Article August 31, 1918 Issue

Nature's Lessons

MAUDE LOUISE NIRDLINGER

The great truth of the Biblical declaration, "Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge," was brought vividly home to me on two recent occasions. The first was while riding through a deep forest late in the autumn. High on the hills and deep in the valley the exquisite blending of myriad hues of brown, gold, red, green, and yellow against the brilliant blue of a clear sky made the world a wondrous picture. For hours we traveled, until the short twilight darkened into darker night. As the light faded the colors were dimmed and dulled and then disappeared. Gaunt outlines of towering trees alone remained specterlike in the gloom. Where then, I mused, is the beauty of the day? Every twig and leaf was undisturbed, but where was the beauty of it? It is hidden by the darkness, for the light which revealed it is gone, reason answered.

And is it ever so with the beauty of holiness, of God's infinite goodness? we may ask. Around us it lies, but the sunlight of Truth must reveal it; and not through material vision but through spiritualized thought must the stark, gaunt delusions of mortal sense, which would incite doubt and fear, be dispelled. We must know the truth so clearly stated by Mrs. Eddy on page 306 of Science and Health: "Undisturbed amid the jarring testimony of the material senses, Science, still enthroned, is unfolding to mortals the immutable, harmonious, divine Principle,—is unfolding Life and the universe, ever present and eternal."

The second occasion illustrating nature's lesson was on the shore of Lake Michigan. Clouds and rain ruled the day; yet it was not dreary. The lake lay almost quiet, and as I watched that great, gray, glassy body a mighty truth dawned on me. Of itself the lake does not move; it is governed by the wind. Yet we never see the wind; we only see its effects. If the sky is dark and sullen and the wind tempestuous and wild, we have a tempest-tossed lake leaping high, angry, and dangerous, illustrating mortal mind and its discords, made manifest as sin, disease, and death; but let the heavens be clear and the bright light of day spread across the silent waters, and we have a peaceful lake, reflecting beauty in wondrous shades, illustrating immortal Mind and its holiness, harmony, and immortality.

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