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Know Your Prices, Keep Smiling, Create an Alarm–There is More than One Way to Arrive at a Redemption from Phoniness!

June 4, 2020 12:50 am

The doctrine that maintains that what I cannot have I must teach myself not to desire; that a desire eliminated or successfully resisted, is as good as a desire satisfied, seems to me a sublime form of the doctrine of sour grapes: What I cannot be sure of, I cannot truly want. Complex modern democratic societies the Second World War face the task of securing three public goods. These are legitimacy, economic welfare, and a viable sense of collective identity. These are “goods” in the sense that their attainment is considered worthy and desirable by most members of such societies; furthermore, not attaining one or a combination thereof would cause problems in the functioning of these societies such as to throw them into crises. These goods stand in a complex relation to one another: excessive realization of one such good may be in conflict with may jeopardize the realization of others. For example, economic welfare may be attained at the cost of sacrificing legitimacy by curtailing union rights, by limiting a more rigorous examination of business accounting practices, or by encouraging the unfair use of protectionist state measures. Too great an emphasis on collective identity may come at the cost of marginalized workers and dissidents whose civil and political rights may be impinged upon by a revival of a sense of collective identity. #RandolphHarris 1 of 23

Thus legitimacy claims and collective identity demands, particularly if they take a nationalist tone, may come into conflict. There can also be conflicts between the claims of economic welfare and the demands of collective identity, as when excessive forms of protectionism and nationalism isolate countries in the World economic context, possibly leading to declining standards of living. Conversely, too great an emphasis on economic welfare may undermine a sense of collective identity by increasing competition among social groups and by weakening the claims of political sovereignty vis-à-vis other state. In a well-functioning democratic society the demands of legitimacy, economic welfare, and collective identity ideally exist in some form of equilibrium. The present essay is concerned with one good among others which democratic societies must attain: the good of legitimacy. I am concerned to examine the philosophical foundations of the democratic legitimacy. I will argue that legitimacy in complex democratic societies must be thought to result from the free and unconstrained public deliberation of all about matter of common concern. Thus a public sphere of deliberation about matters of mutual concern is essential to the legitimacy of democratic institutions. #RandolphHarris 2 of 23

Democracy, in my view, is best understood as a model for organizing the collective and public exercise of power in the major institutions of a society on the basis of the principle that decisions affecting the well being of a collectivity can be viewed as the outcome of a procedure of free and reasoned deliberation among individuals considered as moral and political equals. Certainly any definition of essentially contested concepts like democracy, freedom, and justice is never a mere definition; the definition itself already articulates the normative theory that justifies the term. Such is the cause with the preceding definition. My understanding of democracy privileges a deliberative model over other kinds of normative considerations. This is not to imply that economic welfare, institutional efficiency, and cultural stability would not be relevant in judging the adequacy of a normative definition of democracy. Economic welfare claims and collective identity needs must also be satisfied for democracies to function over time. However, the normative basis of democracy as a form of organizing our collective life is neither the fulfillment of economic welfare nor the realization of a stable sense of collective identity. #RandolphHarris 3 of 23

For just as the attainment of certain levels of economic welfare may be compatible with authoritarian political rule, so too antidemocratic regimes may be more successful in assuring a sense of collective identity than democratic ones. The practical rationality embodied in democratic institutions has a culture-transcending validity claim. This form of practical reason has become the collective and anonymous property of cultures, institutions, and traditions as a result of the experiments and experiences, both ancient and modern, with democratic rule over the course of human history. The insights and perhaps illusions resulting from these experiments and experiences are sedimented in diverse constitutions, institutional arrangements, and procedural specifics. When one think through the form of practical rationality at the core of democratic rule, Hegel’s concept of “objective Spirit” (objekiver Geist) appears to me particularly appropriate. The moral life is the perfection of spirit objective—the truth of the subjective and objective spirit itself. The failure of this latter consists—partly in having its freedom immediately in reality, in something external therefore, in a thing—partly in the abstract universality of its goodness. The failure of spirit subjective similarly consists in this, that it is, as against the universal, abstractly self-determinant in its inward individuality. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23

When these two imperfections are suppressed, subjective freedom exists as the covertly and overtly universal rational will, which is sensible of itself and actively disposed in the consciousness of the individual subject, whilst its practical operation and immediate universal actuality at the same time exist as moral usage, manner and custom—where self-conscious liberty has become nature. The consciously free substance, in which the absolute “ought” is no less an “is,” has actuality as the spirit of a nation. The abstract disruption of this spirit singles it out into persons, whose independence it, however, controls and entirely dominates from within. However, the person, as an intelligent being, feels that underlying essence to be one’s own very being—ceases when so minded to be a mere accident of it—looks upon it as one’ absolute final aim. In its actuality one sees not less an achieved present, than somewhat one brings about by one’s action—yet somewhat which without all question is. Thus, without any selective reflection, the person performs one’s duty as one’s own and as something which is; and in this necessity one has oneself and one’s actual freedom. It is the rationality intrinsic to these anonymous yet intelligible rules, procedures and practices that any attempt aiming at the reconstruction of the logic of democracies must focus upon. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23

The more we realize what infinite harm neurotic conflicts inflict on the personality, the more stringent appears the need truly to resolve them. However, since, as we now understand, this cannot be done by rational decision nor by evasion nor by the exertion of will power, how can it be done? There is only one way: the conflicts can be resolved only by changing those conditions within the personality that brought them into being. This is a radical way, and a hard one. In view of the difficulties involved in changing anything within ourselves, it is quite understandable that we should scour the ground for short cuts. Perhaps that is why individuals—and others as well—so often ask: If one sees one’s basic conflict, is that enough? The answer is clearly, no. Even when the analyst—discerning quite early in the analysis just how the individual is divided—is able to help one recognize this split, the insight is of no immediate profit. It may bring a certain relief in that the individual begins o see a tangible reason for one’s troubles instead of simply being lost in a mysterious haze; but one cannot apply it to one’s life. A perception of how one’s divergent parts operate and interfere with one another makes one no les divided. One hears these facts as one hears a strange message; it seems plausible, but one cannot realize its implications for oneself. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23

One is bound to invalidate the facts by manifold unconscious mental reservations. Unconsciously one will insist that the analyst is exaggerating the magnitude of one’s conflicts; that one would be quite all right if it were not for outside circumstances; that love or success would rid one of one’s distress; that one can evade one’s conflicts by keeping away from people; that though it may be true of ordinary folk that they cannot serve two masters, one with one’s unlimited powers of will and intelligence could manage to do so. Or one may feel-again unconsciously—that the analyst is a charlatan or a well-meaning fool, feigning professional cheerfulness; that one ought to know the individual is ruined beyond repair—which means that the individual responds to the analyst’s suggestions with one’s own feelings of hopelessness. Since such mental reservations point to the fact that the individual either clings to one’s particular attempts at solution—these being much more real to one than the conflicts themselves—or that one fundamentally despairs of recovery, all the attempts and all their consequences must be worked through before the basic conflict can profitably be tackled. The search for an easier road has given rise to another questions, lent weight by Dr. Freud’s emphasis on genesis: Is it enough to relate these conflicting drives—once they have been recognized—to their origins and early manifestations in the childhood situation? #RandolphHarris 7 of 23

Again the answer is, no—and again, for the most part, the same reasons apply. Even the most detailed recollection of one’s early experiences gives the individual little beyond a more lenient, ore condoning attitude toward oneself. It in no way make one’s present conflicts any less disrupting. A comprehensive knowledge of early environmental influences and the changes they effected in the child’s personality, though it has little direct therapeutic values, does have a bearing on our inquiry into the conditions under which neurotic conflicts develop. As is generally recognized, this knowledge is also of great prophylactic value. If we know what environmental factors are helpful to a child’s development and what factors delay and limit it, a way is opened to the prevention of the rank growth of neuroses in future generations. It was, after all, the changes in one’s relations with oneself and others that originally brought about the conflicts. Briefly, a child may find oneself in a situation that threatens one’s inner freedom, one’s spontaneity, one’s feeling of security, one’s self-confidence—in short the very core of one’s psychic existence. One feels isolated and helpless, and as a result one’s first attempts to relate oneself to others are determined not by one’s real feelings but by strategic necessities. #RandolphHarris 8 of 23

One cannot simply like or dislike, trust or distrust, express one’s wishes or protest against those of others, but has automatically to devise ways to cope with people and to manipulate them with minimum damage to oneself. The fundamental characteristics that evolve in this way may be summarized as an alienation from the self and others, a feeling of helplessness, a pervasive apprehensiveness, and a hostile tension in one’s human relations that ranges from general wariness to definite hatred. As long as these conditions persist, the neurotic cannot possibly dispense with any of one’s conflicting drives. On the contrary, the inner necessities from which they stem become even more stringent in the course of the neurotic development. The fact that the pseudo solutions increase the disturbance in one’s relations with others and with oneself means that real solutions become less and less attainable. The goal of therapy, therefore, can only be o change the conditions themselves. The neurotic must be helped to retrieve oneself, to become aware of one’s real feelings and wants, to evolve one’s own set of values, and to relate oneself to others on the basis of one’s feelings and convictions. If we could achieve this by some magic, the conflicts would be dispelled without their having even to be touched upon. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23

As there is no magic, we must know what steps have to be taken to being about the desired change. Therapy affords insight and helps the individual grow. It helps makes one more empathic and gives theory more experiential meaning. If affords more faith in one’s understanding life. The real aristocrats among those in therapy are those who have had nervous breakdowns. Everybody else is kind of “square.” Therapy can yield a fuller awareness of the extent to which one has been inauthentic in one’s everyday existence, and some help and encouragement to dare to be genuine in one’s everyday existence. This experience can also be gotten out of a good platonic relationship, probably. There is more than one way to arrive at redemption from phoniness. Such experience can enhance one’s sensitivity to phoniness, to inauthenticity in another person; and it also gives one an opportunity to be a role model of authenticity of others. Now, if you can get this courage to be authentic in some way other than therapy, so much the better; but I suspect it is rather difficult to. There may be some wise seniors who have knocked around a lot, and who have worked in every kind of work—who have cheated, lied, stolen, and sinned. They have paid the consequences of all these things #RandolphHarris 10 of 23

After paying the consequences for their bad behaviour, on their own, they may have realized how they shortchanged themselves. They may have arrived at the authentic way, and can be regarded as natural untrained graduates of a therapeutic program. Since they have been one, they can spot phony. They are experts. They are more expert at phoniness than the others. They can help an individual grope for a way to be more genuine and at the same tie be effective in life. They can help a person realize that one does not have to be destroyed when one is genuine, that one will not inevitably be divorced, fired, or run out of town if one presents oneself as one is In 50 or 60 years, a human may discover authenticity and have some therapeutic capacity. However, a training analysis or bout of therapy may expedite this. The corporate World has a toe and heel, and each performs a different function: one delivers a service, the other collects payment for it. When an organization seeks to create demand for a service and then deliver it, it uses the smile and the soft questioning voice. Behind this delivery display, the organization’s worker is asked to feel sympathy, trust, and good will. On the other hand, when the organization seeks to collect money for what it has sold, its workers may be asked to use a grimace and the raised voice of commands. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23

Behind this collection display of beneficial and comforting emotions and expressions, the worker is asked to feel distrust and sometime positive bad will. Some companies assign the function of debt collecting to outside agencies in order to preserve pleasant and morally satisfying associations with the company name. The builder’s billing department explained: “We use eight or nine collection agencies around the country. No one initiates actions in this office. We prefer that the agency be the bad guy or gal and we be he nice people.” Just over 1 percent of customers do not pay their bills. After solicitations, some 40 percent pay, and 33 percent of that goes to the collection agency. In each kind of display, the problem for the worker becomes how to create and sustain the appropriate feeling. The reason for describing the polar extremes of emotional labour, as represented by a sale agent and the bill collector, is that it can give us a better sense of the great variety of emotional task required by jobs that fall in between. It can help us see how emotional labour distributes itself up and down the social classes and how parents can train children to do the emotional labour required by different jobs. Now this is tremendously important for us today as it has been in the past. Perhaps we are in a time when it is more important that ever. The prospering of God’s cause on Earth depends upon His people thinking well. #RandolphHarris 12 of 23

Today we are apt to downplay or disregard the importance of good thinking to strong faith; and some, disastrously, even regard thinking as opposed to faith. They do not realize that in so doing they are not honoring God, but simply yielding to the deeply anti-intellectualist currents in the New World. They do not realize that they are operating on the same satanic principle that produced the “killing fields” of Cambodia, where those with any sign of education—even the wearing of glasses—were killed on the spot or condemned to starvation and murderous labour. We too easily forget that it is great thinkers who have given direction to the people of Christ in their great moments: Paul, John, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and Wesley, to name a few. At the head of the list is Jesus Christ Himself, who was and is the most powerful thinker the World has ever known. Logical is a great design of a noble science that allows us to rescue our reasoning powers from their unhappy slavery and darkness; and thus, with all due submission and deference, it offers an humble assistance to divine revelation. Its chief business is to relieve the natural weakness of the mind by some better efforts of nature; it is to diffuse a light over the understanding in our inquiries after truth. And it renders its daily service to wisdom and virtue. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23

Bluntly, to serve God well we must think straight; and crooked thinking, unintentional or not, always favours evil. And when the crooked thinking gets elevated into group orthodoxy, whether religious or secular, there is always, quite literally “hell to pay.” That is, hell will take its portion, as it has repeatedly done in the horrors of the World history. To take the “information” of the Scripture into a mind thinking straight under the direction and empowerment of the Holy Spirit, by contrast, is to place our feet solidly on the high road of spiritual formation under God. “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes,” reports Psalm 19.7-8. And “Thy word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against Thee,” reports Psalm 119.11. “Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path,” reports Psalm 119.105. “I love Thy commandments above gold, yes, above fine gold. Therefore I esteem right all Thy precepts concerning everything,” reports Psalm 119.127-128. “Those who love Thy law have great peace, and nothing causes them to stumble,” reports Psalm 119.165. Worship does not just “happen.” Worship requires careful preparation on the part of minister and congregations. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23

I have experienced both side of this, and I know Sunday morning can be the worst time of the week. It is probably true that couples, especially those with young children, have more disagreements on Sunday morning than on any other day of the week. Sometimes by the time we get to church, worship is an impossibility—unless, perhaps, the sermon is on repentance! The answer to the problem begins Saturday (on Friday night for those who attend church on Saturday) preparation. (Any men who interpret the following as women’s work are wrong. Both husband and wife should share responsibility for the practical and spiritual preparations for the Lord’s Day.) It is advisable that young families have their clothing clean and laid out of Saturday (or Friday) night, and even breakfast be decided upon. The whereabouts of Bibles and lessons should be known, and even better, ought to be collected and ready. There should be an agreed-upon time to get up which leaves plenty of time to get ready for church. Going to bed at a reasonable hour is also a good idea. Spiritually, prayer about the Lord’s Day is essential—prayer for the service, the music, the pastors, one’s family and one’s self. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23

The Puritans understood this well. As one of their great preachers, George Swinnock, quaintly expressed it: Prepare to meet thy God, O Christian! Betake thyself to thy chamber on the Saturday (of Friday) night. The oven of thine heart thus baked, as it were, overnight, would be easily heated the next morning; the fire so well raked up when thou wentest to bed, would be the sooner kindled when thou shouldst rise. If thou wouldst thus leave thy heart with God on the Saturday (or Friday) night, thou shouldst fine it with him in the Lord’s Day morning. On Sunday (or Saturday) everyone needs to get up on time, eat at a set hour, and leave plenty early, ideally after a short time of family prayer asking that God will be glorified and speak to each family member. If you do this, Sunday (or Saturday) worship will ascend to new heights. Next you ought to come expecting to uniquely meet God in corporate worship. Congregational worship makes possible an intensity of devotion which does no as readily come in individual worship. On the tragic level, a mob tends to descend to a much deeper level of cruelty than individuals by themselves. It is also understood that the appreciation and enjoyment of an informed group of music lovers at a symphony is more intense than that of a single listener at home. This holds true for worship as well, because corporate worship provides a context where passion is joyously elevated and God’s Word comes with unique power. #RandolphHarris 16 of 23

“At home in my own house there is no warmth or vigour in me, but in church when the multitude is gathered together, a fire is kindled in my heart and it breaks its way through,” reports Martin Luther. We must come with great expectation—for we will experience just what we expect. Anything may be found in symbol. However, how do we know that what it points to is not itself a more abstract symbol. In order to speak of symbolic knowledge one must delimit the symbolic realm by an unsymbolic statement. Were there no limit to symbolism, there would be no knowledge either. Faith would imply an indefinite progress from symbol to further symbol, without any ultimate encounter with the Unsymbolic. That is, it would be a regress, an acknowledgement of the ultimacy of despair, of the impossibility of making sense out of the human situation, of the universal fallacy of thinking that revelatory situations truly are revelatory, or revelation without content. Some argue that the human intellect is fallen, depraved, darkened, and blinded, and therefore human reason is irrelevant or suspect when it comes to becoming or growing as a Christian. Now, even if this point is granted in the case of evangelizing unbelievers, it does not follow that Christians should not use or cultivate their intellects once they become disciples. Moreover, from the fact that reasoning alone will not bring someone to Christ, it does not follow that we should not persuade or reason with people. #RandolphHarris 17 of 23

Preaching alone will not save people without the Spirit’s work, but will still preach and work on our messages. We should do the same thing with our use of reason in evangelism. This will is fallen and depraved too, but God still commands people to make a choice to believe. The doctrine of total depravity does not mean that the image of God is effaced, that sinners are as evil as they could possibly be, or that the intellect, emotions, and will are gone or completely useless. Rather, total depravity means that the entire person, including the intellect, has been adversely affected by the Fall and is separate from God. The sinner alone cannot extricate oneself from this condition and cannot merit God’s favour or commitment oneself to God on the basis of one’s own righteousness. Further, the entire personality is corrupt but no inoperative, and every aspect of our personality has a natural inclination to fun in ways contrary to God’s ways. However, none of this means that reason, considered itself, is bad. “Behold, my brethren, do ye not remember to have read the words of the prophet Zenos, which he spake unto this house of Israel, saying: Hearken, O ye house of Israel, and hear the words of me, a prophet of the Lord. For behold, thus saith the Lord, I will liken thee, O house of Israel, like unto a tame olive tree, which a human took and nourished in his vineyard; and it grew, and waxed old, and became to decay. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23

“And it came to pass that the master of the vineyard went forth, and he saw that his olive three began to decay; and he said: I will prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it, that perhaps it may shoot forth young and tender branches, and it perish not. And it came to pass that he pruned it, and digged about it, and nourished it according to its word. And it came to pass that after many days it began to put forth somewhat a little, young and tender branches; but behold, the main top thereof began to perish. And it came to pass that the master of the vineyard saw it, and he said unto his servant: It grieveth me that I should lose this tree; wherefore, go and pluck off those branches which are beginning to wither away, and we will cast them into the fire hat they may be burned. And behold, saith the Lord of the vineyard, I take away many of these young and tender branches, and I will graft them whithersoever I will; and it mattereth not that if it so be that the root of this tree will perish, I may preserve the fruit thereof unto myself; wherefore, I will take these young and tender branches, and I will graft them whithersoever I will. Take thou branches of the wild olive tree, and graft them in, in the stead thereof; and these which I have plucked off I will cast into the fire and burn them, that they may not cumber the ground of my vineyard. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23

“And it came to pass that the servant of the Lord of the vineyard did according to the word of the Lord of the vineyard, and grafted in the branches of the wild olive tree. And the Lord of the vineyard caused that is should be digged about, and pruned, and nourished, saying unto his servants: It grieveth me that I should lose this tree; wherefore, that perhaps I might preserve them unto myself the natural branches of the tree; and also that I may lay up fruit thereof against the season, unto myself; for it grieveth me that I should lose this tree and the fruit thereof. And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard went his way, and hid the natural branches of the tame olive tree in the nethermost parts of the vineyard, some in one and some in another, according to his will and pleasure. And it came to pass that a long time passed away, and the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Come, let us go down into the vineyard, that we may labour in the vineyard. And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard, and also the servant, went down into the vineyard to labour. And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: Behold, look here; behold the tree. And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard looked and beheld the tree in the which the wild olive branches had been grafted: and it had sprung forth and begun to bear fruit. And he beheld that it was good; and the fruit thereof was like unto the natural fruit. #RandolphHarris 20 of 23

“And he said unto the servant: Behold, the branches of the wild have taken hold of the moisture of the root thereof, that the root thereof hath brought forth much strength; and because of the much strength of the root thereof the wild branches have brought forth tame fruit. Now, if we had not grafted these branches, the tree therefore would have perished. And now, behold, I shall lay up much fruit, which the tree thereof I shall lay up against the season, unto mine own self. And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Come, le us go to the nethermost part of the vineyard and behold if the natural branches of the tree have not brought forth much fruit also, that I make lay up of the fruit thereof against the season, unto mine own. And it came to pass that they went forth whither the master had hid the natural branches of the tree, and he said unto the servant: Behold these; and he beheld the first that it had brought forth much fruit; and he beheld also that it was good. And he said unto the servant: Take of the fruit thereof, and lay it up against the season, that I may preserve it unto mine own self; for behold, said he, this long time have I nourished it, and it hath brought for much fruit,” reports Jacob 5.1.20. O Taste and see how good the Lord is Alleluia. Bless the Lord in the Heavens, Alleluia. Bless Him in the highest, Alleluia. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23

Bless the Lord, all ye Angels of His, Alleluia. Bless Him, all His host, Alleluia. What blessings or thanksgiving can we offer for this Sacrament? Thee only, O Jesus, do we bless, with the Father and the most Holy Spirit, now and forever. Blessed Creator, Thou hast promised Thy beloved sleep: Please give me restoring rest needful for tomorrow’s toil; if dreams be mine, let them not be tinged with evil. Let Thy Spirit make my time of repose a blessed temple of His holy presence. May my frequent lying down make me familiar with death, the bed I approach remind me of the grace, the eyes I now close picture to me their final closing. Keep me always ready, waiting for admittance to Thy presence. Weaken my attachment to Earthly things. May I hold life loosely in my hand, knowing that I receive it on condition of its surrender; as pain and suffering betoken transitory health, may I not shrink from a death that introduces me to the freshness of eternal youth. I retire this night in full assurance of one day awaking with Thee. All glory for this precious hope; for the gospel of grace, for thine unspeakable gift of Jesus, for the fellowship of the Trinity. Withhold not Thy mercies in the night season; Thy hand never weariness, Thy power needs no repose, Thine eye never sleeps. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23

Help me when I helpless lie, when my conscience accuses me of sin, when my mind is harassed by foreboding thoughts, when my eyes are held awake by person anxieties. Show Thyself to me as the God of all grace, love and power; Thou hast a balm for every wound, a solace for all anguish, a remedy for every pain, a peace for all disquietude. Permit me to commit myself to Thee awake or asleep. “For, as I have often old you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on Earthly things. However, our citizenship is in Heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to being everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body, reports Philippians 3.18-21. Chris is administering the Bread of the Saints and the Cup of life for remissions of sins. Thou art Christ our Lord and Saviour, Who wast born of the Virgin Mary. While we receive this most holy Cup, please deliver us from all sin. The Spiritual dispeller of darkness, the Spiritual Father is not only holy Himself but is also an experienced teacher of the way to holiness for others. One who takes upon oneself the task of guiding disciples should possess sure-footed experience gained by years of work with the most varied kinds of apprentices. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23

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Avenge the Patriotic Gore that Flecked the Streets of Baltimore, And by the Battle-Queen of Yore, Maryland!

