SHALL WE ACCEPT THE UNIVERSE? 



not been inconsistent with our permanent well- 

 being. The fact that flowers bloom and fruit and 

 grains ripen, that the sun shines, that the rain falls, 

 that food nourishes us, that love warms us, that 

 evolution has brought us thus far on our way, that 

 our line of descent has survived all the hazards of 

 the geologic ages, all point to the fact that we are on 

 the winning side, that our well-being is secured in 

 the constitution of things. For all the cataclysms 

 and disruptions, the globe has ripened on the great 

 sidereal tree, and has become the fit abode of its 

 myriad forms of life. Though we may be run down 

 and crushed by the great terrestrial forces about us, 

 just as we may be run down and crushed in the 

 street, yet these forces play a part in the activities 

 that sustain us; without them we should not be 

 here to suffer at their hands. 



Our life depends from moment to moment upon 

 the air we breathe, yet its winds and tempests may 

 destroy us; it depends from day to day upon the 

 water we drink, yet its floods may sweep us away. 

 We walk and climb and work and move mountains 

 by gravity, and yet gravity may break every bone 

 in our bodies. We spread our sails to the winds and 

 they become our faithful servitors, yet the winds 

 may drive us into the jaws of the breakers. How 

 are our lives bound up and identified with the mer- 

 ciless forces that surround us! Out of the heart of 

 fate comes our freedom; out of the reign of death 



17 



