Education
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 10: God in Nature
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So far as possible, let the child from his earliest years be placed
where the wonderful lesson book of nature shall be open before him.
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Upon all created things is seen the impress of the Deity.
Nature testifies of God. The susceptible mind, brought in contact with the
miracle and mystery of the universe, cannot but recognize the working of
infinite power. Not by its own inherent energy does the earth produce its bounties,
and year by year continue its motion around the sun. An unseen hand guides the
planets in their circuit of the heavens. A mysterious life pervades all nature—a
life that sustains the unnumbered worlds throughout immensity, that lives in
the insect atom which floats in the summer breeze, that wings the flight of the
swallow and feeds the young ravens which cry, that brings the bud to blossom
and the flower to fruit. {Ed
99.1}
The same power that upholds nature, is working also in man.
The same great laws that guide alike the star and the atom control human life.
The laws that govern the heart's action, regulating the flow of the current of
life to the body, are the laws of the mighty Intelligence that has the
jurisdiction of the soul. From Him all life proceeds. Only in harmony with Him
can be found its true sphere of action. For all the objects of His creation the
condition is the same—a life sustained by receiving the life of God,
a life exercised in harmony with the Creator's [100] will.
To transgress His law, physical, mental, or moral, is to place one's self out
of harmony with the universe, to introduce discord, anarchy, ruin. {Ed 99.2}
To him who learns thus to interpret its teachings, all
nature becomes illuminated; the world is a lesson book, life a school. The
unity of man with nature and with God, the universal dominion of law, the
results of transgression, cannot fail of impressing the mind and molding the
character. {Ed 100.1}
These are lessons that our children need to learn. To the little
child, not yet capable of learning from the printed page or of being introduced
to the routine of the schoolroom, nature presents an unfailing source of
instruction and delight. The heart not yet hardened by contact with evil is
quick to recognize the Presence that pervades all created things. The ear as
yet undulled by the world's clamor is attentive to the Voice that speaks
through nature's utterances. And for those of older years, needing continually
its silent reminders of the spiritual and eternal, nature's teaching will be no
less a source of pleasure and of instruction. As the dwellers in Eden learned
from nature's pages, as Moses discerned God's handwriting on the Arabian plains
and mountains, and the child Jesus on the hillsides of Nazareth, so the
children of today may learn of Him. The unseen is illustrated by the seen. On
everything upon the earth, from the loftiest tree of the forest to the lichen
that clings to the rock, from the boundless ocean to the tiniest shell on the
shore, they may behold the image and superscription of God. {Ed 100.2}
So far as possible, let the child from his earliest years be
placed where this wonderful lesson book shall be open [101] before
him. Let him behold the glorious scenes painted by the great Master Artist upon
the shifting canvas of the heavens, let him become acquainted with the wonders
of earth and sea, let him watch the unfolding mysteries of the changing
seasons, and, in all His works, learn of the Creator. {Ed 100.3}
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In no other way can the foundation of a true education be so
firmly and surely laid. Yet even the child, as he comes in contact with nature,
will see cause for perplexity. He cannot but recognize the working of
antagonistic forces. It is here that nature needs an interpreter. Looking upon
the evil manifest even in the natural world, all have the same sorrowful lesson
to learn—"An enemy hath done this." Matthew 13:28. {Ed 101.1}
Only in the light that shines from Calvary can nature's
teaching be read aright. Through the story of Bethlehem and the cross let it be
shown how good is to conquer evil, and how every blessing that comes to us is a
gift of redemption. {Ed
101.2}
In brier and thorn, in thistle and tare, is represented the
evil that blights and mars. In singing bird and opening blossom, in rain and
sunshine, in summer breeze and gentle dew, in ten thousand objects in nature,
from the oak of the forest to the violet that blossoms at its root, is seen the
love that restores. And nature still speaks to us of God's goodness. {Ed 101.3}
"I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the
Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil." Jeremiah 29:11. This is the
message that, in the light from the cross, may be read upon all the face of
nature. The heavens declare His glory, and the earth is full of His riches. {Ed 101.4}
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"Lessons of Life"
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