The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Christ in Flanders by Honore de Balzac: fashion, "Ah! /nom d'un pipe/! I would follow /you/ to the devil;" and
without seeming astonished by it, he walked on the water. The worn-out
sinner, believing in the omnipotence of God, also followed the
stranger.
The two peasants said to each other, "If they are walking on the sea,
why should we not do as they do?" and they also arose and hastened
after the others. Thomas tried to follow, but his faith tottered; he
sank in the sea more than once, and rose again, but the third time he
also walked on the sea. The bold steersman clung like a remora to the
wreck of his boat. The miser had had faith, and had risen to go, but
he tried to take his gold with him, and it was his gold that dragged
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