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HackerNoon Reporter: Please tell us briefly about your  background. I'm an and brand builder who has led organizations to develop and launch over $1 billion of new products and businesses. I spent nearly 20 years in the food industry growing brand portfolios, managing P&Ls, leading innovation teams and directing new venture development for top companies including Kellogg, Keebler and Nabisco. I am now the general manager leading the global expansion of as a scalable evidence-based digital platform to tackle the . Our mission is to unlock the heroic potential of 50 million youth in the next 5 years. innovator SuperBetter youth mental health crisis What's your startup called? And in a sentence or two, what does it do? SuperBetter is a digital mental health & wellbeing company. Our unique methodology empowers people to overcome obstacles and achieve success by bringing the mindset and to real life. Over 1 million people have played SuperBetter. psychology of game play What is the origin story? SuperBetter was invented by our Chief Science Officer Jane is a researcher and world-renowned game designer. One day Jane hit her head and got a concussion. Although under medical care, the concussion did not heal properly. Over time she experienced anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. Her damaged brain was telling her she had no reason to live. Jane created a game to help herself heal and it helped her recover. She shared the game on her blog and it became a grass-roots phenomenon. The rest is history. Jane’s with her story that led to creating SuperBetter has now been watched by a global audience of over 7 million viewers. Jane McGonigal. TED Talk What do you love about your team, and why are you the ones to solve this problem? My Co-Founder Jane McGonigal is the global thought leader for using the science of games to improve real lives and solve real problems. She’s brilliant and caring. Jane’s expertise in game science complements my extensive experience growing businesses and scaling innovation. I love that our team culture is focused on intersection of purpose, science and smart business practices. The combination is the winning formula for an impact venture that scales and generates investor returns. If you weren’t building your startup, what would you be doing? I love championing science-based innovations that solve big thorny problems in the world. If I wasn’t building the SuperBetter business I would be building something else. At the moment, how do you measure success? What are your core metrics? During this company phase our focus is building the foundation for scaling a global business. The foundation includes a compelling brand, a passionate community, a competitively differentiated product, strong science and a world-class team. Our core metrics fall into these areas. Over 1 million people have played SuperBetter. It's found on of best apps for mental health & wellbeing alongside industry unicorns Calm and Headspace. SuperBetter receives great reviews on the (4.7/5.0 stars) and is recommended by teachers, K-12 schools, colleges & universities, counselors and psychologists. media lists App Store Media loves SuperBetter. The of our website includes over 75 stories featuring SuperBetter so far in 2021. press page The is New York Times best-seller. book SuperBetter, The Power of Living Gamefully SuperBetter is . In randomized controlled & clinical trials SuperBetter players improved resilience, mental health and social-emotional skills. Published meta-analyses show it is among the most effective mobile apps validated in randomized controlled trials for reducing anxiety & depression. backed by science What’s most exciting about your traction to date? SuperBetter has attracted over 1 million players and lots of media attention. What’s most exciting about this traction is that it is achieved without any paid advertising or PR outreach. Our community grows organically because people love SuperBetter, how well it works and the way it makes them feel. They find our app through word of mouth referrals, media stories, the TED Talk, the SuperBetter book and recommendations from schools, colleges, therapists and other allies. We are also excited to find researchers feature SuperBetter in articles published in respected journals including the and the . Journal of Pediatric Psychology British Journal of Guidance & Counseling What technologies are you currently most excited about, and most worried about? And why? We’re super excited about the possibilities of AI and augmented reality. Applied ethically, AI has incredible potential to personalize experiences to make them more intuitive, engaging and effective. Augmented reality is a fitting technology for the way SuperBetter spans the virtual and real worlds. We’re most concerned about algorithms. When when combined with advertising models, algorithms optimized to maximize only revenue can lead to people consuming online media in ways that negatively impact mental health & wellbeing. The risk is especially high among youth. What drew you to get published on HackerNoon? What do you like most about our platform? We really appreciate the local focus of HackerNoon and that the platform recognizes the best startups by city. We love all the resources available on the platform. What advice would you give to the 21-year-old version of yourself? Let me be vulnerable and share something personal. When I was young I believed that my value as a person was defined only by my achievements. Today I would tell the 21-year old version of myself that he is 100% loved and valuable just for being. My advice would be that achieving success is great but that success (or failure) is not what defines your identity or your worth. What is something surprising you've learned this year that your contemporaries would benefit from knowing? Published in 2012 the book predicted the extreme polarization and tribalism that we see in America today. Through their research the authors discovered a historical pattern of 40-year swings between a ‘we’-oriented and a ‘me’-oriented society. Historically the 10 years before and after the peak of the ‘we’ cycle is noted for extreme polarization and a posture of “my tribe is ok, your tribe is not ok.’ The peak of the ‘we’ cycle will occur in 2023. The bad news - if the Pendulum model holds - is that we’re in for another decade or so of hyper polarization in America. Pendulum Thanks for reading! VOTE FOR SuperBetter on the Page. Chicago Startups of the Year

SuperBetter Improves Mental Health Using the Psychology of Gameplay

