"God remains straight and true because They are the sole holder of the complete deck, to put it differently. By duplicating us in Them, there is now a mirrored deck to be assembled in humanity" "God remains straight and true because They are the sole holder of the complete deck, to put it differently. By duplicating us in Them, there is now a mirrored deck to be assembled in humanity" , there is now a mirrored deck to be assembled in humanity" "God remains straight and true because They are the sole holder of the complete deck, to put it differently. By duplicating us in Them, there is now a mirrored deck to be assembled in humanity" , there is now a mirrored deck to be assembled in humanity" "God remains straight and true because They are the sole holder of the complete deck, to put it differently. By duplicating us in Them, there is now a mirrored deck to be assembled in humanity" , there is now a mirrored deck to be assembled in humanity" "God remains straight and true because They are the sole holder of the complete deck, to put it differently. By duplicating us in Them, there is now a mirrored deck to be assembled in humanity"

A human baby is completely powerless at birth, and can perish without the care of its parents. Like God, with Their all-around power who cannot err, a child with her complete lack of power, can do no wrong. A child is conceived by the design of God, the giving act of two human parents, and the joining of their essences.

The child in you and me grows, and incrementally attains the ability to coo and crawl, to concentrate and follow, to talk and think some time later. We soon achieve cognition and the power to move ourselves, as well as others eventually in life.

Oddly, we can now err and do so often.

As we continue to grow, doctrines imperceptibly embed in us the first virtue— selflessness, or self-denial. In one form or another, self-denial is the ultimate power we're taught to perceive. Many people confuse this self-denial for self-control, which is a powerful virtue. While it is a power no one other than the self might attain, self-control does not have to be self-denial.

It would be more inspiring if people fulfill themselves to the fullest, just short of depriving one another.

That's control. That— is power.

Many people later learn, from institutionalized religions, that self-denial brings them a heavenly body.

Without knowledge, self-denial is mistaken for self-control. Without understanding, self-deprivation is mistaken for victories over our desires. Instead of managing our enjoyment for alcohol, some people force themselves to quit drinking it altogether. Instead of arbitrating with neighbors and friends when there's a conflict, our tendency is to avoid them. Rather than controlling the selves in us, many people suppress these selves for as long as a lifetime.

Deprivation, ironically, gives rise to temptations.

Many people don't fulfill themselves. They indulge.

While very powerful after they've grown, people are now relatively corrupt in their fight for so-called self-control and self-indulgence.

Eventually, most people can no longer see their own essence or the reasons they exist. As they get older, and are laden with responsibilities, many people begin to rely on tradition, teachings, and religious dogma to tell them what and who they are. Self-doubt, denial, greed, hate, and envy progressively shadow self-image, until people can no longer find themselves in one another.

The answer to this dilemma of self-identity and intimacy rests, once again, within us.

To understand ourselves, we need to first find meanings to our mental, physical, psychological, spiritual, and emotional selves in the individuals that we each are. Recall from The Beginning, "Whether we ever could see our whole beings before, we had become most visibly physical, mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual beings. It's as if we were each, in ourselves, one individual but no longer singular— like God in a way."

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