| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: to detach from the ledge a huge fragment, and to
throw it over the pile so as to rest on the two blocks. We
undermined the grave on both sides, but could not find any
relics, or even bones. The latter probably had decayed long
since (in which case the grave must have been of extreme
antiquity), for I found in another place some smaller heaps
beneath which a very few crumbling fragments could yet be
distinguished as having belonged to a man. Falconer states,
that where an Indian dies he is buried, but that subsequently
his bones are carefully taken up and carried, let the distance
be ever so great, to be deposited near the sea-coast. This
The Voyage of the Beagle |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Moon-Face and Other Stories by Jack London: was shaped by you, by the thought of you. Even my thoughts were moulded by
you, by the invisible presence of you. I had no end, petty or great, that you
were not there for me."
"I had no idea of imposing such slavery," he muttered.
"You imposed nothing. You always let me have my own way. It was you who were
the obedient slave. You did for me without offending me. You forestalled my
wishes without the semblance of forestalling; them, so natural and inevitable
was everything you did for me. I said, without offending me. You were no
dancing puppet. You made no fuss. Don't you see? You did not seem to do things
at all. Somehow they were always there, just done, as a matter of course.
"The slavery was love's slavery. It was just my love for you that made you
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: Indeed, we feel our misfortune, we murmur and complain of
unfaithfulness, violence, and injustice, but will not see that we
ourselves are knaves who have fully deserved this punishment, and yet
are not thereby reformed. We will have no favor and happiness,
therefore it is but fair that we have nothing but misfortune without
mercy. There must still be somewhere upon earth some godly people
because God continues to grant us so much good! On our own account we
should not have a farthing in the house nor a straw in the field. All
this I have been obliged to urge with so many words, in hope that some
one may take it to heart, that we may be relieved of the blindness and
misery in which we are steeped so deeply, and may truly understand the
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