God is infinite loving kindness whose entire being is focused on the salvation of humans. Biology, physics, mathematics, engineering and medicine help us understand the World, but there is much more about life that remains a mystery. Even though the sum of human knowledge supposedly doubles roughly every couple of years or less, we should never get to the point that we think we know so much about how the Universe work and assumes that God is unnecessary because we cannot actually explain all the workings of the Universe without the need for a Creator. God has been unswerving in his loving kindness and stubborn love. Time after time, as in the legend of the Shepherd who risked ninety-nine sheep to go after one that had gone astray, the Savior tries to convey God’s absolute love for every single one of his children. To perceive this love, we must to feel it to the very marrow, and respond in the only way possible, in profound and total gratitude for the wonders of God’s grace. The only way to make sense of the Savior’s extraordinary admonitions as to how we should behave toward our fellow people is t see them as cut to fit this understanding of the God who loves all of his creations (human, animals, nature, metals, water, air and so on) without pausing to calculate their worth or due. God has given us what we need. Look at the natural way which God’s love has come to us. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
It takes an immense power of nature to create one Universe. In natural philosophy there is a monotheistic belief in the Universe as a creation of God. The incredible fine-tuning of the Universe presents the most powerful argument for the existence of an imminent creative entity we may call God. Science and religion are two sides of the same expansive impulse to understand the World, to know our place in it, and to marvel at the wonder of life and the infinite cosmos we are surrounded by. There is an apparent changelessness of the Heaven. The Universe, like every organic entity, is composed of parts that change at different and sometimes very low rates; furthermore, the greater the quantity of matter, the slower its rate of change. This applies to the immense celestial bodies as well as to terrestrial objects; although the ocean does not seem to change when seen as a whole, if it were divided into a sum of small volumes of water, the water in each container would exhibit rapid change. Although we know more about the oceans than we used to, we still know very little about the vast majority of the ocean. Different ocean colors indicate different levels of plant growth in the ocean. The Galapagos are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean along the equator. The islands are known for their unique and diverse mix of wildlife. Of all the places in the World, there is probably no place like the Galapagos. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
Because of its unique location and the influence of ocean currents, the Galapagos have allowed species to evolve in ways that can be found nowhere else. Where else can you find penguins and coral reefs in the same location? Earth is really an ocean planet. Life on land exists in this thin layer that begins a few feet below the surface of the soil and extends up into the tops of the trees. However, life in the ocean, life is found all the way from the surface to the very bottom of the deepest part. The deepest part of the ocean, and of Earth, that we know of is 6.8 miles (10.9 kilometers) deep. Because of this, the oceans contain 99 percent of the living space on the planet. Yet, we know very little about most of the ocean. This is especially true for the middle and the deeper parts far away from the coast. The deepest portion of the Pacific Ocean, the Challenger Deep (36,037 feet or 10,984 meters deep) is located in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific. It is a subduction zone and experiences perpetual darkness and freezing cold. The Mariana Trench, an underwater gash in Earth’s crust that is five times longer than the Grand Canyon and much, much deeper. The trench forms where two tectonic 180 million year old tectonic plates (jigsaw-puzzle-shaped pieces of Earth’s crust) crunch into each other. As the plates collide in slow motion, the edges push downward into a V shape, which is called the Mariana Arc, creating a valley that has no equal on our planet. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
The Mariana trench is a place mysterious, scientists have almost no clue as to what—if any—sort of lifeforms might be living there. If one plunges deeper than 3,280 feet (1,000 meters) into the ocean, there is no Sunlight to spawn life. Water temperature often settle in at just above freezing. And food is not particularly plentiful. The water pressure in the trench is nearly 1,000 times greater than at sea level. In fact, the pressure is so high that it will crush nearly any creature (or humamade object), unless that animal or vessel is built specifically to withstand those extremes. Downward motion of air rushing to fill the place of a body that is being removed beneath it, and the natural movement of air upward may also be caused by an empty space created in a higher region. A body can perform a motion other than its natural one only as long as a force is acting on it. A projectile is kept moving by the constant push of the air behind it, that is an immaterial kinetic power which is imparted by the thrower to the object thrown. This impetus keeps the projectile moving until it is consumed, whereupon it resumes its natural movement downward. And the theory of light explains that light is also related to the concept of the impetus, in that light as an impetus is emitted from a luminous body and propagated to the eye according to the laws of geometrical optics. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
Together with the belief of creatio ex nihilo, in which God is put above nature and transcends all creation, the Universe is conceived as a vast mechanism functioning accord to the physical laws with which matter was imbued by God at the moment of creation. This particular area of the sea, then, is more than a little inhospitable. However, these expanses are not lifeless. A few occupied and unoccupied vehicles have parted the waters of the trench in recent years, proving that there are indeed organisms living and even thriving in this nearly alien Water World. There are 21 underwater volcanoes. The Mariana forearc: Northwest Eifuku volcano vents fluid rising from so-called white smokers on the submarine region. This Champagne vent is found to be releasing bubbles of liquid sulfur and carbon dioxide, active mud volcanoes along with mineral-laden water. The liquid coming out of these chimneys is 217 degrees Fahrenheit (103 degrees Celsius). At the Daikoku submarine volcano, scientists discovered a pool of molten sulfur 1,345 feet (410 meters) below the ocean surface, something seen nowhere on Earth. Food in the Mariana Trench is extremely limited, because the deep gorge is far from land. Leaves, coconuts and trees rarely find their way into the bottom of the trench, and dead plankton sinking from the surface must drop thousands of feet to reach Challenger Deep. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
Some microbes rely on chemicals, such as methane or sulfur, while other creatures gobble marine life lower on the food chain. Some marine life has adapted to living at that sea level, these lifeforms are wonderfully mysterious, and also some of the toughest creatures around. The vulnerable looking fish are also some of the top predators. There are octopus, jellyfish, and other giant creatures. There is also possible extinct Megalodon Sharks (60 foot shark) hiding in the trenches. There are also creatures such as the dragonfish, which produces its own light in order to attract prey, mates, or both. Others like the hatchet fish have evolved enormous eyes in order to try and catch as much of the scarce light that makes it that deep. Some other creatures simply try and be avoided, which normally means either becoming translucent or red, because this absorbs any blue light that has managed to make its way down to the depths. There are also some gigantic single-celled amoebas with a size of more than 4 inches (10 centimeters), snailfish, and huge crustaceans known as supergiants. To deal with the pressure and the cold, which in effect sets the fat that forms the membranes of the body’s cells. If left unchecked, it would cause the membranes to crack and break, so in order to get around this, deep sea creatures have lots of unsaturated fat in their membranes, which help to keep them fluid. However, is this enough to survive the deepest place known on the planet? #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
Like other oceanic trenches, the Mariana Trench has been proposed as a site for nuclear waste disposal, in the hope that tectonic plate subduction occurring at the site might eventually push the nuclear waste deep into the Earth’s mantel, the second layer of the Earth. However, dumping of nuclear waste is prohibited by international laws. Furthermore, plate subduction zones are associated with very large megathrust Earthquakes, the effects of which are unpredictable for the safety of long-term disposal of nuclear waste within the hadopelagic ecosystem. A recent study revealed that a plastic bag, like the kind sold at grocery stores, was found in the deepest known part of the World. Scientist found it by looking through the Deep-Sea Debris Database. Other debris came from material like rubber, metal, wood, and cloth, and some is yet to be classified. One type of bacteria DNA was found which was less than 86 percent similar to other known forms. A level of 90 percent similarity is usually taken to mean the lifeform is unknown. The DNA substantially different to anything previously recorded, suggesting they may be new to science. The trenches have been sealed off from the outside World for millions of years, meaning any life within it has evolved in complete isolation. “After putting aside all possible elements of contamination, DNA was found that did not coincide with any of the well-known types in the global database. We are calling this life form unclassified and unidentified,” reports Sergei Bulat of the St. Petersburg Institute of Nuclear Physics. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
Let us with faith, enthusiasm, dedication, responsibility, and love do all that is within our reach, and we will be doing all that is possible to achieve the impossible—that is, to achieve what for human mind is impossible, but with the divine intervention is the greatest gift, the most glorious of realities, to live forever with God and our families. Even though our journey may be fraught with tribulation, the destination is truly glorious. Nearly 200,00 immigrants who left their European homelands reached the coast of North America in the seventeenth century. Coming from variety of social backgrounds and spurred by different motives, they represented the rootstock of distinctive societies that would mature in North American colonies of England, France, Holland, and Spain. For three generations, North America served as a social laboratory for religious and social visionaries, political theorists, fortune seekers, people who were socially unique, and most of all, ordinary men and women seeking a better life than they had known in their European homelands. Nearly three-quarters of them came to the Chesapeake and Carolina colonies. Most of them found this region a burial ground rather than an arena of opportunity. Infirmary, stunted family life, and the harsh work regimen imposed by the planters who commanded the labor of the vast majority ended the dreams of most who came. This mortal life can constitute a difficult journey, but the destination is truly glorious. The population inched upward, and the bone and sinew of a workable economy formed. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
