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The Importance of a Good Reputation
We should do all we can to establish for ourselves a worthy reputation, for such is of priceless worth. It is often the key to influencing others for good, and can be the means of bring the gospel into their lives. It can take years to build a good professional reputation, but it can also be destroyed in an instant. Regardless of one’s background or which career one chooses to have, what people think and hear about you, even before they meet you, is extremely important. A good reputation is not a superficial façade, attempting to indicate depth where there is only shallowness, honesty where there is deceit, or virtue where there is unrighteousness. An exemplarily reputation is earned and is a window, clearly exhibiting the integrity of one’s soul. It is through this integrity of thought and veracity of conduct that we become pure and holy before the Lord. It is in this state that we can be most effective in serving humanity. Having a good reputation brings many business opportunities. One is highly recommended for jobs, invited to participate on esteemed research. And when one is known as someone who is skillful and professional, one will be introduced to others who can help advance one’s career. People like good people and they will want to help and be associated with those who have good reputations. #RandolphHarris 1 of 5
It is not enough for us to live the gospel inwardly; we need to be shining examples to all with whom we come in contact. One major mistake can significantly damage your reputation, lead to missed opportunities and make it difficult for others to have confidence in you. It is not only what we are that is important: what others think of us is also important. In order to be truly effective, we need to be known for our good qualities, to have an unspotted reputation in all things. Overpromising, overextending, overestimating and overdoing does not allow a person to be responsive to others, live a balanced life, take care of oneself, nor develop a healthy professional identity. It is important to be known for being dependable, being honest, and upright in all of our dealing. It is great to be known as an individual who can meet one’s financial obligations on due dates or prior thereto, a person whose work is as good as one’s bond. It is important to be known as trustworthy, and as one whose loyalty is unquestionable. And above and beyond all else, we must be known as people who keep the commandments and as people who are fully committed in helping build the kingdom of God. Also, selecting your activities and opportunities carefully is one of the most important skills. #RandolphHarris 2 of 5
It may be true that we are the ones most affected by our own actions. However, every mortal’s life is intertwined with others’ lives. It is important to be professional because influential people could be forming impression about you as a result of your tone, language, assertions, or assaults. Also, every individual represents certain other people or groups of people as well. For instance, we are all representatives of our own families, and the reputation of a family is established through the actions of individual family people. Honor the names that you bear, because some day you will have the privilege and the obligation of reporting to them (and to your Father in Heave) what you have done with their name. Genuine people are credible. Credibility breeds trust. And trustworthy people are loyal. A credible people is an expert due to his or her experience, qualifications, intelligence, and skill set. Not only do we represent out families, but each of us belongs to a community, state, province, or nation whose collective reputation is based on the actions of individuals. Many of us represent the business or organization from which we earn our living. Students represent the schools which they attend. As members of the Church, we all represent the Church through or actions. What is our message? #RandolphHarris 3 of 5
We have a special sacred responsibility. Someone who is trustworthy is honest, fair, unselfish, and caring. Loyal people are valued because they are faithful to a cause, ideal custom, or institution. The possession of these characteristics will enhance your reputation, while omission of the same are noticed and detrimental. We represent our Heavenly Father on Earth, as members of his kingdom. We have the privilege to represent him to others, to bear his message to his children throughout the World. We have the responsibility to be worthy of his name, to represent him well in every way, to every person we meet—so we must live our lives are Christians. The reputation of an organization can enable them to become a preference. For example, research shows that due to an increased demand for healthier foods, organic products, and more environmentally friendly food, companies have begun to distinguish their products through food labeling, and are noticing that consumers are willing to pay a premium price for labels that are considered to have more of a prestigious reputation than others. Also, the organization that behaves ethically, is worthy of respect. You are the light of the World, and a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. As we build our character, our light will shine brighter, and our outward reputation will become but a reflection of our inward self; then our reputation be one, both before God and before humanity. #RandolphHarris 4 of 5
Someone with many years of experience in the Church and business affairs taught me that it is highly important to maintain a good and worthy reputation in all that we do. Keeping your word, no matter what in terms of providing services, paying vendors when they are due, and keeping promises to the people you service is a way to establish trust. This will help you solidify and build credibility with the community. It is very important to resolve errors and mistakes. Never make excuses or place the blame on someone else if it is an issue that is your fault or the fault of the organization you represent. An irate person can become your biggest ally if you make an effort to resolve errors or mistakes as quickly as possible. Furthermore, it is important to be sensitive to privacy. With rampant identity theft and hacking, being aware of the sensitive nature of financial information and other personal information is more important than ever. In order to obtain real joy and happiness in this life and be effective servants of the Lord in helping to build his kingdom, we must build and maintain a good reputation. This can only be accomplished by repenting of our sins and living the principles of the gospel, thereby keeping the commandments of God. May we all do this, I humbly pray, in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. #RandolphHarris 5 of 5
We Should Go Forward in a Spirit of Faith and Not Be Fearful
Heavenly forces rising and descending, their golden urns reciprocally lending. Not until I rise above the Earthly to the Heavenly, not until I cease to cleave to the Spirit of the Earth can I understand humans. The soul of humans lived in an element by which the sounds of speech themselves were formed and moulded. However, a blitz of sin comes when communication lines are down—it always does, sooner or later. Deeply disturbing are the numerous signs of dwindling faith are in our World. The whip leg in spiritual conviction is frightening. Morale is often low even among employees in their jobs—Selfish “gimme” tactics. “How much can I get?” “How about a raise?” More holidays. Fewer hours. Poor morale among the employers. We are too affluent. We have too much money and other things. We have so many things. Even many poorer people have things, and “things” become our life, and our vocabulary has been invaded with, “Let me do my thing.” Yet the Lord has said, “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Too often, though, we want the “things” first. We have a great generation of youth, but many of them are experiencing a blind side of prayers, especially those who are in sin. Many have nearly ceased to pray. Their communication wires are bootleg. Also, the numerous young people in their early married days cease to pray with regularity; their lines of communication are on the chop block. #RandolphHarris 1 of 10
We have intellectualism—which is also a factor in the education of the human race—but out of our way of viewing the World, based as it is on the principles of measure, number and weight, another must unfold. Two young couples from the Northwest came, bowed in sorrow. The husband of one and the wife of the other had lost themselves in frustration arising out of disloyally finding comfort where no association should have been tolerated. Their problems reached the maximum, and sorrow resulted. It is generally the same. The two young people, unfaithful to their spouses, has conversed and confided too much; then secret meetings followed, then disloyal disclosures concerning the spouse of each. And finally, that which surely could not have been dreamed of—the transgression. Both couples had reduced their activity, become casual in their church-going. They had joined a social group who were also turning to spiritual casualness like themselves. Their new ways of living was beyond their means, and debts crowded out tithing. Too busy they were for homes in the evenings and too rushed for family prayer, and when it came to temptation, they were not prepared. They experienced a real slobber knocker for coveting someone else’s spouse. Recognize that some of you think of yourselves as daredevils, ready to take on almost any challenge. However, some of these excursions for excitement will inevitably take you down into the Devil’s Throat. #RandolphHarris 2 of 10
Spiritual Science must come to our assistance here, for ordinary history can tell us nothing. Our emotions are compacted. Sometimes we do not even have the words to express accurately the way we are feeling. This lack of emotional language can be very difficult. The only safe course is to stay well away from the dangers of the Devil’s Throat. If you cross to the Devil’s side of the line of scrimmage once inch, you are in the tempter’s power, and if he is successful, you will not be able to think or even reason properly, because you will have lost the spirit of the Lord. Some people are letting others set standards for them. You have a nickel defense for yourselves by saying, “Who said we should not do this or we should not do that?” There are many shades of right and wrong that each of you have to decide where the line of scrimmage will be. If there is any question in your minds or hearts about whether your personal conduct is right or wrong, do not do it. Each of us has a moral agency of pass protection, and the gift of the Holy Ghost will sharpen our impressions of what is right and wrong, true and false. It is the responsibility of the prophets of God to teach the word of God, not spell out every joy and tittle of human conduct. Naturally, within the relationships into which they are brought by the intellect, the things will behave in accordance with their nature. #RandolphHarris 3 of 10
Pure experience is the reality in which reality appears to us when we confront it to the complete exclusion of what we ourselves bring to it. What is happening at the time you come of age becomes a stamp of who you are, and you carry it forward. If we are conscientiously trying to avoid not only evil, but the very appearance of evil, we will act for ourselves and not be acted upon. Much of what comes from the Devil is alluring and enticing. It glitters and is appealing to the sensual parts of our nature. You will lose half a pound just dreaming about it. Satan’s message sounds so reasonable and easy to justify. His voice is usually smooth and intriguing. If it were harsh or discordant, nobody would listen, nobody would be enticed. Some of Satan’s most appealing messages are: Everyone does it; if it does not hurt anyone else, it is all right; if you feel there is no harm in it, it is okay; it is the “cool” thing to do. Satan is the greatest imitator, the master deceiver, the arch counterfeiter, and the greatest forger ever in the history of the World. He comes into our lives as a thief in the night and crackback blocks our blessings. His disguise is so perfect that it is hard to recognize him or his methods. He seems to be a good person, but is really bad. Such a phenomenon, now, in which the character of the process follows directly and in a transparently clear way out of the nature of the pertinent factors, called an archetypal phenomenon. #RandolphHarris 4 of 10
When we trace any one of the major streams of present-day spiritual life back to its sources, we always encounter one of the spirits of our classical spirit. There have always been two great competing forces in the World. These began before the World was created. These opposing forces are the forces between good and evil. Between these two powerful forces each of us is caught in a scrimmage. In simple terms, that which is good comes from God, and that which is evil comes from the Devil. You cannot coffin corner or have it both ways and find true happiness; some have tried, but in the long run all have failed. If any of you people think you can have it both ways, you are only deceiving yourselves. It does not work that way. It never has. There is another great truth that you must learn. It is that everything has a price. There is a price to pay for success, fulfillment, accomplishment, and joy. Opportunity costs, nothing is free. There is loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen. If you so not pay the price that is needed for success, you will pay the price for failure. Preparation, work, study, and service are required to achieve happiness. Disobedience and lack of preparation carry a terrible price tag. Everyone is conscious of the fact that our thinking is kindled in conflict with reality. The objects in space and in time approach us; we perceive a highly diversified outer World of manifold parts, and we experience a more or less richly developed inner World. #RandolphHarris 5 of 10
As believers in God, part of the price we need to pay is by living differently from the World. God is pure reason. Jesus Christ himself brought elements of optimism into the rational morality that it was his prime aim to teach. Jesus demands attention for his teachings, not because they are adapted to the moral needs of our spirit, but because they are God’s will. The followers of Jesus Christ, from a natural interest in the details of his life, developed these beneficial elements into Christianity. They appealed to miracles as proofs of Jesus’s divinity and virtue, and instead of revering him for his teaching about virtue, they revered his teaching about virtue because of the miracles he was supposed to have performed. However, wicked emperors chased the human spirit from the Earth and spread a misery, which compelled people to see and expect happiness in Heaven; robbed of freedom, their spirit, their eternal and absolute element, was force to take flight to the deity. The doctrine of God’s objectivity is a counterpart to the corruption and slavery of human beings. No thing or event can claim to play a greater role in the functioning of the World than experience of God. If it is to become clear to us that this or that fact has greater significance than others, we must then not merely observe God, but we must already bring God into our thought-relationship. #RandolphHarris 6 of 10
Jesus makes a general demand on his hearers to surrender their rights, to lift themselves above the whole sphere of justice or injustice by love, for in love there vanish not only rights, but also the feeling of inequality and the hatred of enemies which this feeling’s imperative demand for equality implies. Matthew 5.44 tells us to, “Love our enemies, and pray fr those who persecute us.” Jesus is a beautiful soul. Jesus retained his dignity by refusing to defend himself or to uphold his rights. The possible consequences for the individual and for other people of resistance to evil, on the one hand, and of withdrawal from conflict, on the other. If one were obliged to look back to an age when human beings were quite differently constituted in their life of soul, it would be impossible to understand them. Humans can have a living experience of the plant World around them when the word is as full of life as it was among the ancient Greeks. We are the possessors and custodians of these commanding powers which can and do roll back the power of Satan on the Earth. With all my heart, I urge you to please help us push back the World. We must stand against the wind. Sometimes we must be unpopular, and simply say, “This is not right.” All of us want to find out who we really are and what our place is in the World. #RandolphHarris 7 of 10
