Article November 27, 1909 Issue

RENASCENCE

AUGUSTA REINSTEIN.

In the early springtime of this year I was very much surprised by what I saw in a garden surrounding a mansion in San Francisco. As a result of the earthquake, three years before, some of the stones of this house had been thrown into the garden, and during the three years of its restoration, the garden has been filled with crates of stone, boxes of marble, scaffolding, and debris. I had occasion to pass this place nearly every day, and know that until the restoration was complete nothing was done to the garden except to clear its surface, and yet one day there were many daffodils in full bloom, a palm that had passed through the cleansing fires was giving evidence of life, and many of the original plants and shrubs were thriving.

Many of the empty lots in the ruined district bear luxurious growths of grass, and I have never seen elsewhere clover so tall and so luxuriant. We are so accustomed to the freshness, the fulness, and the fruitage of spring, summer, and autumn, after the seeming desolation of winter, that we take this procession as a matter of course, but are inclined to be surprised, as I was, to find manifestation of life after several years, although we are told that seeds which were buried with Egyptian mummies long centuries ago, will grow if planted, after lying fallow all that time.

What I saw in this garden has served as a beginning for the realization that the manifestation of Life does not and cannot die. As Mrs. Eddy says, "Though the grass seemeth to wither and the flower to fade, they reappear" (Science and Health, p. 8I). One day I nestled a brilliantly colored pansy in the soft dark depths of my furs, from which it showed its piquant face. It faded during the day, and I found it withered and crumpled, on the floor at night ; so I threw it out of the window, never expecting to see it again. Imagine my surprise the next morning to find it once again bright and beautiful, looking up to me from the window-sill, revived by the rain to its pristine perfection.

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