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Discover Your Birthright and Personality
There is no more beautiful sight than a person who glows with the light of the Spirit, who is confident and courageous because he or she is virtuous. One determinant of reference group selection might be termed a normative prescription—the stipulation by a superordinate reference group, or by more general reference norms, that certain individuals, groups, or categories are to be accepted as authoritative in a given situation. For example, some 500 women students in a small, private, liberal arts college in Oakland, California who were asked of eight adults, who were most important to them in making decisions in academic, leisure, and financial areas. Well, fathers were chosen most of the time for academic matters, and mothers for social matters, and this is no surprise because most people are conditioned with gender roles. However, as society changes, more women are often running household and working in high ranking positions, so as more people are exposed to the real World, their views about business and social matters will change. They will see that they can go to either a man or a woman for advice, but when it is more specific information that they need for their gender, then they will go to a man or a woman. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
The definitions may vary for different statuses within the society, and they may further vary from one subgroup to another. For instance, a man would go to his father to get advice on things that relate to manhood and a woman would go to her mother to get advice a women’s concerns, but business and social are more neutral ground for both genders in the real World. In a study of spontaneous references to ethnic group memberships as component of the self-concept, it is predicted that ethnicity is usually more salient to a person who is in the minority; and it usually becomes more salient as the ethnic heterogeneity of a group increases; and it will become more salient as the proportion of an ethnic subgroup in the larger group decreases. It means that people usually become more aware of how they are different from the majority as their socialization group decreases, and no matter at what level, they value the group that they are affiliated with and it becomes more important when their members are removed. It has also been discovered that when people are in segregated situations, they sometimes have high self-esteem, but as situations are desegregated, their self-esteem declines because they have different types of people to compete with and compare themselves too. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
The Lord has blessed us with a very clear understanding of who we are and why we are here on Earth at this time. The Lord loves us, and we love God. It shows in our countenance, in our modesty, in our desire to choose the right, and in our commitment to remain virtuous and pure. We have been warmed by the light of faith. And our hearts remain virtuous. We know that ego may feel much or little emotional commitment to a given norm. Many individuals in our own society do not feel strongly committed to various important norms. Thus, the fact that they must violate internalized norms does not necessarily cause difficulties for people because their commitment to the norms they are breaking may not be very strong. And if the breaking of the norm does come some stress, the gains to be had may represent more than adequate compensation. Generally, social structures increase the likelihood that the actors will be able to solve sociological ambivalence by providing rules for ordering priorities; creating differences in power and interest between the interactants; setting up conditions that permit actors to be insulated from observations by others, which may lead to a moderation of their demands; creating opportunities for actor to form alliances; providing opportunities for actor to form alliances; providing opportunities for actors to leave difficult situations. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
Our visions remain the same. It is to be worthy to make and keep sacred covenants and receive the ordinances of the temple. The key point is that it is based upon the idea that human beings evaluate various course of action and choose those that they believe will maximize their gain. However, there is complexity and disorderliness in social life. Human behavior is in constant flux. Roles are made anew each time people assemble and orient their conduct toward one another. With the tendency to create and modify conceptions of self- and other- roles as the orienting process in interactive behavior, the impression one gets is that new roles emerge out of each interaction. While many suspect that people’s personalities are fixed in childhood, we now know personalities evolve throughout our lives. For instance, when someone gets involved with a career in law enforcement, their personality changes. They become more autorotative and protective. That behavior is not only a part of their career, but it becomes their pervasive norm as a human being. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Teenagers change as they age because not only is their brain developing, but they also become more accepting of themselves and all that goes along with that. The changes people undergo also has to do with what is going on in a person’s life. As a result of this gradual change, personality can appear relatively stable over short intervals—increasingly throughout adulthood. Adults know they have to mature and cannot be so emotional and as they age they may find certain traits more attractive than others, and so if you assume you know a person, you actually may not. Teens are becoming educated and learning new roles as they become an adult, so they have adopted new characteristics. People are embedded in a social system that affects what occurs in their interactions. Actors behavior is purposive, and the goal is the maximization of their profits. They try to create a situation whose anticipated rewards will exceed the anticipate costs by as much as possible. Actors may set their sights lower than the heights because they believe that the costs associated with the higher reward will be so great as to wipe out additional profits or because they are willing to settle for a lower, but more certain or quicker, payoff. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
It should be sufficient to assert that a cogent analysis of structural effects requires a precise conception of the details of the interaction process. How can one delineate effects without knowledge of the nature of the thing being affected? People come to interaction situations with previously learned role repertories, and they choose particular roles for the encounter, and these roles serve as guides for their actions. We will continue to do all we can to help each other stand in holy places and receive, recognize, and rely on the Holy Ghost. The future is full of noble and birthright. Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither dismayed, for God is with us everywhere we go. We are people of great faith. We brought our faith with us when we came to the Earth. We have fought with our faith and testimony to defend the plan that God presented us with. Dear God in Heaven, please help us accomplish all that needs to be done each day and to find rest. As we work, help us to be productive and peaceful. A we love others, help us to be calm and encouraging. We need your peace in every area of our lives today and always. Thank you. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
A Better Lifestyle with Family Benefits
One basic the basic concepts of forgiveness is that one must be truly repentant, having satisfied justice before forgiveness can take place. There should be no license for sin. God is merciful, but he is also just. An eternal aspect of justice has been decreed by divine law, that God is not mocked: for whatever a person does, is what they shall get back in return. History is made by strong individuals who issue commands to the masses about how to play the game; these leaders fit into the World. This is not the way spiritual history is made; it is made by exceptional people who do not fit into the World, who have a conception of the World other than that given in the games people play. What these people do not realize is that, even with the self-sacrifice of their lives, the most they can achieve is a small change in the rules by which these communal games of humankind are played. Self – (or social) evaluation can come about through a process of comparison with others. An individual’s judgment of how well he or she is doing is formed not only directly, on the basis of appraisals by others, but also indirectly, as a result of comparing his or her situation with that of others. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8
Even in self-evaluations resulting from social comparison, however, normative factors come into play. In the first place, such factors mat specify the group with which the comparison must be made. And second, the comparison has consequences for self-evaluation only to that extent that the standard against which an opinion, performance, or situation is compared has normative force—that is, constitutes an expectation level that carries with it the implication of ought or should. It can be horribly mortifying when we experience the prospect of becoming hopelessly trapped in someone else’s story. And if one can find any way out of our culture, then that is a trap too. Just wanting to get out of the trap reinforces the trap. Many of the classic investigations of reference group behavior have concerned themselves with the consequences of conformity to the perceived prescriptions of some valued group for attitude stability or change. However, what is one to do when they do not want to conform to the group, are not accepted by the group, and the group is like a pervasive cancer, acting as a source of oppression at every move one makes to advance oneself. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8
Sometimes hardworking people with a lot of promise and determination get stuck in awful places. However, what one may consider awful, others might consider a paradise. And it may seem no matter how hard we try to upgrade our lives, nothing seems to work out. One might have thought that years ago, they would be in a better situation. Then they look and are still in the same place and trying even hard to keep a roof over one’s head and advance. Another year rolls around, and they think to themselves, within six months from now, I know I will be in a better place, I cannot see being in this same situation any longer than that. Yet, three more years pass, and they are still in the same place. The influence of a reference group on attitudes or behaviors is a factor that should be considered. The salience of a reference group can increase a subject’s resistance to the propaganda directed against the group or increase the frequency of responses conforming to the norms of that group. That is why some people choose to join church, it helps them to be thankful for the everything in their lives, and they realize that at some point, through an increase in faith, that their hard work and determination will pay off. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8