Easily influenced individuals are trying to find their identity by being different from their parents and families in what they stand for. God made each of us to be different from anyone else in the World, as our DNA and fingerprints prove. You do not have to work at having a separate identity; you already have one. Some people want to rebel against restraints. Several even think it is not cool to obedient to their parents, the law, or follow the counsel of your bishop or quorum president. Many may have been deceived by thinking that they can find excitement by dabbling in drugs, alcohol, pornography, and the illicit sex. Be warned that such enticements as these are slippery and dangerous like the rocks by the Devil’s Throat, and they will only lead you into a tackle box of Satan’s territory. The way out of that kind of danger is difficult and will leave you with far more than a slobber knocker, scrapes and scratches. We are working out our eternal destiny at an interesting time. In the future, there will continue to be an increase in scientific discoveries and inventions which will make life more comfortable and easier for many. No doubt medical science will continue to find new treatments and cures not available now. In contrast, the Worldly influences of evil will likely increase, and more people will become vulnerable to the deceit and enticement of Satan’s trap play. #RandolphHarris 8 of 10
We need to become stronger spiritually and morally in order to withstand the temptations and snares of the World. Perhaps this is why such special spirits have been reserved for this time with the Statue of Liberty Play. In the future, the opposition from Satan will be both more subtle and more open. While in some ways it may be more blatant, it will be masked with greater sophistication and cunning. We will need greater spirituality to perceive all the forms of evil and greater strength to resist it. Many countries now face the dangerous of attacks from foreign enemies. War exposes people to bodily harm, but there is also exposure to moral harm. Those of us who have served in the military in the wartime have experienced the disruption in life that comes from being uprooted from the home and family, wholesome associations, and the influence of the organized Church. Disruptions can take us into a dive play for the vary jaws of the Devil’s Throat. Many of the activities we will be engaged in are group situations where we cannot always choose our own company. However, we can always choose our standards. In any association, there needs to be one or more who stand up and say, “What we are doing is not right.” It takes moral courage to do this. We all know it takes courage to face fears. #RandolphHarris 9 of 10
Whatsoever is good comes from God, and whatsoever is evil comes from the Devil. We are living in a challenging time, and it is a time for us to stand firm and steady in meeting our family and Church responsibilities so we do not experience offsetting penalties. We should not be blown like a wave in a White Squall. Children of God should go forward in a spirit of faith and not be fearful of anything expect being too close to the Devil’s throat. We will be strengthened and preserved if we follow God. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the Heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. So, do fear, for God is with us. Do not be dismayed, for God is our God. God will strengthen us and help us, he will uphold us with his righteous right hand. Recognize that God’s ways our better than our ways. Resist the desire to take matters into your own hands and instead trust God for questions or problems that we may face. I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is clear that obedience to God’s Word is paramount to experiencing the Blessings. I pray the Lord’s blessing to be with us all, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. #RandolphHarris 10 of 10
My Sunshine Darts but Through Drizzly Clouds
Happy are they who are blessed with the power of making happy. In recent months, peace has been a paramount thought in the minds of many people throughout the World. When World peace is threatened, many countries find themselves engaged in wars. The new media has shown vivid images of missile testing, ravages, suffering, floods, fires, and destruction of wars and the turmoil it causes in individuals. Current theories attribute war to external factors such as overpopulation and scarcity, or, conversely, to something inside people—emotions, drives, sex hormones, or instincts. War is a dysfunction, or a temporary aberration in global political relations. War causes deep stress and disrupts families, employment, and schooling. It consumes resources that could be used to better advantage elsewhere. Is it the good, or the evil fortune of mortals that the comic side of life, and the serious side of life, are perpetually in collision with each other? When it comes to war, our hearts are filled with compassion for families on all sides who lose loved ones and for the innocent victims of war, especially the children. We pray now for a lasting peace when people shall learn war no more. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
Peace is neither the absence of war nor something fixed and permanent. Rather, peace is a process by which politically organized groups develop and maintain positive, constructive, and mutually beneficial relationships that enable them to transcend collective violence. Peace involves nonviolent and constructive means of conflict management, as opposed to those methods at the opposite end of the continuum that rely on coercion and violence. Peace is sustained by numerous factors, including cultural compatibility, beliefs by each side that the relationship is fair and just, and structural mechanisms that promote cooperation, positive reform, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. In the scriptures, peace means either freedom from strife, contention, conflict, or war, or an inner calm and comfort born of the Spirit that is a gift of God to all of his children, an assurance and serenity within a person’s heart. Peace is a state of tranquility or quiet, freedom from disquieting thoughts or emotions, and harmony in personal relations. This is the ultimate state sought by all seekers, whether they are religious, humanist, or have no spiritual or philosophical identification at all. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
While we yearn for peace, we live in a World burdened with hunger, pain, anguish, loneliness, sickness, and sorrow. We see divorce with all of its attendant conflict and heartache, especially among the innocent children caught in the middle. Wayward, disobedient children cause their parents grief and anxiety. Financial problems cause distress and loss of self-respect. Some loved ones slip into a fortuitous fumble, deep into sin and wickedness, forsake their covenants, and walk in their own way, and after the image of their own god. In peace, there is no longer any conflict. There is a total absence of negativity and an all-encompassing lovingness that is experienced as serenity, tranquility, timelessness, completion, fulfillment, stillness, and contentment. There is inner quiet and light, a feeling of oneness, unity, and total freedom. The peace is imperturbable. The value of peace within our hearts cannot be measured. When we are at peace, we can be free of worry and fear, knowing that with the Lord’s help, we can do all that is expected or required of us. We can approach every day, every task, and every challenge with assurance and confidence in the outcome. We have freedom of thought and actions, freedom to be happy. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
There can be no real happiness without peace, yet honest men and women in all parts of the World are seeking personal peace and know not where to find it. Even those incarcerated for lengthy periods of time as war prisoners can be at peace in their own minds. Many of them have learned from their captors that they cannot deprive them of freedom to think, even when the most harsh limitations are imposed. Few, if any, blessings from God are more valuable to our spiritual health than the reward of peace within. Once the experience of peace has occurred, we are no longer a victim of the World. We are no longer at its effect as we once were, for we have had a glimpse of the truth about it and of what we really are. Peace is an ever-increasing frequency. At times, they may become quite profound and of greater and greater duration. When a person is in the state of peace, they test strong with kinesiology, and nothing makes them weak, whether it is mental, emotional, or physical. There is no longer identification with the body as our self, and physical disorders may or may not be healed, but we are indifferent to them; physical concerns have lost any significant meanings. With the experience of inner peace comes great strength. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is called the Prince of Peace, and his message is a message of peace to the individual and to the World. It is the peace that makes us really appreciate mortal life and enables us to bear heartbreaking tribulation. The mission of the church of Jesus Christ is to establish this peace in the hearts and homes of the people. Many people have related how the gospel has brought peace, joy, growth, and development into their lives. The most beneficial thing is we pick up the vibration by being in the physical presence of that state of peace and complete surrender. This energy of peace is transmitted outward into the World that it keeps humankind alive. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. Have you ever wondered how you can be a peacemaker? Really, our opportunities are unlimited. Certainly, in our homes we can all be peacemakers by exhibiting love and goodwill, thus offsetting the evil of contention, envy, and jealousy. Where misunderstandings exist between children and parents, we can encourage adjustments on the part of both. We can pray together for the spirit of peace. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
We can be a peacemaker by avoiding criticism. We can be a peacemaker by practicing and teaching forgiveness. If you want peace, yours is the responsibility to obtain it. Our homes should become warm sanctuaries where children may be protected and grow into noble men and women; where people of antiquated age may find repose where prayer will find an altar, where they can be safe, comfortable, and enjoy peace and quiet. For one month, be a peacemaker in your home. Do not say anything about this to your family, but be thoughtful, kind, and considerate. Be an example. Where there is quarreling, or bickering among members of your family, do whatever you can to overcome these faults by creating an atmosphere of love, harmony, and happiness. When you are irritated, and irritations arise in most every family, control yourself and help the others to control themselves. You really have to work at it to have the spirit of peace in your home, but it is possible. People feel better when they are being peacemakers, and a wonderful feelings of harmony comes over them. Those who do works of the righteousness shall receive one’s own reward, even peace in this World, and eternal life in the World to come. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
Happiness must be something solid and permanent, without fear and without certainty. The Lord will take care of our needs and help us overcome those things that worry us when we do our part, put our faith and trust in him, and concern ourselves with serving him by serving humanity. I have seen this in my own life, and in the lives of those close to me, and in the lives of hundreds of others all over the World. It is the only way to personal peace, that peace that is not of this World and is beyond our understanding and comprehension, but yet so sweet to us. We need more peacemakers in the World to prove to people that they are loved and their is hope for humanity. When one knows peace, they enjoy harmony that surpasses all understanding, relief from their inner tensions, bliss and happiness contentment, growth, and development. All emotions and events are interconnected, and there is a profound state of inner stillness beyond anything imaginable. Many know this to be personally true. May each of us in our daily lives assume the role of a peacemaker and enjoy the peace that surpasses understanding, I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
God Turned Out Liberty Jail and Made it a Temple!
Although it is not customary for one to seek out the difficult or unpleasant experiences, it is true that the trials and tribulations of life that stand in the way of a person’s growth and development become circumstances, or experiences that serve to assist one in reaching or progressing toward a goal or desired outcome. These tumultuous situations help us to reach greater heights, providing, of course, that we do not allow adversity to discourage us. The story of most men and women who attain a degree of greatness and achievement is generally the story of a person overcoming hardships. It appears that there are lessons that can only be learned through overcoming of obstacles. Eduard von Hartmann believed that the Earth is not the worst of all possible Worlds; indeed, the infinite purposiveness of the particulars in it makes it the best of all possible Worlds. Nevertheless, he believed that it can be shown that the Universe would be better if Earth had never been created and, paradoxically, the purposiveness of this World is moving to that end. North Korea is launching missiles just about every few weeks that have nuclear capabilities, and they even have submarine weapons. The Media spends its time attacking the president and encouraging disharmony, while there are serious issues that need attention. #RandolphHarris 1 of 11
We all must battle with some fierce despair. Artem Kolesov just turned 23 years old. He is the fourth of six brothers, and grew up in a small town near Moscow, where his father was a deacon and his mother was a church youth pastor at the Pentecostal church. He allegedly grew up hearing that all he should be killed. This made young Artem fear for his life and have suicidal thoughts, as he prayed to God for the courage to live. Artem thought life in Russia was dangerous and could be a death sentence. Artem is a thin young man, with bright eyes, a head full of silky brown hair, and a perfectly symmetrical face. However, he was lucky enough to make it to Chicago, and was taken in by a nice couple. But anyway, it is amazing that Artem is a violinist and is using his talents to raise money to help pay for his legal expenses as he goes through the process of becoming as citizen of the United States of America. I love story of people who, instead of just creating a donation page online and begging for money, actually use their God given talents to work for money. Best wishes to Artem Kolesov. Nothing worthwhile ever comes to a person except by the anguish of his soul and the sweat of his brow. #RandolphHarris 2 of 11
Another journey that is amazing is the life and career of Aaliyah Haughton. Although she went on Starsearch, a show which showcases talent in hopes of awarding someone with a prize, which will launch their career as a celebrity, and did a great job performing, there were dissensions within and hostile demonstrations from without. Aaliyah ultimately did not win, although many thought she did a great job. The young girls gracefully accepted the lost and was very sweet and professional about, but when he got home she cried and cried and cried. However, Aaliyah was determined to become a star. There were hardships and disappointments, but she came out with her first record at the age of 15 and it was a success. From there she used her talent to build the careers of other stars and produced many great records, one of the most successful being the red album known as Aaliyah. Aaliyah went on to be a successful actress, and many were saying she was going to be a mega star. However, her career became inactive in 2001 because of some unforeseen circumstances. #RandolphHarris 3 of 11
Although Aaliyah has been missing in action for 16 years, these experiences has some real value because she is still breaking news and making headlines. Recently, Aaliyah signed a deal with MAC cosmetics and her own makeup line is coming out. Fans fought hard to get this makeup line for Aaliyah. They petitioned, called radio stations, news outlets, and gathered thousands of signatures and MAC cosmetics finally agreed to the production. Therefore, the trials and tribulations endured by Aaliyah, her family, friends, and fans were not in vain, and it was the will of God that allowed this project to come to fruition. These experiences were of immense value to both the individuals involved and the Church. Because it that no matter what God is in control, and even in your absence, when God wants things will happen to extend your legacy. There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is simply to try to get rid of the trial, and be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever had, and to hail it with delight as an opportunity of obtaining a larger measure of divine grace. #RandolphHarris 4 of 11
Life is a hard fight, a struggle, a wrestling with the principle of evil. Every inch of the way must be disputed. The night is given us to take breath, to pray, to drink deep at the fountain of power. One of the darkest periods in the history of the Church was the Winter of 1838-1839. The Saints had been persecuted, robbed, and murdered. The Prophet and his associated had been betrayed and were imprisoned in Liberty jail. Dissension and apostasy were rampant, and the Church appeared to be faces with disintegration and ruin. However, emerging from this dark period were people who led the Church through trying experiences as well as amazing growth and development. Do not let your happiness depend on something you may lose, but only upon the Beloved God who will never pass away. It was during these dark days that the Lord gave to the Prophet Joseph Smith, while in Liberty jail, a great revelation. God armed him with the strength for this battler and told the Prophet that he could do all things through Christ who infused him with inner strength. The prophet was more than a conqueror, a victor, and not a victim, and Liberty jail for a time became a center of instruction. #RandolphHarris 5 of 11
