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Article THE POETIC INTERPRETATION OF NATURE.* ← Page 2 of 6 →
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The Poetic Interpretation Of Nature.*
Upon which Ave may very Avell ask another question , " What do you mean by Nature ? Is it merely the material world by Avhich Ave are surrounded that you mean ? Is it some vital principle permeating that circumscribing mass of matter ? Or is it a something still further beyond , a guiding ancl controlling Master . " To this question , if Ave read Principal Shairp aright , he gives us the ansAver , that AA-e should give ourselves . It is ultimately the last of these that speaks to us in Nature ' s silent teaching ; it is through Nature ' s teaching that we hear the voice of Nature ' s God . Here the casual observeror
, the man Avhose soul Nature is powerless to move , might break in upon our meditations , by denouncing them as mere flights of fancy , at best a harmless diversion , at worst a foolish delusion , at all events ancl in any case , a sheer Avaste of time . Surely such an one would overlook all previous experience and ignore all teaching , both human ancl
divine . What do we read of Isaac , but that he " Avent out to meditate in the field at eventide " 1 as though it Avere in that temple Nature-framed that he could best hold communion Avith his God . In the solitude of Bethel , again , it was , Avith no other eye than his to behold the heaven-sent vision , that Jacob recognized the " house of God ancl the gate of heaven . " In the Avild region of Midian , that Moses learned his uncompromising sternness of purpose . In the mountain-fastnesses of Carmel , that Elijah ' s
rugged character Avas formed . Ancl in the solitary Avilderness of Jordan , that the Baptist Avas trained for his great career as the fore-runner of the Lord . Enoch , again , " walked Avith God " ; and was it not this walking , rather apart from the busy haunts of men than in the midst of the city's hum , so resembling the communing of the Almighty Father with His child in Eden , which ended in his translation to the immediate presence of God ? Our Craft teaches us that no little portion of our duty is the study of the hidden
mysteries of Nature and of Science . Why ? Because the Great Kuler of our Craft Avell knows that our ultimate knoAvledge of these is as conducive to man ' s happiness as to his welfare ; and so our Craft , whilst putting into our hands that Volume of the Sacred LaAV , lays open too before our eyes the great Volume of Nature . Nor does our Christianity , of Avhich our Craft is but the precept put into active practise , do otherwise , Witness how the Volume of the Law refers us to the page of Nature ' s book : — " Go to the ant , " says our Grand Master Solomon , " and be wise !" " Consider the lilies , " says the Lord of all Life , " Solomon in all his glory Avas not arrayed like one of these : if God so clothe the grass of the field .. . shall he ' not much more clothe you ?"
Christ , then , directed the continuous attention of His disci ples to the handiAvorks of the Creator , and invariably used it , as a never-ending source of illustration , Avhen He Avould impress some lesson upon them that He desired to be as permanent as impressive . Witness His Parables , notably those of "The Wheat and the Tares , " and of " The SoAver . " But there is one fact of Avhich the student of Nature must not be unobservant , and that is , that our Lord never failed to sb ow the Billing PoAver ; He might speak of
the growth of the Avheat and the tares , those representatives of souls in accord Avith God or in revolt against Him , together until the harvest , but He did not neglect to speak of the Lord of the Harvest ; He might draAv a forcible picture of the various soils , those types of the varied hearts of men , upon Avhich the good seed might fall , but He did not omit to speak of the SoAver of that seed . Once more , then , if ive ivould read the lore of Nature ' s lessons ari ght , Ave must recognise as the ultimate teacher , the ever-presont Governor who Avas ancl is the Maker of it all . This seems to be Principal Shairp ' s view , for he quotes Wordsworth approvingly : —
"Those vague instincts come to man from a divine source , and are given to him not merely foi pleasure ' s sake , but that he may condense them into permanent principles , by thought , by the faithful exercise of the affections , by contemplation of Nature , and by high resolve—" and it is this principle thus drawn out ancl approved of , that g ives the book its value in these days of Scepticism , Pantheism , Paganism , Anythingism , in fact , but an outspoken ancl honestly-expressed belief in the revelation of Himself b y the True ancl Living God Most High .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Poetic Interpretation Of Nature.*
