| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories by Mark Twain: I can assure you of that.
***
A TELEPHONIC CONVERSATION
Consider that a conversation by telephone--when you are simply siting
by and not taking any part in that conversation--is one of the solemnest
curiosities of modern life. Yesterday I was writing a deep article
on a sublime philosophical subject while such a conversation was
going on in the room. I notice that one can always write best when
somebody is talking through a telephone close by. Well, the thing
began in this way. A member of our household came in and asked me
to have our house put into communication with Mr. Bagley's downtown.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: "Do dose little men talk?" asked Maggie.
"Naw," said Pete, "it's some damn fake. See?"
Two girls, on the bills as sisters, came forth and sang a duet
that is heard occasionally at concerts given under church auspices.
They supplemented it with a dance which of course can never
be seen at concerts given under church auspices.
After the duettists had retired, a woman of debatable age sang
a negro melody. The chorus necessitated some grotesque waddlings
supposed to be an imitation of a plantation darkey, under the
influence, probably, of music and the moon. The audience was just
enthusiastic enough over it to have her return and sing a sorrowful
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
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: has filled the world with his cursed traditions, e.g., his bulls and
indulgences.
We will always affirm with Paul that either Christ died in vain, or else the
Law cannot justify us. But Christ did not suffer and die in vain. Hence, the
Law does not justify.
If my salvation was so difficult to accomplish that it necessitated the death
of Christ, then all my works, all the righteousness of the Law, are good for
nothing. How can I buy for a penny what cost a million dollars? The Law
is a penny's worth when you compare it with Christ. Should I be so stupid
as to reject the righteousness of Christ which cost me nothing, and slave
like a fool to achieve the righteousness of the Law which God disdains?
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