| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James: belief that our whole life is polarized through and through, so
to speak, by its sense of the existence of the thing believed in,
and yet that thing, for purpose of definite description, can
hardly be said to be present to our mind at all. It is as if a
bar of iron, without touch or sight, with no representative
faculty whatever, might nevertheless be strongly endowed with an
inner capacity for magnetic feeling; and as if, through the
various arousals of its magnetism by magnets coming and going in
its neighborhood, it might be consciously determined to different
attitudes and tendencies. Such a bar of iron could never give you
an outward description of the agencies that had the power of
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Snow Image by Nathaniel Hawthorne: repose with thought, by gazing at the Great Stone Face. And now
as he read stanzas that caused the soul to thrill within him, he
lifted his eyes to the vast countenance beaming on him so
benignantly.
"O majestic friend," he murmured, addressing the Great Stone
Face, "is not this man worthy to resemble thee?"
The Face seemed to smile, but answered not a word.
Now it happened that the poet, though he dwelt so far away, had
not only heard of Ernest, but had meditated much upon his
character, until he deemed nothing so desirable as to meet this
man, whose untaught wisdom walked hand in hand with the noble
The Snow Image |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Tik-Tok of Oz by L. Frank Baum: "I don't mind, much," remarked Shaggy, as he led
the way over the stony, barren ground. "I've got
to search for my long-lost little brother, anyhow,
so it won't matter where I go."
"Hank and I will help you find your brother,"
said Betsy in her most cheerful voice. "I'm so far
away from home now that I don't s'pose I'll ever
find my way back; and, to tell the truth, it's
more fun traveling around and having adventures
than sticking at home. Don't you think so, Hank?"
"Hee-haw!" said Hank, and the Shaggy Man thanked
Tik-Tok of Oz |