Real satisfaction comes not in understanding God’s motives, but in understanding his character, in trusting in his promises, and in leaning on him and resting in him as Sovereign who know what he is doing and does all things well. The eyes of the saints turned Liberty Jail into a place where they could encourage people, counsel, and preach the word of the Lord. It was more of a temple than a prison, so long as the Prophet was there. Liberty Jail became the House of God, a place of prayer. God never said he would prevent life storms, but he did promise he would use every storm for his divine purpose. A temple, first of all, is a place of prayer; and prayer is communion with Go. It is the infinite in humans seeking the infinite in God. Where they find each other, there is holy sanctuary—a temple. Joseph Smith sound God in this rude prison, and found him. Having faith does not exempt us from difficult times. The storms of life come to every person. However, out of the midst of his tribulations, he called upon God in passionate earnestness. Here is the key: God will direct the winds of the storm to blow you where he wants you to go. #RandolphHarris 6 of 11
We see storms as being negative, but God uses the storm to move you from point A to point B. The winds may be stronger than tropical storm Harvey, the planet may quake, mountains may explode into the sky, the circumstances may look catastrophic, but these same circumstances are also responsible for why we are here in the first place. We can call it nature’s fury, but it is really just nature’s way. If you will stay in faith, not get bitter, not start complaining, the violent nature that has raged all about this little sphere of ours for billions and billions of years, will blow you to a new level in your destiny. Earth has been buffeted and flooded, frozen and thawed, burned and blown up, and at the end of the long, long day, nature has delivered us these gifts: our precious planet and life itself. Even as we bewail tragedies that occasionally afflict us—the killer storms the fiery lava flows may have been meant for your harm, but God knows how to shift the winds. Instead of blowing you backward, he can use them to blow you forward where you will come out better, stronger—and that storm will also move you to a place of greater blessing and greater influence. #RandolphHarris 7 of 11
Instead of using your faith to pray away difficulty, you should use your faith to believe that when the winds stop blowing and when Harvey and Sabrina get back together, you will be exactly where God wants you to be. May peace be unto your soul; your adversity and your afflictions shall be but a small moment. And then, if you endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high. The Prophet Joseph was told that if great tribulation should beset him and even if the very jaws of Hell shall gape open the mouth wide after him, know you are a child of God, and that all these things shall give you experience, and will be good for you. The Son of Man has descended below them all. Are you greater than he? One of the greatest truths that came from the so-called prison temple, Liberty Jail, has to do with priesthood and Church government. This is found in the 121st section of the Doctrine and Covenants, a part which reports: Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this World, and aspire to the honors of men and women, that they do not learn this lesson. #RandolphHarris 8 of 11
The rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of Heaven, and that the powers of Heaven cannot be controlled nor handled, but only upon the principled of righteousness. On one occasion, the Prophet Joseph Smith was asked how he governed his people. His replay was, there is a delivering faith and a sustaining faith. God keeps you from the fire. God keeps you out of the adversity. However, most of the time we need sustaining faith. Sustaining faith is when God takes you through the storm, through the difficulty, and the wind is blowing. You are filled with stress, fear, and angry. You will be discouraged, but when you know that God is in control of the storm, you will not be worried. He will put you in the armor of God. God has put an orb of protection around you and you will come out stronger, increased, promoted, and without smelling like smoke, just like those teens. These are the correct principles and the children of God govern themselves. We believe that one of the important purposes of this life is to be proved, tried, and tested. Love comes again. Just when you break out of love, you have to believe that love can come again. #RandolphHarris 9 of 11
The Liberty Jail experience truly constituted a refiner’s fire for those who participated in it and it truly empathizes the necessity of experiencing difficult and complex situations in life in order to properly develop and draw closer to our Heavenly Father. These experiences certainly give us a better understanding and appreciation of greatness of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the early leaders of the Church. Liberty Jail teaches us that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and loyalty to our leaders and the Church is important, and we need to endure to the end regardless of how many difficulties we have to surmount. Why? Almighty God is in control of the furnace. He is in control of the winds. God is even in control of our enemies. Dinosaurs were the kings of the food chain until, for whatever reason, they were not. God told Noah that a food was coming and asked him to save the animals. The summit of New Hampshire’s Mount Washington, which today stands more than a mile above sea level, was buried under ice 18,000 years ago, and Most of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois was blanketed by a large white sheet. The Earth is always in the forge, or on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things. #RandolphHarris 10 of 11
We should be at peace today because God is in control of the winds and the storms of our lives. The writers of the Scripture knew what a torrential flood looked like and the power it possessed to destroy all in its path. We must believe that instead of defeating us, God will promote us. We have to commit ourselves to follow the counsel of our leaders, accept every opportunity to serve, and complete each assignment well—yes, endure to the end. Let us avoid setting our hearts upon the things of the World, and as we exercise our priesthood, let us incorporate the great principle of righteous dominion. By so doing and keeping the commandments of the Lord, we shall have joy, happiness, and development and eternal life, which is the greatest of all gifts of God. Like those who participated in Liberty Jail episodes, I can bear witnesses that God lives and the Jesus is the Christ—the Holy Ghost has borne this witness to me and that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God, and that through him the power to act in the name of God and the gospel in it fullness has been restored on Earth. Let us never forget the Liberty Jail and remember that when trials and tribulations, and hardships come to us, as they will, these are the tests that we must meet in order to enjoy eternal life. May we meet them successfully, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. #RandolphHarris 11 of 11
The Discovery of a Secret Implies No Obligation to Retain it
Grant me but health and give me but this fair goddess Liberty as my companion. Money is a thing which none of us can afford to hate, but it is neither God nor Devil; that should make one noble nor another vile. Money is the set of assets in the economy that people regularly use to buy goods and services. The cash in your wallet is money because you can use it to buy a meal at a restaurant or a house from a real estate agency. By contrast, if you happened to own most of Microsoft Corporation, as Bill Gates does, you would be wealthy, but this asset is not considered a form of money. You could not buy a meal or a house with this wealth without first obtaining some cash. Money includes only those few types of wealth that are regularly accepted by sellers in exchanges for good and services. Money is a medium of exchange, a unit of account and a store of value. When it comes to overcoming being greedy, selfish, and overly indulgent, we all need a lot more help. The worst fear I have about the people is that they will get rich in this country and forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church. My great fear is that they cannot stand wealth. Many people believe in money, power, and respect. It is believed that first you get the money, then you get the power. And after you get the power, people will respect you. Several individuals believe that money, power, and respect are what you need in life, and that it will help you eat right, sleep at night, and that you will see the light. These types of people worship money as if it is a God, and they will take your money while you pout about it because the things they can buy with your money will attract people to them, and make them desirable. RandolphHarris 1 of 13
These vipers will take a life to get rich quick. They will set you up to get your money and get away with it. There are people who gain from their wealth only the fear of losing it. If all you get from your wealth is the wrong view of it, wealth will destroy your peace and you are no different than a debt-ridden consumer. Therefore, the answer to happiness is emotional well-being, and spiritual maturity. True wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. Be thankful for what you have; you will end up having more. If you concentrate on what you do not have, you will never, ever have enough. Money will bring about unlikely things. Try and keep clear of wanting small sums that you do not have. Our prosperity brings some real challenges because many are getting rich, more of us are waxing fat, and as a result of greed, selfishness, and overindulgence, we could lose the Spirit and literally kick ourselves out of the Church. Money and material things are on the mind of almost everyone. The great question many want to know is how they can acquire wealth? No question occupies a larger place in the minds and hearts of people today, and this is true of people in every occupation and in every walk of life. With the generality of humankind, money will purchase respect as well as everything else. Money in and of itself is not an evil, but it is the love of money that is the root of evil. Money, the common mistress of all cheats, makes them regard each other in the light of rivals. However, there are some of the wealthy who deal with their prosperity very well using their resources to bless others and build the kingdom. For man, however, wealth presents major difficulties. Loss of money is not the worst pain in itself, but loss of God is. #RandolphHarris 2 of 13
As we deal with the materialism that threatens us, we should not confuse wants with needs. My mother taught me an important lesson along these lines. For many years my father had a practice of trading for a new car every year. Then, shortly before recession in 2001, when the grain prices increased, we were surprised one day when my Dad drove home in a more expensive car. One morning my mother asked, “How much did the new car cost than the other one?” When my Dad told her, my mother said, “Well, the other car has always been able to get me where I need to go. I think we ought to give the difference to someone who needs it more than we do.” And so it was. The next year Dad returned to the less-expensive cars, and they continued their generous ways. Little did I know, he has saved the car for me and when I needed it, I went to pick it up, paid the registration on it, and am still driving it today. If we are not careful, it is easy for our wants to become needs. Remember the line, “There, there, little luxury, do not cry. You will be a necessity by and by.” God will take the stars of your life and turn them into stars, and will pay you back double for anything you lost. #RandolphHarris 3 of 13
We should avoid spoiling children by giving them too much. In our day, many children grow up with distorted values because parents overindulge them. Whether you are wealthy, or like most of us of more modest means, parents often attempt to provide children with almost everything they want thus taking away from them the blessing of anticipating, of longing for something they do not have. One of the most important things we can teach children is to deny themselves. Instant gratification generally makes for weak people. How many truly great individuals do you know who never had to struggle? A few of our wonderful youth and young adults in the Church are unstretched. They have almost a free pass. Perks are provided, including cars complete with fuel and insurance—all paid for by parents who sometimes listen in vain for a few courteous and appreciative words. What is thus taken for granted tends to underwrite selfishness and a sense of entitlement. When you become weary and feel like quitting, there is a way to have your strength renewed—wait on the Lord. #RandolphHarris 4 of 13
We all grow tired sometimes, tired of trying to make a business grow, tired of dealing with an ailment, tired of raising a difficult child, tired of being lonely and waiting to meet the right person. We can even be doing what we love, but if we are not careful, we can lose our passion and allow weariness to set in. Children who always get what they want will want as long as they live. And somewhere along the line it is important for the character development of our children to learn that the Earth still revolves around the Sun, and not around them. Rather, we should train our children to ask themselves the question: How is the World a better place because they are in it? We live in a world of entertainment in full color with a lot of fast action, a World in which many children grow up thinking that if it is not fun, it is boring and not worthwhile. Even in family activities, we need to strike a balance between play and work. Some of our most memorable experiences while growing up centered around family activities: learning how to shingle a roof, build a fence, or working in the garden. Rather than being all work and no play, for many of our children it is almost all play and very little work. #RandolphHarris 5 of 13
Frequently do we labor to secure the things that debase us into slaves, and overwhelm us with calamity. As a consequence of overindulgence, many children leave homes ill-prepared to meet the real World. Of course, we need to earn a living. The Lord told Adam that in the sweat of his face he should he eat bred all the days of his life, which means as long as you are doing something productive, you will be able to provide for yourself. It is important that we qualify ourselves to be self-reliant, particularly that every young person at the time of marriage be ready and able to assume the responsibilities of providing for one’s companion and for the children who may come to that home. All too many enter marriage who have never learned to cook, sew, or develop other important like skills. Ignorance of these skills, along with the lack of understanding of the management of money, sow the seeds for many failures in our marriages. Wisdom cannot be grafted on the stock of slavery: justice cannot be established without denunciation and disapproval of the wrong. I fear that in many cases we are rearing children who are slaves to expensive fads and fashions. For Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. #RandolphHarris 6 of 13
People who have plots in their heads as seldom have good nights as deserve them. How do we determine where our treasure is? To do so, we need to evaluate the amount of time, money, and thought we devote to something. Might it not be well to evaluate how much focus we place on shopping and spending? This does not mean that our children should not dress in some of the appropriate clothing that is in fashion because that can be very important to them. As members of the Church, we have a responsibility to present ourselves in a well-groomed, attractive, and modest manner. With good planning, this can be done without being driven to spend extravagantly on our clothing. People of the church began to have egotistical pride and take advantage of others because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine-twined linen and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel. What sort of liberty is it whose chosen religion is its slave-market? #RandolphHarris 7 of 13
