Human beings are not wholly depraved and the judicious exercise of human reason is absolutely essential to a Christian life. There is no great insurmountable chasm between nature and the supernatural and the mark of the Divine Creator can be detected in every creature. To deny the freedom to pursue the ideals of truth, beauty, and benignant love is to undermine every profound human venture, including science, morality, and philosophy. The freedom crucial to human existence is untenable if the individual is dependent for one’s existence upon any other being, including a Creator-God or an Absolute One. Therefore, self-determining beings must be uncreated and eternal; yet the unique quality of human freedom presupposes that each person stands in an individual relationship to other persons, subpersonal beings, and God. How, then, does this plurality of uncreated beings compose a Universe and not a mere collection of beings, a pluriverse? Well, the very nature of undeniable, self-active, unified, thinking beings to define themselves and to fulfill themselves as individuals. In this very act of self-definition and self-fulfillment they find themselves related to other beings. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8
Thus, in thinking itself as eternally real, each spirit thinks the reality of other spirits. “Bring the souls of humans unto me, while the World shall stand,” reports 3 Nephi 28.9. Is there a God to unify the many grades of self-active beings? Yes, but any unification must not infringe upon individual growth to moral perfection. Creation as efficient cause must give way to creation in accordance with an Ideal present in each being. The fulfillment of this Ideal calls for a World composed of all the individual differences compatible with the mutual reality of it all. Thus, basic harmony is possible because, as each individual defines oneself, one finds the Ideal of self-definition which to measure oneself. And God, who is defined as self-existent by every other self-defining being, is the indispensable standard for measuring reality. The impinging of the Infinite on human’s experience, emotions, and will implies the spiritual nature of the Infinite; for otherwise it would be hard to account for its inspiring power. The fundamental institutions of the medieval World—the empire, the church, and feudalism—seemed to be the guardians of a cosmic order which humans have to accept but which they cannot modify to the slightest degree. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8
The nature of love exhibited by one’s mother and father are of particular meaning for every human being. For this can either inhibit or accelerate one’s own ability to love. They work primarily to show that all the material and spiritual goods to which humans can aspire (from daily bread to truth) derive from the order to which they belong, that is, the hierarchies which are the interpreters and custodians of the cosmic order. “And behold, the Heavens were opened, and they were caught up into Heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things. And it was forbidden them that they should utter; neither was it given unto them power that they could utter the things which the heard,” reports 3 Nephi 28.13-14. Humanism, which was born in the cities and the communes that had fought and were fighting for their autonomy and that saw in traditional hierarchical orders an obstacle rather than an assistant to the goods indispensable to humans, defended human’s freedom to project one’s life in the World in autonomous ways. In exalting freedom, they exalted human’s capacity to form this World, to vary it, and to better it absolutely. #RandolphHarris 3 of 8
As much as any person in our time, we all must control our moral and intellectual dilemmas and comprehend a humanity that seems determined to heal. “I have given you, Adam, neither a predetermined place nor a particular aspect nor any special prerogatives in order that you may take and possess these through your own decision and choice. The limitations on the nature of other creatures are contained within my prescribed laws. You shall determine your own nature without constraint from any barrier, by means of the freedom to whose power I have entrusted you. I have placed you at the center of the World so that from that point you might see better what is in the World. I have made you neither Heavenly nor Earthly, neither mortal nor immortal so that, like a free and sovereign artificer, you might mold and fashion yourself into that form you yourself shall have chosen,” reports God. Wisdom confers on people the powers which perfect their nature. “And whether you are in the body or out of the body, you cannot tell of the unspeakable things saw and heard in Heaven; for it did seem unto you like a transfiguration of yourselves, that you were changed from this body of flesh into an immortal state, that you could behold the things of God,” reports 3 Nephi 28.15. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8
One deals here (as evident today) with speculations influenced by an excessive confidence in human’s capacity to shape life in the World, a confidence in human’s capacity to shape one’s life in the World, a confidence which is tempered by the skeptical development that humanism underwent outside of Italy from 1533-1603. This confidence, however, constituted the new doctrine of humanism in contrast with the medieval mentality. “And ye may know that the words of the Lord, which have been spoken by the holy prophets, shall all be fulfilled; and ye need not say that the Lord delays his coming. And ye need not imagine in your hearts that the words which have been spoken are vain, for behold, the Lord will remember his covenant which he hath made unto his people,” reports 3 Nephi 29.2-3. Human interest, values and dignity are to predominate. There is an ultimate faith in humankind, which believes that human beings possess the power or potentiality of solving their own problems, through reliance primarily upon reason and scientific method applied with courage and vision. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8
Humanism upholds human reason, ethics and justice, and is a component of a variety of more specific philosophical systems, and is incorporated into religious schools of thought. It is an optimistic attitude to life whose ultimate goal is human flourishing, doing good and living well in the here and now, and leaving the World better for those who come after. The conviction that humans are part of nature—that nature is their realm, and the features which tie them to nature (one’s body, one’s needs, one’s sensations) are essential to one to the point that one cannot abstract from them nor ignore them—one can speak of naturalism in humanism. Though the humanists exalted the soul of human beings for its powers of freedom, they did not forget the body that which it pertains to it. The widespread recognition of the value of pleasure among the humanists and their aversion to medieval asceticism clearly show the new evaluation of human’s natural aspects. As an ethical doctrine, it affirms the dignity and worth of all people and their ability to determine right and wrong purely by appeal to universal human qualities, especially rationality. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8
Humanity searches for truth and morality through human means in support of human interests, and focuses on the human capacity for self-determination. It endorses universal morality (Moral Universalism) based on the commonality of the human condition. Pleasure is the sole good for humans, that is, the sole end of human activities. The laws that regulate cities have been made for utility, which in turn generates pleasure. Every government is directed to this same end. Virtue is none other than the calculus of pleasure; and pleasure, or at least utility, it the end of the liberal arts, like medicine, jurisprudence, poetry, and oratory, which attempt to satisfy the needs of life. Moral philosophy is, so to speak, our territory. Those who betray it, and give themselves over to physics, seem in a way to occupy themselves over to physics, seem in a way to occupy themselves with foreign affairs and to neglect their own. If love is a capacity of the mature, productive character, it follows that the capacity to love in an individual living in any given culture depends on the influence this culture has on the character of the average person. One thing is for certain: the nature of one’s love for God corresponds for the nature of love for humanity. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8
If we should succeed in keeping alive a vision of mature life, the development of fairness and ethics develop. “And it came to pass that there were other disciples ordained in their stead; and also many of that generation had passed away. And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people. And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God,” 4 Nephi 1.15-16. Perhaps the most important lesson the World has learned in the past seventy five years is that it is not true that human nature is unchangeable. Human nature, on the contrary, can be changed with the greatest ease and to the utmost possible extent. If in this is possessed huge potential danger, it also contains some of the brightest hopes that we have for the future of humankind. Each of us is programmed by the culture to think and feel in specified ways. And though a certain latitude is permitted, with some alternatives allowed, most of us are socialized to be more or less similar in the content to our minds. Love is a key to the secret of life. With love subtracted, life will become tasteless and colourless. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8
Happiness is a condition of the soul. Pleasure, joy, and happiness all involved a sense of well-being, a sense of being up, and having good feelings toward oneself and/or others. The main thing in life is not to be afraid to be human. However, it seems that some individuals are convinced that life must be painful. They resent any good feelings in themselves and others. Joy seems somehow irresponsible to them. Sometimes you hear a person say that it is wrong to be happy when so many people the World over are in pain. We have all been down, bummed-out, unhappy, restless and fretful, sad and tearful. Depression is an extreme of this. It is painful and no one likes it, but it is still a normal response. Feeling depressed usually means we are angry or blocked at some point. Rather than denying the feelings, we would be healthier to use the natural time out that depression creates to work it out. Understanding that there are spiritual side effects from depression is important when one or one’s loved ones face this challenge. If a person feels angry but cannot let the emotion out, one often turns it in on oneself and gets depressed. When an individual would rather hit someone else on the head, one gets headaches. When an individual would much rather make someone else sad and tearful, they experience those emotions themselves. However, psychotic depression is much more serious and involves pattern of depression that are much more serious and far deeper and long-lasting. #RandolphHarris 1 of 11
Some people pray for the sorrow to go away and read the scriptures and listen to good music, like Those Were the Days by Aaliyah, in hopes of regaining peace. However, nothing seems to help. It appears as if their soul, all that is unique to them, has come under attack. Many people feel like that have no worth and that they are unworthy of their wonderful family. Although these individuals many not be suicidal, they believe if they died someone more deserving could take their place. And each day, this region of space that are in has a gravitational field that is so intense that no matter how hard they try to escape from the black hole, they cannot. Often times, it also seems like people or things, especially money are starting to disappear without a trace and no one can understand them, and some people eventually lose hope. Because these feelings are so deeply personal and painful, other individuals are ashamed and do not want to share them with anyone. Thoughts like these often come up: I have it all—a great job, relationship, and lifestyle—so why do I feel so dissatisfied and disconnected? Why am I not happier in my intimate relationships? How do I become more powerful—without becoming the jerk every dislikes? Overcoming depression has a lot to do with being present and trustworthy, grounded and transparent, and showing up as a warrior of integrity and intimacy, compassionately cutting through the roots of whatever is obstructing one’s well-being. God did not create us to have a depressed spirit. #RandolphHarris 2 of 11
One of the things people do not understand about life is that God wants us to be happy. I go through it myself, not necessarily depression, but I have a lot of hardships in my life and am around a lot of people I cannot trust, do not like and that are very torturous—they like to use painful events from the past and constantly remind one of them, they love to lie and distort information, and they even physically attack one when one is not paying attention. So, what helps is to befriend the vulnerability and realize that we are children of God and to force oneself to be happy and smile when you start to feel sad memories coming forward. Keep in mind that nothing lasts forever, and one day happiness will return. However, must we are disgusted by savage behaviour, our hearts should do out to them. Also, pray constantly for Heaven’s help to relieve the heaviness in one’s heart. Whatever one is experiencing may not have anything to do with sin. It is essential to understand that such a spiritual crisis is not a result of spiritual weakness nor lack of faith. Everyone is going to be anxious or downhearted on occasion. And never lose faith in your Father in Heaven, who loves you more than you can comprehend. Never, ever doubt that, and never harden your heart. Faithfully pursue the time-tested devotional practice that being the Spirit of the Lord into your life. #RandolphHarris 3 of 11
It is also important to look inside of ourselves and seek the keys for our spiritual well-being. It is so crucial to encounter the dimensions of our soul without robing it of its passion and warrior spirit, allowing it to full-bloodedly expand, permitting it to further energize and awaken the quintessential being within us. With perseverance, the soul becomes increasingly alive and present. Happiness is a conditional of the soul. This joyous state is further enhanced by living a righteous life. If we life in such a way to make life good, it can be. “Because they lead my people astray, saying ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurling down, and violent winds will burst forth. When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, ‘Where is the whitewash you covered it with?’ In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the LORD. So I will spend my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash,” Ezekiel 13.10-14. #RandolphHarris 4 of 11
In vulnerability there is a transparency and capacity for self-disclosure that can help deepen our connection with others. Becoming more vulnerable asks that we stretch beyond our comfort zone, but the resulting increase in depth, vitality, and connection make doing so worthwhile. Without vulnerability, there is no intimacy. Vulnerability does not always mean leaving the door wide-open; for example, if it does not feel right to drop your guard, but you know it is safe to do so, openly admit that you are guard—such an admission itself is an act of vulnerability. Or if you are with someone you know you cannot trust with your vulnerability, do not “should” yourself into being vulnerable. Be discerning with your vulnerability, which is something they do not teach in college. Social engineering in college can open people up to being preyed upon because they are trying to break down racial or class segregation, but sometimes there are risks that need to be considered and one has to remain aware of that. Do not allow teachers and professors and community members to whitewash you values to the point that you are making foolish decision and hanging out with people you should not. Sometimes people are not beings or class discriminating, they are just trusting their instincts. Vulnerability can be a risk, especially emotionally, but not doing what can to protect ourselves can be a bigger risk. #RandolphHarris 5 of 11
