| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: and my Saviour; but thou shalt know him more perfectly, if thou
wilt receive his grace into thy soul, and gain the blessing to
become his servant."
VIII.
When the king's son had heard these words, there flashed a light
upon his soul. Rising from his seat in the fulness of his joy,
he embraced Barlaam, saying: "Most honoured sir, methinks this
might be that priceless stone which thou dost rightly keep
secret, not displaying it to all that would see it, but only to
these whose spiritual sense is strong. For lo, as these words
dropped upon mine ear, sweetest light entered into my heart, and
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Beauty and The Beast by Bayard Taylor: flanked it on the east. For flowers, there were masses of blue
flags and coarse tawny-red lilies, besides a huge trumpet-vine
which swung its pendent arms from one of the gables. In front of
the house a natural lawn of mingled turf and rock sloped steeply
down to the water, which was not more than two hundred yards
distant. To the west was another and broader inlet of the Sound,
out of which our Arcadian promontory rose bluff and bold, crowned
with a thick fringe of pines. It was really a lovely spot which
Shelldrake had chosen--so secluded, while almost surrounded by the
winged and moving life of the Sound, so simple, so pastoral and
home-like. No one doubted the success of our experiment, for that
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Faith of Men by Jack London: swapping their warm furs for black bottles and broken time-pieces,
he took to his bed, said "Bless me" several times, and departed to
his final accounting in a rough-hewn, oblong box. Whereupon the
gamblers moved their roulette and faro tables into the mission
house, and the click of chips and clink of glasses went up from
dawn till dark and to dawn again.
Now Timothy Brown was well beloved among these adventurers of the
North. The one thing against him was his quick temper and ready
fist--a little thing, for which his kind heart and forgiving hand
more than atoned. On the other hand, there was nothing to atone
for Black Leclere. He was "black," as more than one remembered
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