| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Smalcald Articles by Dr. Martin Luther: who is a man. This repentance teaches us to discern sin,
namely, that we are altogether lost, and that there is nothing
good in us from head to foot [both within and without], and
that we must absolutely become new and other men.
This repentance is not piecemeal [partial] and beggarly
[fragmentary], like that which does penance for actual sins,
nor is it uncertain like that. For it does not debate what is
or is not sin, but hurls everything on a heap, and says: All
in us is nothing but sin [affirms that, with respect to us,
all is simply sin (and there is nothing in us that is not sin
and guilt)]. What is the use of [For why do we wish]
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Dreams by Olive Schreiner: glad; the rosebuds, when they turn back their lips for the sun's first
kiss, are not so ruddy. Its tiny pulses beat quick. It was so warm, so
soft! It never spoke, but it laughed and played in the sunshine: and Love
and Life rejoiced exceedingly. Neither whispered it to the other, but deep
in its own heart each said, "It shall be ours for ever."
Then there came a time--was it after weeks? was it after months? (Love and
Life do not measure time)--when the thing was not as it had been.
Still it played; still it laughed; still it stained its mouth with purple
berries; but sometimes the little hands hung weary, and the little eyes
looked out heavily across the water.
And Life and Love dared not look into each other's eyes, dared not say,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from When the Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells: himself. But he spoke with restraint.
"Even to the pitch of bringing a negro police," he
said.
"They are useful," said Ostrog. "They are fine
loyal brutes, with no wash of ideas in their heads--
such as our rabble has. The Council should have had
them as police of the Ways, and things might have been
different. Of course, there is nothing to fear except
rioting and wreckage. You can manage your own
wings now, and you can soar away to Capri if there
is any smoke or fuss. We have the pull of all the
When the Sleeper Wakes |