Once upon a time, not so long ago, a word caught my ear. . That struck a chord, remembering the good old days of playing Half-Life as a kid. Little did I know what AWS Lambda was, and how incredibly awesome it is. If you’re intrigued, stick around. I’ll only take a few minutes out of your already busy day, and you surely won’t mind. Lambda TL;DR — Defining the architecture behind AWS Lambda. Function as a Service — Creating a simple Lambda function throught the AWS Console. Creating your first function — Adding some logic to the mix and writing a random dice roll function. Writing some logic real — Adding an event trigger through AWS API Gateway to trigger the function. Connecting an API — Adding npm modules and uploading them as a .zip file. Uploading Code with a ZIP — Short overview of monitoring tools. Debugging with a called . Monitoring free tool Dashbird Function as a Service Let’s jump right in. The architecture AWS Lambda belongs to is called either or . It’s groundbreaking because of the lack of servers. That sounds strange. Well the code is not running on potatoes, is it!? Okay, that’s just a saying. What’s actually going on is that you, the developer, don’t need to worry about the infrastructure your code is running on. You deploy the code into the cloud and it handles the creation of all needed resources by itself. But how? Containers! Serverless Computing Function as a Service No, not those. These! Docker is the world’s leading software container platform. Developers use Docker to eliminate “works on my machine” problems when collaborating on code with co-workers. Operators use Docker to run and manage apps side-by-side in isolated containers to get better compute density. Enterprises use Docker to build agile software delivery pipelines to ship new features faster, more securely and with confidence for both Linux, Windows Server, and Linux-on-mainframe apps. Every time an is created, a container is spun up to serve it. It’s actually not a Docker container though, rather a proprietary container built by AWS. I just used the example so you would understand it a bit easier. AWS Lambda Function The code is deployed into the container and then executed. Hence making every subsequent request faster because AWS is skipping the initial creation of the container if it already exists. Creating your first function Before you can even see the code you need to create a new function in the AWS console. Which means you need an AWS account. If you don’t have an account, don’t hesitate to create one, they have incredible free tiers that include various services and last up to 12 months. Moving on, fire up a browser and navigate to your account. From there you need to find Lambda. Press the services dropdown and select Lambda. You’ll land on the Lambda homepage with a big orange button prompting you to create a new function. Well, don’t keep it waiting any longer, press it. This will take you to the main function creation wizard. As this example will cover a basic function that will simulate a dice throw, let’s forget about the blueprints and just author one from scratch. Awesome! Now you just need to add a name and for the function and finally start writing some code. Regarding the role, feel free to just pick an existing role such as . It will more than suffice for this simple example. role lambda_basic_execution Make sure not to forget adding either. Finally, go ahead and create the function. Node.js 8.10 as the runtime Great! Now you’re finally seeing some code. Much better. Let’s dive in. There are several options to take into consideration. The code entry type option sets how you will add code to the function. It can either be , , or . inline upload a .zip file upload from S3 We’ll be using the first option, editing inline. For small functions, it’s totally fine to write code inline. But when you have more code, it gets very tiresome. That’s why there is a .zip upload option which we will touch upon later as well. Set the runtime to , which is the latest supported version of Node.js for Lambda at the time of this writing. The handler can stay the same as well. Here, the stands for the name of the file, while is the name of the function. Node.js 8.10 index handler With previous versions of Node.js on AWS Lambda (6.10), there were 3 main parameters: The parameter contains the current event info. That means the event that triggers the function will send along information to the function to use. An example would be the data an HTTP request sends along to the endpoint, such as whether it has request parameters or a body. event The contains all the information about the function itself. How long it has been running, how much memory it's consuming among other things. This is viewed as the runtime information. context The is pretty self-explanatory. When you want to tell the function to end its execution, you invoke the callback. It takes two parameters, the first is an error, the second is the data you wish to send back as the response of the Lambda function. callback Things have changed with because of the addition of support. The can now accept a promise value. This is why we can now assign an to the , and return a promise directly. No more stupid parameters. So awesome! Node.js 8.10 async/await handler async function handler callback Writing some logic That’s enough with the set up for now. Let’s code something. We’re starting out with this snippet of code. The goal is to write a piece of code that will mimic the roll of a dice. Here goes nothing. Nice! That does the trick. Now the function will return a random number between 1 and 6. With that out of the way let’s test it. Press the orange test button and proceed to create a simple test event. Give it a funky name for no particular reason. Just for the fun of having a test event named . Now you can go ahead and test the function. After pressing the test button you'll see something like this. FunkyName The section bordered with the dashed outline shows the function output, more precisely the return value that got sent back by the function. That was fun! You now have a function, but no way of triggering it outside of AWS, yet. roll a dice Connecting an API Here comes the crucial part. How do you think a lambda function knows how to start its execution? Voodoo? Magic? No, sadly not. Every function invocation is triggered by an event. It can be an when an image gets uploaded to S3, it can be an Amazon Alexa skill, or just a regular HTTP request. Let’s create an HTTP event and tell it to invoke our function. To be able to do this you first need to jump over to in the AWS console. In the services dropdown pick API Gateway, and you’ll land here. API Gateway You’ll immediately be prompted to create an API. Ignore all the suggestions and just pick and input a name for your API. I’m going to stick with , it just sounds right. Go ahead and hit create. New API FunkyApi Now comes the fun part. Finally get to hook up the API to the function. First press the dropdown and pick . You’ll see another smaller dropdown show up. Press it, and pick . Set the integration type to Lambda Function, select the region where you created the function and write the name of your function. Actions Create method GET Hit save and rejoice! The API is set up and ready. You now only need to deploy it. Press the dropdown once again and hit . Pick a new Deployment Stage, write down as the stage name and you’re ready to deploy the API. Actions Deploy API dev Finally! The API endpoint is ready. You now have access to the on the . Invoke URL dev Stage Editor Feel free to open up the API endpoint in a browser window and check the output. What do you see? No really, what do you see? A random number between 1 and 6 should be returned back. How awesome is this!? In less than 5 minutes you’ve created a Lambda function, connected it to API Gateway and created an endpoint to be consumed whenever you like. Uploading Code with a ZIP What if you need to use some modules from npm? You can’t add them inline. There has to be a way of running code with dependencies. Well, there is, but it’s a bit tricky to get right. Nevertheless, let’s get on with it! First of all, create a directory and initialize npm. $ mkdir roll-a-dice && npm init -y Once you’ve done this, go ahead and install , a simple datetime