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Did You Follow My Recipe for Parisian Consomme?
The environmental influences the individual and the individual affects the environment as well. Humans are sensitive to their surroundings to survive, and because of that we have an innate awareness of our environment and seek out atmospheres with certain qualities. We have a strong need for safety and security and look for those attributes in our homes and community. It is good to have friends, to experience pleasure, to be healthy to be honored, and to have such virtues as courage at least to some degree. When we are in a place that feels safe, we are able to pursue our dreams and flourish. We affect the environment by how we take care of it, the structures we create, our attempts to beautify the World, and create peace. We are unified by our appreciation of the loveliness of our waterways, forests and the diversity of plants, bird, and animals. The exquisiteness of our landscapes is significant, and they bring us economic benefits. The environment is the natural foundation on which our economy is built. It creates thousands of jobs and generates billions of dollars. National parks, in 2016 had 331 million park visitors, they spent an estimated $18.4 billion. The national parks also create 318.1 thousand jobs, with $12 billion in labor income, and a total economic impact of $35 billion. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
The humanness of each person is the product of a socialization process that begins very early in life; some of the most important aspects of personality develop even before the school years. The new born human today is no different is no different from what he or she would have been if one had been born thousands of years ago in a Stone Age culture. However, infants immediately confront their 21st century parents, or nurse, and is subjected by them a process of acculturation that inhibits some of his or her potentialities and lets others become fully expressed. The infant is thus shaped according to our socially accepted norms and adapts more or less successfully to our World. The concept of development stresses an interaction between individual behavior and the environment and views a behavioral repertoire as the outcome of developmental processes, the concept of socialization generally refers to the ways in which individuals learn skills, knowledge, values, motives, and roles appropriate to their position in a group or society. We must recognize our own requirements for self-expression, uniqueness, novelty, and creative experiences, even when these conflict with the society’s needs as some seem them. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
Culture, as it is acquired with the growth of the personality, becomes the medium of that personality. You cannot swim without water, and water is the medium of swimming; you cannot paint a picture without paint, and the paint becomes the medium for expressing the message of the picture. The differences between culture and personality is the same as the difference between medium and the content of a picture. Human conduct takes place within situations that are defined by participants who act toward one another, the situations themselves, and the objects they contain on the basis of their definitions. When an actor enters an interaction situation one takes note of the various social and physical cues that are present and on the basis of one’s previous experience assigns meaning to them. And this will help an individual in the defining of an identity for self and for other, a definition of actor’s and other’s goals, and of course role definition for actor and other. It seems that if we are going to live sanely, then we must respect and be sensitive to differences, realizing that no two individuals are alike, and that is we really understand someone, we understand how he or she differs from us. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Significant individual change continues through the lifetime of an individual because of reaction to socialization experiences, and upon entrance into adulthood. The reflexive self evolves as the individual take the role of others and understand how the various social roles encountered are interrelated to each other. The self evolves throughout a lifetime because the cognitive structures and process is continuing the transformation of the self. Since the reflexive self is inherently changeable through social interaction, it appears plausible to suggest that as the individual takes on new roles and encounters new situation, the self will continue to evolve and change. Cognitive structures and cognitive process that are developed through social interaction and that could conceivably lead to continuing change in the self over the life course. For instance, men who are married with young children might tend to be more attractive than single me because there is a perception that a married man with children is mature, a provider, monogamous, stable, and has good social and mental hygiene. Whereas single women without children might be considered more attractive because they have more free time, and might be viewed as happier because they do not have attachments. Of course, these are just generalizations. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
In the stages of development corresponding to notable life transitions, there appears to be a presumption that each stage must be resolved in a particular way or the individual may experience mental health problems. The stages are generally between childhood and adulthood. The child actively assimilates and organizes new information according to her or his existing cognitive structures. If new information cannot be integrated, then the child accommodates her or his cognitive structure. The rational part of a teenager’s brain is not fully developed and will not be until she or her is twenty five years old or so. And research indicates that adult and teen brains work differently. Adults think with the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s rational part. This is the part of the brain that responds to situations with good judgment and an awareness of long-term consequences. Teens process information with the amygdala, which is the emotional part. No matter how smart a teen is, good judgment is not necessarily something they excel in because the connections between the emotional part of the brain and the decision-making center is still developing. So, teens are more likely to respond to things based on feelings. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
Cognitive-developmental stages through assimilation and accommodation produce the cognitive reorganization that constitutes various stages of development. Movement through these stages (broadly: sensorimotor, concrete operations, formal operations) represents, in part, a shift from being ego-centered to decentered, and from understanding concrete objects or pairs of objects to comprehending complex relationships (forms rather than concrete substances) as totalities. By ages twelve to fourteen, the individual is capable of deducing propositions about objects she or he has never seen and is able to grasp possible transformations of social and physical reality without every seeing them. This change is viewed as crucial because it allows for notions of morality; it makes possible the concern with decisions about the future, notably career choices; and it enables the individual to have affective relationships in which she/he not only realizes that others may have different perspectives from her or his own as well. The latter ability is central in role-taking and in a number of other social interaction skills as well. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
Without some kind of optimistic outlook, our lives would tend to stagnate. When I was a kid, a friend of mine was a member at the country club, we used to sneak in and play tennis. One time we got away with playing three rounds without getting caught. And, individuals who are members of different generations undergo different socialization experiences. The idea that cultural arrangements may help or hinder adjustment of life transitions has been quite influential, particularly in the study of adolescent socialization, aging, and life crises. Thus, culture of a given society can affect the character and outcomes of life transitions, even though such transitions may be in part maturational processes. Parents are the most important role model children have, and the way an adult behaves and fulfills their responsibilities will have a profound and long-lasting impact on their children. God, we are all your children and run to you for protection. Do not disappoint us. You do what is right, so come to our rescue. Listen to our prayers and keep us safe. And may the Lord Bless your soul, and receive you at the last say into his kingdom, to sit down in peace. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
Craving for the Titillating and Juicy Stories
It is not polite to be too attentive to other people’s business, under some circumstances the members of actor’s group may define too great an interest in the behavior of out-group members as a form of treason. The Bible explains that we should not meddle in other people’s business, but we should worry about our own affairs. Do not put your input into matters that do not concern you, it only creates more problems. Many people want to know your business not to help, but just to know it and have something to gossip about. However, when are minds are set on God, we do not have time to meddle in another person’s situations. “Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before,” 1 Thessalonians 4.11. We can never truly be inside of the mind of another person, nor understand what they are experiencing. Even in the interactive form there may be a reason to deceive—to protect secrets and self-image, for example. There may be things about an individual that they personally have a hard time accepting and they would rather not have their business spread all around town like the 5 O’clock news. This may cause difficulty when an individual moves into a new situation. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
Not only that, when you disclose highly sensitive information about a person, they may be embarrassed to face people from their past and it could leave them vulnerable to abuse and extortion. Not only that, the information disclosed may be less than complete and “accurate” because others do not really know what they are disclosing. Privacy has been under assault for years. Far from just minding our own business, privacy is central to virtually every liberty we tend to take for granted, not the least of which is freedom. The rights in relation to a person’s seclusion and private affairs is the foundation upon which our rights exit. It is not legal nor ethical to intrude upon a person’s seclusion or solitude, or into his or her person affairs. Nor is it lawful to publicly disclose embarrassing private facts about an individual, nor publicity placing one in a false light in the public eye. Violating one’s right to privacy is not only illegal, but it is dangerous. Privacy is more than just about who is reading your electronic mail; privacy is about who controls your life. Everything we consider personal and intimate concerns, from doctor-patient confidentiality to discussions with our spouse are functions of privacy. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
