| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Astoria by Washington Irving: their camp. It was pitched in a narrow valley on the margin of a
stream. The tents were of dressed skins, some of them
fantastically painted; with horses grazing about them. The
approach of the party caused a transient alarm in the camp, for
these poor Indians were ever on the look-out for cruel foes. No
sooner, however, did they recognize the garb and complexion of
their visitors, than their apprehensions were changed into Joy;
for some of them had dealt with white men, and knew them to be
friendly, and to abound with articles of singular value. They
welcomed them, therefore, to their tents, set food before them;
and entertained them to the best of their power.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac: your opinions and your conduct. You do not believe in God, and
yet you attend mass? My dear master, you are bound to give me an
answer."
"I am like a great many devout people, men who on the surface are
deeply religious, but quite as much atheists as you or I can be."
And he poured out a torrent of epigrams on certain political
personages, of whom the best known gives us, in this century, a
new edition of Moliere's Tartufe.
"All that has nothing to do with my question," retorted Bianchon.
"I want to know the reason for what you have just been doing, and
why you founded this mass."
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain: "We can try, Tom; but I've seen such a beautiful
country in my dream. I reckon we are going there."
"Maybe not, maybe not. Cheer up, Becky, and
let's go on trying."
They rose up and wandered along, hand in hand
and hopeless. They tried to estimate how long they
had been in the cave, but all they knew was that it
seemed days and weeks, and yet it was plain that this
could not be, for their candles were not gone yet. A
long time after this -- they could not tell how long --
Tom said they must go softly and listen for dripping
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer |
