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Stand a Little Less Between Me and the Sun for this is the Movement of Redeeming Love!

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If you watch a game, it is fun. If you play it, it is recreation. If you work at it, it is golf. We become live as we take, knowingly, full responsibility for our own life and as we stop blaming circumstance. Freedom for most people of the World means “freedom from” the absence of malice or pain or suppression. However, the freedom that God means when He deals with us goes one step further. God means “freedom to”—the freedom to act in the dignity of our own choice. What then does it mean to be free? Freedom means to have matured to the full knowledge of our dangerously many responsibilities as a human being. We have learned that everything we do, and even say or think, has consequences. We realize that too long we have believed that we were the victims of circumstances. In the Gospel of John, 8.32 it reports the following, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” As we open our hearts to the message of God’s truth, as it was restored in our time, we begin to understand why there was, and still is, so much misery, pain, suffering, and even starvation. Our nation’s future direction now hangs in the balance; we are living in a time of crucial choices—both conscious and unconscious—that will determine our fate. #RandolphHarris 1 of 22

The rights to freedom of thought and speech, the right to advocate any point of view which one believe—these freedoms are not highly regarded today. Even universities, where these freedoms are of the essence, often refuse to permit speakers to appear because their views are opposed by some influential group. And it is not only administrators who limit these freedoms, but faculty and students as well. Lies, deceit, criminal invasion of privacy, flouting of the law, surveillance and imprisonment of dissenters—all these have been tools used to control the populace and to hold power over persons. We have to be careful because incarcerating the young will keep them out of the adult World. High office now goes preponderantly to humans of wealth so that of our one hundred senators, supposedly representing the people, 50 percent of them are millionaires. To make people obey the law, it is important for them to feel they are a par of an ongoing, purposeful process. People are more likely to obey the law when they understand that each individual has an inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We cannot allow “Dysamerica,” to become popular since it is utterly opposed to the goals, ideals, and political structure embodied in the Constitution. #RandolphHarris 2 of 22

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Youth must also be taught not only to be loving, but also to be proud to be Americans so they do not become “Dysamerican.” Many social historians, economists, and forecasters agree that the disillusionment with democracy is growing, and they see it coming to fruition in the future that a controlled society is inevitable. Belief in the worth of the free person is not something that can be extinguished even by all the modern technological devices—bugging of conversations, use of “mental hospitals” to recondition behaviour, and all the rest. Nothing can extinguish the human organism’s drive to be itself—to actualize itself in individual and creative ways. Trust and courage are standards to emulate. Equality and justice are inviolable concepts. Authority should be guided by reason and tempered by fairness. There is a realization that if we are to live in a human context, there must be an ability to establish intimate, communicative, personal bonds with others in a very short space of time. They must be able to leave these close relationships behind, without excessive conflict or mourning. Every social revolution is preceded by, or brings with it, a change in the perception of the World or a change in the perception of the possible or both. #RandolphHarris 3 of 22

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In the same dimension as we are learning to accept the revealed truth in our own life, our faith in the living Son of God will grow, and therefore we will receive spiritual gifts of heretofore unknown capacity. We will learn that nothing is impossible for those who believe in Jesus Christ. False bondages will be loosened. Narrow thinking born in tragedies of false traditions will disappear. The more our understanding of the vastness and the completeness of the plan of salvation is developing, the more we see ourselves in smallness, in our incompleteness. And seeing ourselves in that humility, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, will let us understand and finally accept this most sacred covenant with our Heavenly Father. Freedom means that we have the potential of making wrong choices. Wrong choices have their merciless consequences, and when they are not stopped and corrected they lead us into misery and pain. Wrong choices, if not corrected, will lead us to the ultimate possible disaster in each person’s life: to become separated from our Heavenly Father in the World to come. When we have received this life-enabling message, we begin to understand that in our earlier life we were like a football player standing in the middle of the field, totally depressed because we did not know the purpose of the game. #RandolphHarris 4 of 22

We did not know which team we belong to, and we did not even know who was our coach. Only in the awareness of the restored gospel, our game plan become clear, and we comprehend that Jesus Christ and His restored Church and priesthood are the only way for us to succeed in our Earthly experience. Jesus Christ wants to empower our lives, according to our own righteous choices, to that dimension that, through our faith and our doings, the circumstances whose prisoners we were in the past will eventually change. Love, if it is truly love, implies that in any problem or dilemma we shall be led by a spiritual instinct. For, where love is, there is the Holy Spirit, who knows all, and who guides us in the strait path. Love is able to rise above the law; it does not follow, but lead, the law. The conscience of the mystics, enlightened by God’s illuminations, may be called a transmoral conscience. It does not need to be told what law is. For consciously or not, it fulfills the law. For in the concrete situation of the Christian who is totally committed to God, love never contradicts the law: it fulfills it. Love invents the law if the law is not explicitly known, and what it invents always corresponds to the law, because both have the Holy Spirit as their inspirer. The morel law of nature or of revelation cannot contradict the true love of God. #RandolphHarris 5 of 22

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The true love of God always desires to follow the moral law. However, every teacher knows that correct behaviour does not come spontaneously. Even love has to be taught. Even when one really loves them, one must learn to respect and understand others. Even for one who is totally dedicated to another, it is not east to respect the secret of that person. When it stated that “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom,” The Old Testament agree with common sense. Christ did not abolish the law; he fulfilled it. Love likewise does not seek to be freed from laws, but to fulfill them. Love soars above the law only to subject itself to the law again. Love is free, and it freely longs for obedience. As soon as we speak of obedience, we must ask, Obedience to what? In the realm of ethics, obedience can only be to objective standards, that is, to laws. The law is not strange to man. It is natural law. It represents his true nature from which he is estranged. Every ethical commandment is an expression of man’s essential relation to himself, to others and to the Universe. Undeserved grace of God has raised to full spiritual freedom. Most of us are theonomous only at times, when we rise above our average. #RandolphHarris 6 of 22

Our ethics, then, is a mixture: heteronomy, when we obey the law for no other reason than that is it’s the law; autonomy, when we escape the law and go on our own, experimenting with temptation and sin; theonomy, when we perceive that there is a higher realm, to which we obscurely aspire. In this World, theonomy can only be achieved by way of obedience. To behave ethically, in this view, is to be ultimately concerned about the connection of our actions with essential Godmanhood. The Christ is eternal Godmanhood, the essence of man paradoxically appearing under the conditions of existence. All humans have aspired to this revelation; they have longed for an escape from the dilemma of an existence which is never adequate to its essence. Their religions have attempted to find a way out of the human labyrinth. The Messiah, the Christ, the Servant of Yahweh, the Prophet to come, the Son of Man, the Son of God, are some of the representations of this ideal messenger of salvation. The Christian faith consists in believing that this messenger has come, Christ is eternal Godmanhood, is in Jesus Christ the man; and that Jesus was the manifestation of the Christ. The coming of Jesus the Christ is a totally gratuitous event, unanticipated by the human mind and irreducible to general categories. #RandolphHarris 7 of 22

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Our goodness is not ours, it is God’s. Christ is perfect goodness, and so he is perfectly God. We are good because God lives in us by grace; and Jesus was perfect goodness because God was perfectly in him, so perfectly that Jesus was God. Wherever the New Bing appears, salvation is achieved. The coming of the Christ is such a breakthrough of the New Bing. Other can be thought of or hoped for. This particular manifestation of the New Bing is the norm of Christianity because it is the greatest manifestation that has ever been perceived. Of all the messianic titles, Jesus claimed the title of the Man more definitely than any other. In 1 Corinthians 15.45-47, in Romans 5.12, and in Philippians 2.5-11, St Paul developed the idea of the Man and identified “the Heavenly Man,” “the second Adam,” “the second Man,” with the concrete man Jesus. The Man is from Heaven. He is spiritual, as contrasted with the first Adam, who was Earthly. He appeared on Earth as Jesus of Nazareth. These, and other texts of the New Testament, impose the following conclusion: The early Church initiated a Christology in which Jesus was considered to be the incarnation of preexisting celestial Man. Christology is built on the concept “Man.” The Man, the “celestial Man,” is equal with God. Christology takes this as a scriptural basis and describes the Thee Persons as the Father, the Man, the Spirit. #RandolphHarris 8 of 22

In examining the meaning of “the Man,” it might follow the patristic line of thought according to which man’s essence is to be the image, the eikon, of God. The second Person, the Man-God, is the perfect Image of the Father, of whom he is eternally born. It is precisely that which makes him the preexistent Man. To be a man on Earth consists in being destined to imitate this Man, in being created an image of God. All men are types of this eternal Archetype, of the Image of the Father, of the Man. The two natures, divine and human, of Christ can also be called the two humanities of Jesus: the divine Humanity, which is God himself, the Exemplar of all images of God; and the creaturely humanity, in whose shape the divine Humanity appeared on Earth at a given moment in history. These two are one—one “person” in the Chalcedonian language—by way of exemplarity: the creaturely humanity of Jesus is the perfect created likeness of the divine Man. We should not speak of Jesus as two men, but as two humanities—divine and human—in one man, the pre-existent divine Man. The integrity of the creaturely humanity assumed by the eternal Man, in all things like his brethren. #RandolphHarris 9 of 22

The Exemplar itself is, eternally so, divine and yet human the divine Man. Eternal Godmanhood is made possible by the Scriptures themselves and by the early tradition of the Church. It may be achieved in complete fidelity to the normative Councils of the early Church. Jesus is the divine Man and appeared in the midst of creaturely mankind, a brother among brothers. Jesus the Christ is the Saviour. Jesus the Christ is the mediator in all things. The Son of God, to whom alone belong the Kingdom, the Power and the Glory. “If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us,” reports 1 John 4.12. The first great commandment makes it possible to fulfill the commandment: love of neighbour as oneself. And loving others under God will ensure that we are loved by others. For to the others in our community of love, we are the “other” who they love because they love and are loved by God. The fellowship of Christ’s apprentices in kingdom living is a community of love. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all humans will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another,” reports John 13.34-35. This is the movement in the process of redeeming love. Christ chose his twelve apostles not only because they were naturally and extremely religious men but also because they were loyal enough and brave enough to live and die for their master. #RandolphHarris 10 of 22

Here, then, is the full accounts of the movements of love in our lives: We are loved by God who is love, and in turn we love him, and others through him, who in turn love us through him. Thus is love made perfect or complete. And “perfect love casts out fear,” reports 1 John 4.18. That is, those who live in the fulfillment of God’s redemptive love in human life will no longer experience fear. “Fear involves torment,” John notes, and torment is incompatible with living in the full cycle of love (1 John 4.18). We live in the community of goodwill from a competent God. Now, as St Augustine saw long ago, the opposite of love is pride. Love eliminates pride because its will for the god of the other nullifies our arrogant presumption hat we should get our way. We are concerned for the good of others and assured that our good is take care of without self-will. Thus pride and fear and their dreadful offspring no longer rules our life as long becomes complete in us. This eagerness to become a disciple and learn truth is the first necessary qualification. Without it nothing can be done; with it everything will come naturally in automatic response from God. One must supply faith and loyalty, obedience and practice, along with the aspiration which brings us closer to the Lord. If we hear the master’s words with joy, that is one indication that we are ready. #RandolphHarris 11 of 22

When we entrust ourselves to the Lord’s care, we should cultivate patience and not seek immediate results. However, it is not necessary to display frenzied fervour in order to be a devoted disciple. If we feel personally humiliated or become hysterically tearful because God did not respond when we expected, we are not only suffering needlessly, but will remain long puzzled. Our humility will always be met by kindness and our frankness by equal frankness. The seeker who has found the path proper and are in affinity with God’s commandments should waste no more time in the experimental investigations of other paths, other teachings, and other teachers. If one is to get full benefit of our fellowship, we must remain absolutely loyal. As one’s tender, newly regenerated soul begins to grow close to Christ, one will begin to care deeply about ideas in these areas. Preserve and clear away some of the cobwebs that cover vast regions of one’s mental attic. Nothing that is worth doing id pleasurable or easy in the early stages of learning how to do it. However, through regular practice, patient endurance, and proper mentoring, skills emerge and habits are formed that enable a good person to be good at the activity in focus. This is clearly the case in learning to play gold, hit a baseball, or read in completely new areas of study. It is n less true of becoming a deep, careful thinker in general. #RandolphHarris 12 of 22

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If we are to love God adequately with the mind, then the mind must be exercised regularly, trained to acquire certain habits of thought, and filled with an increasingly rich set of distinctions and categories. There is n simple way to do this, and it would be presumptuous to attempt to describe fully how to develop a mature mind in one essay. A mature person has a tightly integrated, well-ordered soul. A carefully developed mind is a crucial part of a well-ordered soul. A mind that is learning to function well is both part of and made possible by an overall life that is skillfully lived. You cannot learn to use your mind well for Christ’s sake by just reading a logic book or taking more adult education courses. You must order your general lifestyle in such a way that a maturing intellect emerges as part of that lifestyle. If you want to develop a Christian mind, you must intend to order your overall form of life to make this possible. You cannot just read a book or two and add this to a lifestyle otherwise indifferent to the intellect. Moreover, learning to be a careful Christian thinker results in an entire way of being present in the World.  What a person spends time learning will affect the way that person sees, hears, thinks, and behaves. #RandolphHarris 13 of 22

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A trained lawyer actually hears things on the evening news, see things in the newspaper, and approaches conversations with others in ways that would be unavailable to one if one had gone into psychology or business. A person with a well-developed lawyer-type mind will have a distinctive way of being present in the World. This is also true of a person who is cultivating a careful Christian mind. That person will be present to the World in a distinctively Christian intellectual way. One will notice certain things others miss, read things (for example, theology, church history) others eschew, and so forth. To develop a Christian mind skillfully, one must want to be a certain sort of person badly enough that one is willing to pay the price for ordering one’s lifestyle appropriately. Of course, some Christians are called to a vocation of being a Christian intellectual in one way or another—a Christian philosopher or New Testament scholar, for example. This requires a more intense, focused ordering of one’s life than is needed for those without this calling. However, every believer, regardless of vocational calling, needs to cultivate a Christian mind. A life so ordered to facilitate intellectual growth is characterized by a certain set of virtues that makes such growth possible. #RandolphHarris 14 of 22

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A virtue is a skill, a habit, an ingrained disposition to act, think, or feel in certain way. Virtues are those good parts of one’s character that make a person excellent at life in general. As with any skill (for example, learning to swing a golf club), a virtue become ingrained in my personality, and thus a part of my very nature, through repetition, practice, and training. If I want to develop the virtue of compassion, I must regularly practice acts of mercy, self-sacrifice, and kindness. Knowing what these virtues are will give one something specific at which to aim in one’s efforts to cultivate one’s mind. Certain virtues are especially relevant to the development of an intellectual life. Moreover, these virtues are not isolated from each other. They are deeply interrelated. Growth in one virtue can assist maturity in another skill and vice versa. If one wants a maturing Christian mind, one will need to cultivate these virtues through regular practice. If in the beginning one is to cast one’s net so widely as to search for truth in every corner, in the middle of one’s course one is to narrow one’s World until one has no ear for anyone else but the voice of God. Only so can concentration be achieved. In the beginning, width; in the middle, depth. #RandolphHarris 15 of 22

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Virtue of wisdom contains truth seeking, honesty, and wisdom. Even if it is not the truth we want to hear, the Christian mind is committed to seeking and finding the truth. The Christian seeks to know and do the truth. In fact, in a certain sense the believer’s commitment to the truth is even more basic than one’s dedication to the Christian faith in general or some doctrinal position in particular: If one came to believe that Christianity or some doctrinal belief were false, then one would ought to give up the belief in question. By way of application, even if we do not like the way they express their views, we should earn to listen to what our critics say about us. Even if it was expressed angrily and inappropriately, a wife or husband should try to get at the truth of a spouse’s criticisms. Practice this in all areas of your life to cultivate the habit of wanting the truth. Few are ready to pay the entrance fee of lifelong loyalty and steadfast service which are demanded, for this payment must be made in actual practice and not in lip movements alone. Even when understanding cannot keep pace, we must be able to trust and walk unwaveringly at our spouses’ side, and our fine loyalty should shine out like Sirius in the sky. Loyalty is the quality which will endear one most to a loved one. #RandolphHarris 16 of 22

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 The Quest will become inseparable from the happiness one seeks, so devotion to God will become inseparable from the salvation upon which happiness depends. Why should this be so is one of the mysterious workings of Destiny which can only be illuminate when and if it be possible to illuminate the Earth sacred covenant. In this freedom that we have received in our time, through our understanding of God’s divine plan for us, we stand in our full responsibility. Let us always stay close to the loving, caring hand of our Redeemer, and our Saviour to find safety and joy. I say this in deep humility. “And now, it came to pass that there were many who heard the words of Samuel, the Lamanite, which he spake upon the walls of the city. And as many as believed on his word went forth and sought for Nephi; and when they had come forth and found him they confessed unto him their sins and denied not, desiring that they might be baptized unto the Lord. However, as many as there were who did not believe in the words of Samuel were angry with him; and they cast stones at him upon the wall, and also many short arrows at him as he stood upon the wall; but the Spirit of the Lord was with him, insomuch that they could not hit him with their stones neither with their arrows. #RandolphHarris 17 of 22

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“Now when they saw that they could not hit him, there were many more who did believe on his words, insomuch that they went away unto Nephi to be baptized. For behold, Nephi was baptizing, and prophesying, and preaching, crying repentance unto the people, showing signs of wonders, working miracles among the people, that they might know that the Christ must shortly come—telling them of the things which must shortly come, that that might know and remember at the time of their coming that they had been made known unto them beforehand, to the intent that they might believe; therefore as many as believed on the word of Samuel went forth unto him to be baptized, for they came repenting and confessing their sins. However, they more part of them did not believe in the words of Samuel; therefore when they saw that they could not hit him with their stone and their arrows, they cried unto their captains, saying: Take this fellow and bind him, for behold he hath a devil; and because of the power of the devil which is in him we cannot hit him with our stones and our arrows; therefore take him and bind hi, and away with him. And as they went forth to lay their hands on him, behold, he did cast himself down from the wall, and did flee out of their lands, yea, even unto his own country, and began to preach and to prophesy among his own people. #RandolphHarris 18 of 22

“And behold, he was never heard of more among the Nephites; and thus were the affairs of the people. And thus ended the eighty and sixth year of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus ended also the eighty and seventh year of the reign of the judges, the more part of the people remaining in their pride and wickedness, and the lesser part walking more circumspectly before God. And these were the conditions also, in the eighty and eighth year of the reign of the judges. And there was but a little alteration in the affairs of the people, save it were the people began to be more hardened in iniquity, and do more and more of that which was contrary to the commandments of God, in the eighty and ninth year of the reign of the judges. However, it came to pass in the ninetieth year of the reign of the judges, there were great signs given unto the people, and wonders; and the words of the prophets began to be fulfilled. And Angels did appear unto men, wise men, and did declare unto them glad tidings of great joy; thus in this year the scriptures began to be fulfilled. Nevertheless, the people began to harden their hearts, all save it were the most believing part of them, both of the Nephites and also of the Lamanites, and began to depend upon their own strength and upon their own wisdom saying: #RandolphHarris 19 of 22

“Some thing they may have guessed right, among so many; but behold, we know that all these great and marvelous works cannot come to pass, of which have been spoken. And they began to reason and to contend among themselves, saying: That it is not reasonable that such a being as a Christ shall come; if so, and he be the Son of God, the Father of Heaven and of Earth, as it has been spoken, why will he not show himself unto us as well as unto them who shall be at Jerusalem? Yea, why will he not show himself in this land as well as in the land of Jerusalem? However, behold, we know that this is a wicked tradition, which has been handed down unto us by our fathers, to cause us that we should believe in some great and marvelous thing which should come to pass, but not among us, but in a land which is far distant, a long which we know not; therefore they can keep us in ignorance, for we cannot witness without own eyes that they are true. And they will, by the cunning and the mysterious arts of the evil one, work some great mystery which we cannot understand, which will keep us down to be servants to their words, and also servants unto them, for we depend upon them to teach us the word; and thus will they keep us in ignorance if we will yield ourselves unto them, all the days of our lives. #RandolphHarris 20 of 22

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“And many more thing did the people imagine up in their hearts, which were foolish and vain; and they were much disturbed, for Satan did stir them up to do iniquity continually; yea, he did go about spreading rumors and contentions upon the face of the land, that he might harden the hearts of the people against that which should come. And notwithstanding the signs and the wonders which were wrought among the people of the Lord, and the many miracles which they did, Satan did get great hold upon the hearts of the people upon all the face of the land. And thus ended the ninetieth year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi. And thus ended the book of Helaman, according to the record of Helaman and his sons,” reports Helaman 16.1-25. Come, spirits of the Lord, and bless my life. We will live our lives together from now on, you living in me. God, please guide our ways and balance opposites. May we use the blessings you have given us well for your purposes. O Almighty God, from Whom every good prayer cometh, and Who pourest out on all who desire it the Spirit of grace and supplications; please deliver us, when we draw nigh to Thee, from coldness of heart and wanderings of mind; that with steadfast thoughts and kindled affections we may worship Thee in spirit and in truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #RandolphHarris 21 of 22

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O God, Who makest us glad with the weekly remembrance of the glorious Resurrection of Thy Son our Lord; please vouchsafe us this day such a blessing though Thy worship, that the days which follow it may be spent in Thy favour; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. O Lord, Who by triumphing over the powers of darkness, didst prepare our place in the New Jerusalem; please grant us, who have this say given thanks for Thy resurrection, to praise Thee in that City whereof Thou art the Light; where with the Father we are taken into His heart and profit by lessons of the past and remain resolutely devoted to Him. Our inner affinity with God is so personal, so intimate, so deeply felt, that no one else can take the place of the Lord. We seek not counsel from anyone other than God. O Lord Jesus Christ, Who art the Truth Incarnate and the Teacher of the faithful; please let Thy Spirit overshadow us in reading Thy Word, and conform our thoughts to Thy Revelation; that learning of Thee with honest heart, we may be rooted and built up in Thee who livest genuinely and teachers us reverence and obedience, love and respect. There is none higher than God, He guides humans out of illusion into reality. It is not wrong therefore to give His office great reverence and Himself great devotion. Our spiritual debt to God is unpayable. This is because that which directs us is more important in the end than anything else. #RandolphHarris 22 of 22

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I am Not a Politician and My Other Habits are Good for in the Evening of Life, One Shall be Examined on Love!