June 2, 2020 11:11 pm

The true mentor will possess a penetrating insight into one’s pupil’s needs. Such a guru seeks neither money nor personal power. One will be able to perceive from what source a person draws one’ life, whether from the impulsion of the ego or from the inspiration of God. The instantaneous and adequate nature of one’s replies to all questions shows a deeper understanding than the merely intellectual, hence must be intuitive, inspirational, or realizational. On such a basis a human’s fitness for guruship becomes more evident. The role of spiritual guide involves a code of ethics, a special moral responsibility on the part of the guide. The appellation of spiritual teacher should be given only to one who not only can communicate the spiritual truth intellectually but who also lives it fully. The teacher must not only provide instruction; one must also set an example of how to live and act in the World, and one must not only do both of these but one must also provide a profounder influence than other humans by virtue of one’s own attainment, as telepathically revealed by one’s mere presence. The perfect teacher is one who lives up to the teaching itself. The semi-perfect one tries to live up to the teaching. The imperfect one does not even try: avoid one. Actions, deeds, are the final test of the spiritual human or guru. The life one leads must be a pattern. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21

The spiritual guide who ask one’s disciples to practise self-discipline and remodel their characters, will seem to them to be offering impossible counsels of perfection unless one oneself is willing to do or has already done what one asks. However sound one’s theoretical guidance may be, it will fail in persuasive power to the extent that it is not at one with one’s own experience. Whatever help one can give through teaching is limited on the other person’s side by both ability to understand and willingness to receive it. One can give a human no other Grace then this, to point out the way to God. However, there is none better. One seeks to bring humans back to the memory of one’s true native land. There is no room for such a human in rigid official Worlds. One could not even influence, let alone save, such a society. At best one can make some people more fully conscious of what they already dimly feel: that civilization is in danger and its leaders half-bankrupt; that society is sick unto death; that the individual needs spiritual help to endure and grapple with the depressing situation in which one finds oneself. What chance has the individual spiritual educator to continue one’s work when public and government alike accept the false suggestion that only through large organized groups and recognized traditional institutions can people be correctly led? #RandolphHarris 2 of 21

The end of such a trend can only be as it has been in the past—monopoly, dictational religion, centralized tyrannical power, heresy-hunting persecution, and the death of individualism, which means the death of truth. Jesus was an individualists. One prefers to remain unrecognized for what ne genuinely is so that others will not even suspect one’s true status—unless one deliberately wishes them to be made aware in order to help them in a special way. Unless one has been invested with a special mission to speak or write to the World, the authentically illumined human will not publicly announce the fact for one’s illumination. Anyone who does is an impostor. We may turn over the multitudes of tomes in which the opinions of human lie locked up, but the self-actualized will tell us more Truth in a day than we are likely to learn from all that huge mass of speculation. If World history show little if any ethical progress on the part of humanity, are the self-actualized to be blamed as futile? No. That merely shows the intractability of the human material they are working on, for their lives are given to doing whatever they can. They are not miracle humans. The best help one can give is to put a human upright on one’s own feet by helping one get one’s own experience of the glimpse. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21

The human will then know that God really exists, that one’s own inner being is connected with God, and that one can draw upon this connection for moral strength and personal guidance, mental peace and spiritual knowledge. We have already seen that a revelatory situation is revelatory insofar as it permits an awareness of the Unconditional as perceived through, underneath, and beyond the many elements that constitute the concrete situation. There is no revelation without a concrete setting. And a concrete setting is not revelatory unless it point beyond itself, to an eternal abyss, ground and meaning. This is to say that in the existential experience of the Unconditional, the human and cosmic elements, whose convergence have formed the situation in question, are perceived as symbolic of their eternal ground. The Unconditioned makes itself known through symbolic situations. In other words, it reaches us through symbols. The symbol belongs to the World of appearances. It may be literally anything. For anything which has been involved in a concrete experience of the Unconditional may retain, for the mind which has known it in the fire of communion with being-itself, a flavour of remembrance. It has kept the power of reminding us of that experience. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21

It has been endowed with a sort of secondary revelatory power; and whenever we meet this symbol, we shall be thrown back into the revelatory constellation hat once connected with this particular symbol. This is the main use of the word symbol: it denotes the elements that have been associated with a revelation and that have retained some of the revelatory power then manifested. A second use of the term follows. We cannot speak of the Unconditional directly. Even to say “Unconditional” is to see it as a contrasted with the conditional, and this conditions the content of the word “Unconditional.” There is no way of expressing the ultimate ground of being unless we use symbolic terms. The terms are understood as pointers to, not as copies of, reality. God does not mean a God, but points to a realm where “a” is meaningful, beyond singular and plural; as Unconditional, one is neither subject of the verb “to be” nor object of the verb “to know,” but one is beyond object and subject. It is highly symbolic language which must be used at this point. However, its symbolic character foes not diminish its truth; on the contrary, it is a condition of its truth. To speak unsymbolically about being-itself falsifies the real situation. Our knowledge of God is derived from the perfections which flow from Him to creatures, which perfections are in God in a more eminent way than in creatures. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21

Now our intellect apprehends them as they are in creatures, and as it apprehends them it signifies them by names. Therefore as names, which are symbols, are applied to God, the perfections which they signify, such as goodness, life and the like, and their mode of signification. As regards to what is signified by these names, they belong properly to God, and more properly than they belong to creatures, and are applied primarily to Him. However, as regard their mode of signification, they do not properly and strictly apply to God; for their mode of signification applies to creatures. Spiritual formation requires thinking. The Gospel of Jesus directly repudiates all false information about God and, therewith, about the meaning of human life; and it works to undermine the power of those ideas and images that structure life away from God. However, for it to have this effect we must use our ability to think. What is thinking? It is the activity of searching out what must be true, or cannot be true, in the light of given facts or assumptions. It extends the information we have and enables us to see the “larger picture”—to see it clearly and to see it wholly. And it undermines false or misleading ideas and images as well. It reveals their falseness to those who wish to know it. It is a powerful gift of God to be used in the service of truth. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21

Here is Paul thinking under inspiration: “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” reports Romans 8.31-32. Here is Martin Luther thinking and standing in the power of God before his examiners at Worms: “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason—I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other—my conscious is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.” The earliest printed version of his statement added the famous words: “Here I stand, I cannot do otherwise.” And so we must apply our thinking to and with the Word of God. We must thoughtfully take that Word in, dwell upon it, ponder its meaning, explore its implications—especially as it relates to our own lives. What are we to do in the light of the facts of the gospel and the revelation of God and of human destiny contained in the Bible? We must “pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it,” reports Hebrews 2.1. We must thoughtfully put it into practice. We must seek the Lord by devoting our powers of thinking to understanding the facts and information in the gospel. This is the primary way of focusing our minds on him, setting him before us. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21

When we focus our minds on God, in doing so we will be assisted by God’s grace in ways far beyond anything we can understand on our own; and the ideas and images that governed the life of Christ through his thought life will possess us. However, two factors—self-contempt and anxiety—are largely responsible for the repression of sadistic impulses. The thoroughness and depth of repression vary. Often the destructive impulses are merely kept from awareness. By and large it is astonishing how much sadistic behaviour can be lived out without the individual’s knowing it. One is conscious only of occasional desires to mistreat a weaker person, of being excited when one reads about sadistic acts, or of having come obviously sadistic fantasies. However, these sporadic glimpses remain isolated. The bulk of what one does to others in one’s daily behaviour is for the most part unconscious. One numbness of feeling for oneself and others is one factor that blurs the issue; until this is dispelled one cannot emotionally experience what one does. Besides, the justifications brought to bear to conceal the sadistic trends are often clever enough to deceive not only the sadistic person oneself but even those affected by them. We must not forget that sadism is an end stage of a severe neurosis. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21

And because sadism is a neurosis, the kind of justification employed will depend upon the structure of the particular neurosis from which the sadistic trends stem. The complaint type, for instance, will enslave the partner under the unconscious pretense of love. One’s demands will be attributed to one’s needs. Because one is so helpless or so apprehensive or so ill, the partner should do things for one. Because one cannot be alone, the partner should always be with one. One’s reproaches will be expressed indirectly by one’s demonstrating, unconsciously, how much others make one suffer. The aggressive type expresses sadistic trends quite undisguisedly—which, however, does not mean that one is any more aware of them. One has no hesitation in showing one’s discontent, one’s scorn, and one’s demands but feels that, besides being entirely justified, one is simply being frank. One will also externalize one’s lack of regard for others and the fact that one exploits them, and will intimidate them by telling them in no uncertain terms how much they abuse one. The detached person is singularly unobtrusive in expressing sadistic trends. One will frustrate others in a quiet way, making them feel insecure by one’s readiness to withdraw, conveying the impression that they are cramping or disturbing one, and taking secret delight in letting them make fools of themselves. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21

However, sadistic impulses can be much more deeply repressed, and then give rise to what might be called an inverted sadism. What happens here is that the person so greatly fears one’s impulses that one leans over backward to keep them from being revealed to oneself or others. One will shun everything that resembles assertion, aggression, or hostility and as a result will be profoundly and diffusely inhibited. To lean over backward from enslaving others is to be incapable of giving any order, much less of assuming a position of responsibility or leadership. It makes for overcaution in exerting influence or giving advice. It involves the repression of even the most legitimate jealousy. A good observer will merely notice that the person gets a headache, a stomach ailment, or some other symptom when things do not go one’s way. Leaning over backward from exploiting others brings self-effacing tendencies to the fore. It shows in not daring to express any wish—not daring even to have a wish; in not daring to rebel against abuse or even to feel abused; in tending to regard the expectations or demands of others as better justified or more important then one’s own; in preferring to be exploited rather than assert one’s own. Such a person is between the devil and the deep blue sea. One is frightened of one’s impulses to exploit but despises oneself for one’s unassertiveness, which one registers as cowardice. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21

And when one is exploited—as will naturally happen—one is caught in an unsolvable dilemma and may react with a depression or some functional symptom. Similarly, instead of frustrating others one will be overanxious not to disappoint them, to be considerate and generous. One will go to great lengths to avoid anything that could conceivably hurt their feelings or in any way humiliate them. One will intuitively find something “nice” to say—an appreciative remark, for instance, that will heighten their self-confidence. One tends automatically to take blame on oneself and will be profuse in one’s apologies. If one must make a criticism one will make it in the mildest possible form. Even when others grossly abuse one, one will show nothing but “understanding.” However, at the same time one is hypersensitive to humiliation and suffers excruciatingly under it. The sadistic play on emotions, when deeply repressed, may give place o a feeling that one is powerless to attract anyone. Thus a person may honestly believe—often in spite of good evidence to the contrary—that one is unattractive to the opposite gender, that one has to content oneself with the crumbs. To speak in this case of a feeling of inferiority is merely to use another word for what the person is conscious of anyhow, and what may simply be an expression of one’s self-contempt. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21

However, of relevance here is the fact that the notion of unattractiveness may be an unconscious recoil from the temptation of playing the exciting game of conquering and rejecting. During analysis it may gradually become clear that the individual has unconsciously falsified the whole picture of one’s love relations. And a curious change will take place: the “ugly Peking duckling” becomes aware of one’s desire and capacity to attract people, but turns against them with indignation and contempt as soon as they take one’s advances seriously. The consequent personality picture is deceptive and difficult to evaluate. Its similarity to the compliant type is striking. As a matter of fact, while the overtly sadistic person ordinarily belongs to the aggressive type, the inverted sadist began, as a rule, by developing predominately complaint trends. The likelihood is that one was especially hard hit and crushed into submission in childhood. One may have falsified one’s feelings, and, instead of rebelling against the oppressor, turned to loving one. As one grew older—perhaps around puberty—the conflicts because unbearable and one took refuge in detachment. However, when confronted with failure one could no longer stand the isolation of one’s ivory tower. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21

Looking to escape the ivory tower, one then seemingly revered to one’s former dependence, but with this difference: one’s need for affection became so desperate that one was willing to pay any price not to be left alone. At the same time one’s chances of finding affection were diminished because one’s need for detachment—which was still present—constantly interfered with one’s desire to attach oneself to someone. Worn out by this struggle, one becomes hopeless and developed sadistic tendencies. However, one’s need for people was so insistent that one had not only to repress one’s sadistic trends but to learn over backward to conceal them. Being with others is, in this event, a strain—though one may not realize it. One tends to be stilted and shy. One must constantly play a role that is contrary to one’s sadistic impulses. It is only natural that one oneself should think one is really found of people; and it comes as a shock to one when in analysis one wakes up to the fact that one has very little feeling for them at all, or at least is quite uncertain what one’s feelings are. At this point one is inclined to take this apparent lack for an unalterable fact. However, actually one is merely in process of relinquishing one’s pretense of positive feelings, and unconsciously prefer to feel nothing rather than face one’s own sadistic impulses. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21

A positive feeling for others can only begin to develop when one recognizes those impulses and starts to overcome them. There are certain elements in the picture, however, that to the trained observer will indicate the presence of sadistic trends. To begin with, here is always some insidious way in which one can be seen to intimidate, exploit, and frustrate others. There is usually a perceptible though unconscious contempt for others, superficially attributed to their lower moral standards. In addition, there are a number of incongruities which point to sadism. The person, for instance, may sometimes put up with sadistic behaviour directed at oneself with apparently limitless patience but at other times show hypersensitivity to the slightest domination, exploitation, or humiliation. Finally, one gives the impression of being “masochistic”—namely, of indulging in feeling victimized. However, since the term and the concept behind it are misleading, it is better to steer away from it and describe instead the element involved. Being pervasively inhibited in asserting oneself, the inverted sadist will in any case be readily abused. However, in addition, because one chafes under one’s own weakness, one is often actually attracted to openly sadistic persons, at once admiring and abhorring them—just as the latter, sensing in one a willing victim, are attracted to one. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21

Thus one puts oneself in the way of exploitation, frustration, and humiliation. Far from enjoying such maltreatment, however, one suffers under it. What it gives one is an opportunity to live out one’s own sadistic impulses through someone else, without having to face one’s own sadism. One can feel innocent and morally indignant—while hoping at the same time that someday one will get the better of the sadistic partner and triumph over one. Dr. Freud observed the picture I describe but vitiated one’s findings with unwarranted generalizations. In fitting them into the frame of one’s whole philosophy, he took them as proof that no matter how good a person is on the surface, one is inherently destructive. Actually, the condition is particular outgrowth of a particular neurosis. We have come a long way from the point of view that regards a sadistic person as a pervert in regards to pleasures of the flesh or that uses elaborate terminology to say one is mean and vicious. The perversions in the pleasures of the flesh are comparatively rare. When they are present they are merely one expression of a general attitude toward others. The destructive trends are undeniable; but when we understand them we see a suffering human being behind the apparently inhuman behaviour. With this we open the possibility of reaching such a human being by therapy. We find one a desperate individual who seeks restitution for a life that has defeated one. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21

Therefore, we ought to worship God for the promise of God’s presence. We all know God is everywhere—He is omnipresent—and that He has promised us, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you,” reports Hebrews 13.5. Nevertheless, He has given the Church the unique promise that “Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them,” reports Matthew 18.20. That means that God’s presence is with us in a very special way when we assemble to focus on Him. The sense of Christ’s presence will bring a great blessing to a community, which ultimately results in some people establishing Bible studies. If we would just let the truth sink in, think what such an awareness of Christ’s presence would do to corporate worship of the confessing Church. One thing is for sure, discrimination, violence, riots, and crimes would cease in cathedral and chapel alike! Humans, when we meet for corporate worship, Chris is in our midst. He walks among the glowing lampstands of His churches (Revelation 1.20). He treads yacht and spirit and truth. He desires our praise. This being the highest priority, we must answer truthfully: do we worship as God desires? All the prophets worshipped the Father in the name of Christ—Abraham’s offering of Isaac was in similitude of God and His Only Begotten—Humans should reconcile themselves to God through the Atonement—the Jews will reject the foundation stone. About 544-421 Before Christ. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21

“Now behold, I came to pass that I, Jacob, having ministered much unto my people in word, (and I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates) and we know that the things which we write upon plates must remain; but whatsoever things we write upon anything save it be upon plates must perish and vanish away; but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us, or concerning their fathers—now in his thing we do rejoice; and we labour diligently to engraven these words upon plates, hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts, and look upon them that they may learn with joy and not with sorrow, neither with contempt, concerning their first parents. For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before His coming; and not only we ourselves has a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us. Behold, they believed in Christ and worshipped the Father in His name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and His Only Begotten Son. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21

“Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea. Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by His grace, and His great condescensions unto the children of humans, that we have power to do these things. Behold, great and marvelous are the words of the Lord. How unsearchable are he depths of the mysteries of one; and it is impossible that humans should find out all His ways save it be revealed unto them; wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God. For behold, by the power of His word humans came upon the face of the Earth, which Earth was created by the power of His word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the World was, and to speak and humans were created, O then, why no able to command the Earth, or the work-personship of one’s hands upon the face of it, according to His will and pleasure? Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from His hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that He counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all His works. #RandolphHarris 18 of 21

“Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto one through the atonement of Christ, His Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits, and obtained a good hope of glory in Him before He manifesteth Himself in the flesh. And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of a resurrection and the World to come? Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of humans; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. However, behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old. However, behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away His plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21

“And now I, Jacob, am led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I perceive by the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation. However, behold, according to the scriptures, this stone shall become the great, and the last, and the only sure foundation, upon which the Jews can build. And now, my beloved, how is it possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build upon it, that it may become the head of their corner? Behold, my beloved brethren, I will unfold this mystery unto you; if I do not, by any means, get shaken from my firmness in the Spirit, and stumble because of my over anxiety for you,” reports Jacob 4.1-18. We are guilty, O Father Almighty, through our frequent sins, guilty through the neglect of Thy graces. However, from these trespasses of our guilty conscience the Sacrifice of Thine Only Son, offered up to Thee with His Blood, hath cleansed us. And it may also be our succour when we offend after being redeemed, since even until the final day of doom it bestows the grace of repentance on those who do not sin against the Spirit. So may He Who for our redemption made Himself an Advocate with the Father, be Himself the Pleader for our iniquities, even Christ our Lord and eternal Redeemer. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21

Be reconciled, we pray Thee, unto sinners by the Blood of the Righteous One; acknowledge the Victim by Whose intervention Thou hast been propitiated: and receive as Thine adopted children those whose Father Thou hast become through grace. Heavenly Father, my faith in in Thee, my expectation is from Thee, my love goes out toward Thee, I believe Thee, accept Thy word, acquiesce in Thy will, rely on Thy promises, trust Thy providence. I bless Thee that the court of conscience proves me to be Thine. I do not need signs and wonders to believe, for Thy word is sure truth. I have cast my anchor in the port of peace, knowing that present and future are in nail-pierced hands. Thou art so good, wise, just holy, that no mistake is possible to Thee. Thou art fountain and source of all law; what Thou commandest is mine to obey. I yield to Thy sovereignty all that I am and have; do Thou with me as Thou wilt. Thou hast given me silence in my heart in pace of murmurings and complaints. Keep my wishes from growing into willings, my willings from becoming fault-finding with Thy providences, and have mercy on me please. If I sin and am rebellious, please help me to repent; then take away my mouring and give me music; remove my sackcloth and adorn me with beauty; please take away my sighs and fill my mouth with songs; and when I am restored and rest in Thee, give me Summer weather in my heart. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21

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Liberty, When it Begins to Take Root, is a Plant of Rapid Growth!