Erosion of privacy affects not only what information is available to self-interested parties, but the decisions one can make without the coercive influence of those same parties. People will sometimes shamelessly hijack one’s personal information, and these self-declared advocates just into someone’s personal life only in part for their concern, not for one’s well being, but more to satisfy their own personal convictions. During the vilification, slander, and violation of personal information the target may get attacked, receive death threats because of the sheering willing of these parties and of the government to set aside the constitution in pursuit of their own agendas. At stake is not only the right to be left alone, but the right to make fundamental decisions that have a bearing on the quality of life without interference or intrusion. At issue as well is the point at which decision may be arbitrarily made for the “common good” and whose interests are being served. And it is abundantly clear that experimenting on someone and exposing them to things you know are poisonous is torture. Not only that, but enforcing the beliefs of special interest groups over an individual is stripping that individual of their humanity, and is called oppression—the very thing countries have one to war over on numerous occasions. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
Embedded within American society is the belief that independence and individualism are virtues. There is a high value places in the right to privacy and a fear that, be invading the privacy of others, our own converted privacy is lost. However, our unwillingness to speak out and become involved has covered up scandals and illegal and unethical behavior by individuals and organizations. Our silence allowed these offenses to continue unimpeded, and people have suffered as a result. There is no justice in silence, for justice cannot be served until the silence is broken. Social pressure also works against speaking out and breaking the conspiracy. Those who speak out risk being resented and derided by the people who resent having the status quo disturbed, their lives interrupted, or the need to change, even if it is for their own good, People with the courage and conviction to speak out are often not well thought of by society. However, when the conspiracy is uncovered people might be criticized for not speaking out and could also face legal consequences. If it is related to any crimes or violence, the authorities will have to take action. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Social ills, personal crises, and even petty annoyances cannot be attended to or corrected until someone stops the conspiracy of silence that enables them to continue and allows us to redirect out thoughts and actions to a more beneficial course. It is almost a tenet of faith that behavior is motivated by a desire for social approval. If deviant behavior is what is desired for social approval, the actor will play this role when it is a reference group the actor is trying to please. The sad state of ethics and virtues is not a new development. The chain of silence can only be broken if people are able to reach consensus and agree to abide by and enforce a strong moral tradition. It takes courage to stand up for one’s values and ethics. However, some people do not speak out because they relish the perceived control, power, and excitement of being able to keep someone else’s deep, dark secrets. Many people have a certain craving for the titillating and juicy stories of someone else’s pain and suffering. If others assume that the attitudes and behaviors actor uses in one role represent the essence of the person, they will expect him or her to use those attitudes and behaviors in many other instances, and actor will develop a preference for this pattern because he or she is rewarded for doing so. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Abuse is the treatment of others or self in a way that causes injury or offense. It harms the mind and the spirit and often injures the body as well. It can cause confusion, doubt, mistrust, and fear. It is a violation of the law of society and is in total opposition to the teachings of God. The Lord condemns abusive behavior. In cases like these, if people expect actor to behave in a somewhat unusual manner, actors should try to meet those expectations, if they wish reinforcement. The use of the same behaviors for many roles may result in self-reinforcement. A role merger often saves effort when many roles are to be played, it gives actor an improved basis for predicting how others will react to him or her, it permits him or her to use a set of behaviors that are particularly satisfying more frequently than would otherwise be the case, and so forth. It is designed to provide high rewards, and if there were any alternative that were particularly profitable, there would have been no innovation to begin with. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Master Your Pain—Do Not Let Pain get in the Way
We cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today. No one is born acting responsible. It is a character that is formed over time. Responsible people act the way they should whether or not anyone is watching. They do so because it is right and we have the courage and self-control to act decently, even when tempted to do otherwise. We learn to think, feel, and act with respect for ourselves and for other people. It is a time when we pursue our own well-being, while also being considerate of the needs of others. The development of personal and social responsibility helps us to make choices, even when doing so is hard and the material rewards are few. We hold deeply to our moral and religious convictions as the foundation for ethical behavior. Fairness, respect, courage, honesty, and compassion become acquired habit and character traits that we rely on. As mature adults, we take pleasure in thinking and behaving well, as this is the best chance to lead good lives as individuals and as citizens in the community. Not only that, but there is also a concern with eternal life and we want to be the best people that we can be and have a clear conscience. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
People with integrity of heart are people to be trusted—because trust is built on integrity. Leaving together depends on trust. In times like the present, people should utter nothing for which they will not willingly be responsible through time and eternity. Honesty means telling the truth. It means not misleading others for our own benefit. It also means trying to make decisions, especially important ones, on the basis of evidence rather than prejudice. Honesty includes dealing with people and being honest with ourselves. Without honesty, trusting each other becomes impossible. It is also our responsibility to learn from our errors and do our best to correct them, not to dwell on them. With this honor devolves upon us also a corresponding responsibility. As the country herein trusts us, so under God it will sustain us. Earning God’s trust is a blessing based on obedience to God’s laws. Earning the Lord’s trust comes as a result of being true to the covenants we have made. Attentive observation is sufficient for the acquisition of a new response, but if these responses are to have any long-range effects on behavior they must be retained over time and attentive observation may not be sufficient for long-term retention. When we keep our promises to God, his trust grows in us. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
Being a person of integrity means our intentions, as well as our actions, are pure and righteous in all aspects of our lives, both public and private. Courage is taking a position and doing what is right, even at the risk of some loss. With each decision we make, we either merit more of God’s trust or diminish his trust. Honoring God means being neither reckless nor cowardly, but faring up to our duties. It includes physical courage, intellectual integrity to make decisions on the basis of evidence, and moral tenacity to stand up for our principles. However, being courageous does not mean never being afraid. As we grow, we learn to overcome our fears, but some trepidation is good because it keeps us from going into danger without any discernment for our well-being. The key to eliminating incidences focus on safe behavior and pay attention to our surroundings. An observed pattern is likely to be retained if it is coded in images. Then when the stimulus cue occurs later, actor finds that one can dredge up a vivid visual image of what the model did in the past. Verbal coding is even more important, particularly when the behaviors are complicated. Thus, rather than trying to retain mental pictures of the turns required to get our destination we tell ourselves to make a left, then a right, then a left, and we find when we are trying to recall what has to be done. As God lives, we live, we will go down unto our father in the wilderness until we have accomplished the thing which the Lord has commanded us. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
The acquisition of new behaviors can occur through direct experience involving trial and error and the selection of effective responses, human beings get most of their ideas by observing the actions of others who serve as models. We then learn largely by visual observations of overt responses by others. Effective contact with a pattern of behavior is necessary for its acquisition, and effective contact is attentive observation. Reward is not necessary for acquisition. The people with whom one regularly associates delimits the type of behavior that one will repeatedly observe. Self-control is the ability to resist inappropriate behavior in order to act responsibly. Beyond noting that we tend to associate with people who are attractive to us and who display functional behavior. It involves persistence and sticking to long-term commitments. It also includes dealing effectively with emotions, such as anger, and developing patience. We tend to be attentive to others when we expect that they will be rewarded (vicarious reinforcement); when they are similar to us; when they give responses that seem to have functional value; when we expect to be rewarded for our attentiveness; and so forth. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
In addition, intense responses are more likely to be observed, training in attentiveness can increase it, and novel responses are more attention-getting. People with self-respect take satisfaction in appropriate behavior and hard-won accomplishments. We do not need to be condescending toward others, nor have a lot of money to respect ourselves. People who respect themselves also view selfishness, loss of self-control, recklessness, cowardice, and dishonesty as wrong and unworthy of them. As we mature, we have learned the lessons of responsibility, and developed a good conscience to guide us. Rehearsal is another assistant to retention. The value of overt practice for the mastering of complex behavioral patterns need hardly be defended to anyone who has attempted to learn a manual skill or memorize material, but overt repetition of the desired responses is not the only way to rehearse. Humans are capable of engaging in covert rehearsal; they can run through the behavior in their imaginations, and by this means set in their memories. This procedure is quite effective and our ability to do this is important, for many significant human actions cannot easily be practiced overtly. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