In the northern colonies, to which the fewest immigrants came, life was more secure. Organized around family and community, favored by a healthier climate, and motivated by religion and social vision, the Puritan and Quaker societies thrived. Utopian expectations were never completely fulfilled. However, nowhere else in the Western World at that time could they even have been attempted. What did succeed was the rooting of agricultural life based on family farms and the establishment of locally oriented political institutions marked by widespread participation. Thus, as the seventeenth century progressed, the scattered settlements along the North American coast, largely isolated from one another, as well as a few inland French and Spanish settlements, pursued their separate paths of development. There is also a misconception that African Americans were merely slaves. Much of their legacy during the early pioneer days is totally marginalized. Anthony Johnson, an African, arrived in Virginia in 1621 with only the name Antonio. He was enslaved, but on 22 March 1622, the Powhatan tribes of tidewater Virginia fell on the European colonizers in a determined attempt to drive them from the land. Of the 57 people on the Bennett plantation, only Antoni and four others survived. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
Antonio—anglicized to Anthony—labored on the Bennett plantation for some 20 years, enslaved in fact if not in law, for legally defined bondage was still in the formative stage. During this time, he married Mary, another African trapped in the labyrinth of servitude, and fathered four children. In the 1640s, Anthony and Mary Johnson gained their freedom after half a lifetime of servitude. Probably at this point they chose surname, Johnson, to signify their new status. Already past middle age, the Johnsons began carving out a niche for themselves on Virginia’s eastern shore. By 1650, they owned 250 acres, a small heard of cattle, and they also owned two African servants. In a World in which racial boundaries were not yet firmly marked, the Johnsons had entered the scramble of small planters for economic security. By schooling themselves in the workings of the English legal process, carefully cultivating European patronage, and working industriously on the land, the Johnsons gained their freedom, acquired property, established a family, warded off contentious neighbors, and hammered out a decent existence. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
In a World we shall have tribulation, but are to be of good cheer. God’s revelation to humans might require something of the sort. God’s chosen will carry us past an obvious possibility. It comes from God’s special grace. God doubtless blesses us through the air we breathe as much as through anything. All spirits blessed by birth will ultimately be resurrected, spirit and body reunited, and inherit kingdoms of glory that are superior to our existence here on Earth. Our leaders have consistently counseled us to live with respect and appreciation for those not of our faith. There is so great a need for civility and mutual respect among those of differing beliefs and philosophies. It is equally important that w be loving and kind to members of our own faith, regardless of their level of commitment or activity. The Savior has made it clear that we are not to judge each other. This is especially true of members of our own families. Our obligation is to love and teach and never give up. The Lord has made salvation free for all people, but has commanded his people that they should persuade all people to repentance. The desires of our hearts, of course, is not only to acquire salvation and immortality , but also to attain eternal life with a loving Father in Heaven and our Savior in the celestial kingdom with our families. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
We can obtain eternal life only through obedience to the laws and ordinances to the laws and decrees of the gospel. The reason underlying this advice is that since there is no certainty as to what external goods or evils would follow the practice of vice, it is preferable for people to take one’s chance on virtue, and gain eternal life. This reasoning is based on the common human experience that it is easier for one to induce oneself a feeling of happiness in the misery that may follow life of virtue than it is to induce in oneself a feeling of happiness in the misery, and sometimes even in the joy, that may follow a life of vice. We are also advised to practice virtue for its own sake because of providence is individual. And desire common observation to the contrary, no virtue goes unrewarded; acts of virtue are graded merits; and the reward is always in accordance with the merit of the act. The practice of virtue is of the highest degree of merit, and the reward for it, which ultimately is of a spiritual nature in the hereafter, will be in accordance with its merit. God’s favors can surround people like the sea surrounds fish. If it is to be creative, our life together requires both unity and variety. If our energies are not to be wasted in brute conflict, unity is obviously needed. “We must grow exceedingly in the knowledge of our God; and keep his statues and commandments, and walk in truth and uprightness before the Lord,” reports Helaman 6.34. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
We must get over anything holding us back from the amazing future God has in store. A loving Father has provided a comprehensive and compassionate plan for his children that saves the living and redeems those who are in a spiritual slumber, recuses the damned, and glorifies all who repent. There is a victor’s crown waiting for us. Whatever we have suffered is nothing compared to the glory that is coming. Eternal life is to live with our Father in Heaven and with our families forevermore. Should not this promise be the greatest incentive to do the best within our reach? The Lord does not expect that we do what we cannot achieve. The command to become perfect, as the Lord is, encourages us to achieve the best of ourselves, to discover and develop the talents and attributes with which we are blessed by a loving Eternal Father, who invites us to realize our potential as children of God. God knows us; God knows of our capacities and our limitations. The invitation and challenge to become perfect, to achieve eternal life is for all humankind. God will not require more than the best we can give because that would not be just, but neither can the Lord accept less than that because that would not be just either. Therefore, let us always give the best we can in the service of God and our fellow beings. Let us do the best we can and each day be a little better. All the forces of darkness cannot keep us from our destiny. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Law revealed by God, who is the creator of the World, is fully in harmony with the laws of nature, which God himself has implanted in the World for its governance. Therefore, natural law has come to mean divinely revealed law. The questions that historians ask are limited only by their imagination and historical evidence left behind for them to study. We have seen how historians use different kinds of written evidence, such as household inventories, treaties, as well as material artifacts like tombstones and house designs. They also study visual evidence such as paintings and sculptures, for these, too, can provide insight into the life and culture of the past. With the proper mixture of care and ingenuity, historians can tease surprising amounts of information out of materials that at first glance seem silent and unrewarding. Paintings and pictures offer unique insights into the past. They can tell us about the development over time of artistic styles and techniques. They also offer a window into the past for social and cultural historians, for they reveal how people lived and looked and did their work, as well as what the landscape and home furnishing were like. “The greatest motive I have had for engaging in my pursuit of painting, has been the wish of commemorating the great events of our country’s revolution,” reports President Thomas Jefferson. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
During the revolutionary era and the early national period, American artists employed painting and other visual arts to record the great events of the nation’s founding. John Trumbull, for example, secured a commission from Congress in the early nineteenth century to prepare a series of historical canvasses. The best form of government is that based upon fixed law, not indeed upon humanmade fixed law, but upon a divinely revealed law. In a state governed by such a divinely revealed law, every individual has one’s primary allegiance to God and to the law revealed by God. Whatever human authority exists, whether secular, governing the relation of humans to God, that authority is derived from the law and functions only as an instrument of the application of the law and its interpretation. Such a state, whatever its external form of government, is really ruled by God, it is a theocracy. It is a special form of government in contradistinction to that of monarchy and aristocracy, but rather as a description of a special principle of government, namely, the principle of equality before the law, which may be adopted and practiced by any form of government. Although George Washington left the presidency in 1797 amid a storm of controversy, his death in 1799 generated a surge of public mourning. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
There are certain criterion for reidentification of bodily identity. In order to set up any case at all, we have to know that there was actually a person in the past about whose life these memory claims seem to be accurate reports and that all the claims fit the life history of the same person in the past, who was the person the claimant now says he is. This can be known only if in the past we were able to reidentify that person over the period of his life. This requires the past availability of the criterion. However, when these admissions are made, the advocate of bodily transfer need go no further; he can still hold his ground and say that bodily transfer is still possible. If we had a case where the memory claims of the man who seemed to be the cobbler systematically fitted the past of the prince and vice versa, these claims could be checked up on in detail. And they would be found, ex hypothesi, to fit a past human body; the only difference from normal would be that the body uttering them. Yet the past of the body uttering them would itself be taken care of by a systematic set of memory claims now uttered by that body which they did not fit. In such circumstances it surely would be wholly natural to say that two men had exchanged bodies. The Apotheosis of Washington, painted by an anonymous artist after an 1802 engraving by John Barralet, shows how President Washington was mythologized during the years immediately following his death. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