June 1, 2020 4:10 am

There is always room at the top. (When advised not to become a lawyer, since the profession was overcrowded.) Emotions are not as simple as the description of them just given may sound. They often gang up on us. If we simply felt one feeling at a time, emotions might be easier to deal with. However, it is not unusual at all for a person to experience several emotions at once or one right after another. To people who are comfortable with the emotions, being deluged with feelings is not a serious problem. However, to those who are unused to feeling much or who do not like or want emotions, such an experience may be like an attack of illness. Sometimes it is necessary to control strong emotions, at least temporarily. How do we do it? If we are aware that some emotions get out of hand or that other people may be more frightened of our emotional responses than we are, how do we deal with this? The traditional ideal of many societies is to hold back strong or unpleasant emotions for the sake of others. However, feelings held in are likely to come out in some way—often an inappropriate one, such as sarcasm. So we are really not doing the other person much of a favour by trying to cover up our feelings. They will come out anyhow. And even if they did not, some consideration has to be given to the emotional balance of the person with the feelings! #RandolphHarris 1 of 20

The movies have portrayed the strong, silent hero for years, but what is this person really like? How comfortable is one with oneself and others? Before it is accepted further, this ideal should be carefully examined. We are often made uncomfortable by our own strong feelings of those we find in other people. Many of us still do not know what to do when someone cries. Very often, people crying out of grief, fear, exhaustion, or depression are more in need of a sympathetic listener or shoulder to cry on than of hearing “right words.” Sometimes we handle these feelings best by just letting them happen, by accepting them happen, by accepting the, and by helping others realize that they are not alone, that others have similar feelings, and that nobody thinks badly of them for their emotions. What are the factors that account for the persistence and elaboration of cruelty? The sadistic person does not want to destroy the one who one attaches oneself, but because one cannot live one’s own life must use the partner for a symbiotic existence. This is definitely true, but it still does not sufficiently explain why a person is compulsively driven to tamper with the lives of others, or why the tampering takes the particular forms that it does. #RandolphHarris 2 of 20

If we regard sadism as a neurotic symptom, we must start, as always, not by trying to explain the symptom but by seeking to understand the structure of the personality that develops it. When we approach the problem from this angle we recognize that nobody develops pronounced sadistic trends who has not a profound feeling of futility as regards one’s own life. Poets intuitively sensed this underlying condition long before we were able to dig it out with our prodding clinical scrutiny. In the case of both Hedda Gabler and the Seducer, the possibility of ever making something of themselves or their lives was a more or less closed issue. If under these circumstances a person cannot find one’s way to resignation, one of necessity becomes utterly resentful. One feels forever excluded, forever defeated. Hence one start to hate life and all that is optimistic and beneficial in it. However, one hates it with the burning envy of one who is withheld from something one ardently desires. It is the bitter, begrudging envy of a person who feels that life is passing one by. “Lebensneid,” Nietzsche called it. One does not feel that others have their own sorrow, too: “they” sit at the table while one goes hungry: “they” love, create, enjoy, feel healthy and at ease, belong somewhere. #RandolphHarris 3 of 20

The happiness of others and their “naïve” expectations of pleasure and joy irritate one. If one cannot be happy and free, why should they be so? One cannot forgive them their happiness. One must trample on the joy of others. One’s attitude is illustrated by they store of the teacher doomed by tuberculosis who spits on his pupil’s sandwiches and is elated at his power to crush them. That was a conscious act of vindictive envy. In the sadist the tendency to frustrate and to crush the spirit of others is as a rule deeply unconscious. However, the purpose is the same sinister one as that of the teacher: to impart one’s suffering to others; if others are as defeated and degraded as one, one’s own misery is tempered in that one no loner feels oneself the only one afflicted. Another way one alleviates one’s gnawing envy is by “sour grapes” tactic, mastered to such perfection that even the trained observer is easily deceived by it. As a matter of fact, one’s envy is so deeply buried that one oneself would deride any suggestion of its existence. One’s focusing upon the painful, burdensome, or unattractive side of life is thus not only an expression of one’s bitterness but even more of one’s intertest in proving to oneself that one is not missing anything. #RandolphHarris 4 of 20

One’s constant faultfinding and devaluating stem in part from this source, the effort to create an illusion that one’s life is full and complete. One will take note, for instance, of the one part of a beautiful woman’s body that is not perfect. Coming into a room, one’s eyes will be arrested by the one colour or piece of furniture that does not match the rest. One will pick out the one flaw in an otherwise good speech. Similarly, whatever is wrong in other persons’ lives or in their characters or in their possible motivations will loom large in one’s mind. If one is sophisticated one will ascribe this attitude to one’s being sensitive to imperfections. However, the fact is that one turns one’s searchlight on these alone, leaving everything else in the dark. Although one succeeds in assuaging one’s envy and discharging one’s resentment, one’s devaluating attitude in turn gives rise to a permanent feeling of disappointment and discontent. If one has children, for instance, one thinks primarily of the burdens and obligations that go with them; if one has no children one feels that this most important human experience has been denied one. If one has no relations in pleasures of the flesh one feels deprived and is concerned about the dangers of continence; if one has relations in pleasures of the flesh one feels humiliated by them and ashamed of them. #RandolphHarris 5 of 20

If one has an opportunity to make a trip, one chafes under the inconveniences; if one cannot travel one deems it a disgrace to have to stay at home. Since it does not occur to one that the sources of one’s chronic discontent could lie within oneself, one feels entitled to impress upon others how they fail one and to make ever greater demands whose fulfillment can never satisfy one. The bitter envy, the tendency to devaluate and the resulting discontent account to some extent for certain of the sadistic trends. We understand why the sadist is driven to frustrate others, to inflict suffering, to find fault, to make insatiable demands. However, we can appreciate neither the extent of one’s destructiveness nor one’s arrogant self-righteousness until we consider what one’s hopelessness does to one’s relation to oneself. While one violates the most elementary requirements of human decency, one at the same time harbours within oneself an idealized image of particularly high and rigid moral standards. One is one of those (we have spoken of them before) who, despairing of ever being able to measure up to such standards, have consciously or unconsciously resolved to be as “bad” as possible. One may succeed in being “bad” and wallow in it with a kind of desperate delight. #RandolphHarris 6 of 20

However, by doing so the chasm between the idealized image and the actual self becomes unbridgeable. One feels beyond repair and beyond forgiveness. One’s hopelessness becomes deeper and one develops the recklessness of a person who has nothing to lose. As long as this condition persists it is factually impossible for one to assume a constructive attitude toward oneself. Any direct attempt to make one constructive is doomed to futility and betrays ignorance of one’s condition. One’s self-loathing reaches such dimensions that one cannot take a look at oneself. One must fortify oneself against it by reinforcing an already existing armour of righteousness. The slightest criticism, neglect, or absence of special recognition can mobilize one’s self-contempt and so much be rejected as unfair. One is compelled, therefore, to externalize one’s self-contempt, to blame, berate, humiliate others. This, however, throws one into the toils of a vicious circle. The more one despises others the less is one aware of one’s self-contempt—and the self-contempt grows more violent and merciless the more hopeless one becomes. To strike out against others is then a matter of self-preservation. The process is illustrated by the example of a person who accused her husband of indecision and wanted to tear herself to pieces when she realized that she was really furious at her own indecision. #RandolphHarris 7 of 20

In this light we begin to appreciate why it is imperative for the sadistic person to disparage others. And we can see now, too, the inner logic of one’s compulsive and often fanatical drive to reform others, or at least to reform the partner. Since one oneself cannot measure up to one’s idealized image, the partner must do so; and the merciless rage one feels toward oneself is vented on the partner for any failure in this direction. One may ask oneself sometimes: “Why do I not leave one alone?” However, it is apparent that such rational considerations are of no avail as long as the inner battle persists and is externalized. One usually rationalizes the pressure one exerts on the partner as “love” or interest in the partner’s “development.” Needless to say, it is not love. However, neither is it an interest in the partner’s development along one’s own lines, in accordance with one’s own inner laws. In reality one tries to enforce upon the partner the impossible task of realizing one’s—the sadist’s—idealized image. The righteousness which one had to develop as a shield against self-contempt permits one to do so with smug assurance. An understanding of this inner struggle provides us also with a better insight into another more general factor inherent in sadistic symptoms: the vindictiveness that often seeps through every cell of the sadist’s personality like a poison. #RandolphHarris 8 of 20

One is and must be vindictive because one turn one’s violent contempt for oneself outward. Since one’s righteousness prevents one from seeing one’s share in any difficulty that arises one must feel that one is the one who is abused and victimized; since one cannot see that the source of all one’s despair lies within oneself one must hold others responsible for it. They have ruined one’s life, they have to make up for it—they have to take what is coming to them. It is this vindictiveness, more than any other factor, that kills within one all feelings of sympathy and mercy. Why should one have sympathy for those who have spoiled one’s life—and in addition are better off then he or she is? In individual instances the desire for revenge may be conscious; one may be aware of it, for example in reference to one’s parents. One is not aware, however, that it is a pervasive character trend. However, in considering the rationale for God-centered worship, we must begin with the realization that worship is the number one priority of the Church. Jesus’ famous statement in John 4.23 that the Father seeks worshipers is unparalleled, for nowhere in the entire corpus of Holy Scripture do we read of God’s seeking anything else from a child of God. God desires worship above all else. Thus, every human who calls oneself a Christian must understand that worship is the ultimate priority of one’s life. #RandolphHarris 9 of 20

Worship is what God wants from you and from me. Jesus hallowed and substantiated this in His chiding of busy, frenetic Martha, who was so critical of her sister’s sitting at Jesus’s feet: “Martha, Martha…you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her,” Luke 10.41-42. A look at the massive emphasis on worship in the Old Testament reveals God’s mind on worship’s priority. Exodus devotes twenty-five chapters to the construction of the Tabernacle, the locus of divine worship. Leviticus amounts to a twenty-seven-chapter liturgical manual. And the Psalms are a spectacular 150-chapter worship hymnal. Divine worship has always been the occupation and sustenance, the priority, of the believing soul. Since Christology is the answer of the Christian Church to human’s universal quest for the Unconditional, such an answer will be adapted to the several planes of human existence. From the point of view of theology there are several such levels, each providing a vantage-point from which one may look at the Christian answer. Each, in its sphere, is valid; and this validity is delimited by the scope of that sphere. This is to say that Christian tradition has seen the rise of several Christologies or that Christology has developed several aspects and several formulas. These may, or may not, be contradictory. #RandolphHarris 10 of 20

The important point is not to determine their absolute truth in the abstract, but the meaning of these aspects and formulas of Christology in its several depths. The deepest level at which Christology may be studied is called the ontological awareness of the Unconditional. As we have seen, faith is basically a pre-conceptual experience. As the concern about our existence in is ultimate whence and whiter, it precedes every formulas of a solution and every formula of a search. The faith which conquers sin by receiving reconciliation and a new being, must precede the search for ultimate reality. If Christianity’s claim to universality is valid, a Christian answer must be found at this level. Christology must be ontological. It must provide an answer at the very depth where the quest for the Unconditioned is ontologically pre-formulated. This ontological requirement corresponds to what we call the ontological principle. Human are immediately aware of something unconditional which is the prius of separation and interaction of subject and object, theoretically as well as practically. However, we have to pass a hurdle here. At this level of existence, the implication cannot be directly formulated, it can only be pointed at. The Christian answer, like the answer of any religion, philosophy or revelation, will be symbolic and will be true only insofar as the symbol is grasped. #RandolphHarris 11 of 20

A second level of truth corresponds to the next plane of existence, that of history. Our experience is conditioned by historical circumstances. History has developed a culture which has profoundly influences both or conscious thinking and our subconscious psyche. The Christian answers has precisely been couched in historical terms. Christ is presented as a historical person. This will therefore provide a second point of view: Christology as historical. A third level of truth corresponds to the largely artificial distinction, in humans, between one’s intellectual activity and other elements of their personality. In terms of beliefs, Christianity has been embodied in strict and ridge covenants. These have an intellectual appeal and must be grasped rationally. We shall therefore study Christology as stringent and precise. Finally, another analysis of human behaviour sees a human as an ethical being, whose convictions, principles and assumptions prompt one to adopt definite standards of conduct. Morality is not served from assent. On the contrary, it expresses faith in the realm of ethical behaviour by cloaking the Christian answers in the garments of moral principles. A study of Christology should thus devote some time to Christology as ethical. These points of view, or levels of truth, provide the structure for further discussions. #RandolphHarris 12 of 20

What then is the spirit of liberty? I cannot define it; I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which weighs their interests alongside is own without bias. The spirit of liberty remembers that not even a sparrow falls to Earth unheeded. Faith is a kind of knowledge, inasmuch as the intellect is determined by the believer, but from the vision of Him who is believed. Thus as far as faith falls short of vision, it falls short of the knowledge which belongs to science, for science determines the intellect to one object by the vision and understanding of the principles. Jacob denounces the love of riches, pride, and unchastity—people may seek riches to help their fellow humans—the Lord commands that no human among the Nephites may have more than one wife—the Lord delights in the chastity of women. About 544-421 Before Christ. “The words which Jacob, the brother of Nephi, spake unto the people of Nephi, after the death of Nephi: Now, my beloved brethren, I, Jacob, according to the responsibility which I am under to God, to magnify mine office with soberness, and that I might rid my garments of your sins, I come up into the temple this day that I might declare unto you the word of God. #RandolphHarris 13 of 20

“And ye yourselves know that I have hitherto been diligent in the office of my calling; but I this day am weighed down with much more desire and anxiety for the welfare of your souls than I have hitherto been. For behold, as yet, ye have unto me, and know that by the help of the all-powerful Creator of Heaven and Earth I can tell you concerning your thoughts, how that ye are beginning to labour in sin, which sin appeareth very abominable unto me, yea, and abominable unto God. Yea, it grieveth my soul and causeth me to shrink with shame before the presence of my Maker, that I must testify unto you concerning the wickedness of your hearts. And also it grieveth me that I must use so much boldness of speech concerning you, before your wives and your children, many of whose feelings are exceedingly tender and chaste and delicate before God, which thing is pleasing unto God; and supposeth me that they have up hither to hear the pleasing word of God, yea, the word which healeth the wounded soul. Wherefore, it burdeneth my soul that I should be constrained, because of the strict commandment which I have received from God, to admonish you according to your crimes, to enlarge the wounds of those who are already wounded, instead of consoling and healing their wounds; and those who have not been wounded, instead of feasting upon the pleasing word of God have daggers placed to pierce their souls and wound their delicate minds. #RandolphHarris 14 of 20

“However, notwithstanding the greatness of the task, I must do according to the strict commands of God, and tell you concerning your wickedness and abominations, in the presence of the pure in heart, and the broken heart, and under the glance of the piercing eye of the Almighty God. Wherefore, I must tell you that truth according to the plainness of the word of God. For behold, as I inquired of the Lord, thus came the word unto me, saying: Jacob, get thou up into the temple on the morrow, and declare the word which I shall give thee unto this people. And now behold, my brethren, this is the word which I declare unto you, that many of you have begun to search for gold, and for sliver, and for all manner of precious ores, in the which this land, which is a land of promise unto you and to your seed, doth abound most plentifully. And the hand of providence hath smiled upon you most pleasingly, that you have obtained many riches; and because some of you have obtained more abundantly than that of your brethren ye are lifted up in the pride of your hearts, and wear stiff necks and high heads because of the costliness of your apparel, and persecute your brethren because ye suppose that ye are better than they. And now, my brethren, do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing? Behold, I say unto you, Nay. However, he condemneth you, and if ye persist in these things his judgments must speedily come unto you. #RandolphHarris 15 of 20

“O that he would show you that he can pierce you, and with one glance of his eye he can smite you to the dust! O that he would rid you from this iniquity and abomination. And, O that ye would listen unto the word of his commands, and let not this pride of your hearts destroy your souls! Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you. However, before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and afflicted. And now, my brethren, I have spoken unto you concerning pride; and those of you which have afflicted your neighbour, and persecuted him (or her) because you were proud in your hearts, of things which God hath given you, what say ye of it? Do ye not suppose that such things are abominable unto him who created all flesh? And the one being is as precious in his sight as the other. And all flesh is of the dust; and for the selfsame end hath he created them, that they should keep his commandments and glorify him forever. #RandolphHarris 16 of 20

“And now I make an end of speaking unto you concerning this pride. And were it not that I must speak unto you concerning a grosser crime, my heart would rejoice exceedingly because of you. However, the word of God burdens me because of your grosser crimes. For behold, thus saith the Lord: This people begin to wax in iniquity; they understand not the scriptures, for they seek to excuse themselves in committing whoredoms, because of the things which were written concerning David, and Solomon his son. Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives, and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph. Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not human among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none; for I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts. Wherefore, this people shall keep my commandments, saith the Lord of Host, or cursed be the land for their sakes. #RandolphHarris 17 of 20

“For if I will, saith the Lord of Host, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things. For behold, I the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands. And I will not suffer, saith the Lord of Hosts, that the cries of the fair daughters of this people, which I have led out of the land of Jerusalem, shall come up unto me against the humans of my people, saith the Lord of Hosts. For they shall not lead away captive the daughters of my people because of their tenderness, save I shall visit them with a sore curse, even unto destruction; for they shall not commit whoredoms, like unto them of old, saith the Lord of Host. And now behold, my brethren, ye know that these commandments were given to our father, Lehi; wherefore, ye have known them before; and ye have come unto great condemnation; for ye have done these things which ye ought not to have done. Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the strictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds,” reports Jacob 2.1-35. #RandolphHarris 18 of 20

The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves. Christ our Lord and God, being of His own free will made like unto mortals throughout the whole day of this life, showed unto Thee a body undefiled; and being the fitting Expiator of the ancient offence, exhibited a Soul pure and untouched by sins; and also commanded that as often as His Body and Blood should be received, a Commemoration should be made of the Lord’s Passion, which we now make, and proclaim the eternal glory of Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord and God; and pray Thee to bless this Sacrifice with Thy blessing, and to sprinkle it with the dew of the Holy Spirit, that it may be to all who receive it a pure, true, and legitimate Eucharist; through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord and God. O Christ, all Thy ways of mercy tend t and end in my delight. Thou didst weep, sorrow, suffer that I might rejoice. For my joy Thou hast sent the Comforter, multiplied Thy promises, shown me my future happiness, given me a living fountain. Thou art preparing joy for me and me for joy; give me more than I can hold, desire, or think of. Measure out to me my ties and degrees of joy, at my work, business, duties. If I weep at night, give me joy in the morning. Let me rest in the thought of Thy love, pardon for sin, my title to Heaven, my future unspotted state. I am an unworthy recipient of Thy grace. #RandolphHarris 19 of 20

I often disesteem Thy blood and slight Thy love, but can in repentance draw water from the wells of Thy joyous forgiveness. Let my heart leap towards the eternal sabbath, where the work of redemption, sanctification, preservation, glorification is finished and perfected forever, where thou wilt rejoice over me with joy. There is no joy like the joy of Heaven, for in that state are no sad divisions, unchristian quarrels, contentions, evil designs, weariness, hunger, cold, sadness, sin, suffering, persecutions, toils of duty. O healthful place where none are sick! O happy land where all are kings! O holy assembly where all are priests! How free a state where none are servants expect to Thee! Bring me speedily to the land of joy. “However, after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from Heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to Heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on,” reports Revelations 11.11. This is verily and indeed the Body and Blood of Emmanuel our God. Holy Things for holy persons. There is One holy, One Lord Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father, to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Thou Who camest into the World to save sinners, of whom I am the chief—I confess to Thee like the robber, Remember me, Lord, in Thy kingdom. #RandolphHarris 20 of 20

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

May 30, 2020 2:00 am

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cresleigh Homes

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

#CresleighHomes

Tell Me, Pretty Maiden, are there Any More at Home Like You?

