The Gospel of the Spirit in Nature

“By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens,” — Jos xxvi. 13.

(es HE heavens are garnished by the Spirit; y of the Son of man — the Spirit of the

Cross. The beauty of the heavens is the beauty of sacrifice. Nothing shines by its own light. The radiance of everything is a borrowed radiance; all things live by the life of others. One star differeth from another star in glory, yet the one cannot say to the other, “I have no need of thee.” The universe depends on each one as much as each one depends on the universe. If one of the least of these should perish there would be a crash of all worlds. What is that law which I call gravitation but the sign of the Son of man in heaven. It is the gospel of self-surrender in nature. It is the inability of any world to be its own centre, the necessity of every world to centre in something else. The eyes of all wait upon the Father, and He gives them their meat in due season, but He takes care that it is not the interest of any to receive its bread alone. The Power that has garnished the heavens is the Spirit of Him whose many members constitute one body.

O Thou that tellest the number of the stars, help me to realise that Thou callest them all by Thy name — the name that is above every name. Help me to see in the unity of the starry heavens a picture of that higher unity — our membership in Thee. I speak of the heavens declaring Thy ’ glory; what do I mean by that? What is Thy glory? Is it the splendour of lights and the blending of colours? Is it the flashing of comets and the radiance of suns? Is it the vastness of spaces and the immeasurableness of distances? All this is but a mechanician’s glory. Thou art a Spirit, and Thy glory must be the glory of a Spirit. The glory of a Spirit is sacrifice, and it is by telling of sacrifice that the heavens declare Thy glory. When I look up at the stars, it sometimes seems as if Thy gospel were a contradiction to nature; I say ‘‘ What is man that Thou art mindful of him?” Teach me that these stars are themselves the promise of Thy mindfulness. Teach me that the heavens themselves declare the wonders of the Cross. Inspire me with the thought that the beauty which I see in nature is the same beauty which

I behold in Calvary. Reveal to me that, alike in the firmament as on the earth, the many are made one by giving the one for the many; so shall I know that it is Thy Spirit that has garnished the heavens.