If we examine the painting carefully, for it is filled with a fascinating mixture of patriotic, religious, and cultural symbolism, we wonder why is President Washington depicted with his arms extended? Who is the woman standing at the left of the picture, and why are the children included? The bottom quarter of the picture is crowded with object and human forms, each of them carefully chosen for what it might contribute to the painting’s overall effect. Identify them and explain why they are there. Finally, why did the veneration of President Washington in word and image take place? In spite of much recent writing on the puzzles, there seems to be no satisfactory demonstration that the change in convention that would follow on our saying a transfer had occurred would lead to absurdities. It is therefore a possibility. The conclusion is, therefore, that although the logical possibility of bodily transfer has to be admitted, the implications are small and the wisdom of this particular change in our conventions is not self-evident. In no greater heroism would be called for here than would be called for by accepting that one person could exchange bodies or memories with another, and it would make it puzzling that people should remember their own past. It has already been argued that either of the possible conceptual changes would require that the cases of bodily transfer or the memory exchanges be rare; otherwise, we would not have the memory concepts we do have. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Yet in order even to state the problem, we must use memory concepts. From the other side, we have to remember that if we were to adopt the device recommended, then in cases like the one of President Washington we would say of the characters not that they remembered but they retrocognized. By the grace of God some exceptional persons may be reborn in this manner. However, these types of cases are not usually taken too seriously in modern times because it could lead to identity theft, and the exploitation of people who are mouring. With the increase of technology, you never know how long predators have been eavesdropping and spying on their prey and what kind of information many thought was private has been breached. We could end up with a number of hysterical people pretending to be different people to obtain assets, wealth, information, and human capital. “Beware of false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing,” reports 3 Nephi 14.15 (Matthew 7.15). In light of the striking doctrine of bodily transfer, many seem to stick to the originating theory that the human soul is an attunement, and the body is the tomb of the soul. “God himself shall come down and bring to pass resurrection,” reports Mosiah 15.20. Faith in the revealed teachings of Scripture are benefits under what the philosophers call the virtue of justice. We are to serve God out of love and not out of expectation of reward. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
Mysteries of the World are under no obligation to reveal themselves to us. The Christian doctrine that all people are members of a single family—symbolically portrayed in the legend of Adam and Eve—is said not to be based on insights. It was revealed to them. Revelation means disclosure. When someone says, “It came as a revelation to me,” the individual means that something hitherto obscure is suddenly lit; a veil lifted, and that which previously had been concealed has now been made known. As a theological concept revelation share this basic meaning of disclosure, but focuses it in the disclosure of a specific object; namely God, his nature, and his will for humanity. God revealed himself first and foremost in what he did; not in words but in deeds. The spirit of revelation is real—and can and does function in our individual lives and in the Church. Science and religion are often cast as opponents in a battle for human hearts and minds, but science and religion are complementary. God cast us in his own image. We have free will and intelligence. The fact that our Universe is intelligible has profound implications for humankind and for the existence of God. We know that the Universe was created 13.7 billion years ago. However, these strengths have to be exquisitely fine-tuned in order for life to exist. The strength of the gravitational attraction must be tuned to ensure that the expansion of the Universe is not too fast and not too slow. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
Do not close your eyes to the beauty still left around you. The designer of the Universe is clever enough to have devised either an evolving multitude of Universes or to have devised a way to make out present Universe create us. God is the ultimate person and, as such, is the ground of all being and the creator of finite persons. First, from eternity the Universe existed as thoughts of God; then, prior to the creation of the World they were created by God as real beings. The creation of the World was an act which God willed, and similarly the indestructibility of the World is due to the will of God. It is an expression of God’s nature, so that the creation of the World, and of this particular World of ours, was an act that could not be otherwise; and similarly the indestructibility of the World is something that cannot be otherwise. God could have created this World or created another kind of World. And similarly, if it be his will, the Lord can destroy the World, although, on the basis of scriptural verse it is not believed that God will destroy this World. God has the power to infringe upon the law of his own making and create what are known as miracles. These miracles, however, are not created arbitrarily. They are always created with design and wisdom for the good of deserving individual or deserving groups of individuals or humankind as a whole, for, God governs by direct supervision not only the World as a whole, but also the individual human beings within the World. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
Do not shut yourself off from living the depth of life. Miracles mean universal providence, that is, the unalterable operation of the inexorable laws of nature whereby the continuity and uniformity of the various natural processes in the World are preserved. It means individual providence, that is, the suspension of the laws of nature by the will and wisdom and goodness of God for the sake of human beings whose life or well-being is threatened by the ordinary operation of those laws of nature. The Savior went around doing good acts. He taught the importance of not ignoring a spiritual prompting from the Holy Ghost. With regard to the pre-existent rational souls that become embodies, they are equal in number to the stars and are to be placed in newly born human beings whose bodies are already endowed with irrational souls. Irrational souls die with the bodies, whereas the rational souls are immortal. Immortality is a grace with which the soul was endowed by the will and power of God, and consequently it can be destroyed by the will and power of God if it has proved itself unworthy of the grace bestowed upon it. Just as God in his exercise of individual providence may see fit to infringe upon the laws of nature and create miracles, so has he also seen fit to endow humans with the miraculous power to infringe upon the laws of his or her nature, so that by the mere exercise of one’s will humans may choose to act contrary to all the forces in one’s nature. This conception of free will is what may be called absolute free will. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Miracles come in moment. Be ready and willing. Human knowledge, like all other events in the World are either natural, in the sense that they are operated by God though the laws of nature which he has implanted in the World, or supernatural, in the sense that they are miraculously created by God in infringement upon those laws of nature, so also human knowledge is either natural or supernaturally, or, divinely revealed. Under natural knowledge are various types from sensation to ratiocination. Prophetic knowledge, like all miracles, is part of God’s exercise of his providence over individuals, groups of individuals, or humankind in general. God has disclosed himself to us, inescapably and overwhelmingly. God is a Lord of goodness and love. Though this might be less obvious to outsiders, it is overwhelmingly evident to people who have faith and are immediate recipients. Gratitude is the most powerful of all human emotions. It is the genesis of love, joy, and happiness. We can unfold the secret of everything we want through gratitude. Gratitude is the origin of all beneficial emotions. It creates magical feelings in our heart, mind, and soul. The admiration of beauty, kindness, and intellect form a deep feeling of gratitude for our existence. And this creates a divine attraction to love, joy, and happiness, which lead to human bliss. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
Freedom has come to us as an act of sheer, spontaneous, unmerited grace, a clear instance of God’s unanticipated and astonishing love. Once the realization of God’s love has taken root, it will spread quickly to encompass everyone. Besides God’s power and love, God is intensely concerned with human beings and their doings. This is why gratitude is the most powerful force in the Universe. The human mind established the existence not of a corporeal God immanent in the World, but of an incorporeal God above the World. We know God because we have a clear vision of the Uncreated One. Gratitude opens the doors to new relationships and life opportunities and improves not just our physical but also psychological health (decreasing the number of pains, aches and depression, increasing happiness, empathy and self-esteem, the quality of our sleep is enhanced, and gratitude helps us overcome stressful trauma). People who know how to express gratitude are the ones who choose to embrace the things they have in the present, instead of dwelling on what they do not have, what they could have or what they lost. God is knowable and describable through his essence, which means that the essence of a thing is known only through its likeness to others thins in genus and species. For that reason, people who are at peace with who they are, have the spirit of God, ad that is how they manifest abundance. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
