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War is an Invention of the Human Mind, but the Mind Can Also Invent Peace!
There is a silence which soothes and a silence which disturbs. With a genuine adept the first is felt, but with the other kinds, the second. It is only for the sensitive that one’s bland serenity and benevolent smile will hold a distinct attraction, for it is only they who will feel the subtle unusual emanation from one’s person. People come to the self-actualized with a head full of questions, but they find themselves struck with vocal dumbness in one’s presence. They come to one expectant of wonderful revelation, but hey find that one takes care to seem and speak like other human and to keep one’s fee solidly planted on the ground of common sense. They may draw near to the self-actualized and cross one’s orbit for only a few minutes in a whole lifetime but it proves enough to inspire and irradiate the rest of their day. They now have not only the feeling that this being knowns whereof one speaks but also the assurance that God is utterly real and that the quest of it is the most worthwhile of all enterprises. In one’s presence all that is best in a human receives stimulation and one comes closer to one’s true self. The significance of the meeting will emerge still more in after years. One will be so quiet in one’s daily bearing, so calm in one’s dealings with others, that they will begin to sense despite one’s unfailing modesty that here, in one’s presence, there is a living echo from a higher World of being. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
In the self-actualizer’s presence the shadows of depression or fear vanish. For then the disciple can look out on life with clearer eyes, seeing the Perfect which already exists beyond its imperfections. Certain kinds of sensations, feelings, and thought are automatically repelled from the field of blessed consciousness in which the illumined human lives. All negative and destructive, egotistic and unruly ideas—certainly all those that the best conscience of the human race has stamped as “wicked” and generative of “evil-doing”—are not compatible with one’s purified state of mind and accordingly cannot enter in. If one lets them, many will come to one in search of guidance, help, comfort or healing. Some will place their problem before one humbly and candidly, but others will be too afraid, or too proud, to do so openly. Whether there is an actual transference of one’s power and light, or whether one’s actual presence and desire to help set up vibrations in the subconscious mind of the seeker, or whether one is merely a medium for higher forces, it is not easy to determine. The truth may well be a combination of all these three factors. Constant contact with such an exalted personage is likely to influence others, but it is not possible to say when this influence will rise up into the conscious mind. The time will always be different with different individuals. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
One’s silences maybe exasperating to those who are insensitive and uncomprehending, but they will be exhilarating to those who have begun to learn how the Spirit operates. In the presence of such a human, one instinctively feels that there are tremendous reserves of knowledge, virtue, and power within one, that one has so much more to give than is apparent. One’s presence calls out the good, the true, and the beautiful in others. The sensitive will quickly become aware of the hidden strength that is in one, the strength which kindles assurance in one’s own heart and confidence in others’ hearts. As if borne on telepathic waves, benign influence diffuses itself from one and is felt by the sensitive. Even when surrounded by dangers or beset by troubles, this peace which one seems to diffuse is really there, is a central characteristic that never leaves one. A meeting with such a being, by those who are sensitive enough to register more finely than the gross senses can register, is always a benediction; the remembrance of one is always an exaltation. By a principle of symbiosis, what one is, being now at the source of human power, spreads out and ripples its influence on the human group, which at the least keeps it from becoming worse than it is, and at the most lights up inspiration in certain individual minds and makes them benefactors of the race. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
One’s goodness acts as a silent reproach to those who are unwilling to give up their badness: hence their discomfort. One’s presence is a silent rebuke to them; one stands there in all one’s integrity and spiritually—an embarrassment, for it makes such a contrast with their own Worldliness. In the presence of an illuminate, all criticism is charmed to antlike littleness. What can our broken thoughts do to injure or belittle one who is safely above all thought? And how dull seem these strict and rigid doctrines which we have brought into the neighbourhood of one who has liberated oneself from all strict and rigid doctrines! If “dead” illuminati can help the World as readily as those who are among us in the flesh, I would like to ask those who believe this is why Ramakrishna uttered the following pathetic plaint as he lay dying in Cosipore: “Had this body been allowed to last a little longer, many more people would have become spiritually awakened.” No, it is more rational to believe that a living illuminate is needed, that one who as flung off the physical body has no further concerns with the physical World, and that one whose consciousness is in the Real, uses the World (in the form of a body) to save those whose consciousness is in the World. In the personal aura of such an adept, the sensitive person gets a feeling first, of peace, second, of security, and safety. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
Why do sensitive people feel protected and secure in one’s presence? It is because one knows and obeys the universal laws, invokes and attracts superhuman power. “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no human knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and one to whomsoever the Son will reveal one. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light,” reports Matthew 11.25-30. When I was the age to receive confirmation and full membership in the Church, I was told to choose a passage from the Bible as the expression of my personal approach to the Biblical message and to the Christian Church. Every confirmee was obliged to do so, and to recite the passage before the congregation. When I chose to words, “Come unto me all ye that labour and are Heavy laden,” I was asked with a kind of astonishment and even irony why I had chosen that particular passage. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
For I was living under happy conditions, and, being only fifteen years old, was without any apparent labour or burdens, so I could not answer at that time to why that was my favourite bible passage. I felt a little embarrassed, but basically right. And I was right, indeed; every child is right in responding immediately to those words; every adult is right in responding to them in all periods of one’s life, and under all the conditions of one’s internal and external history. These words of Jesus are universal, and fit every human being and every human situation. They are simple; they grasp the heart of the primitive as well as that of the profound, disturbing the mind of the wise. Practically every word of Jesus had this character, sharing the difference between Him as the originator and the dependent interpreters, disciples and theologians, saints and preachers. Returning for the first time in my life to the passage of my early choice, I feel just as grasped by it as at that time, but infinitely more embarrassed by its majesty, profundity and inexhaustible meaning. Our task in the face of words like these is obvious: we must point to the ground of their power over our souls; we must explain why, in their emotional force, the force of an ultimate truth is involved; and we must attempt to view our human situation in their light. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
Three questions, aroused by the words of Jesus, shall be asked, and the answer implied in His words shall be asked, and the answers implied in His words shall be interpreted. What is the labour and burden from which we can find rest through Him? What is the easy yoke and the light burden which He will put upon us? Why is He and He alone able to give such rest to our souls? “All ye that labour and are heavy laden…”: his is addressed to all humans, although not all humans feel it in the same way. It is the general human situation to be heavy laden and to labour restlessly under a yoke too hard to be endured. What kind of burden is this? We may think first of the burdens and labours that daily life imposes upon us. However, this is not indicated in our text. Jesus does not tell us that He will ease the labours and burdens of life and work. How could He, even if He wanted to? Whether or not we come to Him, the threats of illness or unemployment are not lessened, the weigh of our work does not become easier, the fate of being refugee, driven from one country to another, is not changed; the horror of ruins, wounds, and death falling from Heaven is not stopped; and the sorrow over the passing of friends or parents or children is not overcome. Jesus cannot and does not promise more pleasure and less pain those whom He asks to come to Him. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
On the contrary, sometimes Jesus promises them more pain, more persecution, more threat of death—the “cross,” as He calls it. All his is not the burden to which He points. Nor is it the burden of sin and guilt, as somebody educated in the traditional Christian interpretation of the work of Christ might assume. Nothing like that is indicated in the words of Jesus. Taking upon oneself His easy yoke does not means taking sin more easily or taking guilt less seriously. Jesus does not tell those who comes to Him that their sins are not so important as they seemed to be. He does not give them an easier conscience about their failures and trespasses. On the contrary, He sharpens their conscience to the highest possible degree in practically every one of His words. He condemns sins which the traditional theology of His time did no even consider as sins. This is not the burden to which Jesus points. The burden He wants to take from us is the burden of religion. It is the yoke of the law, imposed on the people of His time by the religious teachers, the wise and understanding, as He calls them in our words, the Scribes and Pharisees, as they are called usually. Those who labour and are heavy laden are those who are sighing under the yoke of the religious law. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
And Jesus will give them the power to overcome religion and law; the yoke He gives them is a “new being” above religion. The things they will learn from him is the victory over the law of the wise and the understanding, and the law of the Scribes and Pharisees. How does this concern us? Why does this concern all humans, in all situations? It concerns us because, with all human beings, we are sighing under the law, under a law which is religion and a religion which is the law. This is the depth of the word of Jesus; this is the truth, implied in the emotional power of His words. Humans labour and toil, because they are those beings which know about their finitude, about their transitoriness, about the danger of living, and about the tragic character of existence. Fear and anxiety are the heritage of all people, as Paul knew when he looked at the Jews and the Pagans. Restlessness drives humans during their whole life, as Augustine knew. A hidden element of despair is in every human’s soul, as the great Danish Protestant, Kierkegaard, discovered. There is no religious genius, no keen observer of the abyss of the human soul, nobody capable of listening to the sounds of one’s heart who would not witness to this insight into human nature and human existence. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
Splits and gaps are in every soul: for instance, we know that we are more than dust; and yet we know also that we are going to dust. We know that we belong to a higher order than of our animal needs and desires; and yet we know that we shall abuse the higher order in the service of our lower nature. We know that we are only small members of the spiritual World; and yet we know that we shall aspire to the whole, making ourselves the center of the World. This is human; and because this is human, there I a religion and laws The law of religion is the great attempt of humans to overcome one’s anxiety and restlessness and despair, to close the gap within oneself, and to reach immortality, spirituality and perfection. So one labours and toils under the religious law in thought and in act. The historical relevance of Christology may be expressed in terms of revelation. Revelation is the reception of an insight into the ground of being. These insights are many; many factors may occasion or convey them. The concept of revelation, then, is not a necessarily Christian concept. However, we are soon confronted with the exclusive claims of Christianity: Christianity claims to be based on the revelation of Jesus as the Christ as the final revelation. Final in this context is not tantamount to last. Revelatory situations are not exhausted by the coming of Christ. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
We do not assert that there can be no ecstasy and no faith after the Christ. On the contrary, the ground of being are constantly piercing the crust of existence and making itself experienced in the depths of our being. What is true of humankind is equally true of the Church: Christianity often has affirmed, and certainly should affirm, that there is continuous revelation in the history of the Church. The whole meaning of preaching the word of God consists in announcing a revelatory message. Yet if this is true of Christian preaching, it is equally true that the mission of the whole Church must be referred back to the event of the Christ. No preaching can be revelatory unless it is grasped by the power of Christ. No word of humans becomes word of God unless the Christ takes it, so to say, in charge. The final revelation in the Christ, therefore, does not mean simply “last.” Rather it means last genuine. There can be no revelation in the history of the Church whose point of reference is not Jesus as he Christ. Secondly, it means that we do not refer to the last genuine revelation as to a past event; we refer to it as to an even by whose power we are still grasped. Thus, the final revelation means the decisive, fulfilling, unsurpassable revelation, that which is the criterion of all others. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
A necessary mark of this final revelation is its universal contemporaneity. Revelation is revelation to me in my concrete situation, in my historical reality. Christianity does not ask anyone to make an impossible leap two thousand years back. Such a journey through historical documents may provide erudite knowledge of an obscure past event, but it can in no way reveal the power to be which was present in the Christ. To be present in Palestine when Jesus was here is impossible. And yet the Christ will not be revelatory to me unless I experience him. He is not an abstraction, but a revelatory person. He can be known only through a person-to-person relationship. Something, in the revelatory situation of Jesus as the Christ, must be permanently present and thus become contemporary o me and to all humans. One who is the Christ is contemporaneous, or one is not the Christ. To gain salvation, humans must repent and keep the commandments, be born again, cleanse their garments through the blood of Christ, be humble and strip themselves of pride and envy, and do the works of righteousness—the Good Shepherd calls His people—those who do evil works are children of the devil—Alma testifies of the truth of huis doctrine and commands humans to repent—the names of the righteous will be written in the book of life. About 83 Before Christ. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
In the presence of such greatness, a feeling of humility comes into a sensitive heart. “Now it came to pass that Alma began to deliver the word of God unto the people, first in the land of Zarahemla, and from thence throughout all the land. And these are the words which he spake to the people in the church which was established in the city of Zarahemla, according to one’s own record, saying: I, Alma, having been consecrated by my father, Alma, to be a high priest over the church of God, he having power and authority from God to do these things, behold, I say uno you that he began to establish a church in the land which was in the borders of Nephi; yea, the land which was called the land of Mormon; yea, and he did baptize his brethren in the waters of Mormon. And behold I say unto you, they were delivered out of the hands of the people of king Noah, by the mercy and power of God. And behold, after that, they were brought into bondage by the hands of the Lamanites in the wilderness; yea, I say unto you, they were in captivity, and again the Lord did deliver them out of bondage by the power of his word; and we were brought into this land, and here we began to establish the church of God throughout this land also. And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
“Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance the he has delivered their souls from hell? Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by he bands of death, and the chains of hell and an everlasting destruction did await them. And now I ask of you, my brethren, were they destroyed? Behold, I say unto you, Nay, they were not. An again I ask, were the bands of death broken, and the chains of hell which encircled them about, were they loosed? I say unto you, Yea, they were loosed, and their souls did expand, and they did sing redeeming love. And I say unto you that they are saved. And now I ask of you on what conditions are they saved? Yea, what grounds had they to hope for salvation? What is the cause of their being loosed from the bands of death, yea, and also he chains of hell? Behold, I can tell you—did not my father Alma believe in the words which were delivered by the mouth of Abinadi? #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
“And was he not a holy prophet? Did he not speak the words of God, and my father Alma believe them? And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true. And behold, he preached he word unto your fathers, and mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and out their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved. And now behold, I ask of you, y brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received His image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of Him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body? I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the Earth? Or do ye imagine yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the Earth—and that he will be save you? #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set a defiance the commandments of God? I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances? I say unto you, can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become subjects of the devil? I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no being be saved except one’s garments are washed white; yea, one’s garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of one whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins. And now I ask you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you? Behold will they not testify that ye are murderers, yea, and also that ye are guilty of all manner of wickedness? #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
“Behold, my brethren, do ye suppose that which and one can have a place to sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, and also all the holy prophets, whose garment are cleansed and are spotless, pure and white? I say unto you, Nay; except ye make our Creator a liar from the beginning, or suppose that he is a lair from the beginning, ye cannot suppose that such can have place in the kingdom of Heaven; but they shall be cast out for they are the children of the kingdom of the devil. And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now? Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem His people from their sins? Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of Heaven is soon at hand, and such and one hath not eternal life. Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
“Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of Heaven is soon at hand, and such and one hath not eternal life. Behold, I say, is there one among you who is not stripped of envy? I say unto you that such an e is not prepared; and I would that one should prepare quickly, for the hour is close at hand, and one knoweth no when the time shall come; for such an one is not found guiltless. And again I say unto you, is there one among you that doth make a mock of one’s brother, or that heapeth upon one persecutions? Wo uno such an one, for one is not prepared, and the time is at hand that one must repent or one cannot be saved! Yea, even wo unto all ye workers of iniquity; repent, repent, for the Lord Good hath spoken it! Behold, He sendeth an invitation unto all humans, for the arms of mercy are extended toward them, and He saith: Repent, and I will receive you. Yea, He saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the waters of life freely. Yea, come unto me and bring forth works of righteousness, and ye shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire—for behold, the time is at hand that whosoever bringeth forth not good fruit, or whosoever doeth not the works of righteousness, the same have cause to wail and mourn. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
“O ye workers of iniquity; ye that are puffed up in the vain things of the World, ye that have professed to have known the ways of righteousness nevertheless have gone astray, as sheep having no shepherd, notwithstanding a shepherd hath called after you and is still calling after you, but ye will no hearken unto His voice! Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in His own name He doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd. And now if ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd, of what fold are ye? Behold I say unto you, that the devil is your shepherd, and ye are of his fold; and now, who can deny this? Behold, I say unto you, whosoever denieth this is a liar ad a child of the devil. For I say uno you that whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil. Therefore, if a human bringeth forth good works one hearkeneth unto His voice, and doth follow him. And whosoever doeth this must receive one’s wages from one; therefore, for one’s wages one recieveth death, as to things pertaining unto righteousness, being dead unto all good works. And now, my brethren, I would that ye should hear me, for I speak in the energy of my soul; for behold, I have spoken unto you plainly that ye cannot err, or have spoken according to the commandments of God. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
“For I am called to speak after this manner, according to the holy order of God, which is in Christ Jesus; yea, I am commanded to sand and testify unto this people the things which have been spoken by our fathers concerning the things which are to come. And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety? Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by His Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me. And moreover, I say unto you that it has thus been revealed unto me, that the words which have been spoken by our fathers are true, even so according to the spirit of prophecy which is in me, which is also by the manifestation of God. I say unto you, that I know of myself that whatsoever I shall say unto you, concerning that which is to come, is true: and I say unto you, that I know that Jesus Christ shall come, yea, the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
“And behold, it is He that cometh to take away the sins of the World, yea, the sin of every human who steadfastly believeth on one’s name. And now I say unto you that this is the order after which I am called, yea, to preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that they must repent and be born again. Yea, thus saith the Spirit: Repent, all ye ends of the Earth, for the kingdom of Heaven is soon at hand; yea, the Son of God cometh in His glory, in His might, majesty, power, and dominion. Yea, my beloved brethren, I say unto you, that the Spirit saith: Behold the glory of the King of all the Earth; and also the King of Heaven shall very soon shine forth among all the children of humans. And also the Spirit saith unto me, yea, crieth uno me with a mighty voice, saying: Go forth and say unto this people—Repent, for except ye repent ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of Heaven. And again I say unto you, the Spirit saith: Behold, the ax is laid at the root of the tree; therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire, yea, a fire which cannot be consumed, even an unquenchable fire. Behold, and remember, the Holy One hath spoken it. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24
“And now my beloved brethren, I say unto you, can ye withstand these sayings; yea, can ye lay aside these things, and trample the Holy One under your feet; yea, can ye be puffed up in the pride of your hearts; yea, will ye still persist in he wearing of costly apparel and setting your hearts upon the vain things of the World, upon your riches? Yea, will ye persist in supposing that ye are better one than another; yea, will ye persist in the persecution of your brethren, who humble themselves and do walk after the holy order of God, wherewith they have been brought into church, having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and they do bring forth works which are meet for repentance—yea, and will your persist in turning your backs upon the poor, and the needy, and in withholding your substance from them? And finally, all ye that will persist in your wickedness, I say unto you that these are they who shall be hewn down and cast into the fire except they speedily repent. And now I say unto you, all you that are desirous to follow the voice of the good shepherd, come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things; and behold, their names shall be blotted out, that the names of the wicked shall not be numbered among the names of the righteous, that the word of God may be fulfilled, which saith: The names of the wicked shall not be mingled with the names of my people. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
“For the names of the righteous shall be written in the book of life, and unto them will I grant an inheritance at my right hand. And now, my brethren, what have ye to say against this? I say unto you, if ye speak against it, it matters not, for the word of God must be fulfilled. For what shepherd is there among you having many sheep doth no watch over them, that the wolves enter no and devour his flock? And behold, if a wolf enter his flock doth he not drive him out? Yea, and at the las, if he can, he will destroy him. And now I say unto you that the good shepherd doth call after you; and if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and he commandeth you that ye suffer no ravenous world to enter among you, that ye may not be destroyed. And now I, Alma, do command you in the language of him who hath commanded me, that ye observe to do the words which I have spoken unto you. I speak by way of command unto you that belong to the church; and unto those who do not belong to the church I speak by way of invitation, saying: Come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye also may be partakers of the fruit of the tree of life,” Alma 5.1-61. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
LORD of Heaven, Thy goodness is inexpressible and inconceivable. In the works of creation Thou art almighty, in the dispensations of providence all-wise, in the gospel of grace all love, and in Thy Son Thou hast provided for our deliverance from the effects of sin, the justification of our persons, the sanctification of our natures, the perseverance of our souls in the path of life. Though exposed to the terrors of Thy law, we have a refuge from the storm; though compelled to cry, “Unclean,” we have a fountain for sin; through creature-cells of emptiness we have a fullness accessible to all, and incapable of reduction. Grant us always to know that to walk with Jesus make other interests a shadow and a dream. Please keeps us from intermittent attention to eternal things; please save us from the delusion of those who fail to go far in religion, who are concerned but not converted, who have another heart but not a new one, who have light, zeal, confidence, but not Christ. Please let us judge our Christianity, not only by our dependence upon Jesus, but by our love to him, our conformity to him, our knowledge of him. Please give us a religion that is both real and progressive, that hold on its way and grows stronger, that lives and works in the Spirit, that profits by every correction, and is injured by no carnal indulgence. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24
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I pray to Thee, the Almighty, O God, please let me be more righteous than I have been and allow me to be clothed, that I may rejoice in the joy of Thy Saints, Please may I be worthy; in so far as the filth of him to be cleansed of sins; and for sharing with all, of them that please thee, I acquire the company of priests; put off the things of Thy mercy from me and to all the defects, which are burdened by the guilt of one’s own conscience. Please make me, I beseech Thee, Almighty God, to be so arrayed in righteousness, that I may be enabled to rejoice in the gladness of Thy Saints; so that being cleansed from all filthiness of sin, I may attain the fellowship of the Priests who are pleasing unto Thee; and that I, who am burdened by the guilt of my own conscience, may be delivered by Thy mercy from all vices; through our Lord Jesus Christ. #CresleighHomes
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Winners Do Not Try to Know What they Feel or Try to Let themselves Feel!
