all righteousness. Therefore they did combine against the people of the Lord, and enter int a covenant to destroy them, and to deliver those who were guilty of murder from the grasp of justice, which was about to be administered according to the law. And they did set at defiance the law and the rights of their country; and they did covenant one with another to destroy the governor, and to establish a king over the land, that the land should no more be at liberty but should be subject unto the kings,” reports 3 Nephi 6.1-30. Dear Lord in Heaven, you have retuned the Sun, as I knew you would, for this is your part in the ways of things. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23
God, you have your role, and you play it well. I ask that you please inspire me to do the same: to know the right thing to do and to do it with passion and joy and honour. Bless, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy whole Clergy, that they may handle Thy holy things with holiness, and be pleasing to Thee Whoa art our Priest for ever. O Lord, without Whom our labour is but lost, and with Whom Thy little ones go forth as the mighty; please be present to all works in Thy Church which are undertaken according to Thy will, (especially in Sacramento, California USA), and please grant to Thy labourers a pure intention, patient faith, sufficient success upon Earth, and the bliss of serving Thee in Heaven; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, our sympathizing Saviour, Who for humans didst bear that Agony and the Cross; please draw Thou near to Thy suffering servant, in their pain of body or trouble of mind (especially in Sacramento, California USA) please hallow all their crosses in this life, and crown them hereafter where all tears are wiped away; where with the Father we can sing praises. Merciful and faithful Most Priest, Who didst deign for us to be tempted of Satan; please make speed to assist Thy servants who are assaulted by manifold temptations; and as Thou knowest their several infirmities, let each one to find Thee mighty to save, Who livest, as a young God, a young warrior. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23
God, please rise into the sky as into a battle, dispelling the darkness that has covered the World, putting to flight the fears of the night. Have mercy, O compassionate Father, on all who are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin; vouchsafe them grace to come to themselves, the will and power to return to Thee, and the loving welcome of Thy forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Almighty and everliving God, Who hast given us the Christian Faith of Christ for a light to our feet amid the darkness of this World; please have pity upon all who, by doubting or denying it, are gone astray from the path of safety; please bring home the Truth to their hearts, and grant them to receive it as little children; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. God has given birth to you again; again you climb the sky, again you reach for your glory, again I stand here to praise you. The sacred path is fulfilled, things are as they should be. Jesus Christ, herald of the right way, I praise you! Amazing! Wonderful! Every morning, again and again You make life amazing! Wonderful! #RandolphHarris 23 of 23
Cresleigh Homes
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The Learner Has the Need and the Capacity to Assume Responsibility for One’s Own Continuing Learning!
The system has not failed—but some of us have failed the system. Do not become the problems instead of the solution to the problem. Recent insights from the behavioral sciences have expanded our conceptions of human potential through a re-casting of the image of the human—from passive, reactive recipient to an active, seeking, autonomous, and reflective being. What are the implications of this impelling new image for our concern with human the learner? Educators are giving increased attention to implementing in practice the recognition that the learner has both the capacity and the need to assume responsibility for one’s continuing learning. However, the real question is here is what do humans learn and for whom? Learning is not a task; it is a way to be in the World. Humans learn as they purse their goals and projects that have meaning for them. Humans are always learning something. Perhaps the key to the problem of independent learning lies in the phrase, “The learner has the need and the capacity to assume responsibility for one’s own continuing learning.” That is one phrase that will help wide unclasp the table of their thoughts. These same thoughts—people, the little World. #RandolphHarris 1 of 22
It may well be that those who train young people in the ways of their group (a most necessary task) have overshot the mark; they have trained youngster to believe that they cannot, dare not, learn anything without a trainer close at hand. The only safe and good learning is learning-for-the trainer. And the youngsters, being human, independently learned something meaningful to them; namely, that it is dangerous or futile to become interested in something, to learn for oneself. It is only safe to learn for the teacher’s or for society’s approval. One set of image-molders, the teachers, have been commissioned by social leaders to shape youngsters to the acquiescent mode. They implement this commission by invalidating a child’s experience of spontaneous curiosity and fascination with aspects of the World. They insist one learn only when and what one is taught. One must learn for others. The teachers and parents have robbed children of their autonomy—their capacity to experience amazement, wonder, and fascination—by invalidating it whenever it appears. Then, they look at their product and find it wanting; they produced a Golem, a humanoid, a “dependent learning.” Now we are asked to breathe life into it. #RandolphHarris 2 of 22
We are caught on the horns of a dilemma. Children must be shown the ways of their group; they must be taught and trained. However, if they are to experience their lives as meaningful, and if the society in which they live is to grow and change, they must also be able to transcend this training and learn for themselves. The question is, how is it possible to reconcile the contradiction between teaching children for society and letting them learn for themselves, such that children can serve their society without a loss of freedom and capacity to go beyond what they have been taught? This is the same problem, write large, that every serious teacher—of piano, of art, of math, or English, of Science, of History, of woodshop, of psychotherapy, or even of teaching—faces: how can one teach a pupil in the fundamental techniques of this art without producing a mere technician? In any of these arts, we wish the learner to commit oneself, to be willing to struggle for objectives beyond mastery of exercises and technique (learning experienced as “for-the-teacher”) and even beyond current goals. We hope one will week to make actual one’s own image (not one’s teacher’s image) of beautiful music, pictures, woodworks, healthy personalities, or independent learners. #RandolphHarris 3 of 22
If the teacher has been effective, one will have shown one’s pupil that techniques are no more than a beginner’s set of tools, to be used up to the point that an impasse is reached. Then, the trust scholar, the involved therapist, the committed teacher (committed to one’s own image of ultimate goals, not means), gropes and leaps into the unknown, exercising that courage that is not devoid of fear and trembling, to invent or discover new means to further one’s project of actualizing the image. If the old versions of the ultimate goals have lost meaning, the pupil will envision new embodiments of them. Your must play the teacher to yourself. One cannot tread the path for you: you must walk and work by your own effort. The mother cannot grow up on behalf of the child, no matter how greatly she loves it. The adept cannot do your growing-up for you. Nature’s laws must prevail. One has shown you the way; use your will to follow it. However, devote a little time each day to keeping open the channel of communication with your teacher and thus receive one’s impetus, one’s inspiration to help you. So although you must strive by your own use of free will, do not imagine that you need to strive unassisted. #RandolphHarris 4 of 22
Working along the line that the teacher found suitable for oneself, slavishly and artificially trying to produce a copy of one, will in the end not even produce that but a caricature instead. For only the teacher’s bodily acts will be imitated; one’s Spirit is invisible and therefore cannot be imitated. Why should anyone copy another’s artwork? Why should Whistler paint pictures in the same way that Gainsborough did? Whistler remained loyal to one’s own conceptions. Why then, going further, copy another’s lifestyle? We may honour a master’s inspirations but yet express our own in our individual way. It is true that followers have no right to burden the teacher with their personal problems, that they should learn bravely to shoulder their difficulties and not pass them on to one. Yet human nature is weak, the teacher kindly. What they may do without taxing one’s strength is to place the problem before one in prayer, thought, or meditation silently, and nor in letter or interview. If they will keep their distresses, troubles, or indecisions to themselves in this way, such reticence will not be to their loss. When an aspirant plagues a teacher too frequently or on too trivial matters, it is indeed a sign of neuroticism. Such conduct is quite suited to children but not to adults. #RandolphHarris 5 of 22
Every person must come to terms with who they are now. It reveals too egocentric a person, one who is unwilling to bring the stage of novice to an end because the dependence on another person is more comforting and much easier than endeavouring to settle one’s own little problems. One must learn to speak, move, and even experience the World in the given ways, those deemed right and sane where one lives. It is not easy. It takes a long time. The temptation to stary is strong. Commissars stand close, to insure each person conforms to one’s prescribed position and role. Once a human masters the rules of the social “games,” what then? One plays the games so long as they yield meaningful rewards and the rewards of meaning. Ultimately, the games become confining, boring, even strangling. The person may then wish to opt out, but one cannot—there re no other games to play. So one may become sick. Then, one is patched up by doctors who pronounce one healed, and they send one back into the game. If one seeks to transcend the given, for new realms of experience, one threatens the sleep of the unawakened. They condemn and invalidate one. So one gives up and becomes “normal,” or else seeks a richer experience in private, the while impersonating a typical person. #RandolphHarris 6 of 22
It should be made clear that dramatic and directive dominance are dramaturgical terms and that performers wo have positions of visible leadership are often merely figureheads, selected as a compromise, or as a way of neutralizing a potentially threatening position, or as a way of strategically concealing the power behind the front and hence the power behind the power behind the front. So also, whenever inexperienced or temporary incumbents are given formal authority over experienced subordinates, we often find that the formally empowered person is bribed with a part that has dramatic dominance while the subordinates tend to direct the show. Since we all participate on teams we must all carry within ourselves something of the sweet guilt of conspirators. And since each team is engaged in maintaining the stability of some definitions of the situation, concealing or playing down certain facts in order to do this, we can expect the performer to live out one’s conspiratorial career in some furtiveness. A basic problem for many performances, then, is that of information control; the audience must not acquire destructive information about the situation that is being defined for them. In other words, a term must be able to keep its secrets and have its secrets kept. #RandolphHarris 7 of 22
