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The Details of Human Behavior are Unpredictable
God will hold us responsible for all the wonderful things on Earth that we refuse to enjoy. It is better than we should be servants of a kind master than the slave to our own wild passion. All conservatives are united in the belief that human affairs are extremely complicated and that the details of human behavior are unpredictable: this we may call the complexity thesis. The nature of human beings is intricate; the objects of society are of the greatest possible complexity: and be suitable either to human’s nature to qualify their affairs. Many conservatives have accepted some version of the doctrine of original sin and have taken the view that government is ordained by God as a remedy for human defect. It is heartwarming for us to receive so many good wishes from you all during the past six months and to feel your acceptance. Many of you have reported that you are praying for our President. We feel that spiritual strength and gratefully acknowledge it—both to you and to our Father in Heaven. Most people have agreed that virtue, stability, and civilization depend on the continuity of long-established institutions. Political stability is founded on state, church, and family, whole moral stability rests upon a strong sense of duty, preferably buttressed by religious belief. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
Conservative accounts of the nature of humans may emphasize either our enduring sinfulness or our frailty. The only position conservatives cannot take without ceasing to be conservative is the belief that people are fundamentally good and perhaps ultimately perfectible. Jacob 4.13 reports: The Spirit speaks the truth and does not lie. Wherefore, it speaks of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly for the salvation of our souls. Religion is not a thing apart from life. It is not principles and ordinances or missionary work or leadership as an end in themselves. It is manifested by the kind of people we are, by our relationship with our Heavenly Father and his Son and all the commandments, by the measure in which we qualify for the approval of our own Spirit-guided conscience, and by the way we treat other people. It is a continuing marvel to me how well and with what grace and unselfish goodness so many live this sacred commandment. And is it sad to think that some may, in joyless version of the gospel, miss the special blessing awaiting on the path established by our Savior and leading to the highest joy through Christian service and sacrifice. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
I never trust writers or entertainers who say critics do not bother them. Adversity is all about us and among us. It is an inevitable element of mortality, and many have some share in it ultimately. An explosive device detonates on London Subway, on 15 September 2017, injuring commuters. This is the fifth attack on London in 2017. Authorities confirm in this specific attack 29 people were injured at Parson Green Tube station in Southwest London. Thankfully there were not life-threatening injuries. God and Christ love us with a mature, perfect love. The plan by which they lead requires mortal instruments of their love. We have the great honor to be invited to be such instruments. We need them, but they also need us. In this service, we find the foundation of those blessings that God wants us to enjoy. If you will always be more fair and more kind to others than a few of them may sometimes be to you, you will enjoy every sweet blessing life afford. The sweetness of true Christian service is often experienced in obscurity—in quiet rooms in houses and hospitals and places of confinement, in military barracks, schools, and in other places far from public attention. Usually it is unheralded, but it reflects the standards set by the Savior for those who will inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the World. These are they who serve the hungry and the thirsty and the unclothed and homeless and those who are sick and imprisoned, and who do this after the pattern in the spirit of God. To those who so serve God promised eternal life. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
Do you not supposed that this is all; for after you have done all these things, if you turn away the needy, and unclothed, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, is you have, to those who stand in need—if you do none of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and nothing will come to you because you are hypocrites who do deny the faith. Empathy cuts through our isolation, generating a network of interconnection. Empathy brings our heart out of the cold. Empathy makes compassion possible. However, empathy also needs an empathic boundary, meaning we sometimes need to take a step back so we do not get overly absorbed in or identified with others’ emotional states—standing back just far enough to keep them in clear focus, resonating with what they are feeling without losing ourselves in it. Being empathetic does not mean putting up with other people’s emotional and mental nor physical mess because we feel what they are feeling, but it does make it very difficult to dehumanize them, regardless of how strong a stand we might need to take with them. Empathy helps keep us from getting numb, heady, or overly detached. It begins with and reinforced vulnerability. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Emotional literacy blends emotional sensitivity, understanding, and savvy. It means knowing what you are feeling while you are feeling it, and being able to both contain and openly express it. That spirit is still operative among the people of the Church. We should not have to talk about our religion to others, our values should come through like the Sun in the Summertime. One of the first steps in developing greater emotional literacy is uncovering whatever shame you might have about your lack of such literacy. We need to cultivate intimacy with our emotions, getting close enough to all of them, to know them and our ways of handling them from the inside. The people whom they served have looked upon them with almost the reverence that they might have bestowed upon the Savior himself. And when they have experiences this purifying blessing—the blessing of service. Each of your emotions is worth getting to know very, very well—its nature, its purpose, its expression, its containment, its value, your history with it, your use of it. Across the World, such individual investment of self in service is happening, following the example and teachings of the Lord, who laid upon the altar his very life for the blessing of others. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Sometimes hurts to the heart are more damaging than physical blows. Yes, they may take longer to heal, but they will heal more quickly if we avoid bitterness and anger and practice forgiveness. The royal law of love is of sacred significance in the Lord’s program for his people—an element as vital as any other in the gospel. It is inseparable from them and the spirit of them. It is well known to us institutionally; indeed, the Church to which we have the honor to belong is celebrated for knowing and acting upon it on occasions of great need across the Earth. Courage is an essential attribute, for without it other highly valued qualities, like compassion and integrity, would lack the strength and resolve needed to shift into actions. Take pride in what we (and others) have done can be a beautiful part of honoring ourselves and others. The human soul is infinite and not in the least under its own command. Love: an absorbing concentration on some one object, an intense movement to a single point, a gravitation of your whole being around a solitary centre. May we honor that commandment and those who do so well personally to accept God’s invitation to impart to others both temporally and spiritually, according to their needs. That we may do so, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Corruption is the Enemy of Development
No program should set out to create failure or humiliate participants. The divide-and-conquer method might have been contrived in the religious and political realms, sharpened on the battlefield, and perfected in the dating game, but this technique can also be used to the individual’s advantage it is meant to harm. The divide-and-conquer may seem fruitless in modern times because the problems it creates become much more complicated as the input grows. There will always be resistance. Though power may tend to corrupt, there will always be those who believe in righteousness. Also, self-control and self-mastery leads to self-governance, and the realization that we do not necessarily need membership in a group we cannot trust. We do not need a chain of obedience or a corrupt hierarchical system. We only need leaders: preferably self-leadership that leads by healthy example. When we are isolated, we are better able to focus on our areas needing development. Our flexibility and resilience depends on the meaning we make out of a disappointing experience, and the strength of the relationships that shape, even transform, that experiences. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
One reason many leaders never make it to the top is because they never fail, leaving them at a loss when they do. It is not failure alone, but the ability to put failure to good use that creates endurance and success. When a person is able to make good things out of bad experiences, this allows one to transcend or recast painful experiences—or at least endure them with good humor. Good leaders develop good attitudes and lead to speak to people’s hearts, and not only will that individual, but also their audience will emerge from their caves of doom and gloom, like one awakened from sleep, to the World in which we live again. A collective force of free individuals living with the mindset that cosmic laws based on health, wellness, and survival are the keys to well-being. The goal is to not only ease one’s own pain, but to heal wounded feelings and mitigate the disappointment of others. This will allow us to find a common ground and cultivate a society of compassion and fraternity, as we withstand adversity, and persevere and develop relational sensibilities. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
It is important to actually get to know people and expose individuals to ideas that challenge their current ways of seeing. This will develop the ability to read people and situations with greater acuity; and help them reframe how they see difficult experiences. Sometimes a walk through a dark forest (do not try this) is exactly what we need to lead us to the light and refresh and recharge. Our feelings are a joint venture—a product of our interactions and the way we frame them, given our repertories. When we question our current way of seeing things, it also frees us to work together to map and alter the pattern. Maybe, even if it is risky, taking a new path is what we need because it will allow us to see something else, something that will illuminate our vision. The Anatomy Framework will turn our attention away from labeling people and toward what they are doing, how they feel, and how they interact. This will make it easier to make new sense of old situations in which we will caught. When we tether new actions to new ways of seeing, we will integrate new behaviors more quickly, and these behaviors will feel more natural to us and less artificial to others. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
We can be negative and look for the ugly in life and the faults and failings of those around us, or we can develop optimistic attitudes and see the beautiful in life and the good, the strong, the decent, and the virtuous in people, which brings joy and happiness. It is a matter of attitude. Many of us have an even greater interest in the creation of beautiful people—the type of radiant beauty that comes from righteous living and acceptance of God. I have observed many people who have a beauty and spiritual glow. The Lord has told us that we can be beautiful. 1 Corinthians 3.16 reports: Know you that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you. Love yourself. It is more important to stay optimistic because beauty comes from the inside out. Peace is the beauty of life. Beauty is Sunshine. The togetherness of a family. Beauty is the advancement of humanity, the victory of a just cause, the triumph of truth. The doorway of your heart is the place where loves resides for you are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6.16). A solid foundation is the most important part of a building or of a person. We are to be the light to others, to control our anger, and reconcile bad feelings with others. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. As we live with the principles of God in our hearts, we are building a rock-solid foundation upon which our lives can safely be constructed. The Lord, the great Master Architect, have given us perfect plans and specifications to guide us in the building of our lives. These are the sacred scriptures. They contain the words of the Lord and should frequently be read and considered. By seeking the Lord through prayer and through his holy scriptures, we learn to look for the beautiful and to develop great attitudes. We achieve guidance in the building of our foundations and our lives. Beauty is when you can appreciate yourself. When you love yourself and others, that is when you are the most beautiful. As we live righteous and unselfish rights, the Spirit of the Lord enters our souls and then radiates from us. We become beautiful, even as a holy temple is beautiful because we are happy with ourselves. Happiness is the greatest beauty secret. 2Nephi 4.16 reports: Behold, my soul delights in the things of the Lord, and my heart ponders continually upon the things which I have seen and heard. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Greed gives births to many ills—Crime and Corruption. The cancerous spread of corruption has been a matter of great concern to all people. Power is primarily being sought for amassing wealth, perks, and privileges. People’s welfare has become a thing of secondary importance on the agenda. Political ethics, values, ideology, policy issues, have been forgotten. Shockingly, the struggles for power has created divisions in government, businesses, and families. There is an iron rule in economics, it is Stein’s Law. If something cannot go on forever, it will stop. While divide-and-conquer seems like a great idea, the longer it goes on and the more people that get involved, the obvious it becomes, and it makes the corruption harder to hide. One may kill mosquitoes in a room by spraying insecticides, but many more will come inside from the breeding ground, the hole needs to be plugged. The breeding ground of corruption deserves to be cultured and the cause has to be located and removed. You cannot go on investigating corruption month after month, and year in and year out. There has got to be a point where the Government is able to say: “We have enough information.” #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
We are Perfect the Way God Made Us