Respecting our healthy and safety is similarly import. Our character should be fortified enough, and we should have enough for our minds to develop, so we are not easily manipulated by others. Patience or tolerance does not mean allowing others to mistreat us. And even with these high stands, it is imperative to that there will be hardships and failures at times, but being successful means trying again and doing our best. Rehearsal will take place when the level of actor’s self-esteem, the level of other’s interest, the degree of attraction between actor and other, the novelty of the behavior, and the extent to which actor can obtain privacy. Having trust in someone is similar to having faith in someone. Without that trust and faith, there is fear and doubt. Trust brings peace, love, and an environment where that love can grow. The essential point is that people will choose those behaviors that are tied to reinforcement. It occurs because human minds make the connection—awareness is an important element in this view of learning. Humans can learn the lessons contained in the reinforcement received by others (vicarious reinforcement), they can provide their own rewards (self-reinforcement), and they can anticipate the future—they can plan their actions in terms of their expectations as to what will follow from their behaviors. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
It is our prayer that we might all place our trust in the Lord, and then, through the integrity of our hearts, earn the trust of our family, friends, and community. As we understand and apply this sacred principle of trust built on integrity, we will be true to our sacred principle of trust built on integrity, we will be true to our sacred covenants. Actors can be creative and create opportunities for themselves, and to some degree they determine what they will be taught. And human beings engage in abstract modeling. They can extract the abstract principles underlying an observed pattern of behavior, and apply those rules to new situations. Essentially, they can develop a conception of a generalized role from the observation of concrete cases. The sociological concept of role-taking suggests that people can put themselves in the place of others through the use of their imaginations and by this means see the situation from other’s perspective. We will also succeed in presiding in our families with love and righteousness, providing the necessities of life, and protecting our families from the evils of the World. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
Discover Your Birthright and Personality
There is no more beautiful sight than a person who glows with the light of the Spirit, who is confident and courageous because he or she is virtuous. One determinant of reference group selection might be termed a normative prescription—the stipulation by a superordinate reference group, or by more general reference norms, that certain individuals, groups, or categories are to be accepted as authoritative in a given situation. For example, some 500 women students in a small, private, liberal arts college in Oakland, California who were asked of eight adults, who were most important to them in making decisions in academic, leisure, and financial areas. Well, fathers were chosen most of the time for academic matters, and mothers for social matters, and this is no surprise because most people are conditioned with gender roles. However, as society changes, more women are often running household and working in high ranking positions, so as more people are exposed to the real World, their views about business and social matters will change. They will see that they can go to either a man or a woman for advice, but when it is more specific information that they need for their gender, then they will go to a man or a woman. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
The definitions may vary for different statuses within the society, and they may further vary from one subgroup to another. For instance, a man would go to his father to get advice on things that relate to manhood and a woman would go to her mother to get advice a women’s concerns, but business and social are more neutral ground for both genders in the real World. In a study of spontaneous references to ethnic group memberships as component of the self-concept, it is predicted that ethnicity is usually more salient to a person who is in the minority; and it usually becomes more salient as the ethnic heterogeneity of a group increases; and it will become more salient as the proportion of an ethnic subgroup in the larger group decreases. It means that people usually become more aware of how they are different from the majority as their socialization group decreases, and no matter at what level, they value the group that they are affiliated with and it becomes more important when their members are removed. It has also been discovered that when people are in segregated situations, they sometimes have high self-esteem, but as situations are desegregated, their self-esteem declines because they have different types of people to compete with and compare themselves too. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
The Lord has blessed us with a very clear understanding of who we are and why we are here on Earth at this time. The Lord loves us, and we love God. It shows in our countenance, in our modesty, in our desire to choose the right, and in our commitment to remain virtuous and pure. We have been warmed by the light of faith. And our hearts remain virtuous. We know that ego may feel much or little emotional commitment to a given norm. Many individuals in our own society do not feel strongly committed to various important norms. Thus, the fact that they must violate internalized norms does not necessarily cause difficulties for people because their commitment to the norms they are breaking may not be very strong. And if the breaking of the norm does come some stress, the gains to be had may represent more than adequate compensation. Generally, social structures increase the likelihood that the actors will be able to solve sociological ambivalence by providing rules for ordering priorities; creating differences in power and interest between the interactants; setting up conditions that permit actors to be insulated from observations by others, which may lead to a moderation of their demands; creating opportunities for actor to form alliances; providing opportunities for actor to form alliances; providing opportunities for actors to leave difficult situations. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
Our visions remain the same. It is to be worthy to make and keep sacred covenants and receive the ordinances of the temple. The key point is that it is based upon the idea that human beings evaluate various course of action and choose those that they believe will maximize their gain. However, there is complexity and disorderliness in social life. Human behavior is in constant flux. Roles are made anew each time people assemble and orient their conduct toward one another. With the tendency to create and modify conceptions of self- and other- roles as the orienting process in interactive behavior, the impression one gets is that new roles emerge out of each interaction. While many suspect that people’s personalities are fixed in childhood, we now know personalities evolve throughout our lives. For instance, when someone gets involved with a career in law enforcement, their personality changes. They become more autorotative and protective. That behavior is not only a part of their career, but it becomes their pervasive norm as a human being. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Teenagers change as they age because not only is their brain developing, but they also become more accepting of themselves and all that goes along with that. The changes people undergo also has to do with what is going on in a person’s life. As a result of this gradual change, personality can appear relatively stable over short intervals—increasingly throughout adulthood. Adults know they have to mature and cannot be so emotional and as they age they may find certain traits more attractive than others, and so if you assume you know a person, you actually may not. Teens are becoming educated and learning new roles as they become an adult, so they have adopted new characteristics. People are embedded in a social system that affects what occurs in their interactions. Actors behavior is purposive, and the goal is the maximization of their profits. They try to create a situation whose anticipated rewards will exceed the anticipate costs by as much as possible. Actors may set their sights lower than the heights because they believe that the costs associated with the higher reward will be so great as to wipe out additional profits or because they are willing to settle for a lower, but more certain or quicker, payoff. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
It should be sufficient to assert that a cogent analysis of structural effects requires a precise conception of the details of the interaction process. How can one delineate effects without knowledge of the nature of the thing being affected? People come to interaction situations with previously learned role repertories, and they choose particular roles for the encounter, and these roles serve as guides for their actions. We will continue to do all we can to help each other stand in holy places and receive, recognize, and rely on the Holy Ghost. The future is full of noble and birthright. Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither dismayed, for God is with us everywhere we go. We are people of great faith. We brought our faith with us when we came to the Earth. We have fought with our faith and testimony to defend the plan that God presented us with. Dear God in Heaven, please help us accomplish all that needs to be done each day and to find rest. As we work, help us to be productive and peaceful. A we love others, help us to be calm and encouraging. We need your peace in every area of our lives today and always. Thank you. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
A Better Lifestyle with Family Benefits
One basic the basic concepts of forgiveness is that one must be truly repentant, having satisfied justice before forgiveness can take place. There should be no license for sin. God is merciful, but he is also just. An eternal aspect of justice has been decreed by divine law, that God is not mocked: for whatever a person does, is what they shall get back in return. History is made by strong individuals who issue commands to the masses about how to play the game; these leaders fit into the World. This is not the way spiritual history is made; it is made by exceptional people who do not fit into the World, who have a conception of the World other than that given in the games people play. What these people do not realize is that, even with the self-sacrifice of their lives, the most they can achieve is a small change in the rules by which these communal games of humankind are played. Self – (or social) evaluation can come about through a process of comparison with others. An individual’s judgment of how well he or she is doing is formed not only directly, on the basis of appraisals by others, but also indirectly, as a result of comparing his or her situation with that of others. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8