Empathy also needs an empathic boundary, meaning discernment so one does not get overly absorbed in or identified with others’ emotional states—standing back 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 someone’s problems because one thinks they are obligated to, but it does make it very difficult to dehumanize others, 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 reinforces vulnerability. Some people open easily, loves easily, connect easily, but their personal boundaries are all but missing. Saying “no” can be very difficult for one, so one’s “yes” lacks authenticity and real conviction, existing mostly as a means of not displeasing or upsetting anyone. The idea is to develop healthy boundaries. No one needs to feel alone on the road of life, for we are all invited to come unto Christ and be perfected in the Lord. Happiness is the purpose of the gospel and the purpose of the redeeming Atonement for all people. #RandolphHarris 6 of 11
Sometimes people lie around in the afternoon, are in bed by eight, and there in their beds alone the past rises like a tide, over and over, to swamp them with memories they cannot handle. Their loved ones die again, and again and they have to face that they could not save them. These memories come back to them with extraordinary vividness. “Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives, therefore you will no longer see false visions or practice divination. I will save my people from your hands. And then you will know that I am the LORD,” reports Ezekiel 13.22-23. People are created by God with rational endowments necessary for the conduct of society and government. People desire not only to live, but also to live well. This further desire implies that people must find their ultimate happiness. Such ultimate cannot be found in the attainment of a temporal, and therefore temporary, good, but only in the ultimate perfection that is God. Owing to the Fall, humans cannot know by natural reason what one must do to obtain this final supernatural end. God has therefore revealed to people certain rules to supplement natural laws. Hence it becomes clear that in order to achieve full human stature, individuals need both natural law, for social and political purposes, and revealed law, for everlasting felicity. #RandolphHarris 7 of 11
Revealed law is contained in the Bible and the traditions of the church. Natural law and reveled law are jointly, and not separately, the correct guide. God is pure act and in him existence and essence coincide; Angels are immaterial and they differ from all natural, not purely intellectual creatures in that they behold the face of God directly; the soul is the form of humans, and not a separate substance. God is law unto himself, and that law is the lex aeterna, which is both the source of all other law and itself manifested in all other laws. In the divinely revealed law, it is manifested directly, so to speak; in natural law, indirectly. For natural law is discovered by human reason, and human reason is created by God according to the lex aeterna; therefore the dictate of natural law, spring from the lex aeterna. God has given reason to every human. He has illuminated people. “The light of thy countenance is signed upon us, Lord,” reports Psalms iv.6-7. Hence we learn the will of God by using our reason. The will of humans is free. Everything good that reason sees as such has something unpleasant annexed to it. And everything evil that reason sees as such has something pleasant attached to it. For reason cannot see the absolutely good. Hence, although we always will the good, we can never will the absolutely good; as a result the will is always free to choose between several relative goods. #RandolphHarris 8 of 11
The two springs of human action are knowledge (reason) and will. The will always wills the good; and the good is apprehended by reason. Sin results from the imperfect operation of reason, which can never apprehend the good. Sin is therefore intimately linked with both the freedom of the will and the imperfection of reason. It is never committed as a positive action or desired for its own sake, but is the result of a loss. Evil, by implication, is a privation. To avoid evil, it is necessary to supplement the law of nature. And since the law of nature is embodied in secular government, the revealed law is embodied in the church. This is the proof that church and start are intimately connected. Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name. “Behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell; I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love. And I desire that ye should remember to observe the statutes and the judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning. My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared, lest for the hardness of your hearts the Lord your God should come out in the fulness of his wrath upon you, that ye be cut off and destroyed forever,” 2 Nephi 1.15-17. #RandolphHarris 9 of 11
We need to recognize that wanting to is the determining factor which leads us to lay hold upon the word of God and be happy. Perseverance in making correct decisions is what leads us to happiness. Happiness comes as the result of our obedience and our courage in always doing the will of God, even in the most difficult circumstances. “And now that my soul might have joy in you, and that my heart might leave this World with gladness because of you, that I might not be brought down with grief and sorrow to the grave, arise from the dust, my children, and be people, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, untied in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity; that you may not be cursed with a sore cursing; and also that ye may not incur the displeasure of a just God upon you, unto the destruction, yea, the eternal destruction of both soul and body. Awake, my children; put on the armor of righteousness. Sake off the chains which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust,” reports 2 Nephi 1.21-23. Yes, we find happiness in the midst of the trial of our faith. The Lord manifests himself to us through his tender mercies, which we find along the road of happiness. We see with increased clarity his hand in our lives. This joyous state comes as a result of righteous living. #RandolphHarris 10 of 11
Happiness is the object and design of our existence. If we pursue the path that leads to it, and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God, then happiness will also be the end thereof. The whole crusade for control of the emotions is, of course, emotionally grounded, and it is prosecuted in a most emotional fashion. Emotions are the means by which we make contact. We may talk angrily or warmly toward another; both are good contact or potential contact, for contact is established only if it has the support of our emotions. The price we pay for avoiding the pain of being fully alive is that we are excluded from the pleasure as well. The way to love other people is to express what we feel—anger and love—without aiming to hurt feelings. Open but reverent communication is how to make love in our lives. Noting in the World is better and more pleasing than friendship. Without it, the World would lose the Sun. People are not singing praises of stars because of their crystalline beauty, but their combination into a magnificent sky. A self-confident, glamorous gentleman or gentlewoman is especially captivating, and with his or her faint smile particularly engaging, because of the way they fix their eyes is an exchange that makes us feel good. #RandolphHarris 11 of 11
Angels signify images raised in the mind to indicate the presence of God. Life holds a lot of surprises, does it not? People generally suffer becomes of the superior power of nature, the finite nature of our own bodies, and the inadequacy of the regulations which adjust the mutual relationships of human beings in the family, the state and society. In regard to the first two sources, our judgement cannot hesitate long. It forces us to acknowledge those sources of suffering and to submit to the inevitable. We shall never completely master nature; and our bodily organism, itself a part of that nature, will always remain a transient structure with a limited capacity for adaptation and achievement. This recognition does not have a paralyzing effect. On the contrary, it points the direction for our activity. If we cannot remove all suffering, we can remove some, and we can mitigate some: the experience of many thousands of years has convinced us of that. As regards the third source, the social source of suffering, our attitude is a different one. We do not admit it at all; we cannot see why the regulations made by ourselves should not, on the contrary, be a protection and a benefit for every one of us. And yet, when we consider how unsuccessful we have been in precisely this field of prevention of suffering, a suspicion dawns on us that here, too, a piece of unconquerable nature may life behind—this time a piece of our own physical constitution. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
Youth is, in general, the perfect time to make personal plans. Each of us had our childhood dreams. As a young adult one should still have dreams for one’s future—each person! Perhaps it is the hope for a brand-new house, an athletic achievement, a new car, the creation of a band or musical group, or the acquisition of a diploma or professional position that one seeks to acquire through work and perseverance. Some people may even have a precious image in their minds of one’s future husband or wife, his or her physical appearance, his or her character traits, the colour of his or her eyes or hair, and the beautiful children that will bless one’s family. How many of your wishes will come true? Life is full of uncertainty. Surprises will occur all along life’s journey. When we start considering this possibility, we come upon a contention which is so astonishing that we must dwell upon it. This contention holds that what we call our civilization is largely responsible for our misery, and that we should be much happier if we gave it up and returned to primitive conditions. Life can be like a suspense novel whose plot is very difficult to predict. This contention is astonishing because, in whatever we may define the concept of civilization, it is a certain fact that all the things with which we seek to protect ourselves against are the threats that emanate from part of our very civilization. There will be key moment for us that may change the course of our lives in an instant. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
However, there will also be new opportunities that will present themselves in our lives. Sometimes, courses change in our lives and present unexpected challenges or disappointments. Through experience we learn that we can only partially control the circumstances of our lives. Some people become neurotic because they cannot tolerate the amount of frustration which society imposes on them in the service of its cultural ideas, and it is inferred from this that the abolition or reduction of those demands will result in a return to possibilities of happiness. Most people dislike the unknown. The uncertainty of life creates in some a lack of confidence, a fear of the future that manifests itself in different ways. Some hesitate to make commitments out of fear of failure, even when good opportunities present themselves. For example, people may delay marriage, education, starting a family, or establishing a stable professional activity. There is a different pat than ones of fear and doubt or self-indulgence—a path that bring peace, confidence, and serenity to our lives. That is a good thing because what good to us is a life if it is difficult and barren of joys, and if it is so full of misery that we can only welcome death as a deliverer? #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
We are the architects of our happiness. It is not really the result of the circumstances of our lives. It is much more the result of our spiritual vision and the principles upon which we base our lives. These principles will bring us happiness regardless of the unexpected challenges and surprises we will inevitably face during our journeys here on Earth. Some people develop a composite picture that credits them with an impressive erudition, an extremely methodical mind, a collector’s interest in art, and the qualities of affability, discreet generosity, modesty, loyalty to friends, and a taste for virtuous simplicity. Of course there will be times of moodiness, petulance, and gruffness. However, these traits just provide a touch of humanity without essentially altering the picture of an individual a virtuous being. No one lives without making mistakes and incurring regrets, yet we all hope to be worthy of regard in the in. The notion or reciprocity, of being helped and then helping in return, appeals to our basic need for balance and order. Opportunities arise thereby for correcting antiquated misconceptions as well as for incurring new irritations. Former conflicts may flare up with enough force to propel our finally working them out. “Look upon my suffering and deliver me, for I have not forgotten your law. Defend my cause and redeem me; preserver my life according to your promise,” reports Psalm 119.153-154. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Extending leniency to others gives us faith that someone will do the same for us when we reach the point that we need assistance and spiritual reckoning. Even fumbled efforts at helpfulness and reconciliation are significant for the hope they instill and the example they set. We will return through memory to events that had been previously unclear and re-greet them with the knowledge we have gained since these events transpired. Sometimes in people’s adolescent diaries and journals, individuals record how they are suffused with self-reproach after a parent passes into Heaven for the countless unkindnesses one did them, large and small, the torment that they feel can never be made good. Some people brood relentlessly as they look back at their mother or father’s last days, seeing in retrospect all that one could have done on their parent’s behalf and they carry a feeling of guilt that will always remain and that should teach one to become kinder to toward the living. Today, as I watched Jill carry a bee out of her house and place it on a flower, I thought to myself how kind that was. When I saw Justin take his son Leo to play golf, and Leo offered him the first turn, but just said, “No. Leo plays first,” I thought how kind that was. We are always able to see father looking back then we can in the crush of the present and each and every moment matters. I always see Leo performing ordinary actions, such as letting others be first, putting on his garden slippers, and how they mirror his father’s gestures exactly. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
I have learned the most important thing in life is living. When people are gone, we can never talk to them again. Before that, we may not understand how serious their life is. We do not want to waste time and throw away chances to do things, thinking that we can get them done later. After we lose someone we love, we may not have any patience for chatter. Some individuals get up and leave when their friends start talking about nothing because they cannot get it out of their mind that one day it is all over. It is incomprehensible that one day a loved one can just disappear without us being able to fully enjoy them. We cannot rush these discoveries. They are the consequences of living, not thinking. We can hasten to ask questions of surviving relatives, piecing together blurry aspects of the past, but truth forgiveness and growth arise with the passage of time and the infusion of new experiences. Even the most painful losses will free and strengthened us. We may have to give up nostalgia and guilt to see this. Acceptance keeps us waiting, and then comes all at once. It is exuberant and generous, not dull and sluggish like a loss. Of all the emotions left behind by bereavement, guilt display are the most persistent. Often the only liberation is to admit out loud the wrongs we think we committed, testing them against another person’s experience. “All that God requires you to keep his commandments,” Mosiah 2.22. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