This life is absolutely, most certainly, and without a doubt, a miracle. Gratitude helps us clarify our values and intentions and therefore gives us an opportunity to calculate our resources and invest them in what really matters to us. Once, we count our blessings, meaning becomes clear. The various terms by which God is described are to be taken as mere verbal variations of the property of God to act, in which he is unlike all other beings. For to act is the unique property of God; the property of all created beings is to be animated. People who express gratitude know what makes them happy, what fulfills their dreams and where they should invest their energy, time, and money. This gives them the opportunity to increase their self-worth and net-worth and spiritual-worth at the same time. Also, gratitude promotes social relationships, they have no problem connecting and collaborating with like-minded individuals. They do not see others as competitors but assets to their personal and mutual success. People who are grateful are usually abundant at every moment because they do not wait for huge, significant success to celebrate. They appreciate and celebrate each step of their journey. Indirectly, both knowledge of the World and of the existence of God derived therefrom are attained laboriously by the slow process of observation and logical reasoning. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
We must keep our mind and heart open to the possibilities in life. In the case of the direct way, both the knowledge of the World and of the existence of God derived therefrom are flashed upon the mind suddenly and simultaneously by divine inspiration. However, it is wholly impossible that God according to his essence should be know to any human creator. We are going to do something extraordinary as long as we keep expressing gratitude in life. Of course, we have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord and strengthen our families. Most of us have more things expected of us than we can possibly do. We may face many choices on what we will do with out time and other resources. We should recognize the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives. Count your blessings because life is a miracle. Affirm your appreciation for being alive, and you will manifest more to be grateful for in life. We have to participate relentlessly in the manifestations of our own blessings. Every moment is a miracle. We have been gifted with another day to experience being alive. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
Ever since humans began to reflect on the moral life, they have been aware of some perfect ideal of character and conduct toward which they must strive. All nature works by a common process to a common end, and the duty of the individual is to assist that process by devoting oneself to spiritual inquiry. Sometimes moral virtue was regarded as the imitation of divine perfection, and sometimes philosophers held out a human figure (especially Socrates) as the model of excellence; but more often they wrote abstractly of their ideal of a wise person. Evolution constantly diminishes the amount of objective chance in the Universe, but only in the limit does it wholly disappear. At any given times, some chance remains, and the laws of nature are not yet wholly exact. “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect,” reports Matthew 5.48. Perceptual judgments, therefore, form the real starting point in knowledge and must be taken as the ultimate evidence statements. People of the covenant are required to be perfect (or holy) by obedience to the law (Bible) which embodies God’s will and reflects his character. Piety is embracing God and others with real love, not fake devotion. The moral perfectionism demands for complete inward purity and self-renunciation. “Words of truth are hard against all uncleanness,” reports 2 Nephi 9.40. #RandolpHarris 1 of 6
Piety is opening one’s heart to God and one’s arms to embrace everyone as family. It prepares the way for the coming of God’s kingdom on Earth: the time when everything will be redeemed and sanctified and holiness of all God’s creations will be fully evident. The secret gift of piety that the Holy Spirit gives us consists in seeing the whole World as belonging to God and reflecting his glory. To rise in the morning seeing the light of a new day, to eat your favorite cuisine, to see a stream running between mossy stones, to watch the day slowly turn into evening—these precious things can brim with meaning when seen as allusive of God’s majesty. To accept the good things of life, most of which come to us quite apart from our own efforts, as if they were matters of course without relating them to God is quite wrong. I was reminded, to eat or drink without first making a blessing over the meal is compared to robbing God of his property. We should enjoy life’s goodness, and at the same time we should augment this joy by sharing it with God, just as any joy we feel is augmented when share with out human friends. I have been making an honest effort to change my ways and thank God when things go right or I accomplish something, as simply as getting maintenance done on my car. “And above all these put on love, which is the bond of perfectness,” reports Colossians 3.14. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
Scientific research indicates that grateful people sleep better, are healthier, happier, less depressed, less stressed, and have more beneficial ways of coping with difficulties. Faith provides us with powerful reasons to be grateful. We recognize God in all good things and put or trust in the Lord who loves us. To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything he has given us. Every breathe we draw is a gift of God’s love, every moment of existence is a grace. Gratitude, therefore, takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is constantly awakening to new wonder and praise of the greatness, mercy, justice, love, and compassion of God. For the grateful person knows that God is wonderful, not by hearsay, but by experience. And that is what makes all the difference. When we are mired in crisis, a spirit of gratitude can help us. It can prompt us to go deeper to the foundation on which we can stand. Seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Piety is recognizing our belonging to God, our deep bond with him, a relationship that gives meaning to our whole life and keeps us resolute, in communion with the Lord, even during the most difficult and troubled moments in life. Piety shows people “signs and wonder,” reports Helaman 16.4 #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
This personal bond with the Lord is not created out of obligation nor force, it is a relationship lived from the heart, a friendship that changes our life and fills us with enthusiasm and joy, gratitude, praise, and authentic worship. Inevitably, theologians have affirmed that moral perfection is the goal of the Christian life. Thus, we look forward to the time when we all attain to the unity of the faith and knowledge of God, to perfect humanity, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Savior. We must continue to give primacy to love, by which all the natural virtues are supernaturally perfected. When the Holy Spirit helps us sense the presence of the Lord and all of his love for us, it warms our heart and drives us almost naturally to prayer and celebration. Once people experience the loving relationship of God as our Heavenly Father, it helps us pour out this love onto others and recognize them as our spiritual family. Christians are expected to life and the counsels of perfect that anyone can follow with great determination. “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and your mother, and love your neighbor as yourself,” reports Matthew 9.18. This is an absolute realistic attitude toward the spiritual capacities of the average Christian. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
If we ask how this sense of sanctity of all things is to be preserved against the backwash of the World’s routine, the chief answer is through tradition. Without attention, our sense of wonder and the holy will stir occasionally, but to become a steady flame it must be deliberately fed. One of the best means of doing this is to be steeped in a history that cries aloud God’s superb acts of providence and mercy in every generation. Against those who would throw the past away with both hands that they may grasp the present more readily, Christianity accounts the memory of the past a priceless treasure. Most historically minded of all the religions, it finds holiness and history inseparable. In sinking the roots of our life deep into the past, the Christian draws nourishment from events in which God’s acts were clearly visible and in doing so keeps the deadly prosaicness of God’s eclipsed perspective at bay. The Sabbath eve with its candles and cup of sanctification, the Passover feast with its many symbols, the austere solemnity of the Day of Atonement, and the hauntingly beautiful stained glass windows in churches (a symbol of royalty in ancient times, which tell a specific story from the Bible, and unlike a sermon, stained glass windows are always there to tell a story, remind people of unforgettable events), one finds nothing less than the meaning of life in all these thing, a meaning which spans the centuries in affirming God’s greatness to humanity. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
Even when we recall the tragedy of our people and the price of their survival, we are made vividly aware of God’s sustaining hand. To live the Law is to live within time the life of eternity. Piety is about identity and belonging, that is why it renders people truly capable of being joyful with those who are happy; to cry with those who weep; to be near those who are alone or in distress; to correct those in error; to console the afflicted; to welcome and come to the assistance of those in need. Piety is a tree of life to those who grasp it. There is meaning in this simile, for a tree is symbolic of life itself, of the miracle whereby inert elements in the Sun and rain and soil are taken up and transformed in the mystery of growth. Pity is a creative power which can elicit and sustain holiness in the lives of those whose flowering World would otherwise become a wasteland of dry stones. It is a tree of life to those who grasp it. A spirit of adoption, not “a spirit of slavery to fall back in fear. Let us as the Lord that the gifts of his Spirit overcome our fears and uncertainties, out restless and impatient spirit, too, and that it may make us joyous witnesses of God and his love,” reports Romans 8.14-15. If we take human perfection in its widest sense to mean an ideal that satisfies human’s deepest needs or fulfills their true being, we can the outcome of present faith in God and a preparation for a future vision of the Lord face to face. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
One in moral courage is one who is true to him or herself, and also has physical courage. We all have a conscience, and a conscience is the root of moral courage. A truly brave person will always obey his or her conscience to know what is right and to not do things that are cowardice. Any organism that is to survive must develop habits of behavior that are adequate to satisfy its needs. Such habits are rulers of behavior that prescribe how we should act under given conditions in order to achieve a particular experiential result. Now such habits, when thoroughly adopted, are called beliefs. Since to possess beliefs is to know how to satisfy one’s wants, belief is a pleasant state: doubt, or the absence of beliefs, is an unpleasant state, since one is then uncertain how to act and is unable to attain the desired goals. The organism will therefore seek to escape from doubt and to find belief. The process by which the organism goes from doubt to belief is defined as inquiry. Clearly, there are various methods of inquiry, and the most satisfactory method will be that which leads most surely to the establishment of stable belief—that is, to beliefs that will stand in the long run. In our history we find many examples of high courage. In almost all of America’s wars, patriotism has run high and bombastic rhetoric has inspired citizens to arms. The American Revolution Wars was no exception. At the beginning, men from all walks of life and every class fought in defense of American liberty. Within a short time, however, that began to change. #RandolphHarris 1 of 6