library. moment $ npm install moment --save This will create a folder with the required dependencies. To include them you need to compress all the files and upload the file to Lambda. node_modules .ZIP Important Note : Only compress the files and folders inside of the project directory. Do NOT zip the whole folder. If you do it will break the configuration and the Lambda function will fail! Before you go ahead and compress the files add some code with the new npm module you just installed to make sure the Lambda function uses it. Create a new file in the project directory and name it . Paste the existing lambda function from AWS into the file and edit it slightly. index.js Save all the files and go ahead and zip them up. Remember, only the files and folders within the directory. roll-a-dice You now have a .ZIP file. Go ahead and jump back to the AWS Console. Change the to and upload the file you just recently compressed. Great! Now, scroll back to the top of the page and press the big orange button once again to Save, and Test the function. Code entry type Upload a .ZIP file Nice! It works and it’s showing the current date and time. You zipped the function and npm module correctly. Just in case, jump back to a browser window and try the endpoint once again. It should now show the updated message. Monitoring What about having insight into your function? Easy, there’s a tab! Here you can check out metrics about your function’s behavior. Monitoring But, it can get a bit hard to have proper insight when you have multiple functions. In that case, you might want to check out an reporting tool like , IOPipe, Datadog or something similar. AWS Lambda monitoring Dashbird Here’s an example of how gives you a proper . Dashbird dashboard of your AWS Lambda Functions Note : The Dashbird team have added a bunch of new features in the last few months, including tracing support with X-Ray, new detailed graphs, usage based billing, a new free tier , but also reduced the latency to under 20 seconds, meaning the dashboards update lightning fast. What now? Start coding! Lambda is an incredible tool which works well with an abundance of other services on AWS. Lambda functions can be invoked in response to events like file uploads, they can also be used for chatbots, REST APIs and much, much more. This simple API example we coded above is just the beginning. But you can see the point. So much overhead is avoided with just worrying about the code, not caring about the underlying infrastructure. I urge you to continue playing with this technology as it will only get more popular in the time to come. Just start coding. Whatever it may be, it doesn’t matter. Just start writing code, because you will learn the most by doing it yourself. We at want to create a more welcoming environment for creating serverless apps by making a walk in the park. If you have any questions feel free to let me know in the comments below. Dashbird tracking errors If you missed any of the steps above, with all the code. here’s the repository To read more about serverless technologies, you can check out my profile. _Read writing from Adnan Rahić on Medium. Dev/Advocate at dashbird.io. Co-Founder at bookvar.co. Author at packtpub.com…_medium.com Adnan Rahić - Medium Hope you guys and girls enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Until next time, be curious and have fun. Feel free to join my newsletter for all future updates! Originally published at dev.to .

Getting Started with AWS Lambda and Node.js

With great power comes great profit, and then even the innovative get fat and lazy. This was the paradigm pre 2000s. Rome rose and fell. Microsoft’s monopoly was cracked. created the digital camera and kept it from customers. Kodak The bigger they are, the harder they fall and the harder they fight. But historically failure was inevitable — no man, country or company ever reigned supreme in perpetuity. Chaos and innovation simply would not allow it. Fast forward to today. We are entering a world where this may no longer be the case. The companies of today are infinitely more powerful and resourceful than the empires and industry moguls of old. Established, valuable networks are nearly impossible to create, replicate or overcome. A 10% upgrade isn’t enough, you need 10x. Historically this was hard but inevitable. New changes and technologies propelled era after era out of existence at rapidly increasing rates (recently much in relation to Moore’s Law). Today is different Unlike even 10–15 years ago, tech giants are creating the bulk of the wealth and innovation in the economy. Companies like , and Amazon have more money than most small nations and more control than any one government, should they so choose. Facebook Google These giants don’t just fight competition, they destroy it. The leaders of today have learned the lessons of old and acquire promising startups often and early to protect their own ass. They have the most talent, the most money, the most data and no moral quandries with flat out copying competitors. Copy and paste In an era where user experience is everything and data is king, how can startups compete? US Anti Trust laws are dated. They define monopolies not by their power and control, but by negative impacts (specifically price gouging) experienced by customers. When you search for dinner and Google shows you your favorite restaurants, knows your preferences, suggests a great vegan cafe and books you a table, how can consumers complain. It is seamless, “Google just gets me.” But Google scraped ’s database, showed reviews, cloned an and booked a place, all without leaving your search browser. And guess what, the government does not care. Yelp OpenTable Let’s not even start on Snapchat and Instagram. Snap’s growth has flatlined and Instagram appears unstoppable. Try it before you buy it Almost all giants have all been accused of Microsoft like monopolistic tendencies. They lure startups in with talks of acquisition, pick apart the tech, pass on the deal and build it in-house. Then thanks to network effects and enormous, engaged user bases, Facebook, Amazon and Google can deploy and dominate the market — just ask . DAVE MORIN And when Google and Facebook control the channels where startups acquire customers, a small tweak to the algorithm ensures their competitors drift in obscurity. Sounds like anti-trust is in order. But… More powerful than govt And this is why we find ourselves attending congressional hearings on the alarming power of tech and its ability to influence elections ( ). on a sidenote, America has aggressively influenced dozens if not 100s of elections worldwide so it is hard to really whine about being on the receiving side Source: Kremlin Press Page But these hearings and debates are a joke. The regulators assigned do not understand the underlying issue — network effects and user experience. Amazon’s a great example of this. Amazon aims to kill all 3rd party sellers, yet brands CANNOT afford not to sell on Amazon ( ). The rewards are too great. Like eating fastfood, it is great in the short term and deadly in the long run. more on this here By building the West’s strongest ecommerce marketplace (Alibaba and Taobao in China are actually stronger), Amazon has become untouchable. Brands have to play ball and so do the regulators. Imagine the senator or congressman who costs his district a shot at Amazon’s 2nd HQ? No point running for re-election then. Consumer’s love Amazon. It is