May 29, 2020 1:27 am

Nobody starts off stupid. You have only to watch babies and infants, and think seriously about what all of them learn and do, to see that, except for some who face natural limitations, they show a style of life, and a desire and ability to learn that in a more mature person we might call genius. Hardly an adult in a thousand, or ten thousand, could in any three years of one’s life learn as much, grow as much in one’s understanding of the World around one, as every infant learns and grows in one’s first three years. When people are expected to behave in specific ways or are told that they are stupid or bright or ugly or lovable, they often begin to act in these ways. This is called a self-fulfilling prophecy. These expectations may come from parents and other authority figures, but they can also come from peers. In childhood, and especially in adolescence, peer pressure and peer evaluation become very important. It would be better to take words like “stupid” and “dumb” out of the vocabulary you use with any child. In our culture, which places a premium on intelligence, a person who is called stupid often enough is very unlikely to take risks or do anything challenging. (“Why try? I am so dumb I cannot do it.”) Often students who do not speak out in class fear that what they have to say may sound uneducated, and the instructor and other students may laugh at or ridicule them. So these students sit, mute, in class after class. #RandolphHarris 1 of 22

Persons in the grip of neurotic hopelessness manage to “carry on” in one way or another. If their capacity to be creative has not been too greatly damaged by their neurosis, they may be able fairly consciously to resign themselves to the state of their personal lives and concentrate on a field in which they can be productive. They may submerge themselves in a social or religious movement or in the work of an organization. Their work may be useful; the fact that they lack zest can be outweighed by their having no personal ax to grind. Others, in adapting themselves to their particular frame of life, may cease to question it but yet not attach much meaning to it, trying merely to fulfill their obligations. It is, I believe, the state of a defect condition, in contrast to neurosis. I interpret it, however, as the outcome of neurotic processes. They may, on the other hand, give up all serious or promising pursuits and turn to the periphery of life, trying to snatch from it some bit of enjoyment, finding their interest in a hobby or in incidental pleasures like good eating, interior design, or gardening. Or they may drift and deteriorate, let themselves go to pieces. Unable to do any consistent work, they take to drink, gambling, whoring. The kind of alcoholism described by Charles Jackson in The Lost Week-End, where a binge drinker mostly of rye, fancies himself as a writer. #RandolphHarris 2 of 22

And in his state of neurosis, he lapses into foreign phrase and quotes Shakespeare even while attempting to steal a woman’s purse, trying to pawn a typewriter for drinking money. This represents and end stage of such a condition. In this connection it might be interesting to examine whether an unconscious determination to go to pieces may not supply a powerful psychic contribution to such chronic diseases as tuberculosis and cancer. Finally, persons without hope may turn destructive, but at the same time make an attempt at restitution by living vicariously. This, in my opinion, is the meaning of sadistic trends. Because Dr. Freud regarded sadistic trends as instinctual, psychoanalytical interest has been largely focused on the so-called sadistic perversions. Sadistic patterns in everyday relationships, though not ignored, have not been strictly defined. Any kind of assertive or aggressive behaviour is conceived of as a modification or sublimation of instinctual sadistic trends. Dr. Freud, for instance, regarded a striving for power as such a sublimation. It is true that a striving for power can be sadistic; but in a person who sees life as a battle of all against all, it can merely represent a struggle for survival. Actually, it need not be neurotic at all. The result of this lack of discrimination is that we have neither a comprehensive picture of the forms sadistic attitudes may take nor any criteria as to precisely what is sadistic. #RandolphHarris 3 of 22

It is left pretty much to individual intuition to determine what may rightly be called sadism and what may not—a situation hardly conductive to sound observation. The mere act of hurting others is in itself no indication of a sadistic tendency. A person may be engaged in a struggle of a personal or general nature in the course of which one had to hurt not only one’s adversaries but one’s associates as well. Hostility toward others may also be merely reactive. A person can feel hurt or frightened and want to hit back with a force that, while disproportionate to the objective provocation, is subjectively quite in keeping with it. It is easy, however, to deceive oneself on this score: all too often a justifiable reaction is claimed when actually a sadistic tendency was in operation. However, the difficulty in distinguishing one from the other does not mean that reactive hostility is nonexistent. Finally, there are all those offense tactics of the aggressive type who feels one is fighting for survival. I should not call any of these aggressions sadistic; others may get hurt in the process, but the hurting or damaging is an inevitable by-product rather than a prime intention. To put it simply, we could say that although the kinds of action we refer to here are aggressive or even hostile, they are not perpetrated in a mean spirit. There is no conscious or unconscious satisfaction derived from the very fact of hurting. #RandolphHarris 4 of 22

It has been repeatedly argued that equality undermines liberty. Some would say that a society in which principles like my radical egalitarian principles were adopted, or even the liberal egalitarian principles of Rawls or Dworkin were adopted, would not be a free society. My arguments have been just the reverse. I have argued that it is only in an egalitarian society that full and extensive liberty is possible. Perhaps the egalitarian and the anti-egalitarian are arguing at cross purposes? What we need to recognize, it has been argued, is that we have two kinds of rights both of which are important to freedom but to rather different freedoms and which are freedoms which not infrequently conflict. We have rights to fair terms of cooperation but we also have rights to non-interference. If a right of either kind is overridden our freedom is diminished. The reason why it might be thought that the egalitarian and the anti-egalitarian may be arguing at cross purposes is that the egalitarian is pointing to the fact that rights to fair terms of cooperation and their associated liberties require equality while the anti-egalitarian is pointing to the fact that rights to fair terms of cooperation and their associated liberties require equality while the anti-egalitarian is pointing to the fact that rights to noninterference and their associated liberties conflict with equality. They focus on different liberties. #RandolphHarris 5 of 22

What I have said above may not be crystal clear, so let me explain. People have a right to fair terms of cooperation. In political terms this comes to the equal right of all to effective participation in government and, in more broadly social terms, and for a society of economic wealth, it means people having a right to a roughly equal distribution of the benefits and burdens of the basic social arrangements that affect their lives and for them to stand in such relations to each other such that no one has the power to dominate the life of another. By contrast, rights to non-interference come to the equal right of all to be left alone by the government and more broadly to live in a society in which people have a right peacefully to pursue their interests without interference. The conflict between equality and liberty comes down to, very essentially, the conflicts we get in modern societies between rights to fair terms of cooperation and rights to noninterference. As Joseph Schumpeter saw and J.S. Mill before him, one could have a thoroughly democratic society (at least in conventional terms) in which rights to noninterference might still be extensively violated. A central anti-egalitarian claim is that we cannot have an egalitarian society in which they very precious liberties that go with the rights to non-interference would be violated. #RandolphHarris 6 of 22

Love, power, and justice are united in God and they are united in the new creation of God in the World. Humans are estranged from the ground of their being, from themselves, and from their World. However, they are still humans. One cannot completely cut the tie with their creative ground, one is still a centred person and in this sense united with oneself. One still participates in one’s World. In other words: The reuniting love, the power of resisting non-being, and the creative justice are still active in one. Life is not unambiguously good. Then it would not be life but only the possibility of life. And life is not unambiguously evil. Then non-being would have conquered being. However, life is ambiguous in all its expressions. It is ambiguous also with respect to love, power, and justice. We have touched on this fact in many places in our previous discussions. We must now consider it in the light of the new creation within the World of estrangement, which I suggest calling the holy community. In an anticipating summary I would say: in the holy community the agape quality of love cuts into the libido, eros, and philia qualities of love and elevates them beyond the ambiguities of their self-centeredness. In the holy community the spiritual power, by surrendering compulsion, elevates power beyond the ambiguities of its dynamic realization. #RandolphHarris 7 of 22

In the holy community justification by grace elevates justice beyond the ambiguities of its abstract and calculating nature. This means that in the holy community love, power, and justice in their ontological structure are affirmed but that their estranged and ambiguous reality is transformed into a manifestation of their unity within the divine life. Let us first consider the ambiguities of love and the work of love as agape in the holy community. Libido is good in itself! We have defended it against Dr. Freud’s depreciation of what he described as the infinite libidinous drive with its ensuing dissatisfaction and death instinct. We have accepted this as the description in estrangement, but not of libido in its creative meaning. Without libido life would not move beyond itself. The Bible knows this as well as recent depth psychology, and we should be grateful that our new insights into the deeper levels of human nature have rediscovered the Biblical realism which was covered by several strata of idealistic and moralistic self-deception about humans. Biblical realism knows both that libido belongs to human’s created goodness and that it is distorted and ambiguous in the state of human’s estrangement. Libido has become unlimited and has fallen under the tyranny of the pleasure principle. It uses the other being not as an object of reunion but as a tool for gaining pleasure out of one. #RandolphHarris 8 of 22

Desire for pleasures of the flesh is not evil as the breaking of conventional laws, but the desires for the pleasures of the flesh in autonomy in pleasures of the flesh are evil if they bypass the center of the other person—in other words, if they are not united with the two other qualities of love, and if they are not under the ultimate criterion of the agape quality of love. Agape seems the other one in one’s center. Agape sees one as God sees one. Agape elevates libido into the divine unity of love, power, and justice. The same is true of eros. We have, following Plato, defined eros as the driving force in all cultural creativity and in all mysticism. As such eros has the greatness of divine-human power. It participates in creation in the natural goodness of everything created. However, it also participates in the ambiguities of life. The eros quality of love can be confused with the libido quality and be drawn into its ambiguities. Witness for this is the fact that the New Testament could not use the word eros any more because of its predominantly sexual connotations. And even the mystical eros can express itself in symbols which are not only taken from the life involving pleasures of the flesh but which draw the love to God to an openly ascetic, hiddenly passionate level in pleasures of the flesh. However, more is involved when we speak of the ambiguity of the eros quality of love. It is the aesthetic detachment which can take hold of our relation to culture and makes eros ambiguous. #RandolphHarris 9 of 22

The aesthetic stage of humans spiritual development is not a stage but a Universal quality of love exposed to dangers. The ambiguity of cultural eros is its detachment from the realities which it expresses and consequently the disappearing of existential participation and ultimate responsibility. The wings of eros becomes wings of escape. Culture is irresponsibly enjoyed. It has not received the justice which it can demand. Agape cuts into the detached safety of a merely aesthetic eros. It does not deny the longing toward the good and the true and its divine source, but it prevents it from becoming an aesthetic enjoyment without ultimate seriousness. Agape makes the cultural eros responsible and the mystical eros personal. The ambiguities of the philia quality of love appeared already in its first description as person-to-person love between equals. However large the group of equals may be, the philia quality of love establishes preferential love. Some are preferred, the majority are excluded. This is obvious not only in intimate relations as family and friendship, but also in the innumerable forms of sympathetic person-to-person encounters. The implicit or explicit rejection of all those who are not admitted to such a preferential relation is negative compulsion and can be as cruel as any compulsion. However, such a rejection of others is tragically unavoidable. Nobody can escape the necessity to exercise it. #RandolphHarris 10 of 22

There are special forms of love with philia quality which are called a symbiotic relation and which make this tragic necessity rather clear. If the one partner of the philia-relation is used by the other one either for the sake of masochistic dependence or of sadistic domination or of both in interdependence, something which seemed to be friendship of highest quality is in reality compulsion without justice. Again, agape does not deny the preferential love of the philia quality, but it purifies it from a subpersonal bondage, and it elevates the preferential love into universal love. The preferences of friendship are not negated, but they do not exclude, in a kind of aristocratic self-separation, all the others. Not everybody is a friend, but everybody is affirmed as a person. Agape cuts through the separation of equals and unequals, of sympathy and antipathy, of friendship and indifference, of desire and disgust. It needs no sympathy in order to love; it loves what it has to reject in terms of philia. Agape loves in everybody and through everybody love itself. What agape does to the ambiguities of love, Spiritual power does to the ambiguities of natural power. The ambiguities of power are rooted in the dynamic character and the compulsory implications of power. #RandolphHarris 11 of 22

Spiritual power is not the conquest of these ambiguities by resignation of power, because this would mean resignation of being. I would be the attempt to annihilate oneself in order to escape guilt. Spiritual power is not the denial of power dynamics. In many stories about the working of the Spiritual power bodily effects are mentioned, like elevation, removal from one place to the other, shock, and horror. There are always psychological effects visible. Spirit is power, grasping and moving out of the dimension of the ultimate. It is not identical with the realm of ideas or meanings. It is dynamic power, overcoming resistance. Hen what is its difference from the other forms of power? The Spiritual power works neither through bodily nor through psychological compulsion. It works through a human’s total personality, and this means, through one as finite freedom. It does not remove one’s freedom, but it makes one’s freedom free from the compulsory elements which limit it. The Spiritual power gives a center to the whole personality, a center which transcends the whole personality and, consequently, is independent of any elements. And this is ultimately the only way of uniting the personality with itself. If this happens human’s natural or social power of being becomes irrelevant. One may keep them, one may resign some of them or even all of them. #RandolphHarris 12 of 22

The Spiritual power works through them or it works through the surrender of them. One may exercise Spiritual power through words or thought, through what one is and what one does, or through the surrender of them or through the sacrifice of oneself. In all these forms one can change reality by attaining levels of being which are ordinarily hidden. This is the power which elevates the holy community above the ambiguities of power. I do not need to say much about the relation of grace and justice. The act of forgiving has been mentioned in connexion with the encounter of person and person. If based on reuniting love, in justification by grace, mutual forgiveness is justice. Only God can forgive, because in Him along love and justice are completely united. The ethics of forgiveness are rooted in the message of divine forgiveness. Otherwise they are delivered to the ambiguities of justice, oscillating between legalism and sentimentality. In the holy community this ambiguity is conquered. Agape conquers the ambiguities of love, Spiritual power conquers the ambiguities of power, grace conquers the ambiguities of justice. This is true not only of the encounters of humans with humans, but also in the encounter of humans with oneself. Humans can love oneself in terms of self-acceptance only if one is certain that one is accepted. Otherwise one’s self-acceptance is self-complacency and arbitrariness. #RandolphHarris 13 of 22

Only in the light and in the power of the “love from above” can one love oneself. This implies the answer to the question of human’s justice toward oneself. One can be just towards oneself only in so far as ultimate justice is done to one, namely the condemning, forgiving, and giving judgement of “justification.” The condemning element in justification makes self-complacency impossible, the forgiving element saves from self-condemnation and despair, the giving element provides for a Spiritual center which unites the elements of our personal self and makes power over oneself possible. Justice, power, and love towards oneself is rooted in the justice, power, and love which we receive from that which transcends us and affirms us. The relation to ourselves is a function of our relation to God. We have a question about the reunion of humankind in terms of love, power, and justice. It is not easy to find an answer that can be given on the level of political organization. Is there an answer out of the relation to the ultimate? It is the merit of pacifism that, in spite of its theological shortcomings, it has kept this question alive in modern Christianity. Without it the Churches probably would have forgotten the torturing seriousness of any religious affirmation of war. On the other hand, pacifism has usually restricted a much larger problem of human existence to the question of war. #RandolphHarris 14 of 22

However, there are other questions of equal seriousness in the same sphere. One of them is the question of armed conflicts within a power group, always going on potentially in the use of police and armed forces for the preservation of order, sometimes coming into the open in revolutionary wars. If successful, they are later on called “glorious revolutions.” Does the union of humankind mean that not only national but also revolutionary wars are excluded? And if so, has the dynamics of life come to an end: and des this mean that life itself has come to an end? One can ask the same question with respect to the dynamics of the economic life. Even in a static society such as that of the Middle Ages, the economic dynamics were important and had tremendous historical consequences. One should remain aware of the fact that often more destruction and suffering is produced by economic than by military battles. Should the economic dynamics be stopped and a static World system of production and consumption be introduced? If this were so the whole technical process would also have to be stopped, life in most realms would have to be organized in ever repeated processes. Every disturbance would have to be avoided. Again the dynamics of life and with life itself would have come to an end. #RandolphHarris 15 of 22

Let us assume for a moment that this were possible. Under an unchangeable central authority all encounters of power with power are regulated. Nothing is risked, everything decided. Life has ceased to transcend itself. Creativity has come to an end. The history of humans would be finished, post-history would have started. Humankind would be a flock of blessed animals without dissatisfaction, without drive into the future. The horrors and sufferings of the historical period would be remembered as the dark ages of humankind. And then it might happen that one or the other of these blessed humans would feel a longing for these past ages, their misery and their greatness, and would force a new beginning of history upon the rest. This image will show that a World without the dynamics of power and the tragedy of life and history is not the Kingdom of God, is not the fulfilment of humans in their World. Fulfilment is bound to eternity and no imagination can reach the eternal. However, fragmentary anticipations are possible. The Church itself is such a fragmentary anticipation. And there are groups and movements, which although they do not belong to the manifest Church, represents something we may call a “latent Church.” However, neither the manifest nor the latent Church is the Kingdom of God. #RandolphHarris 16 of 22

Many problems connected with the all-embracing subject of this essay have not been mentioned at all. Others have been touched on only briefly, and others have been treated rather inadequately. However, I hope that I have proved one thing: that the problems of love, power, and justice categorically demand an ontological foundation and a theological view in order to be saved from the vague talk, idealism, and cynicism with which they are usually treated. If they do not see them in the light of their own being and of being-itself, humans cannot solve any of their great problems. Many Christians have never thought through the meaning and importance of worship. It is not an overstatement to say that our pleasure-centered culture has produced many who work at their play and play at their worship. Why this confusion and tragic failure regarding worship? The answer lies in another question: Why do we worship—is it for God or for humans? The unspoken but increasingly common assumption of today’s Christendom is that worship is primarily of us—to meet our needs. Such worship services are entertainment-focused, and the worshipers are uncommitted spectators who are silently grading the performance. From this perspective preaching becomes a homiletics of consensus—preaching to felt needs—human’s conscious agenda instead of God’s. #RandolphHarris 17 of 22

Such preaching is always topical and never textual. Biblical information is minimized, and the sermons are short and full of stories. Anything and everything is judged by how it affects humans. This terribly corrupts one’s theology. The telltale sign of this kind of thinking is the common post-worship question, What did you think of the service today? The real questions ought to be, What did God think of it and of those who worshipped? and What did I give to God? It is so easy to forget that in going to worship our main concern should be to “worship in spirit and in truth,” as reported in John 4.24—not to receive a lift for ourselves. Therefore, it is important that we understand, in distinction to the popular view that worship is for us, that worship begins not with humans as its focus, but God. Worship must be orchestrated and conducted with the vision before us of an august, awesome, holy, transcendent God who is to be pleased and, above all, glorified by our worship. Everything in our corporate worship should flow from this understanding. What about our needs then? When we worship and adore God in our singing and prayer and listening to the Word, His shalom will well in our souls so that we will leave with a glad sense of personal blessings—a great lift. However, this is a byproduct, not a goal, a further evidence of the generous grace of God. #RandolphHarris 18 of 22

The fact that there have been higher beings who have gone beyond the mass in goodness and insight, in serenity and radiant self-mastery, can be taken as a hint of re-embodiment’s purpose. One speaks or writes as one who is perfectly at home in these higher levels of consciousness. If an illuminated teacher or an illuminating book cannot lead anyone into the Kingdom of Heaven and keep one there, they can at least give everyone a clue which, if followed up, may lead there. “And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a human speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of humans. However, behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught. However I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry. #RandolphHarris 19 of 22

“And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal. And it speaketh harshly against sin, according to the plainness of the truth; wherefore, no human will be angry at the words which I have written save he shall be of the spirit of the devil. I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell. I have charity for my people, and great faith in Christ that I shall meet many souls spotless at his judgment-sent. I have charity for the Jew—I say Jew, because I mean them from whence I came. I also have charity for the Gentiles. However, behold, for none of these can I hope expect they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation. And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the Earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all people that they should do good. #RandolphHarris 20 of 22

“And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye—for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words, at the last day; and you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of hm to write these things, notwithstanding my weakness. And I pray the Father in the name of Christ that many of us, if not all, may be saved in his kingdom at that great and last day. And now, my beloved brethren, all those who are of the house of Israel, and all ye ends of the Earth, I speak unto you as the voice of one crying from the dust: Farewell until that great day shall come. And you hat will not partake of the goodness of God, and respect the words of the Jews, and also my words, and the words which shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the Lamb God, behold, I bid you an everlasting farewell, for these words shall condemn you at the last day. For what I seal on earth, shall be brought against you at the judgment bar; for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey. Amen,” reports 2 Nephi 33.1-15. We beseech Thee, O Lord, in Thy mercy to sanctify these gifts, and having received the offering of the spiritual sacrifice, to make us a perpetual oblation unto Thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Please look mercifully, O Lord, on these present offerings, that they may avail both for our devotion and our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. #RandolphHarris 21 of 22

My God, I bless Thee that Thou hast given me the eye of faith, to see Thee as Father, to know Thee as a covenant God, to experience Thy love planted in me; for faith is the grace of union by which I spell out my entitlement to Thee: Faith casts my anchor upwards where I trust in Thee and engage Thee to by my Lord. Be pleased to live and move within me, breathing in my prayers, inhabiting my praises, speaking in my words, moving in my actions, living in my life, causing me to grow in grace. Thy bounteous goodness has helped me believe, but my faith is weak and wavering, its light dim, its steps tottering, its increase slow, its backsliding frequent; it should scale the Heavens, but lies groveling in the dust. Lord, fan this divine spark into glowing flame. When faith sleeps, my heart becomes an unclean thing, the fount of every loathsome desire, the cage of unclean lusts all fluttering to escape, the noxious tree of deadly fruit, the open wayside of Earthly tares. Lord, awake faith to put forth its strength until all Heaven fills my soul and all impurity is cast out. Remember, O Lord, Thy servants and handmaids here present, whose faith and devotion are discerned and known by Thee. Please let me enjoy the Earth. #RandolphHarris 22 of 22

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Please have mercy, O Lord, upon Thy children for whom I offer this sacrifice of praise to Thy Majesty; that they may be able to lead a good life in this World, and happily to attain eternal blessedness.
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The Spirit of Liberty is the Spirit Which is Not too Sure that it is Right and Seeks to Understand Minds

May 27, 2020 11:28 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Society Demands this as a Kind of Surety–Each Must Stand at One’s Post, here a Cobbler, there a Poet!