Still, there is also an account for the ability to maintain a deviant perspective by its anchorage in a significant reference group or individual or have demonstrated that adoption of new reference figures (as through the development of close friendships) is associated with adoption of a new, at times deviant, perspective. For example, the fact that adolescents who use drugs are more likely to report drug use among their friends does not necessarily mean that such use is a consequence of selecting a particular reference group; the choice of reference group may be contingent on drug-taking behavior, or both may be consequences of particular combinations of residential, social, and other statuses. That is why parents who have lived in bad neighborhoods and low-income communities work hard to send their children to school, so they can provide a better environment for them so they do not have to be in a community with gang activity, crimes, and drugs. However, some people are jealous of people who are good, no matter what their situation is, and what do whatever they can to see that person fail. It brings them joy to see someone they do not like struggle and suffer. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8
And then the cycle continues where the good person has to figure a way out of an oppressive situation that they were never meant to experience. As you can see, there are consequences of reference orientations. Yet, love changes everything. Medical studies about young children report that nurturing and supportive parenting can lead to improved physical health and possibly greater intelligence later in life. Kids need love, care, and people to teach them things. The effect of nurturing could be even stronger the younger the child is because it is possible that the brain is more sensitive to change earlier. People who have families are generally more happier and satisfied, and the motivation helps them to live a healthier life. People with families are motivated to eat healthier, exercise more, drink less alcohol, and put themselves in dangerous situations less often. In turn, this suggests that attitudinal similarity may be a potent factor in the formations of groups, which subsequently function as powerful references groups in inducing further attitude change. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8
You have all you need to stand strong and firm and true because you have the Lord on your side. Notwithstanding the afflictions about us, notwithstanding the sordid things we see almost everywhere, notwithstanding the conflict that sweeps across the World, we can be better. I do not know what we did in the preexistence to merit the wonderful blessings we enjoy. We have come to Earth in this great season in the long history of humankind. It is a marvelous age, the best of all. As we reflect on the plodding course of humankind, from the time of our first parents, we cannot help feeling grateful. We promise to love the Lord, to honor him all the time—daytime and nighttime, Summer and Winter, good times and bad times—love the Lord and let that love show by the way we live. We also take time to thank God, take time to ask for help, take time to seek guidance, and then take time to listen. Take time for that still, small voice which will whisper to us, help us, and give us courage. Both laboratory experiments involving the choice of partners for limited kinds of interactions and investigations of friendship choices in the real World have pointed to some sort of similarity as one principle underlying the selection and acceptance of groups that function as normative referents. However, the question immediately arises, similarity with respect to what? #RandolphHarris 6 of 8
Social psychologists tend to emphasize similarity with respect to individual values, attitudes, and other personality characteristics. Another factor is the social structure, which may make one group (individual, category, status, and so forth), more salient than another, in terms of its appropriateness or in terms of its power to confer rewards; the other is normative structure, which may be define one group (individual, category, status, and so forth) a more appropriate or more rewarding. Our Heavenly Father does bless us when we show our love for him in all things. We will stand witness in all places—both public and private, in secret, in dark or in light places; in church, school, home, or cars; in mountain places, or beach places; on the street or in the park. The potency of physical structure is dramatically demonstrated in a field of experiment in which the functional distance between apartments turned out to be a powerful determinant of friendship formation among persons who are similar to one another on a variety of social characteristics. Structural factors also come into play in those situations in which individuals adopt as a point of reference group whose values are quite dissimilar from their own. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8
It is given unto you to judge that you may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain that you make know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. Stand as an example of a worthy child of God in all places. Heavenly Father, we come to you asking that you come into our lives and heart. As we are learning to discern the prompting of the Spirit, there are so many distractions. It is experience that helps us know good from evil. It is experience that helps us recognize the promptings of the Spirit. Experience can also help us recognize when good feelings are lacking. Dear Father God, we thank you for this wonderful free gift of Salvation and the knowledge that there is nothing left for us to do except to believe in you as our Savior. Thank you for your perfect righteousness and for giving us eternal life, which a special place reserved with us in Heaven, for all eternity. There are no words that can express our love and gratitude for this amazing free gift of grace—thank you. You Father God, are amazing and loving and graceful. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8
Kindness is the Essence of a Celestial Life
Kindness is how Godlike people treat others and should permeate all our words, education, works, and actions. The temporal aspects of exchange relations allow the development of emergent aspects of the relations, such as trust, commitment, solidarity, investments, concerns about justice and equity, and contractual agreements. The most important single feature of the exchange process is the tendency for actors to become—through exchange—drawn into patterns of more or less lasting mutual dependency. However, if one person is more powerful and uses that power advantage to gain benefits, that individual or organization becomes more dependent and the advantage is lost. That is why reciprocity is important is business and intimate relationships. Reciprocity is developed and woven into good enough relationships, sometimes without participants knowing what they are doing. If a relationship is important enough to them, partners will be emotionally invested in it enough to work at building and maintaining it. Business reciprocity as a strategy has huge advantages. People do business with those they know, like, and trust. When you give first, without expecting anything in return, it goes a long way in helping to build the like and trust factor. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9
What is your business giving away? What product, service, bit of knowledge, or piece of information could you charge for, but should probably give away instead? When you give away valuable information or goods and services for free, your business has greatly increased its credibility and likelihood of picking up new customers through this strategy. When someone foes you a solid favor, you feel compelled to return the favor. The same goes for your customers. No good deed goes unpunished. It is completely counterintuitive, but without fail, when you give first (without expecting anything in return), you will get back much more than you initially gave. Competitors may use you, possibly. However, whose credibility and reputation just went up, your business who is providing enormous value for free, or your competitor, who is now trying to sell what you are giving away for free? (Believe this, your competitors will not try to repay a good deed, and if they are stealing your material, they will not understand how or why the law of reciprocity works.) Some of the benefits include search engine optimization, increased brand recognition, and customer loyalty. A charity enduring long, and is kind, and fair, and is not ostentatious, is not easily provoked. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9
If we are not kind to others, we do not honor God. When a competitor is using you or your business and providing no benefit in return, and they become dependent on you, the coalition formation will transform the structure of the network, redistributing power to your advantage, and eventually you will be able to vertically integrate markets and channels of distribution. Vertical integration is a strategy where a company expands its business operations into different steps on the same production path, such as when a manufacturer owns its supplier and/or distributor. Family lines can be analyzed similarly with kin-based economic opportunities flowing down and filial loyalty and support flowing up across generations. Examples of negatively connected networks include competitive economic market structures, dating networks and friendship networks. Most concrete networks involve connections of both types. If we do not have charity, we are nothing, for charity never fails. Therefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail, but charity is the pure love of God, and it will endure forever, and those whoso are found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with God. #RandolphHarris 3 of 9
Judging from the frequent occurrence of such words as power, influence, dominance, and submission, status, and authority, the importance of power is widely recognized. When I was in college and studying for my final examines, my grandmother asked me did I pray to God to help me on my exams. Even though I was raised in the church, I did not understand, at that time, how God could help me with my education. I did not yet see spirituality as a holistic concept. Nevertheless, I prayed to God and that semester in college I got a 3.83 grade point average, and the next semester God helped me earn a 4.0 grade point average and I was accepted into an honors program to attend college overseas. Each student had to have a 4.0 grade point average to be accepted. Power relations are frequently intransitive. The scriptures teach us that the righteous exercise of our ability is dependent upon our living the principles of kindness, charity, and love. By kindness, and pure knowledge, we shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile. Social structure is created, maintained, and changed through symbolic interaction, and once created is a constraining interaction. #RandolphHarris 4 of 9
If people do something anyway, there is no need to have a norm prescribing it. The norm is redundant. It is a waste of time prescribing things that people are going to do even if they are not prescribed. Let us examine our lives and determine to follow the Savior’s example by being kind, loving, and charitable. And as we do so, we will be in a better position to call down the powers of Heaven for ourselves, for our families, and for our fellow travelers in this sometimes difficult journey back to our Heavenly home. We have a deep tendency to create social ties through exchange of gifts. Exchange theory offers a soft interpretation of power. Exchange theory emphasizes mutually beneficial exchange rather than coercion. Therefore, power inequalities are seen to result from asymmetric or unilateral exchange. Stated differently, power inequality stems from unequal dependence. However, a person does not necessarily require a Church calling, an invitation to help someone, or even good healthy to become an instrument in God’s hands. Domination is usually found in institutionalized forms of power called authority, embedded in or deriving from a legitimate social order. Both weak and the strong party can gain through the yielding act of a weak person. #RandolphHarris 5 of 9