fast, easy, cheap and convenient. You can order ANYTHING at the click of a button and have it delivered ASAP. [LIKE THIS ARTICLE SO FAR? THEN YOU’LL REALLY WANT TO SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER — AND GET SOME FREE BONUSES!] OVER HERE Too big to fail The banks got bailouts because they screwed consumers, made money on bad loans and were too big to fail. They did everything wrong and were rewarded. At this point Amazon, Facebook and Google are the utilities of today. Shutdown Amazon and millions of merchants lose their livelihoods. And customers would rebel. How else can I get my subscription toilet paper delivered? Plus ~70% of internet traffic goes through AWS. Can you imagine the economic ramifications of in essence turning off the internet? And what about Google? Google search accounts for 77–80% of search traffic. Google Chrome is the most popular browser with 44.5–63.6% of all users (depending on source). And Gmail is no different with over 1B monthly active users — email is the lifeblood of most businesses…. Don’t forget Youtube, and Google Maps, and your calendar… oh, and all of Android. Facebook is the same thing. Families and friends would be literally ripped apart. Experiences lost, billions of family photos forgotten… Between Facebook, Messenger, Whatsapp and Instagram, controls billions of individuals and owns ALL of their data. Mark Zuckerberg When you get used to a rare luxury, it goes from being scarce to being something you cannot live without. Any of these 3 companies could cripple the internet, the American government and the world economy at large. During the Cold War we called this equilibrium Mutually Assured Destruction. Speaking of Russia… Source: Wikipedia Social Engineering and News One of the fascinating effects of social media and our connected world is the rate at which news and information spread. Yet as we’ve seen, facts can be falsified. Propaganda is the use of biased or misleading information to promote a political cause or point of view. And it has never been so influential. People are inherently lazy. They read the headline and skip the story. And due to the nature of clicks and impressions and the flaws with modern media and “journalism”, we’ve incentivized a culture of click bait and intellectual garbage. I don’t have an answer for this. But the algorithms are driving this change. As traditional journalism dies, something MUST take its place. And the terrifying thought concerns the power and control of these colossal companies. Zuckerberg has 2.1B+ MAUs. What happens when a megalith tech company starts to push the limits or censor negative and hateful content? The path to hell is paved in good intentions and absolute power corrupts absolutely (just look at politicians). These social dynamics make Facebook and Google nearly unassailable ( ). With the power to “control” the news, feature themselves and their products and billions of times more data, money and manpower, we could have created the ultimate tool to fascism. One man at the helm pulling the strings has more influence than Rupert Murdoch or Donald Trump. here’s Google’s one achilles heel Source: FBTutorial The big question Net-net, Facebook, Google and Amazon have been forces for good in the world. They have innovated, increased quality of life, access to information, family, friends, products, entertainment and more. But they are incredibly dangerous and likely not-regulatable. Are these short term problems or long term considerations? When will rubber meet the road? This level of control, wealth and power are not inherently destructive, but every empire eventually inherits an evil heir. Can you create a conceivable future where this doesn’t go horribly wrong? I can’t. Would love to hear your thoughts below? We didn’t even touch on AI, but artificial intelligence and it data constraints further strengthens the Trinity of Tech. Can blockchain and distributed systems disrupt the history’s most powerful and profitable monopolies ( )? Have we reached a point of no return? Am I overreacting entirely? j_oin our Cryptocurrency Round Table_ with Gil Penchina, Andy Bromberg of Coinlist, Joey Krug and Lou Kerner on 11/28 @ 11am PST. RSVP today This isn’t about answers, it is about questions and having an informed debate with smart folks focused on the future. So please share your thoughts below. And if you liked this article, subscribe to our newsletter to never miss a thing ( ). just opt in on the site Be sure to share this on social. People need to understand these issues and have a open debate on our future as a society. Before you go… If you got something actionable or valuable from this post, click the👏 button below and share the article on Facebook and Twitter so your friends can benefit from it too and Subscribe to get more.

Network Effects, Unstoppable Monopolies and The End of Innovation

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Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the Lord by Edwin Abbott Abbott is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . How John the Prophet doubted concerning Jesus; and concerning them that are “born of women;” and of the beheading of John the Prophet. here How John the Prophet doubted concerning Jesus; and concerning them that are “born of women;” and of the beheading of John the Prophet. On the third or fourth day after that we had seen Barabbas, we came to Bethsaida. And behold, as Jesus was exhorting the people, there came into the synagogue two disciples of John the Prophet. And the principal Scribe of the place brought the men in, saying that they had a message from the Prophet to Jesus of Nazareth. Then all men held their peace and expected what the message should be; and I remembered the words of Barabbas concerning John, and my mind presaged that the prophet had sent to bid Jesus release him. But the Scribe (for he knew what the message was, and desired to discredit Jesus) said aloud that the message was a strange one, not fit for the ear of the common multitude; therefore it should be reserved for the ear of Jesus alone. But all the people listened the more intently; and Jesus gave command that the messengers should deliver their message aloud, and they did so. Now the words of the message were these, “John the Prophet hath sent us to thee from the prison of Herod, saying, ‘Art thou he that should come, or must we look for another?’ ” When we heard these words we all looked that Jesus should either rebuke the Prophet for his want of faith, or else make some comfortable answer, saying that he would come with speed and deliver the Prophet from his bonds. Howbeit Jesus made no answer, but continued his exhortation; and he drove out certain unclean spirits, and forgave sins. But when he had ended these things, he called to the disciples of John, and he repeated to them those passages of the prophets which describe the signs of Redemption, and in particular the prophecy of Isaiah: how the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped to hear the tidings of Redemption, and the eyes of the blind shall be opened to discern the truth of the Lord; and the lame man shall leap as a hart in the paths of salvation; and the tongue of the dumb shall sing the praises of the Lord. And he said unto the two messengers, “Go and show John the things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” Then he added these words, “Blessed is he who shall not be offended in me.” When the messengers were departed, Jesus spake to the people concerning John, saying that John (howbeit he might have changed and fallen from his first estate, seeming to be, for the time, unstable as a reed or pliant as a courtier) was, none the less, truly a prophet, yea, and the greatest of prophets, inasmuch as he was sent by God as the herald of the Redeemer. Then he added thereto a certain saying which filled us all with amazement: yea, and even now after forty years, though I be enlightened with the Holy Spirit, yet can I not choose but be amazed thereat. For the words were these: “Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.” When the congregation brake up, many of the people said among themselves that this was an hard saying. Others asked what Jesus meant by dividing them that were “born of women” from them that are in the Kingdom of Heaven; and whether the former meant the living and the latter meant the dead. Now I understood (for Nathanael had instructed me) that Jesus put a difference between them which are born of flesh and blood, and them which are born of the Spirit; wherefore I partly perceived the meaning of his saying, namely, that the kingdom of the Law and of the Prophets now had an end, and that the kingdom of the Spirit of God was at hand; and that the greatest in the former kingdom was less than the least in the latter. Likewise I understood Jesus to say that the sending of this message and the moving of Jesus to take up the arms of the flesh argued in John a certain nature of flesh; as if he thereby shewed himself to be born not of the New Kingdom, but of the Old Kingdom of flesh and blood, albeit the greatest therein. Yet for all this, that such an one as Jesus of Nazareth, whose gentleness and meekness (albeit mixed at all times with a certain royal carriage and demeanour) for the most part exceeded the meekness of a little child, should notwithstanding seem to rate so low the greatest of all the prophets of Israel, and exalt so high the meanest of all the citizens in the Kingdom that was to come (which also seemed perforce to include a certain magnifying of himself as being chief in that Kingdom); this, I say, for all my poising and pondering, still perplexed and distracted my mind, as a thing new and strange, and (I had almost said) monstrous to human reason. I desired to question Nathanael the son of Zebedee concerning these things; but I could not. For having noted the face of one of my mother’s household in the congregation, and fearing lest he might have some message touching my mother’s health, I hasted to seek the man out: and it proved even as I feared, for my mother was indeed sick, and had sent, desiring that I would come to see her. Therefore I went to Jesus at once, and besought him that he would suffer me to go to my mother. As I went to Jesus, I met Eliezer the son of Arak, and would have passed him. But he, noting that I was somewhat moved, stayed me, and having questioned me, he said, “If thou art wise, thou wilt not go to Jesus: for but now, he forbade one of his disciples to bid farewell to his parents, and another he would not so much as suffer to bury the dead body of his father. For he rageth like a young lion taken in the net of the hunter; and whoso leaveth his side, though it be for an hour, seemeth to him a traitor. Be persuaded, therefore, and quit this Jesus of Nazareth, and his rabble of sinners, and come unto the side of the learned, and thou shalt have eminence among us.” Now I could not indeed deny that Jesus had forbidden certain of his disciples to leave him; but he had done it for their advantage, and because he knew that it would have been ill for them to leave him. Therefore I answered Eliezer with the same proverb which the ruler of the synagogue had said to Jesus, that it was better to be the tail of the lion than the head of the fox; and so I left him. For he spake out of a malignant heart, and not because he loved me. Moreover, I knew that if Jesus should say, Go not, it would be well said; for I trusted him in all things. I found Jesus surrounded by many disciples, who had been asking him questions concerning John the Prophet, and concerning the manner of his deliverance. For all we at that time were assured in our minds that John would be delivered: for men counted John the son of Zachariah and Jesus of Nazareth as yoke-fellows in Israel, and the safety of one seemed to depend on the safety of the other, and the salvation of Israel on both. And indeed I myself have often marvelled that Jesus was not moved to adventure to deliver John. But, as I judge, he rejected all such motions as temptations of Satan, because he knew that he had not been sent to smite with the sword but only with the breath of his mouth. Wherefore, if he were tempted at all, it was rather, as I suppose, that he should die with John than that he should fight that John might live. And at this time, methinks, it came into his mind that if indeed it was ordained that John the Prophet should be slain, and perchance he himself also, then was it high time that new labourers should be sent into the harvest of the Lord, to take the places of them that were to pass away. Howbeit, concerning these things I can but conjecture; but, as I remember, when I came to Jesus, he was looking at the young corn in the fields around very intently, and as if he espied in the sight more than others could see. Presently he said to them which sat next to him, “Say ye not, There are yet four months and then cometh the harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.” Then Judas said to them which sat nigh unto him, that these words signified that John should be delivered at once, and that a levy was to be made throughout all Galilee: and he added aloud, looking to Jesus, that, “The reapers were ready,” or words to that effect. But Jesus answered and said, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” Then I spake to Jesus and told him that I desired to go and see my mother. But I thought perchance that he would have restrained me, if it were so indeed that a levy was to be made throughout all Galilee. But he restrained me not, but bade me go in peace and blessed me, and spake comfortable words to me; and wished me to comfort my mother. On the next day I came to Sepphoris, and behold my mother was grievously sick and nigh unto death. But when I took her by the hand and delivered to her the message of Jesus, saying that he bade her be of good cheer, even in that instant her strength came back to her, and her disease abated; and on the fourth day it departed, so that she rose from her bed. But when the day came that I should depart, so it was that my mother desired me to go first to Tiberias, there to collect certain debts which were owing to her now many days. To this I agreed, nothing loth, for it seemed to me that by passing through Tiberias to Capernaum I might bring unto Jesus the newest tidings touching the doings of Herod, and perchance also touching the state of John the Prophet. For there were certain of mine acquaintance in the house of Chuza, the king’s steward, who lived in Tiberias nigh unto the royal palace. So I set out for Tiberias first. But when I reached the city, it being now about the tenth hour of the day, I found the people gathered together in the Greek quarter by twos and by threes in the streets; and in our part of the city, instead of rejoicings (which I had expected, because the Feast of Purim was at this time), there were