| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A treatise on Good Works by Dr. Martin Luther: be done, and does everything cheerfully and freely; not that he
may gather many merits and good works, but because it is a
pleasure for him to please God thereby, and he serves God purely
for nothing, content that his service pleases God. On the other
hand, he who is not at one with God, or doubts, hunts and worries
in what way he may do enough and with many works move God. He
runs to St. James of Compostella, to Rome, to Jerusalem, hither
and yon, prays St. Bridget's prayer and the rest, fasts on this
day and on that, makes confession here, and makes confession
there, questions this man and that, and yet finds no peace. He
does all this with great effort, despair and disrelish of heart,
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: like poppies out of bud, into a glorious refulgence of colour
that steeps the senses into a languorous acceptance of warmth and
beauty.
On Mardi Gras day, as you know, it is a town gone mad with folly.
A huge masked ball emptied into the streets at daylight; a
meeting of all nations on common ground, a pot-pourri of every
conceivable human ingredient, but faintly describes it all.
There are music and flowers, cries and laughter and song and
joyousness, and never an aching heart to show its sorrow or dim
the happiness of the streets. A wondrous thing, this Carnival!
But the old cronies down in Frenchtown, who know everything, and
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Heroes by Charles Kingsley: cup, which gives rest after every toil, which heals all
wounds, and pours new life into the veins. Drink of my cup,
for in it sparkles the wine of the East, and Nepenthe, the
comfort of the Immortals.'
And as she spoke, she poured the flask into the cup; and the
fragrance of the wine spread through the hall, like the scent
of thyme and roses.
And Theseus looked up in her fair face and into her deep dark
eyes. And as he looked, he shrank and shuddered; for they
were dry like the eyes of a snake. And he rose, and said,
'The wine is rich and fragrant, and the wine-bearer as fair
|
