GOD'S GIFT OF SUNLIGHT 



Do you remember what a great change came over 

 our earth when at last the sun pierced the thick fog 

 and began to shine directly upon it? What is the 

 sun, that it should have made so much difference in 

 the condition of the earth's surface? What does it 

 still do for our world? 



The first people who lived on the earth must have 

 noticed some of the things we see: that when the 

 sun shines, its beams are warm, even hot in summer; 

 that night comes when the sun disappears below 

 the horizon, and that the night is cooler than the 

 day. 



They noticed, too, that the sun must be far away, 

 because it was beyond the clouds, which seemed 

 quite far off themselves. In time they observed 

 that the sun seemed to change its course at different 

 seasons, sometimes climbing high up in the sky and 

 pouring down hot rays, sometimes going much lower 

 and sending dow^n slanting rays that seemed to 

 warm the earth very little. Probably it took a long 

 time for those early men to see the relation between 

 summer's heat and winter's cold, and the position 

 of the sun in the sky. They became used to the 

 changes and took them for granted, just as you 

 children do. 



But there came a time, as it comes to you, when 



308 