It is a lonesome walk to the sidelines, especially when thousands of people are cheering your replacement. Humans are not and cannot be justified by anything of their own doing; they are not, and cannot be, separated from God by their sinful actions: sinful or not in their behaviour, humans are estranged from God. What stand in the way of the divine if not one’s bad deed only; it is one’s very existence. The self, as such, is sinful before any act; it is separated from God, unwilling to love Him. When you come to God forget your Christian morals, your achievements and your failures. Nothing is demanded of you—no idea of God, and no goodness in yourselves, not your being religious, not your being Christian, not your being wise and not your being moral. Immoralists take the opposite of the law, calling evil good and good evil. The New Being manifested in Christ is above morality and immorality. It demands nothing but your being open and willing to accept what is given to you, the New Being, the love and justice and truth, as it is manifest in Him whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. The mortality of the Christ does not mean that we can be saved by good actions or damned by evil actions; it means that there is a creative and saving possibility implied in every situation, which cannot be destroyed by any event. #RandolphHarris 1 of 22

Deep under the estrangement from God which is our existence and which our life manifests, there lies a unity, a unity with the ground being, with the power to be. The ethics of the New Being consists in letting the power to be inform all our actions. The forgiveness of sins of the Gospels is a symbol of this victory of the ground of being over existence; it conveys the certainty that we reach eternal life in spite of suffering and sin. Christian revelation does not give a new law and a new set of commands; it gives a new spirit, in which any law may be accepted as a norm of behaviour because it is already transcended in spirit. Can the problem of conscience be answered at all in terms of moral conscience? Being able to become deeply involved in one’s personhood, one’s very self, might lead to the reconstruction of the person—the person’s outlook, attitudes, values, behaviour. This would be a true reconstruction of experience; it would be a learning in a real sense. In those moments of unearthing the New Being are moments when you see a human soul revealed before you, in all its breathless wonder; and then a silence, almost like reverence, overtakes the environment. And each individual becomes enveloped with a warmth and a loveliness that borders on the mystic. #RandolphHarris 2 of 22

The Bible presents human’s experience in relation to God as being above all, ethical existence. The ethics of the Old Testament is in a constant tension between the law and prophecy, between fear and love. In the New Testament, Jesus reinterprets the law, shows its radical implications, and sums it up n the commandments of love. In the person, this might be characterized by a healthy change, an increase in one’s flexibility, one’s openness, one’s willingness to listen. In the process, we all feel elevated, freer, more accepting of ourselves and others, more open to new ideas, trying hard to understand and accept. Once you become close to a person, perceive one’s thoughts, one’s emotions, one’s feelings, one becomes not only understandable but good and desirable. Every generation in every nation, including the selected one, the decision against righteousness means self-destruction. We must acknowledge with ultimate seriousness that all righteousness is from God and not from humans. To choose the righteous that is from God is to choose the Christ. To prefer a righteousness that would be from humans is to decide against Christ. What is decisive is only whether one acts for the law of love, for which Christ stands. Acting according to it means being received in the unity of fulfilment. Acting against it means being excluded from fulfilment and being cast into the despair of non-being. This is biblical ethics. #RandolphHarris 3 of 22

If we view education, however, as the reconstruction of experience, does not this presume that the individual must do one’s own reconstruction? One must do it oneself, through the reorganization of one’s deepest self, one’s values, one’s attitudes, one’s very person. What better method is there to engross the individual; to being one, one’s ideas, one’s feelings into communication with others; to break down the barriers that create isolation in a World where for one’s own mental safety and health, humans have to learn to be part of humankind? From this standpoint, biblical ethics means being presented with an ultimate choice and making with courage an ultimate decision. In every such choice the fight of light with chaos of Christ with estrangement, is fought anew. And in every choice of absolute love the victory of the New Being over estrangement and existence triumphs again. Obviously, this has little do to with the middle-class ethics of avoiding a few things which are supposed to be wrong, and doing a few things which are supposed to be right. There exists a Universal transmoral conscious called the emotional-esthetic, the abstract-formalistic, and the rational-idealistic interpretations of conscience. #RandolphHarris 4 of 22

The first rests on the principle of Universal harmony which humans discover through one’s conscience, and with which one should harmonize one’s actions. A conscience may be called “transmoral” which judges, not in obedience to a moral law, but according to the participation in a reality which transcend the sphere of moral commands. It is a new concept of conscience from the experience of justification through faith. Justification through faith is an ultimate experience which throws new light on all things, including the commands of morality. Justification implies that it is not because of our moral perfection but in spite of our moral imperfection that we are fighting and triumphing on the side of God. We are justified in our estrangement and sin. In the experience of sin we are graciously justified. Participation in the New Being is the other side of the experience of estrangement. It is the depth of estrangement, the depth of estrangement, the abyss and the ground under existence. Human’s actions, whether good or bad, reveal, in the ecstatic experience of the New Being in the Christ, an ultimate ground: the saving grace of the courage to be, the universal redeeming power of being-itself. The ethical question is not, to do or not to do; it is, to be nor not to be, to accept or to reject being-itself. #RandolphHarris 5 of 22

Any view of the politics of human relationships must rest basically upon the conception of the human organism and what makes it “tick”—the nature and motivation of that organism. Here in this palmlike seaweed of society is the tenacity of life, the forward thrust of life, the ability to push into an incredibly hostile environment and not only for the soul to hold its own but to adapt, develop, become itself. We can even attempt some biochemical explanations of phototropism. We can say that the human soul grows where it does because there is an ecological niche that is fills, and that is this soul had not developed to fill this niche, the process of evolution would have favoured some other organism that would gradually have developed much these same characteristics. Yet it is very valuable as a part of the continuing differentiation, the finer description, the more accurate picture of functional relationship, which our curiosity demands, and which gives us at least a deeper respect for and understanding of the complexities of life. The transmoral conscience is not without content. It is rooted in the power to be. It is enlightened by the historical manifestation of the power to be. It is enlightened by the historical manifestation of the power to be under the conditions of existence in Jesus the Christ. #RandolphHarris 6 of 22

On the strength of this, the transmoral conscience dominates all law and all mortality. It determines a situation instead of being determined by it. If it is not, in this sense, moral, neither is it amoral or immortal. For its very definite content is immovable, being no other than the ultimate rock of life, justification of the sinner: The good, transmoral conscience consists in the acceptance of the bad, moral conscience, which is unavoidable wherever decisions are made and act performed. This is to say, as soon as humans act ethically, one develops a moral conscience, a system of good and evil, categories of good deeds and misdeeds. It matters little where the contents of this moral conscience come from. They may derive from religion or from society; they may be biblical commands, primitive taboos, bourgeois prejudices, or superstitions. What matter is that the moral conscience, judging itself in the light of the New Being, perceives its incapacity to do justice to being-itself even in its fulfilment of an accepted system of ethics. Then, it is impossible not to transcend the moral conscience because it is impossible to unite a sensitive and a good conscience. The content of the transmoral conscience consists therefore in accepting both the dictates of the moral conscience and also the guilt that unavoidably accompanies ethical actions, in the knowledge that even morality does not justify. #RandolphHarris 7 of 22

The moral conscience derives beyond the sphere in which it is valid to the sphere from which it must receive its conditional validity. The moral conscience receives its validity from the ecstatic perception of its incapacity: when this takes place, the transmoral conscience is born. It is the ethical analogue of faith as the self-transcendence of the intellect. We find that all parts and processes are so ordered so that they guarantee the maintenance, construction, restitution, and reproduction of organic systems. Here, then at the very heart of the mystery of what makes organisms “tick,” is an important foundation stone for our political thinking. The organism is self-controlled. In its normal state it moves toward its own enhancement and toward an independence from external control. What the transmoral conscience brings is neither security nor comfort. The person who is justified does not cease to be a sinner, and there is no comfort in accepting life in a boundary-situation, on the boundary-line that forms a ridge between and above the affirmations and the negations of morality. If we accept the message of the new reality in the Christ, we must understand that this message does not contain an easy answer, and that it does not guarantee spiritual security. #RandolphHarris 8 of 22

The transmoral conscience does not prescind from the human situation; on the contrary, it knows that there is no ultimate answer to the ethical questions unless we experience it permanently in the light of our human situation, in which tragedy and hope fight each other without victory. It is the meaning of the Cross that victory is given in death, that resurrection is also crucifixion. The New Being arises out of the wrecked old being. The most impressive fact about the individual human being seems to be that directional tendency toward wholeness, toward actualization of potentialities. Psychotherapy or group experience is not effective when one tries to create in another individual something that is not there, but it is effective when one provides the conditions that make for growth, then this positive directional tendency brings about constructive results. It is much like when a scientist divides a cell One cannot cause the cell to develop in one way or another, one cannot (as yet, at least) shape or control the DNA molecule, but if one focuses one’s skill on providing the conditions that permit the cell to survive and grow, then the tendency for growth and the direction of growth will be evident, and will come from within the organism. Given the opportunity, a living organism tends to fulfill its more complex potentialities rather than settle for simpler satisfactions. #RandolphHarris 9 of 22

Then there is no security; there still is sin and guilt, estrangement and frustration. However, there is liberty. For sin and guilt, estrangement and frustration are accepted as revelatory of the ground of all being. Bondage and fear have disappeared; obedience has ceased to be obedience and has become free inclination; ego and super-ego are united. This is the liberty of the children of God, liberty from the law, and because from the law, also from the condemnation to despair. It is very clear that when you receive an absolute minimum of any external stimuli, you open yourself to a flood of inter experiencing that goes far beyond that of everyday living. You most certainly do not lapse into homeostasis, into a passive equilibrium. This only occurs in diseased organisms. When it comes to motivation, the organism is an active initiator and exhibits a directional tendency. Even when its primary needs are satisfied and its homeostatic chores are done, an organism is alive, active, and up to something. We are, in short, dealing with an organism that is always motivated, is always up to something, always seeking. With liberty, holiness is recovered. The holy is human’s apprehension of the divine. When a human commits oneself unreservedly to the New Being, one enters into communion with God. #RandolphHarris 10 of 22

So I reaffirm, even more strongly than when I first advanced the notion, my belief that there is one central source of energy in the human organism; that it is a trustworthy function of the whole organism rather than some portion of it; and that it is perhaps best conceptualizes as a tendency toward fulfillment, toward actualization, not only toward the maintenance but also toward the enhancement of the organism. The ethics of the New Bring develops a sensitive rather than “good” conscience. It implies liberation from moral commands as well as from moral prohibitions. Human’s free inclination now determines one’s purposes. The liberty of the children of God creates a new morality in harmony with the New Being, and by so doing unveils the holiness of creation. And the holy is the sphere of the divine, in which the divine radiates. A classic experiment showed that even the human infant eventually does a quite satisfactory job of balancing one’s diet. One may go on a protein “binge,” for a time, or devour too much fat, but soon evens out these errors, showing a wisdom of the body in maintaining and enhancing one’s development. This type of relatively integrated, self-regulating behaviour, directed toward maintenance and fulfillment, seems to be the rule in nature rather than the exception. #RandolphHarris 11 of 22

Life flows into ever more diverse forms, correcting in its errors, and moving towards its own enhancement. God’s wrath is not directed against our moral shortcomings, against special acts of disobedience to the divine order. It is directed against the secret of our personality, against what happens in us and to us, unseen by humans, unseen even by ourselves. This, our secret, determines of fate. Love alone can transform itself according to the concrete demands of every individual and social situation without losing its eternity and dignity and unconditional validity. When a person is functioning in an integrated, unified, effective manner, one has the confidence in the directions one unconsciously chooses, and trust one’s experiencing, of which, even if one is fortunate, one has only partial glimpses in one’s awareness. Love alone is able to determine standards of conduct that will respect the changing human situations while safeguarding the divine content of every human action in which humans are ultimately concerned. Love has the power to transform human actions. Love is an absolute law because it is also absolute self-sacrifice. As love it is absolute, eternally related to the ground of being and manifesting this ground in action There is no danger of its swerving from the divine, because it is the divine. #RandolphHarris 12 of 22

Love is always love; that is its static and absolute side. The ethics of the New Being is essentially inter-personal. Love is the drive toward the unity of the separated. The love of Jesus as the Christ, which is the manifestation of the divine love—and only this—embraces everything concrete in self and World. In love, the absolute become relational. Humans are totally dominated by the divine ground of love, and totally committed to all other human beings. When love reigns, the ethical problem is solved. The yoke of the law no longer exists. Moral pride has vanished. The sin of religion has come to an end. There are no right decisions which are rooted in love, which by resigning the absolute do not fall into the relative. No decision can be annihilated; no action can be undone. However, love gives meaning even to those decisions and actions which prove to be failures. The failures of love do not lead to resignation but to new decisions beyond absolutism and relativism. No objective law is absolute. What is absolute is this: life, as directed by the transmoral conscience, becomes the expression of unconditional love. Love creates the forms in which it will express its divine ground. These forms may be successful or they may be failures; at any rate they are neither right nor wrong. They are beyond morality, in the realm of love’s creativity. #RandolphHarris 13 of 22

Love creates its forms, or it gives a divine content to forms of behaviour borrowed from human culture. If a condition of worth imposed on a child are numerous and significant, then the dissociation can become very great, and the psychological consequences very serious indeed. Individuals are culturally conditioned, rewarded, reinforced, for behaviours that are in fact perversions of the natural directions of the unitary actualizing tendency. If awareness and conscious thought are seen as part of life—not its masters nor its opponent but an illusion of the developing processes within the individual—then our total life can be the unified and unifying experience that seems characteristic in nature. If our magnificent symbolizing capacity can develop as part of and be guided by the tendency toward fulfillment that exists in us both at the conscious and nonconscious levels, then the organic harmony is never lost and becomes a human harmony and human wholeness simply because our species is capable of greater richness of experience than any other. Dissociation occurs when love and esteem are made conditional. #RandolphHarris 14 of 22

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In such a World God intrudes, gently and in many ways, but especially in the person of Jesus Christ. It is he who stands for love, as no one else has ever done, and pays the price for it. His crucifixion is the all-time high-water mark of love on Earth. “While we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly,” reports Romans 5.6. No other source, whether inside or outside of religions, even comes close to what God in Christ shows of love. This is the first “move” of love in the process of redemption. “He first loved us,” reports 1 John 4.19. Therefore, “love is from God,” reports 1 John 4.7. And “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us,” reports 1 John 3.16. All other loves are to be measured by this standard (Acts 17.31). When we receive what is thus clearly given, the revelation of God’s love in Christ, that in turn makes is possible for us to love. Love is awakened in us by him. We feel its call—and to love Jesus himself, and then God. Thus the first great commandment, to love God with all out being, can be fulfilled because of the beauty of God given in Christ. This is the second movement in the return to love: “We love, because He first loved us.” Every conscience, be it right or erroneous, is binding. And conscious is not only an intellectual knowledge of the law. It is also the recipient of God’s moral guidance through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  This guidance increases with growth in love. One who is totally committed to love always knows how to behave, even though one may be in the dark as to the letter of the law. #RandolphHarris 15 of 22

If we can identify the environmental influences that promote a continuing learning of dissociation, these findings could be put to preventive use. We can prevent the rift from occurring. We can, if we will, use our scientific skills to help us keep the person whole and unified, a creature whose actualizing tendency will be continually forming one in the direction of a richer and more fulfilling relationship to life. The human species is composed of basically trustworthy organisms, trustworthy persons. The actualizing tendency, when operating freely, tends toward an integrated wholeness in which behaviour is guided as much by the experiencings within as by the consciousness that flutters over these experiences. However, what does this mean from the point of view of the political of interpersonal relationships? It leads me to the conclusions that the most trustworthy entity in our uncertain World is an individual who is fully open to the two major sources: the data from internal experiencing, and the data from experiencing of the external World. This person is at the opposite pole from the dissociated individual. Either one was fortunate in not developing the internal rift between the experiencing organism and the conscious self or this rift has been eliminated in helping relationships or by healing life experiences. #RandolphHarris 16 of 22

In such an individual, functioning in a unified way, we have the best possible base for wise action. Politically, then, if we are in search of a trustworthy base to operate from, our major aim would be to discover and possibly to increase the number of individuals who are coming closer to being whole persons—who are moving toward a knowledge of, and harmony with, their innermost experience, and who sense with an equal lack of defensiveness, all that data from the persons and objects of their external environment. These persons would constitute an increasing flow of wisdom in action. Their directions would be wiser than the commandments of gods or the directives of governments. They might become the vitalizing stream of a constructive future. The love in question is the love of God, God being understood in the sense of being-itself, not one being among others, but the Supreme Being. Such a love embraces all created beings as concrete expressions of being-itself. It is focused on the Christ as the manifestation of being-itself in the conditions of existence. There is a close kinship between this and the Catholic doctrine of the supremacy of love. Well known is the saying of St. John of the Cross: “In the evening of your life, you shall be examined on love.” #RandolphHarris 17 of 22

