Perhaps
its velvety softness and its lowliness speak to you of humility and
gentleness; or perhaps its fragrance breathes sweetness into your life
and feeling,--only a little, to be sure, but that little means
something. The spirit of the flower speaks to your spirit; and you
wonder what relation it bears to you, and if you are not both connected
with the spirit of God.
There is something more than sentiment in attributing character to
flowers, something better than fancy in saying, "Pansies for thoughts."
Growing things all mean real things; so do the stones in the stone-wall,
and the gravel on the road, and the very breeze that blows in our
faces,--all and each have a significance which does not at once meet
the outward eye.
It would be very delightful, and certainly very useful, if, besides
this friendliness in Nature, you could learn some of the special values
of Nature, as shown by science. A botanist has fuller joy in flowers
and ferns and grasses than a mere observer of them, and a geologist
has more pleasure in rocks than he who remarks them for their beauty's
sake. Still, this friendship and this general observation had to come
before the scientific knowledge was possible. I have great sympathy
for those who, while ignorant of technicalities, love objects for just
simply the things themselves.
When you begin to get acquainted with the externals of Nature, then,
of course, you will ask how they are made; and the lessons of science
will attract you.
Pages:
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42