May 26, 2020 1:21 am

As children, we gradually and sometimes painfully go through the process of learning “proper” social rituals for interacting with other people. To inhibit yourself is to restrain yourself from behaving in a way that is “natural” for you. For instance, if I feel like sneezing and force myself not to, I am inhibiting the sneeze. Our social self is a product of our awareness of how to present ourselves to other people. As children we soon learn that some behaviour is more socially acceptable and more effective at meeting our needs through others. For example, we rapidly learn the magic of saying “please” when we want a piece of cake and “thank you” when we get it. The social self is the image we think other people have of us, and the way we ourselves present to other people because of this view. One problem is that, in order to project this image, we may sometimes feel compelled to do or say things we do not really feel. This can turn int a sort of game that keeps us from really communicating with people. Some people feel that “polite” or “socially acceptable” behaviour is false, phoney, plastic. And indeed, a gap may exist between how we feel and how we have to present ourselves socially. In theory, we may believe that everyone has the right to express his or her real feelings. However, in practice, we probably all feel many things that we are afraid to express because of the possible consequences. #RandolphHarris 1 of 24

As we gain more experience with life, we begin to develop an image of what we wish to be (or think we should be): our ideal self. Part of the ideal self is made up of cultural values. Most of us share our culture’s emphasis on such values as truthfulness, honesty, and loyalty, so we would expect our ideal selves to have these characteristics. Our ideal selves also take into account our parents’ values: we want to gain parental approval and live up to what our parents want us to be. The egalitarian conception of society argues for the desirability of bringing into existence a World, once the springs of social wealth flow freely, in which everyone’s needs are as fully satisfied as possible and in which everyone gives according to one’s ability. Which means, among other things, that everyone, according to one’s ability, shares the burdens of society. There is an equal giving and equal responsibility here according to ability. It is here, with respect to giving according to ability with respect to receiving according to need, that complex equality of result, id est, equality of condition, is being advocated by the radical equalitarian. What it comes to is this: each of us, where each is to count for one and none to count for more than one, is to give according to ability and receive according to need. #RandolphHarris 2 of 24

Many people in our culture seem to fear that individuals who do not have to earn a sense of worth, will not strive to succeed. Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties and opportunities (including equal opportunities for meaningful work, for self-determination and political and economic participation) compatible with a similar treatment of all. (This principle gives expression to a commitment to attain and/or sustain equal moral autonomy and equal self-respect.) After provisions are made for common social (community) values, for capital overheard to preserve the society’s productive capacity, allowances made for differing unmanipulated needs and preferences, and due weight is given to the just entitlements of individuals, the income and wealth (the common stock of means) is to be so divided that each person will have a right to an equal shared. The necessary burdens requisite to enhance human well-being are also to be equally shared, subject, of course, to limitations by differing abilities and differing situations. (Here I refer to different natural environments and the like and not to class position and the like.) No person, for any considerable period, can wear once face to oneself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true. #RandolphHarris 3 of 24

Risky? Of course. We play games because they are less risky than real communication. We may play them because we are unsure of ourselves, afraid, or too lazy to be real. However, to take risks in human interactions means to have a certain amount of self-confidence and respect for your ability to follow through with whatever might happen in the process. When talking about equality as a right rather than equality as a goal, principles of egalitarianism spell out rights people have and duties they have under conditions of very considerable productive abundance. We have a right to certain basic liberties and opportunities and we have, subject to certain limitations spelled out in the second principle, a right to an equal share of the income and wealth in the World. We also have a duty, again subject to the qualifications mentioned in the principle, to do our equal share in shouldering the burdens necessary to protect us from ills and to enhance our will-being. Sometimes an ideal self can be terribly demanding and unrealistic. Such high expectations can be reinforced by parents, who have equally demanding ideal images. People with demanding ideal self-images may feel they are failures, disappointments to their families, and bad human beings if they fall short of their image. Cultural ideals also form part of the “ideal-self” in each of our heads. #RandolphHarris 4 of 24

Confusingly, our cultural seems to advocate two ideals—one loving and sharing, and the other tough and competitive. The first is reflected in such biblical advice as “Love thy neighbour as thyself” and “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The message is share what you have, develop a conscious concern for your fellow human beings, and be cooperative with others. What is the relation between these rights and the ideal of equality of condition discussed earlier? That is a goal for which we can struggle now to bring about conditions which will some day make its achievement possible, while these rights only become right when the goal is actually achievable. We have no such rights in slave, feudal societies. In that important way they are not natural rights for they depend on certain social conditions and certain social structures to be realizable. What we can say is that it is always desirable that socioeconomic conditions come int being which would make it possible to achieve the goal of equality of conditions so that these right and duties I speak of could obtain. However, that is a far cry from saying we have such rights and duties now. Capitalist societies can satisfy these radical egalitarian principles of justice, for equal liberty, equal opportunity, equal wealth and equal sharing of our burdens. #RandolphHarris 5 of 24

The social structure of capitalism in America is set up to achieve equality by having law and order to prevent and punish crimes. There are also taxes that help fund entitlement programs and banks that lend money and credit so people who cannot afford houses, cars, and education can achieve the same status as the aristocratic families. There is also require public education. Therefore, we do have rights in place to achieve an egalitarian and harmonious society through these rights and duties. If there were not in place something like the current hybrid blend of capitalism/socialism in America, which is a system of equal basic liberties, and without such there could be no equal life prospects between all people or an equal satisfaction of needs. Furthermore, without the rough equality of access to wealth, there would be disparities in power and self-direction in society which would render impossible an equality of life prospects of the social conditions required for an equal satisfaction of needs. Ans plainly, without a roughly equal share of burdens, there cannot be a situation where everyone has equal life prospects or has the chance equally to satisfy one’s needs. The principles of radical egalitarian justice are implicated in its conception of an ideally adequate equality of condition. #RandolphHarris 6 of 24

Young people may argue that to achieve the economic ideal of having a high-paying job, accumulating wealth, striving to get ahead, they may have to abandon (or at least not pay much attention to) the love-cooperation-sharing model. And they may have a valid point. The contradiction is one of valuing the concept of competition in the American way of life on the one hand, and of brotherly love and humility on the other. On the one hand, we are supposed to be assertive and aggressive and push all competitors out of the way. On the other hand, clergy-people tells us not to be selfish, that we should be humble, turn the other cheek, and love our neighbour rather than compete with one. The modern manipulator feels this contradiction deeply. In large part, your evaluation of your own self-worth is dependent on how close you come to your ideal self. If you are interested in meeting that image, you will experience high self-esteem (the value you place on yourself)—that is, you will feel good about yourself. If you fail to come close to that image, you will have lower self-esteem. If you consistently fail to reach your ideal goal, you should re-evaluate your image and decide whether it is unrealistic or not. #RandolphHarris 7 of 24

Despite one’s conflicts a neurotic can be contented at times, can enjoy things to which one feels oneself attuned. However, one’s happiness is dependent upon too many conditions for it to be of frequent occurrence. One will not take pleasure in anything unless, for instance, one is alone—or unless one shares it with someone else; unless one is the dominating factor in the situation—or unless one is approved of on all sides. One’s chances are further narrowed by the fact that the conditions for happiness are so often contradictory. One may be glad to have another person take the lead but one may at the same time resent it. A woman may enjoy her husband’s success but she may also envy him for it, vice versa. A spouse may enjoy giving a party but have to have everything so perfect that he or she is exhausted before it begins. And when the neurotic does find temporary happiness, it is all too easily disturbed by one’s manifold vulnerabilities and fears. Moreover, mishaps of the sort that occur in every life assume undue proportions in one’s mind. Any minor failure may plunge one into a depression because it proves one’s general unworthiness—even when it is due to factors beyond one’s control. Any harmless critical remark may set one worrying or brooding, and so on. As a result, one is ordinarily more unhappy and discontented than the circumstances warrant. #RandolphHarris 8 of 24

This situation, bad enough as it stands, is aggravated by a further consideration. Human beings can apparently endure an amazing amount of misery as long as there is hope; but neurotic entanglements invariably generate a measure of hopelessness, and the more severe the entanglements they greater the hopelessness. It may be deeply buried: superficially the neurotic may be preoccupied with imagining or planning conditions that would make things better. If only one were married, had a larger house in Cresleigh Ranch, a different foreman, a different wife or husband; if only she were a man, a little older or younger, a little taller or not so tall—then everything would be all right. And sometime the elimination of certain disquieting factors really does prove helpful. More often, however, such hopes merely externalize inner difficulties and are doomed to disappointment. The neurotic expects a World of good from external changes, but inevitably carries oneself and one’s neurosis into each new situation. Hope that rests on externals is naturally more prevalent among the young; that is one of the reasons why an analysis of a very young person is less simple than one might expect. As people grow older and one hope after another fades, they are more winning to take a good look at themselves as a possible source of distress. #RandolphHarris 9 of 24

The persona is a complicated system of relations between individual consciousness and society, fittingly enough a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and, on the other, to conceal the true nature of the individual. That the latter function is superfluous could be maintained only by one who is so identified with one’s persona that one no longer knows oneself; and that the former is unnecessary could only occur to one who is quite unconscious of the true nature of one’s fellows. Society expects, and indeed must expect every individual to play the part assigned to one as perfectly as possible, so that a person who is a parson must not only carry out one’s official functions objectively, but must at all times and in all circumstances play the role of parson in flawless manner. Society demands this as a kind of surety; each must stand at one’s post, here a cobbler, there a poet. To present an unequivocal face to the World is a matter of practical importance: the average person—the only kind society knows anything about—must keep one’s nose to one thing in order to achieve anything worthwhile, two would be too much. Our society is undoubtedly set on such an ideal. It is therefore not surprising that everyone who wants to get on must take these expectations into account. #RandolphHarris 10 of 24

Obviously no one could completely submerge one’s individuality in these expectations; hence the construction of an artificial personality becomes an unavoidable necessity. The demands of propriety and good manners are an added inducement to assume a becoming mask. What goes on behind the mask is then called “private life.” This painfully familiar division of consciousness into two figures, often preposterously different, is an incisive psychological operation that is bound to have repercussions on the unconscious. The construction of a collectively suitable persona means a formidable concession to the external World, a genuine self-sacrifice which drives the ego straight into identification with the persona, so that people really do exist who believe they are what they pretend to be. The “soullessness” of such an attitude is, however, only apparent, for under no circumstances will the unconscious tolerate this shifting of the center of gravity. When we examine such cases critically, we find that the excellence of the mask is compensated by the “private life” going on behind it. Bad temper is the vice of the virtuous. Whoever builds up too good a persona for oneself naturally pays for it with irritability. One may have hysterical weeping fits. #RandolphHarris 11 of 24

People who put on personas may make others feel a growing ominous inferiority and make one wonder how they may better themselves. However, any person who becomes one with one’s persona can cheerfully let all disturbances manifest themselves through their spouse without his or her noticing it, through the spouse pays for their self-sacrifice with a bad neurosis. These identifications with a social role are a very fruitful source of neuroses. A human cannot get rid of oneself in favour of an artificial personality without punishment. Even the attempt to do so brings on, in all ordinary cases, unconscious reactions in the form of bad moods, affects, phobias, compulsive ideas, backslidings, vices, excreta. The socially strong human is in one’s private life often a mere child where one’s own states of feeling are concerned; one’s public discipline (which one demands quite particularly of others) goes miserable to pieces in private. One’s happiness in one’s work assumes a woeful countenance at home; one’s spotless public morality looks strange indeed behind the mask—we will not mention deeds, but only fantasies, and the spouses of such people would have a pretty tale to tell; as one’s selfless altruism, one’s children has decided views about that. #RandolphHarris 12 of 24

To the degree that the World invites the individual to identify with the mask, one is delivered over to influences from within. High rests on low. An opposite forces its way up from inside; it is exactly as though the unconscious suppressed the ego with the very same power which drew the ego into the persona. The absence of resistance outwardly against the lure of the persona means a similar weakness inwardly against the influence of the unconscious. Outwardly an effective and powerful role is played, while inwardly an effeminate weakness develops in face of every influence coming from the unconscious. Moods, vagaries, timidity, even limp pleasures of the flesh (culminating in impotence), gradually gain the upper hand. The persona, the ideal picture of a human as one should be, is inwardly compensated by feminine weakness, and as the individual outwardly plays the strong human, so one becomes inwardly more feminine, id est, the anima, for it is the anima that reacts to the persona. However, because the inner World is dark and invisible to the extraverted consciousness, and becomes a human is all the less capable of conceiving one’s weaknesses the more one is identified with the persona, the person’s counterpart, the anima, remains completely in the dark and is at once projected, so that our hero comes under the heels of one’s spouse’s slipper. #RandolphHarris 13 of 24

If the result of being under the control of one’s spouse experiences a considerable increase in power, the controlling spouse will acquit oneself none too well. One becomes inferior, thus providing the spouse who is supposed to be naturally dominant with the welcome proof that it is not one, the hero, who is inferior in private, but the spouse who is supposed to be naturally submissive who is. In return the spouse of is supposed to be naturally submissive can cherish the illusion, so attractive to many, that at least one has married a hero, unperturbed by one’s own uselessness. This little game of illusion is often taken to be the whole meaning of life. However, the true meaning of life is to love and better know the beauty and intricacy of all things. Nonetheless, the ideal individual, one might postulate, would be consistently the same whatever the circumstances. In practice, most human beings adopt attitudes in public which are different from their attitudes in private. There is a dissociation of personality into “outer” and “inner”; into “mask” and “soul.” In men, the inner personality or soul is feminine, and represented as such by female figures in dreams and fantasies; whereas the opposite is true for women. #RandolphHarris 14 of 24

Even when a general feeling of hopelessness is unconscious, its existence and its strength can be inferred from sundry indications. There may be episodes in the life history that show the person’s reaction to disappointments to have been of an intensity and duration wholly disproportionate to the provocation. Thus one may encounter a complete hopelessness resulting apparently from unrequited love in adolescence, from betrayal by a friend, unjust dismissal from a job, failure in examinations. Naturally one would first try to fathom whatever special reasons there might be for so profound a reaction. However, over and above any special reasons, it will usually be found that the unfortunate experience drains a much deeper well of hopelessness. Similarly, a preoccupation with death or the ready emergence of suicidal thoughts—with or without affect—point to a pervasive hopelessness, even though the person presents a façade of optimism. A general flippancy, a refusal to take anything seriously—whether in the analytical situation or outside it—is another indication, as is easy discouragement in the face of difficulty. Much of what Dr. Freud has defined as negative therapeutic reaction belongs here. A new insight which, though it may be painful, offers a way out may only provoke discouragement and an unwillingness to go through the hardship of again working though a new problem. #RandolphHarris 15 of 24

Sometimes this looks as though the patient did not trust oneself to overcome the particular difficulty; but in reality it expresses one’s lack of hope of ever being able to gain by it. Under these conditions it is only logical for one to complain that the particular insight hurts or frightens one and to resent being upset by the analyst. A preoccupation with foreseeing or foretelling the future is also a sign of hopelessness. Although on the surface this looks like an anxiety about life in general, about being caught unawares, about making mistakes, it will be observed that in such cases the outlook is invariably tinged with pessimism. Like Cassandra, many neurotics foresee largely evil rarely good. This focusing on the morbid side of life rather than on the bright should make one suspect a deep personal hopelessness, no matter how intelligently it is rationalized. Finally, there is the chronic depressed condition, which can be so hidden and insidious that it does not strike one as depression. Persons so afflicted may function fairly well. They can be pleasant and have a good time, but it may take them hours to rouse themselves in the morning, to come to life, as it were, to put up with life again. Life is so permanent a burden that they hardly feel it as such and do not complain about it. However, their spirits are permanently at low ebb. #RandolphHarris 16 of 24

Without correct information, our ability to think has nothing to work on. Indeed, without the requisite information, we may be afraid of thinking at all, or simply be incapable of thinking straight. The hymn of Charles Wesley is true to the human situation: “Long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and Nature’s night.” (But then comes the galvanizing good news of the gospel.) “Thine eyes diffused a quickening ray, I woke, the dungeon flamed with light: my chains fell off, my heart was free, I rose, went forth and followed Thee.” Lack of information results in everything from unpleasant burdens to stark tragedies, across the entire range of human life. Not knowing about resources at a public library or on the Internet may mean that a scholar or writer or other professional person is deprived of needed materials or at least must obtain them at considerable effort or personal expense. In the past, doctors with unwashed hands unwittingly carried deadly germs, which causes the deaths of humans of thousands of women from “child-bed fever.” Failure to know what God is really like and what his law requires destroys the soul, ruins society, and leaves people to eternal ruin: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,” reports Hosea 4.6, and “A people without understanding come to ruin,” reports Hosea 4.14. #RandolphHarris 17 of 24

The tragic condition in the New World today is so many people are without correct information, and they have put away the information about God that God himself has made available. Accordingly, the first task of Jesus in his Earthly ministry was to proclaim God: to inform those around him of the availability of eternal life from God through himself. He made it clear that by placing their confidence in himself, “believing on him,” they could immediately enter into the eternal life enjoyed by those in the “kingdom of the Heavens.” This is basic information for human life. It was then and is now. Jesus had to combat much false information about the Father and bring to light the correct Father facts. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him,” reports Matthew 11.27. “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father,” reports John 6.46. Jesus Christ showed the many ways in which God is love. This he did by proclaiming the immediate availably of the kingdom of God from the surrounding Heavens, by manifesting its presence through the use of its power to help people, and by teaching in various ways its exact nature. “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people,” reports Matthew 4.23. #RandolphHarris 18 of 24

“Jesus wen through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness,” reports Matthew 9.35. On the evening before his death, his teaching ministry finished, Jesus said to his Father in prayer: “I manifested Thy name to the humans whom Thou gavest Me,” reports John 17.6. That is, “I have made them understand what You are really like.” His death was understood by his early disciples to be an ultimate revelation of the Father heart of God: “God proves his love for us,” Paul wrote, “in that while we were still rebelling against him, Christ died for us,” reports Romans 5.8. That is, his death was a revelation of the nature of basic reality. Without knowledge of it and its meaning, we are desperately ignorant of reality, and therefore all our thinking can only result in monstrous falsehoods. The saying, “Garbage in, garbage out” nowhere has greater force then in spiritual life. “And now behold, my beloved brethren, I would speak unto you; for I, Nephi, would not suffer that ye should suppose that ye are more righteous than the Gentiles shall be. For behold, except ye shall keep the commandments of God ye shall all likewise perish; and because of the words which have spoke ye need not suppose that the Gentiles are utterly destroyed. #RandolphHarris 19 of 24

“For behold, I say unto you that as many of the Gentiles as will repent are the covenant people of the Lord; and as many of the Jews as will not repent shall be cast off; for the Lord covenanteth with none save it be with them that repent and believe in his Son, who is the Holy One of Israel. And now, I would prophesy somewhat more concerning the Jews and the Gentiles. For after the book which I have spoken shall come forth, and be written unto the Gentiles, and sealed up again unto the Lord, there shall be many which shall believe the words which are written; and they shall carry them forth unto the remnant of our seed. And then shall the remnant of our seed know concerning us, how that we came out from Jerusalem, and that they are descendants of the Jews. And the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them; wherefore, they shall be restored unto the knowledge of their fathers, and also to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, which was had among their fathers. And then shall they rejoice; for they shall know that it is a blessing unto them from the hand of God; and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes; and many generations shall not pass away among them, save they shall be pure and a delightsome people. And it shall come to pass that the Jews which are scattered also shall begin to believe in Christ; and they shall begin to gather in upon the face of the land; and as many as shall believe in Christ shall also become a delightsome people. #RandolphHarris 20 of 24

“And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall commence his work among all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people, to bring about the restoration of his people upon the Earth. And with righteousness shall the Lord God judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the Earth. And he shall smite the Earth with the rod of his mouth; and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great division among the people, and the wicked will he destroy; and he will spare his people, yea, even if it so be that he must destroy the wicked by fire. Ans righteousness shall be the gridle of his loin, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. And then shall the wolf dwell with the lamb; and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling, together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hands on the cockatrice’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the Earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Wherefore, the things of all nations shall be made known; yea, all things shall be made known unto the children. #RandolphHarris 21 of 24

“There is nothing which is secret save it shall be revealed; there is no work of darkness save it shall be made manifest in the light; and there is nothing which is sealed upon the Earth save it shall be loosed. Wherefore, all things which have been revealed unto the children of humans shall at that say be revealed; and Satan shall have power over the hearts of the children of humans no more, for a long time. And now, my beloved brethren, I make an end of my sayings. O God the Father, of Heaven, have mercy upon us. O God the Son, Redeemer of the World; O God the Holy Spirit; Holy Trinity, One God; please help us, O God our Saviour; from the dominion of all vices; O Lord deliver us. From blindness of heart; from all evil; we sinners, do beseech Thee to hear us. That Thou spare us; we beseech Thee to hear us. That Thou give us a sure hope; that Thou vouchsafe us a right faith; that Thou bestow on us perfect love; that Thou mortify in us the loathsome forms of all vices; that Thou quicken us with the excellency of all virtues; that by Thine Incarnation Thou wouldest open for us an entrance into the Holy of Holies; that by this most holy Mystery Thou wouldest renew our souls and bodies; that by it Thou wouldest purify our consciences; that Thou suffer not this tremendous Mystery to be our condemnation. #RandolphHarris 22 of 24

O God the Father, of Heaven, please deliver us that we may handle with pure hands this ineffable Sacrament; that we may receive it with pure minds; that by it we may obtain pardon of all sins; that by it we may be able evermore to cleave unto Thee; that by it we may be thought worthy to have Thee dwelling in us, and ourselves to dwell in Thee; that it may please Thee to pour into our hearts the grace of the Holy Spirit; that it may please Thee to preserve the Christian people who have been redeemed by Thy most precious Blood; that thou vouchsafe us a place of repentance. Remember, O my soul, it is Thy duty and privilege to rejoice in God: He requires it of thee for all his favours of grace. Rejoice then in the giver and his goodness, be happy in him, O my heart, and in nothing but God, for whatever humans trust in, from that one expects happiness. One who is the ground of thy faith should be the substance of thy joy. Whence then comes heaviness and dejection, when joy is sown in thee, promised by the Father, bestowed by the Son, inwrought by the Holy spirit, thine by grace, thy birthright in believing? Art thou seeking to rejoice in thyself from an evil motive of pride and self-reputation? Thou has nothing of thine own but sin, nothing to move God to be gracious or to continue his grace towards thee. If thou forget this thou wilt lose thy joy. Art thou grieving under a sense of indwelling sins? #RandolphHarris 23 of 24

Let Godly sorrow work repentance, as the true spirit which the Lord blesses, and which creates fullest joy; sorrow for self opens rejoicing in God, self-loathing draws down divine delights. Hast thou sought joys in some creature comfort? Look not below God for happiness; falls not asleep in Delilah’s lap. Let God be all in all to thee, and joy in the fountain that is always full. The truth flows from people of God all the time and not only when one speaks or writes. It flows silently. However, whereas anyone can hear one’s spoken words or read one’s printed ones, not many can receive this voiceless and inkless message. If one must lead humans, one prefers to do so indirectly; if one is to serve them, one prefers to serve them unobtrusively; and if one needs to work among them, one seeks to do it self-effacingly. It is only in the deepest possible sense that it may be said one is all things to all people, a spiritual opportunist who meets each person on one’s own level. However, this is not to be taken to imply any desertion of principle. Tradition tells us, and history confirms, that before passing away the illuminated human many preach the truth or write a record or communicate one’s knowledge to at least one other persons. In this state of direct relation with the soul’s power, one feels and knows that one’s thoughts and prayers are directed toward the good of others can help them. #RandolphHarris 24 of 24

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Half the Failures in Life Arise from Pulling in One’s Horse as He or She is Leaping!

