| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Seraphita by Honore de Balzac: satisfies His creatures with joy--joy unalloyed and infinite! God, who
never wearies but ever smiles! God, who pours into the soul fresh
treasures day by day; who purifies and leaves no bitterness; who is
all harmony, all flame! God, who has placed Himself within our hearts
to blossom there; who hearkens to our prayers; who does not stand
aloof when we are His, but gives His presence absolutely! He who
revives us, magnifies us, and multiplies us in Himself; GOD! Minna, I
love thee because thou mayst be His! I love thee because if thou come
to Him thou wilt be mine."
"Lead me to Him," cried Minna, kneeling down; "take me by the hand; I
will not leave thee!"
Seraphita |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories by Mark Twain: would break, the bow became stubborn, and refused to obey the loud
calls of the audience. Here, he said, was the paradise of his home,
the long-sought-for opportunity; he felt as though he could
send a million supplications to the throne of Heaven for such
an exalted privilege. Poor Leos, who was somewhere in the crowd,
looking as attentively as if he was searching for a needle in a haystack;
here is stood, wondering to himself why Ambulinia was not there.
"Where can she be? Oh! if she was only here, how I could relish
the scene! Elfonzo is certainly not in town; but what if he is?
I have got the wealth, if I have not the dignity, and I am sure that
the squire and his lady have always been particular friends of mine,
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley: sacking of Cartagena, San Domingo, Saint Augustine; of the relief
of Raleigh's Virginian Colony: but no news of the Rose, and of
those who had sailed in her. And Mrs. Leigh bowed her head, and
worshipped, and said, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord!"
Her hair was now grown gray; her cheeks were wan; her step was
feeble. She seldom went from home, save to the church, and to the
neighboring cottages. She never mentioned her sons' names; never
allowed a word to pass her lips, which might betoken that she
thought of them; but every day, when the tide was high, and red
flag on the sandhills showed that there was water over the bar, she
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