Conformity to the moral law will not decide eternal bliss or doom. Rather, the love of God that shall have informed both our obedience to the law and, if possible, our aberrations shall judge us. The soul is entirely guided by the instinctive discoveries of its love of God. The higher one has been raised into the love of God, the more all embracing is the light. What the mind learns through the commandments, love knows by experience. Then the law is transformed. No longer a yoke, it is a delight. Humans no longer obey an exterior, heteronomous authority; rather, one discovers anew the regulations of the law in implications of His love. “And now, my beloved brethren, behold, I declare unto you that except ye shall repent your houses shall be left unto you desolate. Yea, expect ye repent, your women shall have great cause to mourn in the day that they shall give suck; for ye shall attempt to flee and there shall be no place for refuge; yea, and wo unto them which are with child, for they shall be heavy and cannot flee; therefore, they shall be trodden down and shall be left to perish. #RandolphHarris 18 of 22

“Yea, wo unto this people who are called the people of Nephi except they shall repent, when they shall see all these signs and wonders which shall be showed unto them; for behold, they have been a chosen people of the Lord; yea, the people of Nephi hath he loved, and also hath he chastened them; yea, in the days of their iniquities hath he chastened them because he loveth them. However, behold my brethren, the Lamanites hath he hated because their deeds have been evil continually, and this because of their iniquity of the tradition of their fathers. However, behold, salvation hath come unto them through the preaching of the Nephites; and for this intent hath the Lord prolonged their days. And I would that ye should behold that the more part of them are in the path of their duty, and they do walk circumspectly before God, and they do observe to keep his commandments and his statues and his judgments according to the law of Moses. Yea, I say unto you, that the more part of them are doing this, and they are striving with unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth; therefore there are many who do add to their numbers daily. #RandolphHarris 19 of 22

“And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for yes have witnessed it, that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yes, the prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them—therefore, as many as have come to this, ye know of yourselves are firm and steadfast in the faith, and in the thing wherewith they have been made free. And ye know also that they have buried their weapons of war, and they fear to take them up lest by any means they should sin; yea, ye can see that they fear to sin—for behold they will suffer themselves that they be trodden down and slain by their enemies, and will not lift their swords against them, and this because of their faith in Christ. And now, because of their steadfastness when they do believe in that thing which the do believe, for because of their firmness when they are once enlightened, behold, the Lord shall bless them and prolong their days, notwithstanding their iniquity. #RandolphHarris 20 of 22

Yea, even if they should dwindle in unbelief the Lord shall prolong their days, until the time shall come which hath been spoken of by our fathers, and also by the prophet Zenos, and many other prophets, concerning the restoration of our brethren, the Lamanites, again, to the knowledge of truth. Yea, I say unto you, that in the latter times the promises of the Lord have been extended to our brethren, the Lamanites; and notwithstanding the many afflictions which they shall have, and notwithstanding they shall be driven to and fro upon the face of the Earth, and be hunted, and shall be smitten and scattered abroad, having no place for refuge, the Lord shall be merciful unto them. And this is according to the prophecy, that they shall again be brought to the true knowledge, which is the knowledge of their Redeemer, and their great and true shepherd, and be numbered among his sheep. Therefore I say unto you, it shall be better for them than for you except ye repent. For behold, had the mighty words been shown unto them which have been shown unto you, yes, unto them who have dwindled in unbelief because of the traditions of their fathers, ye can see of yourselves that they never would again have dwindled in unbelief. #RandolphHarris 21 of 22

“Therefore, saith the Lord: I will not utterly destroy them, but I will cause that in that day of my wisdom they shall return again unto me, saith the Lord. And now behold, saith the Lord, concerning the people of the Nephites: If they will not repent, and observe to do my will, I will utterly  destroy them, saith the Lord, because of their unbelief notwithstanding the many mighty works which I have done among them; and as surely as the Lord liveth shall these things be, saith the Lord,” reports Helaman 15.1-17. How wonderful! How marvelous! This house if the gift of those who drew it forth and those who prepared it. How wonderful! How marvelous! This house is the gift of God and the spirits. How wonderful! How marvelous! We give, in return, our thoughts and prayers, our words and deeds. A gift for a gift, with thanks to the architects. How wonderful! How marvelous! We humbly beseech you, O God, Whose nature is purification. Almighty God, unto Whom assists us all, Almighty God, the fountain of all wisdom; Almighty God, Who hast promised to hear, you are the model of our lives. When we wake in the morning, we are doing so because of you, taking place in the chain of life. Bless this say, then, that is might be productive and healing both in body and spirit. #RandolphHarris 22 of 22

Winchester Mystery House

Nothing more beautiful or bizarre during the Hallowe’en season than the Winchester Mystery House. Let’s be real, Hallowe’en is all of October 🎃

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Memory is More Incredible than Ink for it is a Wise Father who Knows His Own Child!

The generation gap is just another way of saying that the younger generation makes overt what is covert in the older generation; the child expresses openly what the parents represses. The mass media with the use of television ( “The Most Effective Devil in America,” is telling you a vision) has flooded out local boundaries and forced the total society into a dim awareness of what it is like to live in fear. It is not so much the increase in violence that upsets middle-class Americans as the democratization of violence: the less affluent and underrepresented have become less willing to serve as specialized victims of violence from a political agenda (“legally”) and each other (illegally). The same point can be made about crimes against property, given the well-known class bias in our legal system. Since the ways in which the affluent steal from the less affluent are rarely defined as crimes (when executives of a major corporation were jailed for a few days some years ago for stealing millions of dollars from the public through antitrust violations many people were shocked that respectable humans could be treated in such a rude fashion) rising property crimes rates may only reflect an increase in the democratization of larceny, a result attributable in part to the success of the mass media in convincing the less affluent that only the possession of various products can satisfy their various social, pleasures of the flesh, and moral requirements. #RandolphHarris 1 of 25

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Leaving aside these more likely to be considered violent when they have political overtones. Our nation has never known a time without serious urban riots—usually about some kind of economic or social injustice—but it was only when they began to have a political thrust and to attack business districts that the concerns about the rioting began to grow. The same relationship holds true for the college campus. It is not violence as such but its political aims that arouse concern. The same people who assail the violence of campus radicals are quite happy to regale listeners with tales of their own (apolitical) childhood pranks—pranks that would bring a jail sentence if committed today. College students on many campuses have rioted annually for generations, and the injuries and vandalism resulting from such riots have often far exceeded that produced by protests. Yet these apolitical riots have always been considered venial. The difference is that student pranks and riots in the past attacked authority but accepted it. The protests of today confront authority and question it. Thus although no violence at all may occur, those toward whom the protest is directed may feel that violence has been done to them. The disruption of ordinary daily patterns and assumptions are experienced as a kind of psychological violence. #RandolphHarris 2 of 25

Consider what happens when a defective traffic light fails to change from red to green. The line of cars grows and restlessness increases. At some point someone decides that the symbol of order is in fact in disorder and either goes through the red light or begins to honk one’s hor. As soon as one goes through, the others all follow suit. The initiator in this situation is engaging in a kind of civil disobedience. One is challenging the specific rule about red lights in terms of a broader understanding which says that the purpose of traffic laws is to regulate traffic not to disrupt it. Yet because the situation has no real political significance the incidence carries no threat or violent connotation. We live in a society in which cruelties inflicted upon humanity can be exposed in every living room through mass media or on Facebook and Twitter. We discuss and debate constantly the appearance of any instance anywhere in the World of inhumane treatment of one person by another, but we still do not always get the full story. Nonetheless, we stress that every human life, even corporations, are beings of value. We live, in short, in modern, secure, civilized World, in which a single isolated act of violence is a calamity, an outrage. #RandolphHarris 3 of 25

Yet, innocent people still have their characters and beings terminated by the most barbarous means possible and shows no qualms about it. These techniques are a bit reminiscent of the dunking stool used in earlier centuries to test potential witches: if the person was not a witch the individual would drown—if one did not drown thus proved one was a witch and one was burned to death. The energy required to avoid even the most obvious forms of exploitation by commercial enterprises in our society would not permit the individual to lead a normal active life. Like Looking-glass Country, it takes all the running one can do to stay in the same place. Powerlessness has always been the common lot of most of humankind. However, the more we attempt to solve problems through increased autonomy the more we find ourselves at the mercy of these mysterious, impersonal, and remote mechanisms that we have ourselves created. Their indifference is a reflection of our own. All societies, optimally, must allow for both change and stability since: effective adaptation to the environment requires both modification and consolidation of existing reposes; social integration depends both upon the preservation and upon the periodic dissolution of existing structural differentiation; and personal happiness rest upon both familiarity and novelty in everyday life. Every society evolves patterns for attempting to realize these mutually incompatible needs. #RandolphHarris 4 of 25

We talk of technology as the servant of humans, but it is a servant that now dominates the households, too powerful to fire, upon whom everyone is helplessly dependent. We tiptoe about and speculate upon his mood. What will be the effects of such-and-such an invention? How will it change our daily lives? We never ask, do we want this, is it worth it? (We did not ask ourselves, for example, if the major conveniences offered by social media could really offset the calamitous disruption and depersonalization of our lives that it brought about.) We simply say, “You cannot stop progress,” and shuffle back inside. We pride ourselves on being a “democracy” but we are in fact slaves. We submit to an absolute ruler who governs our state or city whose edicts and whims we never question. We watch that individual carefully, hang on to one’s every word; for technology is a harsh and capricious king, demanding prompt and absolute obedience. We laugh at the old lady who holds off the highway bulldozers with a Winchester Rifle, but we laugh because we are Uncle Toms. We try to outdo each other in singing the praises of the oppressor, although in fact the value of technology in terms of human satisfaction remains at best undemonstrated. For when evaluating its effects we always adopt the basic assumptions and perspective of technology itself, and never examine it in terms of the totality of human experience. #RandolphHarris 5 of 25

We say this or that invention is valuable because it generates other inventions—because it is a means to some other means—not because it achieves an ultimate end. We play down the “side effects” that so often become the main effects and completely negate any alleged benefits. The much-vaunted “freedom” of American life is thus an illusion, one which underlies the sense of spuriousness so many Americans feel about their basic institutions. We are free to do only what we are told, and we are “told” not by a human master but by a mechanical construction. However, how can we be the salves of technology—is not technology merely an extension of, a creation of, ourselves? This is only metaphorically true. The forces to which we submit so abjectly were not generated by ourselves but by our ancestors—what we create will in turn rule our progeny. It takes a certain amount of time for the social effects of technological change to make their appearance, by which time a generation has usually passed. Science-fiction writers have long been fascinated with the notion of being able to create material objects just by imagining them, and have built novels, stories, and films around the idea. Actually, it is merely an exaggeration of what normally takes place. Technology is materialized fantasy. We are ruled today by the material manifestations of the fantasies of previous generations. #RanolphHarris 6 of 25

We treat technology as if it were a fierce patriarch—we are deferential, submissive, and alert to its demands. Perhaps, that is why men dominate the Silicon Valley in San Jose, California USA, and in Shenzhen, a city in south China’s Guangdong province known as the “Silicon Valley of China.” (The Silicon Valley of China has gradually become a global hardware center and hub for scientific and technological advances, where skyscrapers appear commonplace and the population has surged past 13 million.)  We feel spasms of hatred toward technology, and continually make fun of it but we do little to challenge the rule. People who develop technology, like Wolfgang Egger who is a World-famous Germany car designer, reports, “to have this opportunity to create something like this [an electric car] from nothing is a big challenge that I need.” That is the main reason why he joined the Chinese car manufacturer BYD three years ago. Technology has inherited the fantasy of the authoritarian father. Furthermore, since the technological environment that rules, frustrates, and manipulates us is a materialization of the wished of our forefathers, it is quite reasonable to say that technology is the authoritarian father in our society. #RandolphHarris 7 of 25

The American father can be a good-natured humble man in the home precisely because he is so ruthless toward the nonhuman environment, leveling, uprooting, filling in, building up, tearing down, blowing up, tunneling under. This ruthlessness affects his children only indirectly, as the deranged environment afflicts the eyes, ears, nose, and nervous system of the next generation. However, it affects them nonetheless. Through this impersonal intermediary we inflict our will upon our children, and punish them for our generous indulgence—our child-oriented, self-sacrificing behaviour. It I small wonder that the myth of the punitive patriarch stays alive. From this viewpoint, then, delegating to technology the role of punitive patriarch is another example of the first process we described: the tendency to avoid interpersonal conflict by compartmentalization and a false illusion of autonomy—to place impersonal mechanisms between and around people and imagine that we have created a self-governing paradise. It is a kind of savage joke in its parental form. We say: “Look, I am an easy-going, good-natured, affectionate father. I behave in a democratic manner and treat you like a person, never pulling rank. As to all those roads and wires and social media and clones and machines and bombs and complex bureaucratic institutions out there, do not concern yourself about them—this is my department.” #RandolphHarris 8 of 25

However, when the child grows up one discovers the fraud. One learns that one is a slave to his father’s unconscious and unplanned whims—that the area of withheld power was crucial. The child becomes angry and rebels, saying, “You were not what you pretended, and I cannot be what you encouraged me to be.” The child attacks “the system” and authority everywhere, trying to find the source of the deception, and using techniques that reflect one’s commitment to what one’s father deceived one into thinking one was—a person. However, by this time one has also learned the system of avoiding conflict through impersonal mechanism and is ready to inflict the same deception on one’s own children. We love and indulge our children, and would never dream of hurting them. If they are poisoned, bombed, gassed, burned, or whatever, it is surely not our fault, since we do not even know how to manipulate those objects. The danger comes from outside. Perhaps long ago we did something to deliver them into these impersonal hands, but we have forgotten, and in any case it is not our responsibility. Technology, in other words, is our plains sorcerer. Because Americans have submitted so passively to the havoc wreaked by technological change, they have had to convince themselves that their obsequiousness is right and good and appropriate. #RandolphHarris 9 of 25

Any challenge to the technological-over-social priority threatens to expose the fact that Americans has lost their adulthood and their capacity to control their environment. So long as the priority is unchallenged and unmentioned, the human surrender involved need not be confronted. However, youth is increasingly saying: “What about the people? Why have you abdicated your birthright to hardware?” It is a humiliating question, and humiliating questions tend to be answered with blows. Furthermore, the social changes wrought by technological change are so vast and shattering and we are kept so off-balance by them that the desire for independent social change (that is, change produced by human needs rather than technology) appears not as a solution and the assumption of control, but as still another disruptive force. It is like the inhabitants of an occupied country, who say to their militants, “do not fight the enemy, it will just bring more massive retaliation down upon us. Attack your own family.” The predominant feeling is that there is more change than anybody can tolerate already, so how can anyone ever consider a radical reevaluation of the whole system. I felt sure that it was just a public-relations problem that only needed a public-relations solution. #RandolphHarris 10 of 25

I do not give a damn how it is done; do whatever has to be done to stop these leaks and prevent further lies and unauthorized disclosures. I do not want excuses. I want results…whatever the cost. It became necessary for Americans to express themselves on a middle plane between vaporous idealism and self-interested practicality. The association of highbrow culture with vaporous idealism and lowbrow culture with self-interested practicality exemplified the widespread acceptance, by intellectuals as well as noneintellectuals, of the idea that devotion to the life of the mind must somehow be opposed to a decent regard for the exigencies of everyday life. The distinctive feature of American middlebrow culture was its embodiment of the old civic credo that anyone willing to invest time and energy in self-education might better oneself. Many uneducated people cherished middlebrow values: the millions of sets of encyclopedias sold door to door from the 1920s well into the 1980s were often purchased through an installment plan by parents who had never owned a book but were willing to sacrifice to provide their children with information about the World that had been absent from their own upbringing. #RandolphHarris 11 of 25

Remnants of earnest middlebrows striving today among various communities, but the larger edifice of middlebrow culture, which once encompassed Americans of many social classes as well as ethnic and racial backgrounds, has collapsed. The disintegration and denigration of the middlebrow are closely linked to the political and class polarization that distinguishes the current wave of anti-intellectualism from the popular suspicion of highbrows and eggheads that have always, to a greater or lesser degree, been a part of the American psyche. What has been lost is an alterative to mass popular culture, imbibed unconsciously and effortlessly through the audio and video portals that surround us all. What has been lost is the culture of effort. Middlebrow culture was, above all, a reading culture. In the 1950s, to be raised in a middlebrow family meant that there were books, magazines, newspapers in the house and that everyone old enough to read had a library card. Some schools in Sacramento, California would even pause for fifteen minutes a day for reading time, where students could read whatever they wanted, as long as it was a book, it was appropriate, and educational. If much of the reading material was scorned by highbrow intellectuals, the books certainly provided ample room for growth. #RandolphHarris 12 of 25

People had books clubs, much like Reese Witherspoon has popularized, where people select a book each month, read it and talk about. And people who live in segregated communities were taught to learn to appreciate masterpieces like The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, and many more, and to make sure that no one could segregate one’s mind. Still, 25 percent of American high school biology teachers still believe that dinosaurs and humans coexisted. American ideal of self-education is a distinct era of self-help, and people placed far more emphasis on improving personality and public image and the mind like never before. However, “civilized” is still defined by the gatekeeps of greatness on the installment plan. Many people want to make it into the “Fat Man’s” class which was dubbed that for the size of their pocketbooks. We want everything to be cheap and high quality, but do not look at the value and utility it provides, and then complain about how little we get paid. Our parents, grandparents, and maybe for some of you, great grandparents had it a lot harder than we do today. We hear about how inexpensive everything used to be, but do not take inflation into account. #RandolphHarris 13 of 25

In 1952, a great book cost $249.95, in 2020 dollars that is $2,470.21. Imagine what a luxury a book was back then. In fact, reading books was a status symbol because the proved to the World that one was the sort of person who did read and who could afford the price of a book. People like Reese Witherspoon is doing an excellent job trying to get Americans back into reading books. When a celebrity is seen doing anything, it becomes a trend and what could be a more productive trend than getting people to expand their minds. The possession of certain kinds of knowledge, and the ability to recalls facts before an audience of millions, could provide both fame and fortune. When being smart become a trend, imagine how much better off our society will be, how much productive our children will be. They will learn the root of what it takes to have fun and know they have to study and work hard to earn the money it takes to have fun. Because, as one gets older, fun gets more expensive. Getting a day off from school and watching TV is no longer fun, but having the ability to legally buy new cars and houses and take vacations and decorate your own private home is fun. Having privacy and dignity in your own environment is fun. Being able to relocate or explore the World when you want to is fun. #RandolphHarris 14 of 25

 An aspect of the Christian work ethic is enthusiasm. “Whatever you do,” Paul told the Colossians, “work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for humans,” reports Colossians 3.23. To the Romans Pail admonished, “Never be lacking in seal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord,” reports Romans 12.11. It is natural—actually quite easy—to be enthusiastic if your work is prominent, but less natural the more hidden it is, as the conductor of a great symphony orchestra once reveled when asked which was the most difficult instrument to play. “Second violin,” he answered. “We can get plenty of first violinists. However, to get someone who will play second violin with enthusiasm—that is a problem!” And so it is. However, actually, doing one’s work with enthusiasm, even if hidden, plays for an audience far greater than that of the most famous symphony orchestras or World champion sports teams! If we could be really see this, our enthusiasm would never flag. However, it can still be hard to reason with some people. Their very mind has been taken over by one or more feelings and is made to defend and serve those feelings at all costs. It is a fearful condition from which some people never escape. We have noted how thoughts generate feelings. If we allow certain negative thoughts to obsess us, then their associated feelings can enslave and blind us—that is, take over our ability to think and perceive. #RandolphHarris 15 of 25

As humans, we can unknowingly become slaves to technology, or feelings and so man other things. Here, for example, is a woman (it could have just as well have been a man) who has taken in the thought that she has been treated unfairly for years in her marriage and her job. Rather than sensibly addressing the circumstances or just turning her mind away from this thought, she receives it and broods over it—for years—developing a tremendous sense of injustice and outrage, which she also welcomes and cultivates with the assistance of sympathetic friends. The “root of bitterness” (Hebrews 12.15) gradually spreads over her whole personality, seeping deeply into her body and soul. It becomes something you can see in her bodily motions and actions and hear oozing through the language she uses. It affects her capacity to see what is actually going on around her, to realize what she is actually doing, and to think thoroughly and consistently. She is in the prison of resentment, though she thinks she is perhaps for the first time acting freely. Beyond the individual level, poisonous emotions and sensations often take over entire social groups, blinding them and impelling them on terrible courses of destruction. This is nearly always what has happened in cases where repression of ethnic groups or genocide occurs. Thus, to the onlooker the participants (the tyrants) seem to be deaf, blind, and insane—which, in a sense, they are. They, too, are imprisoned. #RandolphHarris 16 of 25

