Norman Vincent Peale tells of...
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Norman Vincent Peale tells of two sad characters from Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment: the murderer Raskolnikov and the sickly prostitute, Sonya. Raskolnikov has been on the run, looking constantly over his shoulder, afraid he will be caught and prosecuted for his crime. Sonya is filled with guilt for the things she has done to try to earn a living.
The two of them end up in Sonya's house one night, and Raskolnikov's glance falls upon a Bible. He asks her to read from it, and she reads the story of Jesus' raising of Lazarus.
"And," says Dostoevsky, "the candle burned low as a harlot and an assassin sat under the spell of immortal words, words that said that if a man is dead, he shall live again -- words that said to a harlot and an assassin, 'You can be changed. You can be cleansed. You can once again be strong and beautiful. You can be reborn in your souls.' "
Now, where did a marvelous, matchless writer of the mysteries of life ever get hold of a truth -- a strong, rugged truth like that? He got it in an old book that said no matter how bad you become, no matter how you defame your life, no matter how you destroy your body, no matter how you stain your soul, no matter how you cheat and lie and become infamous in your own sight and in the sight of God, you can be changed!
There is in every one of us, in every soul, some evil, some unworthiness, some pettiness, some ungodliness. You may be young and strong now and think you can overcome it, but you cannot. It will eat away at you insidiously across the years until someday your life collapses and falls apart. (Norman Vincent Peale, from "Christmas In Your Heart.")
The two of them end up in Sonya's house one night, and Raskolnikov's glance falls upon a Bible. He asks her to read from it, and she reads the story of Jesus' raising of Lazarus.
"And," says Dostoevsky, "the candle burned low as a harlot and an assassin sat under the spell of immortal words, words that said that if a man is dead, he shall live again -- words that said to a harlot and an assassin, 'You can be changed. You can be cleansed. You can once again be strong and beautiful. You can be reborn in your souls.' "
Now, where did a marvelous, matchless writer of the mysteries of life ever get hold of a truth -- a strong, rugged truth like that? He got it in an old book that said no matter how bad you become, no matter how you defame your life, no matter how you destroy your body, no matter how you stain your soul, no matter how you cheat and lie and become infamous in your own sight and in the sight of God, you can be changed!
There is in every one of us, in every soul, some evil, some unworthiness, some pettiness, some ungodliness. You may be young and strong now and think you can overcome it, but you cannot. It will eat away at you insidiously across the years until someday your life collapses and falls apart. (Norman Vincent Peale, from "Christmas In Your Heart.")
