| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey: toward her and up the valley. Out to the right of these wild
plunging steers ran Lassiter's black, and Jane's keen eye
appreciated the fleet stride and sure-footedness of the blind
horse. Then it seemed that the herd moved in a great curve, a
huge half-moon with the points of head and tail almost opposite,
and a mile apart But Lassiter relentlessly crowded the leaders,
sheering them to the left, turning them little by little. And the
dust-blinded wild followers plunged on madly in the tracks of
their leaders. This ever-moving, ever-changing curve of steers
rolled toward Jane and when below her, scarce half a mile, it
began to narrow and close into a circle. Lassiter had ridden
Riders of the Purple Sage |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from A House of Pomegranates by Oscar Wilde: precious. Six days I journeyed along the highways that lead to the
city of Ashter, along the dusty red-dyed highways by which the
pilgrims are wont to go did I journey, and on the morning of the
seventh day I lifted up my eyes, and lo! the city lay at my feet,
for it is in a valley.
'There are nine gates to this city, and in front of each gate
stands a bronze horse that neighs when the Bedouins come down from
the mountains. The walls are cased with copper, and the watch-
towers on the walls are roofed with brass. In every tower stands
an archer with a bow in his hand. At sunrise he strikes with an
arrow on a gong, and at sunset he blows through a horn of horn.
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: "God be merciful to me a sinner." But the real significance and comfort of the
words "for our sins" is lost upon them.
The genius of Christianity takes the words of Paul "who gave himself for our
sins" as true and efficacious. We are not to look upon our sins as
insignificant trifles. On the other hand, we are not to regard them as so
terrible that we must despair. Learn to believe that Christ was given, not for
picayune and imaginary transgressions, but for mountainous sins; not for one
or two, but for all; not for sins that can be discarded, but for sins that are
stubbornly ingrained.
Practice this knowledge and fortify yourself against despair, particularly in
the last hour, when the memory of past sins assails the conscience. Say with
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