As the war lengthened and its costs increased, men who could afford to do so hired substitutes or arranged to go home, whereas men of less wealth and influence increasingly carried the burden of fights. Some of the wealthy men went home because they needed to protect their family fortunes, and also because medial treatment, whether for wounds or diseases such as smallpox, dysentery, and typhus raged through the camps, and women were not allowed to run family businesses at that time. Casualties poured into hospitals, often overcrowding them beyond capacity. “We have at present upwards of one thousand sick crowded into sheds and labouring under the various and cruel disorders of dysenteries, bilious putrid fevers and the effects of a confluent smallpox; to attend to this large number we have four seniors and four mates, exclusive of myself,” reports Dr. Jonathan Potts, the attending physician at Fort George in New York, United States of America. Surgeons, operating without anesthetics and with the crudest of instruments, threatened life as often as they preserved it. Few understood the causes and treatments of infection. Doctoring consisted mostly of bleeding, blistering, and vomiting (which was deemed of excellent use, by opening and squeezing all the glands of the body and then shaking from the nervous system, the contaminating poison. Over 25,000 soldiers died. Being true to oneself and one’s Maker eventually cost them their lives, but it also ensured of them eternal life and exaltation. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6
There was evidenced outstanding courage in the colonies. Could you imagine the courage it took to be a doctor in the war and a soldier, and to face a king whose dominion the record said reached to the end of the Earth? The disruptions of urban life were profound. In September 1776, a fire consumed 500 houses, nearly a quarter of the dwellings, in New York City. About half the town’s inhabitants fled when the British occupation began and were replaced by an almost equal number of Loyalists who streamed in from the surrounding countryside. From the standpoint of the inquiring organism, a belief concerning a particular object is significant because it permits the organism to predict what experiences it will have if it acts toward the object in a given way. Pragmatic beliefs are ideas thought to be true about a situation, which yet forms the ground for the actual employment of means to certain actions. Americans knew the Revolution War was dangerous, and had no other country to migrate to, so they had to seek shelter other areas within their own country, or serve in the war. Many did not want to leave their wives and children behind defenseless. This behavior itself may now be regarded as essence. Americans have become known as a people who protect and/or defend their own and individuals capable of making rational decisions, and will come out victoriously under any circumstances. That is why so many people are proud to be American and want to come to America. In our struggles, we have shown we are brave. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6
God gives us the power to try a little harder, to not give up on ourselves when everything seems to beg for our defeat. Americans have become known through the World as honorable people, who have a paradise lifestyle, and are very brave. The meaning of the concept of being American may therefore be given by the set of laws completely specifying the behavior of the Americans under all conditions. These laws are conditional statements relating test conditions to phenomenal results, and such laws, considered as governing behavior, are habits relating action to experiential effect. One of these teachers of the law came and heard them debating, “And they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all—they were people who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted,” reports Alma 53.20. We are all the same way no matter who we are or where we live, no matter what our wealth or position in the World. God really lives and put people in positions of power so they could be noticed and we can emulate these same courageous behaviors in our own lives and homes. Through modern prophets we can come to know the truth, the divine principles which help us live and adjust, which give meaning and direction to our lives. When these divine principles are applied, nothing can defeat us. We cannot cover up who we really are before God’s penetrating gaze. If we are willing, whoever we are, however we are, God will accept us. We cannot give up, no matter what size of our struggles. We are not meant to be fear-haunted and defeated nobodies. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6
Many Americans have something deep in their hearts saying that we belong to something higher. And that something higher is an eternal family. We must remember too that our struggles here are not too trivial to interest the Lord. Those of us who follow the developments of astronomy know that lately there has been a big stir in the scientific community about a galaxy prosaically called NGC 1961, which is 220,000 lightyears away. From Los Angeles, California United States of America, NGC 1961 is visible all night because it is circumpolar. It will be highest in the sky shortly before dawn, when it will be lost to the twilight at around 04.22, 26 degrees above your northern horizon. At dusk, it will become visible at around 21.15 (PDT), 16 degrees above your northern horizon. It seems this galaxy has ten times the mass of our own galaxy, the Milky Way, and billions of young, hot stars. When we think that our Lord created all that and understands the immensities of space that only boggle our minds, we have difficulty believing that his interest could ever devolve on something as minute as our little pain or concerns. However, the Lord is waiting to help us cope today, and all we have to do is have faith in him, and love God with all our faith and soul. We also must love our neighbor’s as ourselves. Now that we have our freedom, we have forgiven the British and they are our very good friends. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6
We must pray in specifics about the problems, little or big, that impede our progress and dull our best dreams and we will find the promise because we are children of God. God will give us the comfort and the counsel that we need, the courage to lift up our heads and face our days with faith and compassion. We should be honored to be in our home country, no matter where that may be. Think how many people in the World would be so honored, to sit in a special meeting with prophets, seers, and revelators. To know who we are is to come to know that we are literally the royal offspring of Deity; and that means we were all born to succeed; in our presxistence we earned a right by our faithfulness and by our commitment to worthy principles to come into mortality in order that we might learn through how to become like our Father, God. That mean, if we understand the gospel correctly, there is not one single failure among us. The lives of many great people will testify that oftentimes they have many failures, and there is no disgrace in falling down; the disgrace is lying there. To get up one more time than we fall is to be a winner. To stay down is to be a loser. “Listen to advice and accept instruction and in the end it will make us wise. Many are the plans in our hearts, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. What people desire is unfailing love, better to be poor than a liar. The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble,” reports Proverbs 19.20-23. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6
If bacteria is a sign of life on Mars, then a heartbeat should be considered a sign of life on Earth. If we both see that which you say to be true, and both see that which I say to be true, where, I ask you, do we see it? Neither I in you, nor you in me, but both in the unchangeable Truth itself, which is above our minds. More is required for the intellect than mere sensation that contacts accidents but does not reach the essence of essences, the mind does this either knowingly or unknowingly. If knowingly, then the mind knows before abstracting, and hence it is useless to abstract. If unknowingly, then the mind is at the mercy of chance and can hardly be called an intellect at all. Consequently, the intellect is not a passive, but a beam moving outward and casting its light on things. However, there is more to this situation because in matters of intellectual knowledge, certitude, and evidence, humans must be assisted by a divine illumination—a divine active intellect—in addition to one’s own human active intellect. This assistance by divine illumination is not a direct vision of God or an infusion of ideas. Rather, it is an assistance over and above that given by God as the conserving cause of all that exists. Its purpose is to guarantee necessity and certitude (considered irrevocably unobtainable through sensation) for our knowledge. “And a portion of that Spirit dwells in us, which gives us knowledge, and also power according to our faith and desires which are in God,” reports Alma 18.35. #RandolphHarris 1 of 11
In the realm of natural theology, there is one key axiom that pervades Franciscan philosophical circles—human creators are entirely dependent upon the First Cause (God) with regard both to the fact of existing and to their ability to act. From this it follows that whatever causal powers a human creator may possess are ontologically delegated to them by the First Cause. The important corollary of this principle is that the First Cause can bypass the agency of the human creators and intervene to produce the effect immediately. We invoke this principle to some extent in the illumination theory of knowledge. It is also used to defend the autonomous existibility of prime matter without any form against the contrary opinion of critics. “And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the foundation of the World according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; on the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great faith, are called with a Holy calling, yea, with that Holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.” reports Alma 13.3. All medieval philosophers were agreed that the First Cause was pure form and that prime matter was completely formless. In each thing there are many forms, or at least many grades of one form. #RandolphHarris 2 of 11