There are what are sometimes called “dark” secrets. These consist of facts about a team which it knows and conceals and which are incompatible with the image of self that the team attempts to maintain before its audience. Dark secrets are, of course, double secrets: one is the crucial fact that is hidden and another is the fact that crucial facts have not been openly admitted. There are also what might be called “strategic” secrets. These pertain to intentions and capacities of a team which it conceals from its audience in order to prevent them from adapting effectively to the state of affairs the team is planning to being about. Strategic secrets are the ones that businesses and armies employ in designing future actions against the opposition. So long as a team makes no pretense of being the sort of team that does not have strategic secrets, its strategic secrets need not be dark ones. Yet it is to be noted that even when the strategic secrets of a team are not dark ones, still the disclosure or discovery of such secrets disrupts the team’s performance, for suddenly and unexpectedly the team finds it useless and foolish to maintain the care, reticence, and studied ambiguity of action that was required prior to loss of its secrets. #RandolphHarris 8 of 22
It may be added that secrets that are merely strategic tend to be ones which the team eventually discloses, performance, when action based upon secret preparations is consummated, whereas an effort may be made to keep dark secrets secret forever. It may also be added that information is often held back not because of its known strategic importance but because it is felt that it may someday acquire such importance. Thirdly, there are what might be called “inside” secrets. These are ones whose possession marks an individual as being a member of a group and help the group feel separate and different from those individuals who are not in the know. Inside secrets give objective intellectual content to subjectively felt social distance. Almost all information in a social establishment has something of the exclusion function and may be seen as none of somebody’s business. Inside secrets may have little strategic importance and may not be very dark. When this is the case, such secrets may be discovered or accidentally disclosed without radically disrupting the team performance; the performance need only shift their secret delight to another matter. Of course, secret that are strategic and/or dark serve extremely well as inside secrets and we find, in fact, that the strategic and dark character of secrets is often exaggerated for this reason. #RandolphHarris 9 of 22
Interestingly enough, the leaders of a social group are sometimes faced with a dilemma regarding important strategic secrets. Those in the group who are not brought in on the secret will feel excluded and affronted when the secret finally comes to light; on the other hand, the greater the number of persons who are brought in on the secret, the greater the likelihood of intentional or unintentional disclosure. The knowledge that one team can have of another’s secrets provides us with two other types of secrets. First, there re what might be called “entrusted” secrets This is the kind which the possessor is obliged to keep because of one’s relation to the team to which the secret refers. If an individual who is entrusted with a secret is to be the person one claims one is, one must keep the secret, even thought it is not a secret about oneself. Thus, for example, when a lawyer discloses the improprieties of one’s clients, two quite different performances are threatened: the client’s show of innocence to the court, and the lawyer’s show of trustworthiness to one’s client. It may also be noted that a team’s strategic secrets, whether dark or not, are likely to be the entrusted secrets of the individual members of the team, for each member of the team is likely to present oneself to one’s teammates as someone who is loyal to them. #RandolphHarris 10 of 22
Since time immemorial, each society had secretly harbored “gurus.” These wise humans have been sought by sufferers, who may have been rich in goods but poor in spirit. The gurus have taught the seekers to let go their attachments in this World, the better to concentrate on spiritual purification. The intimated rewards have not been wealth, fame, or power; but rather enlightenment and liberation, an enriched, more meaningful experience of oneself and one’s World. The gurus have helped seekers attain liberation from entrapment in the culture. They have invited the experience and disclosure of individuality that had hitherto been concealed under the trappings of conformity to roles. The society that would not fall must locate and treasure its gurus, protect them, and not deny seekers access to them. The gurus and their ways are not for everyone. Gurus cannot be hired or bought; they can only be deserved! A society without gurus is stagnant, and will perish as did the dinosaurs, unable to change ways to cope with changing conditions. In the New World, I think we are experiencing an absence in our midst, an absence of gurus. We have myriad commissars, but no one to lead beyond their ways. #RandolphHarris 11 of 22
The commissars insure that everyone conforms to existing ways, to the image of humans that is current, that is synonymous with goodness and sanity. Commissars use bribery, guile, and threats of force to get people to follow their prescribed ways, the ways that keep the society and its existing power-structure intact. Who are the commissar? Most of our teacher are commissars. So are our parents. And law enforcement, judges, lawyers, congress, our psychiatrist and psychologist, and even our neighbours. Radio, TV, and the press function as commissars. All commissars collude with oner another to keep us wanting what we are supposed to want and doing what we are supposed to do. Conform, and be reward. However, we are discovering, we who have graduated from such institutes, that something is missing. The something was ourselves. Somewhere along the line, we have lost ourselves, our capacity to experience in new modes and qualities. If we are at all sensitive, we notice the absence and become concerned. We state to seek ourselves and our lost capacity for experiencing. I hope we find it. Our nation will sit stunned, the people having forgotten how to live for themselves, otherwise. #RandolphHarris 12 of 22
If we do not get in touch with reality, people will know only how to live for the system of things. An era will have ended. Then, it will be the turn of the Asiatics and Africans to follow the American Way, until they too reach the end of their tether. Finally, people of Marts will land on Earth and have their turn. When you lose yourself your own experiences and their meanings are being denied, and you are developing a self that is different from your real experience self, which may be becoming increasingly unknow to you. Because so many people accept other’s meanings as their own experience, they will come to distrust their own organismic experience. As one beings to distrust more and more of one’s own experience, one’s sense of self-worth will steadily decline until one has very little use for one’s own experience or one’s self. Of course things will be well for those you are trying to please. This pseudoself is just what they want. It is only within oneself, at some deep and unknown level, that there is a vague uneasiness. When a person denies awareness to all of one’s own experiencing—one will get to a pint where one no longer really has a self and is trying to be a self wanted by someone else. Next, rebellion happens. #RandolphHarris 13 of 22
One can only attribute this rebellion to the actualizing tendency that has been suppressed for so long but that finally asserts itself. However, often times, because one has distrusted one’s own experience for such a long period and because the self by which one is living is so sharply different from the experiences of one’s organism, one cannot reconstruct one’s true self without help. When there is such a great discrepancy, the need for help often exists. In contrast, however, when people have spent years and even decades trying to socially engineer you, and you do not adhere to their values, even though they do not know you, they will think you are acting weird because their sick and twisted and sadistic methods are not working on you. When people reclaim the value of their experience, they are the ones who decides what matters to them and how they want to live. The center of the valuing process, and the evidence is provided by one’s own sense. What is right for someone who is trying to indoctrinate and corrupt you, may not be what is right for you. One may have started off at a young age knowing the love of God and who one wants to be. Society may call a given experience bad, but when one trusts one’s own valuing of it, one will find that following the path to truth and the love of God is significant and worthwhile. #RandolphHarris 14 of 22
When denied experience comes close to awareness, anxiety always results because these previously unadmitted experiences will have meanings that will change the structure of the self by which one as been living. Any drastic change in the self-concept is always a threatening and frightening experience. One may be dimly aware of this threat even though one does not yet know what would emerge. When the denied experienced break through the dam, they turn out to be hurts and angers that one has been completely unaware of. It is impossible for people to realize how completely an experience can be shut out of awareness until it does break through into awareness. Every individual is able to shut out and deny those experiences that will endanger one’s self concept. When the self-concept is so sharply changed that parts of it are completely shattered, it is a very frightening experience, and it is accurate to feel like an alien has take over you. That is why the law allows for mental competence to be called into question when some people are accused of crimes, for they may have been manipulated since they were too young to think for themselves and unaware of what they are doing is wrong. #RandolphHarris 15 of 22
So, the system wants to give people who are victims of crimes, who have gone on to commit crimes, an opportunity for repentance and the chance to live a life as themselves, instead of being condemned for having been brainwashed. Some will realize that they are the alien because the submissive, malleable self by which they have been living, the self that has been guided by the statements, attitudes, and expectations of others, is no longer theirs. The new self that had seemed so alien is more than likely one that had experienced hurt and anger and feelings that society regards as bad, as well as wild hallucinatory thoughts—and love. As one goes further into self-discovery, it is likely that one will find out that some of one’s anger is directed against one’s parents. The hurts will have come from various sources; some of the feelings and experiences that society regards as bad but that one finds good and satisfying are experiences and feelings that probably have to do with pleasures of the flesh. Sometimes one has to let their experiences tell them what they mean instead of trying to impose a meaning on them. The more the individual’s self-concept is rooted in the spontaneously felt meanings of one’s experiencing, the more one is an integrated person. People who are learning to self-actualize will enjoy meet and making friend with their thoughts and feelings. #RandolphHarris 16 of 22