everywhere signs of lamentation and mourning. So I saluted one of them that passed by, and asked him what these things might mean. But he glanced at my mule (which I had borrowed, for more speed, of a Greek in Sepphoris; for not many in Galilee, except Gentiles, use to ride on mules), and he said, “I perceive that thou art but a sojourner here, else wouldst thou surely have known these tidings which are in the mouths of all the people, since the eighth hour of the day, touching John the Prophet.” Then I said, “What tidings?” He answered “That he is dead, slain with the sword; and they say that his head hath been given to Herodias on a charger. But why speak I of things that concern me not?” So saying he looked at me, as I had been a spy (for the spies of Herod were everywhere in Galilee at this time, and most of all in Tiberias); and so he passed on. Straightway I hasted on to come to the Greek quarter, seeking the house of Chuza. But on my way thither I passed the royal palace; and at the gate thereof were certain of the Thracian guard keeping watch. Now as I passed them, one of the soldiers called to his companion and said, “But wherefore dost thou keep guard to-day?” And the other said, “I keep guard in the place of Thrasymachus who is gone with three centuries to Capernaum.” “And wherefore to Capernaum?” said the first. “There is like to be a tumult in the town,” replied the sentinel, “because of the beheading of this John in Machærus; and they say that the rabble will set some leader at their head, who is to be arrested.” “Nay,” said the other, “and sayest thou arrested? I would have no arresting, but make quick despatch with these leaders of the rabble. But hath Herod heard of this leader?” “Not so,” said the other, “for he is busy in the south with the army; but our general meaneth to take order that Herod shall never hear of him.” With that he laughed, and made a sign to signify beheading, drawing his hand across his throat; then he bade his fellow go carry some message for him, for he should be busy that day; “For,” said he, “the cohort hath not been gone one full hour yet, and will not be here again these six hours or more, for they mean not to take him by force publicly, but will arrest the man quietly at nightfall.” When I heard these things, my spirit fainted, and there was no strength in me; but when I came to myself, it seemed best to journey forwards at once to Capernaum if perchance I might prevent the coming of the Thracian guard and give the alarm to Jesus. So I turned the mule’s head straightway toward the city gate, and rode on the way that leadeth to Capernaum. But she was sore wearied by reason of the length of the journey, and could scarce carry me. Howbeit after the space of an hour’s riding I came up with the rear of the Thracians: but I perceived that I could not pass them. For a certain merchant riding on a fresh mule had passed out from the city gate before me, and behold, they had stayed him, and suffered him not to pass; but he rode behind with the rear. Now when I saw this, I smote my hands together, for I saw that I could be of no avail to my Master. And by this time the houses of Capernaum, that is to say the quay and the houses near the quay, were in sight, and not far off. For one headland only remained between us and the headland whereon the town standeth; and when the Thracians should have passed round that first headland, there were but six furlongs between them and the market-place of Capernaum. But the sun was now nigh setting and the barbarians began to quicken their pace. Therefore I cried unto the Lord in sore distress and left my mule and climbed up to a rock whence I could watch what befel, and there I offered up prayers to the All-Powerful, who alone is able to save. Now behold, by this time the Thracians had passed round the first headland, and the last of them were out of my sight, so that I could see nothing but the quay of Capernaum and two or three fishing-boats riding at anchor just off the quay: and there seemed no signs of tumult; for there was no man stirring there. And presently began the helmets of the Thracians to shine again before mine eyes as their front guard drew near unto the town, and still no man perceived them; for the cliff lay between them and the town, and there were still none save two or three sailors on the quay. Then I took off the covering from my head and waved it in the air that the sailors perchance might take note of it: but they took no note. Now by this time there was but about a space of two furlongs between the front of the column of the Thracians and the quay of Capernaum, and I could hear the captain give the word of command (albeit not in a loud voice) to hasten their march that they might enter the town the more quickly (for darkness was now falling upon the lake); and as the word of command sounded across the water even to my ears in the stillness of the evening, behold, the Thracians hastened their march so that they began to run. Now I held my breath, for I could not so much as pray for very trouble; when lo, a great noise of shouting from the other side of the headland, even from Capernaum; and at the same time a great concourse of people upon the quay, and immediately a long galley appeared, which rowed forth very swiftly toward the eastward side of the lake. Then the barbarians halted, even without the word of command; for they knew that the bird was escaped from the snare of the fowlers: and the noise of their cursing and clamour came up even unto mine ears as I sat upon my place of watching. But I glorified the God of Israel; and gave thanks to Him whose mercy endureth for ever. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Edwin Abbott Abbott (2015). Philochristus: Memoirs of a Disciple of the Lord. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/48843/pg48843-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

How John the Prophet doubted concerning Jesus;

Mrs. Kirkpatrick had been reading aloud till Lady Cumnor fell asleep

Miss Thorne's Fête Champêtre

Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . Post Prandial here Post Prandial Frank rode home a happy man, cheering himself, as successful lovers do cheer themselves, with the brilliancy of his late exploit: nor was it till he had turned the corner into the Greshamsbury stables that he began to reflect what he would do next. It was all very well to have induced Mary to allow his three fingers to lie half a minute in her soft hand; the having done so might certainly be sufficient evidence that he had overcome one of the lions in his path; but it could hardly be said that all his difficulties were now smoothed. How was he to make further progress? To Mary, also, the same ideas no doubt occurred—with many others. But, then, it was not for Mary to make any progress in the matter. To her at least belonged this passive comfort, that at present no act hostile to the de Courcy interest would be expected from her. All that she could do would be to tell her uncle so much as it was fitting that he should know. The doing this would doubtless be in some degree difficult; but it was not probable that there would be much difference, much of anything but loving anxiety for each other, between her and Dr Thorne. One other thing, indeed, she must do; Frank must be made to understand what her birth had been. "This," she said to herself, "will give him an opportunity of retracting what he has done should he choose