Feelings can be successfully reasoned with, can be corrected by reality, only in those (whether oneself or others) who have the habit and are given the grace of listening to reason even when they are expressing violent feelings or are in the grip of them. A feeling of sufficient strength may blot out all else and will invariably do so in one who has not trained oneself, or been trained, to identify, to be critical of, and to have some distance from one’s own feelings. Combined with a sense of righteousness, strong feeling becomes impervious to fact and reason. I beseech ye brethren, by the bowels of Christ, believe ye may be wrong! One’s feelings of righteousness does not mean one is right and actually should alert one to be very cautious and humble. Those who are wise will, accordingly, never allow themselves, if they can help it, to get in a position where they feel too deeply about any human matter. They will never willingly choose to allow feeling to govern them. They will carefully keep the pathway open to the house of reason and go there regularly to listen. If we are to appropriate God’s grace, we must humble ourselves, we must submit to His providential working in our lives. To do this we must first see His mighty hand behind all the immediate causes of our adversities and heartaches. #RandolphHarris 17 of 25

We must believe the biblical teaching that God is in sovereign control of all our circumstances, and whatever or whoever is the immediate cause of our circumstances, God is behind them all. “And it came to pass that he wrote again to the governor of the land, who was Pahoran, and these are the words which he wrote saying: Behold, I direct mine epistle to Pahoran, in the city of Zarahemla, who is the chief judge and the governor over the land, and also to all those who have been chosen by this people to govern and manage the affairs of this war. For behold, I have somewhat to say unto them by the way of condemnation; for behold, ye yourselves know that we have been appointed to gather together humans, and arm them with swords, and with cimeters, and all manner of weapons of war of every kind, and send forth against the Lamanites, in whatsoever part they should come into out land. And now behold, I say unto you that myself, and also my men, and also Helaman and his men, have suffered exceedingly great sufferings; yea, even hunger, thirst, and fatigue, and all manner of afflictions of every kind. However, behold, were this all we had suffered we would not murmur nor complain. #RandolphHarris 18 of 25

“However, behold, great has been the slaughter among our people; yea, thousands have fallen by the sword, while it might have otherwise been if ye had rendered unto our armies sufficient strength and succor for them. Yea, great has been your neglect towards us. And now behold, we desire to know the cause of this exceedingly great neglect; yea, we desire to know the cause of your thoughtless state. Can you think to sit upon your thrones in a state of thoughtless stupor, while your enemies are spreading the work of death around you? Yea, while they are murdering thousands of your brethren—yea, even they who have looked up to you for protection, yea, have placed you in a situation that ye might have sent armies unto them, to have strengthened them, and have saved thousands of them from falling by the sword. However, behold, this is not all—ye have withheld your provisions from them, insomuch that many have fought and bled out their lives because of their great desires which they had for the welfare of this people; yea, and this they have done when they were abut to perish with hunger, because of your exceedingly great neglect towards them. And now, my beloved brethren—for ye ought to have stirred yourselves more diligently for the welfare and the freedom of this people. #RandolphHarris 19 of 25

 “However, behold, ye have neglected them insomuch that the blood of thousands shall come upon your heads for vengeance; yea, for known unto God were all their cries, and all their sufferings—behold, could ye suppose that ye could sit upon your thrones, and because of the exceeding goodness of God ye could do nothing and he would deliver you? Behold, if ye have supposed this ye have supposed in vain. Do ye suppose this ye have supposed in vain. Do ye suppose that, because so many of your brethren have been killed it is because of their wickedness? I say unto you, if ye have supposed in vain; for I say unto you, there are many who have fallen by the sword; and behold it is to your condemnation; for the Lord suffereth the righteous to be slain that his justice and judgment may come upon the wicked; therefore ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God. And now behold, I say unto you, I fear exceedingly that the judgments of God will come upon this people, because of their exceeding slothfulness, yea, even the slothfulness of our government, and their exceedingly great neglect towards their brethren, yea, towards those who have been slain. #RandolphHarris 20 of 25

“For were it not for the wickedness which first commenced at our hear, we could have withstood our enemies that they could have withstood our enemies that they could have gained no power over us. Yea, had it not been for the war which broken out among ourselves; yea, were it not for these king-men, who caused so much bloodshed among ourselves; yea, at the time we were contending among ourselves, if we had united our strength as we hitherto have done; yea, had it not been for the desire of power and authority which those king-men had over us; had they been true to the cause of our freedom, and untied with us, and gone forth against our enemies, instead of taking up their swords against us, which was the cause of so much bloodshed among ourselves; yea, if we had gone forth against them in the strength of the Lord, we should have dispersed our enemies, for it would have been done, according to the fulfilling of his word. However, behold, now the Lamanites are coming upon us, taking possession of our lands, and they are murdering our people with the sword, yea, our women and our children, and also carrying them away captive, causing them that they should suffer all manner of afflictions, and this because of the great wickedness of those who are seeking for power and authority, yea, even those king-men. #RandolphHarris 21 of 25

However, why should I say much concerning this matter? For we know not but what ye yourselves are seeking for authority. We know not but what ye are also traitors to your country. Or is it that ye have neglected us because ye are in the heart of our country and ye are surrounded by security, that ye do not cause food to be sent unto us, and also humans to strengthen our armies? Have ye forgotten in the commandments of the Lord your God? Yea, have ye forgotten the captivity of our fathers? Have ye forgotten the many times we have been delivered out of the hands of our enemies? Or do ye supposed that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make us of the means which the Lord has provided for us? Yea, will ye sit in idleness while ye are surrounded with thousands of those, yea, and tens of thousands, who do also sit in idleness, while there are thousands round about in the borders of the land who are falling by the sword, yea, wounded and bleeding? Do ye supposed that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? Behold I say unto you, Nay. Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also. #RandolphHarris 22 of 25

“And now, expect ye do repent of that which ye have done, and begin to be up and doing, and send forth food and humans unto us, and also unto Helaman, that he may support those parts of our country which he had regained, and that we may also recover the remainder of our possession in these parts, behold it will be expedient that we contend no more with the Lamanites until we have first cleansed our inward vessel, yea, even the great head of our government. And expect ye grant mine epistle, and come out and show unto me a true spirit of freedom, and stive to strengthen and fortify our armies, and great unto them food a part of my freemen to maintain this part of our land, and I will leave the strength and the blessings of God upon them, that none other power can operate against them—and this because of their exceeding faith, and their patience in their tribulation—and I will come unto you, and if there be any among you that has a desire for freedom, yes, if there be even a spark of freedom remaining, behold I will stir up insurrections among you, even until those who have desires to usurp power and authority shall become extinct. Yea, behold I do not fear your power nor your authority, but it is my God whom I fear; and it is according to his commandments that I do take my sword to defend the cause of my country, and it is because of your iniquity that we have suffered much loss. #RandolphHarris 23 of 25

“Behold, I wait for assistance from your; and except ye do administer unto our relief, behold, I come unto you, even in the land of Zarahemla, and smite you with the sword, insomuch that ye can have no more power to impede the progress of this people in the cause of our freedom. For behold, the Lord will not suffer that ye shall live and wax strong in your iniquities to destroy his righteous people. Behold, can you suppose that the Lord will spare you and come out in judgment against the Lamanites, when it is the tradition of their fathers that has caused their hatred, yea, and it has been redoubled by those who have dissented from us, while your iniquity is for the cause of your love of glory and the vain things of the World? Ye know that ye do transgress the laws of God, and ye do know that ye do trample them under your feet. Behold, the Lord saith unto me: If those whom ye have appointed your governors do not repent of their sins and iniquities, ye shall go up to battle against them. And now behold, I, Moroni, am constrained, according to the covenant which I have made to keep the commandments of my God; therefore I would that ye should adhere to the word of God, and send speedily unto me of your provisions and of your men, and also to Helaman. #RandolphHarris 24 of 25

“And behold, if ye will not do this I come unto you speedily; for behold, God will not suffer that we should perish with hunger; therefore he will give unto us of your food, even if it must be by the sword. Now see that ye fulfill the word of God. Behold, I am Moroni, your chief captain. I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honour of the World, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country. And thus I close mine epistle,” reports Alma 60.1-36. A lion protecting His young, you rage when aroused. Nothing stands before You, no troubles can resist You, no enemies defeat You. A roaring in the distance announces your arrival, scattering the dealers of cares. You shake the Earth beneath their feet, upsetting all the plans. “Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontless between your eyes. And ye shall teach them to your children, talking of them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the doorpost of thy house, and upon thy gates; that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, upon the land which the Lord promised unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the Heavens above the Earth,” reports Deuteronomy 11.16-21. #RandolphHarris 25 of 25

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Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat—God Moves in a Mysterious Way, Survival of the Fittest!

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Half of the reporters in town are looking on you as a Pulitzer Prize waiting to be won. The word norm means an authoritative standard, and correspondingly, normal means abiding by such a standard. It follows that a normal personality is one whose conduct conforms to an authoritative standard, and an abnormal personality is one whose conduct does not do so. However, having said this much we immediately discover that there are two entirely different kinds of standards that may be applied to divide the normal from the abnormal: the one statistical, the other ethical. The one pertains to the average or usual, and the other to the desirable or valuable. These two standards are not only different, but in many ways they stand in flat contradiction to one another. It is, for example, usual for people to have some noxious trends in their natures, some pathology of tissues or organs, some evidences of nervousness and some self-defeating habits; but though usual or avege, such trends are not healthy. Or again, society’s authoritative standard for a wholesome love life may be achieved by only a minority of American males. Here too the usual is not the desirable; what is normal in one sense is not normal in the other sense. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24

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Certainly, unless they are taught what is legal, ethical, moral and Godly, no system of ethics in the civilized World holds up as a model for its children becoming productive members of society. It is not the actualities, but rather the potentialities, of human nature that somehow provide us with a standard for a sound and healthy personality. One hundred years ago this double meaning of norm and normal did not trouble psychology so much as it does today. In those days psychology was deeply involved in discovering average norms for every conceivable type of mental function. Means, modes, and sigmas were in the saddle, and differential psychology was riding high. Intoxicated with the new-found beauty of the normal distribution curve, psychologists were content to declare its slender tails as the one and only sensible measure of “abnormality.” Departures from the means were abnormal and for this reason slightly unsavory. In this era there grew up the concept of mental adjustment, and this concept held sway well into the decade of the 1920s. While not all psychologists adjustment with average behaviour, this implication was pretty generally present. It was, for example, frequently pointed out that an animal who does not adjust to the norm for one’s species usually dies. It was not yet pointed out that a human being who does so adjust is a bore and a mediocrity. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24

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Now time have changed. Our concern for the improvement of average human behaviour is deep, for we now seriously doubt that the merely mediocre human can survive. As social anomie spreads, as society itself becomes more and more sick, we doubt that the mediocre human will escape mental disease and delinquency, or that one will keep oneself out of the clutch of dictators or succeed in preventing atomic or biological warfare. The normal distribution curve, we see, holds out no hope of salvation. We need citizens who are in a more beneficial and optimistic sense of normal, healthy and sound. And the World needs them more urgently than it ever did before. It is for this reason, I think, that psychologists are now seeking a fresh definition of what is normal and what is abnormal. They are asking questions concerning the valuable, the right, and the good as they have never asked them before. At the same time psychologists know that in seeking for a criterion of normality in this new sense they are trespassing on the traditional domain of moral philosophy. They also know that, by and large, philosophers have failed to establish authoritative standards for what constitutes the sound life—the life that educators, parents, and therapist should seek to mold. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24

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And so psychologist, for the most part, wish to pursue the search in a fresh way and if they can, avoid the traditional traps of axiology. During the past few months two proposals have been published that merit serious attention. Both are by social scientists, one a psychologist in the United States of America, the other a sociologist in England. Their aim is to derive a concept of normality (in the value sense) from the condition of humans (in the naturalistic sense). Both seek their ethical imperatives from biology and psychology, not from value-theory directly. In short, they boldly seek the ought (the goal to which teachers, counsellors, therapists should strive) from the is of human nature. Many philosophers tell us that this is an impossible undertaking. However, before we pass judgment let us see what success they have had. Humans are expected to maximize those attributes that are distinctively human. The first is human’s capacity for the use of propositional language (symbolization). From this particular superiority over animals derives several specific guidelines for normality. With the assistance of symbolic language, for example, humans can delay their gratifications, holding in mind a distant goal, a remote reward, an objective to be reached perhaps only at the end of one’s life or perhaps never. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24

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With the assistance of symbolic language, one can imagine a future for oneself that is far better than the present. One can also develop an intricate system of social concepts that leads one to all manner of possible relations with other human beings, far exceeding the rigid symbiotic rituals of, say, the social insects. A second distinctive human quality is related to the prolonged childhood in the human species. Dependence, basic trust, sympathy and altruism are absolutely essential to human survival, in a sense and to a degree that is maybe not always true for animals. The conception of normality has to do with a model of integrative adjustment. It follows that a sense of personal responsibility marks the normal human, for responsibility is a distinctive capacity derived from holding in mind a symbolic image of the future, delaying gratification, and being able to strive in accordance with one’s conception of the best principles of conduct for oneself. Similarly social responsibility is normal; for all these symbolic capacities can interact with the unique factor of trust or altruism. Closely related is the criterion of democratic social interest which derives from both symbolization and trust. Similarly, the possession of ideals and the necessity for selfcontrol follow from the same naturalistic analysis. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24

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 A sense of guilt is an inevitable consequence of human’s failure to live according to the distinctive human pattern, and so in our concept of normality we must include both guilt and devices for expiation. Every psychologist who wishes to make minimum assumptions and who wishes to keep close to empirical evidence, and who inclines toward the naturalism of biological science prefers fact-based evidence that has not been manipulated. Manipulated and prejudice science is worthless junk. It is must like fake news and has no value other than propaganda. Nonetheless, our philosopher friends will arise to confound us with some uncomfortable questions. Is it not a distinctively human capacity, they will ask, for a possessive mother to keep her child permanently tied to her apron strings? Does any lower animal engage in this destructive behaviour? Likewise, is it not distinctively human to develop fierce in-group loyalties that lead to prejudice, contempt, and war? Is it not possible that the burden of symbolization, social responsibility, and guilt may lead a person to depression and suicide? Suicide, along with all the other destructive patterns I have mentioned, is distinctly human. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24

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A philosopher who raises these questions would conclude, “No, you cannot derive the ought from the is of human nature. What is distinctively human is not necessarily distinctively good.” What are the minimum conditions for survival? When we know these minimum conditions we can declare that any situations falling below this level will lead to abnormality, and tend toward death and destruction, which COVID-19 could be symbolic of—humanity falling below minimum conditions needed to sustain a developing nation like America, and others around the World. This criterion is called the abnorm and we can define it, even if we cannot define normality, because people in general agree more readily on what is bad for humans than on what is good for them. They agree on the bad because all mortals are subject to the basic imperative of survival. The need for survival is connected to our need for growth and the need for social cohesion. These two principles are the universal conditions of all life, not merely of human life. Growth means autonomy and the process of individuation. Cohesion is the basic fact of social interdependence, involving, at least for human beings, initial trust, heteronomy, mating and the founding of family. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24

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By taking an inventory of conditions deleterious to growth and cohesion we may establish the “abnorm.” As a start, the first and foremost disorders of child training is the continued or repeated interruption of physical proximity between mother and child and emotional rejection of the child by the mother are conditions that harm survival of the individual and the group. In the first criterion of abnormality lies in a rupture in the transmutation of cohesion into love. Most of what is abnormal can be traced to failures in the principle of cohesion, so that the child becomes excessively demanding and compulsive. It is abnormal (inimical to survival) if repetition of conduct occurs irrespective of the situation and unmodified by its consequences; also when one’s accomplishments constantly fall short of one’s potentialities; likewise when one’s psychosexual frustrations prevent both growth and cohesion. Normality requires a balance between individuation and socialization, between autonomy and heteronomy. When an individual identifies oneself to an extreme degree with a group, the effect is that one loses one’s value. On the other hand, a complete inability to identify has the effect that the environment loses its value for the individual. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24

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In both extreme cases the dynamic relationship between individual and environment is distorted. An individual behaving in such a way is called neurotic. In a normal group each member preserves one’s individuality but accepts one’s role as participator also. While there is much agreement that the normal personality must strike a serviceable balance between growth as an individual and cohesion with society, we do not yet have a clear criterion for determining when these factors are in serviceable balance and when they are not. However, Philosophers, I fear, would shake their heads at us and ask us, “How do you know that survival is a good thing?” Further, “Why should all people enjoy equal rights to the benefits of growth and cohesion?” And, “How are we to define the optimum balance between cohesion and growth within the single personality?” We also have to worry about the relationship between abnormality and creativity. It was Nietzsche who declared, “I say unto you: a human must have chaos yet within one to be able to give birth to a dancing star.” Have not many meritorious works of music, literature, and even of science draw their inspiration not from balance but from some kind of psychic chaos? In effect that creativity and normality are not identical values. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24

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On the whole the normal person will be creative, but if valuable creations come likewise from people who are slipping away from the norm of survival, this fact can only be accepted and valued on the scale of creativity, but not properly on the scale of normality. In this day of existentialism I sense that psychologist are becoming less and less content with the concept of adjustment, and correspondingly with the concepts of tension reduction, restoration of equilibrium, and homeostasis. We wonder if a human who enjoys these beatific conditions is truly human. Growth we know is not due to homeostasis but to a kind of “transiistasis.” And cohesion is a matter of keeping our human relationships moving and not in mere stationary equilibrium. Stability cannot be a criterion of normality since stability brings evolution to a standstill, negating both growth and cohesion. Dr. Freud once wrote to Dr. Fliess that he finds “moderate misery necessary for intensive work.” When people have a zero correlation between self and ideal self, it is too low for normality; it leads to such anguish that the sufferer seeks therapy. At the same time normal people are by no means perfectly adjusted to themselves. There is always a wholesome gap between self and ideal self, between present existence and aspiration. On the other hand, too high a satisfaction indicates pathology. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24

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When individuals reach an extremely high coefficient for self-satisfaction, it is clear that one is pathological. Perfect correlations we might expect only from smug psychotics, particularly paranoid schizophrenics. And whatever our definition of normality turns out to be it must allow for serviceable imbalances within personality, and between person and society. There is an approach dear to the psychologist’s heart. The established criterion of normality or otherwise known as soundness, leads us to identify people who are “sound.” Teachers of graduate students in the University of California nominated a large number of people whom they considered sound, and some of the opposite trend. In testing and experimenting with these two groups, whose identities were unknow to the investigators, certain significant difference appeared. For one thing the sounder human had more realistic perceptions; they were not thrown off by distortions or by surrounding context in the sensory field. Further, on adjective check-lists they stood high on such traits as integrated pursuit of goals, persistence, adaptability, good nature. On the Minnesota Personality Inventory they were high in equanimity, self-confidence, objectivity and virility. Their self-insight was superior, as was their physical health. Finally, they came from homes where there was little or not affective rupture. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24