Now, my child, why do you no remain standing quite calmly in the doorway? There is absolutely nothing against a young lady’s entering a doorway during a shower. I do it myself when I have no umbrella, sometimes even when I have one, as now, for example. Moreover, I could mention several estimable ladies who have not hesitated to do it. Jus be calm, turn your back to the street; then the passersby cannot even tell whether you are just standing there or are about to enter the building. However, it is indiscreet to hide behind the door when it is standing half open, chiefly because of the consequences, for the more you are concealed, the more unpleasant it is to be surprised. However, if you have concealed yourself, then stand very still, commending yourself to your good guardian spirit and the care of all the Angels; especially avoid peeking out to see whether the rain is over. If you really want to be sure of it, take a firm step forward and look up gravely at the sky. However, if you stick your head out somewhat inquisitively, self-consciously, anxiously, uncertainly, quickly draw it back—then any child understands this movement; it is called playing hide-and-seek. And I, who always join in games, should I hold back, should I not answer when I asked? #RandolphHarris 1 of 23
Do not think I am harbouring any disrespectful thoughts about you; you did not have the slightest ulterior motive in sticking your head out—it was the most innocent thing in the World.In return, you must not affront me in your thoughts; my good name and reputation will not tolerate it. Moreover, it was you who started this. I advise you never to speak to anyone about this incident; you are in the wrong. What do you propose to do other than what any gentleman would do—offer you my umbrella. –Where did she go? Splendid! She has hidden herself down in the porter’s doorway. What a darling young lady, cheerful, contented. –“Perhaps you could tell me about a young lady who this very moment stuck her head out of this door, obviously in need of an umbrella.” –You laugh. –Perhaps you will allow me to send my servant to fetch it tomorrow, do you recommend that I call an Ultimate Driving Machine? —Nothing to thank me for; it is only common courtesy. –That is one of the most delightful young ladies I have seen in a long time; her glance is so innocent and yet so saucy, he manner so lovely, so chaste, and yet she is inquisitive. –Go in peace, my child. If it were not for a green cloak, I might have wished to establish a closer acquaintance. –She walks down along Store Kjobmagergade. #RandolphHarris 2 of 23
How innocent and full of confidence, not a trace of prudery. She how lightly she walks, how pertly she tosses her head—the green cloak requires self-denial. Estrangement from display, from feeling, and from what feelings can tell us is not simply the occupational hazard of a few. It has firmly established itself in the culture as permanently imaginable. All of us who know the commercialization of human feeling at one remove—as witness, consumer, or critic—have become adept at recognizing and discounting commercialized feelings: “Oh, they have to be friendly, that is their job.” This enables us to ferret out the remaining gestures of a private gift exchange: “Now that smile she really meant just for me.” We subtract the commercial motive and collect the personal remainders matter-of-factly, almost automatically, so ordinary has the commercialization of human feeling become. However, we have responded in another way, which is perhaps more significant: as a culture, we have begun to place an unprecedented value on spontaneous, “natural” feeling. People want to be their “authentic” selves. To pursue authenticity as an ideal, as something that must be achieved, is to be self-built into the structure of the World they live in. #RandolphHarris 3 of 23
This World, they say, represses, alienated, divides, denies, destroys the self. To be oneself in such a World is not a tautology but a problem. Still, we are intrigued by the unmanaged heart and what it can tell us. The more our activities as individual emotion managers are managed by organization, the more we tend to celebrate the life of unmanaged feeling. This cultural response found its prophets in late eighteenth-century philosophers like Rousseau and its disciples in the Romantic movement of the nineteenth-century; but widespread acceptance of the view that spontaneous feeling is both precious and endangered has occurred only recently, in the mid-twentieth century. According to Lionel Trilling, in his classic work Sincerity and Authenticity, here have been two major turning points in the public evaluation of expressed feeling. The first was the rise (and subsequent fall) of the value that people put on sincerity. The second was a rise in the value placed on authenticity. In the first case, the value attached to sincerity rose as its corresponding flaw, insincerity or guile, became more common. In the second case, I think the same principle has been worked: the value placed on authentic or “natural” feeling has increased dramatically with the full emergence of its opposite—the managed heart. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23
Before the sixteenth century, Trilling says, insincerity was neither a fault nor a virtue. “The sincerity of Achilles or Beowulf cannot be discussed; they neither have nor lack sincerity.” It simply had no relevance. Yet during he sixteenth century, sincerity came to be admired. Why? The answer is socioeconomic. At this period in history, there was an increasing rate of social mobility in England and France; more and more people found it possible, or conceivable, to leave the class into which they had been born. Guile became an important tool for class advancement. The art of acting, of making avowals not in accord with feeling, because a useful tool for taking advantage of new opportunities. As mobility became a fact of urban life, so did guile and people’s understanding that guile was a tool. Sincerity for its part came to be seen as an inhibition of the capacity to act before a multiplicity of audiences or as an absence of the psychic detachment necessary to acing. The sincere, “honest soul” came to denote a “simple person, unsophisticated, a bit on the dumb side.” It was considered “dumb” because the art of the surface acting was increasingly understood as a useful tool. When mobility became a fact of urban life, so did the art of guile, and the very interest in sincerity declined. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23
If sincerity has lost its former status, if the word itself has for us a hollow sound and seems almost to negate its meaning, that is because it does not propose being true to one’s self as an end but only a means. Modern audiences, in contrast to nineteenth-century ones, became bored with duplicity as a literary theme. It has become too ordinary, too unsurprising: “The hypocrite-villain, the conscious dissembler, has become marginal, even alien, to the modern imagination of the moral life. The situation in which a person systematically misrepresents oneself in order to practice upon the good faith of another does not readily command our interest, scarcely our credence. The deception we best understand and most willingly give our attention to is that which a person works upon oneself.” The point of interest has moved inward. What fascinates us now is how we fool ourselves. What seems to have replaced our interest in sincerity is an interest in authenticity. In both the rise and the fall of sincerity as a virtue, the feeling of sincerity “underneath” was assumed to be something solid and permanent, whether one was true to it or betrayed it. Placing a value on guile amounted to placing a value on detachment from that solid something underneath. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23
The present-day value on “authentic” or “natural” feeling may also be a cultural response to a social occurrence, but the occurrence is different. It is not the rise of individual mobility and the individual use of guile in pleasing a greater variety of people. It is the rise of the corporate use of guile and the organized training of feeling to sustain it. The more the heart is managed, the more we value the unmanaged heart. Rousseau’s Noble Savage was not guided by any feeling rules. He simply felt what he felt, spontaneously. One clue to the modern-day celebration of spontaneous feeling is the growing popularization of psychological therapies, especially those that stress “getting in touch with” spontaneous feeling. Consider them: Gestalt, bioenergetic, biofeedback, encounters, assertiveness training, transactional analysis, transcendental meditation, rational-emotive therapy, Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) therapy, feeling therapy, implosive therapy, Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy (ETS), primal theory, conventional psychotherapy, and psychoanalysis. Therapy books, as the linguist Robin Lakoff has said, are to the modern times what etiquette books were to the nineteenth. This is because etiquette has itself gone deeper into emotional life. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23
The introduction of new therapies and the extension of older ones have given a new introspective twist to the self-help movement that began in the last century. The significance of the growth of new therapies cannot be dismissed by the argument that they are simply a way of extending jobs in the service sector by creating new needs. The question remains, why these needs? Why the new need to do something about how you feel? The new therapies have also been criticized, as the one self-help movement was, for focusing on individual solutions to the exclusion of social ones and for legitimating the message “Look out for Number One. This critique is not wrong in itself, but it I partial and misleading. It is my own view that capacity is lost or injured, it is wise to restore it in whatever way one can. However, to attach the cure to a solipsistic or individualistic philosophy of life or to assume that one’s injury can only be self-imposed is to contribute to what I have called (with optimism) a “prepolitical” stance. To that twist is now added the value on unmanaged feelings. As practitioners of Gestalt therapy put it: “The childish feelings are important not as a past that must be undone but as some of the most beautiful powers of adult life that must be recovered: spontaneity, imagination.” #RandolphHarris 8 of 23
Again, in Born to Win, two popularizers of transactional analysis collapse a more general viewpoint into a simple homily: “Winners are not stopped by heir contradictions and ambivalences. Being authentic, they know when they are angry and can listen when others are angry with them.” Winners, the suggestion is, do not try to know what they feel or try to let themselves feel. They just know and they just feel, in a natural, unprocessed way. Ironically, people read a book like Born to Win in order to learn how to try to be a natural, authentic winner. Spontaneity is now cast as something to be recovered; the individual learns how to treat feeling as a recoverable object, with ego as the instrument of recovery. In the course of “getting in touch with our feelings,” we make feelings more subject to command and manipulation, more amenable to various forms of management. While the qualities of Rousseau’s Noble Savage are celebrated in modern pop therapy, he did not act in the way his modern admirers do. The Noble Savage did not “let” himself feel good about his garden. He did not “get in touch with” or “into” his resentment. He had no therapist working on his throat to open up a “voice block.” He did no go back and forth between hot and cold tubs while hyperventilating to get in touch with his feelings. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23
No therapist said to him, “Okay, Noble Savage, let us try to really get in your sadness.” He did not imagine that he owed others any feeling or that they owed him any. In fact, the utter absence of calculation and will as they have become associated with feeling is what nowadays makes the Noble Savage seem so savage. However, it is also—and this is my point—what makes him so noble. Why do we place more value now on artless, unmanaged feeling? Why, hopelessly and romantically, do we imagine a natural preserve of feeling, a place to be kept “forever wild”? The answer must be that it is becoming scarce. In everyday life, we are all to some degree students of Stanislavski; we are only poorer or better at deep acting, closer or more remote from incentives to do it well. We have carried our ancient capacity for gift exchange over a great commercial divide where the gifts are becoming commodities and the exchange rates are set by corporations. Jean-Jacques Rousseau as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines might add to his eighteenth-century concern for the faceless soul beneath the mask a new concern for the market intrusion into the ways we define ourselves and for how, since his say, that intrusion has expanded and organized itself. #RandolphHarris 10 of 23
To make my desires paramount is what Paul again described as having a “flesh mind” or “mind of the flesh,” which is a state of death (Romans 8.6). Such a mind “sows to one’s flesh”—invests only in one’s natural self—and “out of that flesh reaps corruption” (Galatians 6.8). “Corruption” or “coming apart” is the natural end of the flesh. “Flesh” can only be preserved by being caught up within the higher life of the kingdom of God and thus “losing” the life peculiar to it. In other words, when Jesus says that those who find their life or soul shall lose it, he is pointing out that those who think they are in control of their life—“I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul,” as the poet William Ernest Henley said—will find that they definitely are not in control: they are totally at the mercy of forces beyond them, and even within them. They are on a sure course to disintegration and powerlessness, of lostness both to themselves and to God. They must surrender. By contrast, if they give up the project of being the ultimate point of reference in their life—of doing only what they want, of “sowing to the flesh” or to the natural aims and abilities of a human being—there can be hope. If they in that sense lose their life in favour of God’s life, or for the sake of Jesus and what he is doing on Earth—remember the ongoing World revolution he is now conducting—then their soul (life) will be preserved and thus given back to them. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23
What does that mean? It means that they will then for the first time be able to do what they want to do. Of course they will be able to steal, lie and murder all they want—which will be none at all. However, they will also be able to be truthful and transparent and helpful and sacrificially loving, with joy—and they will want to be. Their life will be in this way caught up in God’s life. They will want the good and be able to do it, the only true human freedom. The mind set on the spiritual is in that sense “life and peace” (Romans 8.6), because it lives from God and, “sowing into the spirit, out of the spirit reaps the eternal kind of life,” (Galatians 6.8). So—and this is of utmost importance to those who would enter Christian spiritual formation—life as normally understood, where the object is securing myself, promoting myself, indulging myself, is to be set aside. “Can I still think about such things?” you may ask. Yes, you can. However, you increasingly will not. And when you do, as formation in Christlikeness progresses, they simply will not matter. In fact, they will seem ridiculous and uninteresting. Jesus’ words on not being anxious about what will happen to you and his admonitions to consider the flowers and the birds (Luke 12.13-34) will seem obviously sane and right, whereas they previously sounded obviously crazy and wrong, or “out of touch with reality.” #RandolphHarris 12 of 23
This principle is CUSTOM or HABIT. For wherever the repetition of any particular act or operation produces a propensity to renew the same act or operation, without being impelled by any reasoning or process the understanding; we always say, that this propensity is the effect of Custom. By employing that word, we pretend not to have given the ultimate reason of such a propensity. We only point out a principle of human nature, which is universally acknowledged, and which is well known by its effects. Perhaps, we can push our enquiries no father, or pretend to give the cause of this cause; but must rest contend with it as the ultimate principle, which we can assign, of all our conclusions from experience. It is sufficient satisfaction, that we can go so far; without repining at the narrowness of our faculties, because they will carry us no farther. And it is certain we here advance a very intelligible proposition at least, if not a true one, when we assert, that, after the constant conjunction of two objects, heat and flame, for instance, weight and solidity, we are determined by customer alone to expect the one from the other appearance of the other. This hypothesis seems even the only one, an inference, which we are not able o draw from one instance, that is, in no respect, different from them. Reason is incapable of any such variation. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23
The conclusions, which it draws from considering one circle, are the same which it would form upon surveying all the circles in the Universe. However, no person, having seen only one body will move after a like impulse. All inferences from experience, therefore, are effects of custom, not of reasoning. Limitations and restraints of civil government, and a legal constitution may be defended, either from reason, which reflecting on the great frailty and corruption of human nature, teaches, that no human can safely be trusted with unlimited authority; or from experience and history, which inform us of the enormous abuses, that ambition, in every age and country, have been found to make of so imprudent a confidence. The Christological affirmation is that Jesus as the Christ is the center of history. His manifestation was the Kairos in which the meaning of the whole of history was perceived. When Jesus says that the right hour has come, that the kingdom of God is at hand, he pronounces the victory over the law of vanity. This hour is not subject to the circle of life and death and all the other circles of vanity. In the life of Jesus, the hour of Calvary particularly emphasizes the breakthrough of the eternal. The event at Golgotha is one which concerns the Universe, including all nature and all history. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23
Since this moment the Universe is no longer what it was; nature has received another meaning; history is transformed and you and I are no more, and should not by any more, what we were before. The meaning of history has been revealed. From that tie on all thins are anew. When the apostles say that Jesus is the Christ, they mean that in him the new eon which cannot become old is present. Christianity lives through the faith that within it there is the new which is not just another new thing but rather the principle and representation of all really new in humans and history. History is Christology and Christology is history forms the sum and substance of our view of history. History is conditioned by the appearance of an unconditioned meaning not as a demand but as an existent, not as an idea but as the temporal and paradoxical anticipation of the ultimate perfection. The problem of history combines with the Christological problem. Christology, being the definition and description of this (central) point in rational terms, is at the same time the basis on which the interpretation of history really rests. This does not mean that history may demonstrate Christology. We should always remember that a revelatory situation is not subject to the scalpel of scientific analysis. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23
A historical record cannot classify he center of history along with other, more peripheral, events. One can perceive the center and discern the meaning of history only as one can receive a revelation, in ecstasy and faith. On the one hand, Christology may show the universal dimension implied in the event of the Christ. Christianity gives an abstract and universal meaning to the Christological idea; this abstract meaning must be justified. So is it if therewith the universal claim implied in the constitution of a center of history is expressed. Theologians must show that the Christological affirmation solves the dilemma of all humankind, that it provides a satisfactory answer to all he forms that the quest for the New Being has taken. The historical type of the expectation of the New Being embraces itself and the non-historical type, while the non-historical is unable to embrace the historical type. Christology unites the horizontal direction of the expectation of the New Being with the vertical one. This horizontal, or historical, direction characterizes Western thought, while the vertical, or mystical, direction marks Eastern thought. The Christian faith affirms the Christ, not only as the historical Messiah, but also as the Man on the Clouds of the prophet Daniel; it affirms him both as Saviour and divine Wisdom. #RandolphHarris 16 of 23
In our Saviour with His divine Wisdom, were the Kairos, the dynamic advent of the eternal, and the logos, the universal transcosmic presence of the divine. Thanks to this, Christology does not appear as a strange insertion within the trend of ideas concerning the philosophy of history. On the other hand, it is not a matter of proof that Jesus as the Christ is effectively the center of history. Christology is a possible answer to the basic question implied in history, an answer, of course, which can never be proved by arguments, but is a matter of decision and fate. One who is confronted by the picture of the Christ in the Christian faith is caught up in a revelatory situation. Not only one’s own past, but the whole past of humankind helps to determine one’s answer: this is the element of fate implied in the situation. And the future is at stake, for is meaning or its meaninglessness depends on the answer: this is the element of decision. Being grasped by the center of history means being grasped without limitations and conditions, by an absolute power. The fate in which we are grasped by a center of history in such a way is named “predestination” in religious terminology; the decision in which we grasp that which grasps us, is named faith. Christ is indeed the center of history, but only for faith. Historical erudition cannot reach this in document. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23
To know the ultimate meaning of history requires commitment, courage, and decision, the decision for the Christ. To one who has not been caught in this revelation, Christology is foolishness and scandal. To one who has been, Christ is final revelation. We already know that the center of history gives meaning to past, present, and future; it constitutes history as the meaning of time. The scope of the Christological affirmation should be explored further. “Now it came to pass in the sixth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, there were no contentions nor wars in the land of Zarahemla; but the people were afflicted, yea, greatly afflicted for the loss of their brethren, and also for the loss of their flocks and herds, and also for the loss of their fields of grain, which were trodden under foot and destroyed by the Lamanites. And so great were their afflictions that every soul had cause to mourn; and they believed that it was the judgments of God sent upon them because of their wickedness and their abomination; therefore they were awakened to a remembrance of their duty. And they began to establish the church more fully; yea, and many were baptized in the waters of Sidon and were joined to the Church of God; yea, they were baptized by the hand of Alma, who had been consecrated the high priest over the people of the church, by the hand of his father Alma. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23
“And it came to pass in the seventh year of the reign of the judges there were about three thousand five hundred souls that united themselves to the Church of God and were baptized. And thus ended the seventh year of the judges over the people of Nephi; and there was continual peace in all that time. And it came to pass in the eighth year of the reign of the judges, that the people of the church began to wax proud, because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine-twined linen, and because of their many flocks and herds, and their gold and their silver, and all manner of precious things, which hey had obtained by their industry; and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel. Now this was the cause of much affliction to Alma, yea, and to many of the people whom Alma had consecrated to be teachers, and priests and elders over thus church; yea, many of them were sorely grieved for the wickedness which they saw had begun to be among the people. For they saw and beheld with great sorrow that the people of the church began to be lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and to set their hearts upon riches and upon the vain things of the World, that they began to be scornful, one towards another, and they began to persecute those that did not believe according to their own will and pleasure. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23
“And thus, in this either year of the reign of the judges, there began to be great contentions among the people of the church; yea, there were envying, and strife, and malice, and persecutions, and pride, even to exceed the pride of those who did not belong to the Church of God. And thus ended the eighth year f the reign of the judges; and the wickedness of the church was a great stumbling-block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fail in its progress. And it came to pass in the commencement of the ninth year, Alma saw the wickedness of the church, and he saw also that the example of the church began to lead those who were unbelievers on from one piece of iniquity to another, thus bringing on the destruction of the people. Yea, he saw great inequality among the people, some lifting themselves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted. Now this was a great cause for lamentations among the people, while others were abasing themselves, succoring those who stood in need of their succor, such as imparting their substance to the poor and the needy, feeding the hungry, and suffering all manner of afflictions for Christ’s sake, who should come according to the spirit of prophecy. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23
“Looking forward to that day, thus retaining a remission of their sins; being filled with great joy because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will and power of deliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death. And now it came to pass that Alma, having seen the afflictions of the humble followers of God, and the persecution which were heaped upon them by the remainder of his people, and seeing all their inequality, began to be very sorrowful; nevertheless he Spirit of the Lord did not fail him. And he selected a wise man who was among the elders of the church, and gave him power according to the voice of the people, that he might have power to enact laws according to the laws which had been given, and to put them in force according to the wickedness and the crimes of the people. Now this man’s nae was Nephihah, and he was appointed chief judge; and he sat in the judgment-seat to judge and to govern the people. Now Alma did not grant unto him the office of being high priest over the church, but he retained the office of high priest unto himself; but he delivered the judgment-seat unto Nephihah. And this he did that he himself might go forth among his people, or among the people of Nephi, that he might preach the word of God unto them, to stir them up in remembrance of their duty, and that he might pull down, by the word of God, all the pride and craftiness and all the contentions which were among his people, seeing no way that he might reclaim them save it were in bearing down in pure testimony against them. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23
“And thus in the commencement of the ninth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, Alma delivered up the judgment-seat to Nephihah, and confined himself wholly to the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to the testimony of the word, according to the spirit of revelation,” reports Alma 4.1-20. The words which Alma, the High Priest according to the holy order of God, delivered to the people in their cities and villages throughout the land. God of All Sovereignty, Thy greatness is unsearchable, Thy name most excellent, Thy glory above the Heavens; ten thousand minister to Thee, ten thousand times ten thousand stand before Thee; in Thy awful presence we are less than nothing. We do not approach Thee because we deserve Thy notice, for we are sinners; our necessities compel us, Thy promises encourage us, our broken hearts incite us, the Mediator draws us, Thy acceptance of others moves us. Look Thou upon us and be merciful unto us; please convince us of the penalty and pollution of sin; please give us faith to believe, and, believing, to have life in Jesus; may we enter into His sufferings; please let us see Thy hand in the instruments of our grief, rejoicing that they are from Thy over-ruling providence. Please let us see Thy hand in the instruments of our grief, rejoicing that they are from Thy over-ruling providence. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23
Please let not our weeping hinder sowing; now sorrow, duty. While living in a World of change please let us seek the abiding city. Be with us to our journey’s end that we may glorify Thee in death as in life. We bless Thee for preservation, supplies, mercies, and to Thee, Keeper of souls, we commit all we are and have. May no evil befall us, no sickness come nigh us, no horror disturbs us! May our conscience be clear, our hearts pure, our sleep sweet! And with the innumerable company who neither slumber nor rest we join in ascribing blessing, honour, glory and power to the lamb upon the throne, for ever and ever. O Merciful and pitying Lord, Who supportest us by sparing us, and sanctifies us by forgiving; please vouchsafe pardon to our sins, and grant that those who attend on the Heavenly Sacraments may be free from all offence, through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is merciful, and full of compassion. O Lord, Who dost gladden us by sparing the powerless. Our Saviour loves us by pardoning the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Please grant pardon of our sins, and receive the sacraments of our celestial-service, to be free from every fault I have. Please grant this blessing. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23
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O God, Who providest for They people with tenderness, and rulest over them in love; please give the Spirit of wisdom to those to whom Thou hast given the authority of government; that from the well-being of the holy sheep may proceed the eternal joy of the pastors; through Jesus Christ our Lord. O God, Who, to your people, the indulgence of the consultation, and the love of dominion; please give the Spirit of wisdom, to whom you have given the government of the discipline; from the progress of the eternal joy of your children, we are forever grateful. #CresleighHomes
Ignorance of the Law Excuses No Human–Looked Like a Baby-River that was Laying Half Alseep!