Even in self-evaluations resulting from social comparison, however, normative factors come into play. In the first place, such factors mat specify the group with which the comparison must be made. And second, the comparison has consequences for self-evaluation only to that extent that the standard against which an opinion, performance, or situation is compared has normative force—that is, constitutes an expectation level that carries with it the implication of ought or should. It can be horribly mortifying when we experience the prospect of becoming hopelessly trapped in someone else’s story. And if one can find any way out of our culture, then that is a trap too. Just wanting to get out of the trap reinforces the trap. Many of the classic investigations of reference group behavior have concerned themselves with the consequences of conformity to the perceived prescriptions of some valued group for attitude stability or change. However, what is one to do when they do not want to conform to the group, are not accepted by the group, and the group is like a pervasive cancer, acting as a source of oppression at every move one makes to advance oneself. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8
Sometimes hardworking people with a lot of promise and determination get stuck in awful places. However, what one may consider awful, others might consider a paradise. And it may seem no matter how hard we try to upgrade our lives, nothing seems to work out. One might have thought that years ago, they would be in a better situation. Then they look and are still in the same place and trying even hard to keep a roof over one’s head and advance. Another year rolls around, and they think to themselves, within six months from now, I know I will be in a better place, I cannot see being in this same situation any longer than that. Yet, three more years pass, and they are still in the same place. The influence of a reference group on attitudes or behaviors is a factor that should be considered. The salience of a reference group can increase a subject’s resistance to the propaganda directed against the group or increase the frequency of responses conforming to the norms of that group. That is why some people choose to join church, it helps them to be thankful for the everything in their lives, and they realize that at some point, through an increase in faith, that their hard work and determination will pay off. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8
Still, there is also an account for the ability to maintain a deviant perspective by its anchorage in a significant reference group or individual or have demonstrated that adoption of new reference figures (as through the development of close friendships) is associated with adoption of a new, at times deviant, perspective. For example, the fact that adolescents who use drugs are more likely to report drug use among their friends does not necessarily mean that such use is a consequence of selecting a particular reference group; the choice of reference group may be contingent on drug-taking behavior, or both may be consequences of particular combinations of residential, social, and other statuses. That is why parents who have lived in bad neighborhoods and low-income communities work hard to send their children to school, so they can provide a better environment for them so they do not have to be in a community with gang activity, crimes, and drugs. However, some people are jealous of people who are good, no matter what their situation is, and what do whatever they can to see that person fail. It brings them joy to see someone they do not like struggle and suffer. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8
And then the cycle continues where the good person has to figure a way out of an oppressive situation that they were never meant to experience. As you can see, there are consequences of reference orientations. Yet, love changes everything. Medical studies about young children report that nurturing and supportive parenting can lead to improved physical health and possibly greater intelligence later in life. Kids need love, care, and people to teach them things. The effect of nurturing could be even stronger the younger the child is because it is possible that the brain is more sensitive to change earlier. People who have families are generally more happier and satisfied, and the motivation helps them to live a healthier life. People with families are motivated to eat healthier, exercise more, drink less alcohol, and put themselves in dangerous situations less often. In turn, this suggests that attitudinal similarity may be a potent factor in the formations of groups, which subsequently function as powerful references groups in inducing further attitude change. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8
You have all you need to stand strong and firm and true because you have the Lord on your side. Notwithstanding the afflictions about us, notwithstanding the sordid things we see almost everywhere, notwithstanding the conflict that sweeps across the World, we can be better. I do not know what we did in the preexistence to merit the wonderful blessings we enjoy. We have come to Earth in this great season in the long history of humankind. It is a marvelous age, the best of all. As we reflect on the plodding course of humankind, from the time of our first parents, we cannot help feeling grateful. We promise to love the Lord, to honor him all the time—daytime and nighttime, Summer and Winter, good times and bad times—love the Lord and let that love show by the way we live. We also take time to thank God, take time to ask for help, take time to seek guidance, and then take time to listen. Take time for that still, small voice which will whisper to us, help us, and give us courage. Both laboratory experiments involving the choice of partners for limited kinds of interactions and investigations of friendship choices in the real World have pointed to some sort of similarity as one principle underlying the selection and acceptance of groups that function as normative referents. However, the question immediately arises, similarity with respect to what? #RandolphHarris 6 of 8
Social psychologists tend to emphasize similarity with respect to individual values, attitudes, and other personality characteristics. Another factor is the social structure, which may make one group (individual, category, status, and so forth), more salient than another, in terms of its appropriateness or in terms of its power to confer rewards; the other is normative structure, which may be define one group (individual, category, status, and so forth) a more appropriate or more rewarding. Our Heavenly Father does bless us when we show our love for him in all things. We will stand witness in all places—both public and private, in secret, in dark or in light places; in church, school, home, or cars; in mountain places, or beach places; on the street or in the park. The potency of physical structure is dramatically demonstrated in a field of experiment in which the functional distance between apartments turned out to be a powerful determinant of friendship formation among persons who are similar to one another on a variety of social characteristics. Structural factors also come into play in those situations in which individuals adopt as a point of reference group whose values are quite dissimilar from their own. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8
It is given unto you to judge that you may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain that you make know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. Stand as an example of a worthy child of God in all places. Heavenly Father, we come to you asking that you come into our lives and heart. As we are learning to discern the prompting of the Spirit, there are so many distractions. It is experience that helps us know good from evil. It is experience that helps us recognize the promptings of the Spirit. Experience can also help us recognize when good feelings are lacking. Dear Father God, we thank you for this wonderful free gift of Salvation and the knowledge that there is nothing left for us to do except to believe in you as our Savior. Thank you for your perfect righteousness and for giving us eternal life, which a special place reserved with us in Heaven, for all eternity. There are no words that can express our love and gratitude for this amazing free gift of grace—thank you. You Father God, are amazing and loving and graceful. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8
Kindness is the Essence of a Celestial Life
Kindness is how Godlike people treat others and should permeate all our words, education, works, and actions. The temporal aspects of exchange relations allow the development of emergent aspects of the relations, such as trust, commitment, solidarity, investments, concerns about justice and equity, and contractual agreements. The most important single feature of the exchange process is the tendency for actors to become—through exchange—drawn into patterns of more or less lasting mutual dependency. However, if one person is more powerful and uses that power advantage to gain benefits, that individual or organization becomes more dependent and the advantage is lost. That is why reciprocity is important is business and intimate relationships. Reciprocity is developed and woven into good enough relationships, sometimes without participants knowing what they are doing. If a relationship is important enough to them, partners will be emotionally invested in it enough to work at building and maintaining it. Business reciprocity as a strategy has huge advantages. People do business with those they know, like, and trust. When you give first, without expecting anything in return, it goes a long way in helping to build the like and trust factor. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9
What is your business giving away? What product, service, bit of knowledge, or piece of information could you charge for, but should probably give away instead? When you give away valuable information or goods and services for free, your business has greatly increased its credibility and likelihood of picking up new customers through this strategy. When someone foes you a solid favor, you feel compelled to return the favor. The same goes for your customers. No good deed goes unpunished. It is completely counterintuitive, but without fail, when you give first (without expecting anything in return), you will get back much more than you initially gave. Competitors may use you, possibly. However, whose credibility and reputation just went up, your business who is providing enormous value for free, or your competitor, who is now trying to sell what you are giving away for free? (Believe this, your competitors will not try to repay a good deed, and if they are stealing your material, they will not understand how or why the law of reciprocity works.) Some of the benefits include search engine optimization, increased brand recognition, and customer loyalty. A charity enduring long, and is kind, and fair, and is not ostentatious, is not easily provoked. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9
If we are not kind to others, we do not honor God. When a competitor is using you or your business and providing no benefit in return, and they become dependent on you, the coalition formation will transform the structure of the network, redistributing power to your advantage, and eventually you will be able to vertically integrate markets and channels of distribution. Vertical integration is a strategy where a company expands its business operations into different steps on the same production path, such as when a manufacturer owns its supplier and/or distributor. Family lines can be analyzed similarly with kin-based economic opportunities flowing down and filial loyalty and support flowing up across generations. Examples of negatively connected networks include competitive economic market structures, dating networks and friendship networks. Most concrete networks involve connections of both types. If we do not have charity, we are nothing, for charity never fails. Therefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail, but charity is the pure love of God, and it will endure forever, and those whoso are found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with God. #RandolphHarris 3 of 9