All life is sacred. Human life is especially so. Sacred means worthy of veneration and respect. By designating something as sacred, the Lord signals that it is of higher value and priority than others things. Sacred things are to be treated with more care, given greater deference, and regarded with deeper reverence. Sacred ranks high in the hierarchy of Heavenly values. God sends light and knowledge from Heaven and he invites us to receive and treat it as sacred. “Protecting human life is of utmost importance to God. He takes this so seriously and personally because he made humanity reflect him. We are his Earthly representatives, made in his image. To murder another person is to mount an attack on the One who created him or her,” reports Genesis 9.8-10. Moral reciprocity—doing to others as one would have them do to oneself and giving an equal return for benefits received—is closely linked to impartiality, for to be impartial between oneself and someone else would mean doing nothing to profit at his or her expense. We believe in being honest, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all people. Traits of virtue, broadly practiced, can loosen and derail Satan’s firm and insidious grip on the hearts, minds, and spirits of mortal humans. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
How does this spoiling of God’s initially good creation come about? Evil has entered into the Universe through the culpable violations of free creatures, angels, and people. Their sin consisted, not in choosing positive evil (for there is no positive evil to choose), but in turning away from the higher good, namely God, to a lower good. For when the will abandons what is above itself, and turns to what is lower, it becomes evil—not because that is evil to which it turns, but because the turning itself is wicked. Natural evils, such as disease, are divinely ordained consequences of the primeval fall of humanity, and thus all traces of evils are directly or indirectly linked to a wicked misuse of creaturely freedom. God is the highest, richest, and most intensely real being, is the supreme good, and everything that he has brought into existence is ipso facto good. For this reason, the corruption which we call evil can never be complete; for if a thing becomes so vitiated in nature that it ceases to exist, the evil which is parasitic upon it must also crease to exist. The Divine Mind is like an infallible calculating machine, surveys all possible combinations and selects the best, to which it then gives existence. We are perfect the way God made us and all here to learn our own nature, which will determine where we spend eternity. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
The sacred cannot be selectively surrendered. As we seek answers from God, we feel the still, small voice whisper to our spirits. These feelings—these impressions—are so natural and so subtle that we may overlook them or attribute them to reason. Those who choose to abandon even one sacred thing will have their minds darkened. There is a generally recognized right to be left alone. An invasion of privacy occurs when someone unjustifiably intrudes on this right. If your privacy has been invaded by intrusion, misappropriation, public disclosure of private facts, or false light, an individual may have suffered physically and emotionally, or otherwise and may wish to bring a civil lawsuit to recover from this harm. The harm to one’s intertest in privacy depends on which form of privacy invasion an individual suffered. If private facts were publicly disclosed, one would be entitled to economic compensation for the harm that came from the disclosure, such as harm to your reputation and standing in the community. Mental or emotional distress that one has suffered from is also recoverable. And, if the invasion caused one to incur any special damages (specific quantifiable damages, such as medical expenses one has incurred) an individual may also recover those. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Daily reflecting upon and recording the impressions that come from God help us recognize our personal encounters with the divine and preserve them for ourselves and our posterity. Confidentiality is a respected part of the medical code of ethics. Doctors understand that people need to feel comfortable talking about private and revealing private information, they need a safe place to talk about anything they would like, without fear of that information leaving the room. They take your privacy very seriously. Laws are also in place to protect your privacy. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) contains a privacy rules that creates national standards to protect individuals’ medical records and personal health information. The right to control other’s access to one’s personal World, whether psychologically or physically can be attained by physical barriers or by communicating boundaries verbally. Privacy is important to not only a person’s psyche, but also the sense of self-worth. No one wants to live in a community where the government and media has violated their privacy and spread around rumors and sensitive information, and every time you meet someone, they feel like that know you, but actually have no idea who you are. They only know things that they have heard about you, which they may take as facts. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
Light and knowledge from Heaven is sacred. It is sacred because Heaven is its source. It can be deeply disturbing when you meet people for the first time and they are talking about things you shared in confidential messages, and you know they would have no access to unless they are hacking into your personal messages. Sometimes the media will stoop to levels you cannot believe and work like witches over a cauldron to create a story. In 2013, police arrested six journalists because of phone hacking and suspicion of corruption charges that caused the News of the World newspaper empire to close. The reporters were accused of phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of stories. Scotland Yard investigators found evidence of a further suspected conspiracy—above and beyond the scope of the original phone hacking probe that led to the paper’s demise. The journalist intercepted viocemails (answering machines messages on a mobile device). The board reach of the scandal became even more evident when Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, announced his resignation. There was ongoing speculation and accusations relating to the Metropolitan Police and with the News International at a senior level and in particular in relation to Mr. Neil Wallis, who was editor of News of the World, until 2009. He was also arrested as part of the scandal. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
The news media swooped down on innocent people like a plague of crows and felt that they were above the law as they violated privacy laws. It was even revealed that Milly Dowler, a teen murdered in 2002, allegedly had her voicemail hacked and messages deleted by a reporter from the newsroom. The owner of the news agencies went on record and apologized. There was also a connection to September 11, 2001, as allegations surfaced that reporters tried to tap the phone of 9/11 victims in search of yet more sensational headlines. “Many, many innocent men, women, and children their private tears bought and sold by News International for commercial gain,” reported Gordon Brown the former British Prime Minister. As a result, the government established a judicial inquiry to look at criminal activity, media ethics, and media ownership. The media is very helpful at being a voice of the community, and getting justice for some people, but they can also be a very dangerous criminal organization and ruin the lives of people by targeting them in an effort to profit from “Breaking News.” No matter which way you turn, you get it right between where the Sun does not shine because so many people are morally adrift in a secular white squall. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
Salvation is free. The sacred cannot be selectively surrendered. Money is not the root of all evil, it was new in Biblical days, they did not know much about it. Those who choose to abandon even one sacred thing will have their minds sulked in darkness as if they are in the bowels of the Devil. And unless they repent, the light they have will be taken from them by a theft in the night, allowing Satan to take root in their souls. Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. Studying history is important because it allows us to understand our past, which in turn allows to understand our present. If we want to know how and why our World is the way it is, we have to look to history for answers. History does not repeat itself, people do. If we study the successes and failures of the past, we may, ideally, be able to learn from our mistakes and avoid repeating them in the future. Studying history can provide us with insight into our cultures of origin as well as cultures with which we might be less familiar, thereby increasing cross-cultural awareness and understanding. People know good from evil and the law is given to them. God is light, and people that receive the light, and continue in that light grow brighter and bright until the perfect day. May the Lord bless us to ever and always recognize, remember, and hold sacred that which we have received from above. As we do, we will have the power to endure the trials an overcome the challenges of our day. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
The Discovery of a Secret Implies No Obligation to Retain it
Grant me but health and give me but this fair goddess Liberty as my companion. Money is a thing which none of us can afford to hate, but it is neither God nor Devil; that should make one noble nor another vile. Money is the set of assets in the economy that people regularly use to buy goods and services. The cash in your wallet is money because you can use it to buy a meal at a restaurant or a house from a real estate agency. By contrast, if you happened to own most of Microsoft Corporation, as Bill Gates does, you would be wealthy, but this asset is not considered a form of money. You could not buy a meal or a house with this wealth without first obtaining some cash. Money includes only those few types of wealth that are regularly accepted by sellers in exchanges for good and services. Money is a medium of exchange, a unit of account and a store of value. When it comes to overcoming being greedy, selfish, and overly indulgent, we all need a lot more help. The worst fear I have about the people is that they will get rich in this country and forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church. My great fear is that they cannot stand wealth. Many people believe in money, power, and respect. It is believed that first you get the money, then you get the power. And after you get the power, people will respect you. Several individuals believe that money, power, and respect are what you need in life, and that it will help you eat right, sleep at night, and that you will see the light. These types of people worship money as if it is a God, and they will take your money while you pout about it because the things they can buy with your money will attract people to them, and make them desirable. RandolphHarris 1 of 13
These vipers will take a life to get rich quick. They will set you up to get your money and get away with it. There are people who gain from their wealth only the fear of losing it. If all you get from your wealth is the wrong view of it, wealth will destroy your peace and you are no different than a debt-ridden consumer. Therefore, the answer to happiness is emotional well-being, and spiritual maturity. True wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. Be thankful for what you have; you will end up having more. If you concentrate on what you do not have, you will never, ever have enough. Money will bring about unlikely things. Try and keep clear of wanting small sums that you do not have. Our prosperity brings some real challenges because many are getting rich, more of us are waxing fat, and as a result of greed, selfishness, and overindulgence, we could lose the Spirit and literally kick ourselves out of the Church. Money and material things are on the mind of almost everyone. The great question many want to know is how they can acquire wealth? No question occupies a larger place in the minds and hearts of people today, and this is true of people in every occupation and in every walk of life. With the generality of humankind, money will purchase respect as well as everything else. Money in and of itself is not an evil, but it is the love of money that is the root of evil. Money, the common mistress of all cheats, makes them regard each other in the light of rivals. However, there are some of the wealthy who deal with their prosperity very well using their resources to bless others and build the kingdom. For man, however, wealth presents major difficulties. Loss of money is not the worst pain in itself, but loss of God is. #RandolphHarris 2 of 13
As we deal with the materialism that threatens us, we should not confuse wants with needs. My mother taught me an important lesson along these lines. For many years my father had a practice of trading for a new car every year. Then, shortly before recession in 2001, when the grain prices increased, we were surprised one day when my Dad drove home in a more expensive car. One morning my mother asked, “How much did the new car cost than the other one?” When my Dad told her, my mother said, “Well, the other car has always been able to get me where I need to go. I think we ought to give the difference to someone who needs it more than we do.” And so it was. The next year Dad returned to the less-expensive cars, and they continued their generous ways. Little did I know, he has saved the car for me and when I needed it, I went to pick it up, paid the registration on it, and am still driving it today. If we are not careful, it is easy for our wants to become needs. Remember the line, “There, there, little luxury, do not cry. You will be a necessity by and by.” God will take the stars of your life and turn them into stars, and will pay you back double for anything you lost. #RandolphHarris 3 of 13
We should avoid spoiling children by giving them too much. In our day, many children grow up with distorted values because parents overindulge them. Whether you are wealthy, or like most of us of more modest means, parents often attempt to provide children with almost everything they want thus taking away from them the blessing of anticipating, of longing for something they do not have. One of the most important things we can teach children is to deny themselves. Instant gratification generally makes for weak people. How many truly great individuals do you know who never had to struggle? A few of our wonderful youth and young adults in the Church are unstretched. They have almost a free pass. Perks are provided, including cars complete with fuel and insurance—all paid for by parents who sometimes listen in vain for a few courteous and appreciative words. What is thus taken for granted tends to underwrite selfishness and a sense of entitlement. When you become weary and feel like quitting, there is a way to have your strength renewed—wait on the Lord. #RandolphHarris 4 of 13
