| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from A Princess of Parms by Edgar Rice Burroughs: the great jaws of one of my thoats which had wedged a
piece of stone between two of his teeth while feeding upon
the moss-like vegetation within our court yard.
"By kindness," I replied. "You see, Tars Tarkas, the softer
sentiments have their value, even to a warrior. In the height
of battle as well as upon the march I know that my thoats
will obey my every command, and therefore my fighting
efficiency is enhanced, and I am a better warrior for the
reason that I am a kind master. Your other warriors would find
it to the advantage of themselves as well as of the community
to adopt my methods in this respect. Only a few days since you,
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: sin. For we still stumble daily and transgress because we live in the
world among men who do us much harm and give us cause for impatience,
anger, revenge, etc. Besides, we have Satan at our back, who sets upon
us on every side, and fights (as we have heard) against all the
foregoing petitions, so that it is not possible always to stand firm in
such a persistent conflict.
Therefore there is here again great need to call upon God and to pray:
Dear Father, forgive us our trespasses. Not as though He did not
forgive sin without and even before our prayer (for He has given us the
Gospel, in which is pure forgiveness before we prayed or ever thought
about it). But this is to the intent that we may recognize and accept
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Second Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: March 4, 1865
Fellow countrymen: At this second appearing to take the oath
of the presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended
address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat
in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper.
Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations
have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great
contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies
of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress
of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known
to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory
Second Inaugural Address |