Children today are often left with no role model in the home. Instead they turn to the television and video games. It seems that for many people in today’s society, money has become the thing they most cherish. It is apparent in the endless hours many people devote to their job. For some, their identity is wrapped into how much money they have. Money may be the only thing they even want to talk about, or the measure by which they judge themselves and others. With the constant talk of how to make money, or save money, it may lead you to wonder: Is money more important than family in today’s society? For millions of people, family still comes first. Without family, many people realize they would have very little in their lives, or that the things they had would no longer mean much. For people with real values, they realize that money is a means to support their families. However, as long as their basic needs are being met, they would rather be poor but surrounded by family than rich and alone. Such people recognize the value of love and of human connectedness. They realize that life about giving and being there for others. #RandolphHarris 8 of 13
However, not all people feel this way, especially in today’s materialistic society. Many, in fact, value money far more than anything else. They dream of having money, and they will go to any end to acquire it. They will sacrifice having a family, in the name of attaining a certain career level. Some may have a family, but completely neglect it due to work and the priorities placed on work. These people may think they love their families, but their energies, time and devotion are all dedicated to their jobs. Remember, it is in our actions that we truly show where are priorities are. Even worse, countless people feel that as long as they make money and can buy their kids whatever gadgets or clothes they may desire, then they are being good to their family. People mistakenly believe that they can buy their children’s love, or substitute their lack of parenting with monetary things. The priority placed on money is evident everywhere you look. You can read the news on any given day and see tragic and horrific results of the breakdown of the family. Those who place money before the family are failing to teach their children proper values, and they are not properly guiding them through key stages of a child’s development. #RandolphHarris 9 of 13
Clearly, they will not be taught values or compassion through such medium. Instead, they are more likely to be exposed to violent images or self-centered fictitious characters. And, there will late be consequences for these children’s lack of parenting. Many say that money is not more important than family, but live in ways that does not reflect this sentiment. In fact, these people instead worship money and do not prioritize being there for their family. They would even set a family member up to die, as long as they could profit for the death and demise. Let us hope that one day soon there will be a shift—one in which people start to realize that money will not buy them happiness, especially not if they have to result to criminal activity. A guilty conscious is a normal human response experienced by someone who is aware of having done something wrong. We should live modestly and avoid debt as if it were a plague. If there is any one thing that will bring peace and contentment into the human heart, and into the family, it is to live within our means, and if there is any one thing that is grinding, and discouraging and disheartening it is to have debts and obligations that one cannot meet. #RandolphHarris 10 of 13
Do not accustom yourself to consider debt as an inconvenience, you will find it to be a calamity. How much house do we really need to accommodate our family comfortably? We should not endanger ourselves either spiritually or economically by acquiring homes which are ostentatious, feed our vanity, and go far beyond our needs. If we are to be self-reliant and in position to share, obviously we must acquire some resources. If we live within our means and avoid debt, resources can be accumulated. There are those with average incomes who, over a lifetime, do amass some means, and there are those who receive large salaries who do not. What is the difference? It is simply spending less than they receive, saving along the way, and taking advantage of the power of compound intertest. Most people have it all wrong about wealth. Wealth is not the same as income. If you make a good income each year, and spend it all, you are not getting wealthier. You are just living high. Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend. Be generous in giving and sharing with others. #RandolphHarris 11 of 13
The more our hearts and minds are turned to assisting others less fortunate than we are, the more we will avoid the spiritually canker effects that results from greed, selfishness, and overindulgence. Our resources are a stewardship, not our possessions. I am confident that we will literally be called upon to make an accounting before God concerning how we have used them to bless lives and build the kingdom. However, before you seek for riches, seek the kingdom of God. And after you have obtained a hope in Christ you shall obtain riches, if you 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 the afflicted. We must have the courage to examine honestly where our treasures lie and avoid the pitfalls that result from greed, selfishness, and overindulgence. Remember, do not confuse wants with needs. Avoid spoiling our children. Live modestly, and avoid debt. Be generous in giving to others. Let me tell you a secret you should disclose, giving really is at the heart of our faith. #RandolphHarris 12 of 13
God, our Heavenly Father, so loved the World that he gave his only begotten son, who came to the Earth and could have possessed any material thing but rather chose to give to all us an example of a simple life free from any shade of greed, selfishness, or overindulgence. May we strive daily to love more like Christ lived, the ultimate example of a life of depth and meaning. I testify that Jesus is Christ, this is His Church led by living prophets, and His tomb was literally empty on that third day. Your challenge may be difficult, but you can handle it. God have given you the grace for this season. If we were not up to this, God would not have brought it across your path. In tough times, remind yourself there is always a reward for doing what is right. God never fails to compensate you. He pays very well. The season may be difficult because the reward is coming. Perhaps the battle you are facing has lasted long than you though it would. You have prayed. You have believed. You have done what you are supposed to, but there it is. How will you shake off the weariness and see God’s promises come to pass? A big part of faith is trusting God when you do not understand why things happen the way they do. Strength is coming into your body and mind. Just receive it by faith. In Jesus name, Amen. #RandolphHarris 13 of 13
God Wants You to Fulfill Your Destiny!
In the consciousness of God’s indwelling in life, inspires character to the highest achievements. Do we never perceive our own foibles? It is happy we can find consolation in the follies of our neighbor. The other day, as I overheard one neighbor criticizing another, I was reminded, perhaps we need to investigate why it is so important to consciously choose where we put our attention and how we spend our time. Are we finding fault and tearing down or uplifting and helping to heal? When you are being negative towards another people you are hurting that individual, and the negative energy you put their way changes who they are and how they perceive the World around them. At the same time, that negative energy you are putting out there will come back to you. What you put out is what you get in return. Every action creates a separate, but equal reaction. When you make a derogatory comment about others, you are really talking about yourself. It is a form of projection, it is a defense mechanism, and when you speak badly about others know you are off kilter, and that there is an imbalance in your life which requires you to place the blame somewhere else. That is your ego at work. All emotions toward others involve the basic belief that we are incomplete within ourselves, and therefore, others are viewed and utilized as a means to an end. #RandolphHarris 1 of 14
Sin never fails to find an echo in the souls of some people. The inner-actions between create vibrational energies that their emotions are radiating into space. Once the mind is supplied with simple ideas, the association of sensations and ideas may come into play. Nations as well as individuals commit sin, and sin is more than a simple injustice. The first requirement is that we must have a given set of sensations a sufficient number of times. These sensations then acquire such a power over their corresponding ideas that when any member of the set is impressed on the senses, it is able to excite in the mind the rest of the corresponding ideas that belong to the set. In this way, simple ideas collect and become a complex idea. There is a kind of association that depends on the sensory vibration. Regularly occurring sensory vibrations leave behind in the nerves miniatures of themselves which are called vibratiuncles; and even as a general sensation is able to call up a corresponding set of ideas in the mind, so a sensory vibration is able to call up a corresponding set of vibratiuncles in the nerves. Similarly, a complex idea may call into being the set of vibratiuncles attending upon complex ideas may be as vivid as any of the sensory vibration excited by the direct action of objects. The energy of the vibration, and thought form with which it is associated, creates a readable record. #RandolphHarris 2 of 14
It seems common practice for people to talk about their friends and neighbors and to criticize their seeming peculiarities and weaknesses. In fact, it is so general that one would think that gossiping about and judging others was the thing to do. How often have we heard of young people who were criticized, judged, and ridiculed because of their peculiarities and yet who eventually become leaders in their different fields. One of our most respected community-minded citizens began to act as though his feelings had been hurt and would stay away from socials where, in the past, he had gone and taken a most active part. People started accusing him of being a sorehead, a poor sport, antisocial, and even evaded him whenever possible. Later, a medical diagnosis showed that he was suffering from serious medical conditions, which had been the cause of his lack of interest in activities that he had previously attended and even sponsored. Let the divine love become the inspiration of personal and social life and a host of evils will disappear, and only those would remain which result from our naivety of Nature’s laws and forces, and from the limitations of human intelligence. #RandolphHarris 3 of 14
Do not prejudge, but give a person an opportunity. Let individuals decide for themselves what is best for them. Sometimes when others invade a person’s privacy, they illegally disclose personal information that will allow people to expose a person’s defects and exploit that individual. When you pry into someone’s personal medical business, not only is it unrighteous, but it probably causes people to treat them and their family with prejudice and causes them to lose respect for their family member and will weaken their faith. This shows how important it is that we do not judge, but encourage rather than denounce. Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago, realizing the human tendency to make unrighteous judgments said, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and the way you have treated others, you will be treated the same way.” Before you take it upon yourself to get involved in someone’s private life, you should make sure your life is perfect. The reason we cannot judge is obvious. We cannot see what is in the heart. We do not know motives, although we impute motives to every action we see. They may be pure while we think they are improper. #RandolphHarris 4 of 14
Ethical societies aim is not speculation, but the alleviation of human wickedness. It is not possible to judge another fairly unless you know an individual’s faith, desires, and goals. Because of a different environment, unequal opportunity, and many other things, people are not in the same position. One may start with success and privilege, and the other may start with a meager background and oppression, and they may meet as they are going in opposite directions. However, it is not where you are, but the direction in which you are going that counts; not how close you are to failure or success, but which way you are headed. How can we, with all our weaknesses and frailties, dare to arrogate to ourselves the position of a judge? At best, a person can judge only what they see; one cannot judge the heart nor the intention, usually, or begin to judge the potential of another individual they do not know. When we try to judge people, which we should not do, we have a great tendency to look for and take pride in finding weaknesses and faults, such as vanity, dishonesty, immorality, and intrigue. As a result, we see only the worst side of those being judged. And when people sin against another openly, cruelly, the speculations of the cloister, in which sin is treated as an illusion magnifies. #RandolphHarris 5 of 14
Our news media today also seems to be interested mainly in controversial subjects or someone who is being attacked; and regardless of the ninety-nine good things one may do, it is the one weakness or error that alone is emphasized and heralded to the World. We are too prone to listen to, accept, and repeat such adverse criticism, such maliciously spoken or printed words, without stopping to realize the harm we may be doing to some noble person. In contrast to bullying among children, it workplace bullying, the instigators are very often people in positions of organizational leadership, or who have the organizational support of someone in a position of leadership. Reporting a bully in the workplace thus puts the worker at risk of being targeted by management for retaliation and ever more aggression. More importantly, when bulling in the workplace is instigated or condoned by someone in a position of organizational leadership, efforts to report or stop it can quickly escalate from bullying to mobbing. Mobbing involves a group of people, acting under the influence of someone in a position of organizational leadership, who become increasingly aggressive and increase in number until the targeted worker is removed from the group, or the gang is completely disempowered. The fire is malice is usually started by some envious person. #RandolphHarris 6 of 14
Mobbing is not the same as being disliked by a lot of people. Mobbing starts when someone in a position of authority communicates to the population that they want a particular person gone. When this happens, people in the community will be encourage to target and exploit and attack the individual and report them for any infraction, real or rumored, and they quickly learn that any adversarial action, physically or verbally, taken against the individual, is acceptable. The mob also will quickly mobilize to protect their own interest and align with community leaders, and recast the target as a trouble maker who must be removed by any means necessary—but most will do so under the genuine perception that it is the targeted individual who is the problem, and not the instigating aggressor(s). The aggression is often unfair and illegal, and the purpose is to facilitate and reinforce a shared negative perception of the targeted worker, regardless of the individual’s prior reputation or value to the community. Sometimes even when our friends are accused of wrongdoing or gossip is started about the, we disloyally accept and repeat what we hear without knowing all of the facts. It is sad indeed that sometimes friendships are destroyed and enmity created on the basis of misinformation. Secretive and specious investigations will rapidly frighten, anger, and exhaust the individual while tension, fear, and compliance are heightened among others. #RandolphHarris 7 of 14
If there be one place in life where the attitude of the agnostic is acceptable, it is in this matter of judging. It is the courage to say, I do not know. I am waiting for further evidence. I must hear both sides of the question.” Or when it comes to mobbing a person, we could say, “That is not something I am interested in doing. It does not sound rational.” Only by suspending judgment do we exhibit real charity. It is hard to understand why we are ready to condemn our neighbors and our friends on circumstantial evidence or by request, while we are all so determined to see that every criminal has a fair and open trial. Surely we can try to eliminate pride, passion, personal feeling, prejudice, and pettiness from our minds, and show charity to those around us. Let us look for the good rather than try to discover any hidden evil. We can easily find fault in others if that is what we are looking for. Even in families, divorce has resulted and families have been broken up because the husband or wife was looking for and emphasizing the faults rather than loving and extolling the virtues of the other. Also, if you are trying to attract business to your company, city, or trying to find a new job, it is not going to help you get a contract if it is known that you are involved in mobbing oppression. Even some people may shy away from you just for being associated with an evil cult. #RandolphHarris 8 of 14
