"His Glory Covered the Heavens, And the Earth Was Full of His praise."
Upon all
created things is seen the impress of the Deity. Nature testifies of God. The
susceptible mind, brought in contact with the miracle and mystery of the
universe, cannot but recognize the working of infinite power. Not by its own
inherent energy does the earth produce its bounties, and year by year continue
its motion around the sun. An unseen hand guides the planets in their circuit
of the heavens. A mysterious life pervades all nature--a life that sustains the
unnumbered worlds throughout immensity, that lives in the insect atom which
floats in the summer breeze, that wings the flight of the swallow and feeds the
young ravens which cry, that brings the bud to blossom and the flower to fruit.
The same power that
upholds nature, is working also in man. The same great laws that guide alike
the star and the atom control human life. The laws that govern the heart's
action, regulating the flow of the current of life to the body, are the laws of
the mighty Intelligence that has the jurisdiction of the soul. From Him all
life proceeds. Only in harmony with Him can be found its true sphere of action.
For all the objects of His creation the condition is the same--a life sustained
by receiving the life of God, a life exercised in harmony with the Creator's
100
will. To transgress
His law, physical, mental, or moral, is to place one's self out of harmony with
the universe, to introduce discord, anarchy, ruin.
To him who learns
thus to interpret its teachings, all nature becomes illuminated; the world is a
lesson book, life a school. The unity of man with nature and with God, the
universal dominion of law, the results of transgression, cannot fail of
impressing the mind and molding the character.
These are lessons
that our children need to learn. To the little child, not yet capable of
learning from the printed page or of being introduced to the routine of the
schoolroom, nature presents an unfailing source of instruction and delight. The
heart not yet hardened by contact with evil is quick to recognize the Presence
that pervades all created things. The ear as yet undulled by the world's clamor
is attentive to the Voice that speaks through nature's utterances. And for
those of older years, needing continually its silent reminders of the spiritual
and eternal, nature's teaching will be no less a source of pleasure and of
instruction. As the dwellers in Eden learned from nature's pages, as Moses
discerned God's handwriting on the Arabian plains and mountains, and the child
Jesus on the hillsides of Nazareth, so the children of today may learn of Him.
The unseen is illustrated by the seen. On everything upon the earth, from the
loftiest tree of the forest to the lichen that clings to the rock, from the
boundless ocean to the tiniest shell on the shore, they may behold the image
and superscription of God.
So far as possible,
let the child from his earliest years be placed where this wonderful lesson
book shall be open
101
before him. Let him
behold the glorious scenes painted by the great Master Artist upon the shifting
canvas of the heavens, let him become acquainted with the wonders of earth and
sea, let him watch the unfolding mysteries of the changing seasons, and, in all
His works, learn of the Creator.
In no other way can
the foundation of a true education be so firmly and surely laid. Yet even the
child, as he comes in contact with nature, will see cause for perplexity. He
cannot but recognize the working of antagonistic forces. It is here that nature
needs an interpreter. Looking upon the evil manifest even in the natural world,
all have the same sorrowful lesson to learn--"An enemy hath done this." Matthew
13:28.
Only in the light
that shines from Calvary can nature's teaching be read aright. Through the
story of Bethlehem and the cross let it be shown how good is to conquer evil,
and how every blessing that comes to us is a gift of redemption.
In brier and thorn,
in thistle and tare, is represented the evil that blights and mars. In singing
bird and opening blossom, in rain and sunshine, in summer breeze and gentle
dew, in ten thousand objects in nature, from the oak of the forest to the
violet that blossoms at its root, is seen the love that restores. And nature
still speaks to us of God's goodness.
"I know the
thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of
evil." Jeremiah 29:11. This is the message that, in the light from the cross,
may be read upon all the face of nature. The heavens declare His glory, and the
earth is full of His riches.