| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister: young, foolish John; and I may say here at once, what I somewhat later
learned, that the boy had come with precisely the opposite purpose,
namely, to repeat and reenforce his steadfast constancy, and that it was
something far removed from jealousy which had spurred him to this.
I found the girl behind the counter at her post, grateful to me for
coming to ask how she was after the shock of yesterday, but unwilling to
speak of it at all; all which she expressed by her charming manner, and
by the other subjects she chose for conversation, and especially by the
way in which she held out her hand when I took my leave.
Near the post-office I was hailed by Beverly Rodgers, who proclaimed to
me at once a comic but genuine distress. He had already walked, he said
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: its truly good works. To serve one another in love, i.e., to instruct the
erring, to comfort the afflicted, to raise the fallen, to help one's neighbor
in every possible way, to bear with his infirmities, to endure hardships,
toil, ingratitude in the Church and in the world, and on the other hand to
obey government, to honor one's parents, to be patient at home with a nagging
wife and an unruly family, these things are not at all regarded as good
works. The fact is, they are such excellent works that the world cannot
possibly estimate them at their true value.
It is tersely spoken: "Love thy neighbour as thyself." But what more needs
to be said? You cannot find a better or nearer example than your own. If
you want to know how you ought to love your neighbor, ask yourself how
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen: for a courage which the outside of no door had ever supplied
to her, she turned the lock in desperation, and the lights
of the drawing-room, and all the collected family,
were before her. As she entered, her own name caught
her ear. Sir Thomas was at that moment looking round him,
and saying, "But where is Fanny? Why do not I see
my little Fanny?"--and on perceiving her, came forward
with a kindness which astonished and penetrated her,
calling her his dear Fanny, kissing her affectionately,
and observing with decided pleasure how much she was grown!
Fanny knew not how to feel, nor where to look. She was
Mansfield Park |