Surplus of wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in one’s lifetime for the good of the community. Stigma management is a general feature of society, a process occurring wherever there are identity norms. The same features are involved whether a major differentness is at question, of the kind traditionally defined as stigmatic, or a picayune differentness, of which the shamed person is to be ashamed to be ashamed. One can therefore suspect that the role of normal and the role of stigmatized are parts of the same complex, cuts from the same standard cloth. Of course, psychiatrically oriented students have often pointed out the pathological consequences of self-derogation, just as they have argued that prejudice against a stigmatized group can be a form of a sickness. These extremes, however, have not concerned us, for the patterns of response and adaptation considered in this ese seem totally understandable within the framework of normal psychology. One can assume first that persons with different stigmas are in an appreciably similar situation and respond in an appreciably similar way. The neighbourly druggist might talk to the neighbourhood, therefore the neighbourhod drugstores have been avoided by persons seeking al manner of equipment and medication—persons wonderfully diverse who share nothing but a need to control information. #RandolphHarris 1 of 26
And secondly, one can assume that the stigmatized and the normal have the same mental make-up, and that this necessarily is the standard one in our society; one who can play one of these roles, then, has exactly the required equipment for playing out the other, and in fact in regard to one stigma or another is likely to have developed some experience in doing so. Most important of all, the very notion of shameful differences assumes a similarity in regard to crucial beliefs, those regarding identity. Even where an individual has quite abnormal feelings and beliefs, one is likely to have quite normal concerns and employ quite normal strategies in attempting to conceal these abnormalities from others, as the situation of former mental patients suggests: One of the difficulties centers around the meaning of “reasonable employment.” The patients are sometimes unable, but more often unwilling, to explain why a particular job is “unreasonable” or impossible for them. One middle-aged man could not bring himself to explain that he was so terrified of the dark he insisted on sharing his bedroom with his brother, and that he could no possibly work where it meant coming home alone in the dark in Winter. He tries to overcome his fear, but is reduced to a state of physical collapse if left alone at night. #RandolphHarris 2 of 26
In such an instance—and there were many others—the former patient’s fears of ridicule, contempt or harshness make it difficult for him to explain the real reason for refusing or not holding the jobs offered to him. He may then easily be labelled as work-shy or unemployable, which is likely to be financially disastrous. Similarly, when an aging person finds one cannot remember some of the names of one’s immediate friends, one may shy away from going to the meeting places where one is likely to encounter them, thus illustrating an embarrassment and a plan which entail human capacities that have nothing to do with aging. If, then, the stigmatizes person is to be called a deviant, one might better be called a normal deviant, at least to the extent that one’s situation is analyzed within the framework presented here. There is a direct evidence regarding this self-other, normal-stigmatized unity. For example, it seems that persons who suddenly find themselves relieved of a stigma, as in successful plastic surgery, may quickly be seen, by themselves and others, to have altered their personality, an alteration in the direction of acceptable, just as those who have suddenly acquired a defect may relatively quickly experience a change in apparent personality. #RandolphHarris 3 of 26
These perceived changes seem to be a result of the individual’s being placed in a new relationship to the contingencies of acceptance in face-to-face interaction, with consequent employment of new strategies of adaptation. Important additional evidence comes from social experiments, wherein subjects knowingly take on a defect (temporarily, of course), such as partial deafness, and find themselves spontaneously manifesting the reactions and employing the devices that are found among the actually disabled. A further fact should be mentioned. Because a change from stigmatized status to normal status is presumably in a desired direction, it is understandable that the change, when it comes, can be sustained psychologically by the individual. However, it is very difficult to understand how individuals who sustain a sudden transformation of their life from that of a normal to that of a stigmatized person can survive the change psychologically; yet very often they do. That both types of transformation can be sustained—but especially the latter type—suggest that standard capacities and training equip us to handle both possibilities. And once these possibilities are learned, the rest, alas, comes easily. #RandolphHarris 4 of 26
For the individual to learn that one is beyond the pale, or not beyond the pale after having been beyond, is not, then, a complicated thing, merely a new alignment within an old frame of reference, and taking to oneself in detail what one had known about before as residing in other. The painfulness, then, of sudden stigmatization can come not from the individual’s confusion about one’s identity, but from one’s knowing too well what one has become. Taken through time, then, the individual is able to play both parts in the normal-deviant drama. However, one must see that even boxed within a brief social moment, the individual may be able to perform both shows, exhibiting not only a general capacity to sustain both roles, but also the detailed learning and command necessary for currently executing the required role behaviour. His is facilitated, of course, by the fact that the roles of stigmatized and normal are not merely complementary; they also exhibit some striking parallels and similarities. Performers of each role may withdraw from contact with the other as a means of adjustment; each male feel that one is not fully accepted by the other; each may feel that one’s own conduct is being watched too closely—and be correct in this feeling. Each may stay with one’s “own” merely to forgo having to face the problem. #RandolphHarris 5 of 26
Further, the asymmetries or differences between that do exist are often kept within such limits as will further the common and crucial task of maintaining the social situation that is in progress. Aliveness to the role of the other must be sufficient so that when certain adaptive tactics are not employed by one of the normal-stigmatized pair, the other will know how to step in and take on the role. For example, should the stigmatized person fail to present his failing in a matter of fact way, the normal may assume the task. And when normals try tactfully to help the stigmatized person with one’s difficulties, one may grit one’s teeth and accept help gracefully, out of regard for the good will of the effort. Evidence of two-headed role playing is widely available. For example, whether for fun or seriously, people pass, and they do so in both directions, into or out of the stigmatized category. Another source of evidence is psychodrama. This “therapy” assumes that mental patients and others beyond the pale can on stage switch parts and play out the role of normal to someone who is now playing their role to them; and in fact they can perform this theater without much prompting and with reasonable competency. A third source of evidence that the individual can simultaneously sustain command over both the normal and stigmatized role comes to us from behind-scenes joshing. #RandolphHarris 6 of 26
Normals, when among themselves, “take off” on a stigmatized type. More to the point, the stigmatized in similar circumstances takes off on the normal as well as oneself. One jokingly enacts scenes of degradation with one of one’s kind playing the role of the crudest of normals while one affects the complementary role for a moment, only to break into vicarious rebelliousness. As part of this sad pleasure there will be the unserious use of stigma terms of address that are usually tabooed in “mixed” society. It should be restated here that this kind of joking by the stigmatized does not so much demonstrate some kind of chronic distance the individual has from oneself as it demonstrates the more important fac that a stigmatized person is first of all like anyone else, trained first of all in others’ views of persons like oneself, and differing from them first of all in having a special reason to resist stigma derogation when in their presence and the special license to give voice to it when in their absence. A special case of the light use of self-abusing language and style is provided by professional representatives of the group. When representing their group to normals, they may embody in an exemplary way the ideals of the normals, being partly chosen for being able to do so. #RandolphHarris 7 of 26
However, when attending social affairs among their own, they may feel a special obligation to show that they have not forgotten about the ways of the group or their own place, and so on sage may employ native dialect, gestures, and expression in humorous caricature of their identity. (The audience can then dissociate themselves from what they still have a little of, and identify with what they have not yet fully become.) These performances, however, often have a cultivated trim aspect; something has been clearly placed in brackets and raised to an art. In any case, one regularly finds in the same representative the capacity to be more “normal” in manner than are most of the members of one’s category who orient themselves in this direction, while at the same time one can command more of the native idiom than those of one’s category who are oriented in this direction. And where a representative does not have this capacity to manage two faces, one will find oneself under some pressure to develop it. I have often pondered the reasons why, in seminars, the reactions are more strongly negative, and eventually more strongly beneficial. I believe it is due in part to the fact that they were so eager to learn from the “master,” the “guru,” that they were loath to accept my authority. #RandolphHarris 8 of 26
Perhaps another reason is that they were all graduate students, most of them already employed professionally, or like Dr. Tenenbaum, taking the course as a postdoctoral seminar. Such students are, I believe, even more dependent upon authority than are elementary school children. I took up most of the first meeting of the seminar (about twenty-five students) by introducing myself and my purpose and asking if others wished to do the same. After some awkward silences, the students told what brought them to the seminar. I told the group about the many resources I had brought with me—reprints, mimeographed material, books, a list of recommended reading (no requirements), tapes of therapeutic interviews, and films. I asked for volunteers to organize and lend out these materials, to run the tapes, and to find a movie projector. All of this was easily handled, and the session ended. As Dr. Tenenbaum takes up the story: Thereafter followed four hard, frustrating sessions. During this period, the class did not seem to get anywhere. Students spoke at random, saying whatever came into their heads. It all seemed chaotic, aimless, a waste of time. A student would bring up some aspect of Rogers’ philosophy; and the next student, completely disregarding the first, would take the group away in another direction; and a third, completely disregarding the first two, would start something else altogether. #RandolphHarris 9 of 26
At time there were some faint efforts at a cohesive discussion, but for the most part the classroom proceedings seemed to lack continuity and direction. The instructor received every contribution with attention and regard. He did not find any student’s contribution in order or out of order. The class was not prepared for such a totally unstructured approach. They did not know how to proceed. In their perplexity and frustration, they demanded that the teacher play the role assigned to him by custom and tradition; that he set forth for us in authoritative language what was right and wrong, what was good and bad. Had they not come from far distances to learn from the oracle himself? Were they not fortunate? Were they not about to be initiated in the right rituals and practices by the great man himself, the founder of the movement that bears his name? The notebooks were poised for the climactic moment when the oracle would give forth, but mostly they remained untouched. Queerly enough, from the outset, even in their anger, the members of the group felt joined together, and outside the classroom, there was an excitement and a ferment, for even in their frustration, they had communicated as never before in any classroom, and probably never before in quite the way they had. #RandolphHarris 10 of 26
In the Rogers class, they had spoken their minds; the words did not come from a book, nor were they the reflection of the instructor’s thinking, nor that of any other authority. The ideas, emotions, and feelings came from themselves; and this was he releasing and the exciting process. In this atmosphere of freedom, something for which they had not bargained and for which they were not prepared, the students spoke up as students seldom do. During this period, the instructor took many blows; and it seemed to me that many times he appeared to be shaken; and although he was the source of our irritation, we had, strange as it may seem, a great affection for him, for it did not seem right to be angry with a man who was so sympathetic, so sensitive to the feelings and ideas of others. We all felt that what was involved was some slight misunderstanding which once understood and remedied would make everything right again. However, our instructor, gentle enough on the surface, had a “whim of steel.” He did not seem to understand; and if he did, he was obstinate and obdurate; he refused to come around. Thus did this tug-of-war continue. We all looked to Rogers and Rogers looked to us. One student, amid general approbation, observed: “We are Rogers-centered, not student-centered. We have come to learn from Rogers.” #RandolphHarris 11 of 26
After more of this, individual students attempted to take leadership and organize the seminar around certain topics or ways of planning, but these attempts at structure were largely disregarded. Gradually the group became insistent that I lecture. I told them that I was just completing a paper, and would be willing to give that as a lecture, but I also informed them that I was quite willing to have it duplicated so that each could read it. They insisted that I give it as a talk, and I agreed. It was a topic I was much involved in, and I believe I delivered it as well as I was able, taking somewhat more than an hour. Tenenbaum reports the results. After the vivid and acrimonious exchanges to which we had been accustomed, this was certainly a letdown, dull and soporific to the extreme. This experience squelched all further demands for lecturing. By the fifth session, something definite had happened; there was no mistaking that. Students spoke to one another; they by-assed Rogers. Students asked to be heard and wanted to be heard, and what before was a halting, stammering, self-conscious group became an interacting group, a brand-new cohesive unit, carrying on in a unique way; and from them came discussion and thinking such as no other group but this could repeat or duplicate. #RandolphHarris 12 of 26
The instructor also joined in, but his role, more important than any in the group was important, the center, the base of the operation, not the instructor. What caused it? I can only conjecture as to the reason. I believe that what happened was this: For four sessions students refused to believe that the instructor would refuse to play the traditional role. They stilled believed that he would set the tasks; that he would be the center of whatever happened and that he would manipulate the group. It took the class four sessions to realize that they were wrong; that he came to them with nothing outside of himself, outside of his own person; that if they really wanted something to happen, it was they who had to provide the content—an uncomfortable, challenging situation indeed. It was they who had to speak up, with all the risks that that entailed. As part of the process, they shared, they took exception, they agreed, they disagreed. At any rate, their persons, their deepest selves were involved; and from this situation, this special, unique group, this new creation was born. After the fourth session, and progressively thereafter, this group, haphazardly thrown together, became close to one another and their true selves appeared. #RandolphHarris 13 of 26
As they interacted, there were moments of insight and revelation and understanding that were almost awesome in nature; they were what, I believe, Rogers would describe as “moments of therapy,” those pregnant moments when you see a human soul revealed before you, in all its breathless wonder; and then a silence, almost like reverence, would overtake the class. And each member of the class become enveloped with a w warmth and a loveliness that border on the mystic. I for one, and I am quite sure the other also, never had an experience quite like this. It was learning and therapy; and by therapy I do not mean illness, but what might be characterized by a healthy change in the person, an increase in one’s flexibility, one’s openness, one’s willingness to listen. In the process, we all felt elevated, freer, more accepting of ourselves, and others, more open to new ideas, trying hard to understand and accept. This is not a perfect World, and there was evidence of hostility as members differed. Somehow in this setting every blow was softened, as if the sharp edges had been removed; if undeserved, students would go off to something else; and the blow was somehow lost. In my own case, even those students who originally irritated me, with further acquaintance I began to accept and respect. #RandolphHarris 14 of 26
It also occurred to me that I tried to understand what was happening: Once you come close to a person, perceive one’s thoughts, one’s emotions, one’s feelings, one becomes not only understandable but good and desirable. In the course of this process, I saw hard, inflexible, strict and rigid persons, in the brief period of several weeks, change in front of my eyes and become sympathetic, understanding and to a marked degree nonjudgmental. I saw neurotic, compulsive persons ease up and become more accepting of themselves and others. In one instance, a student who particularly impressed me by his change, told me when I mentioned this: “It is true. I feel less rigid, more open to the World. And I like myself better for it. I do not believe I ever learned so much anywhere.” I saw shy persons become less shy and aggressive persons more sensitive and moderate. One might say this appears to be essentially an emotional process. However that, I believe, would be altogether inaccurate in describing it. There was a great deal of intellectual content, but the intellectual content was meaningful and crucial to the person. In fact, one student brought up this very question. “Should we be concerned,” he asked, “only with the emotions? Had the intellect no play?” It was my turn to ask, “Is there any student who has read as much or thought as much for any other course?” #RandolphHarris 15 of 26
The answer was obvious. We had spent hours and hours reading; the room reserved for us had occupants until ten o’clock at night, and then many left only because the university guards wanted to close the building. Students listened to recordings; they saw motion pictures; but best of all, they talked and talked and talked. The starting of a cult to gain a personal following would be abhorrent to the spirit of any truly selfless spiritual guide, but the creation of a school for a spiritual development and philosophical learning one might consider helpful to may earnest but bewildered students life. The true master is to work for the few. There are several agencies who will spread their activities thinly on a wide surface but one’s will penetrate to a deeper level. Theirs will be more showy but one’s more effective. The Rogers method was free and flowing and open and permissive. A student would start an interesting discussion; it would be taken up by a second; but a third student might take us away in another direction, bringing up a personal matter of no interest to the class; and we would all feel frustrated. However, this was like life, flowing on like a river, seemingly futile, with never the same water there, flowing on, with no one knowing what would happen the next moment. #RandolphHarris 16 of 26
However, in this there was an expectancy, an alertness, an aliveness; it seemed to me as near a smear of life as one could get in a classroom. For the authoritarian person, who puts one’s faith in neatly piled up facts, this method I believed can be threatening, for here one gets no reassurance, only an openness, a flowing, no closure. I have nowhere found such a vivid account of the initially chaotic, gradually more fluid way in which the group, as it fearfully takes responsibility for itself, becomes a constructive organism, listening and responding sensitively to its own needs. It is the outwardly confused, inwardly organized, politics of an ever-changing group purpose, as the class moves to meet its intellectual, personal, and emotional needs. Does a person-centered education bring results? We have a definitive answer from research. For ten years Dr. David Aspy has led research studies aimed at finding out whether human, person-centered attitudes in the classroom have any measurable effects and if so what these effects are. He collected 3,700 recorded classroom hours from 550 elementary and high school teachers and used rigorous scientific methods to analyze the results. He and his colleague, Dr. Flora Roebuck, have found that students of more person-centered teachers contrast sharply with students of teachers who are less person-centered. #RandolphHarris 17 of 26
The students showed greater gains in learning conventional subjects. They were more adept at using their higher cognitive processes such as problem solving. They had a more optimistic self-concept than was found in the other groups. They initiated more behaviour in the classroom. They exhibited fewer discipline problems. They had a lower rate of absence from school. They even showed an increase in I.Q. among their students. Teacher can improve their facilitative, person-centered attitudes with as little as fifteen hours of intensive training. Of significance for all of education is he finding that teachers improve in these attitudes only when their trainers exhibit a high level of these facilitative conditions. In ordinary terms this means that such attitudes are “caught,” experientially, from another. They are not simply intellectual learnings. These teachers have a more beneficial self-concept than less person-centered teachers. They are more self-disclosing to their students. They respond more to students’ feelings. They give more praise. They are more responsive to students ideas. They lecture less often. Geographical location of the classes, racial composition, or race of the teachers have not altered these feelings. Whether we are speaking of Black or White or Chicano teachers, Black or White, or Chicano students, classes in the North, the South, the Virgin Islands, England, Canada, or Israel, the findings are essentially the same. #RandolphHarris 18 of 26
To be someone’s disciple is to go farther in relationship than to be one’s student. Some disciples become lay disciples, who limit themselves to intellectual sharing only. The second is to become full disciples, who go all the way with one into the philosophical discipline and life. Dr. Aspy’s findings are confirmed in practical experience in medical education. The Medical School of McMaster University has taken a person-centered facilitative approach to the training of physicians. Though these young men and women have never had the conventional medical courses, they have learned intensively for three years the medical knowledge they need to deal with patients. They show up very well on the tough Canadian licensing exam, and in addition are more creative and humane. As another example, nine hundred of the top-ranking medical educators in the United States of America, concerned about the dehumanizing effects of medical training, have enlisted in the program, Human Dimensions in Medical education. In intensive four and ten-day conferences they have learned to listen, to be more person-centered in their teachings, to be more communicative in their personal relationships. The changes in some of the medical schools are already striking. Whether at the elementary, high school, college or graduate level, person-centered attitudes pay off, changing the politics of education in the process. #RandolphHarris 19 of 26
We must not make ourselves and our “survival” the ultimate point of reference in our World—must not, in effect, treat ourselves as God should be treated, or treat ourselves as God. Thus Paul shockingly said, “Covetousness is idolatry,” reports Colossians 3.5. Is not that somewhat exaggerated? No. Covetousness is self-idolatry, for it makes my desires paramount. It means I would take what I want if I could. To defeat covetousness, we learn to rejoice that others enjoy the benefits they do. Many members of the Church are led into sin by unbelievers—Alma is promised eternal life—those who repent ad are baptized gain forgiveness—Church members in sin who repent and confess to Alma and to the Lord will be forgiven; otherwise, they will not be numbered among the people of the Church. About 120-100 Before Christ. “Now it came to pass that there were many of the rising generation that could not understand the words of king Benjamin, being little children at the time he spake unto his people; and they did not believe the tradition of their fathers. They did not believe what had been said concerning the resurrection of the dead, neither did they believe concerning the coming of Christ. And now because of their unbelief they could not understand the word of God; and their hearts were hardened. #RandolphHarris 20 of 26
“And they would not be baptized neither would they join the church. And they were a separate people as to their faith, and remained so ever after, even in their carnal, and sinful state; for they would not call upon the Lord their God. And now in the reign of Mosiah they were not half so numerous as the people of God; but because of the dissension among the brethren they became more numerous. For it came to pass that they did deceive many with their flattering words, who were in the church, and did cause them to commit many sins; therefore it came expedient that those who committed sin, that were in the church, should be admonished by the church. And it came to pass that they were brought before the priests, and delivered up unto the priests brought them before Alma, who was the high priest. Now king Mosiah had given Alma the authority over the church. And it came to pass that Alma did not know concerning them; but there were many witnesses against them; yea, the people stood and testified of their iniquity in abundance. Now there had not any such thing happened before in the church; therefore Alma was troubled in his spirit, and he caused that they should be brought before the king. And he said unto the king: Behold, here are many whom we have brought before thee, who are accused of their brethren; yea, and they have been taken in divers iniquities. #RandolphHarris 21 of 26
“And they do not repent of their iniquities; therefore we have brought them before thee, that thou mayest judge them according to their crimes. However, king Mosiah said unto Alma: Behold, I judge them not; therefore I deliver them into thy hands to be judged. And now the spirit of Alma was again troubled; and he went and inquired of the Lord what he should do wrong in the sight of God. And it came to pass that after he had poured out his whole soul to God, the voice of the Lord came to him, saying: Blessed art thou, Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi. And blessed art thou, Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words spoken unto them. And blessed art thou because thou hast established a church among this people; and they shall be established, and they shall be my people. Yes, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name; for in my name shall they be called and they are mine. And because thou hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art blessed. Thou art my servant; and I covenant with thee that thou shalt have eternal life; and thou shalt serve me and go forth in my name, and shalt gather together my sheep. #RandolphHarris 22 of 26
“And one that will hear my voice shall be my sheep; and one shall ye receive into the church, and one will I also receive. For behold, this is my church; whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whosoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and one will I freely forgive. For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the World; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto one that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand. For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand. And it shall come to pass that when the second trump shall sound then shall they that never knew me come forth and shall stand before me. And then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, that I am their Redeemer; but they would not be redeemed. And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them; and they shall depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Therefore I say unto you, that one will not hear my voice, the same shall ye not receive into my church, for one I will not receive at the last day. Therefore I say unto you, Go; and whosoever transgreseth against me, one shall ye judge according to the sins which one has committed; and if one confess one’s sins before thee and me, and repenteth in the sincerity of one’s heart, one shall ye forgive, and I will forgive one also. #RandolphHarris 23 of 26
“Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me. And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses; for verily I say unto you, one that forgiveth not one’s neighbour’s trespasses when one says that one repents, the same hat brought oneself under condemnation. Now I say unto you, Go; and whosoever will not repent of one’s sins the same shall not be numbered among my people; and this shall be observed from this time forward. And it came to pass when Alma had heard these words one wrote them down that one might have them, and that one might judge the people of that church according to the commandments of God. And it came to pass that Alma went and judged those that had been taken in iniquity, according to the word of the Lord. And whosoever repented of their sins and did confess them, them one did number among the people of the church; and those that would not confess their sins and repent of their iniquity, the same were not numbered among the people of the church, and their names were blotted out. And it came to pass that Alma did regulate all the affairs of the church; and they began again to have peace and to prosper exceedingly in the affairs of the church, walking circumspectly before God, receiving many, and baptizing many. #RandolphHarris 24 of 26
“And now all these things did Alma and his fellow labourers do who were over the church, walking in all diligence, teaching the word of God in all things, suffering all manner of afflictions, being persecuted by all those who did not belong to the church of God. And they did admonish their brethren, and they were also admonished, every one by the word of God, according to one’s sins, or to the sins which one had committed, being commanded of God to pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things,” reports Mosiah 26.1-39. Supreme Ruler of the Visible and Invisible Worlds, my heart is drawn out to Thee for Thy amazing grace and condescension. Thou hast kept my conversion fresh before me, that season of my first spiritual comfort when I passed through the Red Sea by a way I did no expect. I rejoiced then for that unthought-of passage, that delivered me from the fear and lively in my mind. My soul melts when I think of Thy says of old with me, when a poor worthless creature without wisdom to direct or strength to help myself was laid under the happy necessity of living upon Thee and finding Thy consolations large. Thou art my divine treasury in whom all fullness dwells, my life, hope, joy, peace, glory, end; may I be daily more and more conformed to Thee, with the meekness and calmness of the Lamb in my soul. #RandolphHarris 25 of 26