to avail himself of it. It is well he should have such opportunity." But Frank had more than this to do. He had told Beatrice that he would make no secret of his love, and he fully resolved to be as good as his word. To his father he owed an unreserved confidence; and he was fully minded to give it. It was, he knew, altogether out of the question that he should at once marry a portionless girl without his father's consent; probably out of the question that he should do so even with it. But he would, at any rate, tell his father, and then decide as to what should be done next. So resolving, he put his black horse into the stable and went in to dinner. After dinner he and his father would be alone. Yes; after dinner he and his father would be alone. He dressed himself hurriedly, for the dinner-bell was almost on the stroke as he entered the house. He said this to himself once and again; but when the meats and the puddings, and then the cheese, were borne away, as the decanters were placed before his father, and Lady Arabella sipped her one glass of claret, and his sisters ate their portion of strawberries, his pressing anxiety for the coming interview began to wax somewhat dull. His mother and sisters, however, rendered him no assistance by prolonging their stay. With unwonted assiduity he pressed a second glass of claret on his mother. But Lady Arabella was not only temperate in her habits, but also at the present moment very angry with her son. She thought that he had been to Boxall Hill, and was only waiting a proper moment to cross-question him sternly on the subject. Now she departed, taking her train of daughters with her. "Give me one big gooseberry," said Nina, as she squeezed herself in under her brother's arm, prior to making her retreat. Frank would willingly have given her a dozen of the biggest, had she wanted them; but having got the one, she squeezed herself out again and scampered off. The squire was very cheery this evening; from what cause cannot now be said. Perhaps he had succeeded in negotiating a further loan, thus temporarily sprinkling a drop of water over the ever-rising dust of his difficulties. "Well, Frank, what have you been after to-day? Peter told me you had the black horse out," said he, pushing the decanter to his son. "Take my advice, my boy, and don't give him too much summer road-work. Legs won't stand it, let them be ever so good." "Why, sir, I was obliged to go out to-day, and therefore, it had to be either the old mare or the young horse." "Why didn't you take Ramble?" Now Ramble was the squire's own saddle hack, used for farm surveying, and occasionally for going to cover. "I shouldn't think of doing that, sir." "My dear boy, he is quite at your service; for goodness' sake do let me have a little wine, Frank—quite at your service; any riding I have now is after the haymakers, and that's all on the grass." "Thank'ee, sir. Well, perhaps I will take a turn out of Ramble should I want it." "Do, and pray, pray take care of that black horse's legs. He's turning out more of a horse than I took him to be, and I should be sorry to see him injured. Where have you been to-day?" "Well, father, I have something to tell you." "Something to tell me!" and then the squire's happy and gay look, which had been only rendered more happy and more gay by his assumed anxiety about the black horse, gave place to that heaviness of visage which acrimony and misfortune had made so habitual to him. "Something to tell me!" Any grave words like these always presaged some money difficulty to the squire's ears. He loved Frank with the tenderest love. He would have done so under almost any circumstances; but, doubtless, that love had been made more palpable to himself by the fact that Frank had been a good son as regards money—not exigeant as was Lady Arabella, or selfishly reckless as was his nephew Lord Porlock. But now Frank must be in difficulty about money. This was his first idea. "What is it, Frank; you have seldom had anything to say that has not been pleasant for me to hear?" And then the heaviness of visage again gave way for a moment as his eye fell upon his son. "I have been to Boxall Hill, sir." The tenor of his father's thoughts was changed in an instant; and the dread of immediate temporary annoyance gave place to true anxiety for his son. He, the squire, had been no party to Mary's exile from his own domain; and he had seen with pain that she had now a second time been driven from her home: but he had never hitherto questioned the expediency of separating his son from Mary Thorne. Alas! it became too necessary—too necessary through his own default—that Frank should marry money! "At Boxall Hill, Frank! Has that been prudent? Or, indeed, has it been generous to Miss Thorne, who has been driven there, as it were, by your imprudence?" "Father, it is well that we should understand each other about this—" "Fill your glass, Frank;" Frank mechanically did as he was told, and passed the bottle. "I should never forgive myself were I to deceive you, or keep anything from you." "I believe it is not in your nature to deceive me, Frank." "The fact is, sir, that I have made up my mind that Mary Thorne shall be my wife—sooner or later that is, unless, of course, she should utterly refuse. Hitherto, she has utterly refused me. I believe I may now say that she has accepted me." The squire sipped his claret, but at the moment said nothing. There was a quiet, manly, but yet modest determination about his son that he had hardly noticed before. Frank had become legally of age, legally a man, when he was twenty-one. Nature, it seems, had postponed the ceremony till he was twenty-two. Nature often does postpone the ceremony even to a much later age;—sometimes, altogether forgets to accomplish it. The squire continued to sip his claret; he had to think over the matter a while before he could answer a statement so deliberately made by his son. "I think I may say so," continued Frank, with perhaps unnecessary modesty. "She is so honest that, had she not intended it, she would have said so honestly. Am I right, father, in thinking that, as regards Mary, personally, you would not reject her as a daughter-in-law?" "Personally!" said the squire, glad to have the subject presented to him in a view that enabled him to speak out. "Oh, no; personally, I should not object to her, for I love her dearly. She is a good girl. I do believe she is a good girl in every respect. I have always liked her; liked to see her about the house. But—" "I know what you would say, father." This was rather more than the squire knew himself. "Such a marriage is imprudent." "It is more than that, Frank; I fear it is impossible." "Impossible! No, father; it is not impossible." "It is impossible, Frank, in the usual sense. What are you to live upon? What would you do with your children? You would not wish to see your wife distressed and comfortless." "No, I should not like to see that." "You would not wish to begin life as an embarrassed man and end it as a ruined man. If you were now to marry Miss Thorne such would, I fear, doubtless be your lot." Frank caught at the word "now." "I don't expect to marry immediately. I know that would be imprudent. But I am pledged, father, and I certainly cannot go back. And now that I have told you all this, what is your advice to me?" The father again sat silent, still sipping his wine. There was nothing in his son that he could be ashamed of, nothing that he could meet