If we give in to our own perceptions rather than following the Spirit of God, we can easily draw incorrect conclusions. One of the most obvious features of perception is that it involved seeing something as something, some sort of discrimination or recognition. By sense we commonly understand the judgment we make of objects by their phantasms; namely, by comparing and distinguishing those phantasms; which we could never do, if that motion in the organ, by which the phantasm is made, did not remain there for some time and make the same phantasm return. For seeing the nature of sense consists in motion; as long as the organs are employed about one object, they cannot be so moved by another at the same time, as to make by both their motions one sincere phantasm of each of them as once. When a strong motion impinges on the sense organ, the sense organ, the motion from the root of the sense organ’s nerves to the heart persists contumaciously and makes the sense organ stupid to the registration of other motion. Imagination is explicitly a deduction from the law of inertia. When a body is once in motion, it moves, unless something else hinder it, eternally so also it happens in that motion, which is made in the internal part of a person when he or she see, dreams, etc. For after the object is removed, or the eye shut, we still retain an image of the thing seen, though more obscure than when we see it. #RandolphHarris 1 of 5
Imagination, therefore, is nothing but the decaying sense. This decay is not a decay in motion, rather it would be contrary to the law of inertia. Rather, it comes about because the sense organs are moved by other objects, and subsequent movements obscure previous ones in such manner as the light of the Sun obscures the light of the stars. Memory differs from imagination only in that fading image is accompanied by a feeling of familiarity. For one the perceives that one has perceived remembers, and memory supposed the time past. To say that a person imagines a tree rather than perceives it is to say something about the status of what is claimed. To perceive is to see something that is really before one’s eyes; to imagine is to think that one sees something that is not there. Have you ever seen the Sun set? You may think you have. Yet, in reality, we know that the Sun does not set. Instead, our viewing angle changes as the Earth turns, until the Sun is obscured by the horizon. Want to try the alternative? This evening, stand facing west. With practice, you can learn to feel yourself being swept backward on the rotating surface of the Earth as you watch the unmoving Sun recede in the distance. This radical shift in perspective illustrates the limitations of objective observation. Like most experiences, seeing a Sunset is a perceptual reconstruction (mental model) of an external event. #RandolphHarris 2 of 5
Another way of appreciating this perceptual reconstruction is to realize that it takes about 50 milliseconds for a visual signal to move from the retina to the brain. Therefore, the images we see are always slightly in the past. An event that happens quickly, like the pop of a flashbulb, may be over by the time we experience it. As we have seen, perception reflects the needs, expectations, attitudes, values, and beliefs of the perceiver. In this light, the phrase “seeing is believing” must be modified. Clearly, we see what we believe, as well as believe what we see. In some cases, subjective perception nurtures the personal vision in art, music, poetry, and scientific innovation. Other, however, it is a real liability. Similarly, to remember is to be right in a claim one makes about something in the past that one was in a position to witness, whereas to imagine is to be mistaken in what one claims. The scriptures warn us of this. They say that if we give in to our own perceptions rather than following the Spirit, we can easily raw incorrect conclusions. “Every person walks in one’s own way, and after the image of one’s own god, whose image is in the likeness of the World,” reports Doctrine and Covenants 1.16. #RandolphHarris 3 of 5
Do we always know the reasons for our actions? Or is our behaviour sometimes unknowingly and unintentionally influenced by what we have recently perceived? The automatic influence of knowledge in memory is limited to people’s interpretation of the World, and stops short of shaping their actual behaviour. People’s behaviours can be unknowingly influenced by knowledge that is incidentally activated in memory during social perception. Social knowledge is incidentally activated while reading words or imagining events and subsequently affects participants’ behaviours across a range of ostensibly unrelated domains. How one focuses their attention affects one’s perceptions. When one has an idea in one’s mind one tends to look for evidence that supports that idea and not pay attention to evidence that says the idea is not accurate. This is called confirmation bias. If one believes a person likes them, they will ignore that individuals have more than one choice and may not be interested. People tend to pay attention to evidence that supports their beliefs and even try to manipulate perceptions subtly, but because about assuming something that is not there. So one way to changing your perception is to check the evidence. I the way see the situation factual? Find a way to count or otherwise test out your thoughts in a more objective way. #RandolphHarris 4 of 5
Most people do not like uncertainty so they classify people and experiences into categories. People also learn to associate outcomes with cues when they may not be related. Also, people may also be aware that you are trying to manipulate their perceptions, and actually ignore the cues. Many adults tend to focus on things that are tangible and real. There is no reason while two adults cannot directly communicate in an affective manner without leaving anything open to interpretation. Mindfulness can help one be aware of one’s reactions and pause and consider all factors before responding. Tangible evidence is an evidence which can be treated as fact; real or concrete. It is capable of being touched or felt and has a real substance, a tangible object. The liberty of a person consists in that one finds no stop in doing what one has the will, desire, or inclination to do. Liberty is the absence of all the impediments to action that are not contained in the nature and intrinsical quality of the agent. Two people could be looking at the same picture and can see totally different things. However, when looking at life’s big picture, it is important to align your perception with that of Heavenly Fathers. All society, in most cases, are either for gain or glory; that is, not so much for love of our fellows as for love of oneself. Human nature being what it is, there are certain means they must accept if they are to have what they want. It is irrational to want something and yet to refuse to take only means that will ensure what is wanted is obtained. #RandolphHarris 5 of 5
Your riches taught me poverty. Myself a millionaire in little wealth until I entered your estate with you. When figures show their royal front and mists are carved away—behold the atom I prefer. Freedom is logically connected with will, and will is as essential to mind as intellect is. Instead of succumbing to a seemingly stagnant life, one can plan to keep improving. Freedom is something that has to be achieved. Adulthood—by nature it seems an exciting, ever-flowing river of successes and disappointments, occasionally interspersed by a few marked moments: graduating from college, passing entrance exams, getting married, having children, landing that dream job—all significant milestones along the journey of life. So what happens when it seems like we have reached most of our important milestones, or when we feel like we are just not making progress in life? It is easy to feel as though our once progressive life is now completely stagnant, resulting in one of several things: an apathy toward life and progression of any kind, despair from feeling a lack of meaning or fulfillment, or angst from feeling one is not going anywhere. When we have nothing to measure our lives against, it can quickly slip into anything from monotonous banality to debilitating helplessness. If one finds oneself among those who feel trapped in this stagnating stage of life, remember that one does not have to be doing something extraordinary to have an extraordinary life, but one has to be doing something. #RandolphHarris 1 of 10
They key to stay happy with life is to keep moving. The path to eternal life is not on a plateau. Rather, it is an incline, ever onward and upward. In order to move forward in life—past the stagnant parts of the river—we need to take a step toward improving ourselves. Complacency is surprisingly powerful, though, especially when the process of daily life can seem all consuming. In our quest to become the best people we can be, we will often hit plateaus where we feel like we are not making any progress at all. Those flat-line moments in life can be a real soul sucker. We can see where we want to be, but we are stuck at a level just below our desired goal, and it seems like no matter what we do that we cannot imagine how we will be able to reach our goals. Although we cannot always create the major milestones in our lives, we can find meaning and fulfillment by setting and striving to keep purposeful daily, weekly, and yearly goals. First, it is important to take a step back and look at our life as it already is. This involves a thorough self-evaluation. We have to ask ourselves question like: Where do I need development? What do I want out of life? How can I get there? Then it is important to honestly evaluate where and how we spend our time and what things we want to change. Think about the things we want to do, traits we want to develop, and skills we want to acquire. #RandolphHarris 2 of 10
Life’s many goals of improvement including increased wisdom, mental improvement, physical development, spiritual fortification, and social growth are essential. What can the concept of God mean under these circumstances? It is transformed from its original religious meaning into one fitting the alienated culture of success. In the religious revival of recent times, the belief in God has been transformed into a psychological device to make one better fitted for the competitive struggle. Religion allies itself with auto-suggestion and psychotherapty to help people in their business activities. People also call upon God for purposes of improving one’s personality. Belief in God and prayer is recommended as a means to increase one’s ability to be successful. Just as modern psychiatrist recommend happiness of the employee, in order to be more appealing to the customers, some ministers recommend love of God to be more successful. To make God our partner means to recognize God in business, love, justice and truth. Just as brotherly live has been replaced by impersonal fairness, God has been transformed into a remote General Director of our Universal Corporation. We know that God is there, he runs the show, we never see him, but we acknowledge God’s leadership while we are doing our part. Therefore, when we decide on categories and goals, we must remember to include the Heavenly Fathers in the process. #RandolphHarris 3 of 10
It is important to make prayer a serious matter so we can find out how to best improve our lives and what God’s will is for us. It is not enough to do things. We must do the right things—the things our Heavenly Father would want us to do. Heavenly Father wants us to be continually progressing because he knows our eternal potential. When we stretch past our comfort zone, that is when growth comes. If we choose to learn from our failures, they can bring us closer to our goal. It is also important for us to be honest with ourselves, and not just confide in people who tell us what we want to near, instead of what we need to hear. Learning to accept criticism is something that simply takes discipline and practice. We truly have to consider if there is something valuable to learn in criticism and make sure it is constructive, and not just meant as a put down. Our choices and decisions can render life both perplexing and frustrating. I know that a lot of people recommend taking risks and not being afraid to fail, but that is not always a good idea. Because sometimes we may not recover from losses. Like the recession of 2008 cost Americans $70,000.00 of financial prosperity over a lifetime. Therefore, just because life seems to be boring at the moment, it would not be a good idea to quit your job, sale your house, and sink all that money into a business. We have to actually fear failure and do our research to make sure we are making rational decisions. #RandolphHarris 4 of 10
Our decisions and choices are inextricably tied to the roles and relationships that envelop our lives. If we choose to leave a certain occupation, we touch not only our own life but the lives of family, friends, and associates whom we leave, as well as the people we shall soon be working for. Our decision, in other words, is not unaffected by other relationships which influence our life. When choosing a line of work, a business move, an occupational choice, we must consider not only our own needs, but the needs and life situations of others, too. A discerner weighs the power of consolation and desolation as well as the movements away and to God, in order to choose well. This is done in the context of prayer wit the foal of doing the will of God. Perhaps the most important goal we have right now is to be worthy of the temple. The temples are not God, but they are there to remind us of God. The soul is real in which countless acts of self-preservation are provoked through its contacts with other reals, and these efforts in turn produce in mind the presentations, some of which oppose, some of which reinforce each other. Once we have established the end goal, we have to think about smaller goals that will help us achieve our long-term goals. #RandophHarris 5 of 10
It is important to pray for divine guidance. The feelings, the desires, and the will have their origin in presentations. Some feelings arise out of the fusion of opposed presentation, and the pleasantness or unpleasantness depend on the amount of opposition. Other feelings originate in the strain which the rising, produced by a new presentation, puts on ties which an old presentation already has with one or more. Thus the sight of an object belonging to a friend who has returned to God evokes the memory of him, but the thought of his passing into Heaven tend to repress the memory and thus may produce a painful feeling. Pleasant feelings arise in the contrary situation, when the other associated presentations all facilitate the recall of the original one. The desires are closely connected wit feelings. In a situation giving painful feelings, where A is lifted toward consciousness by the appearance of C and is simultaneously depressed by its earlier relation to B, the feeling of effort by which the resistance is overcome will be a desire and A will appear as the object of desire. The will, in turn, is only a particular form of desire, the realization of which is seen as possible. Therefore, we must make sure that each of our goals will actually help us reach our desired outcome and that we are committed to keeping them. We have to decide about things that we will incorporate into our life, things that will bring us eternal happiness. #RandolphHarris 6 of 10
Transgressions leads to a system of requital. Seeing someone who reminds one exactly of a friend who has passed away, a young friend we went to college with, well could serve as a good omen. It could be as reminder from God to stay strong and not go down the same path. Not that the friend was messing up in life, but there may have been an element that lead to their downfall, such as a loved one who was involved in unknown situation, who he cared about, and allow to pull him down right after graduating from college. The mind needs serious goals and plans to begin rowing past the stagnant stage of our lives. Using our agency to develop oneself personally is a way to discover our gifts and talents, we must let the Spirit guide us. We have to choose to act for ourselves Be motivated from within and make a plan for our lives. The benevolent spectator (omen) would wish for the greatest possible sum of well-being attained through the rational distribution of the available goods. Then increased well-being would produce an intensity and range of strivings reconciled under a system of culture. With the obedience of each to the moral insight of all, the many would become one in an ideal society. Perfection relates the varied acts of a single will. To this multiplicity, three quantitative concepts may be applied: the strength of any single effort (intensity), the multiplicity of the objects encompassed by the will (extension), and the concentration of this manifold into a total power (a new intensity developing out of extension). #RandolphHarris 7 of 10
There is no absolute standard, but the stronger and more concentrated will is more pleasing than the weaker. Therefore, one has to decide to set goals which are consistent with our divine destiny. We have to believe in ourselves, and know that we can reach goals—our goals. Set goals, overcome mistakes, gain experience, and we have to finish what we begin. There is one supreme God, he ought to be worshipped. Virtue and piety are the chief part of divine worship. We should be sorry for our sins and repent them. Recall that divine goodness dispenses reward and punishments both in this life and after. By the discovery of these principles, we can be far more happy than Archimedes. Revelation is given as a message to all humankind, or reserved for the individual mind. If life’s progress is stalled, pray for a sign from Heaven. God is the figure of a father and a symbol of justice, truth, and love. God is truth, God is justice. In this development God cease to be a person, a man, a father; he becomes the symbol of the principle of unity behind the manifoldness of phenomena, the vision of the flower which will grow from the spiritual seed within human beings. “One did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in one’s faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God has power to do what he had promises,” Romans 4.20-22. #RandolphHarris 8 of 10
We need not fear the future, because we know that as we keep the commandments, the Lord will bless us. Reasoning, perceiving, wanting, feeling, and the rest are one and all activities or attributes of the human being and considered a total, unitary personality. Much of what we need to put into our goals is what we need to extend to the World: our love, our compassion, our integrity, our courage, our yearning for a deeper life. And what a lucid joy it is to enter so fully in consciously into life. What a gift it is to be so closely, so deeply attached and bonded to our goals that we cannot get away for very long. May we stay out of roundabouts and move forward with faith in God. “And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me,” reports Moroni 7.33. The future is extremely bright. In all of our learning, understanding that the most brilliant minds of our day are only discovering and inventing that God already knows, the more we want to learn. Imagine our ability—as we live righteously, receive sacred ordinances, and follow God’s commandments—to inherit all things. We have to understand that with God all things are possible. “But as it I written, eye have not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of humans, the things which God has prepared for them that love him. But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God,”1 Corinthians 9-10. #RandolphHarris 9 of 10
We spend a lifetime learning how to overcome our physical desires and understanding how our spirits can become the master of souls. Because our Heavenly Father knew this process would be difficult, we have the sweetest whisperings of the Spirit to help us learn how to be a good person, husband, wife, a good parent, and an outstanding member in the community. We have to exercise both faith and courage to leave the plateau of indecision and express thanks to our Heavenly Father for his countless blessings. To love God is to long for the attainment of the full capacity of love. Our spiritual powers and the striving for salvation are part of our inner birth. The realm of love, reason and justice exists as a reality only because, inasmuch as, humans have been able to develop these powers in themselves throughout the process of our evolution. May we also demonstrate kindness and love within our own families. Our homes are to be more than sanctuaries; they should also be places where God’s Spirit can dwell, where the storm stops at the door, where love reigns and peace dwells. Mortality is a period of testing, a time to prove ourselves worthy to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. Our gratitude to God is often beyond expression. We believe in a God who is engaged in our lives, who is not silent, not absent. We have experienced his higher powers in our longing for truth and unity. #RandolphHarris 10 of 10
Babe, when you need them most, why is it that I am always at a loss for words? If my thoughts of you right now could be put into words so easily, then you would be getting the firmest of epistolary embraces. The disorder in Europe seems to mirror the disorder in my own life First, Erin’s husband is feeling unwell. It did not seem very serious at first, but he has taken quite a long time to recover. Ava’s is staying at my parents’ house now. You can imagine how nervous Ava is about staying in such a large manner. The moment Jamerson felt the least bit feverish, he sent Erin away. I have postponed the wedding. Serena is furious. I told her it was not fitting to go ahead with the festivities, not with Jamerson so unwell. I do not think she believed it was my old reason. Truth is, I do not either. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps this just is not my ferry. Though I do not expect her to be content with that. Do they not say bad lucky comes in threes? If Jamerson’s illness is the first, and my canceled wedding the second, then the third has to be that I was asked to not come back to my teaching position next year. They were very polite about it, but, essentially, I was canned. It seems the parents took issue with me bringing in newspapers, telling my students about Donald Tusk, the penguins, and Brexit. Mommy and Daddy did not want their precious darlings to know what a challenging place the World can be. #RandolphHarris 1 of 12
Feelings of empathy and silent tears of sadness overcame me. Here I am, trying to educate, and I get sacked for doing it too well. “Stick to the periodic table,” I was told. And no such luck with “The Fairies’ Twilight Ball.” The magazine sent it back with an impersonal note saying that it did not fit their needs and they “regretfully decline.” I guess Fairies, elves, dragons and all magical folks are not welcomed to celebrate the Autumn. A rejection is a rejection. So, you see, I am failing all around. However, I suppose nothing was ever accomplished without a little perseverance. I will reschedule the wedding, start scanning the want ads again, send out my story to yet another magazine. If I shied away from a bit of a challenge, I would not be “Mort.” I fell off the drainpipe and broke my leg, but, you know, I was up that same drainpipe just a few months after that little event. One of the good things I have got going for me is that I have finally left my parents’ house. Harry rented an apartment after coming back to the States and I have moved in with him. It is like being in England with him all over again. The other good thing in my life is you. I hope things are going better for you now, dear Babe. As for me, I am coming along pretty good, considering what I have been through. I know that I will be able to help people and make some differences in people’s lives, and that is great. I do not really know just how fortunate I am, but in my prayers, I am told to just keep pushing on. #RandolphHarris 2 of 12
It may be safely assumed that no person has ever lived entirely free of suffering and tribulation. Nor has there ever been a period in human history that did not have its full share of turmoil, ruin, and misery. When the pathway of life takes a cruel turn, there is the temptation to think or speak the phrase, “Why me?” Self-incrimination is a common practice, even when we may have had no control over our difficulty. If we were to bring our misfortunes into a common store, so that each person should receive an equal share in the distribution, the majority would be glad to take up their own and depart. However, at times there appears to be no light at the tunnel’s end—no dawn to break the night’s darkness. We feel surrounded by the pain of broken hearts, the disappointment of shattered dreams, and the despair of vanished hopes. We join in uttering the biblical plea, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” We are inclined to view our own personal misfortunes through the distorted prism of pessimism. We feel abandoned, heartbroken, alone. Babe, even though you and I are both going through despair, I offer the assurance of the Psalmist’s words: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Whenever we are inclined to feel burdened down with the blows of life’s fight, let us remember that others have passed the same way, have endured, and then have overcome. #RandolphHarris 3 of 12
We can only go forward be developing our reason, by finding a new harmony, a human one, instead of the prehuman harmony which is irretrievably lost. When we are born free, the human race as well as the individual, is thrown out of a situation which was definite, as definite as the instincts, into a situation which is indefinite, uncertain and open. There is certainty only about the past—and about the future only as far as that it is death. We are gifted with reason; we are life being aware of itself. We are preserving the unity of Being in the variety of beings without prostituting Being to a mere class name—and a name, of course, it must be. The intuitional sense of values is much like light. Light will penetrate darkness and illumine objects according to the strength of its source and will reveal the below and above of objects according to the position of its source, none of this preventing the objects and the spatial relations from being objective and knowable. This awareness of oneself as a separate entity, the awareness of ones own short life span, of the fact that without one’s will one is born and against one’s will one dies, indicates that sometimes we will die before those who we love, or they before us, the awareness of our aloneness and separateness, of our helplessness before the forced of nature and of society, all this makes our separate, disunited existence an unbearable prison. #RandolphHarris 4 of 12
One would become insane could one not liberate oneself from this prison and reach out, unite oneself in some form or other with people, with the World outside. This is also why we require faith in God. “Faith, hope, and charity bring people unto the Lord,” reports Ether 12.28. Understand the story of Adam and Eve in a Victorian spirit, we are better able to understand the point of the story, which seems to be the following: after man and woman have become aware of themselves and of each other, they are aware of their separateness, and of their difference, inasmuch as they belong to different genders. However, while recognizing their separateness they remain strangers, because they have not yet learned to love each other (as is also made very clear by the fact that Adam defends himself by blaming Eve, rather than by trying to defend her). The awareness of human separation, without reunion by love—is the source of shame. It is at the same time the source of guilt and anxiety. “Without faith among people, God can do no miracle among them,” reports Ether 12.12. The deepest need for humanity, then, is the need to overcome their separateness, to leave the prison of aloneness. The absolute failure to achieve this aim means insanity, because the panic of complete isolation can be overcome only by such a radical withdrawal from the World outside, from which one is separated, has disappeared. #RandolphHarris 5 of 12
Last night I sat outside the cottage, watching the Moon rise, notebook and pencil on my lap. The garden smelled like foxglove and honeysuckle, with, of course, the tangy scent of the sea. I stayed out all night. I had my hot tea and my notebook. Who could want for anything more? The night seemed so pregnant, so poignant, one of those Scottish nights that make one understand why some still believe in spirits and wee folk. When I returned home, I propped your picture up on my desk as I started writing to you, Babe. Your description—it did not do you justice. I do not think I need to tell you how lovely you look to me. However, now, having seen your pictures, I can see why your dad thought you looked like a fairy asleep in the garden. If I was not certain you were bigger than my thumb, I should have guessed your dress was fashioned from rose petals and silk. You look quite fey amid the blooms. And your expression is so wistful. What were you thinking of right when the photo was snapped? I did not realize the stories of my antics and asinine exploits were so important to you—“afloat in this sea of chaos”? I never hoped I could achieve more than a hearty chuckle or round of applause for the stunts I pull. I think I have a lot to live up to now, but, as always, I am up to the challenge. If you believe– #RandolphHarris 6 of 12
Since writing the above, something has happened. Harry let Serena into my room to surprise me and she spotted the letter on my desk. She snatched it and read it before I realized what was happening. Serena has called the engagement off for good, in fact tossed the engagement ring—a timeless 2.5 carat Tiffany Novo Cushion Cut diamond—in my wastebasket. She says she fancies I am in love with you and she cannot compete with someone who has been winning all along. This mentality leads to the belief that love can be synthesized in a test tube…one part handholding, two parts conversation, three parts sleeping together, shake vigorously, and let stan for ten minutes—and presto, the distillate will be love! And if love cannot be produced with this formula, then other formulas can be tried. Perhaps love can be produced by Esalen weekends or transcendental meditation, or perhaps it exists in massage parlors, cruise ships, graduate schools, or various scientific institutes. Love must be tactile contact, or it must be some type of transactional I am O.K., You are O.K. type of communication. Or it must be in group participation, in Zweigelt Eiswien, or open marriage, or in primal screaming, or God knows where else. However, the more the human race emerges from these primary bonds, the more it separates itself from the natural World, the more intense becomes the need to find new ways of escaping separateness. If this is what freedom of will is, how can there be such a thing? #RandolphHarris 7 of 12
Union by conformity is not intense nor violent; it is calm, dictated by routine, and for this very reason often is insufficient to pacify the anxiety of separateness. Babe, do you wonder how, as we face today’s problems and concerns, we can continue to day, “All is well”? Many people are living rich, full lives. They have made happy homes for themselves, their families, and friends. They make the World better for their being in it. It is important to do the best we can every day—to look up; to learn; to evaluate resources within themselves, their families, their communities; to pray with faith; to search the scriptures. We must also keep our own lives clean and pure, our relationships true, and forgive those who have cause us hurt. “Now they did not sin ignorantly, for they knew the will of God concerning them,” reports 3 Nephi 6.18. If one of us is not personally living a pure, righteous life, if we have somehow slipped away, we have to repent and come back. Love and hope are real. However, repentance is not a card to sin, ask for forgiveness, and keep repeating the same sins. If we repent and ask for forgiveness, we must truly want it in our hearts and have an honest desire to change. Seeking help early is the best chance for recovery. Pretending there is no problem, covering up for the behaviour, or shielding the person from the consequences of that behaviour will never solve the issue. #RandolphHarris 8 of 12
