The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: themselves, as it were, under his protection, from the rage and
fierceness of others that would devour them.
The horses of Abyssinia are excellent; their mules, oxen, and cows
are without number, and in these principally consists the wealth of
this country. They have a very particular custom, which obliges
every man that hath a thousand cows to save every year one day's
milk of all his herd, and make a bath with it for his relations,
entertaining them afterwards with a splendid feast. This they do so
many days each year, as they have thousands of cattle, so that to
express how rich any man is, they tell you he bathes so many times.
The tribute paid out of their herds to the King, which is not the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass: treatment on a slave, to anticipate what was now the case in my
improved condition. It was not long before I began to show signs
of disquiet with slavery, and to look around for means to get out
of that condition by the shortest route. I was living among
_free_<247 MY CONDITION IMPROVES>_men;_ and was, in all respects,
equal to them by nature and by attainments. _Why should I be a
slave?_ There was _no_ reason why I should be the thrall of any
man.
Besides, I was now getting--as I have said--a dollar and fifty
cents per day. I contracted for it, worked for it, earned it,
collected it; it was paid to me, and it was _rightfully_ my own;
 My Bondage and My Freedom |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy: stumbling-block to Sergius who involuntarily reproached him for
flattering and fawning on the Abbot--approached him and, bowing
low, requested his presence behind the holy gates. Father
Sergius straightened his mantle, put on his biretta, and went
circumspectly through the crowd.
'Lise, regarde a droite, c'est lui!' he heard a woman's voice
say.
'Ou, ou? Il n'est pas tellement beau.'
He knew that they were speaking of him. He heard them and, as
always at moments of temptation, he repeated the words, 'Lead us
not into temptation,' and bowing his head and lowering his eyes
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