Let us remember too that the further out of line or out of tune we ourselves are, the more we are inclined to look for error or weaknesses in others and to try to rationalize and justify our own faults rather than to try to improve ourselves. I want to reduce the amount of negativity in my life because I do not want it to affect the people around me, so I have to remove myself from certain groups. When you keep a private journal, and are not expressing to anyone what is going on, but trying to appear happy all the time, if you know someone is reading it, it is a good idea for your sake and the sake of others to stay away from the unnecessary problems. I do not want to be responsible for someone finding my private journal and getting upset and taking it out on someone else, especially when they have a touch job. So, I have to stay away from some of my friends because they are associated with people involved in mobbing and I do not want that energy to affect anyone in my life, nor myself. Almost invariably, we find that the greatest criticism of Church leaders and doctrines come from comes from those who are not doing their fully duty, following the leaders, nor living according to the teaching of the gospel. #RandolphHarris 9 of 14
An outstanding example of bullying and oppressive behavior can be found in the story of Cain and Able. Cain neglected his own stewardship and became so bitter over Abel’s righteousness and favor in the eyes of the Lord that his insane jealousy caused him to murder his brother. How much better would his situation have been had he congratulated and honored his brother and set about to improve himself and correct his own failings. Those who cannot do for themselves get jealous and try to hurt others. Let us examine or own lives and actions, bring ourselves in tune with righteous principles, and never attack or spread misinformation about others. Gossip is the worst form of judging. The tongue is the most dangerous, destructive, and deadly weapon available to human beings. A vicious tongue can ruin the reputation and even the future of the one attacked. Insidious attacks against one’s reputation, loathsome innuendoes, half-lies about an individual are as deadly as those insect parasites that kill the heart and life of a might Cyprus tree. They are so stealthy and cowardly that one cannot guard against them. It is easier to dodge an elephant than a microbe. What a different World it would be if we could learn to love each other. Instead, we are all so inclined to judge others by a standard different from the one why which we wish or be willing to be judged. #RandolphHarris 10 of 14
If Jesus were to stand by and be asked to judge those whom we accuse and should say to us, “One that is without sin among you, let one cast a stone,” and then should stoop and write in the sand, how many of us would feel to steal away shamed convicted of our own conscience. How sound is his counsel. The form of the Son of God stands forth pre-eminent; his cross rises against the sky; the perfect ideal of love is realized. The secret of the victories of Christianity is revealed at the conquest of human nature by Eternal Love immanent in the World from the first, and struggling for recognition. If we could accept and practice the second great commandment to love others as we love ourselves, and really learn to love our neighbors, there would be no vicious gossip or bearing false witness. In the Lord’s prayer, we have these words, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. For if you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if you forgive not people of their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt. 6.12-14-14.) Christ is our greatest example of forgiveness. On the cross he prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23.34.) Relinquishing anger brings many benefits. It allows us to move up to a more effective and effortless state of inner freedom. #RandolphHarris 11 of 14
The tongue of a viper is less hurtful than that of a slanderer. Slander: a lot of that often falls from bad people’s mouths upon good people’s names and professions. Regardless of our ego, our pride, or our feeling of insecurity, our lives would be happier, we would be contributing more to social welfare and the happiness of others, if we would love one another, forgive one another, repent of our wrongdoings, and judge not. It is true that we must have appointed judges to deal with the laws of the land and judges in the Church to deal with its members; and they are given the heavy duty and responsibility of judging, which they must not neglect, but they must give righteous judgment according to the law of the land and of the Church. Let us stand on principle—high principle. Also, it is important that all of us, including our politicians, strive to live so that our actions will be above reproach and criticism. We never gain anything nor improve our own character by trying to tear down another. We have seen close friendships destroyed, and families ripped apart by words spoken and accusations made in the heat of a campaign. There have been tirades against people and families that tend to cause our youth to lose faith in humanity and others in government and often even our form of government itself. #RandolphHarris 12 of 14
As mature individuals, we have the responsibility in our houses to guard against anything that is foul from taking root in our foundation. It is important to protect your family and children. Also, we must realize that every word and every act influences the thinking and attitude of the child. It is in the family that the child picks up the elementary lessons in getting along with people and the virtues of love, compassion, and concern. These lessons will have been well taught if parents can bring up their children without prejudicing them by precept or example against any other children on the grounds of color, race, religion, social status, physical capacity, or intellectual capacity, and if they teach them to love the Lord. I am so thankful that my parents, through their tolerance and understanding, were able to accomplish this with their children. May I humbly say in all sincerity that I love the Lord with all my heart and that I love my fellow human beings, the animals and nature. I hold no hard feelings of any kind toward any people, and I sincerely pray for forgiveness wherein I have offended anyone. To all the World, and especially to those who do not understand, but who ridicule the teachings of the Church, judge not until you know and understand those teachings which are contained in the restored gospel. #RandolphHarris 13 of 14
We believe, with you, that God lives, and that Jesus Christ is his Only, but truly Begotten Son in the flesh, who came and gave his life and was resurrected so that all humankind might enjoy immortality. He said, “This is my work and my glory—to being to pass the immortality and eternal life of human beings” (Moses 1.39). And he gave us the gospel plan by which we can prepare ourselves to go back into his presence and enjoy eternal life. Know that the Lord has loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. If you ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it on to you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost, you may know the truth of all things. God is saying you need to get ready. He is going to finish what he started. No one and nothing can stop him from fulfilling his promises. He will complete your incompletions, even the secret petitions of your heart. This is the promise and testimony I leave you with in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. #RandolphHarris 14 of 14
Christian Calculus—Love Casts Out All Fear
What you do not like when done to yourself do not do to others. God is not simply the cause, but the indwelling spirit of the World, the all-embracing actuality. One early use of the word “golden” in English is “most excellent, important, or precious.” With reference to rules or precepts it was used to mean “of inestimable value,” and the expression “the golden rule” was often specifically used with reference to the precept in Matthew: “Therefore all things whatsoever you would that people should do to you, do you even so to them: for this is the law and prophets” (7.12). This, the principle that has come to be known as the golden rule has been so called presumably because it has been regarded as being of inestimable value or importance. This regard was not solely from the fact that it was set forth in the Sermon on the Mount. The golden rule has been widely accepted, in word if not in deed, by vast numbers of greatly differing peoples; it is a basic device of moral education; and it can be found at the core of innumerable moral, religious, and social codes. What the golden rule requires a person to do is to take account of the wishes of others and accord them the respect and consideration one would want them to accord one with. #RandolphHarris 1 of 16
In other words, what the golden rules requires of each of us is that we should treat others in accordance with the same principles or standards that we would have others apply in their treatment of us. The golden rule requires us to take account of and accord respect to the differing needs, interest, and desires of others, and it is just that the inversion of the golden rule is intended to bring about. It comprehends all the requirements of morality in a single formula; on the other hand, the golden rule is only a guide, that is far from complete, it requires rules, a sense of justice, or even a whole system of morality for its proper interpretation and application. The golden rule is a perfect guide to conduct and the only thing needed to make the World perfect is for everyone to follow it; at the same time, it has been claimed that the golden rule leads to paradoxes and is misleading, false and absurd. However, the golden rule, in one version or another, has a prominent place in all the major religions and most minor ones. And that is because the goal of religion is to create a society where people love and fear the Lord and out of this love for God, they want to do what is just. Paradoxically, because of this fear of God, people will not want to harm others. #RandolphHarris 2 of 16
The nearly universal acceptance of the golden rule and its promulgation by persons of considerable intelligence, through otherwise divergent outlooks, would therefore seem to provide some evidence for the claim that it is a fundamental ethical truth. Furthermore, with the power of the storms and flood being done by hurricane Harvey, which is dumping feet of rain in Texas, who would not fear the power of the Lord? Storms like Harvey happen once every 500 years, so to many, it seems apocalyptic. Since every person is part of nature and, hence, of the divine, we share the basic impulses of all-natural things—specifically, the urge to develop upward and outward, the striving for ideal. Action and striving are not only means to some static goal, but are also ends in themselves. Since there is no goal for human beings apart from one’s life, people struggle with the fear of life and are tempted by care. Human fulfillment is in activity itself, but many would like you to believe that there is no fulfillment—contentment means annihilation—so that people are destined to be dissatisfied, unfulfilled, no matter what one achieves. We live in an age when, as the Lord foretold, people’s hearts are failing them, not only physically, but in spirit. #RandolphHarris 3 of 16
Many are giving up heart for the battle of life. Suicide ranks as the major cause of the deaths to college students. 1,100 is the number of suicides that occur at colleges every year. The suicide rate among young adults, ages 15-24, has tripled since the 1950s, and suicide is currently the second most common cause of death among college students. As the showdown between good and evil approaches with its accompanying trials and tribulations, Satan is increasingly striving to overcome the Saints with despair, discouragement, despondency, and depression. Yet, we as children of God should be the most optimistic and the least pessimistic. The economy is getting many people down, the cost of living, competition, and some people just life to make life Hell on others. For while we know that peace shall be taken from the Earth, and the Devil shall have power over his own dominion, we are also assured that the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst. God will be directing us through the troubled times ahead, and it becomes our individual responsibility to see that each of us remains faithful to God and his teachings. #RandolphHarris 4 of 16
If the pleasure experienced in contemplating a beautiful landscape is an intrinsic good, then the beautiful aspects of the landscape itself are inherent goods. Our intellectual contemplations should be on the ultimate good. One who remains steadfast and is not overcome, by virtue will be saved. We must keep it in our minds that we should be desirable or beings of interest, and there is a variety of distinct features by virtue of which concrete wholes may qualify as instances of intrinsic good. Human beings share a common nature or essence. Humans were essentially or by nature a rational animal, rationality being the one significant trait distinguishing them from the beast. Consequently, the human being’s highest good will consist in the exercise of his or her rational powers, or contemplation. All people are endowed by their creator with a natural tendency to seek beatitude. This tendency may lie dormant or be perverted, but it cannot be eradicated. God draws us toward himself like a magnet. To resist this attraction is to pervert our nature. By allowing ourselves to be drawn to God, we fulfill our nature and experience the greatest satisfaction of which we are capable. #RandolphHarris 5 of 16
All subjectivist agree that nothing is proper object of choice unless there is reason to believe that its desirable consequences outweigh its negative consequences, if it has any. To determine whether a proposed inherent good has on the whole more desirable than undesirable subjective consequences requires empirical knowledge of the properties and casual effects of the alleged inherent good. It is, however, true that decision as to what subjective states qualify as intrinsically good are almost certainly conditioned by such factors as personal temperament, education, cultural conditioning, and historical circumstances. To help us from being overcome by the devil’s design of despair, discouragement, depression, and despondency, the Lord have provided at least a dozen ways which, if followed, will lift our spirits and send us on our way rejoicing. All inherent goods must have the property of conducing to happiness and only those things are inherently good which do conduce to happiness. The concept of happiness consists in activity in accordance with human nature. Despair comes because of iniquity. #RandolphHarris 6 of 16
When I do good, I feel good. And when I do bad, I feel bad. Sin pulls a person down into despondency and despair. The best-known effort to provide criteria for evaluating choices to consider the relative merits of proposed inherent goods, including things as the intensity and duration of the pleasures or pains which the alleged goods tend to produce and the number of persons capable of benefiting from them. Good experiences have only one common denominator—God. While people may take some temporary pleasure in sin, the end result is unhappiness. Wickedness never was happy. Hurt and pain involves wickedness. Sin creates disharmony with God and is depressing to the spirit. Therefore, any person would do well to examine oneself to see that one is in harmony with all of God’s laws. Every law kept being some particular blessings. Every law broken brings a particular blight. Those who are heavy laden with despair should come unto the Lord, for his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Happiness is a life of many pleasures and few pains. Satisfaction often accompanies the performance of one’s moral duty or the sense of achievement and self-esteem often accompanying creative work. #RandolphHarris 7 of 16
A kind of life which is favorable to happiness is a life of uprightness, not given to excesses, and infused with understanding of the World and a person’s place in it. This also includes interests in other people and in causes, and acceptance of an objective picture of oneself. Prayer can put us in touch with God, our greatest source of comfort and counsel. Pray always that you may come to conqueror—persistent prayer. Exerting all my powers to call upon God to delivery me is the method I use to keep the adversary from destroying me. This is also a key to use in keeping depression from destroying us. When the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, everything seems illuminated. Instead of letting fiends weave ropes of pure hell around us, we should work at taking care of the spiritual, mental, social, and physical needs of ourselves and those whom we are charged to help. There is plenty of work to do to move forward the Kingdom of God. The condition of the physical body can affect the spirit. That is why the Lord gave us the Word of Wisdom. We should retire to our beds early and rise early, and should not run faster than we have strength, and use moderation in all good things. Also, the healthier our food is, the better it will be for us. Food can affect the mind, and deficiencies in certain elements in the body can promote mental depression. #RandolphHarris 8 of 16
