382 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



"More Spiritual and Less Formal." 



These are not the words of a minis- 

 ter nor a poet nor a sentimentalist but 

 of a capitalist, John D. Rockefeller, 

 Jr. In the "Saturday Evening Post" 

 of February 9, Mr. Rockefeller pub- 

 lished a remarkable article that goes to 

 the gist of things. This article has 

 been reprinted in a convenient little 

 booklet entitled "The Christian 

 Church. What of Its Future?" He 

 makes the following appeal from which 

 we have quoted the heading of this 

 article : 



"What the world craves today is a 

 more spiritual and less formal religion. 

 To the man or woman facing death, 

 great conflict, the big problems of hu- 

 man life, the forms of religion are a 

 hollow mockery, the spirit an impreg- 

 nable fortress. 



"I plead not for a modification of 

 form but for its subordination to the 

 spirit ; not for the abolishing of ordi- 

 nances, but for their voluntary rather 

 than obligatory observance ; not that 

 these solemn rites should be set aside, 

 but that they should be entered into 

 as a sacred privilege, an act of loving 

 cousecration, rather than submitted 

 to as an enforcible law. So and so 

 only will their real beauty and mean- 

 ing be understood and their true pur- 

 pose realized." 



With this thesis every sincere, 

 thoughtful person will heartily agree, 

 and many of us will realize the truth, 

 of a variety of suggested corollaries. 

 What the world craves now is more 

 reality and less artificiality, not only 

 in religion but in all the acts of daily 

 life. The war is bringing us down to 

 a fundamental basis. We are cutting 

 off extraneous growths and some of 

 the follies of civilization as never be- 

 fore. 



From our point of view the greatest 

 of these advantages is the directing of 

 the thoughts from foolish, frivolous, 

 worthless things to good old Mother 

 Nature. Superficial and pernicious 

 amusements are giving way to work in 

 the garden. The motto of The Agassiz 

 Association "Through Nature to Gnd ' 

 is being realized as never before. Earth 

 must become less a place "to devil in" 

 and more of a place to delve in. This 

 is true on the part of all serious mind- 

 ed people. Mr. Rockefeller is right. 

 What he says of the forms of the 



Christian Church applies with even 

 greater force to the forms of nature 

 around us. "So and so only will their 

 real beaut}- and meaning be understood 

 and their true purpose realized." 



A Wish. 



BY HAROLD GORDON HAWKINS, WESTF1ELL), MAS- 

 SACHUSETTS. 



There is a little hollow in the mighty hills 

 Where flowers bloom and a tiny brooklet 



spills 

 Its foaming cataract in an azure lake. 

 — Here have I seen the glorious dawnings 



break 

 In golden splendor on the mountain walls, 

 And heard the robin as he sweetly calls 

 In softest warblings to his nesting mate. 

 Ah wondrously fair the spot, early and late. 

 The mellow sunlight tinges all with gold 

 And in the dim twilight from the wood is 



told 

 The sweet and lovelorn lyric of the thrush. 



Here in this glen, secluded from the rush 

 And endless turmoil of the beaten ways, 

 It is my fondest wish to spend my days, 

 Living with ears attuned to Nature's mighty 



psalm 

 And leaving at last the world with that 



sweet calm 

 In face of Death, that she alone can give, 

 So is my wish, simply a wish to L I V E . 



We believe that just as France, the 

 great flower-loving nation, has saved 

 the soul of Europe, so the love of na- 

 ture and all that is good and beautiful 

 in the world and the love of right and 

 justice will save the American people 

 from hysteria and from themselves. — 

 Wallace N. Pierson, Cromwell, Con- 

 necticut, in the Hartford Courant. 



The Unseeing. 



BY MKLICEXT ENO HUMASON, NEW BRI- 

 TAIN, CONNECTICUT. 



Uncomprehending eyes that vaguely 



stare 

 At lake, at wold, at creatures in the air 

 And witness not, nor wonder what is 



there. 



Uncomprehending eyes that never find 

 A lofty solace for the care-bound mind. 

 Not noblv sightless they, but spirit- 

 blind. ' 



Uncomprehending eves ! Mv plea that 



I 

 May read some message in the earth 



and sky, 

 Unfold some mystery, and question 



why. 