Babe, after my confession, do you realise how nervous I have been, waiting for your reply? If I were a betting man, I would have put a large wager on you not replying at all. However, the small part of me that saw signs and portents in every letter you sent, the part of me that not only read between the lines but above and below, that part would have put a wager on your writing back and knowing exactly what I was talking about. I am glad that part of me won the bet, for the prize is so much greater. What happens now? If you lived down the street in Chicago, I would ask you out to dinner. Or may not. What does one do with a married woman, apart from leave her alone? See, I am going to make a muddle of this. Whatever “this” is. You have seen how I have been failing at just about everything I have set my mind to these days. A guy with noting going for him but guts. The pleasure you have brought about, the assistance you have offered, the love you have showed and the life you have lived—all these make you more amiable and respectable with every passing year in my heart. Why would you want a guy like me? At times I am a burden to myself. I wish I could let go and cry as a child cries. Although I show self-control, I often do cry inside. That makes it much harder. My tears are dry. Monday to Monday, from morning to evening—all activities are routinized, prefabricated. However, I wake, and for years now, overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude. #RandolphHarris 9 of 12
This experience is first an experience of the power of God, then a quest for the God of truth, and finally an experience of the God of love. The prescribed manner. Even the feelings are prescribed: cheerfulness, tolerance, reliability, ambition, and an ability to get along with everybody without friction. The unity achieved in productive work is not interpersonal; the unity achieved in productive work is not interpersonal; the unity achieved in orgiastic fusion is transitory; the unity achieved by conformity is only pseudo-unity. Hence, they are only partial answers to the problem of existence. The full answer is possessed in the achievement of interpersonal union, of fusion with another person, in love and with a recognition of God. This desire for interpersonal fusion is one of the most powerful striving in a human. It is the most fundamental passion, it is the force which keeps the human race together, the clan, the family, society. The failure to achieve it means insanity or destruction—self-destruction or destruction of others. Without love, humanity could not exist for a day. Love is a union under the condition of preserving one’s integrity, one’s individuality. Love is an active power in humans; a power which breaks through walls which separate people from their fellow beings, which unites them with others; love makes one overcome the sense of isolation and separateness, yet it permits one to be oneself, to retain one’s integrity. #RandolphHarris 10 of 12
Here the human and the divine are no longer sundered, and God is seen to be present in the World. When we express love, we experience more of the love that has burned in God’s heart from eternity past. Love is the foundation of our relationship with God, the essence of salvation, and the key to understanding life. Through love and God, we receive regeneration and the divine life with the divine nature, and we grow in life to express God. Love is one of the most important, yet most misunderstood emotions we experience. Human brains are naturally wired for connection with others, and we experience loneliness and rejection as painful treats to survival. We spend our lives craving it, searching for it, and talking about it. Its meaning is felt more than it is clearly expressed. Love is called the greatest virtue. Love is fascinating and complex. Romantic love, in particular, seems to be a beautiful mystery we find it hard to explain. When we meet a person and feel energized and are immediately aware of our heart pounding, it is a powerful moment. Falling in love is associated with increased energy, narrowing of mental focus, sometimes sweaty palms, light-headedness, racing heart, and a lot of beneficial feelings. The human brain supports falling in love, which is why we have such a strong physiological response when we are attracted to another. Once a romantic couple begins to spend time together, they are in a sort of love euphoria. #RandolphHarris 11 of 12
A person newly in love sees the World though the perspective of sheer blissfulness and most everything is tolerable and everything their partner does is a delight. Moving beyond the pain of a failed relationship requires a shift of focus back on one’s self to their own unique ability to give and receive love. The truth is that you have to put in time and energy and make a conscious effort to sustain the relationship and the passion. Healthy relationships require regular communication. Basic communication with your partner on a daily basis is important to continue connecting on an emotional level. Predictability can also dampen desires, so couples should strive to keep a sense of adventure and surprise alive in their relationships. People can make their partners know how much they love them by the little things they do every day. To be romantic is to wake up each day and ask yourself what you can do today to let your lover know they are adored. Have fun in your romance and remember that the effort you put into your romantic relationship, the more love you will receive in return. Be the partner that you seek and live a life filled with passion and romance. Babe, I have a little dream, there is only you and I in it. Your smile and exhortation always in my heart. I have prayed several times the emerging of a miracle: Let me look at your appearance and your voice and tell you my thoughts and we will sing the song of love. #RandolphHarris 12 of 12
There is an ultimate oneness of life, of nature and spirit. The destiny of all things unfold their divine essence and reveal God in their transient being. Babe, the pleasure you have brought about, the assistance you have offered, the love you have showed and the life you have lived—all these make you more amiable and respectable with every passing year in our hearts. You sound like you are doing well, despite not knowing what is happening at the front. The term is winding down and I hope that my students are leaving my classroom slightly better for it. Many still dismiss the war as a European problem, but a fair number see that it is bigger. Gone are the days when our countries are isolated. This is the twenty-first century. What affects one country affects us all. Now my students see that the World is worth fighting for. Education consists in leading a person, as a thinking, intelligent being, growing into self-consciousness, to a pure, unsullied, conscious and free representation of the inner law of divine unity, and in teaching one means thereto. Out of respect for the inner law of unity or for life as an unbroken whole in all its operations and phenomena, the educator should organize the instructional process in such a way that the order of the subjects to be taught supports the leaner’s inner development, while the whole program of studies should help the students to realize the reflection of the unity of life in the unity of knowledge. Kindergarten is also an inestimable blessing to humankind. #RandolphHarris 1 of 13
The development of nature reveals itself in the development of the individual mind and should be demonstrated in the teaching of science, the humanities, and religion. It is this committed and passionate relationship that set the personal context for life. We are social beings, made anxious by our separateness. Education should be structured to harmonize with the natural inner development of the pupil. It invites us to consume the same goods, work at the same jobs, adopt the same goals—defining ourselves through conformity and insignificant nuances of difference. However, if we lack the courage to be individuals, we will never achieve love, since love is a union under the condition of preserving one’s integrity. Education should unfold the whole person in each individual—giving of joy, intertest, understanding, humour, sadness, of all expressions and manifestations of that which is alive in us. Religion should be taught in order to cultivate the emotions, nature should be studied because it is the self-revelation of God, and mathematics should be appreciated as the symbol of universal order. Language, too, connects people with the order and rhythm of things and should therefore take its part in education. Some people are particularly contempt for a glossy magazine article in which happy marriage looks like corporate middle management. #RandolphHarris 2 of 13
The smoothly functioning team is the well-oiled relationship between two persons who remain strangers all their lives. It is a lot like the 16 April 2010 film starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny called The Joneses in which a picture perfect family is actually a team of beautiful and handsome models selected by a corporation to move into a McMansion in a wealthy neighbourhood and stealthy market products to the residents by making the products look cool and appealing, but then things get out of control, as this type of love as a haven from aloneness is bound to fail. To love at all is to be engaged with humankind, with open eyes. Therefore, the arts should be taught, for art is a general human talent and conducive to the harmonious unfolding of a person’s inner life. Many people who teach art, colour theory, or explain a purposeful violation of perspective, or when analyzing a favourite painting like Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night, 1889, feel like a magician. They can hear the student’s oohs and ahhs, and it makes a teacher feel like they have brought something of joy because everyone can feel the great art. In The Starry Night, life and death—the town and the Heavens—collide, and they are connected by both the church spire and the swaying cypress, a tree traditionally used to mark graves in southern France and Italy. #RandolphHarris 3 of 13
Babe, you really screwed up the courage to send off your poetry when only seventeen? You are amazing! Did you know while he was living in the southern French town of Arles, Vincent van Gogh produced a truly amazing quantity of work: 200 paintings, over 100 drawings and watercolours, and roughly 200 letters, mostly written to his brother Theo. Many of these letters help us understand the expressive energies released in his creative outburst. However, our eyes are on the horizon, no words are needed. Babe, I am sorry you have not heard from your husband in quite some time. Happy that you feel comfortable corresponding with me and it keeps you from feeling grim. And, if you do not mind me doing the math, younger than I thought for someone so obviously distinguished. Seventeen when you started and, checking the date in the front of your first book, only twenty-two now. You tease about being “old,” but there are only four years between us. I pray that your photo sitting went well, if it has happened yet, and that you were not resigned to wearing your antiquated trousers or being photographed among the sheep. I should dearly like to see the result. May bright Sunshine, youthful joy, beautiful appearance and comfortable smile belong to you forever! “Those called according to God’s foreknowledge are left to choose good or evil,” reports Alma 13.3. #RandolphHarris 4 of 13
Our earner prayer should be that we will have the courage required to refrain from judging others, the courage to be chaste and virtuous, and the courage to stand firm for truth and righteousness. In our day, we are striving to enter a land of promise. Our greatest goal is to obtain eternal life with our Heavenly Father. We can find courage and strength in the promise that the Lord will always be there for us and will never leave us alone. We are taught that Heavenly Father knows and loves each of his children. As his precious children, we have access to God’s assurance and guidance through the power of prayer. “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answers to thy prayers,” reports Doctrine and Covenants. We should believe these words and the promise that our Heavenly Father does hear and answer our prayers. It is important to keep in mind patience is required when we are waiting upon the Lord. As we wait, we may begin to believe that we have been forsaken or that our prayers were not heard or that possibly we are not worthy to have them answered. This is not true. “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry,” reports Psalm 40.1. No matter what we may face in our personal journey, we must pray, be patient, and remember God’s promise. “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee,” reports Joshua 1.5. #RandolphHarris 5 of 13
Many reactions to loneliness lead inexorably to greater isolation. So many people seem to be battling against the lack of love in our society, and yet their struggle leads to more loneliness because they equate love with objects. They try to find love through the use of objectivity, an intellectual response that can only lead to greater isolation. In a similar fashion, an elaborate loneliness trap has been woven by those who suggest that modern men and women should be totally self-sufficient and independent. Interpersonal freedom is the melody they play, and thousands now march in step behind them. These pipers trap people because they make them feel guilty for even admitting that they are lonely; they insinuate that it is a sign of weakness to admit publicly that a person really needs someone else. The search for interpersonal freedom and the resultant loneliness appear in many forms. One of the more fashionable forms to emerge in the last decade is the identity crisis, which involves knowing who you are and doing your own thing, and doing it your way, just do it. The most important goal is to become a real person, and this apparently is accomplished by becoming different from everyone else. Great fear is expressed at the thought of being only marginally different—the cleavage between the individual and everybody else must be sharp and total. The search for one’s own identity cannot be found with somebody else; it is a private, solitary, and lonely struggle. #RandolphHarris 6 of 13
If not with other people, where then can people seek their identities? That is the crisis question, and many resolve it by equating their identity with their careers. Careers become the main objective, and everything else becomes secondary. One’s spouse, family, friends, relaxation, aesthetic interests, all must play second fiddle to the pursuit of a successful career. In its most acute form, this process leads to the extreme development of the Type A character. Type A people are often driven and work-addicted, and they often end up in total social isolation—and can die from premature coronary disease (a heart condition). There are, however, far more subtle loneliness traps in our society. Not every lonely person is trapped by interest in a career, pursuit of independence, or a love-seeking belief system. Many lonely people are not particularly hung up about these issues. Many readily admit that they would give anything if they could find their soulmate with whom they could share all of eternity. And yet, they still find themselves enmeshed in isolation. Part of the problem is that we have very few formal institutions that deal specifically with problems of human loneliness. This is a particularly glaring weakness when one considers that there are formal institutions for practically every other human problems. #RandolphHarris 7 of 13
Restaurants feed people, schools teach the uneducated, Alcoholics Anonymous treat the addicted, mastectomy and colostomy groups organize to discuss their physical issues, Parten Teacher Associations meet to help the schools, Home Owner Associations gather to protect the conformity and security of the community (for a fee), and so forth. On closer examination, however, it becomes apparent that the great majority of these organizations have a major covert prerequisite. The person must either already av a companionship or declare himself or herself to be suffering from an infirmary. These covert requirements make it difficult for those lacking companionship to find legitimate social outlets in existing groups. However, if we proclaim the fatherhood of God, the infinite worth of the human soul, and the ethical ideal of the kingdom God, and by daily scripture study, we invite the Spirit of God into our life. Within the pages of the scriptures are countless directions, promises, solutions, and reminders that will help us in our journey to the land of promise. We should also contemplate the scriptures daily so that we can find prosperity and success. Heavenly Father knows our individual journeys are not easy. We are faced every day with situations that require courage and strength. #RandolphHarris 8 of 13
