| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: grain in the garner, your beer in the cellar, your cattle in the stalls
shall perish; yea, where you have cheated and overcharged any one to
the amount of a florin, your entire pile shall be consumed with rust,
so that you shall never enjoy it.
And indeed, we see and experience this being fulfilled daily before our
eyes, that no stolen or dishonestly acquired possession thrives. How
many there are who rake and scrape day and night, and yet grow not a
farthing richer! And though they gather much, they must suffer so many
plagues and misfortunes that they cannot relish it with cheerfulness
nor transmit it to their children. But as no one minds it, and we go on
as though it did not concern us, God must visit us in a different way
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: this, which he knew could never be realised, tortured him. He swore to
himself that, since his companions had appointed him schalishim, he
would conduct the war; the certainty that he would not return from it
urged him to render it a pitiless one.
He came to Spendius and said to him:
"You will go and get your men! I will bring mine! Warn Autaritus! We
are lost if Hamilcar attacks us! Do you understand me? Rise!"
Spendius was stupefied before such an air of authority. Matho usually
allowed himself to be led, and his previous transports had quickly
passed away. But just now he appeared at once calmer and more
terrible; a superb will gleamed in his eyes like the flame of
Salammbo |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Death of the Lion by Henry James: "Dora Forbes, I gather, takes the ground, the same as Guy
Walsingham's, that the larger latitude has simply got to come. He
holds that it has got to be squarely faced. Of course his sex
makes him a less prejudiced witness. But an authoritative word
from Mr. Paraday - from the point of view of HIS sex, you know -
would go right round the globe. He takes the line that we HAVEN'T
got to face it?"
I was bewildered: it sounded somehow as if there were three sexes.
My interlocutor's pencil was poised, my private responsibility
great. I simply sat staring, none the less, and only found
presence of mind to say: "Is this Miss Forbes a gentleman?"
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