with anger, nothing that he could not love; but how should he answer him? The fact was, that the son had more in him than the father; this his mind and spirit were of a calibre not to be opposed successfully by the mind and spirit of the squire. "Do you know Mary's history?" said Mr Gresham, at last; "the history of her birth?" "Not a word of it," said Frank. "I did not know she had a history." "Nor does she know it; at least, I presume not. But you should know it now. And, Frank, I will tell it you; not to turn you from her—not with that object, though I think that, to a certain extent, it should have that effect. Mary's birth was not such as would become your wife and be beneficial to your children." "If so, father, I should have known that sooner. Why was she brought in here among us?" "True, Frank. The fault is mine; mine and your mother's. Circumstances brought it about years ago, when it never occurred to us that all this would arise. But I will tell you her history. And, Frank, remember this, though I tell it you as a secret, a secret to be kept from all the world but one, you are quite at liberty to let the doctor know that I have told you. Indeed, I shall be careful to let him know myself should it ever be necessary that he and I should speak together as to this engagement." The squire then told his son the whole story of Mary's birth, as it is known to the reader. Frank sat silent, looking very blank; he also had, as had every Gresham, a great love for his pure blood. He had said to his mother that he hated money, that he hated the estate; but he would have been very slow to say, even in his warmest opposition to her, that he hated the roll of the family pedigree. He loved it dearly, though he seldom spoke of it;—as men of good family seldom do speak of it. It is one of those possessions which to have is sufficient. A man having it need not boast of what he has, or show it off before the world. But on that account he values it more. He had regarded Mary as a cutting duly taken from the Ullathorne tree; not, indeed, as a grafting branch, full of flower, just separated from the parent stalk, but as being not a whit the less truly endowed with the pure sap of that venerable trunk. When, therefore, he heard her true history he sat awhile dismayed. "It is a sad story," said the father. "Yes, sad enough," said Frank, rising from his chair and standing with it before him, leaning on the back of it. "Poor Mary, poor Mary! She will have to learn it some day." "I fear so, Frank;" and then there was again a few moments' silence. "To me, father, it is told too late. It can now have no effect on me. Indeed," said he, sighing as he spoke, but still relieving himself by the very sigh, "it could have had no effect had I learned it ever so soon." "I should have told you before," said the father; "certainly I ought to have done so." "It would have been no good," said Frank. "Ah, sir, tell me this: who were Miss Dunstable's parents? What was that fellow Moffat's family?" This was perhaps cruel of Frank. The squire, however, made no answer to the question. "I have thought it right to tell you," said he. "I leave all commentary to yourself. I need not tell you what your mother will think." "What did she think of Miss Dunstable's birth?" said he, again more bitterly than before. "No, sir," he continued, after a further pause. "All that can make no change; none at any rate now. It can't make my love less, even if it could have prevented it. Nor, even, could it do so—which it can't the least, not in the least—but could it do so, it could not break my engagement. I am now engaged to Mary Thorne." And then he again repeated his question, asking for his father's advice under the present circumstances. The conversation was a very long one, as long as to disarrange all Lady Arabella's plans. She had determined to take her son most stringently to task that very evening; and with this object had ensconced herself in the small drawing-room which had formerly been used for a similar purpose by the august countess herself. Here she now sat, having desired Augusta and Beatrice, as well as the twins, to beg Frank to go to her as soon as he should come out of the dining-room. Poor lady! there she waited till ten o'clock,—tealess. There was not much of the Bluebeard about the squire; but he had succeeded in making it understood through the household that he was not to be interrupted by messages from his wife during the post-prandial hour, which, though no toper, he loved so well. As a period of twelve months will now have to be passed over, the upshot of this long conversation must be told in as few words as possible. The father found it impracticable to talk his son out of his intended marriage; indeed, he hardly attempted to do so by any direct persuasion. He explained to him that it was impossible that he should marry at once, and suggested that he, Frank, was very young. "You married, sir, before you were one-and-twenty," said Frank. Yes, and repented before I was two-and-twenty. So did not say the squire. He suggested that Mary should have time to ascertain what would be her uncle's wishes, and ended by inducing Frank to promise, that after taking his degree in October he would go abroad for some months, and that he would not indeed return to Greshamsbury till he was three-and-twenty. "He may perhaps forget her," said the father to himself, as this agreement was made between them. "He thinks that I shall forget her," said Frank to himself at the same time; "but he does not know me." When Lady Arabella at last got hold of her son she found that the time for her preaching was utterly gone by. He told her, almost with sang-froid, what his plans were; and when she came to understand them, and to understand also what had taken place at Boxall Hill, she could not blame the squire for what he had done. She also said to herself, more confidently than the squire had done, that Frank would quite forget Mary before the year was out. "Lord Buckish," said she to herself, rejoicingly, "is now with the ambassador at Paris"—Lord Buckish was her nephew—"and with him Frank will meet women that are really beautiful—women of fashion. When with Lord Buckish he will soon forget Mary Thorne." But not on this account did she change her resolve to follow up to the furthest point her hostility to the Thornes. She was fully enabled now to do so, for Dr Fillgrave was already reinstalled at Greshamsbury as her medical adviser. One other short visit did Frank pay to Boxall Hill, and one interview had he with Dr Thorne. Mary told him all she knew of her own sad history, and was answered only by a kiss,—a kiss absolutely not in any way by her to be avoided; the first, the only one, that had ever yet reached her lips from his. And then he went away. The doctor told him all the story. "Yes," said Frank, "I knew it all before. Dear Mary, dearest Mary! Don't you, doctor, teach yourself to believe that I shall forget her." And then also he went his way from him—went his way also from Greshamsbury, and was absent for the full period of his allotted banishment—twelve months, namely, and a day. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Anthony Trollope (2002). Doctor Thorne. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3166/pg3166-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org, located at https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html.

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