Judging from the frequent occurrence of such words as power, influence, dominance, and submission, status, and authority, the importance of power is widely recognized. When I was in college and studying for my final examines, my grandmother asked me did I pray to God to help me on my exams. Even though I was raised in the church, I did not understand, at that time, how God could help me with my education. I did not yet see spirituality as a holistic concept. Nevertheless, I prayed to God and that semester in college I got a 3.83 grade point average, and the next semester God helped me earn a 4.0 grade point average and I was accepted into an honors program to attend college overseas. Each student had to have a 4.0 grade point average to be accepted. Power relations are frequently intransitive. The scriptures teach us that the righteous exercise of our ability is dependent upon our living the principles of kindness, charity, and love. By kindness, and pure knowledge, we shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile. Social structure is created, maintained, and changed through symbolic interaction, and once created is a constraining interaction. #RandolphHarris 4 of 9
If people do something anyway, there is no need to have a norm prescribing it. The norm is redundant. It is a waste of time prescribing things that people are going to do even if they are not prescribed. Let us examine our lives and determine to follow the Savior’s example by being kind, loving, and charitable. And as we do so, we will be in a better position to call down the powers of Heaven for ourselves, for our families, and for our fellow travelers in this sometimes difficult journey back to our Heavenly home. We have a deep tendency to create social ties through exchange of gifts. Exchange theory offers a soft interpretation of power. Exchange theory emphasizes mutually beneficial exchange rather than coercion. Therefore, power inequalities are seen to result from asymmetric or unilateral exchange. Stated differently, power inequality stems from unequal dependence. However, a person does not necessarily require a Church calling, an invitation to help someone, or even good healthy to become an instrument in God’s hands. Domination is usually found in institutionalized forms of power called authority, embedded in or deriving from a legitimate social order. Both weak and the strong party can gain through the yielding act of a weak person. #RandolphHarris 5 of 9
Power, like exchange, can be symmetrical and even equal. Domination can take purely coercive forms, but taken by itself, coercive rule is unstable and costly. Stable and enduring forms of domination are based upon claims of and beliefs in the legitimacy of domination (including the right to use coercive force). When legitimized, domination is called authority. Different bases for legitimacy generate qualitatively different systems of authority. Three pure types of authority can be analytically distinguished, deriving their legitimacy from rational-legal, charismatic, and traditional sources. Concrete empirical systems approximate those types in varying degree. However, none of the forms of domination can be conceptualized properly on the basis of exchange. Charity and love are the greatest principles in existence. If we can lend a helping hand to the oppressed, if we can assist those who are despondent and in sorrow, if we can uplift and ameliorate the condition of humankind, it is our mission to do it, it is an essential part of our religion to do it. When we feel love for God’s children, we are given opportunities to help them in their journey back to his presence. #RandolphHarris 6 of 9
Power and influence are based upon exchange processes, but domination and authority are not. There are two diametrically contrasting types of domination. Domination by virtue of constellation of interests (in particular: by virtue of a position of monopoly), and domination by virtue of authority. The purest type of the former is monopolistic domination in the World; of the latter, patriarchal, magisterial, or princely power. God has asked us to journey, go on missions, accept callings, invite someone to church, or help someone in need. The Lord will grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with the, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, others to the knowledge of truth. Do we really want to be instruments in God’s hands? If so, our desire will permeate our prayers and be for focus of our reality. It may be conformity with respect to a belief, an attitude, a value, a behavior; it may be conceptualized as deviance from one set of norms, that than adherence to another; it may be thought of as conformity to the norms of a group to which the individual aspires to belong rather than to those of one in which he or she currently hold membership. #RandolphHarris 7 of 9
What do all of these have in common in shaping of behavior, feeling, or thought in accordance with that of a referent, and to the extent that such attitudes and behaviors are organized around a particular social status (student, mother, father, teacher), the consequence of normative reference orientation is socialization or anticipatory socialization. It illuminates social mobility, acculturation, attitude change. May our minds be enlightened and the cloud of darkness lifted from us. Let us see with our spiritual eyes. Financial difficulty is a reality faced by millions of people. There is precious little money for the essentials—things like food, mortgage, rent, car repairs, and luxuries like dining out and going to the opera or theater. That is a reality in many households. However, fear not. God is there and he has already given you the key to prosperity: prayer. It is not just a matter of asking for money, there is more to it than that. God, we come to you with thanksgiving for all you have given us, and how you have blessed and sustained us for all this time. We lift up to you our finances and that you for your words and promises that you will supply all of our needs. #RandolphHarris 8 of 9
We pray that you will bless us with your provision now. Open the storehouse of Heaven and pour financial blessings up us. Give us wisdom as to how to handle all finances, and keep us from making any foolish decisions. Bless our work with success. Reveal to us how we can earn more and handle our finances more efficiently. Show us where we have spent unwisely and how we can reduce our debt and expenses. Show us if we are doing what you want us to do, or if you have other work for us. Open our eyes to see where we are not ling your way with regard to our finances. Teach us how to spend, save, invest and better organize our money and resources such a land, estates, travel, and other forms of capital. We know that our true treasure is found in you. Forgive us for any times when we have not fully loved out that truth. We choose to seek you, God, and your kingdom first and foremost in our lives, trusting that you will provide all we require. It is our glory that we may be an instrument in the hands of God, to bring some soul to repentance; and this is our joy. May our confidence in God increase. God treasures those who help his children (grown and youthful). Kindness is key to a celestial life. #RandolpHarris 9 of 9
Speak the Truth?
Some voices speak of the things of the World, providing useful information we need to make our way in mortality. Others, whom are called alternate voices speak on important subjects without calling or authority. The alternate voices are conducting Psychoanalytic character assassination. It is a pathography, and is dignified as a scientific endeavor designed to find out fact rather than destroy reputations. That form of analysis has become the worst enemy of the soul. It killed what it analyzed. The individual conducting the psychoanalytic analysis lacked any trace of self-mastery, and seemed to be altogether unrestrictedly at the mercy of their instincts. The analysis displayed the unconscious mechanisms of which, moreover, implicated they have that mental disease, schizophrenia. They acted as false prophets in their dehumanizing organizations, whining and trotting about, listening to a chorus of voices in their heads. Many people have heard the things reported by these alternate voices, and as a result some people have been misled, put in danger, and the work of the Lord can suffer. #RandolphHarris 1 of 10
Our age has witnessed the decline of a number of subject, and has suffered more amazingly in this respect than rhetoric. When one recalls that a century ago rhetoric was regarded as the most important humanistic discipline taught in our colleges—when one recalls this fact and contrasts it with the very different situation prevailing today—one is forced to see that a great shift of valuation has taken place. Alternate voices are pursuing selfish personal interests, such as property, pride, prominence, or power. Other voices are the bleatings of lost souls who cannot heart the voice of God and trot about trying to find their way without his guidance. Some of these voices call out guidance for others—the lost leading the lost. Many alternate voices are of those whose avowed or secret object is to deceive and devour the children of God. The great shift in valuation, of course, is the movement away from the value-laden languages of theology and tragedy, poetry and prose, in short of the humanities, and toward the ostensibly value neutral languages of junk science. This attempt to escape, or to deny, valuation is, for obvious reasons, especially important and dangerous in psychology, psychiatry, psychoanalysis, and the so-called social sciences. #RandolphHarris 2 of 10
Indeed, one could go as far as to say that the specialized language of these disciplines serve virtually no other purpose than to conceal valuation behind an ostensibly scientific and therefore nonvaluational semantic screen. There have always been alternate voices whose purpose or effect is to deceive. Alterative voices are heard in magazines, on TV, in journals, newspapers, in lectures, and conferences. Language, which is thus predicative, is for the same cause sermonic. We do not wish to isolate people from alternative voices, but it is important to teach correct principles and then leave people to govern themselves by personal choices. We are all of us preachers in private or public capacities. We have no sooner uttered words than we have given impulse to other people to look at the World, or some small part of it, in our way. Language is intended to be sermonic. Because of its nature and its intimacy with our feelings, it is always preaching. This brings us to the necessity of concluding that the upholders of mere dialectic are among the most subversive enemies of societies and culture. That is why it is important to listen to the voice or source that can provide a spiritual quality, which informs, but uplifts people. #RandolphHarris 3 of 10