Here is the dawning of the self-respect and self-acceptance of which one has been deprived for so long. One will even feel an affection for oneself. One of the curious but common side effects of this change is that now one will be able to give oneself more freely to others, to enjoy others more, to be more genuinely interested in them. As one becomes more expressive of one’s love one can also be more expressive of one’s anger and hurt, one’s likes and dislikes, and one’s “wild” thoughts and feelings (which will turn out to be creative impulses). One is in the process of changing from psychological maladjustment to a much healthier relationship to others and to reality. There is a peaceful harmony in being a whole person, but one will be mistaken if one thinks this reaction is permanent. Instead, if one is really open to one’s experience, one will find other hidden aspects of oneself that one has denied to awareness, and each such discovery will give one uneasy and anxious moments or days until it is assimilated into a revised and changing picture of oneself. One will discover that growing toward a congruence between one’s experiencing organism and one’s concept of oneself is an exciting, sometime disturbing, but neverending adventure. #RandolphHarris 17 of 22
“And now behold, there was not a living soul among all the people of the Nephites who did doubt in the least the words of all the holy prophets who had spoken; for they knew that it must needs be that they must be fulfilled. And they knew that it must be expedient that Christ had come, because of the many signs which had been given, according to the words of the prophets; and because of the things which had come to pass already they knew that it must needs be that all things should come to pass according to that which had been spoken. Therefore they did forsake all their sins, and their abominations, and their whoredoms, and did sever God with all diligence day and night. And now it came to pass that when they had taken all the robbers prisoners, insomuch that none did escape wo were not slain, they did cast their prisoners into prison, and did cause the word of God to be preached unto them; ad as many as would repent of their sins and enter into a covenant that they would murder no more were set at liberty. However, as many as there were who did not enter into a covenant, and who did still continue to have those secret murders in their hearts, yea, as many as were found breathing out threatenings against their brethren were condemned and punished according to the law. #RandolphHarris 18 of 22
“And thus they did put an end to all those wicked, and secret, and abominable combinations, in the which there was so much wickedness, and so many murders committed. And thus had the twenty and second year passed away, and the twenty and third year also, and they twenty and forth, and the twenty and fifth; and thus had twenty and five years passed away. And these had many things transpired which, in the eyes of some, would be great and marvelous; nevertheless, they cannot all be written in this book; yea, this book cannot contain even a hundredth part of what was done among so many people in the space of twenty and five years; but behold there are records which do contain all the proceedings of this people; and a shorter but true account was given by Nephi. Therefore I have made my record of these things according to the record of Nephi, which was engraven on the plates which were called the plates of Nephi. And behold, I do make the record on plates which I have made with mine own hands. And behold, I am called Mormon, being called after the land of Mormon, the land in which Alma did establish the church among the people, yea, the first church which was established among them after their transgression. #RandolphHarris 19 of 22
“Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his work among his people, that they might have everlasting life. And it hath become expedient that I, according to the will of God, that the prayers of those who have gone hence, who were the holy ones, should be filled according to their faith, should make a record of these things which have been done—yea, a small record of that which hath taken place from the time that Lehi left Jerusalem, even down until the present time. Therefore I do make my record from the accounts which have been given by those who were before me, until the commencement of my day; and then I do make record of the things which I have seen with mine own eyes. And I know the record which I make to be a just and a true record; nevertheless here are many things which, according to our language, we are not able to write. And now I make an end of my saying, which is of myself, an proceed to give my account of the things which have been before me. I am Mormon, and a pure descendant of Lehi. I have reason to bless my God and my Saviour Jesus Christ, that he brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem, (and no one knew it save it were himself and those whom he brought out of that land) and that he hath given me and my people so much knowledge unto the salvation of our souls. #RandolphHarris 20 of 22
“Surely he hath blessed the house of Jacob, and hat been merciful unto the seed of Joseph. And insomuch as the children of Lehi have kept his commandments he hath blessed them and prospered them according to his word. Yea, and surely shall be again bring a remnant of the seed of Joseph to the knowledge of the Lord their God. And as surely as the Lord liveth, will he gather in from the four quarters of the Earth all the remnants of the seed of Jacob, who are scattered abroad upon all the face of the Earth. And as he hath covenanted with all the house of Jacob, even so shall the covenant wherewith he hath covenanted with the house of Jacob be fulfilled in one’s own due time, unto the restoring all the house of Jacob unto the knowledge of the covenant that he hath covenanted with them. And then shall they know their Redeemer, who is Jesus Christ, the Son of God; and then shall they be gathered in from the four quarters of the Earth unto their own lands, from whence they have been dispersed; yea, as the Lord liveth so shall it be. Amen,” reports 3 Nephi 5.1-26. We adore Thee, Blessed Jesus very God and very Man, the Same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever, our strong Salvation and our only Hope. #RandolphHarris 21 of 22
Please take us, we pray Thee, into Thy keeping, both now and at the hour of our death; please make us faithful to Thee upon Earth, and blessed with Thee in Heaven, where the Father, Who raises in glory the World, piercer of darkness, illuminates our path as we go through our days. God, pleased continue to illuminate or paths as we go through life. O God, Who hast brought us near to an innumerable company Angels, and to the spirits of just human made perfect; please grant us during our pilgrimage to abide in their fellowship, and in our Country to become partakers of their joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. I pray Thee, good Lord Jesus, by the love which Thou hadst for him that lay on Thy heart, to make me thankful for all that Thou hast given men in this World and to bless this planet exceedingly abundantly, above all that I can ask or think. Please help us to love each other in Thee and for Thee, to be one in heart through all separations, and to talk as friends in the path of Thy service; and finally unite us for ever at Thy feet, where peace and love are perfect and immortal, and Thou with the Father Who is turning the World towards Him, as He has turned it since its very beginning, in infinite longing, in infinite love. And I, a child of Earth, take the Lord as my exemplar, and hold my heart out to Hum in the dawn. #RandolphHarris 22 of 22
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We Christians Must Never Forget that Our God is a God of Truth, Reason, and Logic!
Television had proved that people will look at anything rather than at each other. Principles of justice should be general. That is, it must be possible to formulate them without the use of what would be intuitively recognized as proper names, or rigged definite descriptions. Thus the predicates used in their statemen should express general properties and relations. Unfortunately deep philosophical difficulties seem to bar the way to a satisfactory account of these matters. In presenting a theory of justice one is entitled to avoid the problem of defining general properties and relations and to be guided by what seems reasonable. Further, since the parties have no specific information about themselves or their situation, they cannot identify themselves anyway. Even if a person could get others to agree, one does not know how to tailor principles to one’s advantage. The parties are effectively forced to stick to general principles, understanding the notion here in an intuitive fashion. The naturalness of this condition lies in part in the fact that first principles must be capable of serving as a public charter of a well ordered society in perpetuity. Being unconditional, they always hold (under the circumstances of justice), and the knowledge of them must be open to individuals in any generation. #RandolphHarris 1 of 25
Thus, to understand these principles should not require a knowledge of contingent particulars, and surely not a reference to individuals or associations. Traditionally the most obvious test of this condition is the idea that what is right is that which accords with God’s will. However, in fact this doctrine is normally supported by an argument from general principles. For example, Locke held that the fundamental principle of morals is the following: if one person is created by another (in the theological sense), then that person has a duty to comply with the precepts set to one by one’s creator. This principle is perfectly general and given the nature of the World on Locke’s view, it singles out God as the legitimate moral authority. The generality condition is not violated although it may appear so at first. Nest, principles are to be universal in application. They must hold for everyone in virtue of their being moral persons. Thus I assume that each can understand these principles and use them in one’s deliberations. This imposes an upper bound of sorts on how complex they can be, and on the kinds of number of distinctions they draw. Moreover, a principle is ruled out if it would be self-contradictory, or self-defeating, for everyone to act upon it. #RandolphHarris 2 of 25
Similarly, should a principle be reasonable to follow only when others conform to a different one, it is also inadmissible. Principles are to be chosen in view of the consequences of everyone’s complying with them. As defined, generality and universality are distinct conditions. For example, egoism in the form of first-person dictatorship (Everyone is to serve my—or Pericles’—interest) satisfies universality but not generality. While all could act in accordance with this principle, and the results might in some cases not be at all bad, depending on the interests of the dictator, the personal pronoun (or the name) violated the first condition. Again, general principles may not be universal. They may be framed to hold for a restricted class of individuals, for instance those singled out by special biological or social characteristics, such as hair colour or class situation, or whatever. To be sure in the course of their lives individuals acquire obligations and assume duties that are peculiar to them. Nevertheless, these various duties and obligations are the consequence of first principles that hold for all as moral persons; the derivation of these requirements as a common basis. #RandolphHarris 3 of 25
