| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Seraphita by Honore de Balzac: they assume celestial forms and are in keeping with angels.' In this
connection Swedenborg has used the very words of Jesus Christ, who
said, 'If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall
ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things?'
"Monsieur," continued the pastor, with an emphatic gesture, "I have
read the whole of Swedenborg's works; and I say it with pride, because
I have done it and yet retained my reason. In reading him men either
miss his meaning or become Seers like him. Though I have evaded both
extremes, I have often experienced unheard-of delights, deep emotions,
inward joys, which alone can reveal to us the plenitude of truth,--the
evidence of celestial Light. All things here below seem small indeed
Seraphita |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: Because "grow" is the right word for the long drift of a cable
emerging aslant under the strain, taut as a bow-string above the
water. And it is the voice of the keeper of the ship's anchors
that will answer: "Grows right ahead, sir," or "Broad on the bow,"
or whatever concise and deferential shout will fit the case.
There is no order more noisily given or taken up with lustier
shouts on board a homeward-bound merchant ship than the command,
"Man the windlass!" The rush of expectant men out of the
forecastle, the snatching of hand-spikes, the tramp of feet, the
clink of the pawls, make a stirring accompaniment to a plaintive
up-anchor song with a roaring chorus; and this burst of noisy
The Mirror of the Sea |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from In Darkest England and The Way Out by General William Booth: we can do all things, and in the faith that He has made in His image
all the children of men we face even this hideous wreckage of humanity
with a cheerful confidence that if we are but faithful to our own high
calling He will not fail to open up a way of deliverance.
I have nothing to say against those who are endeavouring to open up a
way of escape without any consciousness of God's help. For them I feel
only sympathy and compassion. In so far as they are endeavouring to
give bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, and above all, work to
the workless, they are to that extent endeavouring to do the will of
our Father which is in Heaven, and woe be unto all those who say them
nay! But to be orphaned of all sense of the Fatherhood of God is surely
In Darkest England and The Way Out |