Power, like exchange, can be symmetrical and even equal. Domination can take purely coercive forms, but taken by itself, coercive rule is unstable and costly. Stable and enduring forms of domination are based upon claims of and beliefs in the legitimacy of domination (including the right to use coercive force). When legitimized, domination is called authority. Different bases for legitimacy generate qualitatively different systems of authority. Three pure types of authority can be analytically distinguished, deriving their legitimacy from rational-legal, charismatic, and traditional sources. Concrete empirical systems approximate those types in varying degree. However, none of the forms of domination can be conceptualized properly on the basis of exchange. Charity and love are the greatest principles in existence. If we can lend a helping hand to the oppressed, if we can assist those who are despondent and in sorrow, if we can uplift and ameliorate the condition of humankind, it is our mission to do it, it is an essential part of our religion to do it. When we feel love for God’s children, we are given opportunities to help them in their journey back to his presence. #RandolphHarris 6 of 9
Power and influence are based upon exchange processes, but domination and authority are not. There are two diametrically contrasting types of domination. Domination by virtue of constellation of interests (in particular: by virtue of a position of monopoly), and domination by virtue of authority. The purest type of the former is monopolistic domination in the World; of the latter, patriarchal, magisterial, or princely power. God has asked us to journey, go on missions, accept callings, invite someone to church, or help someone in need. The Lord will grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with the, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, others to the knowledge of truth. Do we really want to be instruments in God’s hands? If so, our desire will permeate our prayers and be for focus of our reality. It may be conformity with respect to a belief, an attitude, a value, a behavior; it may be conceptualized as deviance from one set of norms, that than adherence to another; it may be thought of as conformity to the norms of a group to which the individual aspires to belong rather than to those of one in which he or she currently hold membership. #RandolphHarris 7 of 9
What do all of these have in common in shaping of behavior, feeling, or thought in accordance with that of a referent, and to the extent that such attitudes and behaviors are organized around a particular social status (student, mother, father, teacher), the consequence of normative reference orientation is socialization or anticipatory socialization. It illuminates social mobility, acculturation, attitude change. May our minds be enlightened and the cloud of darkness lifted from us. Let us see with our spiritual eyes. Financial difficulty is a reality faced by millions of people. There is precious little money for the essentials—things like food, mortgage, rent, car repairs, and luxuries like dining out and going to the opera or theater. That is a reality in many households. However, fear not. God is there and he has already given you the key to prosperity: prayer. It is not just a matter of asking for money, there is more to it than that. God, we come to you with thanksgiving for all you have given us, and how you have blessed and sustained us for all this time. We lift up to you our finances and that you for your words and promises that you will supply all of our needs. #RandolphHarris 8 of 9
We pray that you will bless us with your provision now. Open the storehouse of Heaven and pour financial blessings up us. Give us wisdom as to how to handle all finances, and keep us from making any foolish decisions. Bless our work with success. Reveal to us how we can earn more and handle our finances more efficiently. Show us where we have spent unwisely and how we can reduce our debt and expenses. Show us if we are doing what you want us to do, or if you have other work for us. Open our eyes to see where we are not ling your way with regard to our finances. Teach us how to spend, save, invest and better organize our money and resources such a land, estates, travel, and other forms of capital. We know that our true treasure is found in you. Forgive us for any times when we have not fully loved out that truth. We choose to seek you, God, and your kingdom first and foremost in our lives, trusting that you will provide all we require. It is our glory that we may be an instrument in the hands of God, to bring some soul to repentance; and this is our joy. May our confidence in God increase. God treasures those who help his children (grown and youthful). Kindness is key to a celestial life. #RandolpHarris 9 of 9
Speak the Truth?
Some voices speak of the things of the World, providing useful information we need to make our way in mortality. Others, whom are called alternate voices speak on important subjects without calling or authority. The alternate voices are conducting Psychoanalytic character assassination. It is a pathography, and is dignified as a scientific endeavor designed to find out fact rather than destroy reputations. That form of analysis has become the worst enemy of the soul. It killed what it analyzed. The individual conducting the psychoanalytic analysis lacked any trace of self-mastery, and seemed to be altogether unrestrictedly at the mercy of their instincts. The analysis displayed the unconscious mechanisms of which, moreover, implicated they have that mental disease, schizophrenia. They acted as false prophets in their dehumanizing organizations, whining and trotting about, listening to a chorus of voices in their heads. Many people have heard the things reported by these alternate voices, and as a result some people have been misled, put in danger, and the work of the Lord can suffer. #RandolphHarris 1 of 10
Our age has witnessed the decline of a number of subject, and has suffered more amazingly in this respect than rhetoric. When one recalls that a century ago rhetoric was regarded as the most important humanistic discipline taught in our colleges—when one recalls this fact and contrasts it with the very different situation prevailing today—one is forced to see that a great shift of valuation has taken place. Alternate voices are pursuing selfish personal interests, such as property, pride, prominence, or power. Other voices are the bleatings of lost souls who cannot heart the voice of God and trot about trying to find their way without his guidance. Some of these voices call out guidance for others—the lost leading the lost. Many alternate voices are of those whose avowed or secret object is to deceive and devour the children of God. The great shift in valuation, of course, is the movement away from the value-laden languages of theology and tragedy, poetry and prose, in short of the humanities, and toward the ostensibly value neutral languages of junk science. This attempt to escape, or to deny, valuation is, for obvious reasons, especially important and dangerous in psychology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and the so-called social sciences. #RandolphHarris 2 of 10
Indeed, one could go as far as to say that the specialized language of these disciplines serve virtually no other purpose than to conceal valuation behind an ostensibly scientific and therefore nonvaluational semantic screen. There have always been alternate voices whose purpose or effect is to deceive. Alterative voices are heard in magazines, on TV, in journals, newspapers, in lectures, and conferences. Language, which is thus predicative, is for the same cause sermonic. We do not wish to isolate people from alternative voices, but it is important to teach correct principles and then leave people to govern themselves by personal choices. We are all of us preachers in private or public capacities. We have no sooner uttered words than we have given impulse to other people to look at the World, or some small part of it, in our way. Language is intended to be sermonic. Because of its nature and its intimacy with our feelings, it is always preaching. This brings us to the necessity of concluding that the upholders of mere dialectic are among the most subversive enemies of societies and culture. That is why it is important to listen to the voice or source that can provide a spiritual quality, which informs, but uplifts people. #RandolphHarris 3 of 10
Among these subversive enemies, social scientists can be very high on the list. If science deals with the abstract and the universal, rhetoric is near the other end, dealing in significant art with the particular and the concrete. All of these reasons combine to show why rhetoric should be considered the most humanistic of the humanities. It is credited to individual people in their individual situations, so that by the very definitions of the terms here involved, it takes into account what science deliberately, to satisfy its own purposes, leaves out. If a source is bias, it is a threat to human freedom and dignity. Your medical records are considered confidential information under federal privacy rules established by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. However, you still may become the victim of improper disclosure of medical records through a data security breach, the improper maintenance of records, or the unauthorized snooping of your patient file. The law states you have a right to sue for invasion of privacy or breach of doctor-patient confidentiality, and receive damages as compensation for injuries suffered as a result of the disclosure of medical records. #RandolphHarris 4 of 10
The idea of humaneness, the demarcation between the human and nonhuman being, is characterizes as the bearing and behavior that a paradigmatic individual exhibits in order to promote a flourishing human community. A slave is one who cannot speak or communicate one’s thoughts. Which raises the question: Is a person a slave because one cannot speak nor communicate one’s thoughts, or is one a slave because one in not permitted to communicate? Humaneness springs from an internal source, namely human nature. This means that humane conduct is an outgrowth of inherent traits, and hence moral or humane conduct comes from the virtue of humaneness. Goodness is a moral behavior. The internalization of virtue advocates that humanness, rightness, properity, and intelligence all are virtues that can and should be performed. The mind’s feeling of pity and compassion is the sprout of humaneness; the mind’s feeling of shame and aversion is the sprout of rightness; the mind’s feeling of modesty and compliance is the sprout of propriety; and the mind’s sense of right and wrong is the sprout of wisdom. #RandolphHarris 5 of 10