A third condition is that of publicity, which arises naturally from a contractarian standpoint. The parties assume that they are choosing principles for a public conception of justice. Public Right is the sum total of those laws which require to be made universally public in order to produce a state of right. No right in a state can be tacitly and treacherously included by a secret reservation, and least of all a right which the people claim to be a part of the constitution, for a laws within it must be thought of as arising out of public will. Thus if a constitution allowed rebellion, it would have to declare this right publicly and make clear how it might be implemented. This condition is to apply to a society’s conception of justice. It is suppose that everyone will know about these principles all that one would know if their acceptance were the result of an agreement. Thus the general awareness of their universal acceptance should have desirable effect and support the stability of social cooperation. The difference between this condition and that of universality is that the latter leads one to assess principles on the basis of their being intelligently and regularly followed by everyone. However, it is possible that all should understand and follow a principle and yet this fact not be widely known or explicitly recognized. #RandolphHarris 4 of 25
The point of the publicity condition is to have the parties evaluate conceptions of justice as publicly acknowledged and fully effective moral constitutions of social life. The publicity condition is clearly implicit in Kant’s doctrine of the categorical imperative insofar as it requires us to act in accordance with principles that one would be willing as a rational being to enact as laws for a kingdom of ends. He thought of this kingdom as an ethical commonwealth, as it were, which has such moral principles for its public charter. A further condition is that a conception of right must impose an ordering on conflicting claims. This requirement springs directly from the role of its principles in adjusting competing demands. There is a difficulty, however, in deciding what counts as an ordering. It is clearly desirable that a conception of justice be complete, that is, able to order all the claims that can arise (or that are likely to in practice). And the ordering should in general be transitive: if, say, a first arrangement of the basic structure is ranked more just than a second, and the second more than just a third, then the first should be more just than the third. These formal conditions are natural enough, though not always easy to satisfy. #RandolphHarris 5 of 25
However, is trial by combat a form of adjudication? After all, physical conflict and resort to arms result in an ordering; certain claims do win out over others. The main objection to this ordering is not that it may be intransitive. Rather, it is to avoid the appeal to force and cunning that the principles of right and justice are accepted. Thus I assumes that to each according to one’s threat advantage is not a conception of justice. It fails to establish an ordering in the required sense, an ordering based on certain relevant aspects of persons and their situation which are independent from the social position. For example, if it turns out that the fair division of playing time between Matthew and Luke depends on their preference, and these in turn are connected with the instruments they wish to play. Since Matthew has a threat advantage over Luke, arising from the fact that Matthew, the trumpeter, prefers both of them playing at once to neither of them playing, whereas Luke, the pianist, prefers silence to a cacophony, Matthew is allotted twenty-six evenings of play to Luke’s seventeen. If the situation were reversed, the threat advantage would be with Luke. However, we have only to suppose that Matthew is a jazz enthusiast who plays the drums, and Luke a violinist who plays sonatas, in which case it will be fair on this analysis for Matthew to play whenever and as often as he likes, assuming as it is plausible to assume that he does not care whether Luke plays or not. Clearly something has gone wrong. #RandolphHarris 6 of 25
What is lacking is a suitable definition of status quo that is acceptable from a moral point of view. We cannot take various contingencies as known and individual preferences as given and expect to elucidate the concept of justice (or fairness) by theories of bargaining. The conception of the original position is designed to meet the problem of the appropriate status quo. But this may be similarly defective from an ethical point of view. The fifth and last condition is that of finality. The parities are to assess the system of principles as the final court of appeal in practical reasoning. There are no higher standards to which arguments in support of claims can be addressed; reasoning successfully from these principles is conclusive. If we think in terms of the fully general theory which has principles for all the virtues, then such a theory specifies the totality of relevant considerations and their appropriate weights, and its requirements are decisive. They override the demands of law and custom, and of social rules generally. We are to arrange and respect social institutions as the principles of right and justice direct. Conclusions from these principles also override considerations of prudence and self-interest. This does no mean that these principles insist upon self-sacrifice; for in drawing up the conception of right the parties take their interests into account as best they can. #RandolphHarris 7 of 25
The claims of personal prudence are already given an appropriate weight within the full system of principles. The complete scheme is final in that when the course of practical reasoning it defines has reached its conclusion, the question is settled. The claims of existing social arrangements and of self-interest have been duly allowed for. We cannot at the end count them a second time because we do not like the result. Taken together, then, these conditions on conceptions of right come to this: a conception of right is a set of principles, generally in form and universal in application, that is to be publicly recognized as a final court appeal for ordering the conflicting claims of moral persons. Principles of justice are identified by their special five conditions exclude none of the traditional conceptions of justice. It should be noted, however, that they do rule out the listed variants of egoism. The generality condition eliminates both first-person dictatorship and the free-rider forms, since in each case a proper name, or pronoun, or a rigged definite description is needed, either to single out the dictator or to characterize the free-rider. Generality does not, however, exclude general egoism, for each person is allowed to do whatever, in one’s judgment, is most likely to further one’s own aims. #RandolphHarris 8 of 25
The principle here can clearly be expressed in perfectly general way. It is the ordering condition which renders general egoism inadmissible, for if everyone is authorized to advance one’s aims as one pleases, or if everyone ought to advance one’s own interests, competing claims are not ranked at all and the outcome is determined by force and cunning. The several kinds of egoism, then, do not appear on the list presented to the parties. They are eliminated by the formal constraints. Of course, this is not a surprising conclusion, since it is obvious that by choosing one of the other conceptions the persons in the original position can do much better for themselves. Once they ask which principles all should agree to, no form of egoism is a serious candidate for consideration in any case. This only confirms what we knew already, namely, that although egoism is logically consistent and in this sense not irrational, it is incompatible with wat we intuitively regard as the moral point of view. The significance of egoism philosophically is not as an alternative conception of right but as a challenge to any such conception. In justice as fairness this is reflected in the fact that we can interpret general egoism as the no-agreement. If the were unable to reach an understanding, it is what parties would be stuck with. #RandolphHarris 9 of 25
Artifice has so much got the upper hand that the fictitious dares to usurp the place of the real. The overvaluation of productivity that is afflicting our age has so thrived and its par-technical glance has set up a senseless exclusiveness of its own that even genuinely creative people allow their organic skills to degenerate into an autonomous growth to satisfy the demand of the day. What the born deceivers never had, they give up: the ground where the roots of a genuinely lived life alone can grow. They mean, they strive for, and at last they contain nothing but creativity. Instead of bringing forth a natural creation, in a gradual selective progression from experiences to thoughts, from thought to words, from words to themselves out turning all experience to account as public communication; they renounce true necessity and give themselves over to the arbitrary. They poison experience, for already while it is taking place they are dominated by the will to produce. Thus they prostitute their lives and are cheated of the reward for their ignominy; for how can they expect to create anything save the artificial and the transitory? They forfeit both life and art, and all that they gain is the applause of their production-mad contemporaries. However, it seems to me that the will to create is a legitimate part of the experience of every productive human. #RandolphHarris 10 of 25
Thus the painter is the person who paints with all one’s senses. One’s seeing is already a painting, for what one sees is not merely what one’s physical sight receives: it is something, two-dimensionally intensified, that vision produces. And this producing does not come later, but is present in one’s seeing. Even one’s hearing, one’s smelling, are already painting, for they enrich for one the graphic character of the thing; they give one not only sensations but also stimulations. In the same way the poet creates poetry with all one’s senses; in each of one’s experiences the form in which it will be phrased is immediately announced. One’s perceiving is already a transformation of the thing perceived into the stuff of poetry, and in its becoming each impression presents itself to one as an expression of rhythmic validity. That is need so. However, this dynamic element that you find in the experience of the creative is no will to create but an ability to create. This potentiality of form also accompanies every experience that befalls the non-artistic human and is given an issue as often as one lifts an image out of the stream of perception and inserts it into one’s memory as something single, definite, and meaningful in itself. For the creative human this potentiality of form is a specific one, directed into the language of one’s particular art. If an intention is expressed in this direction, it is that of one’s genius, not that of a self-conscious resolution. #RandolphHarris 11 of 25
The dynamic element of one’s experience does not affect is wholeness and purity. It is otherwise when in perceiving one already cherishes the deliberate intention of utilizing what one perceives. Then one disturbs the experience stunts its growth, and taints the process of its becoming. Only the unarbitrary can grow properly and bear mature and healthy fruit. That humans are legitimately creative who experiences so strongly and formatively that one’s experiences unite into an image that demands to be set forth, and who then works at one’s task with full consciousness of one’s art. However, one who interferes with spontaneity of perceiving, who does not allow the inner selection and formation to prevail, but instead inserts an aim from the beginning, has forfeited the meaning of this perception, the meaning that lies above all aims. And one who meets humans with a double glance, an open one that invites one that invites one’s fellows to sincerity and the concealed one of the observer stemming from a conscious aim; one who is friendship and in love is cleft into two humans, one who surrenders oneself to one’s feelings and another who is already standing by to exploit them—this individual cannot be delivered by any creative talent from the blight that one has brought upon oneself and one’s work, for one has poisoned the springs of one’s life. #RandolphHarris 12 of 25