Heavenly Father knows and loves each of us. If we turn to him, he will not fail us. God will bless us with the strength and the courage we will need to complete our journey back to him. Evidence shows the people can tolerate major areas of dissatisfaction (that is, discount their importance) if they have many beneficial enjoyments in life, such as social contacts, opportunities for entertainment, and so forth. The question of what conditions are necessary for happiness is manifestly a question for scientific psychology. Like religious faith, love is a practice. It takes discipline, concentration, patience, and the mastery of art. Who must we be? What attitudes must we hold? Like freedom, love demands courage. Love is a capacity we can develop in ourselves. To change the love we receive, we will have to change our capacity to love. God knows our weaknesses, and he knows what is at stake. However, he agrees with our goals—agrees that love matters, and not some superficial version of it. One who knows nothing, loves nothing. One who can do nothing understands nothing. However, one who understand also loves, notices, and sees. The more knowledge is inherent in a thing, the greater the love. Anyone who imagines that all fruits ripen at the same time as the strawberries knows nothing about grapes. #RandolphHarris 9 of 13
Our love is a pleasant sensation, which to experience is a matter of chance, something one falls into if one is lucky. People think love is important, but not everyone is starved for it; they watch endless films about happy and unhappy love stories like Home Again starring Reese Witherspoon, and Queen of the Damned starring Aaliyah, they listen to songs about love like Stars are Blind by Paris Hilton—yet hardly anyone thinks that there is anything that needs to be learned about love. Most people see the problem of love primarily as that of being loved, rather that that of loving, of one’s capacity to love. Hence the problem to them is how to be loved, how to be loveable. In pursuit of this aim they follow several paths. One, which is especially used by men and now increasingly women, is to be successful, to be as powerful and rich as Donald Trump. Another, used by men and women, is t make oneself attractive, by cultivating one’s body, dress, hair, bleaching their teeth, spending five hours a day in the gym, and dieting. Some people also learn how to cook and keep a good house and peaceful house so their potential mate will feel comfortable. Other ways of making oneself attractive are to develop pleasant manners, interesting conversation, to be helpful, modest, inoffensive. People think that to love is simple, but that to find the right object to love—or to be loved by—is difficult. Personally, I want to love my home and garden and want it to love me back. I believe once I am satisfied with my life, love will come along. #RandolphHarris 10 of 13
In the Victorian era, as in many traditional cultures, love was mostly not a spontaneous personal experience which then might lead to marriage. On the contrary, marriage was contracted by convention—either by the respective families, or by a marriage broker, and usually the participating parties were notified before hand as to what was going on. Even if the marriage was forced, for economic or political power, the party was explicitly made aware of what was going on. Love was supposed to develop once the marriage had been concluded, and for such marriages to take place, the bridge had to get instant gratification out of it usually by only being married to a rich man with a fabulous house. For this reason, women were expected to be virgins and very attractive. In China, because there are now 9 men for every woman, the scripted has somewhat been flipped. Men are expected to be rich, have a house in a highly desired community, well educated, attractive and have an excellent career. In the last few generations the concept of romantic love has become almost universal in the Western World with the equality of women because now many women are earning more than men. #RandolphHarris 11 of 13
Attractive usually means a nice package of qualities which are popular and sought after on the personality market. What specifically makes a person attractive depends on the fashion of the time, physically as well as mentally. The sense of falling in love develops usually only with regard to such human commodities as are within reach of one’s own possibilities for exchange. I am out for a bargain; the object should be desirable from the standpoint of its social value, and at the same time should want me, considering my overt and hidden assets and potentialities. Two persons this fall in love when they feel they have found the best objects available on the market, considering the limitations of their own exchange values. Often, as buying real estate, the hidden potentialities which can be developed play a considerable role in this bargain. In a culture in which the marketing orientation prevails, and in which material success is the outstanding value, there is little reason to be surprised that human love relations follow the same pattern of exchange which governs the commodity and the labour market. The cost for the acquisition of human companionship soars into uncounted billions of dollars in the United States of America alone. It would seem that society could find less expensive ways for delivering human attention, which is why I want my dream house and the perfect garden to love where I can enjoy the glowing sky, babe! #RandolphHarris 12 of 13
Past events are dreams in memory You are the only one to help me recall those images. The waterdrops on green leaves are my tears of missing. We have seen that liberty has its negative and its positive sides—negative referring to the absence of obstructions, interference, coercion, or indirect control; positive, to the processes of choosing and acting on one’s own initiative, and more concretely and less formally to the general types of human interests or forms of activity for the expression and exercise of which liberty is claimed. Some writers believe, concentrating particularly on the positive aspect, have been inclined to assert that a person is being free only when he or she is actually choosing, exercising initiative, and acting deliberately or responsibly. For the devotee of a religious faith, the religious freedom we claim and believe ourselves to enjoy may be no more than the freedom to practice unmolested a form of worship one has inherited and which one has never felt the faintest temptation to question; in such a case it is a fiction to speak of a process of choice. The same can be said of the person who is content to follow narrowly, uncritically, and unadventurously the established customs and conventions of one’s society. Even though there may be a sense in which we can intelligibly talk of such people as being slaves to customs, habits, or orthodoxies, it would still be straining the point to maintain that they are not free. #RandolphHarris 1 of 13
On the other hand, the people who have been so molded and manipulated that they always want what their ruler or superior wants him or her to want is scarcely free. This case suggests that freedom will exist only where there exists the possibility of choice, and the possibility of choice in turn implies not only the absence of direct coercion and compulsion but also that the availability and the characteristics of alternatives must be capable of being known. Thus, whatever the situation of any particular individual may be, it is most likely that there will be a large measure of individual freedom within a society when there exists what we call a variety of conditions—where a wide variety of beliefs are in fact expressed and where there is a considerable diversity of tastes and pursuits, customs and codes of conduct, ways and styles of living. And, because of the connection between inequality of power and inequality with respect to the enjoyment of freedom, a society in which power is widely distributed is also likely to be the one characterized by the existence of wide possibilities for choice and individual initiative. Humility and submission to God are the sole appropriate attitudes of human beings. Regardless of what the scientists might say, one feels the existence of God as one feels one’s own existence. One needs no argument to prove that one exists; one knows it immediately. So too, one knows without demonstration that God exists. #RandolphHarris 2 of 13
The soul knows everything that comes to it from sensation but I hardly know what to say. I am trying to put myself in your shoes, in your frame of mind, so that I can empathize as well as sympathize. I simply cannot do it. I am sorry. I really should be brushing off my morning coat and practicing my speech, as the wedding is not far off. And what am I doing instead? Sitting at my desk, writing to you, Babe. I know I should be more excited about the upcoming nuptials, but I suppose it is natural to feel a bit of apprehension. Not that I doubt my decision…but I am feeling a little anxious about the whole event. Serena is excited enough for the both of us. She seems to be all wrapped up in dress fittings and whispered conferences with her friends. I do not know all the plans being concocted, only that everyone we have ever met or could ever hope to meet will be there. We will probably serve platters of hors d’ oeuvres that will go back to the kitchen mostly untouched and then twice as much roast meat as our guests could hope to eat. The women will all be dressed too elegantly and laced too tightly to do more than nibble on the food. This will be washed down with enough champagne to fill several bathtubs—the only part of the feast the guests will consume enthusiastically—and followed by course of cakes and pastries so sweet they would make Paul Hollywood and a dentist weep. After all this, I still have the honeymoon. #RandolphHarris 3 of 13
And I cannot help but think of you, Babe, sitting alone by the fire in your cottage, making do with salted fish and potatoes, weak tea and unsweetened cake. I know you are hoping for some fresh greens and soft fruit. And the fact that sugar has gone up in price means you cannot make your delicious marzipan cakes or sugar biscuits that I have dreamed of trying. You sound like Mary Berry, who makes the best desserts one could ever dream of. Sugar has gotten so expensive that even the rich tell themselves it is poison to the soul. I do admit to feeling a twinge of guilt; all of my extravagant feasting and leisure when you and the boys at the front are doing so much, but getting so little in return. I am sorry your husband sent you a letter telling you they are being sent to the front and you received the morning of his departure. I wish he would have sent you a telegram because maybe you would have been able to work up the courage to get on that ferry to see your husband one more time, as it has been a year and a half since you have seen him. I know he claims he does not have the money to see you, and I suppose he needs his extra ducats to buy soap, deodorant, socks and undergarments. If someone were to ask where I would rather be on my wedding day—in a room full of strangers, trying to consume my portion of the feast, or alone in a cottage with you, Babe, drinking weak tea—I know which I would choose. #RandolphHarris 4 of 13
The fact that we can exert pressure upon things is evidence that there is something within the human soul that is not merely an effect of the external World upon it. This is obviously what has always been called the will. The mind by intuition finds itself to be a substance, a cause or force, a unity, and to be self-identical through time It uses these characters as categories and interprets everything that it knows in these terms. Chance therefore is not simply human ignorance, but an essential part of the Universe. I am far from believing that all events are the effects of chance, but that chance must be seen to be a true cause of certain events which we are able to define. On my journey in life, you have enriched my spirit, developed my intelligence, and ignited a beacon of hope. Both my heart and soul are filled with respect for you. Babe, everyone needs good and true friends. They are a great strength and blessing to us. Friends influence how we think and act, and even help determine the person we will become. Good friends will help us be better people and will make it easier for us to live in the gospel. We must choose friends who share our values so we can strengthen and encourage each other in living high standards. To have good friends, we have to be good friends. It is important to show genuine interest in others; smile and let them know we care about them. #RandolphHarris 5 of 13
My father always taught me to treat everyone with kindness and respect, and to refrain from judging and criticizing those around me. It is never okay to participate in any form of bullying, nor neglect. And we must always make a special effort to be a friend to those who are shy or lonely, have special needs, or do not feel included, but only if it is in our heart to do so. As we seek t be a friend to others, we must not compromise our standards. If our friends urge us to do things that we know are wrong, we must be the ones to stand for the right, even if we stand alone. Sometimes in life, we may need to find other friends who will show support and help us keep the commandments of God. It is important that we seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost as we make these choices. Babe, because of your irrigation with love and cultivation with pains, there are gorgeous rays of golden Sunlight in my life. I wish my appreciation to turn into a bunch of fresh flowers without withering forever, bringing fragrance to your life. Interestingly enough, I had a dream last night that aliens visited Earth to see if anyone was using alien technology. They kind of knew humans were, but needed proof. Anyway, he had to be really nice to them and show them around and make them feel better about themselves and treat them as one would any guest. #RandolphHarris 6 of 13
One of the aliens was a man called Richard and this dream was set probably 1985, it felt very familiar. I remember having it before. But anyway, Richard wanted to watch Television, and I know they had been here before because he had one of those box television/furniture sets that used to be popular in the 1980s, and it was in a bedroom of my dad’s house, but the reception was not working well, so I took him to watch football on my TV. Then, I had to convince the female alien that she was beautiful, and she was, but she was sad. I showed her how make-up could enhance her looks and that make her happy. They knew there was alien technology on Earth because it was evident and they detected it. There was an office building that was so high tech that it was not possible for humans to have that kind of technology in 1985, it was more 2020 technology, but they ignored the fact that we were using their technology because we were kind to them. So, anyway, they also had this cute pink poodle that would cry when it would get lost. The aliens were satisfied that we were leaving, and they used trees as portal, which are really just huge flowers to them. And the poodle got left behind, so I have to help him climb up the tree. It was an interesting dream, but it is just a reminder of why it is important to respect people. #RandolphHarris 7 of 13
When we show people respect, they are more than likely to be kind to us. We hear on shows like Law and Order and Blue Bloods that if on acts with respect and are polite to the judge, admit one did something wrong and are remorseful, law enforceable takes that into consideration when it comes to making a verdict . Two of my favourite Assistant District Attorney’s are Serena and Erin Reagan, they are very idealistic and about equality and remind me of what Lady Justice would really be like. I also liked the District Attorney Monica, but she was assassinated. She was very stern and not as idealistic as the other two, but mostly fair. Monica formed a clear defense of chance as a real existent. She never denied that all events were caused, but maintained that casual series were independent of one another and that, consequently, their interactions as series could not be foretold. They could be predicted only on the basis of the calculus of probabilities. There are all kind of iconic women who are doing great things. And although you are home alone and your roof is leaking, I hope I can inspire you. We are not, then, entirely free from the material World, but we always make an effort to escape its limitations. The flow of consciousness, in which nothing is cut off from anything else, in which the past is retained to grow into the future, is the essential part of our being. However, since it is unique, it cannot be conceptualized, and the only way to know it is to identify oneself with it. #RandolphHarris 8 of 13