My I also feel a sense of the felicity of Heaven, where I long to join angels free from imperfections, where in me the image of my adored Saviour will be completely restored, so that I may be fit for his enjoyments and employments. I am not afraid to look the king of terrors in the face, for I know I shall be drawn, no driven, out of the World. Until then let me continually glow and burn out for Thee, and when the last great change shall come let me awake in Thy likeness, leaving behind me an example that will glorify Thee while my spirit rejoices in Heaven, and my memory is blessed upon Earth, with those who follow me praising Thee for my life. O God, Who visitest the humble, and consolest us by the affection of our brethren; please extend Thy grace to our fellowship, that by means of those in whom Thou dwellest, we may feel that Thou art come to visit us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. O God, Who makest manifest to us in Thy servants the signs of Thine own Presence, send forth upon us the Spirit of love; that by coming of our brethren and fellow-servants, Thy bountiful grace may be increased in ourselves; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless, O Lord, Thy gifts, which we are about to receive from Thy bounty. May Thy gifts, O Lord, be our refreshment, and Thy grace our consolation; through our Lord. #RandolphHarris 26 of 26
Set the stage and dim the lights—doing the dishes is an event with an under-mount kitchen sink like this one. 🎟
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We have been satisfied, O Lord, with Thy gifts and bounties. Please fill us with Thy mercy, Who art blessed, Who with the Father will always lift the veil and allow us to come into sympathetic and receptive contact with the Kingdom of Heaven and your Divine Will. #CresleighHomes
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No passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear. The master gives a candidate the seeds and teaches one how to cultivate them: how to water, nourish, and tend the plants which sprout up from them. The highest type of teacher does not want and will not encourage a blind unquestioning acceptance of one’s own views. In reality, all arguments from experience are founded on the similarity, which we discover among natural objects, and by which we are induced to expect effects similar to those, which we have found to follow from such objects. And though none but a fool or a mad person will ever pretend to dispute the authority of experience, or to reject that great guide of human life; it may surely be allowed a philosopher to have so much curiosity at least, as to examine the principle of human nature, which gives this mighty authority to experience, and makes us draw advantage from that similarity, which nature has placed among different objects. From cases, which appear similar, we expect similar effect. It is only after a long course of uniform experiments in any kind, that we attain a firm reliance and security with regard to a particular event. Now where is that process of reasoning, which, from one instance draws a conclusion, so different from that which it infers from a hundred instances, that are nowise different from that single one? #RandolphHarris 1 of 23
This question I propose as much for the sake of information, as with an intention of reasoning. However, I keep my mind still open to instruction; if any one will vouchsafe to bestow it on me. The true teacher interprets the divine will for one’s disciple but does not impose in on one. Such a guide may proffer advice and tender suggestions but one will never issue orders and dictate decisions. Instead of trying to deprive the student of one’s capacity to intuit truths for oneself, the disinterested teacher will try to create it. Should it be said, that, from a number of uniform experiments, we infer a connexion between the sensible qualities and the secret powers; this, I must confess, seems the same difficulty, couched in different terms. The question still recurs, on what process of argument this inference is founded? Where is the medium, the interposing ideas, which join propositions so very wide of each other? It is confessed, that the colour, consistence, and other sensible qualities of bread appear not, of themselves, to have any connexion with the secret powers of nourishment and support. For otherwise we could infer these secret powers from the first appearance of these sensible qualities, without the assistance of experience; contrary to the sentiment of all philosophers, and contrary to plain matter of fact. Here then is our natural state of ignorance with regard to the powers and influence of all objects. How is this remedied by experience? #RandolphHarris 2 of 23
A genuine teacher will not seek to dominate the soul of a student, will not strive to impose one’s own will upon one. For the teacher desires to see a natural and not a forced artificial growth, to free humans and not to enslave them. The real master spiritualizes one’s disciple but does not debilitate one. The guru who does not want to enslave disciples, will guide them to do what they themselves ought to be doing, but are weakly and foolishly expecting one to do for them. A prudent master prefers not to help people but to help them to help themselves. If you do not put into one’s hands the knowledge and equipment wherewith one can acquire strength, it is a merely a mockery to admonish a weakling to become strong. It is the teacher’s duty to foster one’s disciple’s creativeness, not one’s imitativeness—to encourage the disciples to develop one’s own inspiration. It shows us a number of uniform effects, resulting from certain objects, and teaches us, that those particular objects, at that particular time, were endowed with such powers and forces. When a new object, endowed with similar sensible qualities, is produced, we expect similar powers and forces, and look for a like effect. From a body of like colour and consistence with bread, we expect like nourishment and support. However, this surely is a step or progress of the mind, which wants to be explained. #RandolphHarris 3 of 23
The average teacher takes from one’s own personal experience what helped one most or what one’s own teacher led one to, and passes it on to the student as being “the Path,” the only way to God, the sole method of arriving at truth—whether this particular way or method suits the individual type or one’s degree of development or not. Even if it is contrary to the latter’s entire temperament or need, one almost forces it on the student. As if nothing good existed outside them, the meager student finds oneself imprisoned and locked up in one’s teacher’s personal opinions and practices. The wisest master lets the disciple develop in one’s own way, according to one’s own individuality. However, we all know sometimes it is best to be a stringent teacher and give the pupil guidance and encouragement, but also tear them down a little in the process so they can believe that they have what it takes to succeed and that it takes diligence and hard work to success. Students do not always know what is best for them and putting more effort into their education could save them from hardship. If a student thinks a class will be too hard for him or her, that is the perfect time to send one to the guidance counselor and request a parent teacher meeting. So many youth are so eager to get into the adult World, but they are not ready to deal with comes along with that. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23
Education is really the only way for a student to gain freedom and it is best for them to stay in school and learn while they are young and be amongst their peers, so that when they graduate from high school and college they will have the skills necessary to advance and avoid some of the hardships out there looking to prey on our youth. Often times failure and being held back is what causes a student to fear trying to class that may be more difficult, but fear is what robs the mind of all its power and perhaps missing the mark is just what a student needs. The good thing about school is you can always makes a class up, and just like sometimes you need to read an article or a book more than once to understand it, you may also need to repeat a class so you can master it. Also, when you are young, that is when your brain is developing and if you challenge while you are a pupil, it will grow in ways you cannot image as you mature and it will be stronger. The brain is a muscle and it is a lot better to build that must while it is fresh, before you have to work hard to burn off the dead brains cells to get all your neurons to operate properly. The simpler the organism, the more simply and easily these connections are made—the faster, too, and the more enduringly the dendrite and axons work. Enduring changes in the pathways affect the reception and organization of messages. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23
Such a teacher will be the student’s motivating influence while, paradoxically, encouraging one to preserve one’s independence. When a person says, I have found, in all past instances, such sensible qualities conjoined with such secret powers: And when one says, similar sensible qualities will always be conjoined with similar secret powers; one is not guilty of a tautology, nor are these propositions in any respect the same. You say that the one proposition is an inference from the other. However, you must confess that the inference is not intuitive; neither is it demonstrative: Of what nature is it then? To say it is experimental, is begging the question. For all inferences from experience suppose, as their foundation, that the future will resemble the past, and that similar powers will be conjoined with similar sensible qualities. If there by any suspicion, that the course of nature may change, and that the past may be no rule for the future, all experience becomes useless, and can give rise to no inference or conclusion. It is impossible, therefore, that any arguments from experience can prove this resemblance of the past to the future; since all these arguments are founded on the supposition of that resemblance. Let the course of things be allowed hitherto ever so regular; that alone, without some new argument or inference, proves not, that, for the future, it will continue so. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23
In vain do you pretend to have learned the nature of bodies from your past experience. Their secret nature, and consequently, all their effects and influence, may change, without any change in their sensible qualities. This happens sometimes, and with regard to some objects: Why may it not happen always, and with regard to all objects? What logic, what process of argument secures you against this supposition? My practice, you say, refutes my doubts. However, you mistake the purport of my question. As an agent, I am quite satisfied in the point; but as a philosopher, who has some share of curiosity, I will not say scepticism, I want to learn the foundation of this inference. No reading, no enquiry has yet been able to remove my difficulty, or give me satisfaction in a matter of such importance. Can I do better than propose the difficulty to the public, even though, perhaps, I have small hopes of obtaining a solution? If we do not augment or knowledge, we shall at least, by this means, be sensible of our ignorance. What the wise teacher does is to wait for the right situations to develop in which one’s own efforts can be most fruitful. One has waited for years, reserving the full expression of one’s powers until the crucial hour when the aspirant is ready to receive one. Until then, one must conceal one’s identity. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23
One’s wisdom in refusing to influence the students’ decisions will not be apparent at first. Indeed it will be regarded as unwisdom—and one’s attitude will be felt as unsympathetic. It is not the business of a master to save the disciple from suffering so much as to save one from the faults in one’s self which create suffering. One may suggest and advise but never impose one’s will upon yours. One turns a lamp upon your problems but leaves you free to work them out for yourself. I must confess, that a human is guilty of unpardonable arrogance, who concludes, because an argument has escaped one’s own investigation, that therefore it does not really exist. I must also confess, that, though all he learned, for several ages, should have employed themselves in fruitless search upon any subject, it may still, perhaps, be rash to conclude absolutely, that the subject must, therefore, pass all human comprehension. Even though we examine all the sources of our knowledge, and conclude them unfit for such a subject, there may still remain a suspicion, that the enumeration is not complete, or the examination not accurate. However, with regard to the present subject, there are some considerations, which seem to remove all this accusation of arrogance or suspicion of mistake. #RandolphHarris 8 of 23
It is the mark of a well-qualified teacher that one adapts one’s advice to fit each disciple individually. If everyone is recommended to practise the same method irrespective of one’s competence, one’s personal history and temperament, one’s grace of development and capacity, one’s character-traits and tendencies, in a number of cases it will be largely ineffectual. One’s long-range work is to lift the disciples to one’s own level, but one’s short-range work is necessarily concerned with their levels. One’s refusal to give everything out to everyone must be judged by this light, this recognition of the fact that there exist various levels of understanding, and hence of readiness to learn these things. A teacher of spiritual culture, ideals, principles, and practices must think of the intellectual level of those one seeks to instruct, and address one’s message to that. Because there are different levels of aspirants, different levels of teaching are necessary. It is certain, that the most ignorant and stupid peasants, nay infants, nay even brute beasts, improve by experience, and learn the qualities of natural objects, by observing the effects, which result from them. When a child has felt the sensation of pain from touching a flame or a candle, one will be careful not to put one’s hand near any candle (not recommended); but will expect a similar effect from a cause, which is similar in its sensible qualities and appearance. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23
If you assert, therefore, that the understanding of a child is led into this conclusion by any process of argument or ratiocination, I may justly require you to produce that argument; nor have you any pretence to refuse so equitable a demand. You cannot say, that the argument is abstruse, and may possibly escape your enquiry; since you confess, that it is obvious to the capacity of mere infant. If you hesitate, therefore, a moment, or if, after reflection, you produce any intricate or profound argument, you, in a manner, give up the question, and confess, that it is not reasoning which engages us to suppose the pas resembling the future, and to expect similar effects from causes, which are, to appearance, similar. This is the proposition which I intended to enforce in the present section. If I be wrong, I must acknowledge myself to be indeed a very backward scholar; since I cannot now discover an argument, which, it seems, was perfectly familiar to me, long before I was out of my cradle. The question of helping students more individually is a question of practical functioning. The teacher is not to create a philosophical elite for its own sake but for the larger sake of humankind. There was a young lady named Bright, whose speed was far faster than light; she set out one day in a relative way, and returned home the previous night. #RandolphHarris 10 of 23
It is possible to think of rare and dramatic failings as those most suitable for the analysis here employed. However, it would see that exotic differentness is most useful merely as a means of making one aware of identity assumptions ordinarily so fully satisfied as to escape one’s own awareness. It is also possible to think that established groups who have been marginalized can provide the best objects for this kind of analysis. This could easily lead to imbalance of treatment. Sociologically, the central issue concerning these groups is their place in the social structure; the contingencies these persons encounter in face-to-face interaction is only one part of the problem, and something that cannot itself be fully understood without reference to the history, the political development, and the current policies of the group. It is also possible to restrict the analysis to those who possess a flaw that uneases almost all their social situation, leading these unfortunates to form a major part of their self-conception reactively, in terms of their responsive plight. This report argues differently. The most fortunate of normals is likely to have one’s half-hidden failing, and for every little failing there is a social occasion when it will loom large, creating a shameful gap between virtual and actual social identity. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23
Therefore the occasionally precarious and the constantly precarious form a single continuum, their situation in life analyzable by the same framework. (Hence persons with only a minor differentness find they understand the structure of the situation in which the fully stigmatized are placed—often attributing this sympathy to the profundity of their human nature instead of to the isomorphism of human situations. The fully and visibly stigmatized, in turn, must suffer the special indignity of knowing that they wear their situation on their sleeve, that almost anyone will be able to see into the heart of their predicament.) It is implied, then, that it is not to the different that one should look for understanding or differentness, but to the ordinary. The question of social norms is certainly central, but the concern might be less for uncommon deviations from the ordinary than for ordinary deviations from the common. It can be assumed that a necessary condition for social life is the sharing of a single set of normative expectations by pariciptants, the norms being sustained in part because of being incorporated. When a rule is broken restorative measures will occur; the damaging is terminated and the damage repaired, whether by control agencies or by the culprit oneself. #RandolphHarris 12 of 23
However, the norms dealt with in this paper concern identity or being, and are therefore of a special kind. Failure or success a maintaining such norms has a very direct effect on the psychological integrity of the individual. At the same time, mere desire to abide by the norm—mere good will—is not enough, for in many cases the individual has no immediate control over one’s level of sustaining the norm. It is a question of the individual’s condition, not one’s will; it is a question of conformance, not compliance. Only by introducing the assumption that the individual should know and keep one’s place can a full equivalent in willful action be found for the individual’s social condition. Further, while some of these norms, such as sightedness and literacy, may be commonly sustained with complete adequacy by most persons in the society, there are other norms, such as those associated with physical comeliness, which take the form of ideals and constitute standards against which almost everyone falls short at some stage in one’s life. And even where widely attained norms are involved, their multiplicity has the effect of disqualifying many persons. For example, in an important sense there is only one complete unblushing male in America: a young, married, White, urban, northern, heterosexual Protestant father of college education, fully employed, of good complexion, weight, and height, and a recent record in sports. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23
Any male who fails to qualify in any of these ways is likely to view oneself—during moments at least—as unworthy, incomplete, and inferior; at times one is likely to pass and at times one is likely to find oneself being apologetic or aggressive concerning known-about aspect of oneself one knows are probably seen as undesirable. The general identity-values of a society may be fully entrenched nowhere, and yet they can cast kind of shadow on the encounter encountered everywhere in daily living. Moreover, more is involved than norms regarding somewhat static status attributes. The issues is not merely visible but obtrusiveness; this means that failure to sustain the many minor norms important in the etiquette of face-to-face communication can have a very pervasive effect upon the defaulter’s acceptability in social situations. Therefore it is not very useful to tabulate the numbers of persons who suffer the human predicament outlined in this book. The number would be as high as one wanted to make it; and when those with a courtesy stigma are added, and those who once experienced the situation or are destined, if for no other reason than oncoming agedness, to do so, the issues becomes not whether a person has experience with a stigma of one’s own, because one has, but rather how many varieties one has had one’s own experience with. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23
One can say, then, that identity norms breed deviations as well as conformance. Two general solutions to this normative predicament were cited earlier. One solution was for a category of person to support a norm but be defined by themselves and others as not the relevant category to realize the norm and personally to put it into practice. A second solution was for the individual who cannot maintain an identity norm to alienate oneself from the community which uphold the norm, or refrain from developing an attachment to the community in the first place. Even if it is one that occurs in small amount all the time, this is of course a costly solution both for society and for the individual. The process detailed here constitute together a third main solution to the problem of unstained norms. Through these processes the common ground of norms can be sustained far beyond the circle of those who fully realize them; this is a statement, of course, about the social function of these processes and not about their cause of their desirability. Passing and covering are involved, providing the student with a special application of the arts of impression management, the arts, basic in social life, through which the individual exert strategic control over the image of oneself and one’s products that others glean from one. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23
Also involved is a form of tacit cooperation between normals and the stigmatized: the deviator can afford to remain attached to the norm because others are careful to respect one’s secret, pass lightly over its disclosure, or disattend evidence which prevents a secret from being made of it; these other, in turn, can afford to extend this tactfulness because the stigmatized will voluntarily refrain from pushing claims for acceptance much past the point normals find comfortable. God said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you,” God, who is “the God of all grace” reports 1 Peter 5.10, is the giver of grace, but that does not mean we Christians are passive recipients of it. Rather, we are to appropriate His grace. Paul urged Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,” reports 2 Timothy 2.1. Grammatically, the verb is in the imperative mood; that is, it expresses a command or respect. Paul wanted Timothy to do something; he wanted Timothy to appropriate God’s grace and be strong in it. Timothy apparently had a problem with timidity. In the same letter Paul had already said, “God did not give us a spirit of timidity,” and “So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner,” reports 2 Timothy 1.7-8. #RandolphHarris 16 of 23
And to the Corinthian believers Paul had written, “If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you,” reports 1 Corinthians 16.10. Timothy had a problem with timidity, and Paul wanted him to deal with it by appropriating the grace of God, “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” We are not simply passive recipients of God’s grace. Just as the Israelites had to gather day-by-day the manna God graciously provided, so we must appropriate day-by-day the grace that is always sufficient for every need. There is one more truth I want us to see from Paul’s words to Timothy. Timothy needed moral strength because he was prone to timidity. So Paul wrote, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” What is your greatest need just now? Is it contentment in a very difficult situation? Paul would say to you, “Be content in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Is it patience or forbearance in very trying circumstances? Then be patient in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. It is moral purity in a romantic relationship? Then be pure in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Whatever you need at this time, you too can experience the reality of God’s words to Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” God’s grace is sufficient. It is sufficient for all your needs; it is sufficient regardless of the severity of any one needs. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23
The Israelites never exhausted God’s supply of manna. It was always there to be gathered every day for forty years. And you will never exhaust the supply of God’s grace. It will always be there every day for you to appropriate as much as you need for whatever your need is. “Although I am less than the least of all God’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,” reports Ephesians 3.8. The descendants of Mulek at Zarahemla become Nephites—they learn of the people of Alma and Zeniff—Alma baptizes Limhi and all his people—Mosiah authorizes Alma to organize the Church of God. About 120 Before Christ. And now king Mosiah caused that all the people should be gathered together. Now there were not so many of the children of Nephi, or so many of those who were descendants of Nephi, as there were of the people of Zarahemla, who was a descendant of Mulek, and those who came with him into the wilderness. And there were not so many of the people of Nephi and of the people of Zarahemla as there were of the Lamanites; yea, they were not half so numerous. And now all the people of Nephi were assembled together, and also all the people of Zarahemla, and they were gathered together in two bodies. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23
“And it came to pass that Mosiah did read, and caused to be read, the records of Zeniff to his people; yea, he read the records of the people to Zeniff, from the time they left the land of Zarahelma until they returned again. And he also read the account of Alma and his brethren, and all their afflictions, from the time they left the land of Zarahemla until the time they returned again. And now, when Mosiah had made an end of reading the records, his people who tarried in the land were struck with wonder and amazement. For they knew not what to think; for when they beheld those that had been delivered out of bondage they were filled with exceedingly great joy. And again, when they thought of their brethren who had been slain by the Lamanites they were filled with sorrow, and even shed many tears of sorrow. And again, when they thought of the immediate goodness of God, and his power in delivering Alma and his brethren out of the hands of the Lamanites and of bondage, they did raise their voices and give thanks to God. And again, when they thought upon the Lamanites, who were their brethren, or their sinful and polluted state, they were filled with pain and anguish for the welfare of their souls. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23
“And it came to pass that those who were the children of Amulon and his brethren, who had taken to wife the daughters of the Lamanites, were displeased with the conduct of their fathers, and they would no longer be called by the names of their fathers, therefore they took upon themselves the name of Nephi, that they might be called the children of Nephi and be numbered among those who were called Nephites. And now all the people of Zarahemla were numbered with the Nephites, and this because the kingdom had been conferred upon none but those who were descendants of Nephi. And now it came to pass that when Mosiah had made an end of speaking and reading to the people, he desired that Alma should also speak to the people. And Alma did speak unto them, when they were assembled together in large bodies, and he went from one body to another, preaching unto the people repentance and faith on the Lord. And he did exhort the people of Limhi and his brethren, all those that had been delivered out of bondage, that they should remember that it was the Lord that did deliver them. And it came to pass that after Alma had taught the people many things, and had made an end of speaking to them, that king Limhi was desirous that he might be baptized; and all his people were desirous that they might be baptized also. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23
“Therefore, Alma did go forth into the water and did baptize them; yea, he did baptize them after the manner he did his brethren in the waters of Mormon; yea, and as many as he did baptize did belong to the church of God; and this because of their belief on the words of Alma. And it came to pass that king Mosiah granted unto Alma that he might establish churches throughout all the land of Zarahemla; and gave him power to ordain priests and teachers over every church. Now this was done because there were so many people that they could not all be governed by one teacher; neither could they all hear the word of God in one assembly; therefore they did assemble themselves together in different bodies, being called churches; every church having their priests and their teachers, and every priest preaching the word according as it was delivered to one by the mouth of Alma. And thus, notwithstanding there being many churches they were all one church, yea, even the church of God; for there was nothing preached in all the churches except it were repentance and faith in God. And now there were seven churches in the land of Zarahemla. And it came to pass that whosoever were desirous to take upon them the name of Christ, or of God, they did join the churches of God. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23
“And they were called the people of God. And the Lord did pour out his Spirit upon them, and they were blessed, and prospered in the land,” reports Mosiah 25.1-24. We beseech Thee, O Lord our God, that the relief from anxiety which Thy mercy has bestowed upon us may not make us negligent, but rather cause us to become more acceptable worshippers of Thy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. O my LORD, may I arrive where means of grace cease and I need no more to fast, pray, weep, watch, be tempted, attend preaching and sacrament; where nothing defiles, where is no grief, sorrow, sin, death, separation, tears, pale face, languid body, aching joints, feeble infancy, decrepit age, peccant humours, pining sickness, griping fears, consuming cares; where is personal completeness; where the more perfect the sight, the more beautiful the object, the more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food, the more musical the ear, the more pleasant the melody, the more complete the soul, the more happy its joys, where is full knowledge of Thee. Here I am an ant, and as I view a nest of ants so dost Thou view me and my fellow-creatures; but as an ant knows not me, my nature, my thoughts, so here I cannot know three clearly. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23
However, there I shall be near thee, dwell with my family, stand in Thy presence chamber, be an heir of Thy kingdom, as the spouse of Christ, as a member of his body, one with him who is with Thee, and exercise all my powers of body and soul in the enjoyment of Thee. As praise in the mouth of Thy saints is comely, so teach me to exercise this divine gift, when I pray, read, see, do, in the presence of people and of my enemies, as I hope to praise Thee eternally hereafter. All the ways of humans are open to God’s eyes. God knows singular things. For all perfections found in creatures pre-exist in God in a higher way, as is clear from the foregoing. Now to know singular things is part of our perfection. Hence God must know singular things. Even the Philosopher considers it incongruous that anything known by us should be unknown to God. If He did not know discord, God would be most ignorant. Now the perfections which are divided among inferior beings, exist simply and unitedly in God; hence, although by one faculty we know the Universal and immaterial, and by another we know singular and material things, nevertheless God knows both by His simple intellect. The aim of a teacher is not to create a philosophical elite for its own sake but for the larger sake of humankind. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23
If you do not hear from us, look in this cloud-like comforter at @HUBApts. But only after naptime is over. 😉☁️
Take a tour online using HUB’s new virtual walkthroughs on their website! Link in bio. 👉https://sites.google.com/fpimgt.com/hubvirtualtours/home
We humbly beseech and implore Thy Majesty, O Lord, that as Thou hast delivered us from impending dangers, so Thou wouldest graciously absolve us from our sins; that Thou mayest both bestow upon us greater benefits, and make us obedient to Thy commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #CresleighHomes
The Harris family have been farming for over 100 years. The Fresno County farm has been under continuous family operations since 1937. Since its founding, Harris Farms has grown into one of the largest agribusinesses in the nation.