We all grow tired sometimes, tired of trying to make a business grow, tired of dealing with an ailment, tired of raising a difficult child, tired of being lonely and waiting to meet the right person. We can even be doing what we love, but if we are not careful, we can lose our passion and allow weariness to set in. Children who always get what they want will want as long as they live. And somewhere along the line it is important for the character development of our children to learn that the Earth still revolves around the Sun, and not around them. Rather, we should train our children to ask themselves the question: How is the World a better place because they are in it? We live in a world of entertainment in full color with a lot of fast action, a World in which many children grow up thinking that if it is not fun, it is boring and not worthwhile. Even in family activities, we need to strike a balance between play and work. Some of our most memorable experiences while growing up centered around family activities: learning how to shingle a roof, build a fence, or working in the garden. Rather than being all work and no play, for many of our children it is almost all play and very little work. #RandolphHarris 5 of 13
Frequently do we labor to secure the things that debase us into slaves, and overwhelm us with calamity. As a consequence of overindulgence, many children leave homes ill-prepared to meet the real World. Of course, we need to earn a living. The Lord told Adam that in the sweat of his face he should he eat bred all the days of his life, which means as long as you are doing something productive, you will be able to provide for yourself. It is important that we qualify ourselves to be self-reliant, particularly that every young person at the time of marriage be ready and able to assume the responsibilities of providing for one’s companion and for the children who may come to that home. All too many enter marriage who have never learned to cook, sew, or develop other important like skills. Ignorance of these skills, along with the lack of understanding of the management of money, sow the seeds for many failures in our marriages. Wisdom cannot be grafted on the stock of slavery: justice cannot be established without denunciation and disapproval of the wrong. I fear that in many cases we are rearing children who are slaves to expensive fads and fashions. For Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. #RandolphHarris 6 of 13
People who have plots in their heads as seldom have good nights as deserve them. How do we determine where our treasure is? To do so, we need to evaluate the amount of time, money, and thought we devote to something. Might it not be well to evaluate how much focus we place on shopping and spending? This does not mean that our children should not dress in some of the appropriate clothing that is in fashion because that can be very important to them. As members of the Church, we have a responsibility to present ourselves in a well-groomed, attractive, and modest manner. With good planning, this can be done without being driven to spend extravagantly on our clothing. People of the church began to have egotistical pride and take advantage of others because of their exceeding riches, and their fine silks, and their fine-twined linen and in all these things were they lifted up in the pride of their eyes, for they began to wear very costly apparel. What sort of liberty is it whose chosen religion is its slave-market? #RandolphHarris 7 of 13
Children today are often left with no role model in the home. Instead they turn to the television and video games. It seems that for many people in today’s society, money has become the thing they most cherish. It is apparent in the endless hours many people devote to their job. For some, their identity is wrapped into how much money they have. Money may be the only thing they even want to talk about, or the measure by which they judge themselves and others. With the constant talk of how to make money, or save money, it may lead you to wonder: Is money more important than family in today’s society? For millions of people, family still comes first. Without family, many people realize they would have very little in their lives, or that the things they had would no longer mean much. For people with real values, they realize that money is a means to support their families. However, as long as their basic needs are being met, they would rather be poor but surrounded by family than rich and alone. Such people recognize the value of love and of human connectedness. They realize that life about giving and being there for others. #RandolphHarris 8 of 13
However, not all people feel this way, especially in today’s materialistic society. Many, in fact, value money far more than anything else. They dream of having money, and they will go to any end to acquire it. They will sacrifice having a family, in the name of attaining a certain career level. Some may have a family, but completely neglect it due to work and the priorities placed on work. These people may think they love their families, but their energies, time and devotion are all dedicated to their jobs. Remember, it is in our actions that we truly show where are priorities are. Even worse, countless people feel that as long as they make money and can buy their kids whatever gadgets or clothes they may desire, then they are being good to their family. People mistakenly believe that they can buy their children’s love, or substitute their lack of parenting with monetary things. The priority placed on money is evident everywhere you look. You can read the news on any given day and see tragic and horrific results of the breakdown of the family. Those who place money before the family are failing to teach their children proper values, and they are not properly guiding them through key stages of a child’s development. #RandolphHarris 9 of 13
Clearly, they will not be taught values or compassion through such medium. Instead, they are more likely to be exposed to violent images or self-centered fictitious characters. And, there will late be consequences for these children’s lack of parenting. Many say that money is not more important than family, but live in ways that does not reflect this sentiment. In fact, these people instead worship money and do not prioritize being there for their family. They would even set a family member up to die, as long as they could profit for the death and demise. Let us hope that one day soon there will be a shift—one in which people start to realize that money will not buy them happiness, especially not if they have to result to criminal activity. A guilty conscious is a normal human response experienced by someone who is aware of having done something wrong. We should live modestly and avoid debt as if it were a plague. If there is any one thing that will bring peace and contentment into the human heart, and into the family, it is to live within our means, and if there is any one thing that is grinding, and discouraging and disheartening it is to have debts and obligations that one cannot meet. #RandolphHarris 10 of 13
Do not accustom yourself to consider debt as an inconvenience, you will find it to be a calamity. How much house do we really need to accommodate our family comfortably? We should not endanger ourselves either spiritually or economically by acquiring homes which are ostentatious, feed our vanity, and go far beyond our needs. If we are to be self-reliant and in position to share, obviously we must acquire some resources. If we live within our means and avoid debt, resources can be accumulated. There are those with average incomes who, over a lifetime, do amass some means, and there are those who receive large salaries who do not. What is the difference? It is simply spending less than they receive, saving along the way, and taking advantage of the power of compound intertest. Most people have it all wrong about wealth. Wealth is not the same as income. If you make a good income each year, and spend it all, you are not getting wealthier. You are just living high. Wealth is what you accumulate, not what you spend. Be generous in giving and sharing with others. #RandolphHarris 11 of 13
The more our hearts and minds are turned to assisting others less fortunate than we are, the more we will avoid the spiritually canker effects that results from greed, selfishness, and overindulgence. Our resources are a stewardship, not our possessions. I am confident that we will literally be called upon to make an accounting before God concerning how we have used them to bless lives and build the kingdom. However, before you seek for riches, seek the kingdom of God. And after you have obtained a hope in Christ you shall obtain riches, if you seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted. We must have the courage to examine honestly where our treasures lie and avoid the pitfalls that result from greed, selfishness, and overindulgence. Remember, do not confuse wants with needs. Avoid spoiling our children. Live modestly, and avoid debt. Be generous in giving to others. Let me tell you a secret you should disclose, giving really is at the heart of our faith. #RandolphHarris 12 of 13
God, our Heavenly Father, so loved the World that he gave his only begotten son, who came to the Earth and could have possessed any material thing but rather chose to give to all us an example of a simple life free from any shade of greed, selfishness, or overindulgence. May we strive daily to love more like Christ lived, the ultimate example of a life of depth and meaning. I testify that Jesus is Christ, this is His Church led by living prophets, and His tomb was literally empty on that third day. Your challenge may be difficult, but you can handle it. God have given you the grace for this season. If we were not up to this, God would not have brought it across your path. In tough times, remind yourself there is always a reward for doing what is right. God never fails to compensate you. He pays very well. The season may be difficult because the reward is coming. Perhaps the battle you are facing has lasted long than you though it would. You have prayed. You have believed. You have done what you are supposed to, but there it is. How will you shake off the weariness and see God’s promises come to pass? A big part of faith is trusting God when you do not understand why things happen the way they do. Strength is coming into your body and mind. Just receive it by faith. In Jesus name, Amen. #RandolphHarris 13 of 13
God Wants You to Fulfill Your Destiny!
In the consciousness of God’s indwelling in life, inspires character to the highest achievements. Do we never perceive our own foibles? It is happy we can find consolation in the follies of our neighbor. The other day, as I overheard one neighbor criticizing another, I was reminded, perhaps we need to investigate why it is so important to consciously choose where we put our attention and how we spend our time. Are we finding fault and tearing down or uplifting and helping to heal? When you are being negative towards another people you are hurting that individual, and the negative energy you put their way changes who they are and how they perceive the World around them. At the same time, that negative energy you are putting out there will come back to you. What you put out is what you get in return. Every action creates a separate, but equal reaction. When you make a derogatory comment about others, you are really talking about yourself. It is a form of projection, it is a defense mechanism, and when you speak badly about others know you are off kilter, and that there is an imbalance in your life which requires you to place the blame somewhere else. That is your ego at work. All emotions toward others involve the basic belief that we are incomplete within ourselves, and therefore, others are viewed and utilized as a means to an end. #RandolphHarris 1 of 14
Sin never fails to find an echo in the souls of some people. The inner-actions between create vibrational energies that their emotions are radiating into space. Once the mind is supplied with simple ideas, the association of sensations and ideas may come into play. Nations as well as individuals commit sin, and sin is more than a simple injustice. The first requirement is that we must have a given set of sensations a sufficient number of times. These sensations then acquire such a power over their corresponding ideas that when any member of the set is impressed on the senses, it is able to excite in the mind the rest of the corresponding ideas that belong to the set. In this way, simple ideas collect and become a complex idea. There is a kind of association that depends on the sensory vibration. Regularly occurring sensory vibrations leave behind in the nerves miniatures of themselves which are called vibratiuncles; and even as a general sensation is able to call up a corresponding set of ideas in the mind, so a sensory vibration is able to call up a corresponding set of vibratiuncles in the nerves. Similarly, a complex idea may call into being the set of vibratiuncles attending upon complex ideas may be as vivid as any of the sensory vibration excited by the direct action of objects. The energy of the vibration, and thought form with which it is associated, creates a readable record. #RandolphHarris 2 of 14
It seems common practice for people to talk about their friends and neighbors and to criticize their seeming peculiarities and weaknesses. In fact, it is so general that one would think that gossiping about and judging others was the thing to do. How often have we heard of young people who were criticized, judged, and ridiculed because of their peculiarities and yet who eventually become leaders in their different fields. One of our most respected community-minded citizens began to act as though his feelings had been hurt and would stay away from socials where, in the past, he had gone and taken a most active part. People started accusing him of being a sorehead, a poor sport, antisocial, and even evaded him whenever possible. Later, a medical diagnosis showed that he was suffering from serious medical conditions, which had been the cause of his lack of interest in activities that he had previously attended and even sponsored. Let the divine love become the inspiration of personal and social life and a host of evils will disappear, and only those would remain which result from our naivety of Nature’s laws and forces, and from the limitations of human intelligence. #RandolphHarris 3 of 14
Do not prejudge, but give a person an opportunity. Let individuals decide for themselves what is best for them. Sometimes when others invade a person’s privacy, they illegally disclose personal information that will allow people to expose a person’s defects and exploit that individual. When you pry into someone’s personal medical business, not only is it unrighteous, but it probably causes people to treat them and their family with prejudice and causes them to lose respect for their family member and will weaken their faith. This shows how important it is that we do not judge, but encourage rather than denounce. Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago, realizing the human tendency to make unrighteous judgments said, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and the way you have treated others, you will be treated the same way.” Before you take it upon yourself to get involved in someone’s private life, you should make sure your life is perfect. The reason we cannot judge is obvious. We cannot see what is in the heart. We do not know motives, although we impute motives to every action we see. They may be pure while we think they are improper. #RandolphHarris 4 of 14
Ethical societies aim is not speculation, but the alleviation of human wickedness. It is not possible to judge another fairly unless you know an individual’s faith, desires, and goals. Because of a different environment, unequal opportunity, and many other things, people are not in the same position. One may start with success and privilege, and the other may start with a meager background and oppression, and they may meet as they are going in opposite directions. However, it is not where you are, but the direction in which you are going that counts; not how close you are to failure or success, but which way you are headed. How can we, with all our weaknesses and frailties, dare to arrogate to ourselves the position of a judge? At best, a person can judge only what they see; one cannot judge the heart nor the intention, usually, or begin to judge the potential of another individual they do not know. When we try to judge people, which we should not do, we have a great tendency to look for and take pride in finding weaknesses and faults, such as vanity, dishonesty, immorality, and intrigue. As a result, we see only the worst side of those being judged. And when people sin against another openly, cruelly, the speculations of the cloister, in which sin is treated as an illusion magnifies. #RandolphHarris 5 of 14
Our news media today also seems to be interested mainly in controversial subjects or someone who is being attacked; and regardless of the ninety-nine good things one may do, it is the one weakness or error that alone is emphasized and heralded to the World. We are too prone to listen to, accept, and repeat such adverse criticism, such maliciously spoken or printed words, without stopping to realize the harm we may be doing to some noble person. In contrast to bullying among children, it workplace bullying, the instigators are very often people in positions of organizational leadership, or who have the organizational support of someone in a position of leadership. Reporting a bully in the workplace thus puts the worker at risk of being targeted by management for retaliation and ever more aggression. More importantly, when bulling in the workplace is instigated or condoned by someone in a position of organizational leadership, efforts to report or stop it can quickly escalate from bullying to mobbing. Mobbing involves a group of people, acting under the influence of someone in a position of organizational leadership, who become increasingly aggressive and increase in number until the targeted worker is removed from the group, or the gang is completely disempowered. The fire is malice is usually started by some envious person. #RandolphHarris 6 of 14
Mobbing is not the same as being disliked by a lot of people. Mobbing starts when someone in a position of authority communicates to the population that they want a particular person gone. When this happens, people in the community will be encourage to target and exploit and attack the individual and report them for any infraction, real or rumored, and they quickly learn that any adversarial action, physically or verbally, taken against the individual, is acceptable. The mob also will quickly mobilize to protect their own interest and align with community leaders, and recast the target as a trouble maker who must be removed by any means necessary—but most will do so under the genuine perception that it is the targeted individual who is the problem, and not the instigating aggressor(s). The aggression is often unfair and illegal, and the purpose is to facilitate and reinforce a shared negative perception of the targeted worker, regardless of the individual’s prior reputation or value to the community. Sometimes even when our friends are accused of wrongdoing or gossip is started about the, we disloyally accept and repeat what we hear without knowing all of the facts. It is sad indeed that sometimes friendships are destroyed and enmity created on the basis of misinformation. Secretive and specious investigations will rapidly frighten, anger, and exhaust the individual while tension, fear, and compliance are heightened among others. #RandolphHarris 7 of 14
If there be one place in life where the attitude of the agnostic is acceptable, it is in this matter of judging. It is the courage to say, I do not know. I am waiting for further evidence. I must hear both sides of the question.” Or when it comes to mobbing a person, we could say, “That is not something I am interested in doing. It does not sound rational.” Only by suspending judgment do we exhibit real charity. It is hard to understand why we are ready to condemn our neighbors and our friends on circumstantial evidence or by request, while we are all so determined to see that every criminal has a fair and open trial. Surely we can try to eliminate pride, passion, personal feeling, prejudice, and pettiness from our minds, and show charity to those around us. Let us look for the good rather than try to discover any hidden evil. We can easily find fault in others if that is what we are looking for. Even in families, divorce has resulted and families have been broken up because the husband or wife was looking for and emphasizing the faults rather than loving and extolling the virtues of the other. Also, if you are trying to attract business to your company, city, or trying to find a new job, it is not going to help you get a contract if it is known that you are involved in mobbing oppression. Even some people may shy away from you just for being associated with an evil cult. #RandolphHarris 8 of 14
Let us remember too that the further out of line or out of tune we ourselves are, the more we are inclined to look for error or weaknesses in others and to try to rationalize and justify our own faults rather than to try to improve ourselves. I want to reduce the amount of negativity in my life because I do not want it to affect the people around me, so I have to remove myself from certain groups. When you keep a private journal, and are not expressing to anyone what is going on, but trying to appear happy all the time, if you know someone is reading it, it is a good idea for your sake and the sake of others to stay away from the unnecessary problems. I do not want to be responsible for someone finding my private journal and getting upset and taking it out on someone else, especially when they have a touch job. So, I have to stay away from some of my friends because they are associated with people involved in mobbing and I do not want that energy to affect anyone in my life, nor myself. Almost invariably, we find that the greatest criticism of Church leaders and doctrines come from comes from those who are not doing their fully duty, following the leaders, nor living according to the teaching of the gospel. #RandolphHarris 9 of 14
An outstanding example of bullying and oppressive behavior can be found in the story of Cain and Able. Cain neglected his own stewardship and became so bitter over Abel’s righteousness and favor in the eyes of the Lord that his insane jealousy caused him to murder his brother. How much better would his situation have been had he congratulated and honored his brother and set about to improve himself and correct his own failings. Those who cannot do for themselves get jealous and try to hurt others. Let us examine or own lives and actions, bring ourselves in tune with righteous principles, and never attack or spread misinformation about others. Gossip is the worst form of judging. The tongue is the most dangerous, destructive, and deadly weapon available to human beings. A vicious tongue can ruin the reputation and even the future of the one attacked. Insidious attacks against one’s reputation, loathsome innuendoes, half-lies about an individual are as deadly as those insect parasites that kill the heart and life of a might Cyprus tree. They are so stealthy and cowardly that one cannot guard against them. It is easier to dodge an elephant than a microbe. What a different World it would be if we could learn to love each other. Instead, we are all so inclined to judge others by a standard different from the one why which we wish or be willing to be judged. #RandolphHarris 10 of 14
If Jesus were to stand by and be asked to judge those whom we accuse and should say to us, “One that is without sin among you, let one cast a stone,” and then should stoop and write in the sand, how many of us would feel to steal away shamed convicted of our own conscience. How sound is his counsel. The form of the Son of God stands forth pre-eminent; his cross rises against the sky; the perfect ideal of love is realized. The secret of the victories of Christianity is revealed at the conquest of human nature by Eternal Love immanent in the World from the first, and struggling for recognition. If we could accept and practice the second great commandment to love others as we love ourselves, and really learn to love our neighbors, there would be no vicious gossip or bearing false witness. In the Lord’s prayer, we have these words, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. For if you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if you forgive not people of their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt. 6.12-14-14.) Christ is our greatest example of forgiveness. On the cross he prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23.34.) Relinquishing anger brings many benefits. It allows us to move up to a more effective and effortless state of inner freedom. #RandolphHarris 11 of 14
The tongue of a viper is less hurtful than that of a slanderer. Slander: a lot of that often falls from bad people’s mouths upon good people’s names and professions. Regardless of our ego, our pride, or our feeling of insecurity, our lives would be happier, we would be contributing more to social welfare and the happiness of others, if we would love one another, forgive one another, repent of our wrongdoings, and judge not. It is true that we must have appointed judges to deal with the laws of the land and judges in the Church to deal with its members; and they are given the heavy duty and responsibility of judging, which they must not neglect, but they must give righteous judgment according to the law of the land and of the Church. Let us stand on principle—high principle. Also, it is important that all of us, including our politicians, strive to live so that our actions will be above reproach and criticism. We never gain anything nor improve our own character by trying to tear down another. We have seen close friendships destroyed, and families ripped apart by words spoken and accusations made in the heat of a campaign. There have been tirades against people and families that tend to cause our youth to lose faith in humanity and others in government and often even our form of government itself. #RandolphHarris 12 of 14
As mature individuals, we have the responsibility in our houses to guard against anything that is foul from taking root in our foundation. It is important to protect your family and children. Also, we must realize that every word and every act influences the thinking and attitude of the child. It is in the family that the child picks up the elementary lessons in getting along with people and the virtues of love, compassion, and concern. These lessons will have been well taught if parents can bring up their children without prejudicing them by precept or example against any other children on the grounds of color, race, religion, social status, physical capacity, or intellectual capacity, and if they teach them to love the Lord. I am so thankful that my parents, through their tolerance and understanding, were able to accomplish this with their children. May I humbly say in all sincerity that I love the Lord with all my heart and that I love my fellow human beings, the animals and nature. I hold no hard feelings of any kind toward any people, and I sincerely pray for forgiveness wherein I have offended anyone. To all the World, and especially to those who do not understand, but who ridicule the teachings of the Church, judge not until you know and understand those teachings which are contained in the restored gospel. #RandolphHarris 13 of 14
We believe, with you, that God lives, and that Jesus Christ is his Only, but truly Begotten Son in the flesh, who came and gave his life and was resurrected so that all humankind might enjoy immortality. He said, “This is my work and my glory—to being to pass the immortality and eternal life of human beings” (Moses 1.39). And he gave us the gospel plan by which we can prepare ourselves to go back into his presence and enjoy eternal life. Know that the Lord has loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. If you ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it on to you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost, you may know the truth of all things. God is saying you need to get ready. He is going to finish what he started. No one and nothing can stop him from fulfilling his promises. He will complete your incompletions, even the secret petitions of your heart. This is the promise and testimony I leave you with in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. #RandolphHarris 14 of 14
Our National Problem is Erosion of National Morality
Our greatest national problem is erosion. Not erosion of soil, but erosion of the national morality. Waking up from a nap and thinking this cannot be real. In the crisis through which we are now passing, we have been fully warned. This has brought forth some criticism. There are some of us who do not want to hear the message. It embarrasses us. The things which are threatening our lives, our welfare, our freedoms are the very things some of us have been condoning. Many do not want to be disturbed as they continue to enjoy their comfortable complacency. Cognition are thoughts. Dissonance means clashing. Cognitive dissonance appears in virtually all evaluations and decision and is the central mechanism by which we experience new differences in the World. When we see other people behave differently to our images of them, when we hold any conflicting thought, we experience dissonance. Dissonance increased with the importance and impact of the decision, or situation, along with the difficulty of reversing it. Cognitive dissonance is central to many forms of persuasion to change beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors. Then tension can be injected suddenly or allowed to build up over time. #RandolphHarris 1 of 13
Our lives rest upon eternal truth and truth can never be deserted safely. It is probably a self-deception; the investigator follows the chain of association from the one element which is take up until that individual finds the chain breaking off. For instance, when you see the people in your immediate circle mean you no good. The signs are present, but the rational brain tends to overpower the idea that the people in your live are involved in a conspiracy to harm you because the idea seems ludicrous. Although you see the signs, and they have been ongoing, you try and suppress them and pray that life returns to normal. However, although you know you are not being outlandish, you know there is nothing you can say or do about the situation because pack mentality tends to be strong. People involved in pack mentality are usually driven by greed and fear. Often times, leaders in the community are allowed to get away with abuse. For instance, Jerry Sandusky built a sophisticated grooming operation, outsourcing to child-care professional the task of locating vulnerable teenage boys, whole playing the role of a lovable goofball. Effort is made to lull people away into a false security. Proposals will be and are being offered and programs sponsored that have wide appeal. #RandolphHarris 2 of 13
