THE GOSPEL OF NATURE 
a broken pane, and it is none the wiser; it returns 
to the assault as vigorously as ever. 
The fossils in the rocks did not mean much to the 
earlier geologists. They looked upon them as freaks 
of Nature, whims of the creative energy, or vestiges 
of Noah’s flood. You see they were blinded by the 
preconceived notions of the six-day theory of crea- 
tion. 
Tir 
I do not know that the bird has taught me any 
valuable lesson. Indeed, I do not go to Nature to 
be taught. I go for enjoyment and companionship. 
I go to bathe in her as in a sea; I go to give my eyes 
and ears and all my senses.a free, clean field and to 
tone up my spirits by her “primal sanities.” If the 
bird has not preached to me, it has added to the re- 
sources of my life, it has widened the field of my 
interests, it has afforded me another beautiful ob- 
ject to love, and has helped make me feel more at 
home in this world. To take the birds out of my life 
would be like lopping off so many branches from the 
tree: there is so much less surface of leafage to absorb 
the sunlight and bring my spirits in contact with the 
vital currents. We cannot pursue any natural study 
with love and enthusiasm without the object of it 
becoming a part of our lives. The birds, the flowers, 
the trees, the rocks, all become linked with our lives 
and hold the key to our thoughts and emotions. 
Not till the bird becomes a part of your life can 
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