Among these subversive enemies, social scientists can be very high on the list. If science deals with the abstract and the universal, rhetoric is near the other end, dealing in significant art with the particular and the concrete. All of these reasons combine to show why rhetoric should be considered the most humanistic of the humanities. It is credited to individual people in their individual situations, so that by the very definitions of the terms here involved, it takes into account what science deliberately, to satisfy its own purposes, leaves out. If a source is bias, it is a threat to human freedom and dignity. Your medical records are considered confidential information under federal privacy rules established by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. However, you still may become the victim of improper disclosure of medical records through a data security breach, the improper maintenance of records, or the unauthorized snooping of your patient file. The law states you have a right to sue for invasion of privacy or breach of doctor-patient confidentiality, and receive damages as compensation for injuries suffered as a result of the disclosure of medical records. #RandolphHarris 4 of 10
The idea of humaneness, the demarcation between the human and nonhuman being, is characterizes as the bearing and behavior that a paradigmatic individual exhibits in order to promote a flourishing human community. A slave is one who cannot speak or communicate one’s thoughts. Which raises the question: Is a person a slave because one cannot speak nor communicate one’s thoughts, or is one a slave because one in not permitted to communicate? Humaneness springs from an internal source, namely human nature. This means that humane conduct is an outgrowth of inherent traits, and hence moral or humane conduct comes from the virtue of humaneness. Goodness is a moral behavior. The internalization of virtue advocates that humanness, rightness, properity, and intelligence all are virtues that can and should be performed. The mind’s feeling of pity and compassion is the sprout of humaneness; the mind’s feeling of shame and aversion is the sprout of rightness; the mind’s feeling of modesty and compliance is the sprout of propriety; and the mind’s sense of right and wrong is the sprout of wisdom. #RandolphHarris 5 of 10
One’s natural tendencies enable one to do good; human nature is good. When one does what is not good, it is not the fault of one’s native capacities. The mind of pity and commiseration is possessed by all human beings. While it is understood that some people have to be tough and mean to stay safe, and they may have to defend their homes, it does not mean they are bad people. God loves us all and we should not judge each other, we all sin. And sometimes our sins keep us safe. For instance, we cannot say what we always think as it may cause problems. On Bewitched in an episode called Speak the Truth, which originally aired 16 December 1965, Endora magically makes everyone speak the truth, and chaos ensured. Darrin told his wife that he did not find her beautiful with rollers in her hair, he also told a client that the was worthless, did not like working on his account, although the product was great, he wanted a more prestigious account. A lot of people’s feelings got hurt because they did not truly know what they were saying. They did not take the time to craft their messages in a constructive honest way. #RandolphHarris 6 of 10
Another important issue is racism, especially with rap music and TV shows using certain words. Some people thing just because people use certain words, regardless of if they should be used or not, makes them racist, but that may not be the case. I tried to explain to someone that Archie Bunker, from All in the Family, was not truly racist, he just did not have much experience with other cultures and some of the people he was around were not friendly to other culture. However, Archie Bunker never went out of his way to hurt people and he never assaulted any one, expect for the one time he was trying to defend a Puerto Rican lady from a thug. On the TV show, The Jeffersons, in an episode called Me and Mr. G, which aired originally 12 December 1979, Louise, George’s wife takes in a troubled orphan for a week. The girl really opens up to George Jefferson, and starts calling him Mr. G. However, George called one of his neighbors a derogatory term, and the told the little girl it was okay to use that term. So, she called a social worker that name, and they removed her from Mr. G’s custody. The little girl was not racist, she did not even know what it meant, but it was a term she learned. They have to explain to her that it was not okay to use that word because it hurts people. #RandolphHarris 7 of 10
People sometimes misuse language because they are mad, angry, hurting, or confused, but that does not necessarily make them a bad person. They just may need to be taught not to use those words. A lot of rap music uses a word that makes many people uncomfortable and I am surprised they are still allowed to use it. Imagine how uncomfortable it would be to be in the car with someone and a rapper uses the N word. Or imagine how offended you might be if you hear someone listening to music and they sing along and use the N word. And although it may be offensive it does not necessarily make someone racist. Racism is more when you allow certain cultures to break laws others have to obey or when you target someone because of their culture, ethnic background, race, gender, or medical condition and purposely hurt them, physically, mentally, systematically, and verbally. Some people sin because they like to. They do not have to, but it brings them great joy to hurt others and they will eventually be judged by the laws of human and God. #RandolphHarris 8 of 10
Some of life’s most complicated decision involve mixtures of good and evil. To what extent can one seek the benefit of something good one desires when this can only be done by simultaneously promoting something bad one opposes? That is a personal decision, but it needs to be made with a sophisticated view of the entire circumstance and with a prayer for Heavenly guidance. The noble person has as one’s nature humaneness, rightness, decorum and wisdom, which, being rooted in one’s heart, grows apparent in the brightness of one’s countenance. Dear God, loving essence of all there is. Please fill us with your sacred presence. We ask for your love and guidance and for your blessing, as we explore the deep reaches of our heart. May you grant us assistance in releasing that which stands in the way of true love. Make our hearts pure and our intentions clear. Please bring us to our most perfect partners. We seek someone who enhances us by their very being, who brings more love, joy, peace, and prosperity to our lives, who we can fully love, and who can fully receive our love. In our presences, we wish to see people who loves, honor, and cherish us completely and always. #RandolphHarris 9 of 10
May our hearts be open and head be clear. May life be ready to welcome true love. God, embrace us in a circle of your love and may we be uplifted by your grace. We seek learning by studying the accumulated wisdom of various disciplines and by using the powers of reasoning placed in us by our Creator. We should also seek learning by faith in God, the giver of revelation. Many great discoveries and achievements in science and the arts have resulted from a God-given revelation. Seekers who have paid the price in perspiration have been magnified by inspiration. The acquisition of knowledge by revelation is an extra bonus to seekers in the sciences and the arts, but is the fundamental method for those who seek to know God and the doctrines of his gospel. In this area of knowledge, scholarship and reason are insufficient. A seeker of truth about God must rely on revelation. The way to revelation is righteousness. Diligently seek and we shall have the mysteries of God unfolded unto us by the power of the Holy Ghost. It is important to have our minds on the things of God. Whatever it is, always know you can go to God, and he will handle it. #RandolphHarris 10 of 10
Time Flies on the Wings of Lightning
God is an eternal being, what seems to us simple mortals as a drear immensity of wasted time is to him, but a twinkle of an eye. There are two fine things in the World: to be part of the News Press and to despise it. I do not hesitate for one moment as to what my choice had to be. Behavior is dependent upon or classified World. In a sense, some people have no choice: many have already committed themselves to a reverence for language, to a preservation and promotion of its purity and dignity; hence, the press, the official languages of commerce, of the profession, and especially the government, are our focus and cannot be our own vehicles. The names or class terms attached to aspects of the environment, both physical and social, carry meaning in the form of shared behavioral expectations that grow out of social interactions. From the interaction with others, one learns how to classify objects one comes into contact with and in the process also learns how one is expected to behave with reference to those objects. When people ignore an individual or their contributions this is called Totschweigetaktik—literally, the tactic of killing by keeping silent or ignoring, or the silent treatment. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
It is important to strive to be a shining light of integrity in a morass of dubious morality, a beacon of genuineness in a sea of spuriousness. While we may not only strive for ourselves, as we attain these lofty goals they may come at no small price to ourselves. If punishment is the price repentance asks, it comes at bargain price. Consequences, even painful one, protect us. So simple a thing as a child’s cry of pain when his or her finer touches something uncomfortable can teach us that. Except for the pain, the child might be consumed. There also is a mortal danger, through the debasement of language, to a person as a dignified and spiritual being. Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that is may give grace to those who hear. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. National Socialism did not destroy the press; rather, the press created National Socialism. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
As the shadow of National Socialism fell over Germany and Austria in the early 1930s, the corruption of language corrupts morals and politics. The misuse of spirit and of language won the victory. That is why the news media is being used as a tool of propaganda. People know that if they can control the flow of news, they can control the minds of masses. That is why it is important to put away crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. One must be brave and occupy oneself with the study of language. It is important to pray. The World is only frightening only if we insist on denying the reality of evil and the beauty of religion, faith and spiritual resignation, denials which so deeply defiles a person. It is important to celebrate the dignity of the individual, regardless of one’s race, religion, or nationality. Among the class terms learned in interactions are the symbols that are used to designate positions, which are the relatively stable, morphological components of social structure. It is these positions which carry the shared behavioral expectations that are conventionally labelled roles. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