One’s natural tendencies enable one to do good; human nature is good. When one does what is not good, it is not the fault of one’s native capacities. The mind of pity and commiseration is possessed by all human beings. While it is understood that some people have to be tough and mean to stay safe, and they may have to defend their homes, it does not mean they are bad people. God loves us all and we should not judge each other, we all sin. And sometimes our sins keep us safe. For instance, we cannot say what we always think as it may cause problems. On Bewitched in an episode called Speak the Truth, which originally aired 16 December 1965, Endora magically makes everyone speak the truth, and chaos ensured. Darrin told his wife that he did not find her beautiful with rollers in her hair, he also told a client that the was worthless, did not like working on his account, although the product was great, he wanted a more prestigious account. A lot of people’s feelings got hurt because they did not truly know what they were saying. They did not take the time to craft their messages in a constructive honest way. #RandolphHarris 6 of 10
Another important issue is racism, especially with rap music and TV shows using certain words. Some people thing just because people use certain words, regardless of if they should be used or not, makes them racist, but that may not be the case. I tried to explain to someone that Archie Bunker, from All in the Family, was not truly racist, he just did not have much experience with other cultures and some of the people he was around were not friendly to other culture. However, Archie Bunker never went out of his way to hurt people and he never assaulted any one, expect for the one time he was trying to defend a Puerto Rican lady from a thug. On the TV show, The Jeffersons, in an episode called Me and Mr. G, which aired originally 12 December 1979, Louise, George’s wife takes in a troubled orphan for a week. The girl really opens up to George Jefferson, and starts calling him Mr. G. However, George called one of his neighbors a derogatory term, and the told the little girl it was okay to use that term. So, she called a social worker that name, and they removed her from Mr. G’s custody. The little girl was not racist, she did not even know what it meant, but it was a term she learned. They have to explain to her that it was not okay to use that word because it hurts people. #RandolphHarris 7 of 10
People sometimes misuse language because they are mad, angry, hurting, or confused, but that does not necessarily make them a bad person. They just may need to be taught not to use those words. A lot of rap music uses a word that makes many people uncomfortable and I am surprised they are still allowed to use it. Imagine how uncomfortable it would be to be in the car with someone and a rapper uses the N word. Or imagine how offended you might be if you hear someone listening to music and they sing along and use the N word. And although it may be offensive it does not necessarily make someone racist. Racism is more when you allow certain cultures to break laws others have to obey or when you target someone because of their culture, ethnic background, race, gender, or medical condition and purposely hurt them, physically, mentally, systematically, and verbally. Some people sin because they like to. They do not have to, but it brings them great joy to hurt others and they will eventually be judged by the laws of human and God. #RandolphHarris 8 of 10
Some of life’s most complicated decision involve mixtures of good and evil. To what extent can one seek the benefit of something good one desires when this can only be done by simultaneously promoting something bad one opposes? That is a personal decision, but it needs to be made with a sophisticated view of the entire circumstance and with a prayer for Heavenly guidance. The noble person has as one’s nature humaneness, rightness, decorum and wisdom, which, being rooted in one’s heart, grows apparent in the brightness of one’s countenance. Dear God, loving essence of all there is. Please fill us with your sacred presence. We ask for your love and guidance and for your blessing, as we explore the deep reaches of our heart. May you grant us assistance in releasing that which stands in the way of true love. Make our hearts pure and our intentions clear. Please bring us to our most perfect partners. We seek someone who enhances us by their very being, who brings more love, joy, peace, and prosperity to our lives, who we can fully love, and who can fully receive our love. In our presences, we wish to see people who loves, honor, and cherish us completely and always. #RandolphHarris 9 of 10
May our hearts be open and head be clear. May life be ready to welcome true love. God, embrace us in a circle of your love and may we be uplifted by your grace. We seek learning by studying the accumulated wisdom of various disciplines and by using the powers of reasoning placed in us by our Creator. We should also seek learning by faith in God, the giver of revelation. Many great discoveries and achievements in science and the arts have resulted from a God-given revelation. Seekers who have paid the price in perspiration have been magnified by inspiration. The acquisition of knowledge by revelation is an extra bonus to seekers in the sciences and the arts, but is the fundamental method for those who seek to know God and the doctrines of his gospel. In this area of knowledge, scholarship and reason are insufficient. A seeker of truth about God must rely on revelation. The way to revelation is righteousness. Diligently seek and we shall have the mysteries of God unfolded unto us by the power of the Holy Ghost. It is important to have our minds on the things of God. Whatever it is, always know you can go to God, and he will handle it. #RandolphHarris 10 of 10
Unmasking the Masker
The old World has three times as much water as land, but with all of its twisting and turning not a drop sloshes off into space. It Is important to guide people toward dignity and independence through love of and respect for language. Being informs us that everything is energy, it may exist in the form of electromagnetic vibration, and it is a vehicle of universal thought (a gratuitous addition), we are apt to think that perhaps everything is, in some obscure way, thought and hence in the mind of God. The human mind also has measurable power. It is well known that the brain is an electrochemical organ; researchers have speculated that a fully functioning brain can generate as much as 10 watts of electrical power. Other more conservative investigators calculate that is all 10 billion interconnected nerve cells discharged at one time that a single electrode places on the human scalp would record something like five millionths to 50 millionths of a volt. If you had enough scalps hooked up you might be able to light a flashlight bulb. Even though this electrical power is very limited, it does occur in very specific ways that are characteristic of the human brain. Electrical activity emanating from the brain is displayed in the form of brainwaves. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9
Bring people into society, and he or she is immediately provided with a mirror which one wanted before. It is placed in the countenance and behavior of those each individual lives with. This is the only looking glass by which we can, in some measure, with eyes of other people, scrutinize the propriety of our own conduct. There is not a thoughtless word that comes from people’s lips, but they will have to account for it on the day of judgment. For out of your own mouth you will be acquitted; out of your own mouth you will be condemned. Sympathy is the principle through which humans developed their sense of membership in and benefits to be derived from society, and through which they come to be controlled by others. Sympathy allows people to put themselves in the place of others, and see the World as these others do; and sympathy makes possible the communication that initially forms and subsequently reshapes (as we seek the approval of others) who and what we are. Our most important stewardship is the glorious responsibility our Father in Heaven has given us to watch and care for our own soul. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9
Each person is born into a pre-existing association of human beings, and habit will consequently reflect a prior social order. Custom and habits are the necessary bases for reflection, for thinking, and occurs in the process of humans adjusting to their environment. Thinking is instrumental; it involves defining objects in one’s world in the context of activity and rehearsing possible lines of action in ways instrumental to adaption. Great things are happening because so many of you are faithfully acting upon the points of God’s laws and commandments. It is a privilege for us to witness in our lifetime such exciting progress toward fulfillment to the great prophecy that the kingdom may become a great castle and fill the entire Earth. We obey God’s commandments out of love for God. For if love of God is an adequate motive for moral behavior, why should not love of one’s fellows also be adequate? If we define situations as real, they are real in their consequences. We take the role of the other through the use of significant symbols and through this process engage in cooperative activity. We come to have minds, to think, through being part of a social process in which significant symbols emerge. These symbols provide the meaning of objects, the meaning to which we are responsible as we incorporate objects into our activities. #RandolphHarris 3 of 9
Walk the path of faith and stand for that which is right and true and good. Social life is complex, and for it to proceed one must respond to an intricate pattern of related behaviors by multiple others. The brightest prize to which mortals or Gods can aspire is truth. One does so, of course, through the symbolic capabilities characterizing humans. Selves arise out of interaction of persons in organized groups; the prior existence of organized groups is thus implied. Society also shapes the self, so does the self shape society through the process of constantly being created and recreated; in contemporary language, social interaction is constructed. Suffer not yourself to be led away by any vain or foolish thing. Keep the commandments. In this there is safety and peace. Nothing this World has to offer can surpass the joy of living the gospel. We are accountable and will be judged for how we use what we have received. The principle of accountability also apples to the spiritual resources conferred in the teachings we have been given and to the precious hours and days allotted to each of us during our time in mortality. #RandolphHarris 4 of 9
As long as we are willing to rise up again and continue on the eternal path of enlightenment, we can learn something from failure and become better and happier. When Leo was learning to walk, he would fall and get up again, and he would do this over and over until he built his confidence in his stride. He did not let his frustration hold him back. There may be times in our lives when rising up and continuing on may seem to be frustrating. However, by having faith in God and the determination to keep trying. Even when we think we cannot rise up, there is still hope. And just like baby Leo, sometimes we may need someone to look us in the eyes, and take our hand, and say, “It is okay. You can do this.” If there is some stability to self, then reliable measurement becomes possible. The fundamental elements of symbolic interactionism include the meaning component in human conduct, the social sources of humanness, society as process, the voluntaristic component in human conduct, a dialectical conception of the mind, the constructive and emergent nature of human conduct, and the necessity of sympathetic introspection have fallen before is as our destiny. We all want to be respected and esteemed. We want to be champions without effort and discipline or without making mistakes. #RandolphHarris 5 of 9