Originally growing primarily cotton and grain Harris Ranch now boasts a wide variety of vegetables, fruits and nut crops. These include everything from carrots, lettuce, garlic, onions, and tomatoes to melons, oranges, lemons, walnuts, almonds and wine grapes.
Seen here is the founder Jack Harris with his son and owner John Harris. We would like to thank John for providing an environment so conducive to success. We are proud to be a part of the Harris Family, and are honored to carry on the Harris vision and ideas.
Happy Birthday John!
We Need Greater Virtues to Bear Good Fortune than Bad!
In many ways, society has forced certain masks or roles even on those who have been raised not to hide themselves simply because it is easier or safer. Psychodynamically they have found rewards in mask-wearing; they have been positively reinforced by social attitudes for partial self-presentation. However, in the process other and more important parts of their identity have been hidden or limited. Often, like the family skeletons, the rest of the identity is hidden away in a closet. The in-group and the out-group, then, both present an ego identity for the stigmatized individual, the first largely in political phrasings, the second in psychiatric ones. The individual is told that if one adopts the right line (which lines depending on who is talking), one will have come to terms with oneself and be a whole human; one will be an adult with dignity and self-respect. And in truth one will have accepted a self for oneself; but this self is, as it necessarily must be, a resident alien, a voice of the group that speaks for and through one. However, all of us, sociology sometimes claims, speak from the point of a group. The special situation of the stigmatized is that society tells one he or she is a member of the wider group, which means one is a normal human being, but that one is also different in some degree, and that it would be foolish to deny this difference. #RandolphHarris 1 of 20
This differentness itself of course derives from society, for ordinarily before a difference can matter much it must be conceptualized and collectively by the society as a whole. This can be clearly seen in the case of our newly-instituted stigmas, as a person with one of them suggests: “Having been born an athetoid type of cerebral palsy as the result of a birth injury to the control center of the brain, I was not aware of my startling, complex classification until the term became popular and society insisted that I admit my labeled deviations. It was something like joining a support group for addiction. You cannot be honest with yourself until you find out what you are and, perhaps, consider what society thin you are or should be.” This is even more clear in the case of epilepsy. Since Hippocrates’ time, those who discover they have this disorder have been assured a firmly stigmatized self by the definitional workings of society. This work still goes on even though insignificant physical impairment may be involved, and even though many medical specialists now use the term to refer to a seizure disorder only when no specific (and less stigmatizing) medical disorder can be found. Here the point where medical science must withdraw is the point where society can act most determinatively. #RandolphHarris 2 of 20
Thus, even while the stigmatized individual is told that one is a human being like everyone else, one is being told that it would be unwise to pass or to let down “one’s” group. In brief, one is told one is like anyone else and that one is not—although there is little agreement among spokes-persons as to how much of each one should claim to be. This contradiction and joke are one’s destiny. It constantly challenges those who represent the stigmatized, urging these professionals to present a coherent politics of identity, allowing them to be quick to see that “inauthentic” aspects of other recommended programs but slow indeed to see that there may be no “authentic” solution at all. The stigmatized individual thus finds oneself in an arena of detailed argument and discussion concerning what one ought to think of oneself, that is, one’s ego identity. To one’s other troubles one must add that of being simultaneously pushed in several directions by professionals who tell one what one should do and feel about what one is and is not, and all this purportedly in one’s own interests. To write of gives speeches advocating any one of these “avenues of flight” is an interesting solution in itself, but one that is denied, alas, to most of those who merely read and listen. #RandolphHarris 3 of 20
Given the relation between perceived status and the treatment of feeling, it follows that persons in marginalized categories—women, men of different social standings (these days even rich men can be marginalized, as well as less affluent, and children—lack a status shield against the dominant ideology present in society when dealing with the treatment of their rights, freedoms and feelings. This simple fact has the power to utterly transform the content of a job. The job of a real estate agent, for example, is not the same job for a woman as it is for a man. Women tend to be more exposed than men to disparaging comments, rude speech, to tirades against the service, the corporation, and product in general. As the company’s main shock absorbers against “mishandled” buyers, their own feelings are more frequently subjected to rough treatment. In addition, a day’s exposure to people who resist authority in women is a different experience for a woman than it is for a man. Because her gender is generally accorded a more submissive status, a woman’s shield against abuse may not be as fortified, and the importance of what she herself might be feeling—when faced with blame for a delay in construction of a residence, for example—is correspondingly reduced. Thus the job for a man generally differs in essential ways from the same job for a woman. In this respect, it may be a disadvantage to be a woman—as approximately 62 percent of all certified Realtors of estate are women residential real. #RandolphHarris 4 of 20
And in this case, they are not simply women in the biological sense. They are also a highly visible distillation of middle-class American notions of femininity. They symbolize Women. Insofar as the category “female” is typically mentally associated with having less status and authority, female real estate agents are more readily classified as “really” female than other females are. And as a result their emotional lives are even less protected by the status shield. However, an interesting dynamic is occurring in America currently. There is also a backlash against wealthy males, especially if they are of European descent due to the historical rift and the country and systematic abuse of certain groups of people. As a result, it is becoming more difficult for White males to conduct business without being categorized as being privileged, undeserving, or facing general displaced ill treatment due to their heritage. People, in some cases, are unwilling to listen to them or treat them with respect just because of the colour of their skin and they may have not even done anything wrong. Sokrates humorously described himself as practising the same vocation as his mother who was a midwife—they only difference between them being that whereas she helped women to deliver themselves of infants, he helped men to deliver themselves of true ideas with which their minds were in labour. #RandolphHarris 5 of 20
His business, like that of all genuine teachers, was not to impart truth as something new and unknown but to assist the student to elicit it from within himself. Every genuine teacher tries in one’s work to lead the student’s mind in such a way that one’s thinking gradually changes without one’s becoming conscious of the fact at the time, although one will recognize it in retrospect later. One makes students think for themselves; stimulates them to solve their own metaphysical, personal, and emotional problems; periodically gives an inner mystical impetus to their meditation practice; and point out the pitfalls and fallacies which lie in their life-path. Because one’s outlook is so disinterested, because one’s primary purpose is to liberate and not limit them, to give and not get, such a teacher’s services can never be bought by anyone—although they may be claimed by those who are prepared to cast off the shoes of conventional prejudice at one’s door and who are willing to refrain loyally from imposing upon one their preconceived notions of what characteristics the teaching, the teacher, and the quest should possess. Thus is one will not shackle them, they in their turn must not shackle one. Such would-be disciples are rare, but such teachers who practise what they preach are rarer still. #RandolphHarris 6 of 20
Nonetheless, more female accountants, bus drivers, or gardeners, female real estate agents mingle with people who expect them to enact two leading roles of Womanhood: the loving wife and mother (serving food, tending the needs of others) and the glamorous “career woman” (dressed to be seen, in contact with strange men, professional and controlled in manner, and sometimes very far from home). They do the job of symbolizing the transfer of homespun femininity into the impersonal marketplace, announcing, in effect, “I work in the public eye, but I am still a woman at heart.” Buyers borrow their expectations about gender biographies from home and from the wider culture and then base their demands on this borrowing. The different fictive biographies they attribute to male and female workers make sense out of what they expect to receive in the currency of caretaking and authority. one male real estate agent noted: “They always ask about my work plans. ‘Why are you doing this?’ That is one question we get all the time from buyers. ‘Are you planning to become a new home sales manager?’ Most guys come in expecting to do it for a year or so and see how they like it, but we keep getting asked about the sales management training program. I do not know any guy that has gone from management from here.” #RandolphHarris 7 of 20
However, with the influx of more working-class male buyers during the recession of 2008, the questions addressed to male sales representatives changed. As one of them said, “Now they do not ask why I am doing this. They asked, ‘How did you get this job?’” Ironically, more males than females have come to this work with the attitude of “jobbers,” interested primarily in the leisure time and good pay, and willing to try it for a few years before moving on. They report a more traditionally “female” job motivation than the women, for whom sales representative has been an honorable and high-paying career. And in contact to her male counterpart, a female flight attendant said: “Men ask me why I am not married. They do not ask the guys that. Or else passengers will say, ‘Oh, when you have kids, you will quit this job. I know you will.’ And I say, “Well, no, I am not going to have kids.’ ‘Oh yes you will,’ they say. ‘I bet your kids will love this spacious backyard,” I say, and I do not get more personal than that. They may expect me to have kids because of my gender, but I am not, no matter what they say.” Gendering makes two jobs out of one in yet another sense. Females are asked more often than males to appreciate jokes, listen to stories, and give psychological advice. #RandolphHarris 8 of 20
Female specialization in these offerings takes on meaning only in light of the fact that sales representatives of both deferential and authoritative; they have to be able to appreciate a joke nicely, but they must also be firm in enforcing the rules about finishing something by a specific time or date. However, because woman are seen as being more gentle and kind, her authority is generally a little more complex because one does not want to offend a buyer by being too stringent, especially when your warmth and understanding by be the key factor that they are looking for as a reason to close the deal. In fact, buyers generally assume that men have more authority than women and that men exercise authority over women. For males in the corporate World to whom high stakes financial deals are a way of life, this assumption as more than a distant relation to fact. As one sales representative puts it: “Say you have a businessman looking at residence five. He has a wife who takes his suit to the cleaners and makes the hors d’oeuvres for his business guests. He has an executive secretary with horn-rimmed glasses who types 140 million words a minute and knows more about one’s residence than he does. There is no woman in his life over him.” This assumption of male authority allows ordinary twenty-year-old male sales representatives to be mistaken for the “managers” or “superintendents” of females with more seniority. #RandolphHarris 9 of 20
The assumption of male authority has two results. First, authority, like status, acts as a shield against scapegoating. Since the women workers on the plane were thought to have less authority and therefore less status, they were more susceptible to scapegoating. When a residence was delayed, a different light fixture was use, or the carpet was a slightly different colour, frustration were vented more openly toward female employers. Females were expected to take it better, it being more their role to absorb an expression of displeasure and less their role to put a stop to it. In addition, both male and female workers adapted to this fictional redistribution of authority. Bot, in different ways, made it more real. Male real estate agency tended to react to buyers as if they had more authority than they may have. The management once objected to a request from employees that men be allowed to wear short-sleeved shirts on warm days, arguing that such shirts “lacked authority.” This made them less tolerant of abuse and firmer in handling it. They conveyed the message that as authorities they expected compliance without loud complain. Buyers sensing this message were discouraged from pursuing complaints and stopped sooner. Female real estate agents, on the other hand, knowing they are expecting to be more caring, used more tactful and deferential means of handling abuse. #RandolphHarris 10 of 20
The females’ supposed “higher tolerance for abuse” amounted to a combination of higher exposure to it and less ammunition—in the currency of respect—to use against it. This pattern set in motion another one: female employees often went to their male co-workers to get them to “cast a heavier glance.” As one woman who had resigned herself to this explained wearily: “I used to fight it and assert myself. Now I am just too overworked. It is simpler to just go get the male purser. One look at him and the troublemaker shuts up. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that I do not have time for a big confrontation. The job is so stressful these days, you do not go out of your way to make it more stressful. A look from a male carries more weight.” Thus the greater the respect males could command, the more they were called on to claim it. This only increased the amount of deference that male workers felt their female co-workers owed them, and women found it harder to supervise junior males than females. One young males representative said that certain condition had to be met—and deference offered—before he would obey a woman’s orders: “If it is an order without a human element to it, then I will balk. I think sometimes it is a little easier for a man to be an authority figure and command respect and cooperation. #RandolphHarris 11 of 20
“I think it depends on how the gal handles herself. If she does not have much confidence of if she goes the other ways and gets puffed out of shape, then in that case I think she could have more trouble with the men that with the gals.” Workers tended to agree that females took orders better than males, no matter how “puffed out of shape” the attendant in charge might be, and that women in charge had to be nicer in exercising their authority than men did. This attitude toward status and authority inspired compensator reactions among some female workers. One response was to adopt the crisply cheerful but no-nonsense style of a Cub Scout den mother—a model of female authority borrowed from domestic life and used here to make it acceptable for women to tell men what to do. In this way a woman might avoid being criticized as “bossy” or “puffed out of shape” by placing her behaviour within the boundaries of the gender expectations of passengers and co-workers. Another response to displaced anger and challenged authority was to make small tokens of respect a matter of great concern. Terms of address, for example, were seen as an indicator of status of unfortunately lack. The term “girl,” for example, was recognized by female workers as the moral equivalent of calling men “boys.” #RandolphHarris 12 of 20
Although in private and among themselves, the women real estate agents I knew usually called themselves “girls,” many were opposed to the use of the term in principle. The other side of being called a “girl” was not being allowed, socially speaking, to age. Even women in their thirties were occasionally called “granny” or subjected to within-earshot remarks such as “Is she not about ready for retirement?” As one woman in her mid-thirties noted: “There is definitely a different, oh yes. The men take it for granted that they can work until seventy or seventy-five. The women work like dogs just to prove they can still do the job. And then they have to fight the granny remarks.” Still, women see being called “girl” not only as a question of social or moral importance but as a practical matter. To be addressed as a “girl” was to be subjected to more on-the-job stress. The order, “Girl, get me some cream” has a different effect than the request “Oh miss, could I please have some cream?” And if the cream has run out because the commissary did not provide enough, it will be the “girls” who get the direct expression of disappointment, exasperation, and blame. Tokens of respect can be exchanged to make a bargain: “I will manage my unpleasant feelings for you if you will manage yours for me.” #RandolphHarris 13 of 20
When outrageously rude people occasionally enter a model home, it reminds all concerned why the flimsy status shield against abuse is worth struggling over. Schooled in emotion management at home, women had entered in disproportionate numbers those jobs that all for emotional labour outside the home. Once they enter the marketplace, a certain social logic unfolds. Because of the division of labour in the society at large, women in any particular job are assigned lower status and less authority than men in general. As a result they lack a shield against the “doctrine of feelings.” Much more often than men, they become the complaint department, the ones to whom dissatisfaction is fearlessly expressed. Their own feelings tend to be treated as less important. In ways that the advertising smiles obscure, the job has different contents for women and men. Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) new they were deceiving the church when they sold some property and agreed to act as if they were giving all when they were only giving part. However, the story does not give the impression that they thought what they were doing lacked integrity. After all, they were doing something good and generous. #RandolphHarris 14 of 20
If it happened today, Ananias would wait until the organ was playing “I Surrender All” and then humbly come forward, laying his check at Peter’s feet, mumbling, “I wish I had more to give, Peter, but this is all I have.” Imagine the scene in the Early Church: Ananias’ heart was thumping rapidly under the thrill of his public display, but Peter was not smiling. Somehow he knew! “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you had lived to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Did it not belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, was not the money as your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to human but to God,” reports Acts 5.3-4. Poor Ananias. His racing heart stopped, and he could not breathe. Peter’s grim visage gave way to darkness as Ananias’ life ended, and the young men came and carried Ananias out—as they latter did his dead widow. The story of Ananias and Sapphira shocks us because they suffered death for such a small infraction. So they misrepresented the percentage they gave of their profits—why death? After all, they did give—which is more than many people do! The answer is, the Church cannot prosper with deception among its members—and God wanted to make this clear for all time. #RandolphHarris 15 of 20
Deception wounds the Body of Christ—makes it dysfunctional—and is a sin against God! This is why Peter cried to Ananias and Sapphira at the moment of their deaths, “You have not lied to men but to God,” reports Acts 5.4. Integrity is one of the greatest needs of the Church today. The Church needs people who not only refrain from blatant lying, but are free from hypocrisy. Paul says, in fact, that honesty is necessary for growth in the Church today. “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into one who is the Head, that is, Christ,” report Ephesians 4.15. Literally, the divine medium for authentic church growth is truthing in love—speaking and doing truth to on another. The Church’s great need for integrity is directly linked to the needs of our lost World, for the World longs for liberation from dishonesty. Sure, it cultivates and promotes deception, but deep down inside many people long to escape the pretense. A substantial number of people outside the four walls of the Church will eagerly embrace the faith of believers who model the honesty and integrity for which they long. The avoidance of one small fib…may be a stronger confession of faith than a whole “Christian philosophy” championed in lengthy, forceful discussion. A truthful spirit is a great evangelistic tool. I have known people who were magnetized to Christ because they saw this quality in a church or individual. #RandolphHarris 16 of 20
Integrity will be for some a tantalizing cool drink in the secular desert of delusion. People, the experience of Ananias and Sapphira tells us that our integrity matters to God. We need to declare with Job, “Till I die, I will not deny my integrity,” reports Job 27.5. The duty is laid upon a master to show the value of one’s virtue by one’s conduct and to attract people towards it by one’s example. It is not the human that we are to reverence but one’s noble attributed and one’s inspired mind. “And now it came to pass that Ammon and king Limhi began to consult with the people how they should deliver themselves out of bondage; and even they did cause that all the people should gather themselves together; and this they did that they might have the voice of the people concerning the matter. And it came to pass that they could find no way to deliver themselves out of bondage, expect it were to take their women and children, and their flocks, and the herds, and their tents, and depart into the wilderness; for the Lamanites being so numerous, it was impossible for them, thinking to deliver themselves out of bondage by the sword. Now it came to pass that Gideon went forth and stood before the king, and said unto him: Now O king, thou hast hitherto hearkened unto my words many times when we have been contending with our brethren, the Lamanites. #RandolphHarris 17 of 20
“And now O king, if thou hast not found me to be an unprofitable servant, or if thou hast hitherto listened to my words in any degree, and they have been of service to thee, even so I desire that thou wouldst listen to my words at this time, and I will be thy servant and deliver this people out of bondage. And the king granted unto him that he might speak: And Gideon said unto him: Behold the back pass, through the back wall, on the back side of the city. The Lamanites, or the guards of the Lamanites, by night are drunken; therefore let us send a proclamation among all this people that they gathered together their flocks and herds, that they may drive them into wilderness by night. And I will go according to thy command and pay the last tribute of wine to the Lamanites, and they will be drunken; and we will pass through the secret pass on the left of their camp when they are drunken and asleep. Thus we will depart with our women and our children, our flocks, and our herds into the wilderness; and we will travel around the land of Shilom. And it came to pass that the king hearkened unto the words of Gideon. And king Limhi caused that his people should gather their flocks together; and he sent the tribute of wine to the Lamanites; and he also sent more wine which king Limhi did send unto them. #RandolphHarris 18 of 20
“And it came to pass that the people of king Limhi did depart by night into the wilderness with their flocks and their herds, and they went round about the land of Shilom in the wilderness, and bent their course towards the land of Zarahemla, being led by Ammon and his brethren. And they had taken all their gold, and silver, and their precious things, which they could carry, and also their provisions with them, into the wilderness; and they pursued their journey. And after being many days in the wilderness they arrived in the land of Zarahemla, and joined Mosiah’s people, and became his subjects. And it came to pass that Mosiah received them with joy; and he also received their records, and also the records which had been found by the people of Limhi. And now it came to pass when the Lamanites had found that the people of Limhi had departed out of the land by night, that they sent an army into the wilderness to pursue them; and after they had pursued them two days, they could no longer follow their tracks; therefore they were lost in the wilderness, reports Mosiah 22.1-16. We beseech Thee, O Lord, in Thy compassion, to turn away from Thy people Thy wrath, which indeed we deserve for our sins, but which in our human frailty we cannot endure; therefore embrace us with that tenderness which Thou art wont to bestow on the unworthy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #RandolphHarris 19 of 20
Most Holy God, may the close of an Earthly sabbath remind me that the last of them will one day end. Animate me with joy that in Heaven praise will never cease, that adoration will continue forever, that no flesh will grow weary, no congregation disperse, no affections flags, no thoughts wander, no will droop, but all will be adorning love. Please guard my mine from making ordinances my stay or trust, from hewing out broken cisterns, from resting on outward helps. Please wing me through Earthly forms to Thy immediate presence; may my feeble prayers show me the emptiness and vanity of my sins; deepen in me the conviction that my most fervent prayers, and most lowly confessions, need to be repented of. May my best service bring me nearer to the cross, and prompt me to cry, “None but Jesus!” By Thy Spirit give abiding life to the lessons of this day: May the seed sown take deep root and yield a full harvest. Please let all who see me take knowledge that I have been with Thee that Thou hast taught me my need as a sinner; hast revealed a finished salvation to me, hast enriched me with all spiritual blessings, hast chosen me to show forth Jesus to others, hast helped me to dispel the mists of unbelief. O Great Creator, mighty protector, gracious preserver, Thou dost load me with lovingkindness, and hast made me Thy purchased possession, and redeemed me from all guilt; I praise and bless Thee from my sabbath rest, my calm conscious, my peace of heart. #RandolphHarris 20 of 20

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O God, Who scourgest our faults with strokes of love, in order to cleanse us from our iniquities; please grant us both to profit by Thy strokes, and speedily to rejoice in Thy consolation. #CresleighHomes
Let our soul bless Thee, O Lord, at all times, because, even when Thou scourgest us, Thy mercy is always present, while Thou both correctest us with discipline and cherishest us with forgiveness; while Thou healst in smiting, and strengthenest in healing; please grant therefore unto us, that who have tested of Thy sweetness by faith, may enjoy the fullness of Thy delights in the day of retribution; through Thy mercy may we be blessed with grace.