Upon which Ave may very Avell ask another question , " What do you mean by Nature ? Is it merely the material world by Avhich Ave are surrounded that you mean ? Is it some vital principle permeating that circumscribing mass of matter ? Or is it a something still further beyond , a guiding ancl controlling Master . " To this question , if Ave read Principal Shairp aright , he gives us the ansAver , that AA-e should give ourselves . It is ultimately the last of these that speaks to us in Nature ' s silent teaching ; it is through Nature ' s teaching that we hear the voice of Nature ' s God . Here the casual observeror
, the man Avhose soul Nature is powerless to move , might break in upon our meditations , by denouncing them as mere flights of fancy , at best a harmless diversion , at worst a foolish delusion , at all events ancl in any case , a sheer Avaste of time . Surely such an one would overlook all previous experience and ignore all teaching , both human ancl
divine . What do we read of Isaac , but that he " Avent out to meditate in the field at eventide " 1 as though it Avere in that temple Nature-framed that he could best hold communion Avith his God . In the solitude of Bethel , again , it was , Avith no other eye than his to behold the heaven-sent vision , that Jacob recognized the " house of God ancl the gate of heaven . " In the Avild region of Midian , that Moses learned his uncompromising sternness of purpose . In the mountain-fastnesses of Carmel , that Elijah ' s
rugged character Avas formed . Ancl in the solitary Avilderness of Jordan , that the Baptist Avas trained for his great career as the fore-runner of the Lord . Enoch , again , " walked Avith God " ; and was it not this walking , rather apart from the busy haunts of men than in the midst of the city's hum , so resembling the communing of the Almighty Father with His child in Eden , which ended in his translation to the immediate presence of God ? Our Craft teaches us that no little portion of our duty is the study of the hidden
mysteries of Nature and of Science . Why ? Because the Great Kuler of our Craft Avell knows that our ultimate knoAvledge of these is as conducive to man ' s happiness as to his welfare ; and so our Craft , whilst putting into our hands that Volume of the Sacred LaAV , lays open too before our eyes the great Volume of Nature . Nor does our Christianity , of Avhich our Craft is but the precept put into active practise , do otherwise , Witness how the Volume of the Law refers us to the page of Nature ' s book : — " Go to the ant , " says our Grand Master Solomon , " and be wise !" " Consider the lilies , " says the Lord of all Life , " Solomon in all his glory Avas not arrayed like one of these : if God so clothe the grass of the field .. . shall he ' not much more clothe you ?"
Christ , then , directed the continuous attention of His disci ples to the handiAvorks of the Creator , and invariably used it , as a never-ending source of illustration , Avhen He Avould impress some lesson upon them that He desired to be as permanent as impressive . Witness His Parables , notably those of "The Wheat and the Tares , " and of " The SoAver . " But there is one fact of Avhich the student of Nature must not be unobservant , and that is , that our Lord never failed to sb ow the Billing PoAver ; He might speak of
the growth of the Avheat and the tares , those representatives of souls in accord Avith God or in revolt against Him , together until the harvest , but He did not neglect to speak of the Lord of the Harvest ; He might draAv a forcible picture of the various soils , those types of the varied hearts of men , upon Avhich the good seed might fall , but He did not omit to speak of the SoAver of that seed . Once more , then , if ive ivould read the lore of Nature ' s lessons ari ght , Ave must recognise as the ultimate teacher , the ever-presont Governor who Avas ancl is the Maker of it all . This seems to be Principal Shairp ' s view , for he quotes Wordsworth approvingly : —
"Those vague instincts come to man from a divine source , and are given to him not merely foi pleasure ' s sake , but that he may condense them into permanent principles , by thought , by the faithful exercise of the affections , by contemplation of Nature , and by high resolve—" and it is this principle thus drawn out ancl approved of , that g ives the book its value in these days of Scepticism , Pantheism , Paganism , Anythingism , in fact , but an outspoken ancl honestly-expressed belief in the revelation of Himself b y the True ancl Living God Most High .