George Washington Carver on being ardent students of nature
excerpt from George Washington Carver: In His Own Words “The Scientist as Mystic”
More and more as we come closer and closer in touch with nature and its teachings are we able to see the Divine and are therefore fitted to interpret correctly the various languages spoken by all forms of nature about us.
From the frail little mushroom, which seems to spring up in a night and perish ere the morning sun sinks to rest in the western horizon, to the giant red woods of the Pacific slope that have stood the storms for centuries and vie with the snow-capped peaks of the loftiest mountains, in their magnificence and grandeur.
First, to me, my dear young friends, nature in its varied forms are the little windows through which God permits me to commune with Him, and to see much of His glory, majesty, and power by simply lifting the curtain and looking in.
Second, I love to think of nature as unlimited broadcasting stations, through which God speaks to us every day, every hour and every moment of our lives, if we will only tune in and remain so.
Third, I am more and more convinced, as I search for truth that no ardent student of nature, can “Behold the lillies of the field”; or “Look unto the hills”, or study even the microscopic wonders of a stagnant pool of water, and honestly declare himself to be an Infidel.
To those who already love nature, I need only to say, pursue its truths with a new zest, and give to the world the value of the answers to the many questions you have asked the greatest of all teachers–Mother Nature.
To those who have as yet not learned the secret of true happiness, which is the joy of coming into the closest relationship with the Maker and Preserver of all things: being now to study the little things in your own door yard, going from the know to the nearest related unknown for indeed each new truth brings one nearer to God.
With love and best wishes,
G.W. Carver