We are taught to show respect toward any person from whom one has learned, but a single letter. How, then, can I honor you enough? How deep should be my gratitude? It is readily confessed that we would find no peace, neither happiness nor safety, in a World without repentance. We do not know what we should do if there were no way for us to erase our mistakes. The agony would be more than we could bare. Persons who act in the context of organized patterns of behavior, i.e., in the context of social structure, name one another in the sense of recognizing one another as occupants of position. When they name one another, they invoke expectations with regard to each other’s’ behavior. An Atonement was made. Atonement is a satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends. The doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind means that we are not damned nor cursed. We have a reconciliation with God. Every and always it offers amnesty from transgression and from death if we will but repent. Repentance is the escape clause in it all. Repentance is the key with which we can unlock the prison from inside. We hold that within our hands, and agency is ours to use it. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Behavior is the product of a role-making process, initiated by expectations invoked in the process of defining situations but developing through a tentative, sometimes extremely subtle, probing interchange among actors that can reshape the form and content of interaction. We might object to people who conduct themselves without dignity and who abuse language—and to those physicians who use language of psychiatry to deprive people of their liberty and the language of psychoanalysis to deprive them of their individual and integrity. The adversary in cleaver ways manipulates our choices, deceiving us about sin and consequences. However, agency is ours. The greatest amount of freedom for each individual, limited only by consideration for the freedom of others. We look up, and in the Universe we see the handiwork of God and measure things by epochs, by eons, by dispersions, by eternities. The many things we do not know we take on faith. These values make life worth living. It touches the deepest emotion of gratitude and obligation. Our soul reaches after God, as he is our Lord and our Redeemer, our advocate. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Available information wisely used is far more valuable than multiplied information allowed to lie fallow. Imperfections of a person’s language mirror the imperfections of one’s character; and to purify our ethics and conduct, we must first purify our grammar and language. The connection between maltreated words and the maltreatment of human souls and bodies, and we avenge lives by restoring words to their state of integrity, health, and vigor in which, of their own accord, we could speak to the yet unknowing World how these things came about. Through one it is language itself that opens its mouth and speaks to those who use it deceitfully. However, they are forgers of lies, and all physicians of no value. The correct language is a religious matter. On the day of judgment, people will give account for every careless word they speak. We are accountable and will be judged for how we use what we have received. This eternal principle applies to all we have been given. There is a relationship between the control of language and of liberty, between the destruction of the human word and the human soul, between semantics and politics. An evildoer listens to wicked lips, and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Unmasking the Masker
The old World has three times as much water as land, but with all of its twisting and turning not a drop sloshes off into space. It Is important to guide people toward dignity and independence through love of and respect for language. Being informs us that everything is energy, it may exist in the form of electromagnetic vibration, and it is a vehicle of universal thought (a gratuitous addition), we are apt to think that perhaps everything is, in some obscure way, thought and hence in the mind of God. The human mind also has measurable power. It is well known that the brain is an electrochemical organ; researchers have speculated that a fully functioning brain can generate as much as 10 watts of electrical power. Other more conservative investigators calculate that is all 10 billion interconnected nerve cells discharged at one time that a single electrode places on the human scalp would record something like five millionths to 50 millionths of a volt. If you had enough scalps hooked up you might be able to light a flashlight bulb. Even though this electrical power is very limited, it does occur in very specific ways that are characteristic of the human brain. Electrical activity emanating from the brain is displayed in the form of brainwaves. #RandolphHarris 1 of 9
Bring people into society, and he or she is immediately provided with a mirror which one wanted before. It is placed in the countenance and behavior of those each individual lives with. This is the only looking glass by which we can, in some measure, with eyes of other people, scrutinize the propriety of our own conduct. There is not a thoughtless word that comes from people’s lips, but they will have to account for it on the day of judgment. For out of your own mouth you will be acquitted; out of your own mouth you will be condemned. Sympathy is the principle through which humans developed their sense of membership in and benefits to be derived from society, and through which they come to be controlled by others. Sympathy allows people to put themselves in the place of others, and see the World as these others do; and sympathy makes possible the communication that initially forms and subsequently reshapes (as we seek the approval of others) who and what we are. Our most important stewardship is the glorious responsibility our Father in Heaven has given us to watch and care for our own soul. #RandolphHarris 2 of 9
Each person is born into a pre-existing association of human beings, and habit will consequently reflect a prior social order. Custom and habits are the necessary bases for reflection, for thinking, and occurs in the process of humans adjusting to their environment. Thinking is instrumental; it involves defining objects in one’s world in the context of activity and rehearsing possible lines of action in ways instrumental to adaption. Great things are happening because so many of you are faithfully acting upon the points of God’s laws and commandments. It is a privilege for us to witness in our lifetime such exciting progress toward fulfillment to the great prophecy that the kingdom may become a great castle and fill the entire Earth. We obey God’s commandments out of love for God. For if love of God is an adequate motive for moral behavior, why should not love of one’s fellows also be adequate? If we define situations as real, they are real in their consequences. We take the role of the other through the use of significant symbols and through this process engage in cooperative activity. We come to have minds, to think, through being part of a social process in which significant symbols emerge. These symbols provide the meaning of objects, the meaning to which we are responsible as we incorporate objects into our activities. #RandolphHarris 3 of 9
Walk the path of faith and stand for that which is right and true and good. Social life is complex, and for it to proceed one must respond to an intricate pattern of related behaviors by multiple others. The brightest prize to which mortals or Gods can aspire is truth. One does so, of course, through the symbolic capabilities characterizing humans. Selves arise out of interaction of persons in organized groups; the prior existence of organized groups is thus implied. Society also shapes the self, so does the self shape society through the process of constantly being created and recreated; in contemporary language, social interaction is constructed. Suffer not yourself to be led away by any vain or foolish thing. Keep the commandments. In this there is safety and peace. Nothing this World has to offer can surpass the joy of living the gospel. We are accountable and will be judged for how we use what we have received. The principle of accountability also apples to the spiritual resources conferred in the teachings we have been given and to the precious hours and days allotted to each of us during our time in mortality. #RandolphHarris 4 of 9
As long as we are willing to rise up again and continue on the eternal path of enlightenment, we can learn something from failure and become better and happier. When Leo was learning to walk, he would fall and get up again, and he would do this over and over until he built his confidence in his stride. He did not let his frustration hold him back. There may be times in our lives when rising up and continuing on may seem to be frustrating. However, by having faith in God and the determination to keep trying. Even when we think we cannot rise up, there is still hope. And just like baby Leo, sometimes we may need someone to look us in the eyes, and take our hand, and say, “It is okay. You can do this.” If there is some stability to self, then reliable measurement becomes possible. The fundamental elements of symbolic interactionism include the meaning component in human conduct, the social sources of humanness, society as process, the voluntaristic component in human conduct, a dialectical conception of the mind, the constructive and emergent nature of human conduct, and the necessity of sympathetic introspection have fallen before is as our destiny. We all want to be respected and esteemed. We want to be champions without effort and discipline or without making mistakes. #RandolphHarris 5 of 9
Our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble, but by the number of times we rise up, dust ourselves off, and try again. We all know this mortal life is a test. However, because our Heavenly Father loves us with a perfect love, he has given us a map that allows us to navigate the uncertain terrain and unexpected trials that each of us encounters. All varieties of symbolic interactionists take as basic premises that humans act toward things on the basis of the meaning those things have for them, that meanings emerge from social interaction, and meanings are modified and dealt with through an interpretative process used by persons when responding to things encountered. Godly sorrow leads to conversion and a change of heart. It causes us to hate sin and love goodness. It encourages us to stand up and walk in the light of God’s love. True repentance is about transformation, not torture or torment. The core of symbolic interactionism consists in the assertion that humans create, use, and communicate with symbols; they interact through role taking, which involves the reading of symbols used by others; they are unique as a species through having a mind and self, which arise out of interaction, and which allow for the interactions that form the basis of society. #RandolphHarris 6 of 9
Human beings must be studied on their own level, and reductionist efforts infer principles of human behavior from nonhuman forms are misguided; must fruitful approaches to the study of human social behavior is through an analysis of society; that the human infant enters life neither social nor antisocial, with the potentialities for human development; and the human beings is an actor as well as a reactor. One of the adversary’s methods to prevent us from progressing is to confuse us about who we really are and what we really desire. The adversary’s purpose is to tempt us to exchange the priceless pearls of true happiness and eternal values for fake silicone trinkets that is merely an illusion and counterfeit of happiness and joy. However, it is a great source of spiritual power to live lives of integrity and righteousness and to keep our eyes on where we want to be in the eternities. Even if we can see this divine destination only with the eyes of faith, it will help us stay on the course. Human like to plan, constructing plans out of bits and pieces supplied by culture. Things take on meaning in relation to plans; the meaning of a thing is its implications for plans of action being constructed, so a thing may have different meanings relative to different plans. #RandolphHarris 7 of 9