It is Not Found in the Solid Earth or Twinkling Stars, but When the Skies Grow Dark, the Stars Begin to Shine!
In the United States of America there is more space where nobody is then where anybody is. That is what makes America what it is. As we know, there is no human experience, nor would experience be possible at all, without the intervention of a subjective aptitude. What is this subjective aptitude? Ultimately it consists in an innate psychic structure which allows humans to have experiences of this kind. Thus the whole nature of humans presupposes woman, both physically and spiritually. The human system is tuned in to woman from the start, just as it is prepared for a quite definite World where there is water, light, air, slat, carbohydrates, excreta. The form of the Word into which humans are born is already inborn in them as a virtual image. Likewise parents, wife, children, birth, and death are inborn in humans as virtual images, as psychic aptitudes. These a priori categories have by nature a collective character; they are images of parents, wife, and children in general, and are not individual predestinations. We must therefore think of these images as lacking in solid content, hence as unconscious. They only acquire solidity, influence, and eventual consciousness in the encounter with empirical facts, which touch the unconscious aptitude and quicken it to life. They are in a sense the deposits of all our ancestral experience, but they are not the experiences themselves. #RandolphHarris 1 of 22
So at least it seems to us, in the present limited state of our knowledge. (I must confess that I have never yet found infallible evidence for the inheritance of memory images, but I do not regard it as positively precluded that in addition to these collective deposits which contain nothing specifically individual, there may also be inherited memories that are individually determined.) An inherited collective image of woman exists in a man’s unconscious, with the help of which he apprehends the nature of woman. This inherited image is the third important source for the femininity of the soul. Now, everything that is true of the persona and of all autonomous complexes in general also holds true of the anima. She likewise is a personality, and this is why she is so easily projected upon a woman. So long as the anima is unconscious she is always projected, for everything unconscious is projected. The first bearer of the soul-image is always the mother; later it is borne by those women who arouse the man’s feelings, whether in a positive or a negative sense. Because the mother is the first bearer of the soul-image, separation from her is a delicate and important matter of the greatest educational significance. Accordingly among primitives we find a large number of rites designed to organize this separation. #RandolphHarris 2 of 22
The mere fact of becoming adult, and of outward separation, is not enough; impressive initiation into the “men’s house” and ceremonies of rebirth are still needed in order to make the separation from mother (and hence from childhood) entirely effective. Just as the father acts as a protection against the dangers of the external World and thus serves his son as a model persona, so the mother protects him against the dangers that threaten from the darkness of his psyche. In the puberty rites, therefore, the initiate receives instruction about these things of “the other side,” so that he is put in a position to dispense with his mother’s protection. The modern civilized man has to forgo this primitive but nonetheless admirable system of education. The consequence is that the anima, in the form of the mother-imago, is transferred to the wife; and the man, so soon as he marries, becomes childish, sentimental, dependent, and subservient or else truculent, tyrannical, hypersensitive, always thinking about the prestige of his superior masculinity. The last is of course merely the reverse of the first. The safeguard against the unconscious, which what his mother meant to him, is not replaced by anything in the modern man’s education; unconsciously, therefore, his ideal of marriage is so arranged that his wife has to take over the magical role of the mother. #RandolphHarris 3 of 22
Under the cloak of the ideally exclusive marriage he is really seeking his mother’s protection, and thus he plays into the hands of his wife’s possessive instincts. His fear of the dark incalculable power of the unconscious gives his wife an illegitimate authority over him, and forges such a dangerously close union that the marriage is permanently on the brink of explosion for internal tension—or else, out of protest, he files to the other extreme, with the same results. That little episode opens up a whole train of thought about inner Worlds and separate realities. What do we make of the vision or dream that Johnny Owen has at the age of three? He saw a large mysterious underground cavern, with all the light focused on a great pillar of flesh with something like a head on top, enthroned on a royal chair. Twenty years passed before he fully understood this experience, when he rediscovered this same vision in the phallic rituals of some primitive tribes. How had that vision come to him at the age of three? In what real World does this phenomenon belong? Read the story of Robert Monroe (1971), a hardheaded businessman and engineer, who, after some puzzling experiences, found himself one night floating up to the ceiling of his room, looking down on his own body and that of his wife. #RandolphHarris 4 of 22
His account of these experiences, in which he tells of his initial fright, then his increasing willingness to take journeys out of his body, is startling indeed, and often very convincing. One cannot help but ponder the question: What reality can encompass such experiences, as well as the real experiences I know? How about Don Juan, the ageless Yaqui Indian, who opened whole new Worlds to the stubbornly skeptical anthropologist, Carlos Castaneda? Worlds of magical events, of flights through the air, of a nonordinary reality where death is not different from life, where the man of knowledge has a spirit ally, where the impossible is experienced. Rubbish, you say? His own experiences were enough to force Castaneda to recognize that there exist separate realities completely alien to the thinking of the modern scientific mind. I think of John Lilly, a scientist trained at the California Institute Technology, who went on to study neuroanatomy, medicine, and psychiatry, and who is perhaps best known for his twelve years of work with dolphins, trying to communicate with these animals, who he believes are at least as intelligent as human beings. To trace his path from his beginnings as a scientist who believed only in mechanical models of reality, to his present view that there are various levels of altered consciousness (which he had achieved and helped others to achieve), is mind-boggling. #RandolphHarris 5 of 22
Along the way, he came convinced that the dolphins could read his thoughts. Lilly’s experiences in a sensory deprivation tank, where he floated in warm water with absolutely minimal input of sight, sound, touch, or taste—were fascinating. He discovered that the inner World, without any external stimuli, was incredibly rich, sometimes frightening, often bizarre. In trying to understand this inner World, he experimented with Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), with both illuminating and terrifying results. This led to meditation, unbidden thought transmission, and higher and higher state of consciousness in which he—like many before him, who were called mystics—experienced the Universe as a unity, a unity based on love. Quite a distance from this Caltech training! These and other accounts cannot simply be dismissed with contempt or ridicule. The witnesses are too honest, their experiences too real. All these accounts indicate that vast and mysterious Universe—perhaps an inner reality, or perhaps a spirit World of which we are all unknowingly a part—seems to exist. Such a Universe delivers a final crushing blow to our comfortable belief that we all know what the real World is. Where have my thoughts led me in relation to an objective World of reality? It clearly does not exist in the objects we can see and feel and hold. It does not exist in the technology we admire so greatly. #RandolphHarris 6 of 22
It is not found in the solid Earth or the twinkling stars. It does not lie in a solid knowledge of those around us. It is not found in the organizations or customs or rituals of any one culture. It is not even in our own known personal Worlds. It must take into account mysterious and currently unfathomable separate realities, incredibly different from an objective World. I, and many others, have come to a new realization. It is this: The only reality I can possibly know is the World as I perceive and experience it at this moment. The only reality you can possibly know is the World as you perceive and experience it at this moment. And the only certainty is that those perceived realities are different. There are as many real Worlds as there are people! This creates a most burdensome dilemma, one never before experienced in history. From time immemorial, the tribe or the community or the nation or the culture as agreed upon what constitutes the real World. To be sure, different tribes or different cultures might have held sharply different World views, but at least there was a large, relatively unified group which felt assured in its knowledge of the World and the Universe, and knew that this perception was true. So the community frowned upon, condemned, persecuted, even killed those who did not agree, who perceived reality differently. #RandolphHarris 7 of 22
Copernicus, even though he kept his findings secret for many years, was eventually declared a heretic. Galileo established proof of Copernicus’s views, but in his seventies, he was forced to recant this teaching. Giordano Brun was burned at the stake in 1600 for teaching that there were many Worlds in the Universe. Executioners set the stake up in line with the scaffold, then the trunk and the rest were covered with logs and faggots, and the fire was put to the straw mixed with this wood, and they stunk a match and watched him go up in flames are he screamed, “My God, have pity on me! Jesus, Help me!” Individuals who deviated in their perceptions of religious reality were tortured and killed. In the mid-1800s, Ignaz Semmelweis, an intense young Hungarian physician-scientist, was driven insane by his persecutors because he made the then absurd claim that childbed fever, that dread scourge of the maternity room, was carried from one woman to another by invisible germs on the hands and instruments of the doctors. Obvious nonsense, in terms of the reality of his day. In our own American Colonies, those who were even suspected of having psychic powers were considered witches and were hanged or crushed under great sones. History offers a continuing series of examples of the awful price paid by those who perceived a reality different from the agreed-upon real World. #RandolphHarris 8 of 22
Although society has often come around eventually to agree with its dissidents, as in the instances I have mentioned, there is doubt that this insistence upon a known and certain Universe has been par of the cement that holds a culture together. Today we face a different situation. The ease and rapidity of Worldwide communication means that everyone of us is aware of dozens realities; even though we may thin some of them absurd (like reincarnation) or dangerous (like communism which is becoming a staple in California’s democratic party), we cannot help but be aware of them. No longer can we exist in a secure cocoon, knowing that we all see the World in the same way. Because of this change, I want to raise a very serious questions: Can we today afford the luxury of having “a” reality? Can we still preserve the belief that there is a “real World” upon whose definition we all agree? I am convinced that this is a luxury we cannot afford, a myth we dare no maintain. Only once in recent history has his been fully and successfully achieved. Millions of people were in complete agreement as to the nature of social and cultural reality—an agreement brought about by the mesmerizing influence of Adolph Hitler. This agreement about reality marked the destruction of Western culture. I do not see it as something to be emulated. #RandolphHarris 9 of 22
In Western culture during this century—especially in the United States of America—there has also been an agreed-upon reality of values. This gospel can be stated very briefly: “More is better, bigger is better, faster is better, and modern technology will achieve all three of these eminently desirable goals.” However, now that credo is a crumbling disaster in which few believe. It is dissolving in the smog of pollution, the famine of overpopulation, the Damocles’ sword of the nuclear bomb. We have so successfully achieved the goal of a “bigger bang for a buck” that we are in danger of destroying all life on this planet. Our attempt, then, to live in the “real World” which all perceive in the same way have, in my opinion, led us to the brink of annihilation as a species. I will be so bold as to suggest alternative. It appears to me that they way of the future must be to base our lives and our education on the assumption that there are as many realities as there are persons, and that our highest priority is to accept that hypothesis and proceed from there. Proceed where? Proceed, each of us, to explore open-mindedly the many, many perceptions of reality that exist. We would, I believe, enrich our own lives in the process. We would also become more able to cope with the reality in which each one of us exist, because we would be aware of many more options. #RandolphHarris 10 of 22
A World with the possibility of countless realities might well be a life full of perplexity and difficult choices, demanding greater maturity, but it would be an exciting and adventurous life. The question may well be raised, however, whether we could have a community or a society based on this hypothesis of multiple realities. Might not such a society be a completely individualistic anarchy? That is not my opinion. Suppose my grudging tolerance of your separate World view became a fully acceptance of you and your right to have such a view. Supposed that instead of shutting out the realities of others as absurd or dangerous or heretical or stupid, I was willing to explore and learn about those realities? Suppose you were willing to do the same. What would be the social result? I thin that our society would be based not on a blind commitment to a cause or creed or view of reality, but on a common commitment to each other as rightfully separate persons, with separate realities. The natural human tendency to care for another would no longer be, “I care for you because you are the same as I,” but, instead, “I prize and treasure you because you are different from me.” Idealistic, you say? It surely is. How can I be so utterly naïve and “unrealistic” as to have any hope that such a drastic change could conceivably come about? #RandolphHarris 11 of 22
I base my hope partly on the view of World history so aptly stated by Charles Beard: “When the skies grow dark, the stars begin to shine.” So we may see the emergence of leaders who are moving in this new direction. I base my hope, even more solidly, on the view enunciated by Lancelot Whyte, the historian of idea, in his final book before his death. It is his theory, in which he is not alone, that great steps in human history are anticipated, and probably brought about, by changes in the unconscious thinking of thousands and millions of individuals during the period preceding the change. Then, in a relatively short space of time, a new idea, a new perspective, seems to burst upon the World scene, and change occurs. He gives the example that before 1914, patriotism and nationalism were unquestioned virtues. Then began the faint unconscious questioning which built an unconscious tradition reversing a whole pattern of thought. This new perspective burst into open between 1950 and 1970. “My country, right or wrong” is no longer a belief to live by. Nationalistic wars are out of date and out of favour, and even though they continue, World opinion is deeply opposed. Whyte (1974) points out that “at any moment the unconscious levels are ahead of the conscious in the task of unifying emotion, thought and action!” (p.107) #RandolphHarris 12 of 22
For me, this line of thought is entirely congenial. I have stated that we are wiser than our intellects, that our organisms as a whole have a wisdom and purposiveness which goes well beyond our conscious thought. I believe that this idea applies to the concept I have been presenting thus far. I think that men and women, individually and collectively, are inwardly and organismically rejecting the view of one single, culture-approved reality. I believe they are moving inevitably toward the acceptance of millions of separate, challenging, exciting, informative, individual perceptions of reality. I regard it as possible that this view—like the sudden and separate discovery of the principles of quantum mechanics by scientists in different countries—may begin to come into effective existence in many parts of the World at once. If so, we will be living in a totally new Universe, different from any in history. Is it conceivable that such a change can come about? Here lies the challenge to educators—probably the most insecure and frightened among any of the professions—battered by public pressures, limited by legislative restrictions, essentially conservative in their reactions. Can they possibly espouse such a new of multiple realities as I have been describing? Can they begin to bring into being the changes in attitudes, behaviours, and values that such a World view would demand? #RandolphHarris 13 of 22
Certainly, by themselves they cannot. However, with the underlying change in what Whyte calls “the unconscious tradition,” and with the assistance of the new person whom I and many others see emerging in our culture, it is just conceivable that they might succeed. If nations follow their past ways, then, because of the speed of World communication of separate views, each society will have to exert more and more coercion to bring about a forced agreement as to what constitutes the real World and its values. Those coerced agreements will differ from nation to nation, from culture to culture. The coercion will destroy individual freedom. We will bring about our own destruction through the clashes caused by differing World views. However, I have suggested an alternative. If we accept as a basic fact of all human life that we live in separate realities; if we can see those differing realities as the most promising resource for learning in all the history of the World; if we can live together in order to learn from one another without fear; if we can do all this, then a new age could be dawning. And perhaps—just perhaps—humankind’s deep organic sensing are paving the way for just a change. “And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God,” reports 1 Corinthians 6.11. #RandolphHarris 14 of 22
One of the amazing things about the human being is that it is capable of restoration, and indeed of a restoration that makes it somehow more magnificent because it has been ruined. This is a hopeful but strange thought. How it is so should become clear as we proceed. However, for now we want to see clearly what goes on within the person who is “unruined,” as we might say. In particular, we must see what is the basic shift (given regeneration and forgiveness) that can lead to the reordering of the six universal dimensions of the human self in subordination to God. The key to understanding the overall reordering is provided by what we learned about the human ruin in the past. For as the surest source of destruction to humans is to obey themselves, so the only haven for safety is to have no other will, no other wisdom, than to follow the Lord wherever he leads. Let thus, then, be the first step, to abandon ourselves, and devote the whole energy of our mind to the service of God. With theses words, we simply restate the basic point of view of Christ’s people through the ages. By service, I mean not only that which consists in verbal obedience, but that by which the mind, diverted of its own carnal feelings, implicitly obeys the call of the Spirit of God. #RandolphHarris 15 of 22
It is part of the task of a spiritual director to point out tactfully but firmly the faults and deficiencies of one’s disciples, to make them more aware of what is needed in their moral self-correction. The spiritual directors who is over-severe in one’s correction of the aspirant’s faults, needs correcting oneself. “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this World, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve that God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will,” reports Romans 12.2. The spiritual leader who is always soft and sentimental may help some of one’s pupils but one would help them more if, at the same time, one were also hard and firm. The first attitude will attract more to one, but without the second to balance it neither one nor they will get the proper view of life. A true teacher must warn one’s followers against false expectations and irredeemable promises, “And to be renewed in the sprit of your minds,” reports Ephesians 4.23. It is not enough to one has the penetration to perceive the truth; one must also have the courage to tell it to one’s disciples, even though one knows it will shock them. There is a need for people to have caution, discernment, and even secrecy in this matter. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me,” reports Galatians 2.20. #RandolphHarris 16 of 22
Disciples often go to a spiritual leader for their emotional comfort, they do not come for their ego’s emotional quietus. They want to remain enclosed in its little circle, not to be taken completely out of it. “Now there was a place in Shemlon where the daughters of the Lamanites did gather themselves together to sing, and to dance, and to make themselves merry. And it came to pass that there was one day a small number of them gathered together to sing and to dance. And now the priests of king Noah being ashamed to return to the city of Nephi, yea, and also fearing that the people would slay them, therefore they durst not return to their wives and their children. And having tarried in the wilderness, and having discovered the daughters of the Lamanites, they laid and watched them; and when there were but few of them gathered together to dance, they came forth out of their secret places and took them and carried them into the wilderness; yea, twenty and four of the daughters of the Lamanites they carried into the wilderness. And it came to pass that when the Lamanites found that their daughters had been missing, they were angry with the people of Limhi, for they thought it was the people of Limhi. Therefore they sent their armies forth; yea, even the king himself went before his people; and they went up to the land of Nephi to destroy the people of Limhi. #RandolphHarris 17 of 22
“And now Limhi had discovered them from the tower, even all their preparation for war did he discover; therefore he gathered his people together, and laid wait for them in the fields and in the forests. And it came to pass that when the Lamanites had come up, that the people of Limhi began to fall upon them from their waiting places, and began to slay them. And it came to pass that the battle became exceedingly sore, for they fought like lions for their prey. And it came to pass that the people of Limhi began to drive the Lamanites before them; yet they were not half so numerous as the Lamanites. However, they fought for their lives, and for their wives, and for their children; therefore they exerted themselves and like dragons did they fight. And it came to pass that they found the king of the Lamanites among the number of their dead; yet he was not dead, having been wounded and left upon the ground, so speedy was the flight of his people. And they took him and bound up his wounds, and brought him before Limhi, and said: Behold, here is the king of the Lamanites; he having received a wound has fallen dead, and they have left him; and behold, we have brought him before you; and now let us slay him. However, Limhi said unto them: Ye shall not slay him, but bring him hither that I may see him. And they brought him. #RandolphHarris 18 of 22
“And Limhi said unto him: What cause have ye to come up to war against my people? Behold, my people have not broken the oath that I made unto you; therefore, why should ye break the oath which ye made unto my people? And now the kind said: I have broken the oath because thy people did carry away the daughters of my people did carry away the daughters of my people; therefore, in my anger did I cause my people to come up to war against thy people. And now Limhi had heard nothing concerning this matter; therefore he said: I will search among my people and whosoever has done this thing shall perish. Therefore he caused a search to be made among his people. Now when Gideon had heard these things, he being the king’s captain, he went forth and said unto the king: I pray three forbear, and do not search this people, and lay not this thing to their charge. For do ye not remember the priests of thy father, whom this people sought to destroy? And are they not in the wilderness? And are not they the ones who have stolen the daughters of the Lamanites? And now, behold, and tell the king of these things, that he may tell his people that they may be pacified towards us; for behold they are already preparing to come against us; and behold also there are but few of us. #RandolphHarris 19 of 22
“And behold, they come with their numerous hosts; and expect the king doth pacify them towards us we must perish. For are not the words of Abinadi fulfilled, which he prophesied against us—and all this because we would not hearken unto the words of the Lord, and turn from our iniquities? And now let us pacify the king, and fulfill the oath which we have made unto him; for it is better than we should lose our lives; therefore, let us put a stop to the shedding of so much blood. And now Limhi told the kind all the things concerning his father, and the priests that had fled into the wilderness, and attributed the carrying away of their daughters to them. And it came to pass that the king was pacified towards his people; and he said unto them: Let us go forth to meet my people, without arms; and I swear unto you with an oath that my people shall not play thy people. And it came to pass that they followed the king, and went forth without arms to meet the Lamanites. And it came to pass that they did meet the Lamanites; and they king of the Lamanites did bow himself down before them, and did plead in behalf of the people of Limhi. And when the Lamanites saw the people of Limhi, that they were without arms, they had compassion on them and were pacified towards them, and returned with their king in peace to their own land,” reports Mosiah 20.1-26. #RandolphHarris 20 of 22
God of all Good, I bless Thee for the means of grace; please teach me to see in them Thy loving purposes and the joy and strength of my soul. Thou hast prepared for me a feast; and though I am unworthy to sit down as guest, I wholly rest on the merits of Jesus, and hide myself beneath his righteousness; when I hear his tender invitation and see his wonderous grace, I cannot hesitate, but must come to Thee in love. By Thy Spirit enliven my faith rightly to discern and spiritually to apprehend the Saviour. While I gaze upon the emblems of my Saviour’s death, may I ponder why he died, and hear him say, ‘I gave my life to purchase yours, presented myself an offering to expiate your sin, shed my blood to blot out your guilt, opened my side to make you clean, endure your curses to set you free, bore your condemnation to satisfy divine justice.’ O May I rightly grasp the breadth and length of this design, draw near, obey, extend the hand, take the bread, receive the cup, eat and drink, testify before all humans that I do for myself, gladly, in faith, reverence and love, receive my Lord, to be my life, strength, nourishment, joy, delight. In the supper I remember his eternal love, boundless grace, infinite compassion, agony, cross, redemption, and receive assurance of pardon, adoption, life, glory. #RandolphHarris 21 of 22
As the outward elements nourish my body, so may Thy indwelling Spirit invigorate my soul, until that day when I hunger and thirst no more, and sit with Jesus at his Heavenly feast. O God, Who desirest not the death, but the repentance of sinners, we beseech Thee, in Thy loving-kindness, to turn Thy people to Thyself; that when they devote themselves to Thee, Thou mayest remove the scourges of Thine anger; through Jesus Christ our Lord. We beseech Thee, O Lord, mercifully to drive away from Thy faithful, together with their own errors, the destructive fury of diseases; that as Thou deservedly scourgest them when they go astray, Thou mayest cherish them with Thy pity when they are brought back; through Jesus Christ our Lord. The kind of master needed and sought after by those who are on the religio-mystic-occult path is one who will take a keen interest in their personal life as well as spiritual welfare, one who is willing to help them with any and every problem, one who by virtue of residence or correspondence is always and quickly available to them. The philosophic master is not like this but of a different kind. One is not a missionary telling others that they must follow the Quest but an educator telling them that they may follow it if they so choose. #RandolphHarris 22 of 22

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The Greatest Happiness of the Greatest Number is the Foundation of Morals and Legislation!