You wish, then, to reintroduce int aesthetics the ethical principle that we have finally succeeded in banishing from it? What was banished from aesthetics was an ideology that had degenerated into rhetoric and had thereby become false. It certainly signified a conquest of sure ground wen the perspective was established that evaluated a work of art—approving or rejecting it—not by its relation to the aspirations of the aspirations of the artist buy by its intrinsic qualities. Now for the first tie we can, without promoting misunderstanding, strive towards the deeper insight: that this approval affords entrance into the other circle only, but in the inner circle those works alone count that have given form to the meaning of being. Similarly, a gain in clarity and solidity was achieved when it was recognized that the significance of an artist does not depend upon one’s morals: now for the first time we can attain the deeper clarity that in inner development mastery and power accrue only to that artist who is worthy of one’s art. The way people use language is braided together tightly with the way they think. While we do not need to think in language (a child can think prior to language acquisition, and, in fact, since language is a vehicle for thought, language presupposed thought and not vice versa), nevertheless, language development is critical for cultivating a careful, precise, attentive mind. #RandolphHarris 13 of 25
Most people today do not use good grammar or syntax in sentence construction. Interestingly, the demise of grammar and syntax reflects a change in the main way language is currently used. Today, we primarily use langue to express emotions, create experiences, or get someone to do something, like buy a product. Careful thought is not always relevant to these modern appropriations of language. How many television commercials actually persuade us to buy something on the basis of an articulate defense of a product! The devaluation of grammar correlates closely with a devaluation of the mind, truth, and thought. When a main purpose of language is the careful precise expression of thought, grammar and syntax become critical because they make such expression of thought possible. If we Christians are to develop our minds, we must take greater care to improve our syntax and grammar, and we must expect this from each other. From years of experience grading student papers, I can tell you that is a student’s grammar is poor, one has a difficult tie developing a coherent line of thought clearly and carefully. #RandolphHarris 14 of 25
Let us give ourselves permission to correct one another’s grammar with a gentle, nonarrogant spirit in our fellowship meetings. Is not a developed intellectual love for God worth the price of an initial embarrassment at such correction? After all, the alternative is to continue to allow one another to speak incorrectly and fail to realize the intellectual benefits that come from the correct use of language. Having seen the importance of a Christian mind, and having (hopefully) been persuaded of the importance of good thinking, ordered language, and good grammar, you may be asking, “Okay, wat is well-reasoning thinking?” Let us look now at an introduction of some of the principles that govern reasoning and why they are important to the mind. Why Logic? Besides cultivating virtue, taking study as a spiritual discipline, and being more disciplined about your grammar and syntax, you should be acquainted with certain logical tools that constitute the very nature of thought. Even young children use these tools without knowing the names for them. If you really want to develop your intellectual skills, you should memorize these and practice using them and recognizing their presence in things you hear or read. We Christians must never forget that our God is a God of truth, reason, and logic. #RandolphHarris 15 of 25
He speaks wisdom to His children, invites them to reason and argue with God logically, and demands that they present in logical fashion the reason why they believe. The image of God within us includes the faculty of abstract reasoning and logical thought. In Romans, the apostle Paul presents in a careful, logical fashion a host of Old Testament text about the nature of sin, judgment, and justification. In public debate, Jesus Himself regularly used careful logic to refute opponents’ arguments and present them with a carefully reasoned alternative. When John Wesley told a group of ministers to become proficient in logic as a part of their calling, he was expressing a deep understanding of the Christian faith as that faith is depicted in the Bible and throughout church history. In logic, an argument is defined as a group of statements containing premises and a conclusion in which the former are claimed as support for the latter. Using an argument is not the same as being argumentative. In using an argument, one simply supports a conclusion with premises. Being argumentative is a defensive personality defect. Christians are required by God to argue, not to be argumentative. “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. However, do this with gentleness and respect,” reports 1 Peter 3.15. #RandolphHarris 16 of 25
Arguments are either deductive or inductive. In a valid deductive argument, if the premises are true, then the conclusions must be true. For example, “(1) All dogs are ducks, (2) All ducks are cats, (3) Therefore, all dogs are cats,” is a valid deductive argument. In spite of the fact that premises 1 and 2 are false, if they were true, the conclusion would have to be true. In an inductive argument, the premises do not guarantee but merely provide support or grounds for the truth of the conclusion. An inductive argument with true premises does not guarantee but only makes probably the truth of its conclusion. It would be possible to have a good inductive argument with true premises and a false conclusion. For example, “(1) Ninety-five perfect of people who receive the antibiotic get well, (2) We are about to give John the antibiotic, (3) Therefore, John is about to get well” is a good inductive argument. Premises 1 and 2 do in fact provide good support for the conclusion, even though the premises could be true and the conclusion false. #RandolphHarris 17 of 25
Deductive arguments can be either valid or invalid. As we have seen, if a deductive argument is valid, its conclusion must be true if its premises are true. An invalid deductive argument is one in which the premises could be true but the conclusion false. For example, “(1) All dogs are mammals, (2) All cats are mammals, (3) Therefore, all dogs are cats: is invalid because it contains true premises and a false conclusion. A sound argument is a deductive argument with true premises (and therefore, a true conclusion), and this is what we want to employ as best we can. A syllogism is deductive argument that consists of exactly two premises and one conclusion. The argument above about dogs and cats is a syllogism (an invalid one). If you wish, call it self-making—this process of using one’s own mental powers, one’s own emotional energies, to actualize the new being that is one’s best self. It does not seek like a mendicant for free transformation by another person, a guru. It makes use of the highest kind of imagination, a deeply relaxed suggestive visualization. Whatever is called for to being on enlightenment exists within oneself already, but it is latent and undeveloped. By study, exercise, and practice the aspirant can be one’s own teacher. Sooner or later one will have to take this work into one’s own hands. #RandolphHarris 18 of 25
The notion that someone else can or will do it for one is delusory, the belief that a guru can absolve one’s duty is adolescent wishful thinking. If the result is to have any lasting value, it must be self-wrought or in the end the aspirant will have to start again, use this approach, and throw away the negative thought the one is helpless without someone else who must be sought and found. The kind of teacher who is really useful will put no emphasis upon oneself but upon the aspirant’s own work, and then see one at intervals only. Once the materials needed are pointed out, the student should teach oneself; and this one can do only through self-practice. “And it came to pass that in the latter end of the eighteenth year those armies of robbers had prepared for battle, and began to come down and to sally forth from the hills, and out of the mountains, and the wilderness, and their strongholds, and their secret paces, and began to take possession of the lands, both which were in the land south and which were in the land north, and began to take possession of all the lands which ad been deserted by the Nephites, and the cities which had been left desolate. However, behold, there were no wild beasts nor game in those lands which had been deserted by the Nephites, and there was no game for the robbers save it were in the wilderness. #RandolphHarris 19 of 25
“And the robbers could not exist save it were in the wilderness, for the want of food; for the Nephites had left their lands desolate, and had gathered their flocks and their lands desolate, and had gathered their flocks and their herds and all their substance, and they were in one body. Therefore, there was no chance for the robbers to plunder and to obtain food, save it were to come up in open battle against the Nephites; and the Nephites being in one body, and having so great a number, and having reserved for themselves provisions, and horses and cattle, and flocks of every kind, that they might subsist for the space of seven years, in the which time they did hope to destroy the robbers from off the face of the land; and thus the eighteenth year did pass away. And it came to pass that in the nineteenth year Giddianhi found that it was expedient that he should go up to battle against the Nephites, for there was no way that they could subsist save it were to plunder and rob and murder. And they durst not spread themselves upon the face of the land insomuch that they could raise grain, lest the Nephites should come upon them and slay them; therefore Giddianhi gave commandment unto his armies that in this year they should go up to battle against the Nephites. #RandolphHarris 20 of 25
“And it came to pass that they did come up to battle; and it was in the sixth month; and behold, great and terrible was the day that they did come up to battle; and they had a lamb-skin about their loins, and they were dyed in blood, and their hears were shorn, and they had head-plates upon them; and great and terrible was the appearance of the armies of Giddianhi, because of their armor, and because of the being dyed in blood. And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites, when they say the appearance of the army of Giddianhi, had all fallen to the Earth, and did lift their cries to the Lord their God, that he would spare them and deliver them out of the hands of their enemies. And it came to pass that when the armies of Giddianhi saw this they began to shout with a loud voice, because of their joy, for they had supposed that the Nephites had fallen with fear because of the terror of their armies. However, in this thing there were disappointed, for the Nephites did not fear them; but they did fear their God and did supplicate him for protection; therefore, when the armies of Giddianhi did rush upon them they were prepared to meet them; yea, in the strength of the Lord they did receive them. And the battle commenced in this sixth month. #RandolphHarris 21 of 25
“And great and terrible was the battle thereof, yea, great and terrible was the battle thereof, yea, great and terrible was the slaughter thereof, insomuch that there was never known so great a slaughter among all the people of Lehi since he left Jerusalem. And notwithstanding the threatenings and the oaths which Giddianhi had made, before, the Nephites did beat them, insomuch that they did fall back from before them. And it came to pass that Gidgddioni commanded that his armies should pursue them as far as the borders of the wilderness, and that they should not spare any that should fall into their hands by the way; and thus they did pursue them and did slay them, to the borders of the wilderness, even until they had fulfilled the commandments of Gidgiddoni. And it came to pass that Giddianhi, wh has stood and fought with boldness, was pursed as he fled; and being weary because of his much fighting he was overtaken and slain. And thus was the end of Giddianhi the robber. And it came to pass that the armies of the Nephites did return again to their place of security. And it came to pass that this nineteenth year did pass away, and the robbers did not come again in the twentieth year. #RandolphHarris 22 of 25
