TIME AND CHANGE 



of trees, of shrubs, of grasses, of birds, of insects, 

 because Nature does not work as man does, with 

 an eye single to one particular end. She scatters, 

 she sows her seed upon the wind, she commits her 

 germs to the waves and the floods. Nature is in- 

 diflPerent to waste, because what goes out of one 

 pocket goes into another. She is indifferent to fail- 

 ure, because failure on one line means success on 

 some other. 



IV 



But I am not preaching much of a gospel, am I? 

 Only the gospel of contentment, of appreciation, of 

 heeding simple near-by things — a gospel the bur- 

 den of which still is love, but love that goes hand in 

 hand with understanding. 



There is so much in Nature that is lovely and lov- 

 able, and so much that gives us pause. But here it 

 is, and here we are, and we must make the most of it. 

 If the ways of the Eternal as revealed in his works 

 are past finding out, we must still unflinchingly face 

 what our reason reveals to us. '*Red in tooth and 

 claw." Nature does not preach; she enforces, she 

 executes. All her answers are yea, yea, or nay, nay. 

 Of the virtues and beatitudes of which the gospel of 

 Christ makes so much — meekness, forgiveness, self- 

 denial, charity, love, holiness — she knows nothing. 

 Put yourself in her way, and she crushes you; she 

 burns you, freezes you, stings you, bites you, or 

 devours you. 



262 