A good physical examination periodically is a safeguard and may spot problems that can be remedied. Rest and physical exercise are essential, and a walk in the fresh air can refresh the spirit. Wholesome recreation is a part of our religion, and a change of pace is necessary, and even its anticipation can life the spirit. Reading is also important. Many people have been enlightened, enlivened, and comforted by a good book. And certainly, we can say that a person is happy even if her or she is not feeling joy at good fortune all the time. However, if a person is happy, one will not be subject (expect briefly—for example, in connection with disappointments about noncentral things) to gloom, stress, restlessness, depression, discouragement, and shame for these feelings will not occur if one likes the total pattern of one’s life insofar as the parts one deems important are concerned. We have a special food for the soul of one in distress. We are blessed with Doctrine and Covenants, modern revelation. The words of the prophets are crucial reading and can give direction and comfort in an hour when one is down. A period of a person’s life may said to be happy of the person was happy during most of it. #RandolphHarris 9 of 16
We often speak of feeling happy. This means feeling the way one typically or ideally does if one is happy—that is, being neither depressed nor stressed and moreover having at least one of the optimistic feelings characteristic of being happy, such as enjoying what one is doing, feeling joy, and so forth. One can be happy, of course, without actually feeling happy all the time. In a particularly stressful time, or in the anticipation of a critical event, one can see for a blessing and receive solace and direction for one’s soul. Happiness is not identical with welfare or well-being. A person can be quite happy in a situation which is harmful to one if one does not know it is, and perhaps even if one does. Thus, a person’s fortune may be dwindling if it is invested in bonds during a time of inflation, but one may be quite happy if one is ignorant of economics or even if one sees what is happening (perhaps he is of the priesthood). Furthermore, we may contribute to a person’s welfare without affecting one’s happiness: for instance, we may improve one’s standard of living, but not make that individual happier if one was quite content with the pattern of one’s life before, or if one regards the change as unimportant. #RandolphHarris 10 of 16
The fatherhood of God is the core of our being. The infinite worth of the human soul, and the ethical ideal of the Kingdom of God makes sense for modern minds. Parents should live so that the can bless their spouses and children. To receive, and then consistently and prayerfully ponder, one’s patriarchal blessing can give helpful insight, particularly in an hour of need. The sacrament will bless the souls of all those who worthily partake of it, and as such it should be taken often, even by the bedfast. Periodic fasting can help clear up the mind and strengthen the body and spirit. However, you have to use wisdom and do only what is reasonable for you, and in this time also meditate and pray and reduce work. Education is the self-development of the individual. The fellowship of true friends who can hear you, share your joys, help carry your burdens, and correctly counsel you is priceless. For one who has been in the prison of depression, how sweet the voice of a friend is; one token of friendship from any source whatever awakens and calls into action every sympathetic feeling. Ideally, your family ought to be your closet friend. Most important, we should week to become the friend of our Father in Heaven and our brother Jesus the Christ. #RandolphHarris 11 of 16
The only authentic self-activity is God, as the unmoved motion and self-contained existence of Reason, which, as Reason, is also personal. We receive the Absolute into the heart the symbols. What a blessing to be in the company of those who edify you. To have friends, one should be friendly. Friendships should begin at home and then be extended to encompass the home teachers, quorum leader, bishop, and other Church teachers and leaders. To meet often with the Saints and enjoy their companionship can up lift the heart. May bright sunshine, youthful vigor, beautiful appearance and comfortable smile belong to you forever! Inspiring music may fill the soul with Heavenly thoughts, move one to righteous action, or speak peace to the soul. When Saul was troubled with an evil spirit, David played for him with harp and Soul was refreshed and the evil spirit departed. When the mind is afflicted by temptations, sing aloud, to keep before your mind the inspiring words and thus crowd out the evil thoughts. For example, silver and gold, silver and gold, I would rather have Jesus than silver and gold. This could also be done to crowd our debilitating, depressive thoughts. #RandolphHarris 12 of 16
When we are sick, it may seem like we have sunk into the lowest put of Nova Scotia and the Rocky Mountains are piled on top of us, but do not be discouraged. God’s most striking victories arise out of the graves of apparent defeat. Hang on, exercise faith, and keep up the good courage and you will come out in top of the Rocky Mountains. There are times when you simply have to righteously hang on and outlast the devil until his depressive spirit leaves you. Your adversity and your afflictions, shall be but a small moment. And then, if we endure it well, God shall exalt us on high. Wait on God and he will work, but to not wait in spiritual sulks because you cannot see what is happening. Are we detached enough from out spiritual hysterics to wait on God? To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn to do what we are told. God never made a promise that was too good to be true. To press on in noble endeavors, even while surrounded by a cloud of depression, will eventually bring you out on top into the Sunshine. While you are going through your trial, you can recall your past victories and count the blessings that you do have with a sure hope of greater ones to follow if you are faithful. #RandolphHarris 13 of 16
Have certain knowledge that in due time God will wipe away all tears and that God has prepared for us love. Every accountable child of God needs to set goals, both short-term and long-term and short-term, as these goals are important to ensure growth and sustainability. Short-term objectives represent the goals individual sets that are centered on tasks that can be achieved within the next six months or, at the outset, within one year. An example of a short-term goal might to be increase savings by 10 percent. Long-term objectives define any goal that has a time frame exceeding one year. Long term plans can be buying a house, growing annual revenue. While they take more time than short-term objectives, long-term goals must be realistic and time bound. A person who is pressing forward to accomplish worthy goals can soon put despondency under his or her feet, and once goals are accomplished, others can be set up. Some till be continuing goals. Each week when we partake of the sacrament we commit ourselves to the goals of taking upon ourselves the name of Christ, of always remember him and keeping his commandments. We must increase in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and humans. #RandolphHarris 14 of 16
To grow in wisdom, we have to also focus on our spiritual goals, mental, physical, and social. There is a lifetime goal to become more Christ like, to perfect ourselves in every virtue as he has done, to seek his face, and to work to make our calling and election sure. Forget the things which are behind us, and reach forth unto those things that are before us. We must press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ. Let our minds be filled with the goal of being like the Lord, and you will crowd out depressing thoughts as you anxiously seek to know him and do his will. Let this mind be open to you. Look unto God in every thought. And what will follow if we do? We will keep in perfect peace, if our mind is focused on God. Salvation is nothing more nor less than to triumph over all our enemies and put them under our feet. We can rise above the enemies of despair, depression, discouragement, and despondency by remembering that God provides righteous alternatives. You will be able to bear temptation and escape it. Yes, life is a test; it is a probation; and perhaps being away from our Heavenly home we feel we are strangers and pilgrims on the Earth. #RandolphHarris 15 of 16
We are pressing forth as Christians to gain entrance to the celestial city. That is our goal. Essentially, goals that are superfluous or which detract from our mission should have a subordinate, lesser, or smaller role, if one at all, to more serious and beneficial objectives. To get to the celestial city, we have to overcome many obstacles, one of which is to escape from the Giant Despair. To life our spirit and send us on our way rejoicing, the devil’s design of despair, discouragement, depression, and despondency can be defeated in a dozen ways, namely: repentance, prayer, service, work, health, reading, blessings, fasting, friends, music, endurance, and goals. May we use them all in the difficult days ahead so that we Christian pilgrims will have greater happiness here and go on to a fullness of joy in the highest realms of the celestial kingdom is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Greater than fear is love. Love dissolves all fear, casts out all doubt and sets the captive free. Love, like River of Life, flows through me and refreshes me with its eternal blessing. Love cannot be afraid; it is fearless and strong, and is mighty in its works. It can accomplish all things through the inner light of that faith in God which fills my very being with a powerful presence. #RandolphHarris 16 of 16
I Give the Truths of Tomorrow, I Prefer the Mistakes of Today
Even though it is a painful for a time, it is not the end. The World may be regarded as in some way an emanation from, or self-expression of, God. God, as first cause, can suspend or transform secondary causes in order to perform his will. When he does so, his action is called a miracle. A miracle does not violate nature. It is a case of nature behaving in an abnormal way through a special act of the same creative power which is at work in the normal process that can be subsumed under scientific laws. If the essence of finite being is to be dependent on God’s will (and so to possess a potential obedientialis in relation to it), miraculous acts are not less natural than nonmiraculous one. However, while the abnormal character of an event is empirically verifiable, its miraculous character as an act of God can be discerned by faith alone. Faith is the subtle chain that binds us to the infinite. In God’s plan of happiness, we are not so much looking for someone perfect but for a perfect person with whom, throughout a lifetime, we can join efforts to create a loving, lasting, and more perfect relationship. That is the goal. Those who save their relationships understand that pursuit takes time, patience, and above all, the blessing of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9
Patience will cure all evils. God acts on people both by nature (through his general providence) and by grace (through the supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit). Omniscience is entailed by infinity. God knows the future freely chosen human acts, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ requires you to be kind, envy not, seek not your own, not be easily provoked, think no evil, and rejoice in the truth. In other words, it requires charity, the pure love of Christ. All this will not happen in an instant. Great relationships are built by time, devotion, commitment, and love over a life time. And that is good news. God’s nature cannot change (for change implies imperfection) and this was affirmed by Plato and the Old Testament. God cannot suffer change from an external nor an internal cause. No matter how flat your relationship may be at the present, if you keep adding gems of kindness, compassion, listening, sacrifice, understanding, and selflessness, eventually a might pyramid will begin to grow. Uncommon faith believes above and beyond and gives you a boldness and a confidence to believe for the extraordinary. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9
If your perfect relationship takes forever, remember that it may be a gradual work, but it does not have to be a cheerless one. In fact, at the risk of stating the obvious, divorce rarely happens when the husband and wife are happy. So be happy! There is no obstacle too difficult for you to overcome. No dreams put in your heart by God are too big to accomplish. And astonish your spouse by making him or her happy. Those who save their relationships choose happiness. Do not be intimidated. Those for you are greater than those against you. You are not weak, defeated, nor powerless; you are a child of the Most High God. Most people are about us happy as they make up their minds to be. Seek happiness and you will find it. If we look for imperfections in our spouse or irritations in our relationship, we will certainly find them, because everyone has some. On the other hand, if we look for good, we will surely find it, because everyone has many good qualities. The greatest force in the Universe is breathing in your direction. If anyone would tell you the shortest, surest way to happiness, one must tell you to make it a rule to yourself to thank and praise God for everything that happiness to you. #RandolphHarris 3 of 9
Those who save relationships pull out the weeds and waters the flowers. For it is certain that whatever seeming calamity happens to you, if you thank and praise God for it, you turn it into a blessing. The same power that raised Christ from the dead lives on inside of you. You are greater than anything against you, and God controls your destiny. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. It is just a matter of time before God promotes you to a new level. It is important to celebrate the small acts of grace that spark tender feelings of charity. Those who save marriages save future generations. Remember why you fell in love and work each day to make your marriage stronger and happier. If you are to become all God created you to be, you cannot let a hurt, a loss, a bad break, or disappointment cause you to sit on the sidelines. If you are facing a big giant challenge, do not focus on the size of the problem; focus on the size of your God. He has brought you through in the past, and he will bring you through in the future. God has something amazing just up in front of you. He has a new level of your destiny God will not only bring you out, he will bring you out better off than you were before! #RandolphHarris 4 of 9
My dear friends, let us do our very best to be numbered among those hallowed and happy souls who save their marriages. Every family have moments of awkwardness. We all have unique spirits and are influenced in different ways by our experiences. We can choose to celebrate these differences and appreciate them for adding richness and constant surprises to our lives. Self-concepts have a major impact on behavior. We creatively build our self-concepts out of daily experiences. Then we slowly revise them as we have new experiences. Once a stable self-concept exists, it tends to shape our subjective World by guiding what we attend to, remember and think about. Sometimes members of our families make choices or do things that are thoughtless, hurtful, or immoral. What should we do in these cases? Whatever problems your family is facing, whatever you must do to solve them, the beginning and the end solution is charity, the pure love of Christ. Without this love, even seemingly perfect families struggle. With it, even families with great challenges succeed. Charity never fails. It is true for saving marriages! It is true for saving families! #RandolphHarris 5 of 9
When we have problems we have to learn to live with them until such a time as God delivers us from them. We must pray for the grace to endure them without murmuring. Problem patiently endure will work for our spiritual perfecting. They harm us only when we resist them or endure them unwillingly. In addition to natural knowledge of God, there is a supernatural knowledge revealed by Christ and received through faith. The great enemy of charity is egotistical pride. Egotistical pride is one of the biggest reasons marriages and families struggle. Egotistical pride is short-tempered, unkind, and envious. It exaggerates its own strength and ignores truth and virtues of others. Egotistical pride is selfish and easily provoked. It assumes evil intent where there is none and hides its own weaknesses behind clever excuses. Egotistical pride is cynical, pessimistic, angry, and impatient. Indeed, if charity is the pure love of Christ, then egotistical pride is the defining characteristic of Satan. Society is to be transformed, then (even if only Slowly and gradually), by means of a change in people’s opinions—chief among them their opinions about is desirable. #RandolphHarris 6 of 9