It is indisputable that the being whose capacities of enjoyment are low, has the greatest chance of having them fully satisfied; and a highly endowed being will always feel that any happiness which one can look for, as the World is constituted, is imperfect. However, one can learn to bear its imperfections, if they are at all bearable; and they will not make one envy the being who is indeed unconscious of the imperfections, but only because one feels not at all the good which those imperfections qualify. It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Sokrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, is of a different opinion, it is only because they only know their own side of the question. The principle of utility is the foundation of the present work; it will be proper therefore at the outset to give an explicit and determinate account of what is meant by it. By the principle of utility is meant that which approves or disapproves of every action whatsoever, according to the tendency which it appears to have to augment or diminish the happiness of the party whose interest is in question: or, what is the same thing in other words, to promote or to oppose that happiness. I say of every action whatsoever; and therefore not only of every action of a private individual, but of every measure of government. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24
By utility is meant that property in any object, whereby it tends to produce benefit, advantage, pleasure, good, or happiness, (all this in the present case comes to the same thing) or (what comes again to the same thing) to prevent the happening of mischief, pain, evil, or unhappiness to the party whose interest is considered: if that party be the community in general, then the happiness of the community: if a particular individual, then the happiness of that individual. The interest of the community is one of the most general expressions that can occur in the phraseology of morals: no wonder that the meaning of it is often lost. When it has a meaning, it is this. The community is a fictitious body, composed of the individual persons who are considered as constituting as it were its members. The interest of the community then is, what?—the some of the interests of the several members who compose it. It is in vain to talk of the interest of the community, without understanding what is the interest of the individual. A thing is said to promote the interest, or to be for the interest, of an individual, when it tends to add to the sum total of one’s pleasures: or, what comes to the same thing, to diminish the sum total of one’s pains. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24
An action then may be said to be conformable to the principle of utility, or, for shortness sake, to utility, (meaning with respect to the community at large) when the tendency it had to augment the happiness of the community is greater than any it has to diminish it. A measure of government (which is but a particular kind of action, performed by a particular person or persons) may be said to be conformable to or dietated by the principle of utility, or, for shortness sake, to utility, (meaning with respect to the community at large) when the tendency it has to augment the happiness of the community is greater than any it has to diminish it. A measure of government (which is but a particular kind of action, performed by a particular person or persons) may be said to be conformable to or dietated by the principle of utility, when in like manner the tendency which it has to augment the happiness of the community is greater than any which it has to diminish it. When an action, or in particular a measure of government, is suppose by a human to be conformable to the principle of utility, it may be convenient, for purposes of discourse, to imagine a kind of law or dictate, called a law or dictate of utility: and to speak of the action in question, as being conformable to such law or dictate. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24
A human may be said to be a partisan of the principle of utility, when the approbation or disapprobation one annexes to any action, or to any measure, is determined by and proportioned to the tendency which one conceives it to have to augment or to diminish the happiness of the community: or in other words, to its conformity or unconformable to the laws or dictates of utility. Of an action that is conformable to the principle of utility one may always say either that it is one that ought to be done, or at least that it is not one that ought not to be done. One may say also, that it is right it should be done; at least that it is not wrong it should be done: that it is a right action; at least that it is not a wrong action. When thus interpreted, the words ought, and right and wrong, and others of that stamp, have a meaning: when otherwise, they have none. Cases Unmeet for Punishment: The general object which all laws have, or ought to have, in common, is to augment the total happiness of the community; and therefore, in the first place, to exclude, as far as may be, every thing that tends to subtract from that happiness: in other words, to exclude mischief. However, all punishment is mischief: all punishment in itself is evil. Upon the principle of utility, if it ought at all to be admitted, it ought only to be admitted in as far as it promises to exclude some greater evil. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24
It is plain, therefore, that in the following cases punishment ought not to be inflicted. Where it is groundless: where there is no mischief for it to prevent; that act not being mischievous upon the whole. Where it must be inefficacious: where it cannot act so as to prevent the mischief. Where it is unprofitable, or too expensive: where the mischief it would produce would be greater than what it prevented. Where it is needless: where the mischief may be prevented, or cease of itself, without it: that is, at a cheaper rate. Cases in which punishment is groundless: There are, where there has never been any mischief: where no mischief has been produced to any body by the act in question. Of this number are those in which the act was such as might, on some occasions, be mischievous or disagreeable, but the person whose interest it concerns gave one’s consent to the performance of it. This consent, provided it be free, and fairly obtained, is the best proof that can be produced, that, to the person who gives it, no mischief, at least no immediate mischief, upon the whole, is done. For no human can be so good a judge as the human oneself, what it is gives one pleasure or displeasure. Where the mischief was outweighed: although a mischief was produced by that act, yet the same act was necessary to the production of a benefit which was of greater value than the mischief. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24
This many be the case with any thing that is done in the way of precaution against instant calamity, as also with any thing that is done in the exercise of the way of precaution against instant calamity, as also with any thing that is doe in the exercise of the several sorts of powers necessary to be established in every community, to wit, domestic, judicial, military, and supreme. Where there is a certainty of an adequate compensation: and that in all cases where the offence can be committed. This suppose two things: First of all, that the offence is such as admis of an adequate compensation: Secondly, that such a compensation is sure to be forthcoming. Of these suppositions, the latter will be found to be a merely ideal one: a supposition that cannot, in the universality here given to it, be verified by fact. It cannot, therefore, in practice be numbered amongst the grounds of absolute impunity. It may, however, be admitted as a ground for an abatement of that punishment, which other considerations, standing by themselves, would seem to dictate. Cases in which punishment must be inefficacious: There are, where the penal provision is not established until after the act is done. Such are the cases, of an ex-post-facto law; where the legislator oneself appoints not a punishment till after the act is done. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24
The second case is of a sentence beyond the law; where the judge, of one’s own authority, appoints a punishment which the legislator had not appointed. Where the penal provision, though established, is not conveyed to the notice of the person on whom it seems intended that it should operate. Such is the cause where the law has omitted to employ any of the expedient which are necessary, to make sure that every person whatsoever, who is within the reach of law, be apprized of all the cases whatsoever, in which (being in the station of life one is in) one can be subject to the penalties of the law. Where the penal provision, though it were conveyed to a human’s notice, could produce no effect on one, with respect to the preventing one from engaging in any act of the sort in question. Such is the case, in extreme infancy; where a person has not yet attained that state or disposition of mind in which the prospects of evils so distant as those which are held forth by the law, has the effect of influencing one’s conduct. In insanity; where the person, if one has attained to that disposition, has since been deprived of it through the influence of some permanent though unseen cause. In intoxication; where one has been deprived of it by the transient influence of a visible cause: such as the use of wine, or opium, or other drugs, that in this manner or on the nervous system: which condition is indeed neither more nor less than a temporary insanity produced by an assignable cause. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24
Where the pen provision (although, being conveyed to the party’s notice, it might very well prevent one’s engaging in acts of the sort in question, provided one knew that it related to those acts) could not have this effect, with regard to the individual act one is about to engage in: to wit, because one know not that it is of the number of those which the penal provision related. This may happen: In the cause of unintentionality; where one intends not to engage, and thereby knows not that one is about to engage, in the act in which eventually one is about to engage. In the case of unconsciousness; where, although one may know that one is about to engage in the act itself, yet, from not knowing all the material circumstances attending it, one knows not of the tendency it had to produce that mischief, in contemplation of which it has been made penal in most instances. In the case of missupposal; where, although one may know of the tendency the act has to produce that degree of mischief, one supposes it, though mistakenly, to be attended with some circumstance, or set of circumstances, which, if it had been attended with, it would either not have been productive of that mischief, or have been productive of such a greater degree of good, as had determined the legislator in such a case not to make it penal. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24
Where, though the penal clause might exercise a full and prevailing influence, were it to act alone, yet by the predominant influence of some opposite cause upon the will, it must necessarily be ineffectual; because the evil which one sets oneself about to undergo, in the case of one’s not engaging in the act, is so great, that the evil denounced by the penal clause, in case of one’s engaging in it, cannot appear greater. This may happen: In the case of physical danger; where the evil is such as appears likely to be brought about by the unassisted powers of nature. In the case of a threatened mischief; where it is such as appears likely to be brought about through the intentional and conscious agency of humans. Where (though the penal clause may exert a full and prevailing influence over the will of the party) yet one’s physical faculties (owing to the predominant influence of some physical cause) are not in a condition to follow the determination of the will: insomuch that the act is absolutely involuntary. Such is the case of physical compulsion or restraint, by whatever means brought about; where the human’s hand, for instance, is pushed against some object which one’s will disposes one not to touch; or tied down from touching some object which one’s will disposes one to touch. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24
Cases where punishment is unprofitable: These are, where, on the one hand, the nature of the offence, on the other hand, that of the punishment, are, in the ordinary state of things, such, that when compared together, the evil of the latter will turn our to be greater than that of the former. Now the evil of punishment divides itself into four branches, by which so many different sets of persons are affected. First of all, the evil of coercion or restraint: or the pain which it gives a human not to be able to do the act, whatever it be, which by the apprehension of the punishment one is deterred from doing. This is felt by those by whom the law is observed. Secondly, the evil of apprehension: or the pain which a human, who has exposed oneself to punishment, feels at the thoughts of undergoing it. This is felt by those by whom the law has been broken, and who feel themselves in danger of its being executed upon them. Third, the evil of sufferance: or the pain which a person feels, in virtue of the punishment itself, from the time when one begins to undergo it. This is felt by those by whom the law is broken, and upon who it actually to be executed. Forth, the pain of sympathy, and other derivative evils resulting to the persons who are in connection with the several classes of original sufferers just mentioned. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24
Now of these four lots of evil, the first will be greater or less, according to the nature of the act from which the party is restrained: the second and third according to the nature of the punishment which stands annexed to that offence. On the other hand, as to the evil of the offence, this will also, of course, be greater or less, according to the nature of each offence. The proportion between the one evil and the other will therefore be different in the case of each particular offense. The cases, therefore, where punishment is unprofitable on this ground, can by n other means be discovered, than by an examination of each particular offence; which is what will be the business of the body of the work. Where, although in the ordinary state of things, the evil resulting from the punishment is not greater than the benefit which is likely to result from the force with which it operates, during the same space of time, towards the excluding the evil of the offences, yet it may have been rendered so by the influence of some occasional circumstances. In the number of these circumstance may be: For one, the multitude of delinquents at a particular juncture; being such as would increase, beyond the ordinary measure, the quantum of the second and third lots, and thereby also of a part of the fourth lot, in the evil of punishment. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24
Secondly, the extraordinary value of the services of some one delinquent; in the case where the effect of the punishment would be to deprive the community of the benefit of those services. The displeasure of the people; that is, of an indefinite number of the members of the same community, in cases where (owing to the influence of some occasional incident) they happen to conceive, that the offence or the offender ought not to be punished at all, or at least ought not to be punished in the way in question. Forth, the displeasure of foreign powers; that is, of the governing body, or a considerable number of the members of some foreign community or communities, with which the community in question is connected. Cases where punishment in needless: These are, where the purpose of putting an end to the practice my be attained as effectually at a cheaper rate: by instruction, for instance, as well as by terror: by informing the understanding, as well as by exercising an immediate influence on the will. This seems to be the case with respect to all those offences which consist in the disseminating pernicious principles in matters of duty; of whatever kind the duty be; whether political, or moral, or religious. And this, whether such principles be disseminated under, or even without, a sincere persuasion of the being beneficial. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24
I say, even without: for though in such a case it is not instruction that can prevent the writer from endeavouring to inculcate one’s principles, yet it may the readers from adopting them: without which, one’s endeavouring to inculcate them will do not harm. In such a cause, the sovereign will commonly have little need to take an active part: if it be the interest of one individual to inculcate principles that are pernicious, it will as surely be the interest of others individuals to expose them. However, if the sovereign must needs take a part in the controversy, the pen is the proper weapon to combat error with, not the sword. Of the Proportion Between Punishments and Offences: We have seen that the general object of all laws is to prevent mischief; that is to say, when it is worthwhile; but that, where there are no other means of doing this than punishment, there are four cases which it is not worthwhile. Wen it is worthwhile, there are four subordinate designs or objects, which, in the curse of one’s endeavours to compass, as far as may be, that one general object, a legislator, whose views are governed by the principle of utility, comes naturally to propose to oneself. One’s first, most extensive, and most eligible object, is to prevent, in as far as it is possible, and worthwhile, all sorts of offences whatsoever: in other words, so to manage, that no offence whatsoever may be committed. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24
However, if a human must needs commit an offence of some kind or other, the next object is to induce one to commit an offence less mischievous, rather, than one more mischievous: in other words, to choose always the least mischievous, of two offences that will either of them suit one’s purpose. When a person has resolved upon a particular offence, the next object is to dispose one to do no more mischief than is necessary to one’s purpose: in other words, to do as little mischief as is consistent with the benefit one as in view. The last object is, whatever the mischief be, which it is proposed to prevent, to prevent it at as cheap a rate as possible. Subservient to these four objects, or purposes, must be the rules or canons by which the proportion of punishments to offences is to be governed. Also, keep in mind that as we are discussing the law now and, in the future, that these are just theories and actual application in your country, state, city or jurisdiction may be different. When speaking of law, many people like to look towards God for his grace. Paul was not the first of the biblical writers to tell of the sufficiency of God’s grace. Jeremiah, a prophet of God who endured much hardship and affliction could say, “I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24
“I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness,” reports Lamentations 3.19-23. Even Job, in the midst of suffering and despair, when he acknowledged he could not find God anywhere, could still say, “Bu if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch n glimpse of him. But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold,” reports Job 23.8-10. Perhaps the most frequent and dramatic utterances of the sufficiency of God’s grace in the midst of human frailty and affliction occurs in the psalms. Consider, for example, David’s testimony in Psalms 13: How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, O LORD my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death; my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall. However, I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24
In this psalm, David recounted his experience of passing from the depths of despair to the heights of rejoicing. What enabled him to make such a dramatic transition? Although God’s grace is not explicitly mentioned, we may be sure it was indeed the grace of God at work in him. Asaph, another of the psalmists, experienced a different kind of thorn. He compared his experience as a Godly man with that of the wicked and became discouraged. He said, “For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. This is what the wicked are like—always carefree, they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence,” reports Psalm 73.3,12-13. However, then he discovered the grace of God and could say, “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever,” reports Psalm 73.23 and 26. The testimonies of God’s power made perfect in human weakness do not end with the completion of the canon of Scripture Down through the centuries men and women of God have experienced and borne witness to the sufficiency of His grace. When the burdens grow greater, God gives more grace. When the labours increase, God sends more grace. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24
To added afflictions God adds his mercy, to multiplied trails, His peace. When we have exhausted our store of endurance, when our strength has failed ere the day is half done; when we reach the end of our hoarded resources, our Father’s full giving is only begun. God’s love has no limits, His grace has no measure, His power has no boundary known unto humans; for out of God’s infinite riches in Jesus, He gives, and gives, and gives again. I urge you to contemplate these words slowly, reflectively, and prayerfully. Apply its message to your own burdens, afflictions, and trials. Ask God to make its truth real to you in your particular situations. “And now it came to pass that Alma, who had fled from the servants of king Noah, repented of his sins and iniquities, and went about privately among the people, and began to teach the words of Abinadi—yea, concerning that which was to come, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the redemption of the people, which was to be brought to pass through the power, and sufferings, and death of Christ, and his resurrection and ascension into Heaven. And as many as would hear his word he did teach. And he taught them privately, that it might not come to the knowledge of the king. And many did believe his words. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24
“And it came to pass that as many as did believe him did go forth to a place which was called Mormon, having received its name from the king, being in the borders of the land having been infested, by times or at seasons, by wild beasts. Now, there was in Mormon a fountain of pure water, and Alma resorted thither, there being near the water a thicket of small trees, where he did hide himself in the daytime from the searches of the kind. And it came to pass that as many as believed him went thither to hear his words. And it came to pass after many days there were a goodly number gathered together at the place of Mormon, to hear the words of Alma. Yea, all were gathered together at that believed on his word, to hear him. And he did teach them, and did preach unto them repentance, and redemption, and faith on Lord. And it came to pass that he aid unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens that they may be light; yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection that ye may have eternal life. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24
“Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you? And now it came pass that Alma took Helam, he being one of the firs, and went and stood forth in the water, and cried, saying: O Lord, pour out thy Spirit upon thy servant, that he may do this work with holiness of heart. And when he had said these words, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he said: Helam, I baptize thee, having authority from the Almighty God, as a testimony that ye have entered into a covenant to serve him until you are dead as to the mortal body; and may the Spirit of the Lord be poured out upon you; and may he grant unto you eternal life, through redemption of Christ, whom one has prepared from the foundation of the World. And after Alma had said these words, both Alma and Helam were buried in the water; and they arose and came forth out of the water rejoicing, being filled with the Spirit. And again, Alma took another, and went forth a second time into the water, and baptized him according to first, only he did not bury himself again in the water. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24
“And after this manner he did baptize every one that went forth to the place of Mormon; and they were in number about two hundred and four souls; yea, and they were baptized in the waters of Mormon, and were filled with the grace of God. And they were called the church of God, or the church of Christ, from that time forward. And it came to pass that whosoever was baptized by the power and authority from God, ordained priests; even one priest to every fifty of their number did he ordain to preach unto them, and to teach them concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And he commanded them that they should teach nothing save it were the things which he had taught, and which had been spoken by the mouth of the holy prophets. Yea, even he commanded them that they should preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people. And he commanded them there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another. And thus he commanded them to preach. And thus they became the children of God. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24
“And he commanded them that they should observe the sabbath day, and keep it holy, and also everyday they should give thanks to the Lord their God. And he also commanded them that the priests whom he had ordained should labour with their own hands for their support. And there was one day in every week that was set apart that they should gather themselves together to teach the people and to worship the Lord their God, and also, as often as it was in their power, to assemble themselves together. And the priests were not to depend upon the people for their support. And there was one day in every week that was set apart that they should gather themselves together to teach the people for their support; bot for their labour they were to receive the grace of God, that they might wax strong in the Spirit, having the knowledge of God, that, they might teach with the power of authority from God. And again Alma commanded that the people of the church should impart of their substance, everyone according to that which one had; if one have more abundantly one should impart more abundantly; and of one that had but little, but little should be required; and to one that had not should be given. And thus they should impart of their substance of their own free will and good desires towards God, and to those priests that stood in need, yea, and to every needy naked soul. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24
“And this he said unto them, having been commanded of God; and they did walk uprightly before God, imparting to one another both temporally and spiritually according to their needs and their wants. And now it came to pass that all this was done in Mormon, yea, by the waters of Mormon, in the forest of Mormon, how beautiful are they to the eyes of them who there came to the knowledge of their Redeemer; yea, and how blessed are they, for they shall sing to his praise forever. And these things were done in the borders of the land, that they might not come to the knowledge of the king. However, behold, it came to pass that the king, having discovered a movement among the people, sent his servants to watch them. Therefore on that day that they were assembling themselves together to hear the word of the Lord they were discovered unto the king. And now the king said that Alma was stirring up the people, sent his servants to watch them. Therefore on the day that they were assembling themselves together to hear the word of the Lord they were discovered unto the king. And now the king said that Alma was stirring up the people to rebellion against him; therefore he sent his army to destroy them. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24
“And it came to pass that Alma and the people of the Lord were apprised of the coming of the king’s army; therefore they took their tents and their families and departed into the wilderness. And they were in number about four hundred and fifty souls” reports Mosiah 18.1-35. O Maker and Upholder of all things, day and night are thine; they are also mine from Thee—the night to rid me of the cares of the day, to refresh my weary body, to renew my natural strength; the day to summon me to new activities, to give me opportunity to glorify Thee, to serve my generation, to acquire knowledge, holiness, eternal life. However, one day above all days is made especially for Thy honour and my improvement; the sabbath reminds me of Thy rest from creation, of the resurrection of my Saviour, of one’s entering into repose. Thy house is mine, but I am unworthy to meet Thee there, and am unfit for spiritual service. When I enter it I come before Thee as a sinner, condemned by conscience and Thy word, for I am still in the body and in the wilderness, ignorant, weak, in danger, and in need of Thine assistance. However, encouraged by Thy all-sufficient grace let me go to Thy house with a lively hope of meeting thee, knowing that there Thou wilt come to me and give me peace. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24
My soul is drawn out to Thee in longing desires for Thy presence in the sanctuary, at the table, where all are entertained on a feast of good things; please let before the broken elements, emblems of Thy dying love, cry to Thee with broken heart for grace and forgiveness. I long for that blissful communion of Thy people in Thy eternal house in the perfect kingdom; these are they that follow the Lamb; may I be of their company! We beseech Thee, O Lord, please be gracious to our times; that both national quietness and Christian devotion may be duly maintained by Thy bounty; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Almighty and everlasting God, we pray Thee to crush the force of our enemies; that we may be able to celebrate Thy holy service with undisturbed minds; through Jesus Christ our Lord. We beseech Thee, O Lord, let the invincible defence of Thy power be the bulwark of Thy faithful people; that they, being ever devoted to Thee with pious affection, may both be freed from the assault of enemies, and continually preserve in Thy grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. O God, the Maker of the Universe, by Whose command the course of the World proceeds; be present, in Thy goodness, to our prayers, and please vouchsafe in our times the tranquility of peace; that we may with unceasing exultation rejoice in giving praise to Thy mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24

This #PlumasRanch private master suite includes plenty of light and sitting room with a spectacular bath. The kitchen overlooks a breakfast area with sliding glass doors that open to a large rear porch. There are also 3-4 bedroom and a game room provide plenty of living space for a large family. There is also a two car garage.
