A Blade of Grass.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XIII, Issue 6, 1 December 1922, Page 429

A Blade of Grass.

Three men, sitting On the verandah of a seaside hotel, were discussing religion. "Credulous and timid persons need religion," said one of the two younger men. "Without it they find life unbearable. Reason .has little or no hold upon them; reli.gion keeps them m line." "Religion is well enough m its place," said the other young man, "but that place grows smaller. Science tells us that the whole mystery of life can be explained m terms of matter." "Gentlemen," the older man, a well-known doctor, said gravely, ' ' what you say leads me to believe that you may be able to answer one or two questions that I have thought over for a long time. What makes a blade of grass green?" "It is merely a matter of vegetable salts," answered one of the younger men. "The kind and the variety of color depend simply on the proportions m which the salts are diffused.''' "That is probably true," replied the doctor. • ' ' Given a certain proportion of those coloring elements, as provided by the soil and selected by the plant, we get a green blade of grass. But how account for it?

We must remember that from all the varied properties of the soil the 'blade must select precisely that which it requires for its. own color.; we must remember too that what is true of the grass is true of the rose. The least mistake would bring about a like change m the plant. But rio mistake is ever made. How does science account for it?" . There was along silence that was broken at last by one of the young men. ' ' Why, doctor, that 's just plain instinct." "Does that answer really satisfy your own intelligence 1" asked the doctor. "What do you say?" he inquired, turning to the other man. . "That question, sounds simple enough, sir," was the reply, "but it goes deep. To tell the truth, I never thought of it m that way." ' ' And yet, gentlemen, ' ' said- the doctor, "though you have never thought deeply, as you say, of such simple everyday matters, you presume to belittle the province of religion m the world. My question about the blade of grass suggests that at the^ end of every path of human research God stands waiting. He is the only final answer to - any question. The plant shares His life; its strange and wonderful intelligence is a part of His wisdom, as its use and its beauty are a part of his loving purpose toward men. "