| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: misuses. Yet, to tell it in a few words, all misuse of the divine name
occurs, first, in worldly business and in matters which concern money,
possessions, honor, whether it be publicly in court, in the market, or
wherever else men make false oaths in God's name, or pledge their souls
in any matter. And this is especially prevalent in marriage affairs
where two go and secretly betroth themselves to one another, and
afterward abjure [their plighted troth].
But. the greatest abuse occurs in spiritual matters, which pertain to
the conscience, when false preachers rise up and offer their Lying
vanities as God's Word. Behold, all this is decking one's self out with
God's name, or making a pretty show, or claiming to be right, whether
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Poems of Goethe, Bowring, Tr. by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: To-day still, as yesterday, glimmers the star;
Take care from all heads that hang down to keep far,
And make but the future thine own.
1813.
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GENERAL CONFESSION.
In this noble ring to-day
Let my warning shame ye!
Listen to my solemn voice,--
Seldom does it name ye.
Many a thing have ye intended,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from La Grenadiere by Honore de Balzac: tones, that the power of her wrought-up soul produced a violent
reaction on the boy; he felt an intense heat pass through the marrow
of his bones.
"What is it, mother?"
"Listen! To-morrow all will be over for me. We shall see each other no
more. To-morrow you will be a man, my child. So I am obliged to make
some arrangements, which must remain a secret, known only to us. Take
the key of my little table. That is it. Now open the drawer. You will
find two sealed papers to the left. There is the name of LOUIS on one,
and on the other MARIE."
"Here they are, mother."
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