In human beings there are several forms—vegetative, sensitive, and rational—in a gradated order that cooperate toward the good and unity of the being as a whole. “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life,” reports Proverbs 6.23. A commandment is a lamp to show us the right course, and indeed the law defines that course that we are to follow. Some people look upon laws in general as impediments to them—obstacles—and there are good people in every segment of life who believe that the laws of God, even the great Ten Commandments, are intended only for certain people—for those whom they describe as being extremely religious or for the less fortunate. They believe that while it is essential to observe the laws of the land, it matters little or none if one observes the laws of God. Some people think that the laws of God inhibit freedom; and that they who are not religiously inclined are automatically exempt from the laws and commandments of the Lord; and that is one minds one’s own business and lives one’s own life, so to speak, one has sufficient religion for one’s own well-being; and that salvation and joy everlasting will somehow be forthcoming, even though they do not observe the laws and commandments of God. Surely thinking that we do not need to obtain more insight into spiritual life is a shortsighted view. #RandolphHarris 3 of 11
Actually, if we are to find happiness, success, and peace, then the commandments of the Lord are principles upon which the architecture of our lives must construct its foundation and temple. We believe that through the atonement of the Savior that all humankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and the ordinances of the gospel; and because of God’s great love for the World and everything and everyone in it, the Lord has granted each of us the blessing and privileged to have a material body and live in the material World and through obedience to the laws of the gospel and through spiritual maturity and development, we can find happiness and peace and prepare to live in eternally in the Kingdom of God in Heaven, in a state of never-ending happiness. “For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they are received into Heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. Oh, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it,” reports Mosiah 2.41. This theory holds that the domain of knowledge can be so characterized that general assertions can be proven true of all possible knowledge; the theory also holds that it is the dependence of all knowledge upon logic that makes such a characterization possible. The ideas in the mind of God can be known by human minds. #RandolphHarris 4 of 11
All phenomena and all concepts—all that can be before the mind—are representations, for the ideas in the mind of God are conceived as Platonic archetypes, and are first given a material embodiment in the form of the objects of our experience and are then derived by us from those objects by abstractions. The synthesis in intuition is the synthesis of the divine idea (already present in an unconscious form within the soul) with the matter of sensation to form the empirical object which is also, by virtue of the divine idea, the transcendental object; and the concept is derived by abstraction from the object given in intuition. “And we, ourselves, also, through the infinite goodness of God, and the manifestations of his Spirit, have great views of that which is to come; and were it expedient, we could prophesy all things. And it is the faith which we have had on the things which our king has spoken unto us that has brought us to this great knowledge, whereby we do rejoice with such exceedingly great joy. And we are willing to enter into a covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of our days, that we may not bring upon ourselves a never-ending torment, as has been spoken by the angel, that we may not drink out of the cup of the wrath of God,” Mosiah 5.5. This discovery has great importance. #RandolphHarris 5 of 11
Granting these doctrines, it is clear that the major premises must be innate in the mind. We have been promised the constant companionship of the third member of the Godhead and hence the privilege of receiving revelation for our own lives. Although the pain of loneliness seems to be part of the mortal experience, God in his mercy has made it so that we need never deal with the challenges of mortality alone. It is not living the gospel that is hard. It is life that is hard. It is picking up the pieces when covenants have been compromised or values violated that is hard. The gospel is the Good News that provides us the tools to cope with the mistakes, the heartaches, the disappointments we can expect to experience here. Honoring the laws of God has its privileges. We are lead by the most powerful and holy force on Earth. We are members of a beloved community founded by prophets of God. To these remarkable privileges, “If we will receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto us all things what we should do,” 2 Nephi 32.5. What a remarkable privilege and promise to have manifestations of the spirit every day of our lives so that we may know the light, and not be groveling continually in the dark. #RandolphHarris 6 of 11
We may talk to the Saints about the follies of the World until dooms day, and it will make no impression. However, place them in a position where they will get the Holy Ghost, and that will be a sure protection against outside influences. We are not alone! The Holy Ghost enlarges our minds, our hearts, and our understanding; helps us subdue weaknesses and resist temptation; inspires humility and repentance; guides and protects us in miraculous ways; and gifts us with wisdom, divine encouragement, peace of mind, a desire t change, and the ability to differentiate between the philosophies of humans and revealed truth. The Holy Ghost is the minister and messenger of the Holy Trinity, and has a glorious global reality and a connection to us personally. Without the presence of the Spirit, it is impossible to comprehend our personal mission or to have the reassurance that our course is right. No mortal comfort can duplicate that of the Comforter (God). There is no greater blessing that can come into our lives than the companionship of the Holy Spirit. We may have the Spirit of the Lord to direct us, and are satisfied, however, that, in this respect, we live far beneath our privileges. It is meant that the fundamental logical relation from which the categories must be derived is signhood in which the relating has three ontological categories of mind, matter, and God. #RandolphHarris 7 of 11
On the basis of the reduction of the copula to signhood, it is predicate that when applied to the subject by being made to stand for the same object for which the subject stands, that the sign relation consists in a symbol standing for something to someone in some respect, and therefore that unless there are things, minds, and abstractions, there is no knowledge. However, since the pure abstraction attribute is the Platonic Form in the mind of God, without these three ontological categories signhood would be impossible. “And behold this thing shall be given unto thee for a sign, that after thou hast beheld the tree which bore the fruit which thy father tasted, thou shalt also behold a man descending out of Heaven, and one shall witness; and after you have witnessed him you shall bear record that it is the Son of God. And it came to pass that the Spirit said unto me: Look! And I looked and beheld a tree; and it was like unto the tree which my father had seen; and the beauty thereof was far beyond, yeah, exceeding of all beauty; and the whiteness thereof did exceed the whiteness of the driven snow. And it came to pass after I had seen the tree, I said unto the Spirit: I behold thou hast shown unto me the tree which is precious above all. And he said unto me: What desirest thou? And I said unto him: To know the interpretation. And the Angel of the Lord said: Behold the World and the wisdom.” reports 1 Nephi 11.7-11 and 35. #RandolphHarris 8 of 11
Hungering and thirsting translate to sheer spiritual labor. Worshipping in the temple, repenting to become increasingly pure, forgiving and seeking forgiveness, and earnest fasting prayer all increase our receptivity to the Spirit. Spiritual work works and is the key to learning to heart the voice of the Lord. As experience progresses and we acquire more relevant stimuli, we further conceptualize this referent, and in time we acquire a progressively more and more complete and precise idea of it. However, our knowledge is never fully complete, so that this process of learning and inquiry is endless. It is true that we have a relatively detailed concept of the referent, we assume that the object antedated our experience of it and in fact caused that experience; epistemologically, however, it is the experience which comes first and the notion of the object which comes later. The object, then, is a hypothesis designed to give coherence to our experience, and this hypothesis is derived by hypnotical and inductive reasoning; hence, the process of cognition can be fully described by the three forms of inference. Moreover, it follows that the object must be as we conceive it, since it is only as we conceive it that it is postulated at all, and therefore there can be no such thing as incognizable cause of cognition, for the postulate that an object exists is warranted only by the coherence it gives to experience. Accordingly, whatever it, is cognizable. #RandolphHarris 10 of 11
The object is real only if as the number of cognition goes to infinity, the concept of the object tends to a limiting form. It follows, therefore, that although the object is not independent of being thought (since it is only as it is though that it exists at all), it is nevertheless independent of the thought of any particular person and represents what would be agreed upon by an ideal community of investigators if inquiry were to go on forever. And many empiricists agree that if the object is real, then if inquiry does go on forever, our hypotheses will converge to a final true description. What we are attempting to do in this instance is to propound a doctrine which is at once phenomenalistic and realistic. Reality is an inexhaustibility promise of an infinite series of cognitions. “Therefore, we should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that the Savior, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal us to his, that we may be brought to Heaven, that we may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of the Lord who created all things, in Heaven and in Earth, who is God above all,” reports Mosiah 5.15. #RandolphHarris 11 of 11
We cannot choose to serve God and the World at the same time. Scientific laws are brief formulas representing complex relationships between many phenomena. Their discovery is the work of a creative but disciplined imagination; they are products of the human mind. An external object is a construct; a combination of immediate with past or stored sense-impressions. The distinction between real objects and imaginary ones is that only the real objects depend upon immediate sense impressions. There is a fundamental distinction between perception, the physical association of stored sense impressions, and conception, their mental association. This means that perception is merely the copresentation of impressions, while conception is the recognition of relations. However, the physical and the psychical differ only in degree with relations between sense impressions, although from different standpoints. On the whole, human brains work in the same way, and thus one receives the same sense impressions and forms the same constructs as another. This ensures the universal validity of science. The field of study of the various sciences is, in fact, immediate sense impressions; these are the phenomena which scientific laws relate, so that the field of science is much more consciousness than an external World. The consciousness of others is established by an argument from analogy. #RandolphHarris 1 of 7
