| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: I am glad to say that I never did; one night, however, I was
caught, not quite prepared, by a sudden shift of wind.
There was, of course, a good deal of noise - running about, the,
shouts of the sailors, the thrashing of the sails - enough, in
fact, to wake the dead. But S- never came on deck. When I was
relieved by the chief mate an hour afterwards, he sent for me. I
went into his stateroom; he was lying on his couch wrapped up in a
rug, with a pillow under his head.
"What was the matter with you up there just now?" he asked.
"Wind flew round on the lee quarter, sir," I said.
"Couldn't you see the shift coming?"
The Mirror of the Sea |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln: can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place
for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live.
It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate. . .we cannot consecrate. . .
we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead,
who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power
to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember,
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished
work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln: overturned as they fought in silent desperation. Kent would have
given much for light. He strained his eyes to see his adversary,
but the pitch darkness concealed all but the vaguest outline. As
Kent got his second wind, confidence in his strength returned and he
redoubled his efforts; suddenly his hands shifted their grip and he
swung his adversary backward, pinning him against the wall.
A faint, sobbing breath escaped the man, and Kent felt the whole
figure against which he pressed, quiver and relax; the taut muscles
of chest and arms grew slack, collapsed.
Kent stood in wonderment, peering ahead, his hands empty - the man
had vanished!
The Red Seal |