Our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble, but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and try again. We all know this mortal life is a test. However, because our Heavenly Father loves us with a perfect love, he has given us a map that allows us to navigate the uncertain terrain and unexpected trials that each of us encounters. All varieties of symbolic interactionists take as basic premises that humans act toward things on the basis of the meaning those things have for them, that meanings emerge from social interaction, and meanings are modified and dealt with through an interpretative process used by persons when responding to things encountered. Godly sorrow leads to conversion and a change of heart. It causes us to hate sin and love goodness. It encourages us to stand up and walk in the light of God’s love. True repentance is about transformation, not torture or torment. The core of symbolic interactionism consists in the assertion that humans create, use, and communicate with symbols; they interact through role taking, which involves the reading of symbols used by others; they are unique as a species through having a mind and self, which arise out of interaction, and which allow for the interactions that form the basis of society. #RandolphHarris 6 of 9
Human beings must be studied on their own level, and reductionist efforts infer principles of human behavior from nonhuman forms are misguided; must fruitful approaches to the study of human social behavior is through an analysis of society; that the human infant enters life neither social nor antisocial, with the potentialities for human development; and the human beings is an actor as well as a reactor. One of the adversary’s methods to prevent us from progressing is to confuse us about who we really are and what we really desire. The adversary’s purpose is to tempt us to exchange the priceless pearls of true happiness and eternal values for fake silicone trinkets that is merely an illusion and counterfeit of happiness and joy. However, it is a great source of spiritual power to live lives of integrity and righteousness and to keep our eyes on where we want to be in the eternities. Even if we can see this divine destination only with the eyes of faith, it will help us stay on the course. Human like to plan, constructing plans out of bits and pieces supplied by culture. Things take on meaning in relation to plans; the meaning of a thing is its implications for plans of action being constructed, so a thing may have different meanings relative to different plans. #RandolphHarris 7 of 9
When our attention is mainly focused on our daily successes or failures, we may lose our way, wander, and fall. Keeping our sights on higher goals will help us become better people. We plan toward things in terms of their meanings; a plan of action is executed contingent on the meaning for that plan of things encountered. Consequently, everything encountered must be identified and its meaning discovered. Even those who set their hearts upon divine goals may still occasionally stumble, but they will not be defeated. For social plans of action, meaning must be consensual; if meanings are not clear, they are hammered out through the rhetoric of interaction resulting in the creation of social objects. They trust and rely upon the promises of God. The basic thing to be identified in any situation is the person himself or herself; identities of actors in any situation must be consensually established. People of God will rise up again with a bright hope in a righteous God and the inspiring vision of a great future. Identity, meaning, and social acts are the stuff of drama; as drama involves parts to be played, roles implicit in the parts must be conceived and performed in ways expressive of the role. The construction of social conduct involves roles and characters, props and supporting casts, scenes and audiences. #RandolphHarris 8 of 9
Every person has had one’s own personal experience with falling. Falling is what we mortals do. However, as long as long as we are willing to rise up again and continue on the path toward the spiritual goals God has given us, we can learn something from failure and become better and happier as a result. Thus, identification of persons is most often in terms of roles and characters. We identify by placing things in systematically related categories of role systems, status systems, systems of social types, or contrastive sets of social categories. There will be times when you think you cannot continue on. Trust God and his love. With faith in the Lord and the power and hope of the restored gospel, you will be able to walk tall and continue on. We love you. We pray for you. We are mindful of you. The Lord is mindful of you! We acknowledge that your path will at times be difficult. However, it is promised by God that one day you will look back and be filled with eternal gratitude that you chose to trust the Atonement and its power to life you up and give you strength. You are stronger than you realize. You are more capable than you can imagine. The distinguishing characteristic of our lives and work must be our passion for integrity. Personal integrity—to be good as one’s word—is the highest virtue. Purity of language is a measure of the purity of the speaker’s soul, and vice versa. We fundamentally should have a respect for language as we have a respect for persons. #RandolphHarris 9 of 9
Earth—Marvelous Work and a Wonder
To cure spiritual diseases which throttle us and plague our lives, the Lord has given us a sure cure. Knowledge of God must be supplemented by revelation. If wisdom is God, who made all things, as is attested by the divine authority and truth, then the philosopher is a lover of God. The truth turns out to be the search for one’s own salvation, as a sparkling new presentation. Here then is a great truth. In the pain, the agony, and the heroic endeavors of life, we pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and the unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong. In this is the divine image, which can be mirrored from the soul. It is part of the purging toll exacted of some to become acquainted with God. In the agonies of life, we seem to listen better to the faint, Godly whisperings of the Divine. The wealth of insights that it brings will be unfamiliar to most. Is not aspiring to or seeking the Godlike transfiguration of one’s own soul, in and through the stern but invigorating exercise of justice and (merely apparent) sacrificial devotion, equivalent to the pursuit of the greatest of all conceivable goods for the very core of one’s own being? #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
Since immortality and eternal life constitute the sole purpose of life, all other interests and activities are but incidental thereto. And since those objectives are the work and glory of God, they are the proper work of humans also and are the major reason for his coming to Earth. Of the two elements, the one great blessing immortality comes to humans without their effort, as a gift from the Almighty. The other eternal life is a cooperative program to be developed by the Lord and his offspring on Earth. It thus becomes the overall responsibility of human beings to fully within the Eternal God in accomplishing this objective. All people can stand adversity, but if you want to test a person’s character, give them power. To this end God created humans to live in mortality and endowed them with the potential to perpetuate the race, to subdue the Earth, to perfect themselves and to become as God, omniscient and omnipotent. Our Father in Heaven the sent to the Earth a line of prophets to keep humans in remembrance of their duties and their destiny, to warn them of dangers, and to point the way to the total victory of humans. The pursuit of truth is intrinsically valuable. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
To marvel at the wonders of the gospel is a sign of faith. It is to recognize the hands of God in our lives and in everything around us. On Earth we have the rich opportunities to discover the marvelous things of this World. We can visit the most significant monuments, historic sites, and natural wonders of the World. There is so much beauty in this World. However, sometimes when we have them constantly before our eyes, we take them for granted. We look, but we do not really see; we hear, but do not really listen. We are so privileged to live in an exceptional time. Our amazement also produces spiritual strength. It gives us the energy to remain anchored in our faith and to engage ourselves in the work of God. Clearly belief in miracles is already plausible if our enquiry may presume this view of things. The usual way of making this out might be described as supernaturalistic. God reveals his nature in part through observable phenomena. Divine actions are not changes in God as they are manifestations or expressions of his will, which is eternal. Being all-knowing God eternally knew renowned miracles would be necessary. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Seek and cherish the companionship of the Holy Ghost. In faith, we hold to the promise that of we seek, we shall find. To this day, healing remains the form that most claimed miracles take, and many of those miracles are associated with visitations to churches and the shrines of saints or the wilderness. Miracles remain an important and powerful dimension of religions and mystics. The word of God and sacred places are considered to be a fountain of knowledge that never runs dry. There is always something new to learn and feel. Nearly 90 percent of Americans believe in God, 84 percent believe in miracles, and nearly 48 percent reported that they have experienced a miracle in their own lives or in the life of someone else. Our amazement should be rooted in the core principle of our faith, in the purity of our covenants and ordinances, and our most simple acts of worship. Others recognize miracles as extraordinary occurrences. Miracles were designed by the creator for very specific purposes and, though contrary to the observable laws of nature, were instituted at the beginning of creation as part of God’s divine plan. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
Most wonders of the gospel cannot be perceived by our natural sense. They are the things that the eyes have not seen, nor heard, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. When we have the Spirit with us, our spiritual senses are sharpened and our memory is kindled so we cannot forget the miracles and signs we have witnessed. Viewed this way, a miracle is an event that astonishes beholders (wonder) and at the same time conveys meaning (sign). Absent the sign factor, it is impossible to distinguish miracle from mere coincidence. Since signs are always signs of something, we can say that a miracle is an unusual event that discloses the meaning and power of the transcendent within the World of time and space. If a veteran from the Vietnam War gets Hodgkin’s lymphoma (a cancer of the lymphatic system), after being exposed to Agent Orange, and is given 3-5 years to live and told he cannot have kids, but he goes on to live beyond his projected lifespan and produced three biological children, the patient or others may claim that the patient’s sudden restoration to health and procreation are the result of prayer to God for a miracle. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