We tend to project our sense impressions and to regard them as existing externally to and independently of ourselves, but this is a mistake. The distinction between external and internal is arbitrary and no more than a practical convenience. It is based on distinguishing between the classes of sense impressions, not between sense impression and something else. We cannot assert the existence of causes of sense impressions, but want to leave that open the possibility of such existents. Therefore, we use the term sensation in an unusual way: Sensation is that of which the only knowable side is sense-impression. This is intended to express agnosticism about the causation of sense impressions while allow one to say, “The outer World is for science a World of sensations, and sensation is known to us only as sense-impression.” Never tolerate, because of sympathy for yourself or for others, any practice that is not keeping with a Holy God. Holiness means absolute purity of your walk before God, the words coming from your mouth, and every thought in your mind—placing every detail of your life under the scrutiny of God himself. Holiness is not simply what God gives us, but what God has given us that is being exhibited in our lives. In our day, we are being admonished in the same manner through apostles and prophets. We are to fear the Lord, serve the Lord, put away Worldly gods, and choose whom we will serve. #RandolphHarris 2 of 7
Whether war is a greater or lesser evil than the present anarchic World, with its attendant threat of war, is something that needs to be considered. There has to be a way to keep the peace in the World, and people seem to look to certain nations to be the protectors of all people. “Many become emotionless because of great length of war,” reports Alma 62.41. The creation of expedients to keep the peace, such as the League of Nations and collective security, is the most urgent task of the twenty first century. Eventually it will be necessary to declare war illegal and to prosecute countries which resort to it as criminals. Peace must be kept by the maintenance of a military, and the superpower must go beyond this and exercise a kind of condominium over the rest of the World. There seems to be no alternative to the World state, which must in the first instance be imposed by one nation or group of nations; only after the World authority has been in power for a century or so will it feel confident enough to base its power on consent rather than force. No one wants to be control by people who do not recognize human rights, freedom, constitutional values, and the right to own property. And if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. #RandolphHarris 3 of 7
Some scientific concepts are not of immediate sense impressions; for instance, atom and molecule. There are just two possibilities: Science may regard the atom as real and thus capable of being a direct sense impression, or as ideal and this merely a mental conception of assisting them in formulating laws. In contrast, a metaphysical conception is of what is both real and independent of sense perception. Fearing the Lord means to be reverent and to love God and to keep the Lord’s commandments. We show that we serve the Lord by the way in which we live the commandments received from God, by the work we do to help establish the kingdom of God on Earth, and by the way we act towards our neighbor. Putting away Worldly gods means keeping impure thoughts out of our minds, shedding all hateful feelings from our hearts, and ridding our lives of everything which may present the Holy Ghost from being always with us. The most important commandment is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. And also, to love your neighbor as yourself,” reports Mark 12.29. There are no commandments greater than these. The Universe is governed day-to-day by rational natural laws, not by the whims of deities. #RandolphHarris 4 of 7
Science is not explanatory but merely descriptive. For instance, Sir Isaac Newton’s law of gravitation is a description in the simplest possible terms of a wide range of phenomena; that is, of the routine of our perceptions. To talk of it as ruling nature is to confuse other sense of law with the scientific sense. Causal statements are records of regular sequences in past experience and cannot assert any necessity in them. Forces, because they are not discoverable in sense experience, cannot be regarded as causes. Force is but a name hiding our ignorance of the explanation of motion. “He (God) stretches out the northern sky over empty space. Suspending the Earth upon nothing,” reports Job 26.7. The idea of necessity is appropriate only to relations between conceptions, not to relations between perceptions. Predictions and knowledge are possible only because we find repetition in our sense impressions. Even so, our knowledge is only probable and should, strictly speaking, be called “belief.” Rivers and springs are fed by water that has evaporated from the oceans and other sources and then has fallen back to Earth as rain snow, or hail. However, the ancient Greeks thought that rivers were fed by underground ocean water, and this is also probable. We have geysers that spit up water from underground, there are underground water tables and aquifers. #RandolphHarris 5 of 7
The mountains rise and fall, and today’s mountains were once under the ocean. “You covered it with deep waters as with a garment. The waters stood above the mountains,” reports Psalm 104.6. The whole of sciences involves the distinction between the perceptual and the conceptual. Scientific concepts generally are ideal limits of concepts originating in perception. This is especially obvious in the mathematical treatment of the World. Empirical space and time are modes of perception. Space is a mental expression for the fact that perceptive faculty has separated coexisting sense impression into groups of associated impressions; time indicates the progression of perceptions at a position in space. Neither space nor time is infinite or infinitely divisible, since each must be limited by our powers of perception and discrimination. Conceptual space and time, and the space and time of mathematics, are idealization of their empirical counterparts and do not suffer from their limitations. Some indicate that the Bible reports that the Universe was created in six days with twenty-four hours in each day. However, according to the Bible, God created the Universe in the indefinite past. Also, the days of creation described in Genesis 1.1 reports that the days of creation were epochs whose length is not specified. In fact, the entire period during which Earth and Heaven were made is also called a day. #RandolphHarris 6 of 7
It is also assumed that vegetation was created before the Sun existed to support photosynthesis. Nevertheless, the Bible shows that the Sun, one of the stars that is the foundation of the Heavens was created before vegetation. Diffused light from the Sun reached the Earth’s surface during the first “day,” or epoch, of creation. As the atmosphere cleared, by the third day of creation, the light was strong enough to support photosynthesis. Only later did the Sun become distinctly visible from the surface of the Earth. Also, the Earth could be 5.6, which would explain the days or epochs, but may not have had human life for billions of years. The aim of science is to construct conceptual models of the Universe, devices to assist us in describing the correlation and sequence of phenomena. The failure to recognize this has led scientists to accept definitions of force, mass, atom, and—in the biological sciences—life which are riddled with metaphysical obscurities. Philosophical reports consist in the empiricist elucidation of these fundamental concepts, in an attempt to remove these obscurities. The person who chooses to follow the Lord and who keeps God’s commandments in his or her weaknesses, knows where the strength is. In our strength, we remain humble. In our poverty, we know what our riches are, and in out prosperity, we remember our people with tenderness. A person who can live this way, without fear or hate but with love, is a happy person. #RandolphHarris 7 of 7
We admire those who are specially trained to rescue those in danger. From time to time, as individuals and as a community, we go through periods of crisis and danger. Some arise quickly like a fire. Others are subtle and go almost undetected before they are upon us. Some require heroic action, but most are less spectacular. They way we respond is crucial. Speculation about war and peace as conditions of interstate relations has tended to divide thinkers into two groups—those who regard war as inevitable, perhaps even desirable, and those who consider it an evil capable of being replaced by lasting peace through good will or improved social arrangements. The first group is sometimes described as realist and the second as idealist, but these terms have the drawback that such idealist philosophers (in the ontological sense) as Plato and Hegel often accept was as a permanent condition of human existence. It is therefore proposed here simply to call the first group conservatives and the second abolitionists, though a wide spectrum of opinion clearly exists within each subdivision. God does not change his mind about what is right and wrong. So, even through it sometimes looks like God chooses sides, it is really people who choose whether or not they will be on God’s side. God wants people to be free, so when someone is taking away another person’s freedom, God is on the side of protecting freedom. #RandolphHarris 1 of 10
Ancient Greek thought commonly accepted war between the city-states themselves and between Greeks and barbarians as part of the order of nature. The Greek gods were a warlike breed who had come to power after a brutal struggle with the Titans. Ares was one of their leading figures, but the goddess of peace, Irene, was merely a subordinate deity attendant on the great gods. A view of war was widely prevalent in Greece was that of Heraclitus of Ephesus. Was, Heraclitus taught, was the father of all and king of all, and it was through war that the present condition of humankind, some people free and some enslaved, have evolved. If strife between the warning elements in nature were abolished, nothing could exist; according to Heraclitus, “All things come into being and pass away through strife.” However, that may not be true. One can see that it is due to the power of unit that two opposites in a unity give rise to the existences of things, and it is due to the power of the opposition that two opposites in a unity gives rise to the perishing of one or the other opposite or the mutual transformation of the two. Perhaps all existent things, no matter how they appear to be irrelevant to one another, are materially related in one way or another from considerations of modern physics and modern ecology. #RandolpHarris 2 of 10
