| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: whence I came out.' And, when he cometh, he findeth it swept and
garnished, but empty and unoccupied, not having received the
operation of grace, nor having filled itself with the riches of
the virtues. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other
spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in and dwell
there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the
first.' For baptism burieth in the water and completely blotteth
out the hand-writing of all former sins, and is to us for the
future a sure fortress and tower of defence, and a strong weapon
against the marshalled host of the enemy; but it taketh not away
free will, nor alloweth the forgiving of sins after baptism, or
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Elizabeth and her German Garden by Marie Annette Beauchamp: "That is not, however, your real reason for not discussing them,"
said the Man of Wrath; "they simply do not interest you.
Or it may be, that you do not consider your female friends'
opinions <173> worth listening to, for you certainly display an
astonishing thirst for information when male politicians are present.
I have seen a pretty young woman, hardly in her twenties, sitting a whole
evening drinking in the doubtful wisdom of an elderly political star,
with every appearance of eager interest. He was a bimetallic star,
and was giving her whole pamphletsful of information."
"She wanted to make up to him for some reason," said Irais, "and got
him to explain his hobby to her, and he was silly enough to be taken in.
Elizabeth and her German Garden |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from An Inland Voyage by Robert Louis Stevenson: of the girls' croquet-green, under one of those open sheds which
are so common in France to shelter markets; and he and his wife, by
the time we strolled up there, were trying to keep order with the
audience.
It was the most absurd contention. The show-people had set out a
certain number of benches; and all who sat upon them were to pay a
couple of SOUS for the accommodation. They were always quite full
- a bumper house - as long as nothing was going forward; but let
the show-woman appear with an eye to a collection, and at the first
rattle of her tambourine the audience slipped off the seats, and
stood round on the outside with their hands in their pockets. It
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