In any given individual’s case, identifying who we are, as an individual, is no problem. The problem arises when we attempt to know someone else. Then we have to cease conceptualizing and to live the lives of those whom we would understand. However, this is true of all that lives. Each of us came to Earth with the Light of God. It is up to us to keep our light burning brightly for others to see and follow. Babe, you will become a signal light of righteousness for all to see. “Let your light shine before people, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven,” reports Matthew 5.16. Our opportunities to shine are limitless. They surround us each day. As we follow the example of the Saviour, we will be a light in the lives of those around us—whether they be our own family members, our friends, or total strangers. I will never forget your kind words, directing me to the right way. I will never forget when you were suffering from an infirmary, you stood on the platform, teaching us difficult problems in your poetry. I will never forget when we blundered, you uplifted us with your stories of beautiful Summer days, flowers, green grass, and trees. Just lost when I was saved! Just felt the World go by. We can be a light to the World. Then God becomes what he potentially is in monotheistic theology, the nameless One, an inexpressible stammer, referring to the unity underlying the phenomenal Universe, the ground of all existence; God becomes truth, love, justice. God is in us, inasmuch as we are human. #RandolphHarris 9 of 13
The nature of love is the love of God. We are called children of God because we have not fully emerged from the autistic wish for omniscience and omnipotence. We have not yet acquired the objectivity to realize our limitations as a human being, our need to learn, our helplessness. We still claim, like a child, that there must be a father who rescues us, who watches us, who punishes us, a father who likes us when we are obedient, who is flattered by our praise and angry because of our disobedience. “The LORD is exalted, for he dwells on high. He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness. He will be the sure foundation for our times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure,” reports Isaiah 33.5-6. True friendships are based on love of God and sharing that love with others. “You will see those arrogant people no more, those people of an obscure speech, with their strange, incomprehensible tongue. Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar,” reports Isaiah 33.19 and 17. Think for a minute what it means to you to know you have someone standing right by you, someone you can trust to be your friend on good days and bad, someone who values you and supports you even when the two of you are apart. So often those Angels round about are our friends. #RandolphHarris 10 of 13
Babe, you will not lack for friends and associates, their friendship will be a special blessing both temporally as well as spiritually. Select for your closet friends those who are righteous and have a desire to keep the commandments of God. Their love should be like a blanket to comfort you throughout your life. Friends help us to determine our future. We will tend to be like them and to be found where they choose to go. Remember, the path we follow in this life leads to the path we follow in the next. In this World where there is so much sleaze, permissiveness, and immorality, having good friends will go a long way in ensuring our ability to withstand the evils of this day, our day. Having good friends will put us in a position to attract the kind of eternal companion we will hope to find. “That which is of God invites and entices to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which invites and entices to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God,” Moroni 7.13. And be sure to keep eye contact when you say what you are feeling. This lessons the tendency to get absorbed in your thoughts when you are trying to describe an emotion a situation has causes to occur. One of the most powerful emotional roadblocks is shame, never allow someone to make you feel less than just because of their status or income. #RandolphHarris 11 of 13
Shame often rapidly mutates into various forms of aggression—whether directed at others or at ourselves—or into numbness or an emotional shutting down, all of which serves as solutions to or distractions from whatever shame was just felt. Shame is the painfully self-conscious sense of our behaviour—of self—being exposed as defective, with the immediate result that we are halted in our tracks, for better or worse. Healthy shame allows us to feel for whomever we have hurt, but unhealthy shame does not, as we put all our energy into self-constriction or beating ourselves up. What the child knows consciously, and the adult unconsciously, is that we are nothing but body and spirit. And right now, life is of the body and only life creates values; all values are bodily values. Intellectual acknowledgement of one’s ultimate fragility is no match for the yield of lived experience. We are always aware that we are vulnerable, but we do not quite believe in its likelihood until it actually happens to us. Babe, I am so happy to hear that you moved into your parents’ cottage. The support will be great help. And it is exciting to hear that you made a bold decision to have a new cottage built, a modern stone building with a slate roof and a chimney. It is great to hear your husband’s separation allowance is coming in handy for you, after all, he is not there to tell you that you cannot use it. Happy that God blessed you. The Lord works in mysterious ways. #RandolphHarris 12 of 13
Babe, I just cannot fall asleep. I admit, I have been pulling out all your old letters and rereading them, sometimes falling asleep covered in your words. It makes me feel that you are really here and that I am not alone. I can imagine we are talking. Absurd, I know, since we have never actually talked and I do not know what your voice sounds like. I was reading the newspaper and found out that United States statesman, scientist, and author Benjamin Franklin attended the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and sought the abolition of slavery. He sought deliberately to set down the rules of conduct that would enable anyone, however humbly born, to prosper and live more meaningfully. The emphasis was unashamedly on the mundane virtues: thrift, hard work, diligence, prudence, moderation, honesty, and shrewdness. I am surprised to hear you refer to “boyish dreams of glory,” you who are always so careful to avoid labeling based on gender. Around here, I hear as many women as men wanting to become soldiers or law enforcement. Our grandfather fought near the end of the Civil War, and we grew up listening to his stories. That man could spin a tale! No one else could make war sound so unlike war. He enthralled even young Ava. Cheery thoughts certainly are needed. To enjoy freedom, we have to control ourselves, as freedom is the oxygen to the soul. Obedience leads to true freedom. #RandolphHarris 1 of 13
The more we obey revealed truth, the more we become liberated. We have the power or ability to make personal choices without compulsion. In a spiritual sense, a person who repents and obeys God’s will is free from the bondage of sin through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The necessary conditions for the existence of freedom would be the absence of human coercion or restrain preventing one from choosing alternatives one would wish to choose; absence of natural conditions preventing one achieving a chosen objective; the possession of the means or the power to achieve the objective one chooses of one’s own volition. In today’s society, the difference between right and wrong is being obscured by loud, seductive voices calling for no restraints in human conduct. They advocate absolute freedom without regard to consequences. Unequivocally, that such behaviour is the high road to personal destruction. Let us also imagine an authoritarian society in which rulers have for years been so successful in controlling and manipulating what members of the community read and what views they encounter, and in which the educators have been able so subtly and skillfully to mold the minds and dispositions of the very young, that almost all citizens naturally desire what their rulers desire them to desire, without it ever occurring to them that there are alternatives to what they are accustomed to or that their freedom to choose has been in any way circumscribed. #RandolphHarris 2 of 13
These people are not conscious of any obstructions to the satisfaction of desire and, indeed, no obstructions to the satisfaction of desire and, indeed, no obstructions may exist to the satisfaction of desires they experience. This is a limiting case, but it points to conditions which exist more or less in all societies. We would scarcely concede that the members of such a society enjoyed any or much freedom. The society described may be one in which coercion in the usual sense does not occur and has in fact become unnecessary because the people are brainwashed by the media and certain political parities to stand for things they do not understand, without looking at the entire situation. People are being manipulated so they will not see the alternatives. Freedom means people must have the opportunity to understand the character or available alternatives and have to be able to make a deliberate or informed choice. We stand today as beneficiaries of pioneers—the Founding Fathers of this nation. We should pay tribute to their faithful deeds, their noble lives, and their lasting lessons of faith in God, courage, industry, self-reliance, and integrity. #RandolphHarris 3 of 13
Our heritage is based on the truth that righteousness brings forth the blessings of God. The Declaration of Independence to which these great people affixed their signatures is much more than a political document. It constitutes a spiritual manifesto—revelation, if you will—declaring not for this nation only, but for all nations, the source of human’s rights. “We were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations,” reports 1 Nephi 13.19. The Declaration of Independence was to set forth the moral justification of God’s given rights that all people have certain inalienable rights. In other words, these rights came from God. The people who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of Heaven could find on the face of the Earth. They were choice spirits, not wicked people. General Washington and all the people who laboured for the purpose were inspired by the Lord. Yes, I thank God for the sacrifices and efforts made by these Founding Fathers and their wives and families, whose efforts have brought us the blessings of political liberty and economic prosperity we have today. Their lives should be the reminders that we are the blessed beneficiaries of a liberty earned by great sacrifices of property, reputation, and life. #RandolphHarris 4 of 13
What are the objections to thus connecting “being free to” with “having the capacity or the power to”? It can be said that, at least in many cases, equating freedom with possession of power will involve a distortion of ordinary language. If I ask, “Am I free to walk into the Pentagon?” the question will be clearly understood; but if I ask, “Am I free to walk across the Atlantic Ocean?” the appropriate answer will be “If you can, you are free to.” This suggests the main argument: The linking of “being free to” with “having the capacity or power” deprives the word “free” of its essential and unequivocal function, which is to refer to a situation or state of affairs in which a person’s choice of how one acts is not deliberately forced or restrained by another person. If we say to be free to achieve chosen ends requires the possession of the power and the social means necessary for their achievement, the problem of freedom coincides with (or becomes confused with) the quite different problem of how satisfactions are to be maximized. It may be true to say that less affluent people are free to spend their holidays in Monte Carlo as the rich people are, and true also to say that one cannot afford to do so. These two statements, it is argued, refer to two distinct states of affairs, and noting is gained by amalgamating them. #RandolphHarris 5 of 13
The freedom that members of society enjoy will be connected, therefore, with the extent to which competing opinions, objectives, modes of behaviour, ways of living, and so on are, so to speak, on display; on how freely they can be recommended, criticized and examined; and thus on the ease with which people can make a deliberate choice between them. For this reason, since literacy or education enlarges the capacity or faculty of choice and decision, it is an important precondition of the existence of freedom: knowledge extends the capacity for acting freely. Similarly, not only suppression but also distortion and misrepresentation, any kind of dishonest propaganda which gains its effect from privileged control over sources of publicity, may restrict the freedom of others; insofar as it succeeds in concealing or misrepresenting the character of certain of the available alternatives, it will tend to limit the exercise of freedom in a particular society. It is not sufficient to consider only the presence or absence of coercion in the more literal and direct sense. Freedom in its positive aspect is the activity or process of choosing for oneself and acting on one’s own initiative, and choice can be manipulated. #RandolphHarris 6 of 13
Our forebears covenanted their lives—and not a few gave them! They gave their fortunes—and many, if not most, lost their lands, homes, and businesses. They gave their sacred honour—this by the covenant to God! They believed themselves to be God-directed and prophet-led. Their conviction inspired their sacrifices. They came—with indomitable faith and courage, following incredible suffering and adversity. They came with stamina, with inspired confidence for better days, and they all pledged allegiance to flag of the United State of America! Today we live in a choice land, yes, a land choice above all other lands. We live amid unbounded prosperity—this is because of the heritage bequeathed to us by our forebears, a heritage of self-reliance, initiative, personal industry, and faith in God, all in an atmosphere of freedom. Therefore, they would want us to have faith in God. It was by this faith that they were sustained in their privations, sacrifices, and sufferings. They placed their trust in God. He was their defense, their refuge, and their salvation. The success, which has hitherto attended our untied efforts we owe to the gracious interposition of Heaven. And to that interposition let us gratefully ascribe the praise of victory, and the blessings of peace. Yes, it was this faith in God which sustained them in their hours of extremity. We, too, need this same faith in the critical days ahead. #RandolphHarris 7 of 13
We also need to strengthen our homes and family bonds. Our ancestors left their posterity and legacy of something more enduring—a hearthside where parents were close by their children, where daily devotions, family prayer, scripture reading, and the singing of spiritual songs was common place. Families worked, worshipped, played, and prayed together. Family home evening, now a once-a-week practice among the Saints, was to our forebears almost a nightly occurrence. Can we not see in their examples the solutions to problems threatening families today? Were we to pattern our homes accordingly, divorce would be largely eliminated, children would be welcomed and guided, and love between parents and children would abound. There would be no generation gap. Family unity and solidarity, crowned with love and happiness, would prevail. They would also counsel us on the dignity of work, to practice being economical, and to be self-sustaining. Theirs was a philosophy that neither the World nor the government owes a person anything. People are commanded of God to live by their own labours. “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody,” reports 1 Thessalonians 4.11. #RandolphHarris 8 of 13