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A healthy person will be able to “love” and to “work.” On the schedule of other qualities a healthy person possesses include among others: efficient perception of reality, philosophical humour, spontaneity, detachment, and acceptance of self and others. A normal person has a strong ego, an abnormal person has a weak ego. Whether one is normal or abnormal depends on the degree to which one can manage one’s relationships successfully. Furthermore, the earlier enthusiasm of psychologist for the normal distribution curve helps to entrench the theory of continuum. Extreme withdrawal and escape constitute psychosis. However, you may ask, do no we all do some escaping? Yes, we do, and what is more, escapism may provide not only recreation but may sometimes have a certain constructive utility, as it has in mild daydreaming. Only if the dominant process is confrontation, the process of escape can still be harmless. Left to itself escapism spells disaster. In the psychotic this process has the upper hand; in the normal person, on the contrary, confrontation has the upper hand. Following this line of reasoning we can list other processes that intrinsically generate abnormality, and those that generate normality. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24

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 The first list deals with catabolic (energy used to break down) functions. I would mention: Escape or withdrawal (including fantasy), repression or dissociation, other “ego defences,” including rationalization, reaction formation, projection, displacement, impulsivity (uncontrolled), restriction of thinking to concrete level, fixation of personality at a juvenile level, all forms of rigidification. The list is not complete, but the process in question, I submit, are intrinsically catabolic. They are as much so as are the disease mechanisms responsible for diabetes, tuberculosis, hyperthyroidism, or cancer. A person suffering only a small dose of these mechanisms may appear to be normal, but only if anabolic (requires energy to grow and build) mechanisms predominate. Among the latter I would list: Confrontation (or, if you prefer, reality testing) availability of knowledge to consciousness, self-insight, with its attendant humour, integrative action of the nervous system, ability to think abstractly, continuous individuation (without arrested or fixated development), functional autonomy of motives, frustration of tolerance. I realize that what I have called processes, or mechanisms, are not in all cases logically parallel. However, they serve to make my point, that normality depends on the dominance of one set of principles, abnormality upon the dominance of another. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24

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The fact that all normal people are occasionally afflicted with catabolic processes does not alter the point. The normal life is marked by a preponderance of the anabolic functions; the abnormal by a preponderance of the catabolic. Investigations have told us much concerning the nature of human needs and motives, both conscious and unconscious. Much is known concerning the pathologies that result from frustration and imbalance of these needs. We know much about childhood conditions that predispose toward delinquency, prejudice, and mental disorder. A moralist might do well to cast one’s imperatives in terms of standards for child training. I can suggest, for example, that the abstract imperative “respect for persons” should be tested and formulated from the point of view for child training. The distinction between the anabolic and catabolic processes in the formation of personality represents a fact of importance. Instead of judging merely the end-product of action, perhaps the moralist would do well to focus one’s attention upon the process by which various ends are achieved. Conceivably, the moral law could be written in terms of strengthening anabolic functions in oneself and in others whilst fighting against catabolic functions. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24

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Apriorism, belief in a priori principles or reasoning specifically: the doctrine that knowledge rests upon principles that are self-evident to reason or are presupposed by experience in general, is a legitimate tool of philosophy. Up to now this method as yielded a wide array of moral imperatives, including the following: so act that maxim of thy action can become a universal law; be a respecter of persons; seek to reduce your desires; harmonize your interests with the interest of others; thou art nothing, thy folk is everything; thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…and thy neighbour as thyself. Psychologists who in their teaching and counselling follow the lines now laid down will not go far wrong in guiding personalities toward normality. “Do not speak evil against one another, brethren,” reports James 4.11. God forbids any speech (whether true or false) which runs down another person. Certainly no Christian should ever be a party to slander—making false charges against another’s reputation. Yet some do. However, even more penetrating is the challenge to refrain from any speech intends to run down someone else, even if it is totally true. Personally I can think of few commands that go against commonly accepted conventions more than this, for most people think it is okay to convey negative information if it is true. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24

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Some people have had to defend themselves because no one else would. Still, no innocent person should be physically attacked and terrorized by a violent mob and forced to defend themselves. We understand that lying is immoral. However, is passing along damaging truth immoral? It seems almost a moral responsibility! By such reasoning, criticism behind another’s back is thought to be all right as long as it is based on fact. Likewise, denigrating gossip (of course it is never called gossip!) is seen as okay if the information is true. Thus many believers use truth as a license to righteously diminish others’ reputations. Related to this, some reject running down another behind one’s back, but believe it is okay if done face to face. These persons are driven by a “moral” compulsion to make others aware of their shortcomings. Fault-finding is, to them, a spiritual gift – a license to conduct spiritual search-and-destroy missions. What people like this do not know is that most people are painfully aware of their own faults – and would like to overcome them – and are trying very hard to do so. Then someone mercilessly assaults them believing they are doing their spiritual duty – and, oh, the hurt! This destructive speaking down against others can also manifest itself in the subtle art of minimizing another’s virtues, and accomplishments. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24

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After being with such people, your mental abilities, athletic accomplishments, musical skills, and domestic virtues seem not to be quite as good as they were a few minutes earlier. Some of this feeling came perhaps from their words about your Ultimate Driving Machine—“what a nice little BMW”—or from surprised exclamations about what you did not know. It was also the tone of the voice, the cast of the eye, and the surgical silences. There are many sinful reasons why humans in Christ talk down to one another. Revenge over some slight, real or imagined, may be the motivation of “Christian” slander. Others imagine that their spirituality and sensitivity equips them to pull others from their ivory towers and unmask their hypocrisies. Gideon once rightly cried, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” (Judges 7.20), and we may do the same, but in our case it is too often a sword of self-righteousness. Condescending words and actions may also come from the need to elevate oneself – like the Pharisee who thanked God he was not like other sinners “or even like this tax collector” (Luke 18.11). We thus enjoy the dubious elevation of walking on the bruised head of others, and coming down on innocent heads. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24

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Sometimes this diminishing of others simply comes from too much empty talk. People do not have much to talk about, so they fuel the fires of conversation with the flesh of others. The abilities and motivations of the Body of Christ to run itself down could fill a library. We are all skillful in rationalizing such talk, but God’s Word still speaks: “Christians do not speak against one another.” Verbal cyanide comes in many forms. Gossip, innuendo, flattery, criticism, diminishment, are only a few of the venoms with which Christians inject each other. And the results are universal: toxic gastric juices a Devil’s feast – the swill of souls. Dear Lord in Heaven, please eat what is offered to you and transform it, as food is transformed, into blessings for me, and for all my household. The fire that burns on my hearth is the very heart of my Cresleigh Home. By feeding the fire with wood and with air, I am feeding my Cresleigh Home with what it needs most. I give you these things, fire on my hearth and more gifts will follow as we live our lives together. I light a fire on my family’s hearth and praise the God of our home. I pray to the Most High and praise the Ancestors. Hear my words, see me as I perform the rites, receive the gifts I offer you. Threshold Spirit, guardian and protector of my Cresleigh Home’s entrance, I honour you as I pass through the beautiful door. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24

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God of doorways, bless my goings out, bless my comings in. Lord of the threshold, of doors and gates Lord, place where inside and outside meet: God is my threshold. Please Guard my doors, God, keeper of the keys. Watch it with care, please keep my Cresleigh Homes safe. May the blessings of God guard this door. God it is who guards our doors. The Lord commands Ammon to lead the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi to safety—upon meeting Alma, Ammon’s joy exhausts his strength—the Nephites give the Anti-Nephi-Lehies the land of Jershon—they are called the people of Amon. About 90-77 Before Christ. “Now it came to pass that when those Lamanites who had gone to war against the Nephites had found, after their many struggles to destroy them, that it was in vain to seek their destruction, they returned again to the land of Nephi. And it came to pass that the Amalekites, because of their loss, were exceedingly angry. And when they saw that they could not seek revenge from the Nephites, they began to stir up the people in anger against their brethren, the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi; therefore they began again to destroy them. Now this people again refused to take their arms, and they suffered themselves to be slain according to the desires of their enemies. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24

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“Now when Amon and his brethren saw this work of destruction among those whom they so dearly beloved, and among those who had so dearly beloved them—for hey were treated as though they were angels sent from God to save them from everlasting destruction—therefore, when Amon and his brethren saw this great work of destruction, they were moved with compassion, and they said unto the king: Let us gather together this people of the Lord, and let us go down to the land of Zarahemla to our brethren the Nephites, and flee out of the hands of our enemies, that we be not destroyed. However, the king said unto them: Behold, the Nephites will destroy us, because of the many murders and sins we have committed against them. And Ammon said: I will go and inquire of the Lord, and if he say unto us, go down unto our brethren, will ye go? And the king said unto him: Yea, if the Lord saith unto us go, we will go down unto our brethren, and we will be any slaves among them; therefore let us go down and rely upon the mercies of our brethren. However, the king said unto him: Inquire of the Lord, and if he saith unto us go, we will go; otherwise we will perish in the land. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24

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“And it came to pass that Ammon went and inquired of the Lord and the Lord aid unto him: Get this people out of this land, that they perish not; for Satan has great hold on the hearts of the Amalekites, who do stir up the Lamanites to anger against their brethren to slay them; therefore get thee out of this land; and blessed are this people in this generation, for I will preserve them. And now it came to pass that Ammon went and told the king all the words which the Lord had said unto him. And they gathered together all their people, yea, all the people of the Lord, and did gather together all their flocks and herds, and departed out of the land, and came into the wilderness which divided the land of Nephi from the land of Zarahemla, and came over near the borders of the land. And it came to pass that Ammon said unto them: Behold, I and my brethren will go forth into the land of Zarahemla, and ye shall remain here until we return; and we will try the hearts of our brethren, whether they will that ye shall come into their land. And it came to pass that as Ammon was going forth into the land, that he and his brethren met Alma, over in the place of which has been spoken; and behold, this was a joyful meeting. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24

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“Now the joy of Ammon was so great even that he was full; yea, he was swallowed up in the joy of his God, even to the exhausting of his strength; and he fell again to the Earth. Now was not this exceeding joy? Behold, this is joy which none receiveth save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness. Now the joy of Alma in meeting his brethren was truly great, and also the joy of Aaron, of Omner, and Himni; but behold their joy was not that to exceed their strength. And now it came to pass that Alma conducted his brethren back to the land of Zarahemla; even to his own house. And they went and told the chief judge all the things that that happened unto them in the land of Nephi, among their brethren, the Lamanites. And it came to pass that the chief judge sent a proclamation throughout all the land, desiring the voice of the people concerning the admitting their brethren, who were the people of Anti-Nephi-Lehi. And it came to pass that the voice of the people came, saying: Behold, we will give up the land of Jershon, which is on the east by the sea, which joins the land Bountiful, which is on the south of the land Bountiful; and this land Jershon is the land which we will give unto our brethren for an inheritance. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24

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“And behold, we will set our armies between the land Jershon and the land Nephi, that we may protect our brethren in the land of Jershon; and this we do for our brethren lest they should commit sin; and this their great fear came because of their sore repentance which they had, on account of their many murders and their awful wickedness. And now behold, this will we do unto our brethren, that they may inherit the land Jershon; and we will guard them from their enemies with our armies, on condition that they will give us a portion of their substance to assist us that we may maintain our armies. Now, it came to pass that when Ammon had heard this, he returned to the people of Anti0Nephi-Lehi, and also Alma with him, into the wilderness, where they had pitched their tents, and made known unto them all these things. And Alma also related unto them his conversion, with Ammon and Aaron, and his brethren. And it came to pass that it did cause great joy among them. And they went down into the land of Jershon, and took possession of the land of Jershon; and they were called by the Nephites the people of Ammon; therefore they were distinguished by that name ever after. #RandolphHarris 23 of 24

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“And they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the people who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their zeal towards God, and also towards humans; for they were perfectly honest and upright in all things; and they were firm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end. And they did look upon shedding the blood of their brethren with the greatest abhorrence; and they never could be prevailed upon to take up arms against their brethren; and they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it. Therefore, they would suffer death in the most aggravating and distressing manner which could be inflicted by their brethren, before they would take the sword or cimeter to smite them. And thus they were a zealous and beloved people, a highly favoured people of the Lord,” reports Alma 27.1-30. O God, Whose will it runs down the order of all the ages; come to me, please look favorably on your servant’s sake. I try to live up to the order of Godly people and promote the messages in the scripture. You are the one and only God, and I approve of dedicating my service to you, Lord. Thank you for your gifts and take pity of me. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24

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Cresleigh Homes

We might have found the coziest reading spot in #PlumasRanch. 😍📚

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Visit our website to take a virtual tour of our homes at Plumas Ranch. Link in bio! https://cresleigh.com/cresleigh-riverside-at-plumas-ranch/

#CresleighHomes

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Look down from Heaven, O Christ, on Thy flock and lambs, and bless their bodies and souls. Grant those who have received Thy sign, O Christ, on their foreheads, to be Thine own in the day of judgment.

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God is in His Heaven—All is Right with the World! Grow Old with Me Because the Best if Yet to Be!

ImageThe Christian life is not a way “out” but a way “through” life. Paul freely acknowledged that he received his apostleship purely as a result of God’s undeserved favour. God then used Paul’s testimony to encourage me at a time when I most keenly felt my complete unworthiness to write on the subject of personal holiness. The question, however, is this: To what extent can we use Paul’s very personal testimony and my own experience to establish a scriptural principle regarding Christian ministry? Is all ministry, where it be teaching a children’s Sunday school class, or witnessing individual to students at the local private school or preaching to thousands of people each Sunday, performed by the grace of God by people who are unworthy to be doing it? Harry Blamires had an incisive answer to that question: In the upshot there is only one answer for the preacher who wonders whether one is worthy to preach the sermon one has composed or for the writer who wonders whether one is worthy to write the religious book one is working on. The answer is: Of course not. To ask yourself: Am I worthy to perform this Christian task? is really the peak of pride and presumption. For the very question carries the implication that we spend most of our time doing things we are worthy to do. We simply do not have that kind of worth. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21

ImageOf course, it matters little what Harry Blamires or Jerry Bridges think unless our thinking accords with Scripture. So what does the Bible say to this question? In Romans 12.6 Paul said, “We have different gifts according to the grace given us.” Paul was referring to spiritual gifts given to every believer enables us to fulfill the ministry or service God has appointed for us in the Body of Christ. However, not that Paul said these spiritual gifts are give accord to the grace of God, not according to what we deserve. The Greek word for a spiritual gift is charisma, which means “a gift of God’s grace,” whether it is the gift of eternal life as in Romans 6.23 or the gift of a spiritual ability for use in the Body. Here are somethings to consider on the connection of grace and gifts. “I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus,” reports 1 Corinthians 1.4. The specific basis of Paul’s thanksgiving in their case is God’s “grace given you in Christ Jesus.” Commonly this is viewed as a thanksgiving for grace as such, id est, the gracious outpouring of God’s mercy in Christ toward the undeserving. However, for Paul charis (“grace”) very often is closely associated with charisma/charismata (“gift/gifts”) and in such instance refers to concrete expressions of God’s gracious activity in his people. Indeed, the word “grace” itself sometimes denoted these concrete manifestations, the “graces” (gifts), of God’s grace. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21

ImageIn our Systematic Theology, the main concern is, precisely, to build a “system,” this is, to work out the implications of our central perception of the Protestant principle along the mainlines of theological thought. Yet even though we are primarily concerned with the symbols of faith and their transcendent meaning, or with the historical relevance of the Christ, we unavoidably run into traditional Christian doctrines. These we reinterpret in order to assume them into our system. Whether our reinterpretations are orthodox or not is obviously an important question, but it is not the question to which we primarily address because we do not exclusively maintain a theology of revelation (as the neo-orthodox theologians have done). The terms “dogma” and “dogmatic,” are not terms we like to use because they came to be used at a time when the Church was engaged in self-defence. The Creeds were adopted as a protective formulation against heresies. Their acceptance became a matter of life and death for Christianity. This was a necessary step in the development of the Church, for heresies were demonic attempts to distort the Christian message. In this sense, a theology is always dogmatic: the word “dogmatics” emphasizes the importance of the formulated and officially acknowledged dogma for work of the systematic theologian. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21

ImageYet we shun the word as much as possible, for we believe that the significance of dogmas became distorted after the first centuries. Instead of reaming protective formulations of the core of the Christian message, dogma is identified with the laws of the Christian state. Heresy became a social crime. State and Churches that condone this confusion have become themselves demonic. There arose a demonic use of dogma, a reversal of values, by which dogmas were used, by Catholic as well as Protestant, against theological honesty and scientific autonomy. This unfortunate situation has discredited the words “dogmas” and “dogmatics” to such a degree that it is hardly possible to re-establish their genuine meaning. Our reluctance to use a vocabulary to which large sections of the intellectual World are allergic makes sense, for our purpose is precisely to build a bridge between the Christian faith and the secularized intellect. No antagonism to any specific dogma is implied. This does not reduce the significance of the formulated dogmata…but it makes the use of the term “dogmatics” impossible. The Christian is ultimately concerned about Christology, not only as symbol and as history, but also as dogma. The ultimate source of Christian belief can only be the revelatory situation in which Jesus is perceived as the Christ. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21

ImageThere are no “revealed dogmas” properly speaking, no depositum that was communicated to the Apostles and handed down through the life of the Church, to be infallibly taught to the faithful. Our attitude is well epitomized as there are no revealed doctrines, but there are revelatory events and situations which can be describe in doctrinal terms. “Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found on an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the World and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of Heaven and Earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with human’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of humans for to dwell on all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of humans for to dwell on all the face of the Earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21

Image“Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the God-head is like unto gold, or sliver, or stone, graven by art and human’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all humans everywhere to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the World in righteousness by that human who one hath ordained; whereof one hat given assurance unto all humans, in that one hath raised one from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter,” reports Acts 17.22-32. The first time I spoke of our existence as theologians, I indicated that the foundation of this existence lay in the power of the Divine Spirit and in the reality of the Church. It was the believing theologian—believing in spite of all one’s doubts and despairs—that I tried to describe. The second time that we considered our existence as theologians, we looked at the self-surrendering theologians who, though the power of love, becomes “all things to all humans,” that theologian who seems to lose oneself through the understanding of everything and everyone. This time let us think about the answering theologian who, in spite of one’s participation in the weakness and error of all humans, is able to answer their questions through the power of one’s foundation, the New Being in Christ. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21

ImageThe famous scene in which Paul speaks from the central place of Greek wisdom shows us a man who is the prototype of the answering theologian. Paul has been asked about his message, partly because they knew that they did not know the truth, and seriously desired to know it. There are three stages in Paul’s answer, which reveal the three tasks of answering theologian. The first stage of Paul’s answer consists in the assertion that those who ask him the ultimate question are not unconscious of the answer: these humans adore an unknown God and thus witness to their religious knowledge in spite of their religious ignorance. That knowledge is not astounding, because God is close to each one of us; it is in Him that we live and move and exist; these also belong to His race. The first answer, then, that we must give to those who ask us about such a question is that they themselves are already aware of the answer We must show to them that neither they nor we are outside of God, that even the atheists stand in God-namely, that power out of which they live, the truth for which they grope, and the ultimate meaning of life in which they believe. It is bad theology and religious cowardice ever to think that there may be a place where we could look at God, as though He were something outside of us to be argued for or against. Genuine atheism is not humanly possible, for God is nearer to a human than humans are to themselves. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21

ImageA God can only be denied in the name of name of another God; and God appearing in one form can be denied only by God appearing in another form. That is the first answer that we must give to ourselves and to those who question us, not as an abstract statement, but rather as a continuous interpretation of our human existence, in all its hidden motions and abuses and certainties. God is nearer to us than we ourselves. We cannot find a place outside of Him; but we can try to find such a place. The second part of Paul’s answer is that we can be in the condition of continuous flight from God. We can imagine one way of escape after another; we can replace God by the products of our imagination; and we do. Although humankind is never without God, it perverts the picture of God. Although humankind is never without knowledge of God, it is ignorant of God. Humankind is separated from its origin; it lives under a law of wrath and frustration, of tragedy and self-destruction, because it produces one distorted image of God after another, and adores those images. The answering theologian must discover the false gods in the individual souls and in society. One must probe into their most secret hiding-places. One must challenge them through the power of the Divine Logos, which makes one a theologian. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21