The right action is the one that makes for the greatest happiness of the greatest number. However, this is not derived from egoism: the greatest happiness principle is ultimate, and cannot be derived from self-interest. Egotistical pride may be a common human failing. However, it is not of our spiritual heritage, and it has no place among holders of God. Life is short. Regrets can last a long time—some will have repercussions that echo through eternity. The way you treat your spouse, children, parents, siblings or friends may influence generations to come. What legacy do you want to leave your posterity? One of harshness, vengeance, anger, fear, or isolation? Or one of love, humility, forgiveness, compassion, spiritual growth, and unit? People can never fully understand the principle of Universal benevolence, simply because they cannot hope to know all their fellows intimately. However, this is an ideal toward which we can strive and which, even if it can never be reached, can always be brought a little closer. For the sake of your family relationships, for the sake of your soul, please be merciful, for mercy triumphs over judgment. Set aside egotistical pride. #RandolphHarris 7 of 9
The right to emotions are those that we feel when we see all the facts clearly. When we analyze these emotions, we find that they are consistent with the greatest happiness principle. Sincerely apologizing to your children, your wife, your family, or your friends is not a sign of weakness but of strength. Is being right more important than fostering an environment of nurturing, healing, and love? There are good and bad reasons for feeling frightened or angry. Fear is appropriate in a situation of danger. We do not doubt that if once we make a person see the facts of the situation, the emotion of fear will come of its own accord. In the same way, if we want people to feel the appropriate emotions of benevolence, pity, affection, and so one, we can do it by making them realize the full facts about human beings. It is in this sense the people are naturally good. Even when you are not at fault—perhaps especially when you are not at fault—let love conquer egotistical pride. If you do this, whatever adversity you are facing will pass, and because of the love of God in your hearts, contention will fade. These principles of saving relationships apply to all of us, regardless of whether we are married, divorce, windowed, or single. We all can be saviors of strong families. #RandolphHarris 8 of 9
Since we cannot know everyone intimately, we have to rely on generalizations, any one of which may be seriously misleading when applied to a given individual. Such generalizations form, as it were, a distorting glass through which we look at the World. And, since virtue depends on feeling the appropriate emotions toward other human beings, emotions which depend on a clear perception of all particulars, the logical proposition is an adequate explanation of human frailty. It is also what is meant by prejudice. In our efforts to save our marriages and families, as in all things, let us follow the example of the One who saves us. The Savior won our souls with love. Jesus Christ is our Master. His work is our work. It is a saving work, and it begins in our houses. Love in the fabric of the plan of salvation is selfless and seeks the well-being of others. That is the love our Heavenly Father has for us. A we emulate the Savior’s love, he will surely bless and prosper our righteous efforts to save our marriages and strengthen our families. May the Lord bless you in your untiring and righteous efforts to be numbered among those who save. This is my prayer in the name of Christ, amen. God is going to make the rest of your life the best of your life. #RandolphHarris 9 of 9
Our National Problem is Erosion of National Morality
Our greatest national problem is erosion. Not erosion of soil, but erosion of the national morality. Waking up from a nap and thinking this cannot be real. In the crisis through which we are now passing, we have been fully warned. This has brought forth some criticism. There are some of us who do not want to hear the message. It embarrasses us. The things which are threatening our lives, our welfare, our freedoms are the very things some of us have been condoning. Many do not want to be disturbed as they continue to enjoy their comfortable complacency. Cognition are thoughts. Dissonance means clashing. Cognitive dissonance appears in virtually all evaluations and decision and is the central mechanism by which we experience new differences in the World. When we see other people behave differently to our images of them, when we hold any conflicting thought, we experience dissonance. Dissonance increased with the importance and impact of the decision, or situation, along with the difficulty of reversing it. Cognitive dissonance is central to many forms of persuasion to change beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors. Then tension can be injected suddenly or allowed to build up over time. #RandolphHarris 1 of 13
Our lives rest upon eternal truth and truth can never be deserted safely. It is probably a self-deception; the investigator follows the chain of association from the one element which is take up until that individual finds the chain breaking off. For instance, when you see the people in your immediate circle mean you no good. The signs are present, but the rational brain tends to overpower the idea that the people in your live are involved in a conspiracy to harm you because the idea seems ludicrous. Although you see the signs, and they have been ongoing, you try and suppress them and pray that life returns to normal. However, although you know you are not being outlandish, you know there is nothing you can say or do about the situation because pack mentality tends to be strong. People involved in pack mentality are usually driven by greed and fear. Often times, leaders in the community are allowed to get away with abuse. For instance, Jerry Sandusky built a sophisticated grooming operation, outsourcing to child-care professional the task of locating vulnerable teenage boys, whole playing the role of a lovable goofball. Effort is made to lull people away into a false security. Proposals will be and are being offered and programs sponsored that have wide appeal. #RandolphHarris 2 of 13
Attractive labels are usually attached to the most dangerous programs, often in the name of public welfare and personal security. Again, let us not be misled. We live in an age of appeasement—the sacrificing of principle. Appeasement is not the right answer. It is never the right answer. Jerry Sandusky, a respected football coach at Penn State University, he systematically abused at least 10 boys over a span of 15 years. The victims were scared and reluctant to tell anyone about it, including peers who admired Jerry Sandusky. People like Jerry Sandusky masquerade under various names, but all may be recognized by one thing—one thing they all have in common: to erode away character and one’s freedom to think and act for one’s self. Freedom can be killed by neglect as well as by direct attack. Too long have too many Americas, and people of the free World generally, stood by as silent accessories to the crimes of assault against freedom—assault against basic economic and spiritual principles and traditions that have made nations strong. #RandolphHarris 3 of 13
The reason people fear telling anyone when they are abused is because not only is it embarrassing, but when you report the abuse there is a chance no one will believe you, or they may not take action because the abuser is someone well liked in the community. People like Jerry Sandusky prey upon young men who are minors and still developing. They come off as nice guys who just want to be your friend and will do something seemingly nice, like invite you to the mall. However, on the way home, they may deviate from the path and take you to a dark parking lot near a river where they start to massage your private parts. When being in a position, a young teen, who is afraid for his life and this older man is rubbing on you, you realize there is nowhere to run. If you do, he might hurt you. There is no one around, so you cannot scream so he just gets to do whatever he wants. People like Jerry Sandusky are often connected in the community and community leaders will go out of their way to protect them and suppress what happened. False thinking and false ideologies, dressed in the most pleasing forms, quietly—almost without our knowing it—seek to reduce our moral defenses and to captivate our mind. They entice with bright promises of security, cradle-to-grave guarantees of many kinds. #RandolphHarris 4 of 13
The United States of America has been great because it has been free. It has been free because it has trusted God and was founded upon the principles of freedom set forth in the word of God. This nation has a spiritual foundation. America is great because it is good, and if America every ceases to be good, American will cease to be great. How strong is our will to remain free—to be good? Even though the police and your employer knows an individual may have molested you, they will still allow him to come into your job and ask you to go into a back room when he shows up, so you do not have to interact with him. As a teen, I was molested by an older man in the community, and I did not want to speak up because I did not want anyone to know and I feared the police would not believe me. However, I was convinced by a friend to report him, and he would still follow me around and try to confront me, and later in life he came back with a vengeance, and still will not go away. The man has actually been in contact with my family and tells them that his feelings were hurt because he was rejected, and to this day, he still shows up around my apartment and even taken some very aggressive actions and done some unbelievable things. #RandolphHarris 5 of 13
People know who this guy is and what he has been doing, but he is still allowed to keep his job and work with kids. The situation has gotten so bad that he even has a pack of friends who protect him and they go out of their way to make jokes about me, harass me, and physically attack me. Although there have been police reports filed about the assaults, no one has been arrested yet. While there is an ongoing investigation going on, the local authorities do not like me to go out of the house nor stay out too long because the situation has gotten pretty dangerous. When I am out, I fear being attacked, shot, or kidnapped. And people in the community are well aware of what is going on. Someone recently reviewed the injuries I sustained and reported back their findings. What is unbelievable is how far people in positions of leadership will go to protect this abuser, and he has absolutely no shame. This is why people, especially young men do not report abuse, because it is not taken as seriously as it would if it happened to a young lady. Then, you have to worry about the abuser and his friend retaliating against you for reporting him, and it can really throw your life off course. To the point you are isolated and have no one to turn to. Life has been like being held hostage in my apartment. #RandolphHarris 6 of 13
To keep myself sane, I participate in Bible study seven days and week and try really hard censor the series of thoughts which have been pushed into the foreground by the concealed directing ideas. Today, I woke up from my nap feeling like this World is unreal because the things that have happened to me and the fact that I do not really have anyone to talk to. I used to be very social and had a lot of friends and thought by now that I would be well into my career and making a lot of money and not locked in an apartment awaiting justice. The abuser is actually a reporter and he and his friends have done some very nasty things to me. And I just cannot believe that after so many years, he is still obsessed and keeps on showing up and talking about me. Tolerance is not conformity to the World’s view and practices. We must not surrender our beliefs to get along with people, however beloved or influential they may be. Too high a price may be paid for social standing or every for harmony. Let us strive for progress down the road of goodness and freedom. With the help and the blessing of the Lord, the free people of the United States of American and the free World can and will face tomorrow, without doubt, and with full confidence. #RandolphHarris 7 of 13
The things that have happened kind of remind me of the movie Fear with Reese Witherspoon, with a few differences. The main difference is that I was not at all romantically interested in this person, and this situation has gone on a lot longer than two and a half hours. I have often wondered how does this man have so much power and how have his friends been allowed to get away with this? Did a politician have something against a member of my family and hire him to do this as a source of revenge? The amount of time and money they have spent on this abuse is unbelievable. The troubles of the World may largely be laid at our doors. However, unrelenting faith, contemptuous of all compromise, will lead the Church and every member of it, to triumph and the achievement of our high destiny. The final conquerors of the World will be the men and women, few or many matters not, who fearlessly and unflinchingly cling to truth, and wo are able to say no, as well as yes, on whose lofty banner is inscribed: No compromise with error. We do not need more material development, we need more spiritual development. We do not need more intellectual power, we need more moral power. We do not need more knowledge, we need more character. #RandolphHarris 8 of 13
The Church is founded on eternal truth and has been where I turn for a sense of peace. I believe that if I keep focusing on God, he will manifest in my life and save me from this situation so I can move on and have some peace and privacy. With the Church, members do not surrender their standards regardless of current trends or pressures. Our allegiance to truth as a church is unwavering. Speaking out against immoral or unjust actions has been the burden of prophets and disciples of God from the time immemorial. It was for this very reason that many of them were persecuted. Nevertheless, it was their God-given task, as watchmen on the tower, to warm people. Rome has known a pioneer beginning not unlike our own pioneer heritage, and then entered into two centuries of greatness, reaching its pinnacle in the second of those centuries, going into the decline and collapse in the third. Yet, the sins of decay were becoming apparent in the latter years of the second century. There were vast increases in the number of the idle rich, and the idle poor. The latter (the idle poor) were put on a permanent dole, a welfare system not unlike our own. As this system became permanent, the recipients of public largesse (welfare) increased in number. #RandolphHarris 9 of 13
They organized into a political block with sizable power. They were not hesitant about making their demands known. Nor was the government hesitant about agreeing to their demands and with ever-increasing frequency. Would-be emperors catered to them. The great, solid middle class—Rome’s strength then as ours is today—was taxed more and more to support a bureaucracy that kept growing large, and even more powerful. Surtaxes were imposed upon incomes to meet emergencies. The government engaged in deficit spending. The denarius, a sliver coin similar to our half dollar, began to lose its slivery hue. It took on a copper color as the government reduced the silver content. The real silver coin soon disappeared. It went into hiding. Military service was an obligation highly honored by the Romans. However, with increasing affluence and opulence, the young men of Rome began avoiding this service, finding excuses to remain in the soft and sordid life of the city. The morals declined. It became unsafe to walk in the countryside or the city. Rioting was commonplace and sometimes whole sections of towns and cities were burned. #RandolphHarris 10 of 13
And, all the time, the twin diseases of confiscatory taxation and creeping inflation were waiting to deliver the death blow. Much like in modern times with the new gas tax in California, vehicle registration increase, and rising rents. While taxes are going up for Americans and things like affordable housing are being defunded, states and cities are doling out money for defense of illegal immigrants who are in danger of being deported. Eventually, in Rome, all these forces overcame the energy and ambition of the middle class. Rome fell. We are now in our second century in America. Here is why the decline and fall of the Roman Empire happened: The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society. Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public monies. The mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year more and more exciting and brutal. Much like how the $600 million Golden 1 center, built with 50 percent tax payer funds is driving the rent up when jobs are hard to find, yet we let the Dam in Oroville break, knowing it needed repair. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within the decadence of the people. The decay of religion—faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, and becoming impotent to warn and guide the people. #RandolphHarris 11 of 13
