| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from God The Invisible King by H. G. Wells: man, the cold superb humour of that burlesque creed, ascribed, at
first no doubt facetiously and then quite seriously, to Saint
Athanasius the Great, which, by an irony far beyond its original
intention, has become at last the accepted creed of the church.
The long truce in the criticism of Trinitarian theology is drawing
to its end. It is when men most urgently need God that they become
least patient with foolish presentations and dogmas. The new
believers are very definitely set upon a thorough analysis of the
nature and growth of the Christian creeds and ideas. There has
grown up a practice of assuming that, when God is spoken of, the
Hebrew-Christian God of Nicaea is meant. But that God trails with
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Kenilworth by Walter Scott: thought I might take the privilege of an old comrade to ride
across through the trees, both for shading, as the day was
somewhat hot, and for avoiding of dust, because I had on my
peach-coloured doublet, pinked out with cloth of gold."
"Which garment," said Michael Lambourne, "thou wouldst willingly
make twinkle in the eyes of a fair dame. Ah! villain, thou wilt
never leave thy old tricks."
"Not so-not so," said the mercer, with a smirking laugh--"not
altogether so--but curiosity, thou knowest, and a strain of
compassion withal; for the poor young lady sees nothing from morn
to even but Tony Foster, with his scowling black brows, his
Kenilworth |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau: both obey their own laws, and spring and grow and flourish
as best they can, till one, perchance, overshadows and
destroys the other. If a plant cannot live according to
nature, it dies; and so a man.
The night in prison was novel and interesting enough.
The prisoners in their shirtsleeves were enjoying a chat and
the evening air in the doorway, when I entered. But the
jailer said, "Come, boys, it is time to lock up"; and so
they dispersed, and I heard the sound of their steps
returning into the hollow apartments. My room-mate was
introduced to me by the jailer as "a first-rate fellow and
On the Duty of Civil Disobedience |
