| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: of passion, which -- intermixed in more shapes than one with his
higher, purer, softer qualities -- was, in fact, the portion of
him which the devil claimed, and through which he sought to win
the rest. Never was there a blacker or a fiercer frown than
Hester now encountered. For the brief space that it lasted, it
was a dark transfiguration. But his character had been so much
enfeebled by suffering, that even its lower energies were
incapable of more than a temporary struggle. He sank down on the
ground, and buried his face in his hands.
"I might have known it," murmured he -- "I did know it! Was not
The Scarlet Letter |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Tom Sawyer, Detective by Mark Twain: and stick in the di'monds and screw on his plates again .
He allowed we would steal the bogus swag and wait all night
for him to come up and get drownded, and by George it's
just what we done! I think it was powerful smart."
"You bet your life it was!" says Tom, just full of admiration.
CHAPTER IV. THE THREE SLEEPERS
WELL, all day we went through the humbug of watching
one another, and it was pretty sickly business
for two of us and hard to act out, I can tell you.
About night we landed at one of them little Missouri
towns high up toward Iowa, and had supper at the tavern,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: and be exceeding glad; for great is your reward in heaven." The Church
must not come short of this joy. I would not want to be at peace with the
pope, the bishops, the princes, and the sectarians, unless they consent to
our doctrine. Unity with them would be an unmistakable sign that we
have lost the true doctrine. Briefly, as long as the Church proclaims the
doctrine she must suffer persecution, because the Gospel declares the
mercy and glory of God. This in turn stirs up the devil, because the Gospel
shows him up for what he is, the devil, and not God. Therefore as long as
the Gospel holds sway persecution plays the accompaniment, or else there
is something the matter with the devil. When he is hit you will know it
by the havoc he raises everywhere.
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