“And in the twenty and first year they did not come up to battle, but they came up on all sides to lay siege round about the people of Nephi; for they did suppose that if they should cut off from all their outward privileges, that they could cause them to yield themselves up according to their wishes. Now they had appointed unto themselves another leader, whose name was Zemnarihah; therefore it was Zemnarihah that did cause that this siege should take place. However, behold, this was an advantage to the Nephites; for it was impossible for the robbers to lay siege sufficiently long to have any effect upon the Nephites, because of their much provision which they had laid up in store, and because of the scantiness of provisions among the robbers; for behold, they had nothing save it were meat for their subsistence, which meat they did obtain in the wilderness; and it came to pass that the wild game became scarce in the wilderness insomuch that the robbers were about to perish with hunger. And the Nephites were continually marching out by day and by night, and falling upon their armies, and cutting them off by thousands and by tens of thousands. #RandolphHarris 23 of 25
“And thus it became the desire of the people of Zemnarihah to withdraw from their design, because of the great destruction which came upon them by night and by day. And it came t pass that Zemnarihah did give command unto his people that they should withdraw themselves from the siege, and march into the furthermost parts of the land northward. And now, Gidgiddoni being aware of their design, and knowing of their weakness because of the want of food, and the great slaughter which had been made among them, therefore he did send out his armies in the night-tie, and did cut off the way of their retreat, and did place his armies in the way of their retreat. And this did they do in the night-time, and got on their march beyond the robbers began their march, they were met by the armies of the Nephites both in their front an in their rear. And the robbers who were on the south were also cut off in their place of retreat. And all these things were done by command of Gidgiddoni. And there were many thousands who did yield themselves up prisoners unto the Nephites, and the remainder of them were slain. And their leader, Zemnarihah, was taken and hanged upon a tree, yea, even upon the top thereof until he was dead. And when they had hanged him until he was dead they did fell the tree to the Earth, and did cry with a loud voice. #RandolphHarris 24 of 25
“He said: May the Lord preserve his people in righteousness and in holiness of heart, that they may cause t be felled to the Earth all who shall seek to slay them because of power and secret combinations, even as this man hath been felled to the Earth. And they did rejoice and cry again with one voice, saying: May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, protect this people in righteousness, so long as they shall call on the name of their God for protection. And it came to pass that they did break forth, all as one, in singing, an praising their God for the great thing which he had done for them, in preserving them from falling into the hands of their enemies. Yea, they did cry: Hosanna to the Most High God. And they did cry: Blessed be the name of the Lord God Almighty, the Most High God. And their hearts were swollen with joy, unto the gushing out of many tears, because of the great goodness of God in delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; and they knew it was because of their repentance and their humility that they had been delivered from an everlasting destruction,” reports 3 Nephi 4.1-33. O God, Whom none can love except they hate the thing that is evil, and Who willedst by Thy Son our Saviour to redeem us from iniquity; please deliver us when we are tempted to look on sin without abhorrence, and let virtue of His Passion come between us and the enemy of our souls; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. #RandolphHarris 25 of 25
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The Greatest Miracles of Genius Breed Doubt as Well as Faith About the Labyrinth in His Soul of Love!
On some bright essence could I lean, and lull myself to immortality. We are not really pacifists, we are just nonviolent soldiers. As long as you feel insecure, you have no real capacity to face other men and women in that skill of communication which more than any other skill requires freedom from tension. By communication I did not of course mean only intellectual conversation but the whole aesthetic of emotional relations; when one first begins to examine one’s experience, one will find most of their delights in natural things, and this will facilitate the ability to chiefly reckon each day’s catch of happiness in terms of one’s relationships with others. While we go about our day being able to work or study, we should think continually of others who are denied that happiness by their material circumstances or their health. One brilliant Summer morning at Gunsbach, during the Whitsuntide holidays—it was in 1896—there came to me, as I awoke, the thought that I must not accept this happiness as a matter of course, but must give me something in return for it. Proceeding to think the matter out at once with calm deliberation, while the birds were singing outside, I settled with myself before I got up, that I would consider myself justified in living till I was thirty for the science and art, in order to devote myself from that time forward to the direct service of humanity. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
Many a time already I had tried to settle what meaning lay hidden for me in the saying of Jesus! “Whosoever would save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake and the Gospel shall save it.” Now the answer was found. In addition to the outward, I now had inward happiness. What would be the character of the activities thus planned for the future was not yet clear to me. I left it to circumstances to guide me. One thing only was certain, that is must be directly human service, however inconspicuous the sphere of it. Those who are so favoured as to be able to embark on a course of free personal activity must accept this good fortune in a spirit of humility. They must often think of those who, though willing and capable, were never in a position to do the same thing. And as a rule they must temper their own strong determination with humility. They are almost always destined to have to seek and wait till they find a road open for the activity they long for. Happy are those to whom the years of work are allotted in richer measure than those of seeking and waiting. Happy those who in the end are able to give themselves really and completely! #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
I have often recognized that the need to do something special was born of a restless spirit. Such persons want to dedicate themselves to larger tasks because those that lay nearest do not satisfy them. Often, too, it was evident that they had been brought to their decisions by quite secondary considerations. Only a person who can find a value in every sort of activity and devote oneself to each one with full consciousness of duty, has the inward right to take as one’s object some extraordinary activity instead of that which falls to one’s lot naturally. Only a person who feels one’s preference to be as a matter of course, not something out of the ordinary, and who has not thought of heroism, but just recognizes a duty undertaken with sober enthusiasm, is capable of becoming a spiritual adventurer such as the World needs. There are no heroes of action: only heroes of renunciation and suffering. Of such there are plenty. However, few of them are known, and even these not to the crowd, but to the few. My thirtieth birthday, I spent like the man in the parable who desiring to build a tower, first count the cost whether he have wherewith to complete it. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
Several times, indeed, it was my experience that my appeal to the act of obedience which Jesus’ command of love may under special circumstances call for, brought upon me an accusation of conceit, although I had, in fact, been obliged to do violence to my feelings to employ this belief at all. In general, how much I suffered through so many people assuming a right to tear open all the doors and shutters of my inner self! As a rule, too, it was of no use allowing them, in spite of my repugnance, to have a glimpse of the thoughts which had given birth to my resolution. They thought there must be something behind it all, and guessed at disappointment as the slow growth of y reputation. For this there was no ground at all, seeing that I have received, even as a young man, such recognition as others usually get only after a whole life of toil and struggle. Unfortunate love experiences were also alleged as the reason for my decision. I felt as a real kindness the action of persons who made no attempt to dig their fists into my heart, but regarded me as a precocious young man, not quite right in one’s head, and treated me correspondingly with affectionate mockery. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
However, only one, who thanks to his own ability or the devotion of friends is in Worldly matters a free man, can venture nowadays o take the path of independent activity. This consciousness cannot be got from another human by transfer (although its presence in one may be felt by sensitivity) but only by one’s own hard toil. The right action done in the wrong way becomes wrong in itself. Although it is right to look towards a teacher for guidance and inspiration throughout the course of one’s quest, it is wrong to become over-dependent on that teacher. People approach the saint-type primarily to get what is called in India a darshan. This may be variously translated as a glimpse, a spoken blessing, a sight, a view, an initiation, or a silent benediction. One is a phenomenon and they stand at a distance to gaze at one, to admire one, or to be overwhelmed with awe by one. The few minutes or days or weeks or months or years taken up—the duration is immaterial for extension in time does not change the nature of the happening—leave the devotee with the same character, the same consciousness that one had before the meeting. Its service is to portray the goal, not to being one nearer to perfection in any way. The delusion that the longer they stay with one the farther they travel on the road to perfection remains a delusion still. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
The darshan leaves them with their weakness and faults, their egoism and animality untouched. The work of getting rid of these things is theirs to undertake and no darshan-magic can be substitute for it. The belief that a self-actualized person will do for one once and for all what in the end one has to do for oneself belongs to the untutored masses and the sectarian mystic circles. Only the self-deceived or the charlatanic will offer to save you. All others will offer only to guide you. You must labour for yourselves. It is the common way to demand entry into enlightenment through someone else. This renders it needful to make clear that nobody, not even the best of the self-actualized, can possibly pass on and there are not many with that capacity. Even in such cases, one’s disciples must work diligently and win it themselves. The service of a spiritual director in correcting errors, providing instruction, stimulating aspiration, and fostering intuition are immense; but they are only a prelude to the services a student must render to oneself. Those who leave their spiritual future totally in the hands of their guide, lose the years which could be spent in developing themselves. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
