| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: without possession? Shall the strength of its generations be as
barren as death; or cast away their labour, as the wild fig-tree
casts her untimely figs? Is it all a dream then--the desire of the
eyes and the pride of life--or, if it be, might we not live in
nobler dream than this? The poets and prophets, the wise men, and
the scribes, though they have told us nothing about a life to come,
have told us much about the life that is now. They have had--they
also,--their dreams, and we have laughed at them. They have dreamed
of mercy, and of justice; they have dreamed of peace and good-will;
they have dreamed of labour undisappointed, and of rest undisturbed;
they have dreamed of fulness in harvest, and overflowing in store;
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Fisherman's Luck by Henry van Dyke: humdrum, that there is not room enough in it somewhere for a lazy,
idle brook, an encourager of indolence, with hope of happy
surprises.
THE OPEN FIRE
"It is a vulgar notion that a fire is only for heat. A chief value
of it is, however, to look at. And it is never twice the same."--
CHARLES DUDLEY WARNER: Backlog Studies.
I
LIGHTING UP
Man is the animal that has made friends with the fire.
All the other creatures, in their natural state, are afraid of it.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Glinda of Oz by L. Frank Baum: Bright, because he had no other name that anyone could
remember. He was a fine, manly little fellow, well
mannered and good humored, who had only one bad fault.
He was continually getting lost. To be sure, Button
Bright got found as often as he got lost, but when he
was missing his friends could not help being anxious
about him.
"Some day," predicted the Patchwork Girl, "he won't
be found, and that will be the last of him." But that
didn't worry Button Bright, who was so careless that he
did not seem to be able to break the habit of getting
Glinda of Oz |
