It did not seem like flower time. Within the fragrant dusk of the pine woods we walked softly over thick layers of pine needles. Silence was there,—silence unbroken, save for the sighing music of the trees,—and sleep; but no hint of awakening life. Yet, presently, kneeling down where the sun, sifting through the branches, made a golden place on the ground, we gently pulled away the brown needles; and there, in their delicate beauty, were the white and pink blossoms of the trailing arbutus.
All of us, at some time, reach a place in our earthly experience where materiality utterly fails us, and we wander wearily "as sheep which have no shepherd." Finally, humility companions with us, and we turn to God. At this point many of us are led to ask for help in Christian Science; and in the darkness of our extremity, we reach out for a clearer understanding of Him. Then the revelation comes to us: God is really present. We are aware of the reality of permanence. We feel strengthened; and become conscious, in a degree, of the ever present tenderness of divine Love. As the days, filled with learning more of God, go by, old errors slip away from us; fears are destroyed; and finally the distressing circumstance, which seemed such a burden, disappears from our thought, and we are free.
Thus we learn that God is infinite, ever present good, Life, Truth, and Love; that man is His image and likeness; and that the kingdom of heaven lies within us. No more dreary waiting for death to usher us into His presence that we may know Him! Job said, "Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace." Life stretches before us beautiful and inspiring; for, indeed, "old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Hopes, long buried perhaps, spring up in our consciousness. The harmony of creation sings to us, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." The truth is revealed to us. This is the springtime vision; for God, divine Mind, is recognized, in whose loving warmth all right thoughts and desires unfold for the benefit of all.