There is a parallel for us in American today. Could the same reasons that destroyed Rome destroy America and possibly other countries of the free World? The lessons of history, many of them very sobering, ought to be turned to during this honor of our great achievements, because during the honor of our success is our great danger. Even during the hour of our great prosperity, a nation may sow the seeds of its own destruction. History reveals that rarely is a great civilization conquered from without unless it has weakened or destroyed itself within. The lessons of history stand as guideposts to help us safely chart the course of our future. As American citizens, as citizens of the nations of the free World, we need to rouse ourselves to the problems which confront us as great Christian nations. Economics and morals are both part of one inseparable body of truth. They must be in harmony. We need to square our actions with these eternal verities. We must use every honorable means to strengthen the home and family; to encourage obedience. A continuation of these immoral practices will surely bring down the wrath and judgments of the Almighty. #RandolphHarris 12 of 13
In our concentration upon materialism and material acquisitions, we are forgetting the spiritual basis upon which our prosperity, security, and freedom rest. God help us to repent of our evil ways and humble ourselves before the offended power. There is great safety in a nation of prayer. We must express gratitude for blessings already received, acknowledging our dependence upon God, and seeking his divine guidance. The spectacle of a nation praying is more awe-inspiring, more powerful, than anything we could ever imagine. The force of prayer is greater than possible combination of human controlled powers, because prayer is our greatest means of tapping the resources of God. It is in our own enlightened self-interest to engage in this powerful practice of prayer. This nation need prayer more than anything else. God help us, as free people, to recognize the source of our blessings, the threat to our freedom and our moral and spiritual standards, and the need for humble, yet courageous, action to preserve these priceless, time-tested blessings. God is the eternal, ever-present, and created source of anything that does or can exist. Creation and preservation are identical. God’s presence in the human mind enables it to recognize eternal truth. #RandolphHarris 13 of 13
The Brain is Wider than the Sky
Every impulse of feeling should be guided by reason; and exertion should always be in proportion to what is required. Rarely people are taught that stepping into their power actually includes including softness and vulnerability, but such inclusion is a central component of what constitutes real power (power meaning the capacity to take action). The seeking of power, especially over (whether of oneself or others), is a common trait of conventional adulthood—and, at the same times, a confession of already existing powerlessness. Quite often, people pursue a sense of power, of reliable potency, through membership in a dominant group—be it a work crew, an army, a team, a political organization, or a bunch of friends with a common culture. Such membership provides a sense of security and commonly held power. The price is steep—personal integrity usually being peripheral to fitting in—but for most, this matters little, at the time. People who thus involve themselves become cool and sophisticated in their own minds, which offers them a secondhand sense of power. In doing so, they get to shift much of the responsibility for themselves and their choices onto the group. Because they never really grew up, they lack heart and empathy. #RandolpHarris 1 of 13
Certainly is true that many are searching for peace in the World, and yet some follow paths in their search that could only leads in the opposite direction–paths of avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride. Surely the greatest enemy of peace is selfishness and with it the desire to pile up treasures on Earth. Life for people who are desperate for power and attention becomes a popularity contest. They feel the need to belittle others, achieve material success by any means necessary, and always out do others. These power-hungry individuals may not even know what they really like because their goal is to be better than you. The constant one-upping is not meant to make you feel like number two. However, this is usually a way for the one-upper to feel better about his or her own life. The one-upper has low self-esteem. If these power-driven people were self-confident, the need to always be one-up would diminish or disappear. Take heed, and beware of a covetous: for our lives do not consist in the abundance of things which we possess. It is nice to see people prosper, but it should not be at our expense, and you can tell when some takes an idea you had or a dream and is trying to outdo you because it was never an authentic desire of theirs. #RandolphHarris 2 of 13
A person may have a great house, possessions, a charming family, and yet are not inspired by or happy with these things because they feel inadequate. It is not that he or she does not possess enough of his or her wants, but rather that others possess more. It is the more that haunts them, making them depreciate himself or herself and minimize their real achievements. A one-upper is not necessarily trying to convince you that he or she is more better, best looking, smartest, fastest, most popular, or vastly more interesting—these types of individuals have an inferiority complex and are trying to convince themselves of their value you through obtaining material things and boasting about them. You know how one-uppers get down, they find out you were in line from a promotion and steal it from you. They are condensing towards you, or they find out you wanted something like a car and go out and buy the exact car or house they think you wanted before you do. Nevertheless, most of the luxuries, and many of the so-called comforts of life, are not only indispensable, but they can be hindrances to the elevation of humankind if all one focuses on is material advancement. #RandolphHarris 3 of 13
Wealth comes in different forms, you may be happy with you have and you may not feel like you have much, but sometimes there is a spiritual wealth that others can detect within you and that is what is fueling their jealousy. Or perhaps you have overcome great burdens and created things of great beauty that makes them envious. Just because you have not necessarily gained material wealth or acclaimed success, it does not mean that you are not successful. Often times people who feel empty inside or are jealous of your inner peace trying to outdo you with their material success. However, times has come when a person must no longer be interested in how much power or wealth another person possesses so long as one can attain enough for the dignity and security of one’s family and oneself. We have to break through this vicious circle of comparison. It does not matter who is bigger, richer, or has more. We have to set our goals for ourselves rather than borrow them from others. Many people see the transitory worth of material things. They recognize that ambition over others leads people to seek power and domination and it does not bring peace, but frustration. #RandolphHarris 4 of 13
Certainly, history is repeated with examples of yesterday’s millionaire, the rise and fall of ambitious people. However, what makes you happy? Love? Money? Success? Music? Sports? Partying? Religion? Clearly, there is no simple, universal formula for enjoying happiness. Nevertheless, recent studies point to one generalization that can be made: Overall, people tend to be happy if they are meeting their personal goals. This is especially true if you feel you are making progress, on a day-to-day basis, on smaller goals that relate to your long-term, life goals. The relationship between personal goals and happiness shows how closely connected motivation and emotion are. Be careful in choosing your goals: They influence not only how you spend your time and energy, but your prospects for happiness as well. Today, we have a Universal search for peace—a generation of peace; yet most of those who discard the grasping, selfish race for power know not where to turn to find a way of life to take its place. Peace cannot be achieved by making a sign or by writing words on fences. It must come first and foremost completely to an individual through one’s own efforts in keeping the commandments of our Lord and Savior, for God made all people to enjoy such peace. #RandolphHarris 5 of 13
Just as running madly after Worldly things does not bring peace, neither does sitting idly. Because our modern conveniences often leave us much time beyond that which is necessary to sustain ourselves and our families, it becomes important not to spend this time idly for there is much to be done if we are to partake of the Lord’s peace. Psychiatry recognizes an automation syndrome in which older workers, replaced by a machine, may break down, suffer amnesia or commit suicide. One sociologist predicts increasing alcoholism in the automated factory—this in a nation which now has one of the World’s most substantial alcoholism problems. For some the strain of contemporary life is already too great. Medicine links the stress ailments—heart disease, mental aberration, ulcers (which appear commonly in overcrowded animals)—to the tempo of modern life. There are some people who are working themselves hard to achieve success in life and fitness and have not seemed to get anywhere materially, but people envy them because they have the peace of the Lord through all the adversity. #RandolphHarris 6 of 13
Without doubt machines will be able to determine the means and avenues to goals, but people will continue to set the goals themselves. For what machine can ever apply the considerations of compassion and justice which, as human enlightenment spreads, it will enter ever more into the decisions that affect our future in the Universe. Probably there is no quicker way to enjoy inner peace than by serving one another. There is recorded in history a marvelous period of time when this peace did indeed banish avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride from human hearts. It was shortly after the Savior’s visit to the American continent after his death and resurrection. The people were all converted unto the Lord and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every person did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore, there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the Heavenly gift. And there were great and marvelous works wrought by the disciples of Jesus, insomuch that they did heal the sick, and raise the dead, and cause the lame to walk, and blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear. #RandolphHarris 7 of 13
Some people believe that the whole work-sin notion is dead and done with. However, there are still others who believe it, and they still give people hell if they do not find something productive to do regularly. It is ingrained in all our lives that nothing short of a massive revolutionary action, or the End of the World, will really eliminate the belief that if you are doing something that can be considered productive, then you are worthwhile. And, possibly, we should not try to end this belief. What benefits can come from the attitude that work is good? One is that many useful things will continue to be accomplished. Two, work will continue to provide satisfaction to those people whose products are sources of pride and pleasure. And the skills we possess not only create new work—as invention gives rise to advanced technology—but new work may also create new skills that enhance the creative process. And the Lord did prosper them exceedingly in the land because they kept God’s commandments. The people became exceedingly fair and delightsome. They continued praying, and meeting together to pray and hear the word of the Lord. #RandolphHarris 8 of 13
And it came to pass that there was no contention among all the people, in all the land; but there were mighty miracles wrought among disciples of Jesus because the love of God which dwell in the hearts of people. There was no envying, nor strife, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lying, nor murder, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God. They were one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God. During those periods of time when people were keeping God’s commandments did they enjoy peace, love, happiness, and prosperity. God is the only complete personality, and the relationship of people to God is not the objective aim of worship, but the subjective one of identity of purpose in every creative act. It is through personality that the totality of existence is unified, not as a completed organic or hierarchical whole, but as a meaningful unity in process of realization in and through many individual centers of activity. #RandolphHarris 9 of 13
The pleasure Christ brought about, the assistance he offered, the love he showed and the life he lived made following God’s commandments more amiable and respectable with every passing year in the hearts of the people. Moreover, each entity is internally related to other entities, for spirit is concretely universal, existing only as individuals whose fullest potentialities are realizable only in communion with and dependence upon God. Whenever spirit takes the special form of human existence, it constitutes an ego; but in accordance with the form of relation between spirit and personality, not all egos are actually persons. Only when the ego freely acts to realize its own concrete essence, rather than abstract or arbitrary goals, is it a person. A society that furthers the goal of development of egos into persons is a true community, and the relationship existing among its member is communality. Communality is opposed by the process of individualization and socialization. Socialization is the tendency of an ego to assume the characteristics of objectified, abstract society, there by sacrificing its true nature for the false role of theatrical ego. #RandolphHarris 10 of 13
The goal is not economic forces, but in love, for only love transforms the Ego into personality. People are not only morally or immorally, but also to decide for themselves what is moral or immoral. No truly human act can use a person as a means; the ethics of freedom and creativity must also be ethics of compassions. The moral ideal is complete, harmonious being, manifesting beauty in the form of creative energy guiding and unifying the entire World in the project of value realization. If such a goal seems overly optimistic, the historical perspective tends to promote a realistic balance. The current realization of our very structure of existence forbids the realization of any utopia, not only because some actions fail to achieve their intended results, but also because some goods are mutually exclusive. Moreover, since the goal is the fullest development of spirit, and since the spirit has unlimited freedom, our greatest desire and hope is to find a life of peace and joy, progress, and freedom, which can only be found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet, paradoxically, we live in a World where war, destruction, contention, law-breaking, and immorality surrounds us, and many become lost. #RandolphHarris 11 of 13
We have to accept the knowledge from God the fact that each human being lived preexistent spiritual World as a child of God and came to this mortal life for a great and necessary part of eternal life. This mortality provides the opportunity to choose the right and to obtain knowledge by faith in the revealed plan of God, which will bring peace and freedom for mortal as well as eternal life. Human passions for mortal gratification, including selfishness, envy, anger, and pride must be replaced by spiritual ideals, and sin must become abhorrent to us, for we know that all we do here will affect our lives in eternity. We believe that only through this knowledge and way of life can an individual or a nation achieve that peace which is so desired and sought after. And, so we say to this generation, which is so verbally calling for peace, that this thought toward peace today is indeed significant, for it is true that peace is in our hands—our own personal peace as well as in great measure the peace of the World. Believe in it, work for it, live for it; for in it, as you follow through and work for the establishment of peace first in your own souls, you will then have true peace. #RandolphHarris 12 of 13
Prayer moves the hand that moves the World. Pray for great things, expect great things, work for great things, but above all, pray. We have been charged with the Spirit of God, which has been in our presence and is now in our presence. Let us go forth with our personal testimonies that we know God lives. God tells us to ask and he will make the nations our inheritance, the ends of the Earth our possessions. Father, you have promised to give us the desires of our hearts. We have dreams in our heart that may seem impossible. However, God promised it, and now we know we cannot do this on our own, but God is all-powerful. God has no limitations. There is nothing too difficult for God, so we ask for your favor to shine down on us. God, please make a way, even though we may not see a way. God, we are asking you to open doors that no human can shut. Let us see the greatness of God’s power. God be with us and bless us as we go forth to carry out our assignments, whatever they are, we pray humbly in the name of Jesus Christ let us see the Kingdom of God. Remember your word to your servante, for you have given us hope. Amen. #RandolphHarris 13 of 13
Randolph Harris II International Institute 