| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Elixir of Life by Honore de Balzac: before seeing his father. If this hermit, unbound by vows, came
or went in his palace or in the streets of Ferrara, he walked as
if he were in a dream, wholly engrossed, like a man at strife
with a memory, or a wrestler with some thought.
The young Don Juan might give princely banquets, the palace might
echo with clamorous mirth, horses pawed the ground in the
courtyards, pages quarreled and flung dice upon the stairs, but
Bartolommeo ate his seven ounces of bread daily and drank water.
A fowl was occasionally dressed for him, simply that the black
poodle, his faithful companion, might have the bones. Bartolommeo
never complained of the noise. If the huntsmen's horns and baying
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: money for a year or two, but long life, support, and peace, and shall
be eternally rich and blessed. Therefore only do what is your duty, and
let God take care how He is to support you and provide for you
sufficiently. Since He has promised it, and has never yet lied, He will
not be found lying to you.
This ought indeed to encourage us, and give us hearts that would melt
in pleasure and love toward those to whom we owe honor, so that we
would raise our hands and joyfully thank God who has given us such
promises, for which we ought to run to the ends of the world [to the
remotest parts of India]. For although the whole world should combine,
it could not add an hour to our life or give us a single grain from the
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Country Doctor by Honore de Balzac: to reflect, and on all other people who stand in need of example, the
necessity of obedience to human law, by openly manifested resignation
to the will of Providence, who chastens and consoles, who bestows and
takes away worldly wealth? I confess that, after passing through a
period of sneering incredulity, I have come during my life here to
recognize the value of the rites of religion and of religious
observances in the family, and to discern the importance of household
customs and domestic festivals. The family will always be the basis of
human society. Law and authority are first felt there; there, at any
rate, the habit of obedience should be learned. Viewed in the light of
all their consequences, the spirit of the family and paternal
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