Attractive labels are usually attached to the most dangerous programs, often in the name of public welfare and personal security. Again, let us not be misled. We live in an age of appeasement—the sacrificing of principle. Appeasement is not the right answer. It is never the right answer. Jerry Sandusky, a respected football coach at Penn State University, he systematically abused at least 10 boys over a span of 15 years. The victims were scared and reluctant to tell anyone about it, including peers who admired Jerry Sandusky. People like Jerry Sandusky masquerade under various names, but all may be recognized by one thing—one thing they all have in common: to erode away character and one’s freedom to think and act for one’s self. Freedom can be killed by neglect as well as by direct attack. Too long have too many Americas, and people of the free World generally, stood by as silent accessories to the crimes of assault against freedom—assault against basic economic and spiritual principles and traditions that have made nations strong. #RandolphHarris 3 of 13
The reason people fear telling anyone when they are abused is because not only is it embarrassing, but when you report the abuse there is a chance no one will believe you, or they may not take action because the abuser is someone well liked in the community. People like Jerry Sandusky prey upon young men who are minors and still developing. They come off as nice guys who just want to be your friend and will do something seemingly nice, like invite you to the mall. However, on the way home, they may deviate from the path and take you to a dark parking lot near a river where they start to massage your private parts. When being in a position, a young teen, who is afraid for his life and this older man is rubbing on you, you realize there is nowhere to run. If you do, he might hurt you. There is no one around, so you cannot scream so he just gets to do whatever he wants. People like Jerry Sandusky are often connected in the community and community leaders will go out of their way to protect them and suppress what happened. False thinking and false ideologies, dressed in the most pleasing forms, quietly—almost without our knowing it—seek to reduce our moral defenses and to captivate our mind. They entice with bright promises of security, cradle-to-grave guarantees of many kinds. #RandolphHarris 4 of 13
The United States of America has been great because it has been free. It has been free because it has trusted God and was founded upon the principles of freedom set forth in the word of God. This nation has a spiritual foundation. America is great because it is good, and if America every ceases to be good, American will cease to be great. How strong is our will to remain free—to be good? Even though the police and your employer knows an individual may have molested you, they will still allow him to come into your job and ask you to go into a back room when he shows up, so you do not have to interact with him. As a teen, I was molested by an older man in the community, and I did not want to speak up because I did not want anyone to know and I feared the police would not believe me. However, I was convinced by a friend to report him, and he would still follow me around and try to confront me, and later in life he came back with a vengeance, and still will not go away. The man has actually been in contact with my family and tells them that his feelings were hurt because he was rejected, and to this day, he still shows up around my apartment and even taken some very aggressive actions and done some unbelievable things. #RandolphHarris 5 of 13
People know who this guy is and what he has been doing, but he is still allowed to keep his job and work with kids. The situation has gotten so bad that he even has a pack of friends who protect him and they go out of their way to make jokes about me, harass me, and physically attack me. Although there have been police reports filed about the assaults, no one has been arrested yet. While there is an ongoing investigation going on, the local authorities do not like me to go out of the house nor stay out too long because the situation has gotten pretty dangerous. When I am out, I fear being attacked, shot, or kidnapped. And people in the community are well aware of what is going on. Someone recently reviewed the injuries I sustained and reported back their findings. What is unbelievable is how far people in positions of leadership will go to protect this abuser, and he has absolutely no shame. This is why people, especially young men do not report abuse, because it is not taken as seriously as it would if it happened to a young lady. Then, you have to worry about the abuser and his friend retaliating against you for reporting him, and it can really throw your life off course. To the point you are isolated and have no one to turn to. Life has been like being held hostage in my apartment. #RandolphHarris 6 of 13
To keep myself sane, I participate in Bible study seven days and week and try really hard censor the series of thoughts which have been pushed into the foreground by the concealed directing ideas. Today, I woke up from my nap feeling like this World is unreal because the things that have happened to me and the fact that I do not really have anyone to talk to. I used to be very social and had a lot of friends and thought by now that I would be well into my career and making a lot of money and not locked in an apartment awaiting justice. The abuser is actually a reporter and he and his friends have done some very nasty things to me. And I just cannot believe that after so many years, he is still obsessed and keeps on showing up and talking about me. Tolerance is not conformity to the World’s view and practices. We must not surrender our beliefs to get along with people, however beloved or influential they may be. Too high a price may be paid for social standing or every for harmony. Let us strive for progress down the road of goodness and freedom. With the help and the blessing of the Lord, the free people of the United States of American and the free World can and will face tomorrow, without doubt, and with full confidence. #RandolphHarris 7 of 13
The things that have happened kind of remind me of the movie Fear with Reese Witherspoon, with a few differences. The main difference is that I was not at all romantically interested in this person, and this situation has gone on a lot longer than two and a half hours. I have often wondered how does this man have so much power and how have his friends been allowed to get away with this? Did a politician have something against a member of my family and hire him to do this as a source of revenge? The amount of time and money they have spent on this abuse is unbelievable. The troubles of the World may largely be laid at our doors. However, unrelenting faith, contemptuous of all compromise, will lead the Church and every member of it, to triumph and the achievement of our high destiny. The final conquerors of the World will be the men and women, few or many matters not, who fearlessly and unflinchingly cling to truth, and wo are able to say no, as well as yes, on whose lofty banner is inscribed: No compromise with error. We do not need more material development, we need more spiritual development. We do not need more intellectual power, we need more moral power. We do not need more knowledge, we need more character. #RandolphHarris 8 of 13
The Church is founded on eternal truth and has been where I turn for a sense of peace. I believe that if I keep focusing on God, he will manifest in my life and save me from this situation so I can move on and have some peace and privacy. With the Church, members do not surrender their standards regardless of current trends or pressures. Our allegiance to truth as a church is unwavering. Speaking out against immoral or unjust actions has been the burden of prophets and disciples of God from the time immemorial. It was for this very reason that many of them were persecuted. Nevertheless, it was their God-given task, as watchmen on the tower, to warm people. Rome has known a pioneer beginning not unlike our own pioneer heritage, and then entered into two centuries of greatness, reaching its pinnacle in the second of those centuries, going into the decline and collapse in the third. Yet, the sins of decay were becoming apparent in the latter years of the second century. There were vast increases in the number of the idle rich, and the idle poor. The latter (the idle poor) were put on a permanent dole, a welfare system not unlike our own. As this system became permanent, the recipients of public largesse (welfare) increased in number. #RandolphHarris 9 of 13
They organized into a political block with sizable power. They were not hesitant about making their demands known. Nor was the government hesitant about agreeing to their demands and with ever-increasing frequency. Would-be emperors catered to them. The great, solid middle class—Rome’s strength then as ours is today—was taxed more and more to support a bureaucracy that kept growing large, and even more powerful. Surtaxes were imposed upon incomes to meet emergencies. The government engaged in deficit spending. The denarius, a sliver coin similar to our half dollar, began to lose its slivery hue. It took on a copper color as the government reduced the silver content. The real silver coin soon disappeared. It went into hiding. Military service was an obligation highly honored by the Romans. However, with increasing affluence and opulence, the young men of Rome began avoiding this service, finding excuses to remain in the soft and sordid life of the city. The morals declined. It became unsafe to walk in the countryside or the city. Rioting was commonplace and sometimes whole sections of towns and cities were burned. #RandolphHarris 10 of 13
And, all the time, the twin diseases of confiscatory taxation and creeping inflation were waiting to deliver the death blow. Much like in modern times with the new gas tax in California, vehicle registration increase, and rising rents. While taxes are going up for Americans and things like affordable housing are being defunded, states and cities are doling out money for defense of illegal immigrants who are in danger of being deported. Eventually, in Rome, all these forces overcame the energy and ambition of the middle class. Rome fell. We are now in our second century in America. Here is why the decline and fall of the Roman Empire happened: The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society. Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public monies. The mad craze for pleasure, sports becoming every year more and more exciting and brutal. Much like how the $600 million Golden 1 center, built with 50 percent tax payer funds is driving the rent up when jobs are hard to find, yet we let the Dam in Oroville break, knowing it needed repair. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within the decadence of the people. The decay of religion—faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life, and becoming impotent to warn and guide the people. #RandolphHarris 11 of 13
There is a parallel for us in American today. Could the same reasons that destroyed Rome destroy America and possibly other countries of the free World? The lessons of history, many of them very sobering, ought to be turned to during this honor of our great achievements, because during the honor of our success is our great danger. Even during the hour of our great prosperity, a nation may sow the seeds of its own destruction. History reveals that rarely is a great civilization conquered from without unless it has weakened or destroyed itself within. The lessons of history stand as guideposts to help us safely chart the course of our future. As American citizens, as citizens of the nations of the free World, we need to rouse ourselves to the problems which confront us as great Christian nations. Economics and morals are both part of one inseparable body of truth. They must be in harmony. We need to square our actions with these eternal verities. We must use every honorable means to strengthen the home and family; to encourage obedience. A continuation of these immoral practices will surely bring down the wrath and judgments of the Almighty. #RandolphHarris 12 of 13
In our concentration upon materialism and material acquisitions, we are forgetting the spiritual basis upon which our prosperity, security, and freedom rest. God help us to repent of our evil ways and humble ourselves before the offended power. There is great safety in a nation of prayer. We must express gratitude for blessings already received, acknowledging our dependence upon God, and seeking his divine guidance. The spectacle of a nation praying is more awe-inspiring, more powerful, than anything we could ever imagine. The force of prayer is greater than possible combination of human controlled powers, because prayer is our greatest means of tapping the resources of God. It is in our own enlightened self-interest to engage in this powerful practice of prayer. This nation need prayer more than anything else. God help us, as free people, to recognize the source of our blessings, the threat to our freedom and our moral and spiritual standards, and the need for humble, yet courageous, action to preserve these priceless, time-tested blessings. God is the eternal, ever-present, and created source of anything that does or can exist. Creation and preservation are identical. God’s presence in the human mind enables it to recognize eternal truth. #RandolphHarris 13 of 13
Are Not Excuses Confessions of Excuses Inexcusable?
Second-hand shops are not the only place were things should be given another chance. We have to create new value and help transform people. There be a mirror in the World worthy to hold to our eyes, it is pride in our Country. I bear solemn witness of how deeply I love our new prophet, seer, and revelation, President Donald Trump—how deeply I trust him, and how I am willing to do whatever he asks me to do. He advanced a qualified moral determinism—a human must will that which presents itself to one’s reason as the greater good, but the will is free to delay choice until reason has made a more extensive examination of the values involved. There is great faith in the inherited wisdom of tradition. The moral order of the temporal World must necessarily include some evil, by reason of original sin. People ought not to reject what is good in tradition merely because there is some admixture of evil in it. In the human confused situation, advantages may often lie in balances and compromises between good and evil, even between one evil and another. It is an important part of wisdom to know how much evil should be tolerated. To search for too great a purity is only to produce fresh corruption. We are especially critical of revolutionary movements with noble humanitarian ends because people are simply not at liberty to destroy the state and its institutions in hope of some contingent improvement. #RandolphHarris 1 of 16