It is not enough to receive a teaching from someone else. The truth of the teaching must be tested by personal experience, the worth of it should be measured by personal knowledge. Of all the will for the ideal which exists in humankind only a small part can be manifested in action. All the rest is destined to realize itself in unseen effects, which represent, however, a value exceeding a thousandfold and more that of the activity which attracts the notice of the World. Its relation to the latter is like that of the deep sea to the waves which stir its surface. The hidden forces of goodness are embodied in those persons who carry on as a secondary pursuit the immediate personal service which they cannot make their lifework. The lot of the many is to have as a profession, for the earning of their living and the satisfaction of society’s claim on them, a more or less soulless labour in which they can give out little of nothing of their human qualities, because in that labour they have to be little better than human machines. Yet no one finds oneself in the position of having no possible opportunity of giving oneself to others as a human being. The problem produced by the fact of labour being today so thoroughly organized, specialized, and mechanized depends only in part for its solution on society’s not merely removing the conditions thus produced, but doing its very best to guard the rights of human personality. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
What is even more important is that sufferers shall not simply bow to their fate, but shall try with all their energy to asset their human personality amid their unfavourable conditions by spiritual activity. Anyone can recuse one’s human life, in spite of one’s professional life, who seizes every opportunity of being a human by means of personal action, however unpretending, for the good of fellow humans who need the help of a fellow human. Such a person enlists in the service of the spiritual and good. No fate can prevent a human from giving to others this direct human service side by side with one’s lifework. If so much of such service remains unrealized, it is because the opportunities are missed. It is the guide’s duty to hold up a gasolier on a dark path but the disciple must decide for oneself the speed and distance of the journey along that path. No command is laid upon one, for it is one who must estimate the strength within one and the opportunity without. One is given full freedom in making one’s decision. It is unfortunately the case that many emotionally unstable persons are attracted to mysticism, with the result that they spend years with their dreams of magical achievement but do nothing to convert those dreams into realities, or else flit from one dream to another. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
That everyone shall exert oneself in that state of life in which one is placed, to practice true humanity toward one’s fellow humans, on that depends the future of humankind. Enormous values come to nothing every moment through the missing of opportunities, but the values which do get turned into will and deed mean wealth which must not be undervalued. Our humanity is by no means so materialistic as foolish talk is continually asserting it to be. Judging by what I have learned about men and women, I am convinced that there is far more in them of idealist will power than ever comes to the surface of the World. Just as the water of the streams we see is small in amount compared to that which flows underground, so the idealism which becomes visible is small in amount compared with what men and women bear locked in their hearts, underground waters to the surface: humankind is waiting and longing for such as can do that. If the student responds sufficiently to the hints given one or the counsel bestowed on one, the teacher will be encouraged to go father. The uneasiness which many feel in the teacher’s presence is partly caused by the fact that there are negative qualities in themselves which are not present in the teacher. However, partly it is also caused by their miscomprehension of one’s character. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
The righteous teacher does not attempt to criticize, judge, or condemn them, nor to approve or disapprove of them. One accepts that this is not one’s business for one accepts that evolution has made them what they are, both the good and bad in them. To this extent their uneasiness is unnecessary. The freedom to be who one deeply is strikes an especially resonant chord in underrepresented and marginalized communities. A primary concern of existential psychotherapy is the relationship among freedom, limitation, and choice. The daily question for many people, even the rich and famous is: “With whom can I be myself?” The dangers are real. Physical safety, economic security, and acceptance by others are threatened. And hiding one aspect of the self affects other dimensions of the self, such as self-esteem, creativity, and the ability to love. Even for those who appear to be comfortable with who they are, the issue goes deeper. It saddens and angers people that they cannot talk to people about their lives or express who they really are because they are around people who expect them to always be kind and understanding, so people have to create these carefully mastered personalities, but it may not reflect their full character. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
Repressed individuals even go as far as to make statement which have been carefully crafted to make people feel better. Many individuals cannot just change the subject; this is their life. As a result, people who are repressed turn to long term celibacy so they are able to fully embody who they are since they cannot express their full humanness. Therapeutic work concerning the freedom to express oneself and therapeutic work touching on identity issues are mutually reinforcing. As people gain a greater sense of self and possibilities, they also learn to accept themselves; as they learn to accept themselves, they become increasingly more able to express all of who they are and to experience a widening sense of possibilities. One lady, Katrina, who had developed an inflammatory condition had to totally change her life. Doctor’s noticed that when she was under stress, the condition would flare up and recommended a lifestyle change because something was wrong in her environment. The young woman had to go to cognitive therapy, go on medication for the inflammation, end her romantic relationship and become celibate for years, she even quit her job, and moved. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
While undergoing this life style change, the lady also made the decision not to receive any financial support from her parents. The general physician overseeing her general healthy needs, noticed as the woman became more responsible for herself, this enforced her sense of freedom to express who she truly was and her health had started improving after three years of celibacy. She learned to “check in” with herself—not merely to think about particular issues but to resonate to them, to experience them kinesthetically. She learned did not simply run from her problems, she learned to counter her constriction and productively regenerate her life. This inspired her to become response-able—personally, socially, and spiritually. Spiritual discipline is an activity undertaken to bring us into more effective cooperation with Christ and His Kingdom. In any human endeavour, repetitive exercise and practice bring skill and excellence. Sometimes a particular activity is good because it accomplishes a specific result. If it produces a base hit, swinging a baseball bat is good. However, that same activity can also be done, not for the result alone, but for the training it offers. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
A person can repeatedly swing a bat in a batting cage for the purpose of training, and not to increase one’s output of base hits. And other good results can follow from such training besides the one usually or normally intended; for example, regular trips to a batting cage can get a person in good overall condition besides helping one get base hits. The same thing is true of study. We often correctly approach study specifically for some direct end—preparing a lesson or learning a topic covered in a book. However, study should also be approached as a set of training activities, as spiritual and intellectual exercises. Study is a discipline that strengthens the mind and enriches the soul. Sometimes I study a book for the sheer value of engaging my intellect in a stretching, strenuous activity. As other times, I read to help myself cultivate the intellectual virtues that will bring one closer to God. Seen as discipline, study becomes a means of building my character, ingraining habits of thought and reflection, and reinforcing my own soul the value of the life of the mind. We study, then, not simply to gain knowledge about the topic of study, but as a broader spiritual discipline. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
By way of application, it is important to read books from time to time as a form of spiritual discipline and intellectual exercise, even if the topic of the book does not address one of your immediate, felt needs. If all you do is read simple books or those that overemphasize stories or practical application, you will never learn to think of yourself as a mature Christian, nor will you develop a trained mind. Peace if the rest of will that results from assurance about how things will turn out. It is always a form of active engagement with good, plus assurance that things will turn out well. “I am at peace about it,” we say, and this means I am no longer striving, inwardly or outwardly, to save some outcome dear to me or to avoid one that I reject. I have released whatever is at issues and am no longer even putting “body English” or “spin” on it or inwardly gritting my teeth. Of course everyone is at peace about some things, one hopes, but few have peace in general, and fewer still have peace that reaches their body and its automatic responses to such a depth that it does not live in a covert state of alarm. Ultimately it will be by one’s own efforts alone that one uncovers the wisdom and beauty one is seeking—and which are even now within one. Such efforts, in order to be successful, must be courageous and continuous. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
Repeated failures should serve only to stimulate deeper determination. In the end each seeker has to become one’s own teacher by putting all one’s experience, one’s beliefs, one’s ideas, to the test. Most people carry heavy burdens of care, and usually about the things that are most important in life: what will happen to their loved ones, their finances, health, death, their physical appearance or what others think of them, the future of society, their standing before God and their eternal destiny. To be at peace with God and others (family, neighbours, and coworkers) is a great attainment and depends on graces far beyond ourselves as well as on our own efforts. That is also true of being at peace with oneself. Peace with God comes only from acceptance of one’s gift of life in His Son. “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God,” reports Romans 5.1-2. We are then assured of the outcome of our life and are no longer trying to justify ourselves before God or others. We have accepted that we are not righteous or even totally competent and that we cannot be so on our own. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