May 23, 2020 12:57 am

It is not clear that we must take into account what the environment does to an organism not only before but after it responds. Behaviour is shaped and maintained by its consequences. If we ourselves are clear as to exactly what is meant by taking responsibility for oneself, we will understand that it is hard, if not impossible, for any neurotic to assume it. It means in the first place to acknowledge in a matter-of-fact way—to oneself and others—that such-and-such were one’s intentions, one’s words or one’s actions, and to be willing to take the consequences. This would be the opposite of lying or of putting the blame on others. To take responsibility for oneself in this sense would be hard for the neurotic because as a rule one does not know what one is doing or why one is doing it and has a keen subjective interest in not knowing. That is why one often tries to wriggle out by denying, forgetting, belittling, inadvertently supplying other motivations, feeling misunderstood, or getting confused. And since one tends to exclude or absolve oneself, one readily assumes that one’s wife, one’s business partner, one’s analyst are responsible for any difficulty that arises. Another factor that frequently contributes to one’s inability to take the consequences of one’s actions or even to see them is a hidden feeling of omnipotence, on the basis of which one expects to do whatever one pleases and get away with it. #RandolphHarris 1 of 23

To recognize the inescapable consequences of one’s actions would shatter this feeling of being a god. A final factor that is relevant here looks at first glance like an intellectual incapacity to think in terms of cause and effect. The neurotic commonly gives the impression of being inherently able to think only in terms of punishment. Almost every patient feels that the analyst is blaming one, whereas actually the analyst is only confronting one with one’s difficulties and their consequences. Outside the analytical situation one may feel like a culprit always under suspicion and attack and therefore constantly on the defensive. In reality this is an externalization of intrapsychic processes. As we have seen, the source from which these suspicions and attacks stem is one’s own idealized image. It is this inner process of fault finding and defense, plus its externalization, that makes it almost impossible for one to conceive of a cause-and-effect relation where one oneself is concerned. However, where difficulties of one’s own are not involved one can be just as matter-of-fact as anyone else. If the streets get wet because it is raining one does not ask whose fault it is but accepts the causal connection. #RandolphHarris 2 of 23

When we speak of assuming responsibility for the self we mean, in addition, the capacity to stand up for what we believe is right and a willingness to take the consequences if our action or decision should prove to be wrong. This, too, is difficult when a person is divided by conflicts. For which of the conflict trends within oneself should one or could one stand up? None of them represents what one really wants or believes in. One really could stand up only for one’s idealized image. This, however, does not permit of the possibility of being wrong. Hence if one’s decision or action leads to trouble, one must falsify matters and ascribe the adverse consequences to someone else. A comparatively simple example will illustrate this problem. A person at the head of an organization craves unlimited power and prestige. Nothing may be done or decided without one; one cannot bring oneself to delegate functions to others who by virtue of their particular training might be better equipped to handle certain affairs. There is, in one’s own mind, nothing one does not know best. Besides, one does not want anyone else to feel or to become important. If only because of limitations of time and energy, one’s expectations of oneself would be impossible to measure up to. #RandolphHarris 3 of 23

However, this particular individual wants not only to dominate; one is also complaint and needs to be superhumanly good. As a result of one’s unresolved conflicts one has all the earmarks we have described—inertia and need for sleep, indecision and procrastination, and hence cannot organize one’s time. And since one feels the keeping of appointments as intolerable coercion, one secretly enjoys making people wait. In addition, one does many unimportant tings merely because they flatter one’s vanity. Finally, one’s urge to be a devoted family person consumes much of one’s time and thought. Naturally, then, things do not function very well in the organization; but seeing no flaw in oneself, one puts the blame on others or on untoward circumstances. Again let us ask, for which part of one’s personality could one take responsibility? For one’s tendency to dominate, or for one’s tendency to comply, appease, and ingratiate oneself? To begin with, one is unaware of either. However, even if one were aware of them one could not uphold one and discard the other, because both are compulsory. Furthermore, one’s idealized image does not allow one to see anything in oneself but ideal virtues and unlimited capacities. Hence one cannot take responsibility for the consequences that inevitably follow from the operation of one’s conflicts. To do so would bring into clear relief all that one is so anxious to conceal from oneself. #RandolphHarris 4 of 23

Generally speaking, the neurotic is especially averse—unconsciously—to assuming responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions. One shuts one’s eye to even the very obvious ones. Unable to do away with one’s conflicts, one insists—again unconsciously—that one, all powerful as one is, should be able to cope with them. Consequences, one believes, may catch up with other, but for one they do not exist. One must therefore keep on dodging any recognition of the laws of cause and effect. If one would only open one’s mind to them, they could teach one a powerful lesson. They demonstrate in a foolproof way that one’s system of living does not work, that for all one’s unconscious cunning and trickery one cannot budge the laws that operate in our psychic life with the same inexorability as in the physical sphere, but there is an astonishing lack of understand of these psychic laws in the New World. As a matter of act, the whole subject of responsibility has little appeal for one. One sees—or dimly senses—only its negative aspects. What one does not see, and learn to appreciate only gradually, is that by turning one’s back on it one defeats one’s ardent strivings for independence. One hopes to attain independence by defiantly excluding all commitments, whereas in reality the assuming of responsibility for oneself and to oneself is an indispensable condition of real inner freedom. #RandolphHarris 5 of 23

In order not to recognize that one’s problems and one’s suffering stem from one’s inner difficulties, the neurotic resorts to any of three devices—and often to all of them. Externalization may be applied to the hilt at this point, in which case everything from food, climate, or constitution to parents, wife, or fate is blamed for the particular calamity. Or one may take the attitude that since nothing is one’s fault it is unfair that any misfortune should befall one. It is unfair that one should tall ill, get old, or die, that one should be unhappily married, have a problem child, or think one’s work remain unrecognized. This kind of thinking, which may be conscious or unconscious, is doubly wrong, for it eliminates not only one’s own share in one’s difficulties but also all the factors independent of oneself that have a bearing on one’s life. Nevertheless, it has a logic of its own. It is the typical thinking of an isolated being who is centered exclusively upon oneself and whose egocentricity makes it impossible for one to see oneself as only a small link in a greater chain. One simply takes it for granted that one should derive all the good of living at a particular time in a particular social system, but resents being linked with others for good or ill. Therefore one cannot see why one should suffer from anything in which one has not been personally implicated. #RandolphHarris 6 of 23

The third device is connected with one’s refusal to recognize cause-and-effect relationships. Consequences appear in one’s mind as isolated occurrences, unrelated to oneself or one’s difficulties. A depression or a phobia, for instance, may seem to descend upon one from the blue. This, of course, might be due to psychological ignorance or lack of observation. However, in analysis we can see that the patient offers a most tenacious resistance to taking cognizance of any impalpable connections. One may remain incredulous or forget them; or one may feel that the analyst, instead of speedily removing the troublesome disturbances—which was what one came for—puts the “blame” on one and cleverly saves one’s own face. Thus a patient may have become familiar with factors relevant to one’s inertia but close one’s mind to the obvious fact that one’s inertia slows up not only one’s analysis but everything else one does. Or another may have become aware of one’s aggressive-derogatory behaviour toward people but cannot understand why one often has quarrels and is disliked. That these difficulties exist within one is one thing, but one’s actual day-to-day problems are something else again. This separation of one’s inner troubles from their effect on one’s life is one of the mainsprings of the whole tendency to compartmentalize. #RandolphHarris 7 of 23

Resistance toward recognizing the consequences of neurotic attitudes and drives is for the most part deeply concealed and may be easily overlooked by the analyst for the very reason that to one the connection is so obvious. This is unfortunate, because unless the patient is made aware that one blinds oneself to consequences and the reasons for which one does so, one cannot possibly realize to what an extent one interferers with one’s own life. Awareness of consequences is the most powerful curative factor in analysis in that it impresses on the patient’s mind that only by changing certain things within oneself can one ever attain freedom. If, then, the neurotic cannot be held accountable for one’s pretenses, one’s arrogance, one’s egocentricity, one’s shirking of responsibility, can we speak in terms of morals at all? The argument will be raised that, as physicians, we need only be concerned with the patient’s illness and cure, and that one’s morals are not our province. It will be pointed out that one of Dr. Freud’s great merits was to have overthrown the “moralistic” attitude I seem to advocate! Such arguments are deemed scientific; but are they tenable? Can we really exclude in matters of human behaviour judgment as to right and wrong? #RandolphHarris 8 of 23

If analysts decide what needs analytical examination and what does not, do they not really proceed on the basis of the very judgments they consciously reject? There is a danger, however, in such implicit judgments: they are likely to be made on either too subjective or too traditional a ground. Thus an analyst may feel that a man’s philandering need not be analyzed, while a woman’s deserves scrutiny. Or if one believes in an unbridled living out of drives in dealing with pleasures of the flesh, one may decide that faithfulness, whether in a man or a woman, needs analysis. Actually, judgments should be made on the basis of the particular patient’s neurosis. The question to be decided is whether an attitude the patient has assumed has consequences injurious to one’s development and to one’s relations with people. If it has, it is wrong and needs to be tackled. The reasons for the analyst’s conclusion should be explicitly stated to the patient in order to enable one to make up one’s own mind in the matter. And finally, do not the above arguments contain the same fallacy as exists in the patient’s thinking—namely, that morals are only a question of judgment and not primarily one of fact couple with consequences? Let us take neurotic arrogance as an example. It exists as a fact no matter whether the patient is responsible for it or not. #RandolphHarris 9 of 23

The analyst believes that arrogance is a problem for the patient to recognize and eventually overcome. Does one assume this critical attitude because one has learned in Sunday school that arrogance is sinful and humility a virtue? Or is one’s judgment determined by the fact that arrogance is unrealistic and has adverse consequences, the burden of which is inevitably that patient’s—again regardless of one’s responsibility. The consequences, though, in the case of arrogance bar the patient from knowing oneself, and so thwart one’s development. Also, the arrogant patient is apt to be unfair to others, and this again has its repercussions—not merely in subjecting one to occasional clashes with others but in alienating one from people generally. This, however, only drives one deeper into one’s neurosis. Because the patient’s morals in part result from one’s neurosis and in part contribute to its maintenance, the analyst has no choice but to be interested in them. Interestingly enough, those who share a particular stigma can often rely upon mutual aid in passing, again illustrating that those who can be most threatening are often those who can render most assistance. For example, when one homosexual accosts another, the action may be carried out in such a way that normal are unaware that anything out of the ordinary is occurring. #RandolphHarris 10 of 23

If we watch very carefully, and know what to watch for in a “gay” bar, we begin to observe that some individuals are apparently communicating with each other without exchanging words, but simply by exchanging glances—but not the kind of quick glance which ordinarily occurs between people of the same gender. The same kind of cooperativeness is to be found among the circles of stigmatized persons who know one another personally. For example, former mental patients who knew each other in the institution may maintain tactful control of this fact on the outside. In some cases, as when one of the individuals is with normal, the individual may give and be given the “go by,” the passing by of each other as though they were unacquainted. Where a greeting does occur, it may be handled discreetly; the context of the initial acquaintanceship is not made explicit, and the individual whose situation is the more delicate is accorded the right to pace the acknowledgment and the sociable exchange that follows from it. Former mental patients are not alone here of course: The professional women of the evening has a code regulating her relations with the client. For example, it is customary for a woman of the evening never to show any signs of recognizing a client when she meets one in public, unless he greets her first. #RandolphHarris 11 of 23

Where this kind of discretion is not afforded, one can sometimes expect the discredited individual to take active disciplinary action, as Reiss, in his paper on juvenile entrepreneurs, illustrates by quoting an informant. “I was walkin’ down the street with my steady girl when this gay drives by that I had been with once before and he whistles at me and calls, ‘Hi, Sweetie.’ And, was I mad…so I went down to where the boys was and we laid for him and beat on him ‘til he like to a never come to…ain’t gonna take nothin’ like that off’n a queer.” It is expected to be that voluntary maintenance of various types of distance will be employed strategically by those who pass, the discreditable here using much the same devices as do the discredited, but for slightly different reasons. By declining or avoiding overtures of intimacy the individual can avoid the consequent obligation to divulge information. By keeping relationships distant one ensures that time will not have to be spent with the other, for, as already stated, the more time that is spent with another the more chance of unanticipated events that disclose secrets. Examples may be cited from the stigma management work done by wives of mental patients. #RandolphHarris 12 of 23

“But I have cut off all our other friends [after citing five who “knew”]. I did not tell them that I was giving up the apartment and I had the phone disconnected without telling anyone so they do not know how to get in touch with me. I have not gotten too friendly with anyone at the office because I do not want people to know where my husband is. I figure that if I got too friendly with them, then they would start asking questions, and I might start talking, and I just think it is better if as few people as possible know about Joe.” By maintaining physical distance, the individual can also restrict the tendency of others to build up a personal identification of one. By residing in a region with a mobile population, one can limit the amount of continuous experience others have of one. By residing in a region cut off from one one ordinarily frequents one can introduce a disconnectedness in one’s biography: whether intentionally, as in the case of an unmarried young lady with an unborn child going out of state to have her baby, or of small-town homosexuals going to New York, Los Angeles, or Paris for relatively anonymous activity; or unintentionally, as in the case of the mental patient who gratefully finds that one’s place of commitment is far out of town and hence somewhat cut off from one’s ordinary contacts. #RandolphHarris 13 of 23

By staying indoors and not answering the phone or door, the discreditable individual can remove oneself from most of those contacts in which one’s disgrace might be established as part of the biography others have of one. A final possibility must now be considered, one that allows the individual to forego all the others. One can voluntarily disclose oneself, thereby radically transforming one’s situation from that of an individual with information to manage to that of an individual with uneasy social situations to manage, from that of a discreditable person to that of a discredited one. Once a secretly stigmatized person has given information about oneself it becomes possible, of course, for one to engage in any of the adaptive actions previously cited as being available to the known-to-be stigmatized, this accounting in part for one’s policy of self-disclosure. One method of disclosure is for the individual voluntarily to wear a stigma symbol, a highly visible sign that advertises one’s failing wherever one goes. There are, for example, hard of hearing persons who wear hearing devices that are nearly invisible; the partly blind who affect a collapsible white cane; Jewesses who wear a Star of David as a necklace. #RandolphHarris 14 of 23

It should be noted that some of these stigma symbols, such as a Knights of Columbus lapel button indicating that the wearer is Catholic, are not frankly presented as disclosures of stigma, but purportedly attest rather to membership in organizations claimed to have no such significance in themselves. It should be noted also that militant programs of all kinds can be served by this device, for the self-symbolizing individual ensures one’s being cut off from the society of normal. The manner in which a sect of New York Jews present themselves provides an example: “Obgehitene Yiden, ‘Guardian Jews,’ include those so-called ultra-Orthodox Jews who not only observe the Shulhan Aruch in the most minute detail but are most meticulous and zealous in their observance. They perform all the prescribed commandments and precepts with greatest care. These people are overtly identifiable as Jews. They wear beards and/or special traditional clothing for the exclusive purpose of being externally identified as Jewish: beards so that the ‘image of God should be upon their faces,’ traditional garments so that they ‘may refrain from any possible sin.’” Stigma symbols have the character of being continuously available for perception. #RandolphHarris 15 of 23

Some less rigid means of disclosure are also used. Fleeting offerings of evidence may be made—purposeful slips, as it were—as when a person has not disclosed their preference for same sex relationships and voluntarily commits the clumsy act of showing someone pictures one of which is private picture of himself as a way of informing new comers of his sigma. There is also disclosure etiquette, a formula whereby the individual admits one’s own failing in a matter of fact way, supporting the assumption that those present are above such concerns while preventing them from trapping themselves into showing that they are not. Thus the “good” Jew or mental patient waits for “an appropriate time” in a conversation with strangers and calmly says: “Well, being Jewish has made me feel that…” or “Having had first-hand experience as a mental patient I can…” Earlier it was suggested that learning to pass constitutes one phase in the socialization of the stigmatized person and a turning point in one’s moral career. I want to suggest now that if an individual can come to accept oneself and respect oneself, that the stigmatized individual can come to feel that one should be above passing, and will feel no need to conceal one’s failing. #RandolphHarris 16 of 23

After laboriously learning to conceal, then, the individual may go on to unlearn this concealment. It is here that voluntary disclosure fits into the moral career, a sign of one of its phases. It should be added that in the published autobiographies of stigmatized individuals, this phase in the moral career is typically described as the final, mature, well-adjusted one—a state of grace I will attempt to consider later. Many false churches will be built up in the last days—they will teach false, vain, and foolish doctrines—apostasy will abound because of false teachers—the devil will rage in the hearts of humans—he will teach all manner of false doctrines. About 559-545 Before Christ. “And now, behold, my brethren, I have spoken unto you, according as the Spirit hath constrained me; wherefore, I know that they must surely come to pass. And the things which shall be written out of the book shall be of great worth unto the children of humans, and especially unto our seed, which is a remnant of the house of Israel. For it shall come to pass in that day that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when the one shall say unto the other: Behold, I, I am the Lord’s; and the others shall say: I, I am the Lord’s; and thus shall every one say that hath built up churches, and not unto the Lord– #RandolphHarris 17 of 23

“And they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance. And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto humans; behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work. Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us. And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea lie a little, take advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbour; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark. And the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them. #RandolphHarris 18 of 23

“Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted. Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up. They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and the persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up. They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of humans. O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell! Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught and revile against that which is good, and say that it is of no worthy! For the day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the Earth; and in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity they shall perish. However, behold, if the inhabitants of the Earth shall repent of their wickedness and abominations they shall not be destroyed, saith the Lord of Hosts. #RandolphHarris 19 of 23

“However, behold, that great and abominable church, the whore of all the Earth, must tumble to the Earth, and great must be the fall thereof. For the kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance, or the devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains, and they be stirred up to anger, and perish; for behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of humans, and stir them up to anger against that which is good. And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. And behold, other he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whsipereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance. Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment. Therefore, wo be unto ne that is at ease in Zion! Wo be unto one that crieth: All is well! #RandolphHarris 20 of 23

“Yea, wo be unto one that hearkeneth unto the precepts of humans, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost! Yea, wo be unto one that saith: We have received, and we need no more! And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, one that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and one that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest one shall fall. And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, one that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and one that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest one shall fall. Wo be unto one that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough! For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of humans line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto one that receiveth I will give more; and for them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. Cursed is one that putteth one’s trust in humans, or maketh flesh one’s arm, or shall hearken unto the precepts of humans, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost. #RandolphHarris 21 of 23

“Wo be unto the Gentiles, saith the Lord God of Hosts! For notwithstanding I shall lengthen out mine arm unto them from day to day, they will deny me; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto them, saith the Lord God, if they will repent and come unto me; for mine arm is lengthened out all the day long, saith the Lord God of Host,” reports 2 Nephi 28.1-32. O Lord our God, Who hast called us Christians after the Name of Thine Only-begotten Son, and hast given us Baptism in the Font for the remission of sins; make us, we beseech Thee, worthy now to receive this Communion for the remission of our sins, and to glorify Thee with thanksgiving. O God, may I never be a blot or a blank in life, cause the way of truth to be evil spoken of, or make my liberty an occasion to the flesh. May I by love serve others, and please my neighbour for one’s good edification. May I attend to what is ornamental as well as essential in religion, pursuing things that are lovely and of good report. May I render my profession of the gospel not only impressive, but amiable and inviting. May I hold forth the way of Jesus with my life as well as my lips. May I say to all I meet, I am journeying towards the Lord’s given place, some with me for your good. #RandolphHarris 22 of 23

May I be prepared for all the allotments of this short, changing, uncertain life with a useful residence in it, a comfortable journey through it, a safe passage out of it. May I ne in character and conduct like the dew of Heaven, the salt of the Earth, the light of the World, the fullness of the fountain. May I never be ashamed of Jesus or His words, never be deterred from fulfilling a known duty through fear, never be discouraged from attempting it through weakness. May I see all things in a divine light so that they may inform my judgment and sanctify my heart. And by all the disciplines of Thy providence, and all the ordinances of religion, may I be increasingly prepared for life’s remaining duties, the solemnities of a dying hour, and the joys and services that lie beyond the grave. Have mercy, O Lord, upon Thy servants for whom I offer this sacrifice of praise to Thy Majesty; that they may be able to lead a good life in this World, and happily to attain eternal blessedness. Remember, O Lord, Thy servants and handmaids here present, whose faith and devotion are discerned and known by Thee. Look mercifully, O Lord, on these present offerings, that they may avail both for our devotion and our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord. 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. #RandolphHarris 23 of 23

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But I Will Wear My Heart Upon My Sleeve for Daws to Peck at!

