256 THE COMING OF MAN 



where it had been hiding before it showed itself in the 

 spark that flew from the pounded flints or in the Uttle 

 traiUng flame that came at the end of the twirUng 

 stick, they could not guess. 



As they wondered more and more about the 

 mystery of the fire, they began to worship it, for the 

 Spirit of God which is in all human beings longed to 

 reach above itself and its surroundings toward some 

 greater power. Fire was the greatest friend the earth 

 could give them, because without it they could not 

 have become civilized. But they had an unseen 

 Friend, closer even than the fire, and a giver of 

 greater gifts, for it was He who had given the fire, 

 and He had given also the power to learn how to use 

 it and how to make it. 



For thousands of years men worshiped the fire, 

 and the sun and the lightning which seemed to them 

 to be the sources of the fire. But God knew that they 

 were trying to reach Him, and He loved them and 

 helped them, for were they not His creatures? He 

 knew that they were feeUng for Him in obedience to 

 the impulse of His spirit within them. 



They were like children, those early people, and 

 had to learn so slowly for themselves those things 

 that we are taught by our parents and our teachers. 

 But because they did learn how to live in this won- 

 derful world, how to use its wealth, how to obey its 

 laws, and, finally, how to worship God aright, we are 

 able to live now, the people that we are, with all the 

 blessings that we enjoy. 



