| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Unseen World and Other Essays by John Fiske: the words, "This Jesus who hath been taken up from you into
heaven, will come in the same manner in which ye beheld him going
into heaven." In the Apocalypse, written A. D. 68, just after the
death of Nero, this second coming is described as something
immediately to happen, and the colours in which it is depicted
show how closely allied were the Johannine notions to those of
the Pharisees. The glories of the New Jerusalem are to be
reserved for Jews, while for the Roman tyrants of Judaea is
reserved a fearful retribution. They are to be trodden underfoot
by the Messiah, like grapes in a wine-press, until the gushing
blood shall rise to the height of the horse's bridle.
The Unseen World and Other Essays |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: could allow that an occasional memento of past folly,
however painful, might not be without use.
The anxieties of common life began soon to succeed to
the alarms of romance. Her desire of hearing from Isabella
grew every day greater. She was quite impatient to know
how the Bath world went on, and how the rooms were attended;
and especially was she anxious to be assured of Isabella's
having matched some fine netting-cotton, on which she
had left her intent; and of her continuing on the best
terms with James. Her only dependence for information
of any kind was on Isabella. James had protested against
Northanger Abbey |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers by Jonathan Swift: that bad influence; and this was the case of Socrates: But as the
great events of the world usually depend upon numbers of men, it
cannot be expected they should all unite to cross their
inclinations, from pursuing a general design, wherein they
unanimously agree. Besides the influence of the stars reaches to
many actions and events which are not any way in the power of
reason; as sickness, death, and what we commonly call accidents,
with many more, needless to repeat.
But now it is time to proceed to my predictions, which I have
begun to calculate from the time that the Sun enters into Aries.
And this I take to be properly the beginning of the natural year.
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