Only after a board of physicians concludes that an unexpected healing has no known scientific cause does a board of theologians consider whether the healing is also a divine sign. Because of miracles, people have a reason to believe in the afterlife. Therefore, miracles are real and much more than just studies. This gives many people the faith to believe that God is real, Heaven is real, and the scriptures are not just stories that people came together and made up to control human behavior. The power to work miracles belongs to God as the creator and sustainer of the World. When we have the spirit with us, our spiritual senses are sharpened and our memory is kindled so we cannot forget the miracles and signs we have witnessed. The testimonies of miracles might dwindle without being constantly renewed by the power of the Spirit of God. And this is why it is important for us to thank God and focus on the good things in our lives, so we can give power to that which is edifying to our souls and experience on the Earth. Do not risk the loss of this precious and marvelous gift—the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Seek it through fervent prayer and righteous living. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
Let us pray that we may always have eyes that see, ears that hear, and hearts that perceive the wonders of this marvelous gospel. Often, when we pray for miracles to happen in our lives, we are also praying for healing to happen in our lives as well. We see countless examples of miracles every day. Dear Lord in Heaven, please heal us in whatever you see needs healing. Heal us of whatever might separate us from you. Heal our memory, heal our heart, heal our emotions, heal our spirit, heal our body and heal our soul. Miracles are power testify that God’s touch is always a heartbeat away. It is important that we are conscious of God at work in our lives daily. Miracle power can happen in our lives when we have faith and trust that miracles can really true. Heavenly Father, we open our hearts wide to receive the love of God. We realize and accept your healing power of the Universe of love. God is limitless and abundant, we feel the outpouring of God’s love in our bodies and minds. We feel God’s love in all our affairs, and we know all is well. We would not be here without the power of God and without his miraculous power being at work. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
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God in the Temporal Salvation of all Saints
The spirit and the body are the soul of a person. When looking at the most successful people and organizations, we often imagine geniuses with a smooth journey straight to the promised land. However, when one really examines nearly every success story, they are filled with crushing defeats, near death experiences, and countless setbacks. Success is a process—a journey to be taken, and we do it one day at a time. It takes most people some time to discover what God created them for. If you are willing, you can explore the World and learn more about your purpose every day. You can engage in activities that help you grow a little more in mind, body, and spirit. And can perform some act—large or small that helps others. Success is knowing your purpose in life and doing things that benefit others, while growing to your maximum potential. Intellectual virtues essentially enable us to see, and truly grasp the World around us. Success involves remembering there is a great idea and persevering through failures leads one to finding the truth. The door to your potential is waiting for you. The key is to be on the journey. Keep at it day in and day out. If you are, you are a success today. And you will be a success tomorrow. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
Your willpower becomes strong when joined with the Lord. The life is the time for people to prepare to meet God. God is working out a grand, progressive agenda with his people, and it will not stop until we stand in the Kingdom of God, the ultimate paradise. God is never in a hurry, but he is always on time. When we are in the silent season between promise and fulfillment, we must remember that we are part of a more comprehensive story that is always about God’s glory. God is not some cosmic robot, incapable of feeling. God created compassion and is never oblivious to the hurts and crimes of those he loves, which is all of us. Behind us is infinite power. Before us is endless possibility. Around us is boundless opportunity. May we care for our bodies and our minds by observing the principles set forth in the Word of Wisdom, a divinely provided plan. Spiritual crevasses symbolize the temptations and pitfalls that too many people are tragically encountering: alcohol, with its wine coolers and keg parties, drug tampering and dependency, Restricted and Obscene rated films and videos, which often culminate in sexual immorality. Even good people slip into hardships and risk their success. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance. If we do not improve our time while in this life, then comes the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. A highly respected member in the community, who was involved with the church, was enticed by some business friends to try the cocaine drug crack, which is an extremely poor-quality drug. As it stands, most cocaine in America is only 67 percent pure at best. Nevertheless, the men were depressed. Their company was failing, and they succumbed to the evil enticement of illegal drugs. He wasted $40,000.00 USD buying “crack,” lost his job, underwent a personality change, and finally was hospitalized. Through it all, his wife stayed by him. She found a job, and they began the struggle of putting his life back together. At one point, he even tried to claim someone else’s son as his own and sell him to support his habit. His friends helped him get another job. However, his mind is seriously affected. He is still somewhat dependent on some drugs. The hope and prayer of his family is that he will be able to hold on to the lifeline. Some people are so morally corrupted that they no longer recognize sin and sin and come into other people’s life and send them on a downward spiral, but it feels so good while they are doing it, until they start to experience the spiritual and legal consequences. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
Movies, television, the news, and magazines have glorified sin into what they think is an acceptable life-style: fornication, adultery, incest, serial marriages, drug abuse, violence, and double dealing of every imaginable variety, that is often portrayed as normal behavior; where people who do good are not rewarded and those who do some very bad things are not punished. So, do not trifle with things that you know are bad. Do you see the warning signs? It is saying: Danger—do not go near the edge. You will lose. We pray that you will not display the somewhat arrogant attitude of some who say, “I got this!” or “Everyone else does it!” Everyone is not doing it. You do not. And you influence your friends. And others watch you. You help set the standard. People, you are a royal bloodline—not because you are better than anyone else—but because you have been blessed by God with special privileges and responsibilities. You have a special calling. You can discern good from bad. You have the gift of the Holy Ghost. And with that power, you have the authority to represent you Heavenly Father. Put on the armor of righteousness. That same spirit which does possess your bodies at the time you go out of this ill will have power to possess your body in that eternal World. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
God has provided us with the scriptures, which, if held on to, will allow us to escape both physical and spiritual danger. The Words of Wisdom are given so that we might have clear minds and healthy bodies. The Ten Commandments—cut in stone by the finger of God—forbidding us to sin are what we need to focus on. Develop a personal companionship with them. If you desire with a sincere heart, with faith in God, you can understand all things. May the Lord bless each of you with your life’s purpose. Put trust in God that you will avoid the crevasses of sin and evil. Hold on to the lifeline of the gospel, not some gossip. You can make correct choices—the one you know in your heart will be for your best good. We love you. Do not give up. Do not doubt in the darkness what God has shown you in the light. Do not grow weary in well doing. May the Heavenly Father command it and may it be arranged, and may it appease the hearts of those who are against us. Come, God, enlighten the hearts of those who can favor us (or those who can help us). Dear Lord, we pray for your divine intervention to resolve all our problems in the community we are facing. Choose to be different. Distinguish yourself from Worldly crowds. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
We have a lot of experiences in the past which have resulted to deep heartaches, feelings of frustration and grudges. Please heal and strengthen each member of the community so that we will have the courage to forgive and move on with our lives as one united family. God, we ask for the forgiveness for our failure to make ourselves open to one another. Bless us with more patience, apprehension, good communication and predominant love. May all the families in the World, especially experiencing broken family relationships, depression, addiction, agitation, and other relationship problems be resolved and entirely healed by our God Almighty. Your life is precious. Cheer up your hearts, and remember that you are free to act for yourselves—to choose everlasting death or the way of eternal life. The choice of life brings an outlook of optimism. It breathes hope. It rekindles self-esteem—regarding one’s body as a timeless trust. And awakens a personal commitment to see that you take care of these sacred things. That we look to God and live. Believe in God. Accept yourself as his child, created in his image. He loves you and wants you to be happy, and discover wisdom, great treasures of knowledge, and hidden treasures. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Matsuri Takahashi’s Employer Decides it was Time for her to Die
Hard work and sacrifice have long been synonymous with Japan, and strong social expectations make people work hard to be successful. However, Matsuri Takahashi (age 24), a beautiful young lady, promising graduate of Japan’s top university, leapt to her death 25 December of 2015, leaving being a trail of letters relentlessly begging for help. She worked over 265 hours in October of 2015. That is a total of 13.25 hours a day, five days a week, for a month. Matsuri Takahashi’s death was labeled “Karoshi” or death by overwork. The government warned her employer, Dentsu, and others that some of their employees were in danger of dying from being worked to death. In one year, 191 people have died from being overworked. Dentsu was reported to have worked Matsuri Takahashi so hard at their advertisement firm because they wanted more revenue. Because Dentsu ignored government regulations, their offices were raided, and Dentsu’s President Tadashi Ishii took full responsibility and resigned as president at a board meeting in January of 2016. Tadashi Ishii reported that Dentsu and a company employee had been referred to prosecutors by the Japanese labor ministry’s, Tokyo labor bureau on suspicion of violating labor standards. #RandolphHarris 1 of 5