We have laid down the burden of justifying ourselves before God and are learning not to justify ourselves before humans. This is the pace that grows from within us. It is possible to being this truth within the mind’s sight and within the will’s reach as long as we do our own work. Whoever offers one a free redemption plays God. Form those around me I must simply assume grace and mercy, not that I will get what I deserve. I am a beggar on my way through the World. Justice is not enough for my needs, and I could not stand it if I got it. When others do not extend the grace and mercy I need, I have to draw on the grace and mercy I need, I have to draw on the abundance of it in God. “Who is this that is condemning me?” I remind myself, “Jesus even died for me, was raised from the dead, and is now standing up for me before God,” reports Romans 8.34. Assurance of this allows me to “seek peace and pursue it,” reports 1 Peter 3.11, no matter who is involved, and to “pursue peace with all humans,” reports Hebrews 12.14. That includes all our family members and coworkers! Even in case where, though no fault of my own, there must be a struggle between me and others, there does not have to be a struggle within me. Look not for refuge to anyone besides yourself. Try to become like the master. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
I may have to resist others, for some good reason, but even so I do not have to make things come out right. I am not the one in control of outcomes. I do not have to hate those whose course of action I resist, or even get mad at them, and so I can always be at peace within myself as well as toward them. Although the truth of our intellect is caused by the thing, yet it is not necessary that truth should be there primarily, any more than that health should be primarily in medicine, rather than in the animal: for the virtue of medicine, and not its health, is the cause of health, for here the agent is not univocal. In the same way, the being of the thing, not its truth, is the cause of the truth in the intellect. Hence, a fact or a word is true from the fact that a thing is, not because a thing is true. “And now it came to pass that in the sixteenth year from the coming of Christ, Lachoneus, the governor of the land, received an epistle from the leader and the governor of this band of robbers; and these were the words which were written saying: Lachoneus, most noble and chief governor of the land, behold, I write tis epistle unto you, and do give unto you exceedingly great praise because of your firmness, and also the firmness of your people, in maintaining that which ye suppose to be your right and liberty. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
“Yea, ye do stand well, as if ye were supported by the hand of a god, in the defence of your liberty, and your property, and your country, or that which ye do call so. And it seemeth a pity unto me, most noble Lachoneus, that ye should be so foolish and vain as to suppose that ye can stand against so many brave men who are at my command, who do now at this time stand in their arms, and do await with great anxiety for the word—God own upon the Nephites and destroy them. And I, knowing of their unconquerable spirit, having proved them in the field of battle, and knowing you because of the many wrongs which ye have done unto them, therefore if they should come down against you they would visit you with utter destruction. Therefore I have written this epistle, sealing it with mine own hand, feeling for your welfare, because of your firmness in that which ye believe to be right, and your noble spirit in the field of battle. Therefore I write unto you, desiring that ye would yield up unto this my people, your cities, your lands, and your possessions, rather than that they should visit you with the sword and that destruction should come upon you. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
“Or in other words, yield yourselves up unto us, and unite with us and become acquainted with our secret works, and become our brethren that ye may be like unto us—not our slaves, but our brethren and partners of all our substance. And behold, I swear unto you, if ye will do this, with an oath, ye shall not be destroyed; but if ye will not do this, I swear unto you with an oath, that on the morrow month I will command that my armies shall come down against you, and they shall not stay their hand and shall spare not, but shall slay you, and shall let fall the sword upon you even until ye shall become extinct. And behold, I am Giddianhi; and I am the governor of this secret society of Gadianton; which society and the works thereof I know to be good; and they are of ancient date and they have been handed down unto us. And I write this epistle unto you, Lachoeus, and I hope that ye will deliver up your lands and your possessions, without the shedding of blood, that this my people may recover their rights and government, who have dissented away from you because of your wickedness in retaining from them their rights of government, and except ye do this, I will avenge their wrongs. I am Giddianhi. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
“And now it came to pass when Lachoneus received this epistle he was exceedingly astonished, because of the boldness of Giddianhi demanding the possession of the land of the Nephites, and also of the threatening the people and avenging the wrongs of those that had received no wrong, save it were they had wronged themselves by dissenting away unto those wicked and abominable robbers. Now behold, this Lachoneus, the governor, was a just man, and could not be frightened by the demands and the threatenings of a robber; therefore he did not hearken to the epistle of Giddianhi, the governor of the robbers, but he did cause that his people should cry unto the Lord for strength against the time that the robbers should come down against them. Yea, he sent a proclamation among all the people, that they should gather together their women, and their children, their flocks and their herds, and all their substance, save it were their land, unto one place. And he caused that fortifications should be built round about them, and the strength thereof should be exceedingly great. And he caused that armies, both of the Nephites and of the Lamanites, or of all them who were numbered among the Nephites, should be placed as guards round about to watch them, and to guard them from the robbers day and night. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
“Yea, he said unto them: As the Lord liveth, except ye repent of all your iniquities, and cry unto the Lord, ye will in nowise be delivered out of the hands of those Gadianton robbers. And so great and marvelous were the words and prophecies of Lachoneus that they did cause fear to come upon all the people; and they did exert themselves in their might to do according to the words of Lachoneus. And it came to pass that Lachoneus did appoint chief captains over all the armies of the Nephites, to command them at the time that the robbers should come down out of the wilderness against them. Now the chiefest among all the chief captains and the great commander of all the armies of the Nephites was appointed, and his name was Gididdoni. Now it was the custom among all the Nephites to appoint for their chief captains, (save it were in their times of wickedness) some one that the bad spirit of revelation and also prophecy; therefore, this Gididdoni was a great prophet among them, as also was the chief judge. Now the people said unto Gidgiddoni: Pray unto the Lord, and let us go up upon the mountains and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the mountains and into the wilderness, that we may fall upon the robbers and destroy them in their own lands. However, Gidgiddoni saith unto them: The Lord forbid; for if we should go up against them the Lord would deliver us into their hands; therefore we will prepare ourselves in the center of our lands, and we will gather all our armies together, and we will not go against them, but we will wait till they shall come against us. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24
“Therefore, as the Lord liveth, if we do this he will deliver them into our hands. And it came to pass in the seventeenth year, in the latter end of the year, the proclamation of Lachoneus had gone forth throughout all the face of the land, and they had taken their horses, and their chariots, and their cattle, and all their flocks, and their herds, and their grain, and all their substance, and did march forth by thousands and by tens of thousands, until they had all gone forth to the place which had been appointed that they should gather themselves together, to defend themselves against their enemies. And the land which was appointed was the land of Zarahemla, and the land which was between the land Zarahemla and the land Bountiful, yea, to the line which was between the land Bountiful and the land Desolation. And there were a great many thousand people who were called Nephites, who did gather themselves together in this land. Now Lachoneus did cause that they should gather themselves together in this land. Now Lachoneus did cause that they should gather themselves together in the and southward, because of the great curse which was upon the land northward. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
“And they did fortify themselves against their enemies; and they did dwell in one land, and in one body, and they did fear the words which had been spoken by Lachoneus, insomuch that they did put up their prayers unto the Lord their God, that he would deliver them in the time that their enemies should come down against them to battle. And they were exceedingly sorrowful because of their enemies. And Giddiddoni did cause that they should make weapons of war of every kind, and they should be strong with armour, and with shields, and with bucklers, after the manner of his instruction,” reports 3 Nephi 3.1-26. On the ring of the World, God is dancing. In His bright robe, He is dancing. Young and handsome and strong, God is dancing. Bringer of vision, God is dancing. Dance, Sun King, into the Sky, please being the day to those who wait for you. As the Sun rises, I face His glory, grateful that the darkness has come to an end. Though darkness is sacred, its soothing a gift, I am a human, a creature of light. So I face you in thankfulness and greet your return with praises and prayer and the honour that is due you. O Lord and Saviour Christ, Who camest not to strive nor cry, but to let Thy words fall as the drops that water the Earth; please grant all who contend for the Faith once delivered, never to injure it by clamour and impatience. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
However, teach them to speak Thy precious Truth in love, so to present it that it may be loved, and that humans may see in it Thy goodness and Thy beauty; Who livest as the Way, the Truth and the Life. Truth is found in the intellect according as it apprehends a thing as it is; and things according as they have being conformable to an intellect. This to be the greatest degree found in God. For His being is not only conformed to His intellect, but it is the very act of His intellect; and His act of understanding is the measure and cause of every other being and of every other intellect, and He Himself is His own existence and act of understanding. Whence it follows not only that truth is in Him, but that He is truth itself, and the sovereign and first truth. Although the divine intellect there is neither composition nor division, yet in His simple act of intelligence He judges of all things and knows all things complex; and thus there is truth in His intellect. O God, the Sovereign Good of the soul, Who requirest the hearts of all Thy children; please deliver us from all sloth in Thy work, all coldness in Thy cause; and please grant us by looking unto Thee to rekindle our Love, and by waiting upon Thee to renew our strength; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24
Cresleigh Homes
Oui oui! Thanks to the open floor plan in this #PlumasRanch home, you can easily pop over to the Great Room to binge some more @EmilyInParis while the croissants are in the oven. 😉🇫🇷
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Randolph Harris II International Institute 