dwelt in them? Are our
rivers, many of them laden with the filth
of sewage and factory, and our ever expanding
cities and towns, covering miles with
piles of brick and mortar, their inhabitants
crammed into the smallest living quarters,
honeycombed with sewers below, and resounding
with rattle and danger above·--are
these really "improvements"
on the Divine and natural order of things?
You are fortunate when
you grow to a live, tender, earnest love
for the wild trees, animals and birds,
and recognize then all as coming from
and built of the same mind and spirit
as your own, and able also to give you
something very valuable in return for
the love you give
them. The wild tree is not irresponsive
or regardless of a love like that. Such
love is not a myth or mere sentiment.
It is a literal element and force going
from you to the tree. It is felt by the
spirit of the tree. You represent a part
and belonging of the Infinite Mind. The
tree represents another part and belonging
of the Infinite Mind. It has its share
of life, thought and intelligence. You
have a far greater share, which is to
be greater still--and then still greater.
Love is an element which
though physically unseen is as real as
air or water. It is an acting, living,
moving force, and in that far greater
world of life all around us, of which
physical sense is unaware, it moves in
waves and currents like those of the ocean.
There is a sense in the
tree which feels your love and responds
to it. It does not respond or show its
pleasure in our way
or in any way we can now understand. Its
way of so doing is the way or the Infinite
Mind of which it is a part. The ways of
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