| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Odyssey by Homer: have been carried here against my will. As for my ship it is
lying over yonder, off the open country outside the town, and
this is the fifth year since Ulysses left my country. Poor
fellow, yet the omens were good for him when he left me. The
birds all flew on our right hands, and both he and I rejoiced to
see them as we parted, for we had every hope that we should have
another friendly meeting and exchange presents."
A dark cloud of sorrow fell upon Laertes as he listened. He
filled both hands with the dust from off the ground and poured
it over his grey head, groaning heavily as he did so. The heart
of Ulysses was touched, and his nostrils quivered as he looked
The Odyssey |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Large Catechism by Dr. Martin Luther: our wall against which they shall run and dash themselves to pieces.
This consolation and confidence we have, that the will and purpose of
the devil and of all our enemies shall and must fail and come to
naught, however proud, secure, and powerful they know themselves to be.
For if their will were not broken and hindered, the kingdom of God
could not abide on earth nor His name be hallowed.
The Fourth Petition.
Give us this day our daily bread.
Here, now, we consider the poor breadbasket, the necessaries of our
body and of the temporal life. It is a brief and simple word, but it
has a very wide scope. For when you mention and pray for daily bread,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Modeste Mignon by Honore de Balzac: right against the Lovelaces. The family is Society. Believe me,
the glory of a young girl, of a woman, must always be that of
repressing her most ardent impulses within the narrow sphere of
conventions. If I had a daughter able to become a Madame de Stael
I should wish her dead at fifteen. Can you imagine a daughter of
yours flaunting on the stage of fame, exhibiting herself to win
the plaudits of a crowd, and not suffer anguish at the thought? No
matter to what heights a woman can rise by the inward poetry of
her soul, she must sacrifice the outer signs of superiority on the
altar of her home. Her impulse, her genius, her aspirations toward
Good, the whole poem of a young girl's being, should belong to the
Modeste Mignon |