ImageTheological polemic is not merely a theoretical discussion, but rather a spiritual judgement against the gods which are not God, against those structures of evil, those distortions of God in thought and action. No compromise or adaptation or theological self-surrender is permitted on this level. For the first Commandment is the rock upon which theology stands. There is no synthesis possible between God and the idols. In spite of the dangers inherent in so judging, the theologian must become an instrument of the Divine Judgement against a distorted World. So far as they can grasp it in the light of their own questions, Paul’s listeners are willing to accept two-fold answer. However, Paul then speaks of a third thing which they are not able to bear. They either reject it immediately, or they postpone the decision to reject or accept it. He speaks of a Man Whom God has destined to the Judgement and Life of the World. That is the third and final part of the theological answer. For we are real theologians when we state that Jesus is the Christ, and that it is in Him that the Logos of theology is manifest. However, we are only theologians when we interpret this paradox, this stumbling-block for idealism and realism, for the weak and the strong, for both pagans and Jews. As theologians, we must interpret that paradox, and not throw paradoxical phrases at the minds of the people. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21

ImageWe must not preserve or produce artificial stumbling-blocks, miracle-stories, legends, myths, and other sophisticated paradoxical talk. We must not distort, by ecclesiastical and theological arrogance, that great cosmic paradox that there is victory over death within the World of death itself. We must not impose the heavy burden of wrong stumbling-blocks upon those who ask us questions. However, neither must we empty the true paradox of its power. For true theological existence is the witnessing to Him Whose yoke is easy and Whose burden is light, to Him Who is the true paradox. There is also a question regarding the distribution of educational opportunities. Before humans can contribute according to their abilities, their abilities must be developed. However, in whom should society develop which abilities? It is clear that all humans require some early training to make them viable social beings; further, all humans require certain general skills necessary for performing work. We all have the right to receive the goods and resources necessary for preserving ourselves. Human beings have the right, rather, not to be killed, attacked, and deprived of their property—by persons in or outside of government. No human is good enough to govern another human, without that other’s consent. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21

ImageHowever, there are some very rare instances in which some citizens could find themselves in circumstances which require disregarding rights altogether. This would be in situations that cannot be characterizes to be “where peace is possible.” Nonetheless, under normal conditions, the enforceable right of every person not to be coerced by other persons. Humans have a right to life, a right not to be killed unjustly and a right to property, a right to acquire goods and resources either by initial acquisition or voluntary agreement. However, these rights do not entitle one to receive from others the goods and resources necessary for preserving one’s life. To possess any basic right to receive the goods and resources necessary for preserving one’s life conflict with possessing the right not to be killed, assaulted, or stolen from. The latter rights are considered to be held by all individual human beings. Rights are the link between the moral code of a human and the legal code of a society, between ethics and politics. Individual rights are the means of subordinating society to moral law. Nonetheless, in a system that legally protects and preserves property right there will be cases where a rich person prevents a poor person from taking what belongs to her (the rich person)—for example, a chicken that the poor person might use to feed herself. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21

ImageWhen people defend their property, what are they doing? They are protecting themselves against the intrusive acts of some other person, acts that would normally deprive them of something to which they have a right, and the other has no right. As such, these acts of protectiveness make it possible for men and women in society to retain their own sphere of jurisdiction intact, protect their own moral space. They want to be sovereigns and govern their own lives, including their own productive decisions and actions. Those who mount the attack, in turn, fail or refuse to refrain from encroaching upon the moral space of their victims. They are treating the victim’s life and its productive results as though these were unowned resources for them to do with as they choose. This system is developed for a human community in which peace is possible. It is a system that is developed for individual rights, which guide men and women in such an adequately hospitable environment to act without thwarting the flourishing of others, are thus suitable bases for the legal foundations of a human society. It is possible for people in the World to pursue their proper goals without thwarting a similar pursuit by others. The typical conflict situation in society involves people who wish to take shortcuts to earning their living (and a lot more) by attacking others, not those who lack any other alternative to attacking others so as to reach that same goal. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21

ImageIf the government entered areas that required it to make very particular judgments and depart from serving the interest of public as such, the integrity of law would be seriously endangered. We have already noted that the idea of satisfying basic needs can involve the difficulty of distinguishing those whose actions are properly to be so characterized. Rich persons are indeed satisfying their basic needs as they protect and preserve their property rights. Private property rights are necessary for a morally decent society. Normally persons do not lack the opportunities and resources to satisfy their own basic needs. Even if we grant that some helpless, physically disabled, those with intellectual disabilities, or destitute persons could offer nothing to anyone that would merit wages enabling the to carry on their loves and perhaps even flourish, there is still the other possibility for most actual, known hard cases, namely seeking help. I am not speaking here of the cases we know: people who drop out of school, get a skilled job, marry and have kids, only to find that their need more adequate preparation to survive life in these expensive communities all across American. Some have even considered migrating to Mexico, but prices for real estate there are also quite high. In fact, you may get more for your money in America. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21

ImageWe have no justification for assuming that the rich are all callous, though this caricature is regularly painted by communists and in folklore. Supporting and gaining advantage from the institution of private property by no means implies that one lacks the virtue of generosity. The rich are no more immure to virtue than the poor are to vice. The contrary view is probably a legacy of the idea that only those concerned with spiritual or intellectual matters can be trusted to know virtue—those concerned with seeking material prosperity are too base. The destitute typically have options other than to violate the rights of the well-off. “’Ought’ implies ‘can”’ is satisfiable by the moral imperative that the poor ought to seek help, not loot. There is then no injustice in the rich preventing the poor from seeking such loot by violating the right to private property “”Ought implies ‘can”’ is fully satisfied if the poor can take the kind of action that could gain them the satisfaction of their basic needs, and this action could well be asking for help. There are people who are helplessly poor, who through no fault of their own, nor again through any rights violation by others, are destitute. However, those cases are by no means typical. They are extremely rare. And even rarer are those cases in which all avenues regarded as legitimate from the American point of view have been exhausted, including appealing for help. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21

ImageThe bulk of poverty in the World is not the result of natural disaster or illness. Rather it is political oppression, whereby people throughout many of the World’s countries are not legally permitted to look out for themselves in the production of trade. Of course, it would be immoral if people failed to help out when this was clearly no sacrifice for them. However, charity or generosity is not a categorical imperative, even for the rich. There are more basic moral principles that might require the rich to refuse to be charitable—for example, if they are using most of their wealth for the protection of freedom or a just society. Courage can be more important than charity or benevolence or compassion. Human behaviour is taken to be determined by a person’s economic circumstances, so one is bound by one’s situation and cannot make choices that would overcome them. More generally, in modern political philosophy there as been a strong tendency to view human beings as passive, unable to initiate their own conduct and moved by innate drives or environmental stimuli. Thus, those who are well-off could not have achieved this through only their own initiative, nor could those who are badly off have failed in significant ways. Accordingly, all the poor or badly off, be they victims of others’ oppression, casualties of misfortune, or products of their own misconduct are regarded alike. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21

ImageThe right to free association, freedom of trade, freedom of wealth accumulation, freedom of contact, freedom of entrepreneurship, freedom of speech, freedom of thought—that provides the most hospitable social climate for the creation of wealth. Socialism can do no more than to socialize poverty, exempli gratia, make everyone poor through socialized medicine, free higher education and so forth. As to the historical evidence, it is hard to argue that other tan substantially capitalist economic systems, which tend in the direction of libertarianism (as least as far as the legal respect for and protection of private property or the right to it are concerned) have fared much better in reducing poverty than have others, without also causing massive political and other social failures (such as dysfunction of civil liberties, institutions of forced labour and involuntary servitude, regimentation of the bulk of social relations, arresting scientific and technological progress, or censorship of the arts and other intellectual endeavours). Thus, America is still the freest of societies, with many of its legal principles giving expression to classical liberal, near-libertarian ideas, and it is, at the same tie, the most generally productive (creative and culturally rich) of all societies, with its wealth assisting in the support of hundreds of other societies across the globe. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21

ImageThere is another point to be stressed. This is that there can be people in the American society—indeed, in any society—for whom a lack of wealth, even extreme poverty relative to the mean, may not be a great liability. Not everyone wants to, or even ought to, live prosperously. For some individuals a life of ostensible poverty could be of substantial benefit. Some people elect not to seek economic prosperity. There are some who are poor but who are not, therefore, worse off than the rich, provided we do not confine ourselves to counting economic prosperity as the prime source of well-being. Furthermore, some artist whoa re poor are happier than some merchants who are rich. There is no justification for feeling compassion for such artists, despite their poverty. In short, being poor in and of itself does not justify special consideration. Being in need of what it takes to attain one’s well-being warrants, if the need is a matter of natural misfortune or injury for others, feelings and conduct amounting to care, generosity, and charity. Poverty does not always constitute such neediness. Nonetheless, all humans have the right to live in a community of other human individual with equal protection under the law. Justice requires only an equal liberty. Players in the game do not protest to their being other positions such as batter, pitcher, catcher and the like just because they cannot win. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21

ImageHear us, holy Lord, Father Almighty, everlasting God, and join the grace of Thine own visitation to our humble services; that Thou mayest makes Thyself a mansion in the hearts of those whose dewing we approach; through Jesus Christ our Lord, we know that all things are possible. “Now when Ammon and his brethren separated themselves in the borders of the land of the Lamanites, behold Aaron took his journey towards the and which was called by the Lamanites, Jerusalem, calling it after the land of their fathers’ nativity; and it was away joining the borders of Mormon. Now the Lamanites and the Amalekites and the people of Amulon had built a great city, which was called Jerusalem. Now the Lamanites of themselves were sufficiently hardened, but the Amalekites and the Amulonites were still harder; therefore they did cause the Lamanites that they should harden their hearts, that they should wax strong in wickedness and their abominations. And it came to pass that Aaron came to the city of Jerusalem, and first began to preach to the Amalekites. And he began to preach to them in their synagogues, for they had built synagogues, for they had built synagogues after the order of the Nehors; for many of the Amalekites and the Amulonities were after the order of the Nehors. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21

Image“Therefore, as Aaron entered into one of their synagogues to preach unto the people, and as he was speaking unto them, behold there arose an Amalekite and began to contend with him, saying: What is that thou hast testified? Hast thou seen an angel? Why do not angels appear unto us? Behold are not this people as good as thy people? Thou also sayest, expect we repent we shall perish. How knowest thou the thought and intent of our heart? How knowest thou that we have cause to repent? How knowest thou that we are not a righteous people? Behold, we have built sanctuaries, and we do assemble ourselves together to worship God. We do believe that God will save all humans. Now Aaron said unto him: Believest thou that the Son of God shall come to redeem humankind from their sins? And the man said unto him: We do not believe that thou knowest any such thing. We do not believe in these foolish traditions. We do not believe that thou knowest of things to come, neither do we believe that thy fathers and also that our fathers did know concerning the things which they spake, of that which is to come. Now Aaron began to open the scriptures unto them concerning the coming of Christ, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and that there could be no redemption for humankind save it were through the death and sufferings of Christ, and the atonement of his blood. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21

Image“And it came to pass as he began to expound these things unto them they were angry with him, and began to mock him; and they would not hear the words which he spake. Therefore, when he saw that they would not hear his words, he departed out of their synagogue, and came over to a village which was called Ani-Anti and there he found Muloki preaching the word unto them; and also Ammah and his brethren. And they contended with many about the word. And it came to pass that the people would harden their hearts, therefore they departed and came over into the land of Middoni. And they did preach the word unto many, and few believed on the words which they taught. Nevertheless, Aaron and a certain number of his brethren were taken and cast into prison, and the remainder of them fled out of the land of Middoni unto the regions round about. And those who were cast into prison suffered many things, and they were delivered by the hand of Lamoni and Ammon, and they were fed and clothed. And they went forth again to declare the word, and thus they were delivered for the first time out of prison; and thus they had suffered. And they went forth whitersoever they were led by the Spirit of the Lord, preaching the word of God in every synagogue of the Amalekites, or in every assembly of the Lamanites where they could be admitted. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21

Image“And it came to pass that the Lord began to bless them, insomuch that they brought many to the knowledge of the truth; yea, they did convince many of their sins, and of the traditions of their fathers, which were not correct. And it came to pass that Ammon and Lamoni returned from the land of Middoni to the land of Ishmael, which was the land of their inheritance. And king Lamoni would not suffer that Ammon should serve him, or be his servant. However, he caused that there should be synagogues built in the land of Ishmael; and he caused that his people, or the people who were under his reign, should assemble themselves together. And he did rejoice over them, and he did teach them many things. And he did also declare unto them that they were a people who were a free people, that they were free from the oppressions of the king, his father; for that his father had granted unto him that he might reign over the people who were in the land of Ishmael, and in all the land round about. And he also declared unto them that they might have the liberty of worshipping the Lord their God according to their desires, in whatsoever place they were in, if it were in the land which was under the reign of King Lamoni. And Ammon did preach unto the people of king Lamoni; and it came to pass that he did teach them all things concerning things pertaining to righteousness. And he did exhort them in daily, with all diligence; and they gave heed unto his word, and they were zealous for keeping the commandments of God,” reports Alma 21.1-23. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21

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Pro-tip 💡: Your #MillsStation Residence 4 dining room is the perfect spot for some succulents to call home. 🤩

ImageTake a virtual tour of this floor plan on our website! Link in bio. https://cresleigh.com/mills-station/residence-4/
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Hear us Lord, Almighty Father, eternal God, our thanks for your visitations. The more we incur by being children of God, we know that we are graced even more so by your loving protection, and Thou are in our dwelling-place, as we have given our hearts unto Thee.

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In early 1948, Emanuel D’amico rented a brownstone storefront at number 309 Court Street in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Carroll Gardens. Emanuel, a sea merchant from Palermo, Sicily, left his home some twenty years prior — one of the over 4 million Italians who immigrated to America seeking their fortune in the New World. He’d lost all he had in a failed Pasta Company endeavor and New York seemed his last chance to make things right. For a number of years he worked odd jobs and began a number of side ventures, but none were too successful. A number of years later, after sending for his wife under a U.S. sponsored amnesty program, the two reunited in Brooklyn and shortly after opened the doors to D’amico Foods.

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D’amico Foods originally set their sights on coffee. In 1948, there were few cafes and most coffee consumed was mass produced, undrinkable swill. With an AJ Deer Royal Roaster, Emanuel became one of the first small batch, roast to order Brooklyn roasters. The max capacity of the machine was a mere 10 pounds, ensuring that all coffee which left D’amico Foods was fresh. He was revolutionary in his approach and developed quite a following amongst the Italian immigrant population in Carroll Gardens. With each batch Emanuel pulled, the rich aroma of fresh roasted coffee spilled out into the neighborhood.

ImageThree generations and over 60 years later, D’Amico is still a staple of the Carroll Gardens neighborhood. The storefront has become a Brooklyn legacy. That’s why we established D’amico Coffee in an effort to share this longstanding tradition of delicious Brooklyn roasted coffee with the nation. We’ve expanded our facilities and now offer wholesale but continue to use the same techniques and approach to roasting Emanuel did back in 1948. Because at the end of the day, we’re a family owned business and we’re your neighborhood roaster. For the best coffee in the World: https://damicocoffee.com/

Without Love Intelligence is Dangerous; Without Intelligence Love is Not Enough!

ImageScience cannot bear the thought that there is an important natural phenomenon which it cannot hope to explain even with unlimited time and money. “For though I be free from all human, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain the, that are under the under the law; to them that are without law, as without law (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ), that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all humans, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you,” reports 1 Corinthians 9.19-23. We have all seen in the first sermon that the foundation of our theological existence is that the Divine Spirit keeps us in its power, and makes it impossible for us ever to escape the theological question, the question of our ultimate concern, the question of God. We considered the theologian as a believer in spite of his doubt and despair, and as a member of the Church, in whose power all theological work is done, in spite of one’s lack of certainty. Now, some words of Paul about his ministry shall lead us to the understanding of another side of our theological existence. #RandolphHarris 1 of 23

ImageAn apostle is certainly more than a theologian; and a minister exercises more functions than a theological scholar. However, an apostle is also a theologian; and a minister cannot work without theology. Therefore, the words that Paul says about his ministry as a whole are also true of theological part of his ministry: “To all humans I have become all things.” Theological existence demands the same attitude. The theologian, in his theology, must become all things to all humans. We must consider the meaning of those words. “To those under the Law I have become as one of themselves, to win those under the Law, although I am not under the Law myself.” Let us replace the word “Law” by “idealism,” not only because idealists are usually legalistic, but also because idealism is a noble attitude, which elevates us above the lower strata of our existence, and produces faith and devotion, just as the Law does. “To the idealists I have become as one of themselves, to win those who are idealists, although I am not an idealist myself.” How is such an act possible? How can the theologian, not being an idealist, become an idealist to the idealists? One can become an idealist in exactly the same way as the apostle of Christ can become a Jew to the Jews. Paul says that the Law is good, and that it is not abolished, but rather fulfilled, in Christ. #RandolphHarris 2 of 23

ImageLikewise, the theologian who is not an idealist (and who could never be an idealist) does not destroy idealism. One utilizes it and states that it contains some truth which creates a continuous temptation for the theologian to become an idealist oneself, and to deny the Cross which is the judgment over idealism. The theologian uses idealism, its concepts and methods. One becomes a Platonist to the Platonists, a Stoic to the Stoics, an Hegelian to the Hegelians, a progressivist to the progressivists. However, one cannot confuse any of these forms of idealism with the Christian message. One adheres more to some than to others. However, one never imposes one’s preferred form upon others in the name of Christianity. One is aware of the despair that idealism, as well as the Law, can bring upon us. And one knows that in Christ there is a new Being in which all ideals are embodied and have become visible, no longer as ideals, but as realities. “To those outside the Law I have become as one of them (although I am under Christ’s law, and not outside God’s Law), in order to triumph over those outside the Law.” Let us replace the phrase “outside the Law” by “realism,” not because the realists have no Law (for neither they nor the pagans are without some Law), but because they have no abstract principles to impose upon reality. Their greatness lies in their humble acceptance of things as they are. “The piety of realism is humility.” “To the realists I have become as one of themselves, in order to win them, although I am not a realist myself.”  #RandolphHarris 3 of 23

ImageThe theologian who is not a realist (and who could never become a realist) does not destroy realism. He recognizes the truth of realism, and is continually tempted to become a realist himself, and thus to deny the eternal life which is the judgment over realism. The theologian uses realism and becomes a positivist to the positivists, a pragmatist to the pragmatists, and a tragic interpreter of life to the tragic interpreters of life. However, one does not say that realism is the Christian message. One does not fight for it in the name of Christianity. He knows the despair of mere realism, and he knows that there is a new Being which overcomes the self-destruction of reality. “To the weak I have become weak myself in order to gain the weak.” This is the most profound of the three statements that Paul makes about himself, and the most important one for our existence as theologians. We must become as though weak, although, grasped by the Divine Spirit, the basis of all theology, we are not weak. How can we become weak by having the strength to acknowledge our weakness, by restraining ourselves from all fanaticism and theological self-certainty, and by participating—not from the outside, but from the inside—in the weakness of all those to whom we speak as theologians. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23

ImageOur strength is our weakness; our strength is not our strength. We are strong, therefore, only in so far as we point, for our own sake and for the sake of others, to the truth which possesses us, but which we do not possess. Nothing is more disastrous for the theologian himself and more despicable to those whom one wants to convince than a theology of self-certainty. The real theologian is one who has the strength to perceive and to confess one’s weakness, and who, therefore, has the strength to become as weak to the weak, so that one’s is the victory. We are concerned with what is now, since Bultmann popularized the term, called demythologization. As we understand it, to demythologize is not a negative process by which the truth of a myth is negated. Let us remember that myth is, for us, a system of symbols derive their truth from the fact that they share the power and meaning of what they point to. In this sense, mythical does not mean untrue; it means “symbolical of the eternal.” To demythologize, therefore, is not to debunk a myth, but to grasp its relation to the eternal. On the one hand, literalism distorts myths by viewing them in their material elements and not in their transcendent meaning. On the other, philosophy may distort religion by myths: The myth, if interpreted as the symbolic expression of ultimate concern, is the fundamental creation of every religious community. It cannot be replaced by philosophy. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23