When our attention is mainly focused on our daily successes or failures, we may lose our way, wander, and fall. Keeping our sights on higher goals will help us become better people. We plan toward things in terms of their meanings; a plan of action is executed contingent on the meaning for that plan of things encountered. Consequently, everything encountered must be identified and its meaning discovered. Even those who set their hearts upon divine goals may still occasionally stumble, but they will not be defeated. For social plans of action, meaning must be consensual; if meanings are not clear, they are hammered out through the rhetoric of interaction resulting in the creation of social objects. They trust and rely upon the promises of God. The basic thing to be identified in any situation is the person himself or herself; identities of actors in any situation must be consensually established. People of God will rise up again with a bright hope in a righteous God and the inspiring vision of a great future. Identity, meaning, and social acts are the stuff of drama; as drama involves parts to be played, roles implicit in the parts must be conceived and performed in ways expressive of the role. The construction of social conduct involves roles and characters, props and supporting casts, scenes and audiences. #RandolphHarris 8 of 9
Every person has had one’s own personal experience with falling. Falling is what we mortals do. However, as long as long as we are willing to rise up again and continue on the path toward the spiritual goals God has given us, we can learn something from failure and become better and happier as a result. Thus, identification of persons is most often in terms of roles and characters. We identify by placing things in systematically related categories of role systems, status systems, systems of social types, or contrastive sets of social categories. There will be times when you think you cannot continue on. Trust God and his love. With faith in the Lord and the power and hope of the restored gospel, you will be able to walk tall and continue on. We love you. We pray for you. We are mindful of you. The Lord is mindful of you! We acknowledge that your path will at times be difficult. However, it is promised by God that one day you will look back and be filled with eternal gratitude that you chose to trust the Atonement and its power to life you up and give you strength. You are stronger than you realize. You are more capable than you can imagine. The distinguishing characteristic of our lives and work must be our passion for integrity. Personal integrity—to be good as one’s word—is the highest virtue. Purity of language is a measure of the purity of the speaker’s soul, and vice versa. We fundamentally should have a respect for language as we have a respect for persons. #RandolphHarris 9 of 9
Earth—Marvelous Work and a Wonder
To cure spiritual diseases which throttle us and plague our lives, the Lord has given us a sure cure. Knowledge of God must be supplemented by revelation. If wisdom is God, who made all things, as is attested by the divine authority and truth, then the philosopher is a lover of God. The truth turns out to be the search for one’s own salvation, as a sparkling new presentation. Here then is a great truth. In the pain, the agony, and the heroic endeavors of life, we pass through a refiner’s fire, and the insignificant and the unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong. In this is the divine image, which can be mirrored from the soul. It is part of the purging toll exacted of some to become acquainted with God. In the agonies of life, we seem to listen better to the faint, Godly whisperings of the Divine. The wealth of insights that it brings will be unfamiliar to most. Is not aspiring to or seeking the Godlike transfiguration of one’s own soul, in and through the stern but invigorating exercise of justice and (merely apparent) sacrificial devotion, equivalent to the pursuit of the greatest of all conceivable goods for the very core of one’s own being? #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
Since immortality and eternal life constitute the sole purpose of life, all other interests and activities are but incidental thereto. And since those objectives are the work and glory of God, they are the proper work of humans also and are the major reason for his coming to Earth. Of the two elements, the one great blessing immortality comes to humans without their effort, as a gift from the Almighty. The other eternal life is a cooperative program to be developed by the Lord and his offspring on Earth. It thus becomes the overall responsibility of human beings to fully within the Eternal God in accomplishing this objective. All people can stand adversity, but if you want to test a person’s character, give them power. To this end God created humans to live in mortality and endowed them with the potential to perpetuate the race, to subdue the Earth, to perfect themselves and to become as God, omniscient and omnipotent. Our Father in Heaven the sent to the Earth a line of prophets to keep humans in remembrance of their duties and their destiny, to warn them of dangers, and to point the way to the total victory of humans. The pursuit of truth is intrinsically valuable. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
To marvel at the wonders of the gospel is a sign of faith. It is to recognize the hands of God in our lives and in everything around us. On Earth we have the rich opportunities to discover the marvelous things of this World. We can visit the most significant monuments, historic sites, and natural wonders of the World. There is so much beauty in this World. However, sometimes when we have them constantly before our eyes, we take them for granted. We look, but we do not really see; we hear, but do not really listen. We are so privileged to live in an exceptional time. Our amazement also produces spiritual strength. It gives us the energy to remain anchored in our faith and to engage ourselves in the work of God. Clearly belief in miracles is already plausible if our enquiry may presume this view of things. The usual way of making this out might be described as supernaturalistic. God reveals his nature in part through observable phenomena. Divine actions are not changes in God as they are manifestations or expressions of his will, which is eternal. Being all-knowing God eternally knew renowned miracles would be necessary. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Seek and cherish the companionship of the Holy Ghost. In faith, we hold to the promise that of we seek, we shall find. To this day, healing remains the form that most claimed miracles take, and many of those miracles are associated with visitations to churches and the shrines of saints or the wilderness. Miracles remain an important and powerful dimension of religions and mystics. The word of God and sacred places are considered to be a fountain of knowledge that never runs dry. There is always something new to learn and feel. Nearly 90 percent of Americans believe in God, 84 percent believe in miracles, and nearly 48 percent reported that they have experienced a miracle in their own lives or in the life of someone else. Our amazement should be rooted in the core principle of our faith, in the purity of our covenants and ordinances, and our most simple acts of worship. Others recognize miracles as extraordinary occurrences. Miracles were designed by the creator for very specific purposes and, though contrary to the observable laws of nature, were instituted at the beginning of creation as part of God’s divine plan. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
Most wonders of the gospel cannot be perceived by our natural sense. They are the things that the eyes have not seen, nor heard, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. When we have the Spirit with us, our spiritual senses are sharpened and our memory is kindled so we cannot forget the miracles and signs we have witnessed. Viewed this way, a miracle is an event that astonishes beholders (wonder) and at the same time conveys meaning (sign). Absent the sign factor, it is impossible to distinguish miracle from mere coincidence. Since signs are always signs of something, we can say that a miracle is an unusual event that discloses the meaning and power of the transcendent within the World of time and space. If a veteran from the Vietnam War gets Hodgkin’s lymphoma (a cancer of the lymphatic system), after being exposed to Agent Orange, and is given 3-5 years to live and told he cannot have kids, but he goes on to live beyond his projected lifespan and produced three biological children, the patient or others may claim that the patient’s sudden restoration to health and procreation are the result of prayer to God for a miracle. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
Only after a board of physicians concludes that an unexpected healing has no known scientific cause does a board of theologians consider whether the healing is also a divine sign. Because of miracles, people have a reason to believe in the afterlife. Therefore, miracles are real and much more than just studies. This gives many people the faith to believe that God is real, Heaven is real, and the scriptures are not just stories that people came together and made up to control human behavior. The power to work miracles belongs to God as the creator and sustainer of the World. When we have the spirit with us, our spiritual senses are sharpened and our memory is kindled so we cannot forget the miracles and signs we have witnessed. The testimonies of miracles might dwindle without being constantly renewed by the power of the Spirit of God. And this is why it is important for us to thank God and focus on the good things in our lives, so we can give power to that which is edifying to our souls and experience on the Earth. Do not risk the loss of this precious and marvelous gift—the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Seek it through fervent prayer and righteous living. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
Let us pray that we may always have eyes that see, ears that hear, and hearts that perceive the wonders of this marvelous gospel. Often, when we pray for miracles to happen in our lives, we are also praying for healing to happen in our lives as well. We see countless examples of miracles every day. Dear Lord in Heaven, please heal us in whatever you see needs healing. Heal us of whatever might separate us from you. Heal our memory, heal our heart, heal our emotions, heal our spirit, heal our body and heal our soul. Miracles are power testify that God’s touch is always a heartbeat away. It is important that we are conscious of God at work in our lives daily. Miracle power can happen in our lives when we have faith and trust that miracles can really true. Heavenly Father, we open our hearts wide to receive the love of God. We realize and accept your healing power of the Universe of love. God is limitless and abundant, we feel the outpouring of God’s love in our bodies and minds. We feel God’s love in all our affairs, and we know all is well. We would not be here without the power of God and without his miraculous power being at work. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
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Randolph Harris II International Institute 