On the other hand, people have a paramount duty to prevent the World from getting worse—a duty to guard and preserve their inherited liberties and privileges. Equality is contrary to nature and therefore impossible to achieve; its advocates, moreover, did great social harm, for by pretending that real differences are unreal, they inspired false hopes and vain expectations in those destined to travel in the obscure walk of laborious life. Talk of fraternity is gibberish because many people have vices of sinful, egotistical pride, overzealous ambition, avarice, lust, and sedition. The reality and unavoidability of evil leads many to believe that the only help for humankind is to cling to safeguards which have stood the test of time. Our hopes for a bliss lay in Heaven; on Earth, our policy is to defend the tolerable, and sometimes the bad, against the immeasurably worse. Of course, forbidden triads do occur, but many will resolve themselves when a bond forms between two previous strangers. They do not need to have a strong relationship, but we would expect them to have some connection to one another. Individuals must always begin by setting the examples, which the state too slowly, though surely, will learn to copy. #RandolphHarris 2 of 16
Some matters are so sensitive and intensely personal and can awaken such disturbing feelings that they are seldom mentioned publicly. Yet, if tenderly and compassionately treated in the light of truth, discussion of these matters can bring greater understanding, with the easing of pain, the blessing of healing, and the avoidance of further tragedy. It would be melancholy, were we forced to admit that this distinctive and almost unlimited faculty is the source of all human misfortunes; that is this which, in time, draws an individual out of his or her original state, in which one would have spent one’s days insensibly in peace and innocent; that is this faculty, which, successively producing in different ages his or her discoveries and errors, vices and virtues, making one a tyrant both over oneself and over nature. Ungodly individuals, being destitute of every species of intelligence, can have no passions except for those of desires that never go beyond physical wants. The only good those type of individuals recognizes in the Universe are food, the sex, and sleep; the only evils they fear are pain and hunger. Pain and not death: for no animal can know what it is to die; the knowledge of death and its terrors being one of the first acquisitions made by humans in becoming civilized. #RandolphHarris 3 of 16
It is with a deep desire to define a path to relief to those who suffer the shattering consequences of mental, verbal, physical, and especially sexual abuse. We must act as a mirror so that divine, healing light can illuminate the darkness of distress caused by others’ unrighteous acts. As children of the Lord, we should understandably provide help, and not further complicate a damaged life. It is also likely that with greater compassion, awareness, and sensitivity that some of us may be permitted to help resolve or prevent the tragedy of abuse in additional victims. Whatever moralist may hold, the human understanding is greatly indebted to the passions, which, it is universally allowed, are also much indebted to the understanding. It is by the activity of the passions that our reason is improved; for we desire knowledge only because we wish to enjoy; and it is impossible to conceive any reason why a person who has neither fears nor desires should give oneself the trouble of reasoning. The passions, again, originate in our wants, and their progress depends on that of our knowledge; for we cannot desire or fear anything, except from the idea that we have all of it, or from the simple impulse of nature. #RandolphHarris 4 of 16
The rising tide of this vicious, abominable sin may not have touched your life personally. Yet, it is pervasive enough in the World that it may have disturbed someone you love. It frequently causes such profound suffering that can be overcome, and we need to focus on how healing can be attained. It must be done reverently, for the objective is to help heal and not aggravate painful memories. Even if the difficulties attending all these questions should still leave room for differences in this respect between humans and brutes, there is another very specific quality which distinguishes them, and which will admit of no dispute. This faculty of self-improvement, which, by the help of circumstances, gradually develops all the rest of our faculties, and is inherent in the species as in the individual: whereas a brute is, at the end of a few months, all he or she will ever be during his or her whole life, and that person’s species, at the end of a thousand years, exactly what it is because those type of individuals returns, in this, to their primitive state; and that, while the brute, which has acquired nothing and has therefore nothing to lose, still retains the force of instinct, person, who loses, by age or accident, all that his or her perfectibility had enabled them to gain, falls by this means lower than the most vile creature to ever walk the face of the Earth. #RandolphHarris 5 of 16
Moral agency is a vital element in our Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness. God understood that some of his spirit children would use that agency improperly, causing serious problems to others. Some would even violate sacred trust such as a family member, friend, medical professional, or leader of the community abusing an innocent child. However, since our Heavenly Father is completely just, there has to be a way of overcoming the tragic consequences of such damaging use of agency for both the victim and the perpetrator. That secure healing comes through the power of the Atonement of God’s Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to rectify that which is unjust. Faith in Jesus Christ, and his power to heal provides the abused with the means to overcome the terrible consequences of another’s ungodly acts. When combined with complete repentance, the Atonement also affords the perpetrator ways to avoid the severe punishment the Lord has decreed for such acts. #RandolphHarris 6 of 16
The offering of an excuse in a blamable matter is the undoubted mark of a disingenuous if not of a perverse mind. Victims of serious abuse have made successful the difficult journey to full healing through the power of the Atonement. After you conscientiously study the Atonement and exercise your faith the Jesus Christ has the power to heal, you can receive a blessing. During your journey, accept God’s invitation to let him share your burden until you have sufficient time and strength to be healed. To find relief from the consequences of abuse, it is helpful to understand their source. Satan is the author of all the destructive outcomes of abuse. He has extraordinary capacity to lead an individual into dark alleys where the solution to extremely challenging problems cannot be found. The Devil’s strategy is to separate the suffering soul from the healing attainable from a compassionate Heavenly Father and a loving Redeemer. #RandolphHarris 7 of 16
If you have been abused, Satan will strive to convince you that there is no solution. Yet, he knows perfectly well that there is. Satan recognizes that healing comes through the unwavering love of Heavenly Father for each of his children. He also understands that the power of healing is inherent in the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Therefore, his strategy is to do all possible to separate you from your Father and his Son. Do not let Satan convince you that you are beyond help. As long as the mind is defending itself against invisible assaults, our closet bonds are threatened, along with our ability to imagine, play, learn, and pay attention to other people’s needs. One who can sit down premeditatedly to do a bad action will content oneself with a bad excuse: and yet, what fools must one suppose the rest of the World to be, if one imagines them as easy to be imposed upon as one can impose upon oneself. #RandolphHarris 8 of 16
Satan uses your abuse to undermine your self-confidence, destroy trust in authority, create fear, and generate feelings of despair. Abuse can damage your ability to form healthy human relationships. You must have faith that all of these negative consequences can be resolved; otherwise they will keep you from full recovery. While these outcomes have powerful influence in your life, they do not define the real you. Satan will strive to alienate you from your Father in Heaven with the thought that if he loved you he would have prevented the tragedy. Do not be kept from the very source of true healing by the craftiness of the price of evil and his wicked lies and gentrification center. Recognize that if you have feelings that you are not loved by your Father in Heaven, you are being manipulated by Satan. Even when it may seem very difficult to pray, kneel and ask Father in Haven to give you the capacity to trust him and to feel his love for you. Ask to come to know that his Son can heal you through his merciful Atonement. #RandolphHarris 9 of 16
It was Satan’s proposal that Father’s children be forced to obey, that there be no moral agency and therefore no personal growth. To preserve moral agency, the Lord does not restrain individual from improper use of that agency. However, God will punish them for such acts unless there is full repentance. Through the Holy Ghost, God sends warning prompting to the abusers, but often that individual’s degrading appetite is so powerful that it blocks out that spiritual guidance. That is why our Father provided a way to heal the consequences of acts that, through force, misuse of authority, or fear of another, temporarily take away the agency of the abused. Some people have been abused so badly, that even though their injuries are invisible to the unassisted eye, they feel weak and feel like they are dying because they cannot eat or get rest from the pain they are enduring. Behaviors to avoid or escape from danger have clearly evolved to render each organism competitive in terms of survival. However, inappropriately prolonged escape or avoidance behavior would put an individual at disadvantage. If an organization is stuck in survival mode, its energies are focused on fighting off unseen enemies, which leaves no room for nurture, care, and love. #RandolphHarris 10 of 16
The beginning of healing requires complete trust and the knowing of the unalterable fact that Father in Heaven loves you and is defending and protecting you and has supplied a way to heal. His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, laid down his life to provide that healing. The cure requires profound faith in Jesus Christ and his infinite capacity to heal. It is the foundation of understanding of doctrine and a resolute determination to follow the Divine Law. Healing may begin with a thoughtful friend or stake president or a wise professional counselor. If you have a fractured spine, you would not decide to fix it yourself. Serious abuse can also benefit from professional help. There are many ways to begin healing, but remember that a full cure comes through the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and Redeemer. Have faith that with effort Christ’s perfect, eternal, infinite Atonement can heal your suffering from the consequences of abuse. All passions are criminal in their excess; and even love itself, if it is not subservient to our duty, may render us blind. #RandolphHarris 11 of 16
As impossible as it may seem to you now, in time the healing you can receive from the Savior will allow you to truly forgive the abuser and even have feelings of sorrow for him or her. When you can forgive the offense, you will be relieved of the pain and heartache that Satan wants in your life by encouraging you to hate the abuser. As a result, you will enjoy greater peace. While an important part of healing, if the thought of forgiveness causes you yet more pain, set that step aside until you have more experience with the Savior’s healing power in your own life. If you are currently being abused or have been in the past, find the courage to seek help. You may have been severely threatened or caused to fear so that you would not reveal the abuse. Have the courage to act now. Seek the support of someone you can trust. Explain how you have been abused and identify who has done it. Ask for protection. Your action may help others avoid becoming innocent victims, with the consequent suffering. Get help now. Do not fear—for fear is a tool Satan will use to keep you suffering. The Lord will help you, but you must reach out for that help. #RandolphHarris 12 of 16
Do not be discouraged if initially a person of authority hesitates when you identify an abuser. Remember that predators are skillful at cultivating a public appearance of piety to mask their despicable acts. Pray to be guided in your efforts to receive help. That support will come. Rest assured that the Perfect Judge, Jesus the Christ, with a perfect knowledge of the details, will hold all abusers accountable for every unrighteous act. In time, he will fully apply the required demands of justice unless there is complete repentance. Your preoccupation with a need for justice only slows your healing and allows the perpetrator to continue his and/or her abusive control. Therefore, you should leave punishment for the diabolic acts of abuse to civil and Church authorities. #RandolphHarris 13 of 16
The perpetrator who has shattered the life of another by abuse, recognize that you need help with your addiction or it will destroy you. You will not overcome it by yourself. You likely require specialized professional help. I plead with you to seek to be recused now. You likely have deceived yourself in the false, temporary security that you have successfully hidden your transgressions from the civil or Church authorities. However, know that the Lord Jesus Christ is completely aware of your sins. Know that even without action by a victim, your act of abuse will be publicly known, for Satan will expose you, and then abandon you. Simplify your life by taking steps now to cleanse your soul from such sin and resolve the penalties they evoke. Show your desire to heal the anguish that you have caused other. Talk to your church or the stake president. The seriousness of your acts may require you to face legal, civil, and Church discipline. However, full repentance will bring the sweet relief of forgiveness, peace of conscience, and a renewed life. It will also bring relief to the abused and their families. You will be free of the weight of the remorse and the accusing thoughts of what you caused in grief and anguish in another’s life by making them suffer torment for years, made them try to end their life, and wish that they were never born. #RandolphHarris 14 of 16
