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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



Are You a Christian or a Paulist? 



Christ was a naturalist — preeminent- 

 ly a lover and student of out of doors, 

 especially of the wild. He taught from 

 the commonplace things of nature with 

 uncommon interest as they came to 

 hand. He brought a message of peace 

 on earth, good will to men, of the sim- 

 ple life, of heart and of love. He gave 

 us the spirit of things. 



* * * * 



Paul was a philosopher. He delved 

 in the intricacies of theology. An in- 

 doors man, he revelled in synagogues, 

 houses, books and formalism. He es- 

 tablished churches and laid stress on 

 the form of things. He rejoiced in the 

 machinery of men's affairs. 



* * * * 



Each left the imprint of his person- 

 ality and of his methods of thought 

 that has lasted through all the cen- 

 turies. 



Chris f was born in a stable among 

 homely farm scenes. The first notifi- 

 cation of His presence was by a star. 

 John, a man of the wilderness, pro- 

 claimed Him. In the wilderness He, 

 overcame temptation. His intimate 

 friends were fishermen. lie called peo- 

 ple from the cities — "multitudes of 

 people from Galilee, and from Decap- 

 olis, and from Jerusalem, and from 

 Judea, and from beyond Jordan." lie 

 preached His first sermon on a moun- 

 tain. He told us all to "Consider the 

 lilies." 



He drew His lessons from foxes, 

 birds arM fishes; from the making of 

 wine, the harvests and the laborers ; 

 from doves and sparrows ; from a cup 

 of cold water, a reed shaken in the 

 wind, a yoke of oxen ; from the corn- 

 fields, the fruit trees and the sheep ; 

 from the sower of seeds, the tares in 

 wheat; from bread making; from a pic- 

 nic of several thousand people in an 

 open field ; from the sea and its pearls ; 

 from the clouds of heaven ; from the 

 camel as it slowly journeyed; from 

 earthquakes, thorns and grapes ; from 

 the bubbling pool of water, and the 

 storm at sea. 



His first proclamation of Himself as 

 the Messiah was to a woman drawing 

 water from a country well. His most 

 heart-touching lesson was from the ex- 

 perience of a repentant boy who fed 

 pigs. His intensest prayer was made 

 when He was alone in a garden. 



We first learn of Paul as he was 

 "entering into every house, and haling 

 men and women committed them to 

 prison." The first thing that he did 

 after his conversion was to preach 

 Christ in the synagogues. He con- 

 firmed the disciples, established dogma, 

 rules, regulations ; he quibbled and 

 contended on technical points, "had no 

 small dissension and disputation with 

 them" ; he appealed to others on ques- 

 tions — "go up to Jerusalem unto the 

 apostles and elders about this ques- 

 tion." It was Paul, the man of in- 