ImageIn the picture of Jesus contained in the New Testament, one should distinguish faith (the faith that the Christ has appeared), myth (symbolic creations of the religious concern of the first Christians, whereby they expressed their faith in imaginative form), and history (if at least we can separate probable historical facts from mythical creations). Thus there are two successive steps in demythologizing: first, separation, if possible, of myth from the substance of faith and from facts; second, interpretation of the symbolic purport of myth. When this is done, the myth is “broken.” This is the only way to deal intelligently with a myth. Without abandoning or denying the myth, this method seeks to understand its meaning. In this perspective, Christianity has all the characteristics of a myth couched in historical language: “If the Christ—a transcendent, divine being—appears in the fullness of times, lives, dies and is resurrected, this is an historical myth. Christianity speaks the mythological language like every other religion. It is a broken myth, but it is a myth; otherwise Christianity would not be an expression of ultimate concern. The task of theology is always to proceed to a racial criticism of myth. For there is a recurring tendency to unbreak the myth and to read it literally again. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23

ImageOur scepticism concerning our historical knowledge of Jesus must be seen against this background. We are afraid lest the attempts of historians to reconstruct the historical Jesus should actually replace the meaningful myths of Christian tradition with flimsy constructions, which would themselves, eventually, acquire symbolic status, if only through their association with the name “Jesus.” The new myths would not be a true Christology but a devalued Jesusology. They would not point to the New Being in Christ, simply because symbols and myths of the New Being must grow out of a revelatory experience and cannot be invented in a laboratory. Demythologization is a necessary theological process. In particular, it protects faith against historians. Demythologization, however, cannot taken seriously unless it takes historians seriously. It leaves all necessary elbow-room to the higher critics. If these establish that a certain biblical report is untrue to facts, this report may still be treated as a symbol but should no longer be asserted as a fact. We have been chary of asserting anything concerning Jesus as a fact. Yet we maintain the religious value of the New Testament as a historical myth. The negative conclusions of historians cannot harm the symbolic meaning of a myth. We are just sceptical of the historians’ efforts to re-write the story of Jesus. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23

ImageHistorians cannot re-write the story because it is already written: the historical value of the New Testament is plain enough. Historians have not been able to make its reliability improbable. Historians who doubt the value of the records have failed to establish their point. This leads us to the New Being; but through what apotheoses or catastrophes we do not know. Our age has not yet unfolded its secret message. Many different kinds of things are said to be just and unjust: not only laws, institutions, and social systems, but also particular actions of many kinds, including decisions, judgments, and imputations. We also call the attitudes and dispositions of persons, and persons themselves, just and unjust. Our topic, however, is that of social justice. For us the primary subject of justice is the basic structure of society, or more exactly, the way in which the major social institutions distribute fundamental rights and duties and determine the division of advantages from social cooperation. By major institutions I understand the political constitution and the principal economic and social arrangements. Thus the legal protection of freedom of thought and liberty of conscience, competitive markets, private property in the means of production, and the monogamous family are examples of major social institutions. #RandolphHarris 8 of 23

ImageTaken together as one scheme, the major institutions define human’s rights and duties and influence their life-prospects, what they can expect to be and how well they can hope to do. The basic structure is the primary subject of justice because its effects are so profound and present from the start. The intuitive notion here is that this structure contains various social positions and that humans born into different positions have different expectations of life determined, in part, by the political system as well as by economic and social circumstances. In this way the institutions of society favour certain starting places over others. These are especially deep inequalities. Not only are they pervasive, but they affect men’s initial chances in life; yet they cannot possibly be justified by an appeal to the notions of merit or desert. It is these inequalities, presumably inevitable in the basic structure of any society, to which the principles, then, regulate the choice of a political constitution and the main elements of the economic and social system. The justice of a social scheme depends essentially on how fundamental rights and duties are assigned and on the economic opportunities and social conditions in the various sectors of society. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23

ImageThe scope of our inquiry is limited in two ways. First of all, I am concerned with a special case of the problem of justice. I shall not consider the justice of institutions and social practices generally, nor except in passing the justice of the law of nation and of relations between states. Therefore, if one supposed that concept of justice applies whenever there is an allotment of something rationally regarded as advantageous or disadvantageous, then we are interested in only one instance of its application. There is no reason to suppose ahead of time that the principles satisfactory for the basic structure hold for all cases. These principles may not work for the rules and practices of private associations or for those of less comprehensive social groups. They may be irrelevant for the various informal conventions and customs of everyday life; they may not elucidate the justice, or perhaps better, the fairness of voluntary cooperative arrangements or procedures for making contractual agreements. The conditions for the law of nations may require different principles arrived at in a somewhat different way. I shall be satisfied if it is possible to formulate a reasonable conception of justice for the basic structure of society conceived for the time being as a closed system isolated from other societies. #RandolphHarris 10 of 23

ImageThe significance of this special case is obvious and needs to explanation. It is natural to conjecture that once we have a sound theory for this case, the remaining problems of justice will prove more tractable in the light of it. With suitable modifications such a theory should provide the key for some of these other questions. The other limitation on our discussion is that for the most part I examine the principles of justice that would regulate a well-ordered society. Everyone is presumed to act justly and to do one’s part in upholding just institutions. Though justice maybe the cautious, jealous virtue, we can still ask what a perfectly just society would be like. Thus I consider primarily what I call strict compliance as opposed to partial compliance theory. The latter studies the principles that govern how we are to deal with injustice. It comprises such topics as the theory of punishment, the doctrine of just war, and the justification of the various ways of opposing unjust regimes, ranging from civil disobedience and militant resistance to revolution and rebellion. Also included here are questions of compensatory justice and of weighing one form of institutional injustice against another. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23

ImageObviously the problems of partial compliance theory are the pressing and urgent matters. These are the things that we are faced with in everyday life. The reason for beginning with ideal theory is that it provides, I believe, the only basis for the systematic grasp of these more pressing problems. The discussion of civil disobedience, for example, depends upon it. At least, I shall assume that a deeper understanding can be gained in no other way, and that the nature and aims of a perfectly just society is the fundamental part of the theory of justice. Now admittedly the concept of the basic structure is somewhat vague. It is not always clear which institutions or features thereof should be included. However, it would be premature to worry about this matter here. I shall proceed by discussing principles which do apply to what is certainly a part of the basic structure as intuitively understood; I shall then try to extend the application of these principles so that they cover what would appear to be the main elements of this structure. Perhaps these principles will turn out to be perfectly general, although this is unlikely. It is sufficient that they apply to the most important cases of social justice. The point to keep in mind is that a conception of justice for the basic structure is worthy having for its own sake. It should not be dismissed because its principles are not everywhere satisfactory. #RandolphHarris 12 of 23

ImageA conception of social justice, then, is to be regarded as providing in the first instance a standard whereby the distributive aspects of the basic structure of society are to be assessed. This standard, however, is not to be confused with the principles defining the other virtues, for the basic structure, and social arrangements generally, may be efficient or inefficient, liberal or illiberal, and many other things, as well as just or unjust. A complete conception defining principles for all the virtues of basic structure together with their respective weighs when they conflict, is more than a conception of justice; it is a social ideal. The principles of justice are but a part, although perhaps the most important part, of such a conception. A social ideal in turn is connected with a conception of society, a vision of the way in which the aims and purposes of social cooperation are to be understood. The various conceptions of justice are the outgrowth of different notions of society against the background of opposing views of the natural necessities and opportunities of human life. Fully to understand a conception of justice we must make explicit the conception of social cooperation from which it derives. However, in doing this we should not lose sight of the special role of the principles of justice or of the primary subject to which they apply. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23

ImageIn these preliminary remarks I have distinguished the concept of justice as meaning a proper balance between competing claims from a conception of justice as a set of related principles for identifying the relevant considerations which determine this balance. I have also characterized justice as but one part of a social ideal, although the theory I shall propose no doubt extends its everyday sense. This theory is not offered as a description of ordinary meanings but as an account of certain distributive principles for the basic structure of society. I assume that any reasonably complete ethical theory must include principles for this fundamental problem and that these principles, whatever they are, constitute its doctrine of justice. The concept of justice I take to be defined, then, by the role of its principles in assigning rights and duties and in defining the appropriate division of social advantages. A conception of justice is an interpretation of this role. Now this approach may not seem to tally with tradition. I believe, though, that it does. The more specific sense that Aristotle gives to justice, and from which the most familiar formulations derive, is that of refraining from pleonexia, that is, from gaining some advantage for oneself by seizing what belongs to another, one’s property, one’s reward, one’s office, and the like, by denying a person that which is due to one, the fulfillment of a promise, the repayment of a debt, the showing of proper respect, and so on. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23

ImageAristotle’s definition clearly presupposes, however, an account of what properly belongs to a person and of what is due to one. Now such entitlements are, I believe, very often derived from social institutions and the legitimate expectations to which they give rise. There is no reason to think that Aristotle would disagree with this, and certainly he has a conception of social justice to account for these claims. The definition I adopt is designed to apply directly to the most important case, the justice of the basic structure. There is no conflict with the tradition notion. We need to be in the presence of images, both visual and auditory (good sayings, poetry, and songs). These can constantly direct and redirect our minds toward God, Jesus Christ, the Spirit, and the church (people of God). “Icons” have a millennia-long track record with the people of God and can be a powerful way of keeping entire stories and teachings effortlessly before the mind. We might arrange to have them tastefully present in each of our living and work spaces, so that they are always present in our visual field. We can thoughtfully use them to dispel destructive imagery and thoughts and to see ourselves as before God in all levels of our being. Not long ago, people in the Untied States of America commonly had edifying sayings on their walls. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23

ImageI recall from my childhood one that said, “Only one life. It will soon be past. Only what is done for Christ will last.” This and other good sayings were constantly before the minds of all who lived in the house. They were powerfully effective because they became, through mere habit, an enduring presence and influence within the minds of those who constantly saw them. What is now constantly before the minds of those who live where we do? Today we as a culture are schizophrenic on such matters. We want to say it does not make any difference what we look to hear. This, no doubt, is because we want to be “free” to show anything and to see anything—no matter how evil and revolting. However, business still pays millions of dollars to show us something for thirty seconds on television. They do that because they know what we repeatedly see and hear affects what we do. Otherwise they would go out of business. This may be a hint at what you are about to ask for; perhaps there is some obstruction in your life that you would like removed. If you are praying to praise God, it becomes something for which He should be honoured. If you are praying out of gratitude, it expresses in a metaphor the kind of thing you are thanking Him for. Lamoni receives the light of everlasting life and sees the Redeemer—his household falls into a trance, and many see angels—Ammon is preserved miraculously—he baptizes many and establishes a church among them. About 90 Before Christ.  #RandolphHarris 16 of 23

Image “And it came to pass that after two days and two nights they were about to take his body and lay it in a sepulcher, which they had made for the purpose of burying their dead. Now the queen having heard of the fame of Ammon, therefore she sent and desired that he should come in unto her. And it came to pass that Ammon did as he was commanded, and went in unto the queen, and desired to know what she would that he should do. And she said unto him: The servants of my husband have made it known uno me that thou art a prophet of a holy God, and that thou hast power to do many might works in his name; therefore, if this is the case, I would that ye should go in and see my husband, for he had been laid upon his bed for the space of two days and two nights; and some say that he is not dead, but others say that he is dead and that he stinketh, and that he ought to be placed in the sepulcher; but as for myself, to me he doth not stink. Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23

Image“Therefore, what the queen desired of him was his only desire. Therefore, he went in to see the king according as the queen had desired him; and he saw the king, and he knew that he was not dead. And he said unto the queen: He is not dead, but he sleepth in God, and on the morrow he shall rise again; therefore bury him not. And Ammon said unto her: Believest thou this? And she said unto him: I have had no witness save thy word, and the word of our servants; nevertheless I believe that it shall be according as thou hast said. And Ammon said unto her: Blessed art thou because of thy exceeding faith; I say unto thee, woman, there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites. And it came to pass that she watched over the bed of her husband, from that time even until that time on the morrow which Ammon had appointed that he should rise. And it came to pass that he arose, according to the words of Ammon; and as he arose, he stretched forth his hand unto the woman, and said: Blessed be the name of God, and blessed art thou. For as sure as thou livest, behold, I have seen my Redeemer; and he shall come forth, and be born of woman, and he shall redeem all humankind who believe on his name. Now, when he had said these words, his heart was swollen within him, and he sun again with joy; and the queen also sunk down, being overpowered by the Spirit. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23

Image“Now Ammon seeing the Spirit of the Lord poured out according to his prayers upon the Lamanites, his brethren, who had been the cause of so much mourning among the Nephites, or among all the people of God because of their iniquities and their traditions, he fell upon his knees, and began to pour out his soul in prayer and thanksgiving to God for what he had done for his brethren; and he was also overpowered with joy; and this they all three had sunk to the Earth. Now, when the servants of the king had seen that they had fallen, they also began to cry unto God, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them also, for it was they who had stood before the king and testified unto him concerning the great power of Ammon. And it came to pass that they did call on the name of the Lord, in their might, even until they had all fallen to Earth, save it were one of the Lamanitish women, whose name was Abish, she having been converted unto the Lord for many year, on account of a remarkable vision of her father—thus, having been converted to the Lord, and never having made it known, therefore, when she saw that all the servants of Lamoni had fallen to the Earth, ad also her mistress, the queen, and the king, and Ammon lay prostrate upon the Earth, she knew that it was the power of God. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23

Image“And supposing that this opportunity, by making known unto the people what had happened among them, that by beholding this scene it would cause them to believe in the power of God, therefore she ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people. And they began to assemble themselves together unto the house of the king. And there came a multitude, and to their astonishment, they beheld the king, and the queen, and their servants prostrate upon the Earth, and they all lay there as though they were dead; and they also saw Ammon, and behold, he was Nephite. And now the people began to murmur among themselves; some saying that it was a great evil that had come upon them, or upon the king and his house, because he had suffered that the Nephite should remain in the land. However, others rebuked them, saying: The king hath brought this evil upon his house, because he slew his servants who had their flocks scattered at the waters of Sebus. And they were also rebuked by those men who had stood at the waters of Sebus and scattered the flocks which belonged to the king, for they were angry with Ammon because of the number which he hath slain of their brethren at the waters of Sebus, while defending the flocks of the king. Now, one of them, whose brother had been slain with the sword of Ammon, being exceedingly angry with Ammon, drew his sword and went forth that he might let it fall upon Ammon, to slay him; and as he lifted the sword to smite him, behold, he fell dead. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23

Image“Now we see that Ammon could no be slain, for the Lord had said unto Mosiah, his father: I will spare him, and it shall be unto him according to thy faith—therefore, Mosiah trusted him unto the Lord. And it came to pass that when the multitude beheld that the man had fallen dead, who lifted the sword to slay Ammon, fear came upon them all, and they durst not put forth their hands to touch him or any of those who had fallen; and they began to marvel again among themselves what could be the cause of this great power, or what all these things could mean. And it came to pass that there were many among them who said that Ammon was the Great Spirit, and others said he was sent by the Great Spirit; but others rebuked them all, saying that he was a monster, who had been sent from the Nephites to torment them. And there were some who said that Ammon was sent by the Great Spirit to afflict them because of their iniquities; and that it was the Great Spirit that had always attended the Nephites, who has ever delivered them out of their hands; and they said that it was this Great Spirit that had always attended the Nephites, who had ever delivered them out of their hands; and they said that it was this Great Spirit who had destroyed so many of their brethren, the Lamanites. And thus the contention began to be exceedingly sharp among them. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23

Image“And while they were thus contending, the woman servant who had caused the multitude to be gathered together came, and when she saw the contention which was among the multitude she was exceedingly sorrowful, even unto tears. And it came to pass that she went and took the queen by the hand, that perhaps she might raise her from the ground; and as soon as she touched her hand she arose and stood upon her feet, and cried with a loud voice, saying: O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful hell! O blessed God, have mercy on this people! And when she had said this, she clasped her hands, being filled with joy, speaking many words which were not understood; and when she had done this, she took the king, Lamoni, by the hand, and behold he arose and stood upon his feet. And he, immediately, seeing the contention among his people, went forth and began to rebuke them, and to teach them the words which he had heard from the mouth of Ammon; and as many as heard his words believed, and were converted unto the Lord. However, there were many among them who would not hear his word; and therefore they went their way. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23

Image“And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil. And behold, many did declare unto the people that they had seen angels and had conversed with them; and thus they had told them things of God, and of his righteousness. And it came to pass that there were many that did believe in their words; and as many as did believe were baptized; and they became a righteous people, and they did establish a church among them. And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his Spirit upon them; and we see that his arm extended to all people who will repent and believe on his name,” reports Alma 19.1-36. Please be present, O Lord, to our supplications; and graciously hearken unto me, who am the first to need Thy mercy; and as Thou hast made me the minister of this work, not by choosing me on account of merit, but by the gift of Thy grace, please give me confidence to perform Thine office, and do Thou Thyself by our ministration carry out the act of Thine own loving-kindness; through our Lord, God in Heaven, with your grace, make this blessing come true. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23

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ImageResidence Three at Brighton Station boasts 2,757 square feet in this expansive two story home. There are four bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, and a three car garage! The Owner’s Suite in your #BrightonStation Residence 3 home is the perfect escape. Use all that space to set up a TV lounge, reading nook, or a coffee bar!

ImageThe kitchen comes fully equipped with a large eat-in island, stainless steel appliances, quartz counters, and large walk in pantry. The openness in the design allows the Great Room and kitchen to interact with each other seamlessly. This home comes with an en suite bedroom on the first floor making it ideal for guests, or multi-generational living.

 

ImageBest of all, each Cresleigh home comes fully equipped with an All Ready connected home! This smart home package comes included with your home and features great tools including: video door bell and digital deadbolt for the front door, connect home hub so you can set scenes and routines to make life just a little easier. Two smart switches and USB outlets are also included, plus we’ll gift you a Google Home Hub and Google Mini to help connect everything together! https://cresleigh.com/brighton-station/residence-3/

ImageFrom Heaven, our Lord is so merciful, so much so that He is bestowing  us with blessings on Earth. #CresleighHomes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Home Site 76 at #PlumasRanch is an expansive 2,585 square feet, at a reasonable price of $456,634, and completed and ready for move-in! This home features a Residence 2 layout, complete with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a large 3 car garage. Pictured here is the spacious kitchen island which overlooks your Great Room—perfect for those nights when you want to sing along to @HamiltonMusical while you meal prep.

ImageLearn more about the #Riverside neighborhood on our website. Link in bio. https://cresleigh.com/cresleigh-riverside-at-plumas-ranch/move-in-ready-home-site-76/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ImageNor is geometry, when take into the assistance of natural philosophy, ever able to remedy this effect, or lead us into the knowledge of ultimate causes, by all that accuracy of reasoning, for which it is so justly celebrated. Every part of mixed mathematics (equivalent to what would today be called “applied mathematics,” or the application of mathematics or mathematical principles to the physical World and experience, as, for instance, in astronomy, surveying, or the calculation of empirical probabilities) proceeds upon the position, that certain laws are established by nature in her operations; and abstract reasonings are employed, either to assist experience in the discovery of these laws, or to determine their influence in particular instances, where it depends upon any precise degree of distance and quantity. Thus, it is a law of motion, discovered by experience, that the moment of force of any body in motion is in the compound ratio or proportion of its solid contents and its velocity; and consequently, that a small force may remove the greatest obstacle or raise the greatest weight, if, by any contrivance or machinery, we can increase the velocity of that force, so as to make it an overmatch for its antagonist. #RandolphHarris 10 of 20

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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HOME SITE 84: MOVE IN READY

3 Bedrooms – 2.5 Bathrooms – 2,054 sq. ft. – $499,000

 

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Pack bags and move right on into this turn key home!