May 22, 2020 12:32 am

The way to love other people is to express what we feel—anger and love—without aiming to hurt feelings. Open but reverent communication is how to make love in our lives. I have talked of equality as a right ad of equality as a goal. And I have taken, as the principal thing, to be able to state what goal we are seeking when we say equality is a goal. When we are in a position actually to achieve that goal, then that same equality becomes a right. The goal we are seeking is an equality of basic condition for everyone. Let me say a bit what this is: everyone, as far as possible, should have equal life prospects, short of genetic engineering and the like and the rooting out of any form of family and the undermining of our basic freedoms. There should, where this is possible, eb an equality of access to equal resources over each person’s life as a whole, though this should be qualified by people’s varying needs. Where psychiatrists are in short supply only people who are in need of psychiatric help should have equal access to such help. This equal access to resources should be such that it stands as a barrier to there being the sort of differences between people that allow some to be in a position to control and to exploit others; such equal access to resources should also stand as a barrier to one person having power over other adult person that does not rest on the revocable consent on the part of the persons over whom one comes to have power. #RandolphHarris 1 of 21

Where, because of some remaining scarcity in a society of considerable productive abundance, we cannot reasonably distribute resources equally, we should first, where considerations of desert are not at issue, distribute according to stringency of need, second according to the strength of unmanipulated preferences and third, and finally, by lottery. We should, in trying to attain equality of condition, aim at a condition of autonomy (the fuller and the more rational the better) for everyone and at a condition where everyone alike, to the fullest extent possible, has his or her needs and wants satisfied. The limitations on the satisfaction of people’s wants should be only were the satisfaction is incompatible with everyone getting the same treatment. Where we have conflicting wants, such as where two persons want to marry the same person, the fair thing to do will vary with the circumstances. In the marriage case, freedom of choice is obviously the fair thing. However, generally, what should be aimed at is having everyone have their own wants satisfied as far as possible. To achieve equality of condition would be, as well, to achieve a condition where the necessary burdens of the society are equally shared, where to do so is reasonable, and where each person has an equal voice in deciding what these burdens shall be. Moreover, everyone, as much as possible, should be in a position—and should be equally in that position—to control one’s own life. The goals of egalitarianism are to achieve such equalities. #RandolphHarris 2 of 21

If we are egalitarians, then minimally, classlessness is something we should aim at. It is necessary for the stable achievement of equalities of the type discussed. Beyond that, we should also aim at a statusless society, though not at an undifferentiated society or a society which does not recognize merit. It is only in such a classless, statusless society that the ideals of equality (the conception of equality as a very general goal to be achieved) can be realized. In aiming for a society, we are aiming for a society which, while remining a society of material abundance, is a society in which there are to be no extensive differences in life prospects between people because some have far greater income, power, authority or prestige than others. This is the via negativa of the egalitarian way. The via positivia is to produce social conditions where there is generally material abundance, where well-being and satisfactions are not only maximized (the utilitarian thing) but, as well, a society where this condition, as far as it is achievable, is sought equally for all (the egalitarian thing). This is the underlying conception of the egalitarian commitment to equality of condition. In our description of the encounter of power of being with power of being we have limited our task to the encounter of individuals with individuals. We must also extend our description to the encounter of social groups with social groups. #RandolphHarris 3 of 21

If we do so find the same marks of power encounters, the pushing ahead and withdrawing, the absorbing and throwing out, the amalgamation and separation. This is unavoidable. For every power group experiences growth and disintegration. It tries to transcend itself and to preserve itself at the same time. Nothing is determined a priori. It is a matter of trial and risk, and decision. And this trial has elements of intrinsic power untied with compulsion whether the group or their representatives want it or not. These encounters are the basic material of history. In them human’s political destiny is decided. What is their character? The basis of all power of a social group is the space it must provide for itself. Being means having space or, more exactly, providing space for oneself. This is the reason for the tremendous importance of geographical space and the fight for its possession by all power groups. Our time gives a striking example for this fact. In the necessity of having space the Zionist fight is rooted. Israel lost its independent power of being and often its power of being altogether, when it lost its space. Now it has its space and has shown a rather strong power of being. However, perhaps something is lost: the intimate relation to time which made Israel the elected nation and which belongs to the problem of the resignation of power. #RandolphHarris 4 of 21

The struggle about space is not simply the attempt to remove another group from a given space. The real purpose is to draw this space into a larger power field, to deprive it of a center of its own. If this happens, it is not the individual power of being which has changed, but the way in which the individual participates in the center, in which one influences the law and the spiritual substance of the new, larger power organization. It is, however not only geographical space which gives power and being to a social organism. It is also the radiation of power into the larger space of humankind. One of these radiations which enlarge one’s own space without reducing that of others is economic expansion. Another one is technical expansion or the spread of science and civilization. In none of these cases is a preceding calculation possible. Every factor is changing, the number of the population, the productive power, new discoveries, movements, emigration, competition, the rise of new countries, the disintegration of old ones. History, so to speak, tries what will be its next constellation. And in these trials nations and empires are scarified, and others are called into existence. The power of being of each political power group is measured by its encounter with the power of being of other power groups. #RandolphHarris 5 of 21

However, now we must remember that power is never only physical force, but it is also the power of symbols and ideas in which the life of a social group expresses itself. The consciousness of such a social group expresses itself. The consciousness of such a spiritual substance can become, and in the most important cases of history does become, the feeling of a special vocation. If we look at European history we find a series of expression of such a vocational consciousness, and we find tremendous historical consequences following from it. In an indistinguishable unity of power drive and vocational consciousness the Romans subjected the Mediterranean World to the Roman law and the order of the Roman empire, based on this law. In the same way Alexander brought Greek culture to nations which were subjected in terms of bot arms and language. Considering the fact these two imperial drives in their amalgamation created the oikoumene, the condition and frame of the spread of Christianity, we cannot say that their vocational consciousness was wrong. The same must be said about the medieval German Empire, which, on the basis of the power drives of the Germanic kings, created the structure for the united Christian body with all the glory of medieval religion and culture. #RandolphHarris 6 of 21

After the end of the Middle Ages the European nations combined power drives with vocational consciousness of different character. Spain’s World-conquering imperialism was united with the fanatical belief in being the divine tool of the Counter-Reformation. England’s vocational consciousness was rooted partly in the Calvinistic idea of World politics for the preservation of pure Christianity, partly in a Christian-humanistic feeling of responsibility for the colonial countries and for a solid balance of power between the civilized nations. This was inseparably united with an economic and political power drive and produced the largest Empire of all times and almost eighty years of European peace. The vocational consciousness of France was based on its cultural superiority in the seventeenth an and eighteenth centuries. Modern Germany was under the impact of the so-called Real-Politik, without a vocational consciousness. Her ideology was the struggle for Lebensraum, party in competition with the colonial nations and therefore in conflict with them. Adolph Hitler’s use of an obviously absurd vocational idea, that of Nordic blood, was artificially imposed an only reluctantly accepted, because there was no genuine vocational symbol. Today two great imperialistic systems fight with each other in terms of both force and vocational consciousness: Russian and America. #RandolphHarris 7 of 21

The Russian vocational consciousness was based on its religious feeling that it had a mission towards the West, namely, to save the disintegrating Western civilization through Eastern mystical Christianity. This was the claim of the Slavophile movement in the nineteenth century. President-day Russian has a similar missionary consciousness towards the West civilization and at the same time towards the Far East. Her power drive, which in the official counter-propaganda appears as the desire for World domination, is not understandable without her fanatical vocational consciousness, which must be compared with that of all other imperialistic movements. America’s vocational consciousness has been called “The American dream,” namely to establish the Earthly form of the kingdom of God by a new beginning. The old forms of oppressive power were left behind and a new start was made. In the Constitution and the living democracy (both are quasi-religious concepts in the United States of America) the will is embodied to actualize what is felt as the American vocation. This was originally meant for America alone. Now it is meant explicitly for one-half of the World and implicitly for the whole World. The actual power drive working together with this vocational feeling is still rather limited. However, the historical situation increases it more and more. And it is already justified to speak of half-conscious American imperialism. #RandolphHarris 8 of 21

Vocational consciousness expresses itself in laws. In these laws both justice and love are actual. The justice of the empires not only subject, they also unite. And in so far as they are able to do this, they are not without love. Therefore those who has subjected acknowledge silently that they have become participants of a superior power of being and meaning. If this acknowledgement vanishes because the uniting power of the empire, its strength, and its vocational idea vanishes, the empire comes to an end. Its power of being disintegrates and external attacks only execute what is already decided. The present decrease in national sovereignty, the rise of embracing power groups, and the split of the World into two all-embracing power groups, and the split of the World into two all-embracing systems of political power rises naturally the problem of a united humankind. What can be derived from our analysis of power, justice, and love for this question? There are three answers to this question. The first one does not recognize the inescapable character of the recent developments towards large organisms of power and expects a return to a number of relatively independent power centers, perhaps not national but continental. The second answer seeks for the solution in a World state, created by a kind of federal union of the present main powers and by their subjection to a central authority in which all groups participate. #RandolphHarris 9 of 21

The third answer expects that one of the great powers will develop into a World center, ruling the other nations through liberal methods and in democratic forms! The first answer is a matter of foresight. It belongs to the movement of social organisms that the centralizing tendency is always balanced by a decentralizing one. The question is: Which tendency determines the present situation? The technical union of the World favours centralization, but there are other, above all psychological factors which may prevail. The second answer, the expectation of the World state, contradicts the analysis of power as we have given it. A power center which unites strength with vocational consciousness cannot subject itself to an artificial authority without both of them. The presupposition for a political World unity is the presence of a spiritual unity expressed in symbols and myths. Nothing like this exists today. And before it does exist a World state has no power to create silent acknowledgment. The most probable answer seems to be the third one. It may well be that after the period of World history which is characterized by the rise of one power structure to universal power, with a minimum of suppression, the law and the justice and the uniting love which are embodied in this power will become the universal power of humankind. However, even then the kingdom of God has not come upon us. For even then disintegration and revolution are not excluded. #RandolphHarris 10 of 21

New centers of power may appear, first underground, then openly, driving towards separation from or towards radical transformation of the whole. They may develop a vocational consciousness of their own. Then the power struggle starts again and the period of the fulfilled World empire will be as limited as the Augustan period of was. Can uniting love never unite humankind? Can humankind never become as a whole a structure of power and a source of universal justice? With this question we have left the realm of history and approach the question of love, power, and justice in their relation to that which is ultimate. Thus Revelation makes sense because it is the answer to the finitude and ambiguities of actual reason; the terms God, as a symbol of the Unconditioned, is meaningful insofar as it resolves the contradictions of finite being; Christology itself answers the dilemma of existence and fulfills humankind’s quest for Christ. Being, existence, life thus anticipate, in human’s conscious and unconscious experience, the revelation of the Unconditioned as God, as Christ and as Spirit. The notion of the Kingdom of God will resolve the ambiguities of history. #RandolphHarris 11 of 21

The basic purpose of theology is neither to establish facts, nor to build a speculative synthesis; it is to investigate meanings. Leaving the former task to positive theologians and their recurrent flirtation with historicism, and the latter to speculative theologians and the permanent danger of over intellectualism, we open another way, a search for the meanings of religious attitudes through a critical phenomenology, uniting an intuitive-descriptive element with an existential-critical element. However, by doing so, we boldly head for a third pitfall, which we may call a philosophical distortion of faith. If the only ultimately valid content of their faith is merely the intuition of a philosophical principle, there is not much point in the tremendous spiritual effort of all the religions of humankind. Yet the meaning of faith, as drawn out of belief-ful experience is simply that in the depth of my own being, I participate in both abyss and ground, in nothingness and in being-itself. The difference between the philosopher and the faith-ful would be that the former is relatively detached whereas the latter is involved. If this is the meaning of faith and religion, we have obviously been let down by priests and prophets, and what is more, we have been led astray. For neither priest nor prophet has taught that this was faith. To be sure, a certain amount of demythologizing is necessary—be it Primordial Humans in India or Gilgamesch in Mesopotamia, myth have to be interpreted. #RandolphHarris 12 of 21

The contrast between the religious myths of faith and their reduction to one common philosophical denominator confirms what I have said elsewhere: a philosophical description of being and concern is altogether distinct from a theology of faith and grace. Speaking in specifically Christian terms, it is a fallacy to approach the faith of Christianity from a preconceived phenomenological notion of faith at large. In the first place, this does not do justice to the fact that the Christian faith, in its Catholic form and also in its Protestant form before Schleiermacher, has always described itself, not as one faith among other, but as the only saving faith. Secondly, it introduced a distinction between the conveying message of faith (called, here, its myth or symbol) and its ultimate meaning. The Christian message, however, is essentially historical. Arising out of a historical event, the preaching of the man Jesus, it was confirmed by his Resurrection from the dead in Judea under the governor Pontius Pilate. This historical structure of the Christian faith stands in judgment over our analyses for it implies that the form of the Christian Revelation is inseparable from its content. If it only expressed unconditional concern as philosophical intuition of being and non-being, its historical structure would be altogether irrelevant to its meaning. #RandolphHarris 13 of 21

Actually it would be difficult to discover a systematic theology that appeals less to the historical sources of Christian doctrine than ours. What this implies for Christology proper will detain us later. It is enough now to note that the notion of faith, the notion of original sin, the notion of revelation, have been stripped of their specifically Christian elements and made into universal philosophical concepts. One could heed Calvin’s warning: “Should some mind, abandoning the wisdom contained in the Word of God, bring us a different doctrine, he must rightly be suspected of vanity and falsehood.” For a theologian to straitjacket the Christian faith in a scheme which is supposedly valid for all and sundry faiths is highly suspect. At this stage, however, we should suspend judgment. In the development of our Christology, we are bringing in the necessary corrections. “But, behold, in the last days, or in the days of the Gentiles—yea, behold all the nations of the Gentiles and also the Jews, both those who shall come upon this land and those who shall be upon other lands, yea, even upon all the lands of the Earth, behold, they will be drunken with iniquity and all manner of abominations—and when that day shall come they shall be visited of the Lord or Hosts, with thunder and with Earthquake, and with a great noise, and with storm, and with tempest, and with the flame of the devouring fire. #RandolphHarris 14 of 21

“And all the nations that fight against Zion, and that distress her, shall be as a dream of a night vision; yea, it shall be unto them, even as unto a hungry man which dreameth, and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his soul is empty; or like unto a thirsty human which dreameth, and behold one drinketh but one awaketh and behold one is faint, and one’s soul hath appetite; yea, even so shall the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion. For behold, all ye that doeth iniquity, stay yourselves and wonder, for ye shall cry out, and cry; yea, ye shall be drunken but not with wine, ye shall stagger but not with strong drink. For behold, the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. For behold, ye have closed your eyes, and ye have rejected the prophets; and your rulers, and the seers hath one covered because of your iniquity. And it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall bring forth unto you the words of a book, and they shall be the words of them which have slumbered. And behold the book shall be sealed; and in the book shall be a revelation from God, from the beginning of the World to the ending thereof. Wherefore, because of the things which are sealed up, the things which are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations of the people. Wherefore the book shall be kept from them. #RandolphHarris 15 of 21

“However, the book shall be delivered unto a human, and one shall deliver the words of the book, which are the words of those who have slumbered in the dust, and one shall deliver these words unto another; however, the words which are sealed one shall not deliver, neither shall one deliver the book. For the book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all things from the foundation of the World unto the end thereof. And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of humans which ever have been among the children of humans, and which ever will be even unto the end of the Earth. Wherefore, at that day when the book shall be delivered unto the human of whom I have spoken, the book shall be hid from the eyes of the World, that the eyes of none shall behold it save it be that three witnesses shall behold it, by the power of God, besides him to whom the book shall be delivered; and they shall testify to the truth of the book and the things therein. #RandolphHarris 16 of 21

“And there is none other which shall view it, save it be a few according to the will of God, to bear testimony of his word unto the children of humans; for the Lord God hath said that the words of the faithful should speak as if it were from the dead. Wherefore, the Lord God will proceed to bring forth the words of the book; and in the mouth of as many witnesses as seemeth him good will he establish his word; and wo be unto him that rejecteth the word of God! However, behold, it shall come to pass that the Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book: Take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another, that he may show them unto the learned, saying: Read this, I pray thee. And the learned shall say: Bring hither the book, and I will read them. And now, because of the glory of the World and to get gain will they say this, and not for the glory of God. And the human shall say: I cannot bring the book, for it is sealed. Then shall the learned say: I cannot read it. Wherefore I shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof to one that is not learned; and the human that is not learned shall say: I am not learned. Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee. #RandolphHarris 17 of 21

“Touch not the things which are sealed, for I will bring them forth in mine own due time; for I will show unto the children of humans that I am able to do mine own work. Wherefore, when thou hast read the words which I have commanded thee, and obtained the witnesses which I have promised unto thee, then shalt thou seal up the book again, and hide it up unto me, that I may preserve the words which thou hast not read, until I shall see fit in mine own wisdom to reveal all things unto the children of humans. For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the World that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I am work not among children of humans save it be according to their faith. And again it shall come to pass that the Lord shall say unto him that shall read the words that shall be delivered him: forasmuch as this people draw near unto me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear towards me is taught by the precepts of humans—therefore, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, yea, a marvelous work and a wonder, for the wisdom of their wise and learned shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent shall be hid. And wo unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord! And their works are in the dark; and they say: Who seeth us, and who knoweth us? #RandolphHarris 18 of 21

“And they also say: Surely, your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay. However, behold, I will show unto them, saith the Lord of Hosts, that I know all their works. For shall the work say of him that made it, he made me not? Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, he had no understanding? However, behold, saith the Lord of Host: I will show unto the children of humans that it is yet a very little while and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field; and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest. And in that say shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. And the meek also shall increase, and their joy shall be in the Lord, and the poor among humans shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For assuredly as the Lord liveth they shall see that the terrible one is brought to naught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off; and they that make a human an offender for a word and lay a snare for one that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale. However, when he seeth his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. #RandolphHarris 19 of 21

“They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and the that murmured shall learn doctrine,” reports 2 Nephi 27.1-35. O LORD our God, the Bread of Heaven, the Life of the World, I have sinned against Heaven and before Thee, and am not worthy to partake of Thine immaculate Mysteries;–but in Thy Divine tenderness do Thou vouchsafe my by Thy grace to partake of Thy holy Body and precious Blood, without condemnation, unto remission of sins and eternal life. O God of my delight, Thy throne of grace is the pleasure ground of my soul. Here I obtain mercy in time of need, here see the smile of Thy reconciled face, here joy pleads the name of Jesus, here I sharpen the sword of the Spirit, anoint the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation, gather manna from Thy word, am strengthened for each conflict, nerved for the upward race, empowered to conquer race, empowered to conquer every foe; please hep me to come to Christ as the fountain head of descending blessings, as a wide open flood-gate of mercy. I marvel at my insensate folly, that which such enriching favours within my reach I am slow to extend the hand to take them. Have mercy upon my deadness for Thy name’s sake. Ouicken me, stir me, fill me with holy zeal. Strengthen me that I may cling to Thee and not let Thee go. May Thy spirit within me draw all blessings from Thy hand. When I advance not, I backslide. #RandolphHarris 20 of 21

Please let me walk humbly because of good omitted and evil done. Impress on my mind the shortness of tie, the work to be engaged in the account to be rendered, the nearness of eternity, the fearful sin of despising Thy Spirit. May I never forget that Thy eye always sees, Thy ear always hears, Thy recording hand always writes. May I never give Thee rest until Christ is the pulse of my heart; the spokes-person of my lips, the lamp of my feet. O LORD our God, Who hast called us Christians after the Name of Thine Only-begotten Son, as hast given us Baptism in the Font for the remission of sins; please make us, we beseech Thee, worthy now to receive this Communion for the remission of our sins, and to glorify Thee with thanksgiving. O LORD my God, grant me so to receive the Body and Blood of Thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ, that by means thereof I may receive forgiveness of all my sins, and be filled with Thy Holy Spirit, O our God, Who livest and reignest World without end. Cleanse us, O Lord, from our secret faults, and mercifully absolve us from our presumptuous sins, that we may receive Thy holy things with a pure mind; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Grant, O Lord, that our bodies may be sanctified by Thy holy Body, and that they may avail for the pardon of our offences and remission of our sins. Glory be to Thee forever, O Lord God. #RandolphHarris 21 of 21

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May 21, 2020 12:48 am

Astronomy compels the soul to look upwards and lead us from this World to another. The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness. This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when one first appears one is a protector. Socialism, like the old policy from which it emanates, confounds Governments and society. And so, every time we object to a thing being doing by Government, it concludes that we object to its being done at all. We disapprove of education by the State—then we are against education altogether. We object to a State religion—then we would have no religion at all. We object to an equality which is brought about by the State then we are against equality, excreta, excreta. They might as well accuse us of wishing humans not to eat, because we object to the cultivation of corn by State. How is it that the strange idea of making the law produce what is does not contain—prosperity, in a positive sense, wealth, science, religion—should ever have gained ground in the political World? The modern politicians, particularly those of the Socialist school, found their different theories upon one common hypothesis; and surely a more strange, a more presumptuous notion, could never have entered a human brain. They divide humankind into two parts. Humans in general, except one, form the first; the politician oneself forms the second, which is by far the most important. #RandolphHarris 1 of 25

In fact, they begin by supposing that humans are devoid of any principle of action, and of any means of discernment in themselves; that they have no initiative; that they are inert matter, passive particles, atoms without impulse; at best a vegetation indifferent to its own mode of existence, susceptible of assuming, from an exterior will and hand an infinite number of forms, more or less symmetrical, artistic, and perfected. Moreover, every one of these politicians does not hesitate to assume that one is, under the names of organizers, discoverer, legislator, institutor or founder, this will and hand, this universal initiative, this creative power, whose sublime mission it is to gather together these scattered materials, that is, human, into society. Starting from these data, as a gardener according to one’s caprice shapes one’s trees into pyramids, parasols, cubes, cones, vases, espaliers, distaffs, or fans; so the Socialist, following one’s chimera, shapes poor humanity into groups, series, circles, subcircles, honeycombs, or social workshops, with all kinds of variations. And as the gardener, to bring one’s tree into shape, needs hatchets, pruning hooks, saws, and shears, so the politician, to bring society into shape, needs forces which one can only find in the laws; the law of tariffs, the law of taxation, the law of assistance, and the law of education. #RandolphHarris 2 of 25