Many people wondered why did Matsuri Takahashi just not quit her job? Well, employees often feel a debt of gratitude for being hired and are reluctant to quit even if conditions are bad. Others, especially new hires, feel they have to work longer hours than their colleagues to get promoted. A Tokyo court ruled that the advertising giant made staff work beyond legal limits, and could not forget the death of Matsuri Takahashi, especially because the company ignored warnings that the employees were in danger of dying, and had been asking for help, but were ignored. Dentsu was fined just 500,000 yen ($6,050). At the very least, it must be granted that the knowledge of death depends not only upon experience, but also upon a level of mental culture that makes it possible to interpret experience accurately. It is just tragic that this young lady thought that the only way she could escape was through sacrificing her life on Christmas day. She kept asking for help and clearly felt her life was in danger and was stressed out and decided to end it on her own terms. She probably sat up at night thinking about how much she wanted to live and what would happen if she killed herself and finally gave up her life. #RandolphHarris 2 of 5
Death reminds us that there is a spirit in humans. As we viewed the remains of our young friend, Matsuri Takahashi, it was obvious that more than blood had left her body. The light of her spirit no longer animated in her facial expression, nor the twinkle in her eyes. The smile that would light up the room was gone. She had her life taken from her at a tender, young age. However, it is important to remember that Matsuri Takahashi was good young lady and very successful. Just as we are born to parents to greet us, we also have eternal families. There are caring family members to greet her spirit, and other spirits in Heaven, and they will assist her in the adjustment to a new life. While standing before the casket, we thought that the separation was not only a shock for her mother, friends, family, colleagues, but also for the community and the World as well. We are sure she wishes should could tell her mother once more how much she loves her. This is just a reminder that the purpose of life is to teach and show others the love of God. If you know someone is truly suffering and has no way out, one should try to help them solve the problems they are having, even if you have to talk to their boss or report the person who is terrorizing them to the proper authorities. #RandolphHarris 3 of 5
Death, even if accidental, must be part of the plan. Perhaps Matsuri Takahashi gave her life to be a voice for those who are being abused and cannot get help. Developing faith in and coming to know one’s Creator is at the core of the plan. Having hope with regard to one’s eternal destiny and experiencing joy must also be part of life’s purpose. Death teaches that we do not experience a fullness of joy in mortality and that everlasting happiness can be achieved only with the assistance of God. God will help grieving parents and loved ones have faith in his plan, death’s void is softened just a little as we understand that our loved one’s have passed into Heaven and are no longer suffering in pain. This realization will help broken hearts and give peace. A divine prescription for this healing has been given by our Heavenly Father, which has eternally significant implications. Remember to plead to the Lord for mercy, strength, and forgiveness until one receives it through the Holy Ghost. You will be blessed with peace of conscience. The moment God put a dream in your heart, the moment the promise took foundation, know that God will bring your dreams to come true. #RandolphHarris 4 of 5
Just know that you will go beyond your barriers and become everything God created you to be, and you will have everything God intended for you to have. Ultimate forgiveness comes from the Lord to the repentant individual. He or she knows by the power of the Holy Ghost when forgiveness has come. God, our Father, your power brings us to birth, your providence guides our lives, and by your command we return to Heaven. Lord, those who die still live in your presence, their lives change, but do not end. I pray in hope for our families, relatives, friends, and for all the dead known to us. Those who have died may they rejoice in the Kingdom of God, where all our tears are wiped away. Unite us together again in one family, to sing your praise forever and ever. Wait on God, and he will work, but do not wait in spiritual sulks because you cannot see an inch in front of you! Are we detached enough from our spiritual hysterics to wait on God? To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn to do what we are told. God never made a promise that was too good to be true. #RandolphHarris 5 of 5
Unit it Sleeps Enter Sandman
Say your prayers, little one and do not forget, my son, to include everyone. Something is wrong, shut the light. Heavy thoughts tonight and they are not of Snow White. We are living in a most interesting and remarkable age, when the Spirit of the Lord is being poured out on the face of the Earth abundantly; but it is also an age of permissiveness, when many people’s hearts are set upon Worldly treasures, pleasures, and affluence. The act of real assent achieves our intellectual orientation toward the domain of concrete existents and their values. It does so by furnishing a concrete image of the individual being under consideration and by establishing the relevance of that imaged reality to the inquirer’s own personal life. Real assent does not necessarily ensure action, but it does furnish a necessary condition for our practical responses by directing our mind toward the real existent, grasped in an image that can appeal to our passions and will. One of the great challenges facing us today is to develop sufficient wisdom, understanding, and inner strength so that we can live happily and successfully in our complex and difficult World and not be caught up in the delirious scramble for the material things and pleasures. Human’s relationship to God is not yet one of direct vision; hence we must engage in inference. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8
Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, one that has eternal life is rich. Since theistic inquiry concerns a real existent, it is not enough to employ formal inference, even though its resources must be used to analyze and test our arguments. A concrete personal mode of reasoning is also required in order to proportion our inquiry as fully as possible to the situation of human’s search after the truth about God. Our aim must be the complex one of attaining some definite and well-grounded propositions to which we can legitimately give our notional assent, and also of forming a concrete image of the personal, morally good, and providential God to whose reality we can then give our real assent and practical attachment. Many people probably need to change their priorities in life and seek after wisdom rather than after so many material things and pleasures. Seek out the best books, words of wisdom; seek education, even by study and also by faith, and also teach one another words of wisdom. We should learn the preexistent state, purpose of this life and a life hereafter. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8
The scriptures promise we obtain wisdom, and the mysteries of God are unfolded to us as we seek God and study his words. Our aim must be the complex one of attaining some definite and well-grounded propositions to which we can legitimately give our notional assent, and also of forming a concrete image of the personal, morally good, and providential God to whose reality we can then give our real assent and practical attachment. It might be interesting to note that frequently, even when we seek after wisdom rather than riches, the Lord blesses us with wisdom and riches, as he did King Solomon. When this occurs, we have the great opportunity and responsibility to use our material wealth in the building up of the kingdom of God. We can realize a synthesis of intellectual acts bearing on the being of God. The meaning of human existence and history is important to our moral life. To reach the transcendent, personal God, it is important to be moral. It is here that we have the experience of conscience, of being under command to do and not to do, of being responsible to a just and caring person who transcends our human reality, but does so in a way that keeps him personally concerned about or conduct. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8
Conscience as a commanding act disclose the full human situation of our responsibility toward the good God. One of the great needs today is increased love and solidarity within families. It is our responsibility to set an example in our own homes and as home teachers to encourage and motivate our families to do likewise. All of you who are holding family homes evenings can testify that there is greater love between the parents, and the children, and between the children. Let us continue to emphasize this inspired family home night program. Another concern is that majority groups are responsible to accept the underrepresented groups living within their area and to provide full fellowship and encouragement, if you feel comfortable, so that they can receive the blessings resulting from such activity. Three features of the living command of conscience, as the best way of achieving real as well as notional assent to God: its intentional character, its personal significance, and its practical ordination. The dictate of conscience by its very structure refers the conscientious human beyond oneself, pointing one toward the reality of the supreme lawgiver and judge of our moral actions. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8
We must set a course of righteousness and follow it. This is not purely abstract orienting of our mind but involves a concrete image of God as our concerned Father. Another advantage of the way of conscience is that the moral relationship in which it consists is personal in both poles of reference. Conscience engages us precisely as a personal self; hence it enables us to give a real assent to God as a morally concerned person. Finally, the acts of conscience relate us to the personal God in a concrete way that leads to moral and religious actions. Hence the approach to God from the conscience encourages us to assent to the truth about God not only notionally but really, not only in respect to our propositions but also in respect to the persona, provident reality of God himself as the practical goal of our knowledge and love. We must find time to share with others and provide examples of courage and integrity for many who sorely need that assistance. We are vitally interested in and proud of the examples and contributions of our faithful community. Let us magnify our real assent to God, as the Lord of conscience furnishes a frame of reference for wrestling with the ungodly, and discerning God’s providential presence. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8