ImageFully finished single-story home located in the growing Cresleigh Ranch community! This sleek and modern home features a contemporary kitchen with white slab cabinetry, quartz counters, tiled back splash and stainless steel farm sink!The open floor plan is full of natural light and durable LVP flooring with the Great Room opening to the landscaped backyard! The Owner’s Suite is tucked away at the rear of the home and includes a private entrance to the back yard. Two additional bathrooms connected by a Jack & Jill bathroom round out this home! All-house window coverings and Electrolux Washer and Dryer set also included! https://cresleigh.com/brighton-station/move-in-ready-home-site-84/ImageO God, Who buildest for Thy Majesty an eternal habitation out of living and elect stones, assist Thy suppliant people, that as Thy Church gains in material extent, it may also be enlarged by spiritual increase; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #CresleighHomes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Well, if I Called the Wrong Number, Why Did You Answer the Phone?

ImageAll happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. The aim of education should be to convert the mind into a living fountain and not a reservoir. That which is filled by merely pumping in, will be emptied by pumping out. A social condition is commonly the result of circumstances, sometimes of laws, oftener still of these two causes united; but wherever it exists, it may justly be considered as the source of almost all the laws, the usages, and the ideas, which regulate the conduct of nations: whatever it does not produce, it modifies. It is, therefore, necessary, if we would become acquainted with the legislation and the manners of a nation, to begin by the study of its social condition.  The striking characteristic of the social condition the Anglo-Americans is its essential democracy. The first Emigrants of New England.—Their Equality.—Aristocratic Laws introduced in the South.—Period of the Revolution.—Change in the Law of Descent.—Effects produced by this Change.—Democracy carried to its utmost Limits in the new States of the West.—Equality of Education. Many important observations suggest themselves upon the social condition of the Anglo-Americans; but there is one which takes precedence of all the rest. The social condition of the Americas is eminently democratic; this was its character at the foundation of the colonies, and is still more strongly marked at the present day. #RandolphHarris 1 of 19

ImageGreat equality existed among the emigrants who settled on the shores of New England The germe of aristocracy was never planted in that part of the Union. The only influence which obtained there was that of intellect; the people were used to reverence certain names as the emblems of knowledge and virtue. Some of their fellow-citizens acquired a power over the rest which might truly have been called aristocratic, if it had been capable of invariable transmission from father to son. This was the state of things to the east of the Hudson: to the southwest of that river, and in the direction of the Floridas, the case was different. In most of the states situated to the southwest of the Hudson some great English proprietors had settled, who had imported with them aristocratic principles and the English law of descent. I have explained the reasons why it was impossible ever to establish a powerful aristocracy in America; these reasons existed with less force to the south west of the Hudson. In the south, one man, assisted by enslaved people, could cultivate a great extent of country: it was therefore common to see rich landed proprietors. However, their influence was not altogether aristocratic as that term is understood in Europe, since they possessed no privileges; and the cultivation of their estates being carried on by slaves, they had no tenants depending on them, and consequently no patronage. #RandolphHarris 2 of 19

ImageStill, the great proprietors south of the Hunsdon constituted a superior class, having ides and tastes of its own, and forming the center of political action. This kind of aristocracy sympathized with the body of the people, whose passions and interests it easily embraced; but it was too weak and too short-lived to excite either love or hatred for itself. This was the class which headed the insurrection in the south, and furnished the best leaders of the American revolution. At the period of which we are now speaking, society was shaken to its center: the people, in whose name the struggled had taken place, conceived the desire of exercising the authority which it had acquired; its democratic tendencies were awakened; and having thrown off the yoke of the mother-country, it aspired to independence of every kind. The influence of individuals gradually ceased to be felt, and custom and law untied together to produce the same result. However, the law of descent was the last step to equality. I am surprised that ancient and modern jurists have attributed to this law a greater influence on human affairs. I understand by the law of descent all the laws whose principal object it is to regulate the distribution of property after the death of its owner. The law of entail is of this number: it certainly prevents the owner from disposing of one’s possession before one’s death; but this is solely with a view of preserving them entire for the heir. #RandolphHarris 3 of 19

ImageIt is true that these laws belong to civil affairs: but they ought nevertheless to be placed at the head of all political institutions; for, while political laws are only the symbol of a nation’s condition, they exercise an incredible influence upon its social state. They have, moreover, a sure and uniform manner of operating upon society, affecting, as it were, generations yet unborn. Through their means humans acquire a kind of preternatural power over the future lot of their fellow-creatures. When the legislator has once regulated the law of inheritance, one may rest from one’s labour. The machine once put in motion will go on for ages, and advance, as if self-guided, toward a given point. When framed in a particular manner, this law unites, draws together, and advance, as if self-guided, toward a given point. When framed in a particular manner, this law unites, draws together, and vests property and power in a few hands: its tendency is clearly aristocratic. On opposite principles its action is still more rapid; it divides, distributes, and disperses both property and power. Alarmed by the rapidity of its progress, those who despair of arresting its motion endeavour to obstruct by difficulties and impediments; they vainly seek to counteract its effect by contrary efforts; but it gradually reduces or destroys every obstacle, until by its incessant activity the bulwarks of the influence of wealth are grounded down to the fine and shifting sand which is the basis of democracy. #RandolphHarris 4 of 19

ImageWhen the law of inheritance permits, still more when it decrees, the equal division of a father’s property among all his children, its effects are of two kinds: it is important to distinguish them from each other, although they tend to the same end. In virtue of law of partible inheritance, the death of every proprietor brings about a kind of revolution in property: not only do one’s possessions change hands, but their very nature is altered; since they are parceled into shares, which become smaller and smaller at each division. This is the direct, and, as it were, they physical effect of the law. It follows, then, that in countries where equality of inheritance is established by law, property, and especially landed property, must have a tendency to perpetual diminution. The effects, however, of such legislation would only be perceptible after a lapse of time, if the law was abandoned to its own working; for supposing a family to consist of two children (and in a country peopled as France is, the average number is not above three), these children, sharing among them the fortune of both parents, would not be poorer than their father or mother. However, the law of equal division exercises its influence not merely upon the property itself, but it affects the minds of the heirs, and brings their passion into play. These indirect consequences tend powerfully to the destruction of large fortunes, and especially of large domains. #RandolphHarris 5 of 19

ImageAmong the nations whose law of descent is founded upon the right of primogeniture, landed estates often pass from generation to generation without undergoing division. The consequence of which is, that family feeling is to a certain degree incorporated with the estate. The family represents the estate, the estate the family; whose name, together with its origin, its glory, its power, and its virtues, is thus perpetuated in an imperishable memorial of the past, and sure pledge of the future. When the equal partition of property is established by law, the intimate connexion is destroyed between the family feeling and the preservation of the paternal estate; the property ceases to represent the family; for, as it must inevitably be divided after one or two generations, it has evidently a constant tendency to diminish, and must in the end be completely dispersed. The sons of the great landed proprietor, if they are few in number, of it fortune befriend them, may indeed entertain the hope of being as wealthy as their father, but not that of possessing the same property as he did; their riches must necessarily be composed of elements different from his. Now, from the moment when you divest the land-owner of that interest in the preservation of his estate which he derives from association, from tradition, and from family pride, you may be certain that sooner or later he will dispose of it; for there is a strong pecuniary interest in favour of selling, as floating capital produces higher interest than real property, and is more readily available to gratify the passions of the moment. #RandolphHarris 6 of 19

ImageGreat landed estates which have once been divided, never come together again; for the small proprietor draws from his land a better revenue in proportion, than the large owner does from his; and of course he sells it at a higher rate. (I do not mean to say that the small proprietor cultivates his land better, but he cultivates I with more ardour and care; so that he makes up by his labour for his want of skill.) The calculations of gain, therefore, which decided the rich man to sell his domain, will still more powerfully influence him against buying small estates to unite them into a large one. What is called family pride is often founded upon an illusion of self-love. A man wishes to perpetuate and immortalize himself, as it were, in his great-grandchildren. Where the esprit de famille ceases to act, individual selfishness comes into play. When the idea of family becomes vague, indeterminate, and uncertain, a man thinks of his present convenience; he provides for the establishment of the succeeding generation, and no more. Either a man gives up the idea of perpetuating his family, or at any rate he seeks to accomplish it by other means than that of a landed estate. Thus not only does the law of partible inheritance render it difficult for families to preserve their ancestral domains entire, but it deprives them of the inclination to attempt it, and compels them in some measure to co-operate with the law in their own extinction. #RandolphHarris 7 of 19

ImageThe law of equal distribution proceeds by two methods: by acting upon things, it acts upon persons; by influencing persons, it affects things. By these means the law succeeds in striking at the root of landed property, and dispersing rapidly both families and fortunes. (Land being the most stable kind of property, we find, from time to time, rich individuals who are disposed to make great sacrifices in order to obtain it, and who willingly forfeit a considerable part of their income to make sure of the rest. However, these are accidental cases. The preference for landed property is no longer found habitually in any class but among the poor. The small land-owner, who has less information, less imagination, and fewer passion, than the great one, is generally occupied with the desire of increasing his estate; and it often happens that by inheritance, by marriage, or by the chances of trade, he is gradually furnished with the means. Thus, to balance the tendency which leads men to divide their estates, there exists another, which incites them to add to them. This tendency, which is sufficient to prevent estates from being divided ad infinitum, is not strong enough to create great territo rial possessions, certainly not to keep them up in the same family.) Most certainly it is not for us, Frenchmen of the nineteenth century, who daily behold the political and social changes which the law of partition is bringing to pass, to question its influence. #RandolphHarris 8 of 19

ImageIt is perpetually conspicuous in our country, overthrowing the walls of our dwellings and removing the landmarks of our fields. However, although it has produced great effects in France, must still remains for it to do. Our recollections, opinions, and habits, present powerful obstacles to progress. In the Untied States of America it has nearly completed its work of destruction, and there we can best study its results. The English laws concerning the transmission of property were abolished in almost all the states at the time of the revolution. The law of entail was so modified as not to interrupt the free circulation of the property. The first having passed away, estates began to be parceled out; and the change became more and more rapid with the progress of time. At this moment, after a lapse of little more than sixty years, the aspect of society is totally altered; the families of the great landed proprietors are almost all commingled with the general mass. In the state of New York, which formerly contained many of these, there are but two who still keep their heads above the stream; and they must shortly disappear. The sons of these opulent citizens have become merchants, lawyers, or physicians. Most of them have lapsed into obscurity. The last trace of hereditary tanks and distinctions is destroyed—the law of partition has reduced all to one level. #RandolphHarris 9 of 19

ImageI do not mean that there is any deficiency of wealthy individuals in the United States of America; I know of no country, indeed, where the love of money has taken stronger hold on the affections of men, and where a profounder contempt is expressed for the theory of the permanent equality of property. However, wealth circulates with inconceivable rapidity, and experience shows that it is rare to find two succeeding generations in the full enjoyment of it. This picture, which may perhaps be thought overcharged, still gives a very imperfect idea of what is taking place in the new states of the west and southwest. At the end of the last century a few bold adventurers began to penetrate into the valleys of the Mississippi, and the mass of the population very soon began to move in that direction: communities unheard of till then were seen to emerge from their wilds: states, whose names were not in existence a few years before, claimed their place in the American Union; and in the western settlements we may behold democracy arrived at its utmost extreme. In these states, founded off hand, and as it were by chance, the inhabitants are but of yesterday. Scarcely known to one another, the nearest neighbours are unaware of each other’s history. #RandolphHarris 10 of 19

ImageIn this part of the American continent, therefore, the population has not experienced the influence of great names and great wealthy, not even that of natural aristocracy of knowledge and virtue. None are there to wield that respectable power which men willingly grant to the remembrance of a life spent in doing good before their eyes. The new states of the west are already inhabited; but society has no existence among them. It is not only the fortunes of men which are equal in America; even their acquirements partake in some degree of the same uniformity. I do not believe there is a country in the World where, in proportion to the population, there are so few uninstructed, and at the same time so few learned individuals. Primary instruction is within the reach of everybody; superior instruction is scarcely to be obtained by any. This is not surprising; it is in fact the necessary consequence of what we have advanced above. Almost all the Americans are in easy circumstances, and can therefore obtain the first elements of human knowledge. In America there are comparatively few who are rich enough to live without a profession. Every profession requires an apprenticeship, which limits the time of instruction to the early years of life. At fifteen they enter upon their calling, and thus their education ends at the age wen ours begins. #RandolphHarris 11 of 19

ImageWhatever is done afterward, is with a view to some special and lucrative object; a science is taken up as a matter of business, and the only branch of it which is attended to is such as admits of an immediate practical application. What is meant by the remark, that “at fifteen they enter upon a career, and thus their education is very often finished at the epoch when ours commences,” is not clearly perceived. Our professional men enter upon their course of preparation for their respective professions, wholly between eighteen and twenty-one years of age. Apprentices to trades are bound out, ordinarily, at fourteen, but what general education they receive is after that period. Previously, they have acquired the mere elements of reading, writing, and arithmetic. However, it is supposed there is nothing peculiar to America, in the age at which apprenticeship commences. In England, they commence at the same age, and it is believed that the same thing occurs throughout Europe. It is feared that the author has not expressed himself with his usual clearness and precision. In American most of the rich men were formerly poor: most of those who now enjoy leisure were absorbed in business during their youth; the consequences of which is, that when they might have had a taste for study they had no time for it, and when the time is at their disposal they have no longer the inclination. #RandolphHarris 12 of 19

ImageThere is no class, then, in America in which the taste for intellectual pleasures is transmitted with hereditary fortune and leisure, and by which the labours of the intellect are held in honour. Accordingly there is an equal want of the desire and the power of application to these objects. A middling standard is fixed in America for human knowledge. All approach as near to it as they can; some as they rise, others as they descend. Of course, an immense multitude of persons are to be found who entertain the same number of ideas on religion, history, science, political economy, legislation, and government. The gifts of intellect proceed directly from God, and man cannot prevent their unequal distribution. However, in consequence of the state of things which we have here represented, it happens, that although the capacities of men are widely different, as the Creator has doubtless intended they should be, they are submitted to the same method of treatment. In American the aristocratic element has always been feeble from its birth; and if at the present day it is not actually destroyed, it is at any rate so completely disabled that we can scarcely assign to it any degree of influence in the course of affairs. #RandolphHarris 13 of 19

ImageThe democratic principle, no the contrary, has gained so much strength by time, by events, and by legislation, as to have become no only predominant but all-powerful. There is no family or corporate authority, and it is rare to find even the influence of individual character enjoy any durability. American, then, exhibits in her social state a most extraordinary phenomenon. Men are there seen on a greater equality in point of fortune and intellect, or in other words, more equal in their strength, than in any other country of the World, or, in any age of which history has preserved the remembrance. The political consequences of such a social condition as this are easily deducible. It is impossible to believe that equality will not eventually find its way into the political World as it does everywhere else. To conceive of men remaining forever unequal upon one single point, yet equal on all others, is impossible; they must come in the end to be equal upon all. Now I know of only two methods of establishing equality in the political World: Every citizen must be put in possession of one’s rights, or rights must be granted to no one. For nations which have arrived at the same stage of social existence as the Anglo-Americans, it is therefore very difficult to discover a medium between the sovereignty of all and the absolute power of one person: and it would be vain to deny that social condition which I have been describing is equally liable to each of these consequences. #RandolphHarris 14 of 19

ImageThere is, in fact, manly and lawful passion for equality, which excites men to wish all to be powerful and honoured. This passion tends to elevate the humble to the rank of the great; but there exists also in the human heart a depraved taste for equality, which impels the weak to attempt to lower the powerful to their own level, and reduces men to prefer equality in slavery to inequality with freedom. Not that those nations whose social conditions is democratic naturally despise liberty; on the contrary, they have an instinctive love of it. However, liberty is not the chief and constant object of their desires; equality is their idol: they make rapid and sudden efforts to obtain liberty, and if they miss their aim, resign themselves to their disappointment; but noting can satisfy them excent equality, and rather than lose it they resolve to perish. On the other hand, in a sate where the citizens are nearly on an equality, it becomes difficult for them to preserve their independence against the aggressions of power. No one among them being strong enough to engage singly in the struggle with advantage, nothing but a general combination can protect their liberty: and such a union is not always to be found. From the same social position, then, nations may derive one or the other two great political results; these results are extremely different from each other, but they may both proceed from the same cause. #RandolphHarris 15 of 19

ImageThe Angelo-Americans, are the first who, having been exposed to this formidable alternative, have been happy enough to escape the dominion of absolute power. They have been allowed by their circumstances, their origin, their intelligence, and especially by their moral feeling, to establish and maintain the sovereignty of the people. Isaiah speaks messianically—the people in darkness will see a great light—unto us as a child is born—he will be the Prince of Peace and will reign on David’s throne—compare Isaiah 9. About 559-545 Before Christ. “Nevertheless, the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation, when at first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, and afterwards did more grievously afflict by the way of the Red Sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations. The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and increased the joy—they joy before Thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For thou hast broke the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor. For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire. #RandolphHarris 16 of 19

Image“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of government and peace there is no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will Perform this. The Lord sent his word unto Jacob and it hath lighted upon Israel. And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart: the bricks are fallen down, but we will build when hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars. Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him, and join his enemies together; the Syrians before and the Philistine behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For the people turneth not unto him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of Hosts. Therefore will the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush in one day. The ancient, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. #RandolphHarris 17 of 19

Image“Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows; for every one of them is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. For wickedness burneth as the fire; it shall devour the briers and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forests, and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke. Through the wrath of the Lord of Hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire; no person shall spare one’s brother. And one shall snatch on the right hand and be hungry; and one shall eat on the left hand and they shall not be satisfied; they shall eat every person the flesh of one’s own arm—Manasseth, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still,” 2 Nephi 19.1-21. O Life-Giving Master, and Bestower of good things, Who hast given unto people the blessed Hope of everlasting life, our Lord Jesus Christ; grant us to perform this Divine service unto Thee in holiness, that we may enjoy the blessedness to come; and being evermore guarded by Thy power, and guided into the light of truth, may continually render unto Thee all glory and thanksgiving. #RandolphHarris 18 of 19

ImageGracious God, my heart praises Thee for the wonder of Thy love in Jesus; He is Heaven’s darling, but is for me the incarnate, despised, rejected, crucified sin-bearer; in him Thy grace has almost out-graced itself, in him Thy love to rebels has reached its height; O to love Thee with a love like this! My heart is locked, let Thy love be the master key to pen it; O Father, I adore Thee for Thy great love in the gift of Jesus, O Jesus, I bless Thee for resigning Thy life for me, O Holy Spirit, I thank Thee for revealing to me this mystery; Great God, let Thy Son see in me the travail of His soul! Please bring me away from my false trusts to rest in Him, and Him only. Let me no be so callous to his merit as not to love him, so indifferent to His blood as not to desire cleansing. Lord Jesus, Master, Redeemer, Saviour, come and take entire possession of me; this is Thy right by purchase. In the arms of love enfold and subdue my willful spirit. Take, sanctify, use my every faculty. I am not ashamed of my hope, nor has my confidence led me into confusion. I trusted in Thee regarding my innumerable sins, and Thou hast cast them behind my back. When evils encompassed me, I trusted in Thee, and Thou broughtest me out into a wealthy place. I trusted in Thee in an hour of distress, and Thou didst not fail me, though faith trembled. O God of the eternal choice, O God of the restored possession purchased on the tree, O God of the effectual call, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, I adore Thy Glory, honour, majesty, power, dominion forever. #RandolphHarris 19 of 19Image

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