It is so true, that the Socialists look upon humankind as a subject for social experiments, that if, by chance, they are not quite certain of the success of these experiments, they will request a portion of humankind, as a subject to experiment upon. It is well known how popular the idea of trying all systems is, and one of their chiefs has been known seriously to demand of the Constituent Assembly a parish, with all its inhabitants, upon which to make one’s experiments. It is thus that an inventor will make a small machine before one makes one of the regular size. Thus the chemist sacrifices some substances, the agriculturist some seed and a corner of one’s field, to make trial of an idea. However, think of the difference between the gardener and one’s trees, between the inventor and one’s machine, between the chemist and one’s substances, between the agriculturist and one’s seed! The Socialist thinks, in all sincerity, that there is the same difference between oneself and humankind. No wonder the politicians of the nineteenth century look upon society as an artificial production of the legislator’s genius. This idea, the result f a classical education, has taken possession of all the thinkers and great writers of our country. #RandolphHarris 3 of 25

To all these persons, the relations between humankind and the legislator appear to be the same as those that exist between the clay and the potter. Moreover, if they have consented to recognize in the heart of humans a capability of action, and in one’s intellect a faculty of discernment, they have looked upon this gift of God as a fatal one, and thought that humankind, under these two impulses, tended fatally towards ruin. They have taken it for granted that if abandoned to their own inclinations, humans would only occupy themselves with religion to arrive at atheism, with instruction to come to ignorance, and with labour and exchange to be extinguished in misery. I shall now resume the subject by remaking, that immediately after the economical part of the question, and before the political part, a leading question presents itself. It is the following: What is law? What ought it to be? What is its domain? What are its limits? Where, in fact, does the prerogative of the legislator stop? I have no hesitation in answering, Law is common force organized to prevent injustice;–in short, Law is Justice. It is not true that the legislator has absolute power over our persons and property, since they preexist, and one’s work is only to secure them from injury. #RandolphHarris 4 of 25

It is not true that the mission of the law is to regulate our consciences, our ideas, our will, our education, our sentiments, our works, our exchanges, our gifts, our enjoyments. Its mission is to prevent the rights of one from interfering with those of another, in any one of these things. Law, because it has force for its necessary sanction, can only have the domain of force, which is justice. I cannot avoid coming to this conclusion—that there are too many great humans in the World; there are too many legislators, organizers, institutors of society, conductors of the people, fathers of nations excreta, excreta. Too many persons place themselves above humankind, to rule and patronize it; too many persons make a trade of looking after it. It will be answered—“You yourself are occupied upon it all this time.” Very true. However, it must be admitted that it is another sense entirely that I am speaking; and if I join the reformers it is solely for the purpose of inducing them to relax their hold. I am not doing as Vaucauson did with his automaton, but as a physiologist does with the human frame; I would study and admire it. I am acting with regard to it in the spirit that animated a celebrated traveler. He found himself in the midst of a savage tribe. #RandolphHarris 5 of 25

A child had just been born, and a crow of soothsayers, magicians, and quacks were around it, armed with rings, hooks, and bandages. One said—“This child will never smell the perfume of a calumet, unless I stretch his nostrils.” Another said—“He will be without the sense of hearing, unless I draw his ears down to his shoulders.” A third said—“He will never see the light of the Sun, unless I give his eyes an oblique direction.” A fourth said—“He will never be upright, unless I bend his legs.” A fifth said—“He will not be able to think, unless I press his brain.” “Stop!” said the traveler. “Whatever God does, is well done; do not pretend to know more than He; and as He has given organs to this frail creature, allow those organs to develop themselves, to strengthen themselves by exercise, use, experience, and liberty.” God has implanted in humankind also all that is necessary to enable it to accomplish its destinies. There is a providential social physiology, as well as a providential human physiology. The social organs are constituted so as to enable them to develop harmoniously in the grand air of liberty. Away, then, with the quacks and organizers! Away with their rings, and their chains, and their hooks, and their pincers! Away with their artificial methods! #RandolphHarris 6 of 25

Away wit their social laboratories, their governmental whims, their centralization, their tariffs, their universities, their State religions, their inflationary monopolizing banks, their limitations, their restrictions, their moralizations, and their equalization by taxation! And now, after having vainly inflicted upon the social body so many systems, let them end where they ought to have begun—reject all systems, and try liberty—liberty, which is an act of faith in God and His work. Several passages analyze the concrete contents of faith as formulated in diverse religions, classifying them according to contrasting tendencies: historical and non-historical; ontological and moral; ontological and cosmological; sacramental and ethical. Many other points of view could be found. There is stress on negativity and void, on positivity and fulfilment, on cosmic expression of the power of being, on manifestation of the pleasures of the flesh and vital urge, on the demonic aspects of being (witch-cults), on the ethical implications of being, and so on indefinitely. You could say, “What a mess!”; but you could also say, “What a wealth of symbols, all expressing human’s ultimate concern, all pointing to the ground and abyss! What a luxuriance of revelatory situations and experiences! #RandolphHarris 7 of 25

What a devotion to human’s quest for being-itself, for the New Being beyond the distinction of subject and object!” Yet this multitude of symbols, myths, rites, creeds, scriptures and traditions raises a serious question: Is there, or should there be, a criterion to judge all these expressions of faith? The Unconditional, of which we are immediately aware if we turn our minds to it. The criterion of every concrete expression of our ultimate concern is the degree to which the concreteness of the concern is in unity with its ultimacy. The prophet whose preaching creates for one’s disciples a new symbol of the Unconditional, and the priest who ritually uses accepted symbols of faith and worship both run a great risk. It is the danger of every embodiment of the unconditional element, religious and secular, that it elevates something conditioned, a symbol, an institution, a movement as such to ultimacy. Yet it is the greatness of religion that it tries to surpass the given reality in order to approach the unconditional. Should there be a final revelation, or a universal set of religious symbols, it would be such a revelation, and such a symbol, as would negate itself most completely at the very moment when it reveals the Unconditional most positively. A perfect symbol of the Unconditioned is no longer self-subsistent as it seemed to be before; it has become transparent or, as we could say, “theonomous.” #RandolphHarris 8 of 25

A State has often been described as a person who has emotions, thoughts, intentions, decision like an individual person. However, there is a difference which makes all this impossible: the social organism does not have an organic center, in which the whole being is untied so that central deliberations and decisions are possible. The center of a social group is those who represent it, the rulers or the parliaments, or those who have the real power behind the scene without being official representatives. The analogy has been driven to the point where the representative centers of social power are equated with the deliberating and deciding center of a personality. However, this is what one could call “a deception of the metaphor.” The analogy can be carried through metaphorically but not properly. For the deciding center of a group is always a part of the group. It is not the group which decides, but those who have the power to speak for the group and force their decisions upon all the members of the group. And they may do this without the (at least) silent consent of the group. The importance of this analysis is visible whenever one makes a group responsible for what the deciding center has forced upon the group. This gives a solution to the painful question of the moral guilt of a nation (exempli gratia Nazi Germany). It is never the nation which is directly guilty for what is done by the nation. It is always the ruling group. #RandolphHarris 9 of 25

However, all individual in a nation are responsible for the existence of the ruling group. Not many individuals in Germany are directly guilty of Nazi atrocities. Still, all of them are responsible for the acceptance of a government which was willing and able to do such things. Those who represent the power of a social group are a representative but not an actual center. A group is not a person. Nevertheless it has a structure of power. It is centered. Therefore social power is hierarchical power, power in degrees. Social power, centered and therefore hierarchical, has many forms in which it can appear. It can appear in the control of a society by a feudal group, a military caste, a high bureaucracy, an economic upper class, a priestly hierarchy, an individual ruler with or without constitutional restrictions, the ruling committees or a parliament, a revolutionary vanguard. The ruling group shares the tensions of power, especially the tension between power by acknowledgement and power by enforcement. Both are always present, and if one of them is lacking, then no power structure can stand. When they reflect, the silent acknowledgement of the people appears: “Those who represent us represent us by divine order or by historical destiny. No question can be raised about it. No criticism is allowed.” #RandolphHarris 10 of 25

Or: “Those who represent us are chosen by us: now we must accept them as long as they are in legal power, even if they misuse it, otherwise the system as such with the chances it gives to us also would fall down.” The ruling group is safe as long as this kind of acknowledgement is subconscious or half-conscious—metaphorically speaking, silent. If the acknowledgement becomes conscious and doubt must be suppressed, danger for the system appears. Then the moment may come when the suppression no loner works and a revolutionary situation develops. It is noticeable that even in such a situation the law is valid that power has centered or hierarchal character: the bearers of the revolutionary situation are a small group of people who have decided to withdraw acknowledgment. Marx has called them, with a militaristic image, the vanguard. They are the center of power in a revolutionary situation, the objects of severest suppression in the prerevolutionary stage, the ruling group in the postrevolutionary stage. For enforcement is the other side of the hierarchical power structure. It also works well as long as it works silently in the overwhelming majority of the group. This is done by internalized law, a smooth administration and conformistic attitude. #RandolphHarris 11 of 25

However, this is an ideal case and depends on many favourable factors (exempli gratia in England). Usually the compulsory element is much stronger. There is an easy deception in the mind of idealist about the situation. They experience the small number of enforcing officials in a big city and that even this small number has to do actual enforcement only occasionally. So they feel the absence of enforcement more than its presence. However, most enforcement is done by the treat of enforcement, if it is a real threat. Examples for this can be increased indefinitely even with respect to the best educated citizen (taxes). You cannot remove silent acknowledgment and you cannot remove manifest enforcement from any structure of power. The ruling minority in a social group are both objects of the silent acknowledgement by the majority and the agents of the enforcement of the law against the willfulness of any member of the group. This latter position produces all the problems which disturb and possibly ruin a social organism. If the law the ruling group is supposed to represent and to enforce were unambiguous, the situation would be simple. However, actually it is burdened with all the ambiguities of justice. An archaic acknowledgment of this fact is the idea that the ruler is above the law, because it is one’s function to make decisions where the law necessarily remains indefinite. #RandolphHarris 12 of 25

Although modern constitutions avoid an open expression of such a translegal position, they cannot exclude actions of the ruling group which follow the same principle. And this position “above the law” is neither in ancient nor in modern times a denial of the law. On the contrary, it is meant as a way of making the application of the law possible. The law must be given in a creative act, and it is given by members of the ruling group. It mut be applied to the concrete situation in a daring decision, and the decision is made by members of the ruling group. It must be changed in a foreseeing risk; and the risk is taken by members of the ruling group. This analysis shows that those who are in power always do two things: they express the power of justice of the whole group; and, at the same time, they express the power and the claim for justice of themselves as the ruling group. This situation has induced Christian as well as Marxist anarchists to accept the ideal of a society without a power structure. However, being without a power structure means being without a center of action. It means an agglomeration of individuals without a united power of being and without a uniting form of justice. #RandolphHarris 13 of 25

A State-like organization cannot be avoided, and if it is given, no checks and balances, not even those of the American Constitution, can present the ruling groups from expressing their own power and justice of being in the justice and power of the whole group. The power of being of the group constitutes their own power of being. They stand and fall with it. And they have the justification that they are acknowledged by the whole group in whatever constitutional terms this may be expressed. If the whole group definitely withdraws its acknowledgement, they cannot exist. They can prolong their power by physical and psychological compulsion, but not forever. The silent acknowledgement received by a ruling group from the whole group cannot be understood without an element which is derive neither from justice nor from power but from love, namely from love under the guidance of its eros and philia qualities. It is the experience of community within the group. Every social group is a community, potentially and actually; and the ruling minority not only expresses the power and justice of being of the group, it also expresses the communal spirit of the group, its ideals and valuations. #RandolphHarris 14 of 25

Every organism, natural as well as social, is a power of being and a bearer of an intrinsic claim for justice because it is based on some form of reuniting love. It removes as organism the separateness of some part of the World. The cell of a living body, the members of a family, the citizens of a nation, are examples. This communal self-affirmation, on the human level, is called the spirit of the group. The spirit of the group is expressed in all its utterances, in its laws and institutions, in its symbols and myths, in its ethical and cultural forms. It is normally represented by the ruling classes. And this very fact is perhaps the most solid foundation of their power. Every member of the group sees in the members of the ruling minority the incarnation of those ideals which one affirms when one affirms the group to which one belongs. This incarnation may be a kind or a bishop, a big landowner or a big business person, a union leader or a revolutionary hero. Therefore every ruling minority preserves and presents and propagates those symbols in which the spirit of the group is expressed. They guarantee the permanence of a power structure more than the strictest methods of enforcement. They guarantee what I have called the silent acknowledgment of the ruling group by the whole group. In this way, the power and justice of being in a social group is dependent on the spirit of the community, and this means on the uniting love which created and sustains the community. #RandolphHarris 15 of 25

On this score there are great differences among various types of neuroses. The greatest integrity is to be found in those truly detached persons who have kept out of the whirlpool of neurotic competition and neurotic attachments and are not easily bribed by either “love” or ambition. Also, their onlooker attitude toward life often permits them a considerable objectivity in their judgment. However, not every detached person can take a stand. One maybe so averse to disputing or to committing oneself that even in one’s own mind one takes no clear position, but either muddles issues or at best registers the good and the bad, the valid and the invalid, without arriving at any conviction of one’s own. The aggressive type, on the other hand, seems to contradict my assertion that as a rule the neurotic has difficulty in taking a stand. Especially if one is inclined to rigid tightness one seems to have an unusual capacity for definite opinions, for defending them and sticking to them. However, the impression is deceptive. When this type is definite it is too often because one is opinionated rather than because one has genuine convictions. Since they serve as well to choke all doubts in oneself, one’s opinions will often have a strict and rigid doctrine of thought or even fanatic character. Moreover, one can be bribed by prospects of power or success. One’s dependability is restricted to the limits set by one’s drive for domination and recognition. #RandolphHarris 16 of 25

The neurotic’s attitude toward responsibility can be confusing. This is due in part to the fact that the word itself has a variety of implications. It may refer to conscientiousness in fulfilling duties or obligations. Whether the neurotic is responsible in this sense depends on one’s particular character structure; it is not a thing that all neuroses have in common. Responsibility for others may mean feeling responsible for one’s own actions in so far as they affect someone else; but it may also be a euphemism for dominating others. Holding oneself responsible when it implies taking blame may be merely an expression of rage at not being one’s idealized image and in this sense have nothing to do with responsibility. The person and gospel of Jesus Christ—building on simple “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so”—is the only complete answer to the false and destructive images and ideas that control the life of those away from God. The process of spiritual formation in Christ is one of progressively replacing those destructive images and ideas with the images and idea that filled the mind of Jesus himself. We thereby come increasingly to see “that light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God,” as reported in 2 Corinthians 4.4. #RandolphHarris 17 of 25

As we might expect from our earlier study the ruined self and the restored self, the contrast between the idea system of humanity and the idea system of God is very sharp, because their fundamental assumptions (about who God is and who we are) are totally different. Thus the prophet Isaiah speaks: “’My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts’” reports Isaiah 55.8-9. This is forcibly illustrated by Peter’s response to Jesus’ declaration that he himself would soon be tortured and killed. Peter has just acknowledged that Jesus was the promised Messiah or anointed Saviour of humankind. However, now, he rebukes Jesus and urges that such things must never happen to him, the Messiah. “Messiah” was an idea with a content and associated image in Peter’s mind totally different from what Jesus was saying. Jesus therefore called Peter “Satan,” or “Adversary,” and pointed out that he was thinking in human terms, not in God’s terms. “Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but things of humans,’” reports Matthew 16.23. The two ways are radically different. Radically different ideas and radically different images. And of course they determine radically different courses of thought and action. #RandolphHarris 18 of 25

Another illustration of the great difference in outlook is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians. There he contrasted the way of Earth or flesh and the way of the new person. The human way is one of anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive language, and lying. “Bout now you must also ride yourself of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices,” reports Colossians 3.8-9. Think for a moment how true this is to human life. However, now, Paul says, “Lie no more, since you have stripped off the old self and its characteristic behaviour and put on the new self, which sees things as they really are in God’s view,” as report in Colossians 3.10. In that view the usual human distinctions (between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free person, and so on) do not matter in how we relate to people, because Christ is (or can be) in all alike (verses 10-11). What is more unlike humans than to treat all kinds of people with equal truth and love? The ideas and images that govern unredeemed humanity make it impossible, except in highly selective circumstances and in very recent societies strongly influenced by Jesus and his followers. #RandolphHarris 19 of 25

Paul knew we can only escape being conformed to a fallen humanity by receiving the mind of Christ himself (I Corinthians 2.16; Philippians 2.5). Spiritual formation in Christ moves toward a total interchange of our ideas and images for his. How is this to come about? Two other factors in our thought life can be used by God to break the power of the toxic system of ideas and images that makes us “dead to God.” And after he has implanted new life from above in us by Word and Spirit, we can (and must) also begin to take initiative in progressively retaking the whole of our thought life for God’s kingdom. His grace will accompany us every step of the way, but it will never permit us to be merely passive in our spiritual formation in Christ. These other two factors are information (of “facts”) and our ability to think—to connect things up, to see what must or cannot be the cause if certain other things are so. “For those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit; for the Lord God will give unto him power, that he may whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust. #RandolphHarris 20 of 25

“For thus saith the Lord God: They shall write the things which shall be done among them, and they shall be written and sealed up in a book, and those who have dwindled in unbelief shall not have them, for they seek to destroy the things of God. Wherefore, as those who have been destroyed have been destroyed speedily; and the multitude of their terrible ones shall be as chaff that passesth away—yea, thus saith the Lord God: It shall be at an instant, suddenly—and it shall come to pass, that those who have dwindled in unbelief shall be smitten by the hand of the Gentiles. And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grin upon the face of the poor. And there are many churches built up which cause envyings, and strifes, and malice. And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for e is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and workd of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until be bindeth them with his strong cords. For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God Worketh not in darkness. #RandolphHarris 21 of 25

“God doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the World; for he loveth the World, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all humans unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation. Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay: but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the Earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price. Behold, hath he commanded any that they should depart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say uno you, Nay. Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all humans; and one hath commanded one’s people that they should persuade all humans to repentance. Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all humans are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden. He commandeth that there shall be no priestcrafts; for, behold, priestcrafts are that humans preach and set themselves up for a light unto the World, that they may get gain and praise of the World; but they seek not the welfare of Zion. Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all humans should have charity, which charity is love. #RandolphHarris 22 of 25

“And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the labourer in Zion to perish. And again, the Lord God hath commanded that humans should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not steal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in vain; that they should not envy; that they should not have malice that they should not contend one with another; that they should not commit whoredoms; and that they should do none of these things; for whoso doeth them shall perish. For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of humans; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of humans and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto human, Black and White, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Hew and Gentile,” reports 2 Nephi 27.16-33. We beseech Thee, Lord, open Thy Heavens, open our eyes: from thence may Thy gifts descend to us; from hence may our hearts look back to Thee. May Thy throne be laid open to us, while we receive the benefits which we implore; may our mind be laid open to Thee, while we render the service which is enjoined to us. Look down from Heaven, O Lord, behold and visit this vine which Thy right hand hath planted. #RandolphHarris 23 of 25

Strengthen the weak, relieve the contrite, confirm the strong. Build them up in love, cleanse them with purity, enlighten them with wisdom, keep them with mercy. Lord Jesus, Good Shepherd, defend the purchase of Thy Blood. Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, seek for the lost, convert the wandering, bind up that which is broken. Put forth Thine own hand from Heaven, and touch the dead of each being on Earth. May they feel the touch of Thy hand, and receive the joy of the Holy Spirit, that they may remain blessed forevermore. Gracious Lord, Thy name is love, in love please receive my prayer. My sins are more than the wide sea’s sand, but where sin abound, there is grace more abundant. Look to the cross of Thy beloved Son, and view the preciousness of His atoning blood; listen to His never-failing intercession, and whisper to my heart, “Thy sins are forgiven, be of good cheer, lie down in peace.” Grace cataracts from Heaven and flows forever, and mercy never wearies in bestowing benefits. Grant me more and more to prize the privilege of prayer, to come to Thee as a sin-soiled sinner, to find pardon in Thee, to converse with Thee; to know Thee in prayer as the path in which my feet tread, the latch upon the door of my lips, the light that shines through my eyes, the music of my ears, the marrow of my understanding, the strength of my will, the power of my affection, the sweetness of my memory. #RandolphHarris 24 of 25

May the matter of my prayer be always wise, humble, submissive, obedient, scriptural, Christ-like. Give me unwavering faith that supplications are never in vain, that if I seem not to obtain my petitions I shall have larger, richer answers, surpassing all that I ask or think. Unsought, thou hast given me the greatest gift, the person of Thy Son, and in Him Thou wilt give me all I need. Take away from us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, all our iniquities and the spirit of pride and arrogance, which Thou resistest, and fill us with the spirit of fear, and give us a contrite and humbled heart, which Thou doest not despise,–that we may be enabled with pure minds to enter into the Holy of Holies; through Jesus Christ our Lord. O God the Father, Who in Thy great and ineffable love to humans didst send Thy Son into the World, to bring back the wandering sheep, turn not away Thy face from us when we approach this Thy tremendous and unbloody Sacrifice; for we trust not to our righteousness, but to Thy gracious compassion, whereby Thou dost redeem our race. O LORD God or Master, reject me not, though defiled by a multitude of sins, for, behold, I approach to this Thy divine and Heavenly Mystery. Not as being worthy, but looking only to Thy goodness, I lift up my voice unto Thee. O God, be merciful to me a sinner. I have sinned against Heaven and before Thee, and I am not worthy to look upon this Thy holy and spiritual Table, whereon Thine only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ is mystically set forth as a Sacrifice for me a sinner, for one stained with every defilement. #RandolphHarris 25 of 25

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