In the light of the organismic metaphysics, everything is of course materially related to everything else. In modern physics various categories of interactions between elementary articles are recognized: strong interactions, electromagnetic interactions, weak interactions and gravitational interactions. It is noticed that unity are opposites, and therefore only when these differences become genuine opposites, would they form a unity and this form a harmony in creative sense. Most people, if they take the time to notice, recognize to a certain degree that opposites form a unity. One can see that cool things become warm, and the warm grows cool. That is because life is all about balance. Much how people are starting to notice that warm Summers actually trigger cold Winters. Increasing temperature and melting ice in the Arctic regions are creating more snowfall in the autumn months at lower latitudes, which, in turn affects an atmospheric pattern that leads to colder Winters. Strong warming throughout July, August and September in the Arctic, which continues through the Autumn appears to enhance the melting sea ice. The warmer atmosphere, combined with melting sea ice, allows the Arctic atmosphere to hold more moisture and increases the likelihood of precipitation over areas to the south, which, in the freezing temperatures, will fall as snow. #RandolphHarris 3 of 10
Research also indicates that the average snow coverage in Europe and Asia has increased over the past two decades. Experts also believe that the increased sow cover has an intricate effect on the Arctic Oscillation—an atmospheric pressure pattern in the mid- to high-latitudes—causing it to remain in the negative phase. In the negative phase, a high-pressure system resides over the Arctic region, pushing colder air into mid-latitude regions, such as the United States and Norther Canada, and resulting in colder Winters. There is no doubt that the globe is getting warmer and this will favor warmer temperature in all seasons and in all location. For instance, Austin, Texas USA rarely has a day above 90 degrees Fahrenheit during the Summers in the 1970s, but now they are experiencing temperatures above 90-degree Fahrenheit an average of nearly 40 days out of the year. However, the increasing trend in snow cover has led to regional cooling because the Arctic jet stream takes these wild swings, and when it swings farther south, that causes cold air to reach farther south. These swings tend to hang around for awhile, so the weather we have in the Eastern United States, weather it is cold or warm, tends to stay with us longer. And more extreme Winters characterized by bomb cyclone and polar vortexes will be a more common climate change-induced pattern in the coming years. That is why snow was on the ground in April in New York and why Tahoe is seeing snow last into June. #RandolphHarris 4 of 10
Uncharacteristically cold Winters is just one of the most hard felt effects of climate change as ice starts to melt in the Arctic due to warming temperatures. The Earth is alive and behaves like a living system. Earth’s heat balance is an extremely important factor in what makes the Earth livable. The fact that the Earth can respond to slight changes in the amount of incoming radiation to maintain a fairly stable temperature is a result of the Earth’s energy budget. This phenomenon is also closely connected to flows on the Earth, and the Solar energy to the Earth. Essentially all of the energy the Earth receives is in radiant energy that originates from the Sun. The temperature of the Earth is a balancing act, with greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere contributing to a planet that is inhabitable. This balance of temperature is maintained through several different mechanisms such a regional cooling and warming. All things that are alive are not static, they will change. Just as your hair and your body grows, the Earth also goes through changes. Living life in harmony is about balancing the elements in life around the being so it can live in peace. The best and safest thing is for us to also keep a balance in our lives, acknowledging the greatest powers around us and in us. If we can do that, and live that way, we are really wise people. #RandolpHarris 5 of 10
Balance is inspired to protect us from danger. War is a natural activity, the supreme witness to a nation’s superior quality; a powerful nation should never succumb to the slave morality with its accent on humility, submissiveness, and accepting torture. There are people in the World some consider evil and we need to protect ourselves from them. However, evil is just another term for individuals who are weak and stupid. We all have hope and faith that we will rise to a higher plane. In peace a ruler should not sit with his or her hands folded, but should always be improving his or her state’s military power against the day of adversity. Only through the establishment of a commonwealth—that is, a superior law-enforcing agency to which all people are subject—can peace and civilization be ensured. The state’s first duty is to maintain its power in its relations with other states and to maintain law within its own borders. God does not like war and wants us all to live in peace and maybe someday that will be possible, even on Earth. In the eighteenth century, peace plans were given a new lease of life with the French and German Enlightenment. Jean-Jacques Rousseau took the peace project of the abbe de Saint-Pierre and applied it to the Europe of his own day in A Project of Perpetual Peace (1761), with the insistence that unless the proposed central authority was powerful enough to overawe all the constituent states, the proposal would fail. #RandolphHarris 6 of 10
Jean-Jacques Rousseau recommended the plan to governments on the ground that a single European authority strong enough to enforce peace would also ensure internal stability in the constituent states. He admitted, however, that governments were probably too short sighted to appreciate the merits of the plan. A similar project of European confederation was that of Immanuel Kant, entitled Eternal Peace (1795). Immanuel Kant’s recipe is notable for its claim that the maintenance of peace requires that achievement of constitutional government by the states. The United States of America also saw strong unofficial peace movements which urged the creation of agencies for the arbitration of interstate differences and the equitable settlement of political issues, together with the strengthening and codification of international law. In the atmosphere of harmony that followed the Congress of Vienna and the Great Power of Europe met regularly to deal with threats to peace, while such functional organizations as the European river commissions and the Universal Postal Union dealt quietly with matters of practical concerns to the nations. “Many become hardened because of the great length of war,” reports Alma 62.41. The hope of a permanent international assembly which might develop into a World legislature was held out at the Hague conference, and it seemed likely that the growing stake of nations in peaceful intercourse would soon render war obsolete. #RandolphHarris 7 of 10
American colonies were under British rule and the British were taxing the colonies and making them pay for their defense, but the people were not represented by their government. They first tried to get the British government to recognize their rights. When this did not work, people fought in America’s Revolution War for reasons of fear and ambition as well as principle. Americans colonies where having struggles with England who was in control of the colonies. In the Spring of 1775, the Revolution War had just begun. George Washington was commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American revolutionary war and served two terms as president from 1789 to 1797. It was fought on American soil, among the American people. It called men by the thousands from shops and the fields, disrupted families, destroyed communities, spread diseases, and made a shamble of the economy. The started over people being enslaved, the separation of church and state, paper money and debt relief, the regulation of prices, and the toleration of political dissent. There were also arguments over the design of new state constitutions and the shape of a new national government. By issuing the Declaration of Independence, adopted by the Continental Congress on 4 July 1776, the 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain. #RandolphHarris 8 of 10
However, as the war raged on a total of 80,000 Americans served in the war, and fought against 56,000 British soldiers. Hundreds of buildings were burned, crops were uprooted, enslaved Africans were confiscated. Port cities lost nearly half of their population, and the inland communities strained to cope with the thousands of refugees who streamed into them. So many Boston refuges had crowded into Concord, Massachusetts, by July 1775 that they decided to hold a town meeting there! By March 1776, Concord’s population had grown by 25 percent, creating major problems of housing, social order, and public health. In Western New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas, frontier settlement collapsed in the face of British and Indian assaults. The White population along the Mohawk River west of Albany, New York, had declined from 10,000 to 3,500. Due to the warfare in Tryon County, 12,000 farms has been abandoned, 700 buildings burned, thousands of bushels of grain destroyed, nearly 400 women widowed, and 2,000 children orphaned. As a result of the war, 8,000 revolutionary soldiers died from wounds inflicted during battle. 17,000 Revolutionary Soldiers died from disease during the war. 24,000 British soldiers were killed. 25,500 Revolutionary Soldiers were estimated to have been wounded or maimed (most irreparable injury). The war lasted almost 8.5 years, ending in 1783. #RandolpHarris 9 of 10
Therefore, we celebrate Independence Day annually on 4 July, and it is often known as the Fourth of July. It is a day of illumination and the remembrance of freedom and protection under the laws. It is the anniversary of the publication of the declaration of independence from Great Britain in 1776. Patriotic displays and family events are organized throughout the United States of America. People have picnics and barbecues, showing a great deal of emphasis on the family and American tradition of political freedom. Many people display the American flag outside of their homes or buildings. The communities arrange the most impressive fireworks that are often accompanied by patriotic music. We celebrate and focus on the many blessings we have in America. It is a way to give thanks to our history, heritage, and people of our country. Above all, Americans express and give thanks for the freedom and liberties fought by the first generation of many of today’s Americans. At that time, African Americans made up 25 percent of the population, and although they were still enslaved, at least 5,000 fought in the military for their country. So be thankful to be American and feel honored that people wanted to make sure you lived freely. “Oh, say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro’ the perilous fight, o’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming. And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.” #RandolphHarris 10 of 10
Randolph Harris II International Institute 