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Look mercifully, O Lord, we beseech Thee, on the affliction of Thy people; and let not our sins prevail to destroy us, but rather Thine abundant mercy to save us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. #CresleighHomes
The World is so Full of a Number of things, I am Sure We Should All be as Happy as Kings and Queens!
Because we are part of Nature, we are evolutionary products of the Nature of which we are active participants; our minds are inseparably joined with the functioning of our brains; and as an inseparable unity of body and personhood, we can have no conscious (or “real”) survival after death. With courage, vision, and reliance on our own human resources, we can solve the problems we have created and which are imposed on us by natural circumstances or happenstance. Although most of us are conditioned by the past and even the present, we have genuine freedom of creative choice and action, withing certain objective limits. Not only is it your existential freedom, but also your responsibility in exercising that freedom. People need to engage in things that give them a chance to experience themselves as an entity separate from their environment, with the capacity to respond upon their own initiative rather than merely reacting. It is always good to address the overriding issue of racism and its concomitant effect (id est, feelings of inferiority, self-doubt, lack of self-worth, and so on). Some people possess the belief that they have to be better than the majority in order to be accepted as an equal or any progress that one has made in one’s career was due to them being marginalized rather than one’s abilities—both have an element of truth when viewed in a sociohistorical context. #RandolphHarris 1 of 20
To invalidate this experience with substitute psychospeck explanations (jargon of psychology and psychoanalysis, especially when regarded as trite or trivial, id est inferiority complex, paranoia, and so one) will only serve to mystify and do further violence to the experience. In other words, it is important for people to understand the sociohistorical precedence for the presents attitudes one feels victim to Whether one’s experience is valid in an objective sense is irrelevant. It is irrelevant because the sociohistorical context already provides for the possibility of the pervasiveness of these racist attitudes. However, it is equally important for one to realize one’s own responsibility in exercising one’s freedom to transcend the negative confines of the sociohistorical context. What one is to confront ultimately is not the inferiority and self-doubt imposed from without but inferiority that emerges from within when the choice is made to abandon, not only responsibility, but also the ability to respond. For many, the veil of inferiority and self-doubt can be lifted when one begins to experience oneself as a person apart from one’s race or gender or job; that is, as one who is free to choose, to act, and to be. While social constructions like race can be a source of identity, that which is invalid racial cultural heritage (id est, nonbeing, inferiority) and that which is valid immediate experience (id est, freedom, meaning, beings) are reconciled in an existential encounter that encompasses the sociohistorical context. #RandolphHarris 2 of 20
To dismiss the influence of either past or present social context would be delusional. However, freedom comes with the awareness that one’s persona and collective history does not determine present choice but rather acknowledges the past in order that one may fruitfully move beyond it to facilitate the cycle of freedom. One’s journey toward freedom begins with one’s recognition that the choices one made in the past could be made meaningful in the present when one recognizes one’s responsibility for those choices. Moreover, personal acknowledgment of one’s ability to respond opens one up to heretofore unrecognized potentialities. When seeking therapy, racial/ethnic heritage of your therapist is unimportant. What is important is that the therapist be grounded in a broad education that offers one the necessary sensitivity to the sociohistorical influences on the client. An existential framework can lend invaluable perspective to that understanding. Nowhere is the perception of being hyperconstricted, of being dismissed and wiped away, more acute than in the general American community today; and many people White, Black, Asian, Native American, Latino and Indian are a representative casualty. #RandolphHarris 3 of 20
The average aspirant does not find the true teachers because one would not behave oneself correctly if one did. Sooner or later one would abuse the lofty character of the relation of discipleship ad seek to force it to become a half-Worldly one. It is probably true to say that even imperfect teachers, who are all that the public is likely to know, often receive from their followers frantic appeals for this or that personal intervention or frenzied outpourings concerning this or that personal material problem for which immediate help is demanded. However, even when the aspirant has lined oneself up with an embodied master or invisible adept, a scriptural personage or one’s own higher self, one may start to assume that the higher power or person is henceforth going to settle all one’s personal troubles without one’s own higher self, one may start to assume that the higher power or person is henceforth going to settle all one’s personal troubles without one’s own exertions being called for. This is a piece of wishful thinking. The very purpose of evolution would be defeated if one were to be deprived of the opportunity of tackling one’s problems and troubles for oneself: it is only so that one’s capacities can stretch out and one’s understanding enlarge itself. We may sympathize with the need of troubled disciples, but a wrong notion of what constitutes the teacher-disciple relation would not help them. It will lead to false hopes and the anguish of subsequent disappointment. For what is it they are really trying to do? #RandolphHarris 4 of 20
From their first day in the real World, especially with lives being lost, cultures being degraded, businesses being forced to shut, people being made to stop working and stay home, land being taken away, foreclosures, evictions, and so forth, people are told to disparage themselves. Lacking their own cultural yardstick, many are squeezed into the yardstick of the majority and distance oneself from that which is dynamic in oneself. Becoming increasingly depersonalized, some may choose to drop out of college after two years, abandoning the idea of a degree. Surprisingly, however (or perhaps not so surprisingly, given one’s driven, overcompensatory needs), individuals often are then able to work their way into a management position. Yet, these positions resolve little in their lives—especially in their desolated cores. People are both attached to and reviled by their core. It keeps them safe, buffering them from the risks of success; but it also suffocates one and chokes off their developmental promise. Although many individuals are mostly depressed, therefore, they are also periodically grandiose—to counter their empty spirit. It is important to find a therapist who can help to break this debilitating cycle. It is helpful to pause over one’s expansive and constrictive fears, clarify them, and learn to become response-able toward them, turning them to one’s advantage. #RandolphHarris 5 of 20
Yet, before many can face this formidable task, one must deal with more immediate matters—such as their debts to their creditors. These can be dealt with at the social-advocacy level by finding someone to tangibly help one with one’s obligations. This kind of assistance, it should be noted, is extremely significant with the Existential-Integrative framework. Until people are both ready and capable of change, experiential inquiry is fruitless. It is highly important, therefore, to clear the space for such experiential inquiry if fruitless. It is highly important, therefore, to clear the space for such experiential inquiry by addressing the crises that prevent it. Once a person’s debts are alleviated, this will help to expand a person’s self-esteem. This can be facilitated at the cognitive-behavioural levels—reinforcing appropriate spending habits, rationally restricting one’s outlook on work, and so on. This reconditioning will help one feel more accomplished and will broaden one’s capacity for choice. The Adlerian concepts of inferiority-superiority (which refers to the practice and belief that people as individuals should be validated, connected, and made to feel significant) are helpful, but limited in their sphere of application. It must also be revealed to one how one keeps oneself from full presence and thus sets oneself up for dysfunction. #RandolphHarris 6 of 20
There are two exercises in combination—and the help from a sensitive doctor’s demystification of racism—will help one to see how one can empower one’s life and how one can productively respond to adverse conditions. They will take one out of the loop of extremism, moreover—where one was either too little or too much—and reveal to one the complexity (both freeing and limiting) of one’s liberation. In the final analysis, does one become successful? Yes, we are assured—but much in the manner of Sisyphus, who could ultimately respond to, and take responsibility for, one’s own destiny. In psychology, the Zeigarnik effect occurs when an activity that has been interrupted may be more readily recalled. It postulates that people remember unfinished or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks. There is an ingredient, the invitation to sickness or the invitation to wellness. I think it would manifest itself in a multilevel way, but as expression of a fundamental commitment. Let us take the witches first of all, those who want to send out sickness waves. They probably are operating on the following assumption: “Other people are no darn good. They are worthless, and life is not worth living anyway.” That is one way of trying to describe or infer their philosophy of life. This attitude permeates presumably all of their interpersonal transactions and their sickness-making manifests itself almost in operant conditioning in terms. #RandolphHarris 7 of 20
If every time the other person utters something that looks like joy or hope they say, “Nay,” they respond to joy or hope with negative reinforcement. And they disconfirm or punish any idiosyncratic expression from the other that reveals the other’s identity. The sick-maker is a genius for making others feel worthless, like nobody, as not worthy of attention. You see this in lots of mothers and fathers. And sometimes in those acquaintances that give you pain in the neck. The healers seem to operate on the philosophy that life is good. People are good. Individuality and self-disclosure are good. There is hope. In interpersonal transactions they welcome diversity, strength, self-confidence, groping, trying. They confirm the other. When somebody is trying to do something impossible, they do not say, “It is impossible, why waste the effort?” They say, “Good, good; try it.” If the person fails, rather than say, “I told you so,” they pick one up, and say, “Never mind. Dusty yourself off and try again, try again.” The healers and witches embody fundamental attitudes, what Dr. Freud termed Eros and Thanatos. This implies some people are destructive to health. If a person feels sick, hopeless, and worthless as long as one is involved with this person, and one feels better when the individual is away from one, what is to stop a therapist from saying, “Stay away from this person; one is a public-health menace to you”? #RandolphHarris 8 of 20
If the other person is a parent or a spouse, a neighbor, the mayor, governor, or fake news media, I do not know any magic solution. You and the individual wrestle with the dilemma. It is a conflict, but it is better to know what the conflict is and wrestle with it, than to deny it. Find out the cost of choosing this way or choosing that way. Then seek the guts to choose a way our or a way to live with the conflict. There is always the possibility, too, that somebody who lives with a lethal spouse, lethal parent, lethal fake news media, or lethal politicians may themselves have elicited this lethality. They may have invited the lethal one’s lethality. It is they themselves that changed their ways of being with that other person. For example, the individual may have repressed one’s anger and one’s strength. If one expressed them to spouse, parent, fake news media or politicians, this might have shut off the lethality of the other. I have seen it happen. A therapist can ask, “Why do you not tell your mayor or governor to go to hades?” The person says, “I could never say that.” However, one may be helped to express one’s anger and find one’s strength. One gets the message across, and the mayor and governor stops having a lethal effect on one. #RandolphHarris 9 of 20
It is a fascinating thought that just as there are bubonic-plague carries whom public-health official want to corral, and syphilis carriers, TB carries, COVID-19 carries—what about the “pain-in-the-neck-producers,” the “psychosis-producers,” the “disorganization-producers,” who are, in a sense, a public-health menace, who spread misery wherever they go? Should not these be identified and corralled? It is a possibility. What is to stop a teacher, at great risk, from saying to the parents of students who are in dysfunctional homes or apartments that, “I really believe your child is having difficulty in school because there is difficulty in the home”? I think they will get the message (if things do not improve and their health and grades keep declining, I am going to have to contact the proper authorities). Man, that is a rough problem, and you have to grope wit it. Grope that is my considered professional advice. Grope and do not give up. The main thing we can do is work with the child and hope that one can find oneself and muster up enough strength to go beyond one’s difficulties. Keep groping. That is a worthwhile motto for any person involved with the arts of counseling, therapy, or teaching—where no techniques yet invented can be guaranteed to bring about successful attainment of aims. #RandolphHarris 10 of 20
The therapist, like the artist, must continually grope for new ways to implement one’s objective, or bringing desirable human possibilities into being. Change is never easy. To pioneer is anxiety-arousing for the individual and threatening to colleagues. It seems it would be much simpler to go back to being the authority. It is hard being a person to people who depend on you. Many people have found the only way to handle the doubt of people who need them is to find ways of including them in the learning process. Individuals are finding that if they are to carry out a quiet revolution in the community and World, they definitely need a support group. This can be small, perhaps only two or three people, but a resource of persons where one does not need to defend one’s point of view, and can freely discuss the successes and failures, the problems faced, the difficulties unresolved. However, a facilitator is also taking the risk of threatening the administration. How is that dealt with? Many people are expected to write down behavioral objectives for each political representative or for each city and state, and later to give evidence that these objectives have been achieved. The anxiety that underlies these demands—sometimes encased in the law—is understandable. The public hopes that people are learning, and this has been the only way they can see of determining whether learning is taking place. #RandolphHarris 11 of 20
What is a revolution? A redefinition of the facts of life, such that the new definition and the old definition of the same facts cannot coexist. Clearly, to advance a revolution threatens the power of a conventional administration, and a consequent risk to the facilitator, who is radical in the true sense of going to the root of the problem. This risk cannot be ignored. Nature has placed humankind under the governance of two sovereign masters, pain and pleasures. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do. On the one hand the standard of right and wrong, on the other the chain of cause and effects, are fastened to their throne. They govern us in all we do, in all we say, in all we think: every effort we can make to throw off our subjection, will serve but to demonstrate and confirm it. In words a human may pretend to abjure their empire: but in reality one will remain subject to it all the while. The principle of utility recognizes this subjection, and assumes it for the foundation of that system, the object of which is to rear the fabric of felicity by the hands of reason and law. Systems which attempt to question it, deal in sounds instead of sense, in caprice instead of reason, in darkness instead of light. However, enough of metaphor and declamation: it is not by such means that moral science is to be improved. #RandolphHarris 12 of 20
A day-by-day parceling out of grace—and only as much as we need—may seem inconsistent with the abundant generosity of God. This is not the case at all. Rather, as we say in the past, God continually works to keep us aware of our dependence on Him. We were created for a simple, childlike dependence on Him, but since the Fall we have tended to resist that dependence. God well knew this tendency when He gave this warning through Moses to the Israelites: “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ However, remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, ad so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today,” reports Deuteronomy 8.17-18. It is noteworthy that this warning occurs shortly after the reminder in verses 2-3. “Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that humans do not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD,” Deuteronomy 8.2-3. #RandolphHarris 13 of 20
There the Israelites were reminded of their days of extremity and very obvious dependence on God for their daily food. However, God warned them that, even after forty years of such conscious dependence, the day would come when they would look around at their bountiful supply of food and say, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” Such a self-sufficient attitude is obviously detrimental to our relationship with God, so He works to keep that from happening. He allows our respective thorns in the flesh to remain, giving us grace sufficient to cope with them only day by day. From time to time He brings extraordinary crises into our lives, as He did when Paul was forced to say, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. However, this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead,” reports 2 Corinthians 1.8-9. Despite his ever-present thorn, Paul was brought to a crisis extremity to learn anew to rely not on himself but on God. Whether it is the continuing thorn in the flesh or the extraordinary crisis that sometimes occurs, both are intended by God to keep us conscious of our human weakness and our dependence on Him, so that we might experience the sufficiency of His grace and the adequacy of His power. #RandolphHarris 14 of 20
Paul’s attitude towards his weakness was vastly different from our usual modern response. We abhor weakness and glory in self-sufficiency and humanmade accomplishment. Even Christians flock to hear the sports superstar or the popular entertainer give one’s testimony, simply because of that person’s fame and status. How many of us would make any effort to hear a person who said, “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses. I delight in weaknesses. For wen I am weak, then I am strong”? I think of how I have struggled with my own weaknesses instead of delighting in them. I think of the disappointment of failing to reach important goals, of humiliations suffered that were too painful to ever share with anyone, of somewhat minor but very annoying lifetime physical infirmities. Only in the last few years, have I realized what a significant contribution those disappointments, heartaches, and frustrations—especially in their cumulative effect—have made on my walk with God and my service for Him. I think I am only beginning to understand a little bit the validity of Paul’s statement, “when I am weak, then I am strong.” Sometimes when I am introduced as a speaker, I cringe inwardly as the person introducing me waxes eloquent about my accomplishments. #RandolphHarris 15 of 20
I sit there and think, What if they knew the other side of the story? Would they all get up and leave? Yet ironically, it is the other side of the story, the humiliations and heartaches, the failures and frustrations—not the successes and accomplishments—that have qualified me to be there to speak. Those difficult times have driven me to the Lord. I will be honest. It was not that I wanted to lean of God; I had no other choice. However, I am finally learning that in weakness I find strength—His strength. Every believer must learn that human weakness and divine grace go hand in and together. Paul had learned that lesson well. He said, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness so that Christ’s power may rest on me,” reports 2 Corinthians 12.9. Paul had learned that God’s grace is indeed sufficient; His divine enabling through the power of the Holy Spirit would sustain him in the midst of the torments of his thorn, and in the depths of other weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties. “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong,” reports 2 Corinthians 12.10. The anguish Paul experienced was real anguish, and the grace he received was real grace. It was not theoretical, nor make-believe, nor merely whistling in the dark to keep courage. #RandolphHarris 16 of 20
No, Paul’s experienced a very concrete expression of God’s love and power as the Holy Spirit ministered comfort and encouragement to him in the midst of affliction. Alma believers and write the words of Abinadi—Abinadi suffers death by fire—he prophesies disease and death by fire upon his murderers. About 148 Before Christ. “And now it came to pass that when Abinadi had finished these sayings, that the king commanded that the priests should take him and cause that he should be put to death. However, there was one among them whose name was Alma, he also being a descendant of Nephi. And he was a young man, and he believed the words which Abinadi had testified against them; therefore he began to plead with the kind that he would not be angry with Abinadi, but suffer that he might depart in peace. However, the kind was more wroth, and caused that Alma should be cast out from among them, and sent his servants after him that they might slay him. However, he fled from before them and hid himself that they found him not. And he being concealed for many days did write all the words which Abinadi had spoken. And it came to pass that the kind caused that his guards should surround Abinadi and take him; and they bound him and cast him into prison. And after three days, having counseled with his priests, he caused that he should again be brought before him. #RandolphHarris 17 of 20
“And he said unto him: Abinadi, we have found an accusation against thee, and thou art worthy of death. For thou hast said that God himself should come down among the children of humans; and now, for this cause thou shalt be put to death unless thou wilt recall all the words which thou hast spoken evil concerning me and my people. Now Abinadi said unto him: I say unto you, I will not recall the words which I have spoken unto you concerning this people, for they are true; and that ye may know of their surety I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands. Yea, and I will suffer even until death, and I will not recall my words, and they shall stand as a testimony against you at the last day. And now king Noah was about to release him, for he feared his word; for he feared that the judgments of God would come upon him. However, the priests lifted up their voices against him, and began to accuse him, saying: He has reviled the king. Therefore the king was stirred up in anger against him, and he delivered him up that he might be slain. And it came to pass that they took him and bound him, and scourged his skin with faggots (a bundle of sticks or twigs bound together as fuel, a fascine, a torch, excreta), yea, even to death. And now when the flames began to scorch him, he cried unto them saying: #RandolphHarris 18 of 20
“Behold, even as ye have done unto me, so shall it come to pass that thy seed shall cause that many shall suffer the pains that I do suffer, even the pains of death by fire; and this because they believe in the salvation of the Lord their God. And it will come to pass that ye shall be afflicted with all manner of diseases because of your iniquities. Yea, and ye shall be smitten on every hand, and shall be driven and scattered to and fro, even as a wild flock is driven by wild and ferocious beasts. And in that day ye shall be hunted, and ye shall be taken by the hand of your enemies, and then ye shall suffer, as I suffer, then pains of death by fire. Thus God executeth vengeance upon those that destroy his people. O God, receive my soul. And now, when Abinadi had said these words, he fell, having been put to death because he would not deny the commandments of God, having sealed the truth of his words by his death,” reports Mosiah 17.1-20. O Lord my Lord, this is Thy day, the Heavenly ordinance of rest, the open door of worship, the record of Jesus’ resurrection, the seal of the sabbath to come, the day when saints militant and triumphant unite in endless song. #RandolphHarris 19 of 20
I bless Thee for the throne of grace, that here free favour reigns; that open access to it is through the blood of Jesus; that they veil is torn aside and I can enter the holiest and find Thee ready to hear, waiting to be gracious, inviting me to pour out my needs, encouraging my desires, promising to give more than I ask or think. However, while I bless Thee, shame and confusion are mine: I remember my past misuse of sacred things, my irreverent worship, my base ingratitude, my cold, dull praise. Please sprinkle all my past sabbaths with the cleansing blood of Jesus, and may this day witness deep improvement in me. Give me in rich abundance the blessings the Lord’s Day was designed to impart; may my heart be fast bound against Worldly thoughts or cares; please flood my mind with peace beyond understanding’ may my meditations be sweet, my acts of worship life, liberty, joy, my drink the streams that flow from Thy throne, my food the precious word, my defence the shield of faith, and may my heart be more knit to Jesus. Almighty and merciful God, we beseech Thee to give us rest from the storm of war; for Thou wilt bestow on us all good things if Thou givest us peace both of soul and body; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #RandolphHarris 20 of 20
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Behold, O God our Defender, and please protect us from fear of the enemy; that all disturbance being removed, we may serve Thee with minds free from distraction; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #CresleighHomes