PER NATUREM AD DEUM 



27 



Every Church Should Have a Nature 

 Sab^^ath School. 



Carefully Selected Instructors Should 

 Take the Children Out Into the Open 

 and Teach Them the Wonders of 

 Botany, Astronomy and Insect Life. 

 [From the New York Evening Journal. 



Republished by permission]. 



BY ELLA WHELLKR WILCOX- 

 Copyright, 1916, by Star Company. 



What is your opinion on the subject of 

 a "Nature Sabbath School?'' The idea 

 has come to me as a sort of inspiration. 



We teach children to think of their 

 natural activities, their play, as something 

 to be put aside, till their religious devo- 

 tion is over — and so religion becomes not 

 something to love but merely a duty which 

 they hope will be short — the shorter the 

 Sunday School the better the child likes it 

 — as a writer says "we mask the joy of 

 religion by our long unsmiling faces, 

 our mechanical devotion, our whispers 

 and tragic manner," then^ — is it any won- 

 der that children find religion wearisome ? 



As Coe writes — "As long as such no- 

 tions prevail we should expect children to 

 exclude God from their play ; to think 

 of religion as unnatural and either grow 

 up indifferent to religion or reserve their 

 reverence for Sunday in the church." 



My idea would be to take little ones 

 out under the skies to show them the 

 wonderful beauties of Nature, teach 

 them the nearness of the Infinite and, 

 as my little boy has been taught, to "talk 

 to the fairies" (the spirits of light and 

 love) aside from the spiritual teachings 

 — physically the little ones would be 

 benefited and the little flock could be 

 given such an enjoyable outing that they 

 would learn to love "Nature's Sabbath 

 School" (is the name appropriate?)- If 

 you think such an idea of use, I shall be 

 glad to outline a plan which is in my 

 mind, though doubtless it could be im- 

 proved. M. H. C- C. 



The idea contained in the letter quoted 

 above is crude but beautiful. Worked 

 out and properly developed it would be- 

 come of great value to the world. A 

 Nature Sabbath School should be a part 

 of every Christian church. Teachers 

 should be carefully selected and thor- 

 oughly trained to carry out the instruc- 

 tion, which should include the rudiments 

 of botany, astronomy, and the wonders 

 of nature, of insect and star life, should 

 be dwelt upon with reverence and awe. 



All these studies should be made as en- 

 tertaining as fairy stories or fiction in 

 any form. 



The children should feel that they are 

 on a picnic and that they are being, 

 amused, while in fact they are being in- 

 structed, mentally, and their souls are 

 unconsciously being awakened to rever- 

 ence for and love of God- 



A child who attends Nature's Sabbath 

 School under such instruction could 

 never grow into a pessimist or an atheist- 

 Many children have become both who 

 were reared in the depressing environ- 

 ment of the old-fashioned Sunday School. 

 A good man said not long ago that 

 twenty years of his life were marred by 

 his Sunday School experiences. 



Sunday to him was a day of horror 

 and gloom, and the unwholesome teach- 

 ings he heard expounded by a cruel God 

 who sent unbelievers to hell caused him 

 to fly to the extreme of unbelief in any 

 religion as soon as he passed out of the 

 home environment- 

 After twenty years, however, he came 

 into the light of true knowledge of God 

 through a study of plant life, and the mar- 

 vels which he found in seed and bulb and 

 bud and blossom caused him to realize 

 the majesty and might of the All Crea- 

 tive Power, and to love his Maker. 



Let us have the Nature Study School 

 by all means- 



Pass on God's Gifts. 



We are at our best when we try to> 

 be not for ourselves alone but for our 

 brethren ; and we take God's gifts most 

 completely, when we realize that He 

 sends them to us for the benefit of 

 other men, who stand beyond us, need- 

 ing them. — Phillips Brooks. 



I wonder why Bishop Brooks used the 

 word "men." Probably in the sense of 

 mankind. Certainly, girls, boys and 

 w^omen. as well as men, can dissemi- 

 nate "God's gifts" for the benefit of 

 others. That is the essence of our As- 

 sociation. Good term, that — ^"God's 

 gifts" — life, liberty and the pursuit of 

 happiness — the world of nature, books, 

 friends, the wonders and beauties of 

 the heavens above, the earth beneath 

 and the waters under the earth. Life 

 is not long enough to utilize or to be 

 sufficiently grateful for all these gifts. 

 Probably that is one reason for eter- 

 nity. 