Babe, without your encouragement, I never would have written the stories down. Perhaps we all need to read about flowers, clouds, and Summer days in these times. There are two lights in my memory, which are your eyes with deep love. Your eyes seem to speak to me, night of missing will go by, please greet the dawn when we will meet. I am back at school now after the holiday. I have been bringing in newspapers for my students to read. I have found them to be woefully uninformed about what is going on in Europe. Donald Tusk is the current President of the European Council and Europe’s attention has been trained on three issues that pose a clear and imminent threat: Brexit, migration, and rising nationalism, which in countries like Poland is fuelling growing resistance to the European Union and the rule of law. Following a five-year period of unprecedented political fragmentation in the European Union, the outlook for the functionality of the European Parliament, Commission, and Council appears grim. The Parliament has been fighting for more power and authority, which they have finally gained, but following the next European Union election in June 2019, its newfound power may be lost because 41 new parties already won seats in 2014, and this election is almost certain to leave things more fragmented. #RandolphHarris 9 of 13
The same fragmentation is also set to weaken the European Commission, with commissioners from at least four countries—the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy, and Poland—set to be appointed within a year by Euroskeptic governing parties. Speculation about who will succeed commission president Jean-Claude Junker has already begun, but the answer will probably not make much of a difference. After all, since the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, it has become starkly apparent that the real power in the European Union lies not in the transnational precincts of the commission, but in the intergovernmental corridors of the European Council. When it comes to the council, the outlook is also bleak. The national leaders who oversee it lack the vision, commitment, or strength to set the direction for the European project. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Europe’s leading power for the last ten years have been weakened. French president Emmanuel Macron has lost momentum. The United Kingdom is on its way out. Italy, Poland, and Hungary are openly skeptical of Europe. Spain has an unelected minority government, and the Netherlands is paralysed by right-wing opposition. Basically, none of the European Union’s institutions seems to be in a position to respond to the serious challenges they face. #RandolphHarris 10 of 13
This brings us to one of the most recent additions to the European Union structure, created by the Treaty of Lisbon: the European Council president. The importance of the European Council president is often overlooked. However, as the first holder of the position, Herman Van Rompuy, demonstrated when he held the post, it can be integral to progress. During the euro crisis, Van Rompuy, working largely behind the scenes marshaled support for badly needed measures among the member states and the three cornerstone European Union institutions. Not everyone can carry the weight of the position. An effective European Council president must have a temperament that enables him or her to move a diverse group of powerful people toward mutually beneficial outcomes, all without taking the spotlight. Van Rompuy’s high-profile successor, Donald Tusk, is a good example. The right European Council president can act as a rudder for the entire European project. However, the wrong one will leave the European Union directionless at a moment when untied action is urgently needed. Preventing that outcome should be a top priority for Europe’s leaders. #RandolphHarris 11 of 13
If the Falklands lose European Union funding for conservation, 1 million penguins will be put at risk, due to Brexit. Threats to the penguins in the region include fishing, tourism, unlicensed egg collecting and invasive, exotic diseases like avian pox because of the low resistance among the isolated population. Also, some African settlers on a British island are in danger of losing funding for education, medical, and housing and they do not know what will be done to help them. There are genuine concerns that replacement United Kingdom funding would not be enough, and there is no way to tell how they would allocate that new funding. The goal is to recover threatened, iconic or economically important species and prevent human-induced extinction or loss of known threatened species in our overseas territories. Duchess Meghan Markle’s smile and pleasant attitude helps calms people’s fears. And at least my students now know the Balkans are not somewhere near Sweden. All I catch Meghan reading these days are fashion magazines and guest lists, as if she is planning for another wedding. Maybe she really wanted to attend New York’s Fashion Week and was daydreaming. “If righteous hold out faith to end, they are received into Heaven,” Mosiah 2.41. It is like a dance with candles on the ceiling. We can make believe we are on another planet. If we could go on like this and love could spread like the ocean mist and we could be flying. #RandolphHarris 12 of 13
Babe, happy to hear you finally heard from your husband, but I am surprised you did not think he fit into our conversations or that they did not mentioned anything about you losing your baby. He sounds like the typical guy who goes off to war and looks forward to the weapons and getting a few “Huns.” He probably already has children all over the World that we do not know about. Sorry to hear that your brother Matthias enlisted at the same time as your husband, but if they were inseparable growing up, of course they are going to want to do the same things as adults. I do not blame your mother for refusing to let your youngest brother Jamerson join up. Back in the day, women would deny they had sons on the census reports because they did not want their youngest boy going to war. And when he was he not drafted, they would send him to college where he could be educated and make money to make the family name more prosperous. And I am sure when Jamerson has a taste of the World he will never come back. Some people are not made to be farmers or fishermen, they are made to be warriors or engage in international business. However, if he has a lady, she might be the only thing that keeps him in town. “Saints fast and pray often, even unto purify of their hearts,” Helaman 3.35. #RandolphHarris 1 of 8
I was wondering why you had stopped writing me such beautiful poetry, but now I understand you have writer’s block because you are concerned about all the young men getting ready to go off and fight in the war and die. Well, you never lied about not telling me about your husband, I understand people repress painful memories or project onto other things or people. Perhaps you felt by communicating with me, you were talking to your husband? But anyway, you know me, I would not be happy either if I were left behind while everyone else went off to war, so I understand your husband. I would want the adventure, too. He feels like a hero. I know it may not be much, but I have started writing down those fairy stories I have been telling Ava. I have included one with this letter— “The Landlord.” Ava adores real estate. I thought you might find it entertaining, something to pass the time. It is not finished, though. I am not quite sure how to end it. Maybe you have an idea? Objective factuality is something alienated and abstract, a rationalized, i.e., logically crystalized, part of reality. Like a nut’s shell, it forms a hard and relatively distinct outer layer, produced by the inner saps and energies of a living organism. Reality in its wholeness is graspable only in the integral intuition of living knowledge (zhivoye znaniye), of which conceptual knowledge is only a derivative product or superstructure: All particular knowledge is partial knowledge of a whole. #RandolphHarris 2 of 8
Another term has begun and I feel a bit more confident, having taught these classes all before. I have always found it funny that Harry is the one person my dad should approve of but in actuality is the person he disapproves of the most. Harry has to be one of my oldest friends. We went to school together as children, pored over my father’s anatomy texts (more specifically poring over those pages pertaining to the female anatomy), went on our first dates together under the philosophy of safety in numbers. Harry’s family moves in the same social circles, he is actually completing his medical studies, he is absolutely brilliant, and he is flawlessly polite. What could my father find fault with? I suppose that a sharp mind can be wielded like any sharp weapon, and Harry can be quite disapproving of the snobbery he finds at many of the social functions we are forced to. He is lucky that most of the people he mocks do not catch his sarcasm and dry humour, or he would not be invited back nearly so often. It has been quite a few years since Harry set off for Oxford. We write back and forth—not nearly as often as you and I write—but I am looking forward to seeing him. #RandolphHarrris 3 of 8
We are conscious of ourselves only as a self-revelation of [being] in us. The more one is aware of oneself as a person, the more one withdraws into metaphysical solitude, for we are wholly open only to ourselves and to God. We rest in secret depths inaccessible to others and the most essential part of me remains solitary and inexpressible. I encounter God in the utter solitude in which I encounter death. It is a divine-human reality. The dual unity of Godhumanhood is logically prior to the conceptions of both God and Humans. Heaven and Earth have been moved. However, in the Blood you go where nobody wants to go. That is the horror of it. That is the beauty of it. Could it really have been so freakish, so abnormal? You know, years ago, I told you I went to dinner at the Winchester mansion. I was allowed to explore the mansion by myself. There was some secret, some dark hidden story present there the whole time. I could see it in the silence. As we move on year by year in this life, we learn that telling does not necessarily purge; telling sometimes merely is a reliving, and it is a torment. I must confess that it has already become undeniably clear to me, though I have existed in this exalted state for only two nights, that the very nature of my powers and means of existence attest to the ontological supremacy of a sensualist philosophy having taken up residence within me, as I proceed from moment to moment and the microcosm of my own self. #RandolphHarris 4 of 8
This requires of me an immediate redefining of the concept of mystical, which I have heretofore mentioned to include a state both elevated and totally carnal, both transcendent and orgasmic, which delivers me when drinking life’s energy or gazing at a lighted candle beyond all human epistemological constraints. Whereas the hermeneutics of pain had once completely convinced me of my own personal salvation, indeed, whereas I had once worked out a comprehensive Prayer of Quiet in which I had embraced Christ and his Five Wounds in order to endure the Finality which seemed inescapable for me, I now find myself approaching God on a totally undefined path. Can it be that being a vampire, and having a vampire soul as well as a human soul, I am therefore removed from human obligations and all human ontological conditions? I think no. I think on the contrary that I am now responsible for the supreme human obligation: to investigate the highest use of my powers, for surely though I a vampire by my own free will and by a Baptism of Blood, I am still by birth, by maturity, by underlying physicality human, and must therefore share in the human condition despite the fact that I shall no in the ordinary scheme of things grow old nor die. “Righteously fear not words of truth,” reports Mormon 9.40. I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe, and God governs it by his Providence [and] the soul of Human is immortal. #RandolphHarris 5 of 8
Lightning is an electrical discharge, electricity is beside heat, light and gravity and is one of the primordial forces in the Universe and is a new dimension or quality possessed in some measure by all matter. Let the experiment be made and, in the observation, electrical experiments will help to make a vain person humble. To return to the inescapable question of Salvation, yes, I do remain rooted in a relativistic Universe, no matter how spectacularly defined I have become as to form and function, and I find myself within the same dimension in which I exited before my transformation, and therefore I must ask: am I perforce outside the economy of grace established by Our Divine Saviour in the very fact of his Incarnation, even before His Crucifixion, both events which I firmly believed to have occurred within human history and chronology, and to be knowable through, and commanding a response in both? Or can the Sacraments of Holy Mother the Church redeem me in my present state? I must conclude on the face of it, from my short experience, from the ecstasy and abandon which have so rampantly replaced all pain and suffering within the organism which I am, that I assume that I stand excommunicated from the Body of Christ by my very nature. I brought myself back from the dead. #RandolphHarris 6 of 8
However, it could be that I am never to know the answers to this question, not matter how thoroughly I investigate the World and myself, and does not this very unknowing only bring me all the closer to full existential participation in humankind? It seems wise to accept, in deepest humility and with an aim towards a validating spiritual perfection at the onset, that I may never hope at any juncture of my wanderings, be they for untold centuries or for a fe short years of near unendurable ecstasy, to know whether I share in the Saviour’s Redemption, and that that very unknowing may be the price I pay for my extra-human sensibility and inherently blood-thirsty triumph over the pain I once suffered, over the imminent death that once tyrannized me, over the ubiquitous threat of human time. “Can you look up to God with pure heat and clean hands?” reports Alma 5.19. Personal values have political relevance. The government exists for the sake of the good life and its powers can be used to that end. A good citizen guided by virtues would undertake civic improvement and participate disinterestedly in government. The individual initiative is the essential engine of progress. My confidence in the virtue of the citizens of the United States of America causes me to favour government by consent, but I am not a simple democrat who believes majority will should be omnipotent. #RandolphHarris 7 of 8
Many refuse to recognize the commandment’s of God. “Thou shall not die. Thou shall not kill.” I will not lie. Freedom’s dynamism will cause its spread around the World, and therefore the United States of America, as a leading free nation, will be influential without being predatory. At the same time, we must understand the anarchic character of international relations and realise that the nation has to maintain its strength, protect its national interests, and action to maintain a balance in trade. Even with tariffs, China has a $32 Billion surplus with the United States of America, which means they made all that money off of goods and services we are buying from China. Another term has begun and I feel a bit more confident, having taught these classes all before. We have just finished talking about the history of chemistry (starting from the alchemists, then Lavoisier, Mendeleev, and the like). My students turned in the most appalling set of essays. To think, they will be the next generation of statesmen and lawyer, and they cannot even construct a proper argument! At any rate, when I was reading these and ruminating that I (I hope!) wrote a bit better at that age, I could not help but think of you. I thought I had hidden you well in the yellow memory. The light rinds of the silver bells remind me of the past. I want to wish many blessings by beautiful brocade for you. #RandolphHarris 8 of 8
Randolph Harris II International Institute 