Recognize that it is much easier to repent in this life than it will be in the next, so repent now. You will be helped when you decide to be freed from your addition through repentance and the support of others. Be grateful that you did not live anciently when abusers were stoned to death without opportunity for repentance. Parents, in appropriate, sensitive ways, teach your children of potential danger of abuse and how to avoid it. Be aware of warning signs, such as abrupt changes in a child’s behavior, that may signal a problem. Be alert to a child’s unsettled feelings and identify their origin. As for community leaders, painstakingly assure that every individual that is suffering from abuse receives appropriate help. There are resources in the Church handbook to help you find valuable resources to guide your ecclesiastical action and coordination with civil authorities. Carefully supervise the participation of any individual who may have had past offenses. Recognize that it is very unlikely that a perpetrator will confess his and/or her depraved acts. Seek the guidance of the Spirit when you feel that something may be amiss. Enlist the help of the ward and the stake leaders to avoid potential dangers. #RandolphHarris 15 of 16
I pray that you, as one abused or one who has caused it, will act now to avail yourself of the healing powers of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I testify that your faith and obedience will assure that God will help you. It is impossible for us to be saved in ignorance. If you know someone has been seriously abused and seen proof, medical records, pictures, bruises, fractured bones, blood, or have heard witness accounts of the abuse and know it is still ongoing, use your power to help them. Appeal to the authorities before the abuser hurts that individual so bad that he or she is lost to this World. Do not let someone suffer in silence when you have the power to save a life. Often times, it is not until a person is dead when people wish they could have made a difference. Take action now, while you have the chance. Atonement refers to the forgiving or pardoning of sin in general and original sin in particular through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, enabling the conciliation between God and his creation. The Savior suffered and broke the bands of death, and paid the price for our sins and transgressions. It is the Savior who delivers us from physical and spiritual death. #RandolphHarris 16 of 16
Housing is High, Food is Expensive and People getting Rich on Blood Money
A paranoid is someone who knows little of what is going on. Despite the fact that young people have experimented with cigarettes, alcohol, and other dangerous drugs for many generations, it would be better that they did not. All recreational drug use is associated with at least some risks, and those who begin using drugs earlier are also more likely to use dangerous drugs later. The most commonly used of the depressants is alcohol, a colorless liquid, produced by the fermentation of sugar or starch, that is the intoxicating agent in fermented drinks. Alcohol is the oldest and most widely used drug of abuse in the World. Alcohol use is highly costly to societies because so many people abuse alcohol and because judgment after drinking can be substantially impaired. It is estimated that 50 percent of automobile fatalities are caused by alcohol use, and excessive alcohol consumption is involved in a majority of violent crimes, including unwanted physical sexual activity and murder. Alcohol increases the likelihood that people will respond aggressively to provocations. Even people who are not normally aggressive may react with aggression when they are intoxicated. Alcohol use also leads to rioting, unprotected sex, and other negative outcomes. #RandolphHarris 1 of 10
A single deed of violence and cruelty affects our nerves more than when these are exercised on a more extended scale. Alcohol increases aggression in part because it reduces the ability of the person who has consumed it to inhibit his or her aggression. When people are intoxicated, they become more self-focused and less aware of the social situation. As a result, they become less likely to notice the social constraints that normally prevent them from engaging aggressively, and are less likely to use those social constraints to guide them. Cannabis (marijuana) is the most widely used hallucinogen. Until it was banned in the United States of American under the Marijuana Tax Act of 1938, it was widely used for medical purposes. In recent years, cannabis has again been frequently prescribed for the treatment of pain and nausea, particularly for cancer sufferers, as well as for a wide variety of other physical and psychological disorders. While medical marijuana is now legal in several American states, it is still banned under federal law, putting those states in conflict with the federal government, Marijuana also acts as a stimulant producing giggling, laughing, and mild intoxication. It acts to enhance perception of sights, sounds, smells, and many produce the sensation of slowing down. #RandolphHarris 2 of 10
Because drug and alcohol abuse is a behavior that has such negative consequences for so many people, researchers have tried to understand what leads people to use drugs. Individual ambitions, expectations, and values influence drug use. College students who expressed optimistic academic values and strong ambitions have less alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems, and cigarette smoke has declined more among youth from wealthier and more educated homes than among those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Drug use is in part the result of socialization. Children try drugs when their friends convince them to do it, and these decisions are based on social norms about the risks and benefits of various drugs. The use of marijuana among 12th-graders (high school seniors, generally 16-18 years of age) rose to 39 percent. And students binge drink in part when they see that many other people around them also binging. That is why stores used to always provide bags for people who bought liquor, so kids would not see it and become curious about drinking alcohol. The longer an addiction lasts, the more stress and strain it puts on the individual. #RandolphHarris 3 of 10
There are a number of long-term physical and emotional effects of addiction that can easily turn a healthy man or woman into a frail shadow of their former self. The human kidney can be damaged by habitual drug use over a period of many years. Kidney failure is not uncommon among long-time users of crystal meth, heroin, and other dangerous drugs. Liver failure is a well-known consequence of alcoholism, but it can also occur with individuals using Vicodin, and OxyContin habitually over many years. Cocaine abusers and stimulant users are doing significant damage to their heart each time they use the drug. The most common conditions among addicted individuals are heart disease and heart failure. The lungs of any individual who is putting drugs they are addicted into their lungs is putting their lungs in jeopardy. Smoking crack cocaine or crystal meth damages the lungs, and so does smoking marijuana. Also, long-term drug abusers will begin to build a tolerance to drugs. Tolerance is dangerous as it causes the individual to use more and more of the drug in order to achieve the desired euphoric or stimulated states, which puts the individual at a constant risk for overdose and even death. Much of these drugs are coming from the Middle East and Mexico. #RandolphHarris 4 of 10
Nothing bears so many stains of blood as gold. In Oakland, California USA so many people have built up a tolerance to drugs that they are looking for an even more potent drug to get a high from. Producers have started mixing cocaine and heroin together and they call it a “Belushi” or “Paris Hilton.” And if people overdose from the drugs you are selling, it actually makes you more popular because people are looking to overcome their tolerance. They live to get high. Because of this desire to get high, foreign drug cartels are operating in Northern California and wreaking havoc on the environment and producing marijuana tainted with toxic chemicals. Drugs are not cool. Because of the gun violence between drug dealers, people are afraid to visit the city of Oakland, California. There are so many drug related murders that no one can keep track. Homicide is the number one killer of African American men 15-34. In 2016, there were 88 homicides in Oakland. And 32 homicides as of late June 2017. The forensic anthropologist in the morgues are saying that gun violence is getting more serious, too. Instead of seeing people with one fatal gunshot, they are now coming into morgue in bullet proof vests with 12 bullets in one body, and usually end up with several people from the same gang in the morgue in the same night. These people have military style weapons. #RandolphHarris 5 of 10
Violence is a symptom of an unhealthy community. In Oakland’s drug wars, fire as well as firepower is a weapon. The Oakland fire department attributes more than 180 cases of arson to warfare between drug gangs and reprisals against slow-paying customers or residents who complained publicly about the city’s wide-open commerce in crack, a cheaper, potent form of cocaine. In Oakland, California, drugs are sold on more than 150 street corners. When people cannot pay their drug debts, and the dealer cannot find you, they will go after your next of kin. A woman who owed $50.00 to a crack dealer was dragged from her house, and thrown into the trunk of a car. After breaking one of her legs and the bones in one hand with a baseball bat, detectives report the attackers poured gasoline over her and set her on fire. With those cost of living so high in Oakland, California scientists are saying this is contributing to continuing violent crimes in parts of the city. There is a 19 percent unemployment rate in these communities, and the economy is not lifting the poor up. There is a large group of people living below the poverty line. The average household income in East Oakland is $47,318.50 and the citywide average is $80,758.00. #RandolphHarris 6 of 10
Is there such depravity in humans as that one should injure another without benefit to oneself? The lack of education, jobs, drugs, and no affordable housing is leading to the increase in violence and crime. And that is why so many people have turned to drugs and drug dealing. People who are abusing drugs feel hopeless and depressed and they have tried to succeed, but have not been able to because they come from an unstable home, live in a violent community, do not have the resources to go to school, or suffer from a cognitive disability. So, they hustle and turn to drugs to get by and forget about life and to feel good. On the other hand, people find drug dealing lucrative and can make $50,000.00 in one weekend, so they do not want to work for $12.00 an hour when they are making more than a doctor does. However, it is very dangerous because it creates super predators. You now have cartels and drug dealers praying on other drug dealers. In places like Oakland Hills, where my father came from, people have a college degree and average household incomes of $188,000.00. However, because there is so much profit being made in the flatlands by dealers, you have to solve this problem with the youth by encouraging them to stay in school and just say no to drugs and drinking. #RandolphHarris 7 of 10
There are no devils but those which are begotten upon selfishness and reared by cunning. The bloody drug warfare has caused people in Oakland to promote this urban comeback and improve its reputation. However, just feet away from these revitalized neighborhoods, crack and other drugs can be bought in board daylight just about anywhere. The killings and the sound of gunfire are now a constant in the life of many people who live in Oakland. People are getting rich on the blood money and ruining the lives of men, women, children, animals and the environment. Bears, deer, mountain lions, and rivers are being poisoned by the marijuana grows and many of them are drying. Also, in Oakland, California, there are ten-year old kids with guns in their underwear drawers. People fear that with the rising rent in Sacramento, lack of affordable housing, increase of breweries, and all the legal marijuana for recreational use that Sacramento, California will face the same fate as Oakland, California. Housing is high, food is expensive, and gas is outrageous. People use drugs, legal and illegal, because their lives are intolerably painful or dull. They hate their work and find no rest in their leisure. They are estranged from their families and their neighbors. #RandolphHarris 8 of 10
Aging alone causes people to lose brain cells and mental processing speed, but there are several other causes that you have more control over. There are some adults who seems to be dumber than tar, but they are still working and the work they produce is awful, and yet they continue to still be employed. When these adults, who did drugs in their youth and have clearly lost their cognitive abilities, are hired on as partners or major parts of the firm, the level of productivity and quality of work seriously declines, and many people sit around wondering why these individuals are still employed, why do they not retire? While we cannot recognize a change in brain speed, many people do know that something has changed with their thinking. And if you sense that you are not as smart or quick as you used to be, you know it is an uncomfortable feeling. Some refer to it as “brain fog,” because they know that they used to feel smarter but the thoughts are just not coming together as quickly. What is happening is that when brain processing seed declines, you are literally thinking slower and remembering less. New information that you are presented with is not as easy to understand, and older memories are harder to recall. At the same time, a decline in brain chemical production causes brain cell death. #RandolphHarris 9 of 10
People who seem to enjoy their ill temper have a way of keeping it in fine condition by inflicting privations on themselves. Fewer neurons mean an additional decrease in the capacity to retain information. What is more, not only does an aging brain sometimes think slower, but drug use will also accelerate the deterioration of your brain. There is a separation between thinking and then doing. You know that you have things you need to do but you cannot quite figure out how to get them done, or you forget to take care of them. Once you experience these problems repeatedly, you need to start rebalancing your brain. Aging is the number one cause of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). As you get older, your brain develops chemical imbalances. If you do not act to fix them, you are actually leaving your brain and your body open to get sicker. Any type of addiction, including to alcohol, streets drugs (marijuana, cocaine, crystal meth, heroin, Ecstasy, nexus, ketamine, crack, hallucinogens), overeating, gambling, or even excessive shopping can cause an imbalance. One that is shipped with the devil must sail with the devil. However, mutual toleration and forbearance, in our sentiments, with regard to the legality, or expedience of measures, is the soul of democracy. Consistent, sincere prayer helps us to grow spiritually, shape our character, and strengthen our love for our Father in Heaven. Prayer is among the most valuable gifts we receive as spirit children of a loving Heavenly Father. #RandolphHarris 10 of 10
Minds Rule the World—But What Rules the Mind?
