Ah what gratification there is in the word silence! On my journey I picked up an acorn and held it in the palm of my hand. I found it near the roots of the giant oak where it had fallen. I judged the age of the tree to be so great that it must have been a fair sized tree when George Washington was but a small boy.
As I stood there looking at the great tree, and its small embryonic offspring which I held in my hand, I realised that the tree had grown from a small acorn. I also realised that all the men living could not have built such a tree.
I was concious of the fact that some form of Intangible Intelligence created the acorn from which the tree grew, and caused the acorn to germinate and begin its climb up from the soil of the earth.
Then I realised that the greatest powers are the intangible powers, and not those which consist in bank balances or material things.
I picked up a handful of black soil and covered the acorn with it. I held in my hand the visible portion of the substance out of which that magnificent tree had grown.
At the root of the giant oak I plucked a fern. Its leaves were beautifully designed - yes, designed and I realised as I examined the fern that it, too, was created by the same Intelligence which had produced the mighty oak tree.
I continued my walk in the woods until I came to a running brook of clear, sparkling water. I sat near the brook to rest and listen to its rhythmic music, as it danced on its way back to the sea. I became consious of an unseen being - an intelligence - which told me the enchanting story of the running brook.
Water! Pure sparkling water. The same has been rendering service ever since this planet cooled off and became the home of man, beast and vegitation.
Water! Ah what a story you could tell. you have quenched the thirst of endless millions of earths wayfarers; fed the flowers; expanded into steam and turned the wheels of man-made machinery, condensing and going back again to your original form. You have cleaned the sewers, washed the pavements, rendered countless services to man and beast, returning always to your source in the seas, there to become purified and start your journey of service once again.
You cannot be created, nor can you be destroyed. you are akin to all life. Without your beneficence no form of life on this earth would exist!
And the water of the brook went rippling, laughing, on its way back to the sea.
Never before had I felt so keenly the significance of the evidence of natural law and order and purpose which revealed themselves in everything the human mind can perceive. Never before had I felt myself so near to the source of my faith in Infinite Intelligence.
I know my faith in Infinite Intelligence is real and enduring, It is not the blind faith in men. it is one based on close examination of the handiwork of Infinite Intelligence, and as such has been expressed in the orderliness of the universe.
I had been looking in the wrong direction for the source of my faith. I had been seeking it in the deeds of men, in human relationships, in bank balances and material things.
I found it in a tiny acorn, a giant oak tree, a small pebble, the leaves of a simple fern and the soil of the earth; in the friendly sun which warms the earth and gives motion to the waters, in the evening star, in the silence and calm of the great outdoors.