May we so live that we may be worthy of these blessings of wisdom, happiness, peace, and eternal life. A mind that is carefully formed upon the theistic implications of conscience interprets what it sees around it by this previous inward teaching, as the true key of that maze of vast complicated disorder; and thus it gains a more and more consistent and luminous vision of God from the most unpromising materials. Thus, conscience is a connecting principle between the creature and our Creator. We must secure first of all the inward principle of interpretation provided by the personal and moral relation of people to the Lord of conscience. The work of this principle is not to soften or gloss over the power of evil, but to bring in the other considerations concerning God and moral people that will enable us to understand and work with hope against physical and moral evil in our World. God lives and may we magnify him, and may we also sustain him in every way. Help us God to know our position in your kingdom, to declare your word over our lives, and become closer to you. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8
God, help us to claim our heritage in you, and move beyond the notion that we soul be satisfied with what life throws at as, which is exactly what people are telling us to do when they say things like: these are the last days, or it is a sign of the times. God, help us therefore, not to settle for mediocrity, but always seek to raise the standard, for your desire is for us to move up higher. In the mighty name of God, we come against anything or anyone conspiring against our personal advancement. We declare that we are on the upward path, no weapon formed against us shall prosper. We can grasp the intentional structure of basic human meanings only through studying their various perspectives, forcing them to enter the battlefield of critical discussion, and sometimes embodying them in visible, powerful social institutions. Dear Heavenly Father, you have seen us labor. We have been faith over small things. Please help us to be faithful over large things. Expand our territory. Promote us to the next level of responsibility. Guide our steps and priorities. Increase our faith, as we wait on you to move obstacles out of our path. Lord, you have a plan and purpose for our lives that no person can alter. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8
God, give us a vision that shows us the path that you want us to go, and please continue to speak to us in our dreams. Give us your clear direction and help us to be strong and confident as we perform our responsibilities. God, I thank you for increase. Thank you for your spiritual growth and material growth. Help us to give you the glory and honor in everything we do. Use us in a mighty way. God, have your way in our lives. Thank you for all that you have done in our lives and we are expecting to see blessings for us and our families for years to come. God, we thank you for the opportunity to honor you and give you the glory. God, you have promised to take the pain of our lives and turn it into blessings, to give us beauty for the hardships, and pay us back double for anything lost. We have made up our minds to endure until the end, knowing you restore health and give new opportunities and new relationships and new perspectives. Even though it is painful for a time, it is not the end. A full life is still in front of us. We believe you have more to come in our futures. God, you are going to make the rest of our lives the best of our lives. One the way to our victories, we will always face the weariness test. Thank you for the renewed strength. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8
Build a Bridge to Our Lonely Hearts
Perhaps our life in a loving premortal World set up our yearning for true, lasting love here on Earth. When we enter, we can see the eye of our soul, above (or beyond) our minds, the light unchangeable. It is it is not the common light of day that is seen by the eye of every living thing of flesh and blood. What one will see is something quite, quite, different from any light we know on Earth. It shines above our minds. It is above us (or higher), because it is itself the Light that made us, and we were below (or lower) because we were made by it. All who know the truth of this Light, and all who know this Light know eternity. We want to be encircled in the arms of our Heavenly Father’s love and guidance, and so we put his will first and with a broken heart plead that God will pour streams of cleaning light into our souls. At first in may trickle in, but as we seek, ask, and obey, it will become abundant. This living light will begin to fill us, and shine with God’s love, and we will be able to share the contents of our soul with others who thirst for healing, hope, and belonging. As our souls become clean, our Earthly relationships begin to heal. Drawing near God will mean learning his truth through scriptures, and striving to do his will more completely. God, by the power of the Holy Ghost, can give us needed insight into relationships. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
When we quest for reality, we shall see the Light as God: The Light already shines in the darkness, in the night, and in the day, in our hearts and minds. God is Light. Those who have not seen this light, have not seen God: for God is light. If we hope to enter his kingdom, we cannot regard the commandments as if they were optional. If we are unkind, unclean dishonest, or cruel; if we are hypocritical and appear pious when in fact our hearts are wicked, we throw our hope of salvation to the four winds, unless we truly repent. Light is expressed as human love: the soul is seen as being ravished by perfect harmony. When the Lord comes as a consuming fire, his presence is understood in the power y which the soul is changed. The light illuminating the intellect comes through narrow apertures, and the soul is perceiving the infinite metaphysical reality of light. And what is charity in its true sense? It is the pure love of God which helps us to love others. God expects us to become as perfect as he is. The very object of our existence as children of God is to become like him. However, no unclean thing may enter his presence. Therefore, we must perfect ourselves, beginning here in mortality, keeping in mind that we cannot achieve perfection through imperfect means. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
When we give our hearts to God, we change our World—even the circumstances around us change. There has always been light in our spirits, and not with external eyes can one always see it. That is why God is so strict. That is why he cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. We must serve God with all of our hearts and do unto others as we would be done by as we travel to this journey of eternal life. The light which we possess is not located, but yet is more brilliant than the Sun, it is called the cloud of the living light. And when I look upon it, every sadness and pain vanishes from my memory, so that I am again as a simple person. We need to continually deepen our knowledge of and obedience to Heavenly Father. Ravishing away from the darkness, gives the light, as our relationship with God is eternal. How are we going to wholeheartedly accept his invitation to draw near to him and this enjoy the blessings he longs to give us in this life and in the next World to come? God has loved us with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness God has drawn us. It is important, with desire, to see others in their true light. For without light, we shall not be able to walk in the way of truth. The soul ought to go on with all zeal to the perfect light. We are on this Earth to grow, and the most important learning and growing will come from our covenant connection to Heavenly Father. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
Gazing into an Angel’s eyes, there was a radiantly bright, so searing to the eyes it strikes upon. My hard feelings softened, my heart started to change, and my eyes needed must close before such piercing light. The light was encompassed us; in veil so luminous we were enwrapped that naught swathed in such a glory, could we see. Light we beheld which as a river flowed. There was a circle of yellow light at the center of the Celestial, the light of God’s glory, the lumen gloriae. The eternal light. There is a point that is sent forth so acute a light, that anyone who faced the force with which it blazed would have to shut their eyes, and any star that, seen from Earth, would seem to be the smallest, set beside that point. Around that point, a ring of fire wheeled. The Highest Light (or Light Supreme), we set our eyes on the Eternal Light so long that we spent all our sight on it! Whoever sees the Light is soon made such that it would be impossible for him or her to set that Light aside for other sight; because the good, the object of the will, is gathered in the Light; outside that Light, what there is perfect is defective. From our faithful relationship with God comes Godly knowledge, love, power, and capacity to serve. We are duty-bound to learn all that God has revealed about himself. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
We are divinely designed to give love and be loved, and deepest love comes when we are on with God. The Living Light at which we gazed—for it is always what it was before…Eternal Light, you only dwell within yourself, and you know you; self-knowing, self-known, you love and smile upon yourself. Can you feel the depth of the love running through God’s preparations for our joy and growth? We need to know that Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation is that we obey the laws and ordinances of the gospel and gain eternal life and thus become as God is. This is the true and lasting happiness Heavenly Father offers us. There is no other true and lasting happiness. Our challenges can pull us off this course of happiness. We can lose our trusting connection to God if trials drive us to distraction instead of sending us to reflect upon the miracles of God. We must love, even when loving is most difficult. The light of our minds for learning al things is the same God himself by whole all things were made, and he sees humankind as one in the City of God: all humankind are citizens of God. He seeks to understand the experience. The Infinite reality is light, in the order of the Universe, which can be known behind the normal mind. In its oneness immortality and eternity can be found. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Simple love, honestly expressed gives hope and value to others. Beloved Father and Shepherd of our souls, we come to you today with gratitude in our hearts for the gift of family. We know you designed families to present a perfect picture for you and your work. However, so often, God, we are sorrowful people in shattered relationships. We pray that you heal our family bond. Please breathe your unity throughout each family. Where hatred reigns, let love prevail. Where anger rises, let peace endure. Where selfishness chokes, let sacrifice come forth. And where bitterness poisons, let the sweet balm of your Spirit whisper truth, light, and life. Lord, you know the deep needs of each family touched by this prayer. Some have relatives who do not know you. Some have family members who do not communicate with them anymore. Some have loved ones who have passed into Heaven, have afflictions, or have taken other paths into deceitfulness of sin. We ask for your grace to allow each one to stand strong amid these trials and ask for your compassion to flow in and through every unique situation. Protect us from harm, and knit the hearts of our families together even as you knit our own hearts more closely to you. Build a bridge to our lonely hearts, increase our discernment, confidence, and faith. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Randolph Harris II International Institute 