Human life partakes of the untravellable inscrutable and indeterminate law of God. The only true separate agent intellect is God, whose light of understanding fortifies the human agent intellect. Prayer is the most powerful form of energy one can generate, it supplies us with a flow of sustaining power in our daily lives. Once we have steeped our souls in prayer can every anguish calmly bear. The word “God” stands not for a specific being but for a verbal expression: supreme or highest being. Become aware of God, in whose presence you are while you pray, then take a formula of prayer and recite it with perfect attention both to the words you are saying and to the being you are saying them. Our souls are from God alone; thus human reason and will are free. The human soul is directly created by God. It is an incorporeal substance; operationally, however, the soul functions as the vivifying form of the body. Thus, the name “soul” (anima) is derived not from it essence, but from its operation as form of the body, which is accidental to that essence. Since the soul is a substance in itself, it is immortal, surviving the body because it is not dependent upon it. Rather than saying that the soul is in the body, we should say that the body is in (that is, participates in the existence of) the soul. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
The will is placed in the soul, and who can enter there but he that created the soul? Divine commandments and prohibitions, as well as reward and punishment, reflect human freedom to obey and disobey since divine justice and retributions is incompatible with determinism (the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes external to the will; meaning that human beings have no free will and cannot be morally responsible for their actions). People who do not believe in God and have wicked ways are the ones who will say that someone is affecting their behavior or compelling them to act in a certain way because they do not want to take the moral nor legal responsibility for their actions. And in their mind, these excuses make them feel better about hurting others or sinning. However, God’s foreknowledge of anything could be the cause of its coming to being, and if that is true, then all things would have to be eternal, having existed always, since God has always known of them. Therefore, God has knowledge of things as they are actually constituted. God is not like man, who profiles individuals, then spends over a decade trying to make his bogus predictions come true. You cannot predict what you do not know, even if you manipulate a subject. God knows before anything happens that it will happen. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
Furthermore, God is cognizant of what one’s choice will be before one makes it. Since God’s knowledge is not causative, human will is free. Thus, God can know the outcome of an individual’s future choice without determining such an action. God’s knowledge is incidental. His foreknowledge of a phenomenon is not its cause for coming into being. All human decisions are thus in a free climate—they may just as freely occur as not occur—because God’s knowledge of a future event is not the cause. The compatibility of God’s omniscience with human free will, this knowledge is incomprehensible to the limited human mind, since God’s knowledge is a priori (derived by reasoning from self-evident propositions) and part of his unknowable essence, whereas human knowledge is posteriori (derived by reasoning from observed facts). Thus, humans cannot understand how God can immutably foreknow the possible without rendering it necessary. The power to perform one among a number of alternative actions is given to every human. If one wills to turn oneself into a good path and to be righteous, the power is one’s to do so; and if one wills to turn oneself into a bad way and to be evil, the power lies in one’s control to be that way. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
In reality, the undoubted truth is humans are self-determining beings, as they have deliberate rational judgment and act according to their desire or will, free of external constraints, as long as there is no external compulsion controlling an individual. If God had decreed that a person should be either righteous or wicked or is there were something inherent in one’s nature which irresistibility drew an individual to a particular course, what would be the purpose of life? What would be the purpose of church and The Good Book? What would be the purpose of teaching God’s love and forgiveness? By what right or justice could God punish the wicked or reward the righteous? God determines that one can choose, but not what one chooses. After one exercises his or her freedom, the consequences of one’s choice is determined. The consequences of an individual’s actions, since they are subject to the natural order that God has created or to chance. One’s choice, however, is free. Understanding of choice not only necessitates the act being within one’s power, but also the combination of deliberation, a mental act, and desire. Actions caused by desire are determined by predisposition or habituation, it is also possible that there are actions that are the result of deliberation and choice. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
The majority of human actions are not caused, but determined. Even though human choice is determined by a casual chain initiated by God, humans are responsible for their choices. Success is not measured by what an individual accomplishes, but by the opposition one has encountered, and the courage with which one has maintained the struggle against odds. Open your heart to God and you will see the jewels of wisdom and treasures fine. God will intervene and reunite the body with his blessings with joy and life and strength. God will remind one of what it means to be safe in one’s body. And when an individual cannot hear God’s reminders, he will draw closer and speak sublimely to your soul until the pain melts into the comfort of his presence. The Lord helps to leave behind frustration fatigue, bitterness, anger, and sadness. Hear the voice of God and accept his guidance. God will love your mind, body, and soul to a good place. One where individuals will feel his blessings and support. A place where we are inspired to gracious living. Those with broken hearts and fragmented lives will be blessed with healing, as their circumstances will change, allowing peace and prosperity to come into abundance. Those who have plenty will share the richness of their souls. Trust in God’s certainty and become consumed by calmness, as ultimate reassurance cradles you. With God all things are possible. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
What are the comprehensible terrors of humans compared with the interlinked terrors and wonders of God! The eyes, though they do not tell all, they tell much. The eyes are the keys of character, the mirrors of the soul. God will dispel your fear and end your stress and wipe away any worry from your mind. You and those you care about will find good health and complete recovery. God will make known this healing power and give comfort and shelter. All who are tired will be granted restorative sleep and safe passage. Beauty and pureness are everlasting; they are of God, and can never die. They may for a moment be obscured, but they shall reappear in brighter lustre. Angels have charge over them that they dash not their foot against a stone. Let us turn to the pleasant face of God in what is about us. Some people believe that enjoying their garden is a form of prayer, because it is showing an appreciation for the natural blessings that are provided by God and their soul is silently praying and being thankful for what they are enjoying. That love of Earth, which is a recognition of God. God sees at one view the whole thread of our existence, not only that part which we have already passed through, but that which runs forward into all the depths of eternity. God’s knowledge is perfect and immutable over all that is knowable. And through faith in God, the rest of your life will be the best of your life. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Mystery and Magic at the Winchester Mansion
Whoever has been so fired in one’s own spirit by the overwhelming thought of the Divine Being as to kindle the flames of faith in their heart of their fellow humans, has thereby proved oneself to be a prophet of the living God; and thus every great historic religion dates from a genuine inspiration by the Eternal spirit. The Winchester mansion attracted a recorded 27.5 million visits in 1923, when the state of California only had a population of 4 million (3.991 million to be exact). On its best day, the mansion drew more than 700,000 visitors. That the mansion was built at all, however, was something of a miracle. To build it, the Sarah and William Winchester confronted a legion of obstacles, any one of which could have—should have—killed it long before it was completed. Together, the Winchesters’ and their architects had conjured a dream castle, whose grandeur and beauty exceeded anything each singly could have imagined. The house was furnished with the finest materials and was a showcase of Victorian elegance and taste. It is a maze of Victorian craftmanship—there were gold and silver-plated chandeliers, imported Tiffany art glass windows, German silver and bronze inlaid doors, Swiss molded bathtubs, rare precious woods like mahogany paneled walls, and rosewood and parquet floors. Cabinets and fireplaces made of teak, maple, oak and white ash. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8
Believe or not, the key to the massive front door was made of solid gold. Early in her residence, Mrs. Winchester planned a grand reception and sent hundreds of gold-engraved invitations to all the prominent valley residents. Visitors wore their best clothes and most subdued expressions, as if entering the great Winchester cathedral. Some wept at its beauty, others rejoiced as if they have a revelation of God, as the moonlight cascaded through the beautiful art glass windows. At that time, the Winchester mansion had 600 rooms, was 100,000 square feet, bisected with a ten-story tower and sat on 161 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens, with spouting fountains and blossoming orchards. A sumptuous midnight banquet was the main feature that night, guests were served beef bourguignon, tartiflette, and quiche on honeycomb platters of crystal glass, 12 inches in diameter made by Tiffany & Co, along with the table being set with a $800,000.00 solid-gold dinner service (which was counted at the end of the night to make sure every piece was put away in one of the mansion’s six huge safes). The dinner was supported by a famous orchestra for added entertainment. The mansions was patrolled by a pack of ferocious Hell Hounds, plus, of course she had her staff or armed bodyguards. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8
The crowing feature of which was the wine. A 1787 Chateau Lafite, was served out of a Tiffany & Co. refresher set in handblown glass with a 68-ounce pitcher and of course, 13-ounce glasses. For dessert, they tasted a new snack called Cracker Jack and a new breakfast food called Shredded Wheat, and brought elegance and tradition to the table by serving the treats out of 12-inch harmony bowls made of crystal glass by Tiffany & Co. The mansion employed two hundred Egyptian and German employees, who were paid in gold coins. There are still more than 10,000 windows, nine kitchens, 47 fireplaces, which are all hand carved and no two alike. And while no one claimed to like gossip, girl, they gossiped about Mrs. Winchester more than any Wendy interview—and everyone enjoyed it. Talk begat rumors and as the years passed and new towers and gables rose behind the 16-foot hedge of Llanda Villa, the rumors grew to established legend. There were also twenty-five distinct Victorian guest houses on the property. Everything about the Winchester mansion was exotic and, above all, immense. Mrs. Winchester also had a sacred blue séance room, where her secret rendezvous with the spirits took place. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8
The house was over a square mile, and some people were more impressed with the Winchester mansion, so much so that it eclipsed the tower of Alexandre Eiffel, Madison Square Garden. Mrs. Winchester is reported to have had dinner with Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Henry Adams, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Nikola Tesla, Jane Addams, Francis Ellingwood Abbot, and his wife but when President Theodore Roosevelt’s entourage passed, he expressed desire to visit the greatest event in the history of this country since the Civil War, at the World famous mansion, but at the great front door, our nation’s leader was more than astonished to be coldly told by the Butler, “Mrs. Winchester is not home!” The Winchester mansion was one of the first in the World to utilize wood insulation. Mrs. Winchester used brass cornerplates on many stairways to prevent dust pocket, and she invented an inside crank to open and close the outside shutters. Her 46 fireplaces were the first hinged iron drops for ashes and concealed wood boxes. The tier of tubs in her immense laundry had moulded-in wash boards. Mrs. Winchester also rode in regal splendor. First with a Victoria with livered coachman. Then a French Renault, a Buick Town-Car and two Pierce-Arrows, one done in stunning lavender and gold. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8
Mrs. Winchester had a remarkable memory and knew location of every piece of material in the mansion, even in the vast store-rooms. Some of the built-in innovations were decades ahead of the times. Annunciators installed in all rooms could signal her whereabouts to the servants. Illuminating gas was manufactured by a new process directly on the grounds. She improvised a window catch patterned after the Winchester rifle trigger and trip-hammer. Mrs. Winchester was very strong minded and firm, but always fair and kind. Laziness, theft, gossip or revealed confidence met with instant dismissal. Something magical had occurred in that mansion, and it was beyond doubt, but darkness, too had touched the house. Scores of workers had been hurt or killed in building the dream, their families consigned to poverty (for looting the mansion). And a fire had killed more, and an assassin had allegedly gone on a rampage targeting members of elite classes. Worse had occurred, too, but these revelations emerged only slowly. A murdered had moved among the beautiful things the Winchesters had created and the mansion was so large that he would sneak in and out at night killing guests. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8
Mr. Abbot’s young wife was drawn to the Winchester mansion by the prospect of business and she and many other young women had disappeared, last seen at the mile-long Winchester mansion. Later, Francis Abbot and his colleagues learned of the anguished letters describing daughters who had come to California and had fallen silent. The press speculated that scores of people must have disappeared within the building. After completing “The Syllogistic Philosophy,” Francis Abbot allegedly committed suicide at his wife’s grave. Even Lizzie Halliday was startled by what the fact that such grisly events could have gone undiscovered for so long, and people started to suspect that there really was supernatural activity going on inside of the Winchester mansion and that the Winchester family was being stalked and killed by ghost. Enough strange things began happening to people to make the claim seem plausible. For the supernaturally inclined, the death of the butler alone offered sufficient proof. America is every whit as sacred as Judea. God is as near to you and to me, as ever he was to Moses, to Jesus, or to Paul. Wherever a human soul has uttered its sincere and brave faith in the Divine, and this bequeathed to us the legacy of inspire words, there is the Holy Bible. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8
Humans impose their own way of life on nature, and transforms it into something with a human shape. There are in consequence two levels of nature: an upper level of human nature and a lower level of physical nature. We are born into the latter World, but do not really belong to it. It is natural to people to be moral, civilized, and socially disciplined; it is unnatural to live like wild beasts. Human’s present relation to nature can hardly be expressed except by paradox. Certain human qualities, such as chastity, are natural, on the human level of nature. The nature God had originally planned for humans was that of the Golden Age or the Garden of Eden: this was lost at the Fall, but in some measure, is recreated by the disciplines of civilization, morality, religion, and the arts. People are subject to death, and on the physical level of nature there can be no more natural event than death. Yet death was not a part of the order originally planned for humans and in that context death is unnatural. Witchcraft, a perceived facility to summon evil spirits and demons to do harm to others, was linked to religion to the extent that the medieval Church had powers to punish those who dabbled in magic and sorcery. Its priests were able to exorcise those who had become possessed by malign spirits. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8
During the 16th century, many people believed that witchcraft, rather than the workings of God’s will, offered a more convincing explanation of sudden and unexpected ill fortune, such as the death of a child, bad harvests, or the death of cattle. Witch-hunting became an obsession in some parts of the country. An estimated total 60,000 people were executed during the witch trials. Those accused of witchcraft were portrayed as being worshipers of the Devil, who engaged in such acts as malevolent sorcery at meetings known as Witches’ Sabbaths. In 1552, Parliament passed the Witchcraft Acts which defined witchcraft as a crime punishable by death. It was repealed five years later, but restored by a new Act in 1562. The circling of the immortal Heavenly bodies in the sky is the most eloquent symbol of the order and harmony of the nature that was originally intended for human beings. In 1736, Parliament passed an Act repealing the laws against witchcraft, but imposing fines or imprisonment on people who claimed to be able to use magical powers. At the level of society (or at least the groups of human beings that existed in the evolutionary past), religious belief promotes cooperation, mutual respect, and solidarity, and these features help the group to survive. God wants us to love our neighbors, as we love ourselves, which means show respect. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8
Randolph Harris II International 