“The Lord is good to all; and His tender mercies are over all His works." (Psalm 114:9.)SA 114:9{
JUNE has been called "the month of roses," and whether we walk in the fields or linger in the shade of the pleasant arbor, half-hidden as it is by the climbing stems of rose and woodbine, we shall hardly fail I think, to enjoy our out-of-door lesson with birds and flowers for our school-books.
Suppose we vary our plan somewhat to-day. Let us each choose a flower, and learn all that we can about it. Elsie has already made her choice and gathered a daisy from the lawn, saying, “It’s just a simple, little flower, but she thinks it is pretty."Yes, Elsie, poets have sung of the “wee, modest, crimson-tipped flower," but, perhaps, we shall find it not quite so simple as at first sight it seems to be. What looks like only one blossom is composed of many, perhaps two hundred, although there may be more or less, each one perfect in itself. We shall hardly need to be told that our daisy belongs to the composite, or compound-headed order of plants, a family so large that we are told by botanists, that one out of every ten of the flowering plants known to them belongs to this order.
Look closely at your daisy and you will see that it is composed of three circles, one within the other; the first is pale green, in most flowers it would be called the calyx, but in the daisy it is really an envelope, enclosing a whole crowd of tiny flowerets. Next comes a double circle of white ray-like petals, often tipped with red; last, but not least, a bright yellow disc, “a golden gem in a silver cup."“What a crowd of flowers!" Yes, but they all spring from one root, grow from one stem, and are held together by one envelope, and, as we look at it, we are reminded of what we sometimes hear called, "church truth." What Scripture calls the Church, is not, as many people think, a building of brick, or stone, but a posy, of which all true believers, even the youngest, forms a part. Each receives life from Christ, and nothing can change His love, because it is eternal. The Apostle, Paul, in more than one of his letters, speaks of this wonderful truth. If you get your very own Bible and read Eph. 4:4, 64There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; (Ephesians 4:4)
6One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:6); and 1 Cor. 12:1212For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12) to 27, the written Word of God will explain this wonderful truth to you much better than I can.
But the Daisy may teach us another, even if a more homely lesson, that of contentment. It never frets or worries about where it grows, it is content to be just what it is—a little flower:
“With petals softly closing at twilight's dewy hour.”
The children love to gather it, and, if only air and sunshine are to be had, it is at its best everywhere. Are we always content with the place in which the Lord has put us? I am afraid not; and yet, if we have even just begun to love the Lord Jesus, we shall be ready to say,
“I would not have the restless will
That wonders to and fro,
Seeking some mighty thing to do,
Or secret thing to know;
I would be treated as a child,
And guided where I go.”
Have you ever watched a daisy closing its petals, as the shadows lengthen, and the dew begins to fall? You see less of the crimson, then the white rays close slowly till the golden disc is hidden, and, lastly, the green envelope enfolds the whole, till the flower looks only like a tiny bud; but it will not suffer from the chilling frosts, or cold night winds; and, surely, we shall find in it a little picture of the Family of God. Kept, by a Father's Hand, till “the long, dark night, is past," and the morning breaks, “a morning without clouds.”
Sometimes, on a bright moonlight night, when the daisy should be asleep, it is wide awake, and seems to be enjoying the rays of moonlight. The moon has no light of its own, but reflects that of the absent sun; and so Christians are to be a reflection of The Absent One—of Christ. But, it is only as we are "Looking unto Jesus," in the place where He now is, that we can in any little way reflect His beauty; if we are looking at ourselves, or at one another, even at our fellow-Christians, those around will not see much of the grace of Christ in our words and ways.
Now gather a dandelion. How did it get its name, "dent. de-leon?" From the shape of its petals, which are not unlike the teeth of a lion.
Some years ago there lived in one of the cities of Italy, a great artist. His fame as a painter had spread far and wide; and his studio was always crowded; young men, who, as they wished to be artists also, were glad to be taught by one who was such a master of his art. One day the master said, “Now I am going to give you all a test of progress. I wish you all to go to a certain picture-gallery, where you will find many beautiful pictures. You are each to choose one, and make a careful copy of it. I leave you quite free as to your choice. Take pains with your work, for one day, I do not say when, I shall inspect your paintings, and decide not only who has the most correct copy, but who has made the best choice.”
The students soon reached the gallery; one quickly found his model, saying of a picture that had taken his fancy, “That’s not very difficult; I am sure I can copy that."He was soon at work, with canvas and brushes. A second and third, also chose their models; but one, though he saw many beautiful pictures, had not found one that quite satisfied him. He walked to the far end of the gallery, and there hung the masterpiece; a picture so beautiful that for some time he stood silent and still, admiring its beauty. At last, he said, “I can never hope to paint like that, but it shall be my model; I will copy nothing else.”
True to his promise, the master came at length. He had a word for each, but when he reached the spot where the young man sat, so intent on the copy of his masterpiece that he had not noticed his approach, the student rose hastily, exclaiming, "Oh, sir! Don't look at my daub; look at this painting. Did you ever see anything so beautiful? Look at the folds of that robe, the expression of that face; the beautiful blending of colors in the whole. The more I look at it, the more I feel how poor and faulty my work is.”
The master laid his hand kindly upon the youth, saying, “You are the man for me; yours is the best choice; you will one day be a great artist, for you have an eye for perfection.”
I wonder if my little story will help any dear boy or girl to understand what I mean by speaking of taking Christ as our Model? The more by faith, we behold that Altogether Lovely One, the more we shall feel how far we come short. Still, it is a great thing to be able even to desire to say, with Paul, “this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and pressing forth unto those things which are before." (Phil. 3:1313Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, (Philippians 3:13).) To have a Perfect Model, Christ in glory.
But our talk about the Daisy has taken us further than I intended and Nora gathers a rose, saying as she does so,
“The rose has one powerful virtue to boast,
Above all the flowers of the field;
When its beauty is gone, and fine colors are lost,
How sweet a perfume it will yield.”
And Nellie, who has brought her pocket Bible, reads, “I am the Rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys."(Song of Sol. 2:11I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys. (Song of Solomon 2:1).) and asks, "Is Christ speaking in this verse?” Many Christians have thought so; but, of late years the Lord has been giving His people clearer light on some passages of Scripture, and it seems to be more the response or answer of the Church to the love of her Lord; knowing that she is fair and precious in His sight, and looking on to that day when His cup of joy shall be full, when His blood-bought Church shall share His glory, and His throne, for
“There made ready are the mansions, Glorious,
Glorious, bright, and fair,
But the Bride the rather gave Him,
Still is wanting there.”
Mildred asks if the Sunflower does not belong to the same family as the Daisy? Yes, it is made up of a great number, sometimes hundreds of very small flowers, each one complete in itself, and each having a seed-vessel of its own. An old German poet has drawn a beautiful lesson from its habit of always following the course of the sun:—
“As the sunflower ever turning
To the mighty sun,
With the faithfulness of fealty
Following only One.
So make me, Lord, to Thee.”
Time will not allow us to do more to-day than take a somewhat hasty peep into "Birdland," but Grace wants to know if I can tell her anything about the homes and habits of the Water-Wagtail, as she has a pleasant memory of, during her summer holiday, when having tea on the beach at Studland, near Swanage, being greatly interested in watching the half-shy, half-saucy ways of a whole family of these pretty birds, who came to share the meal, and made themselves quite at home, as they hopped about, picking up crumbs.
The Water, or, as it is sometimes called, the Pied-Wagtail seems to be a general favorite. Its dainty plumage and graceful form give it a special place among our feathered friends. It is not quite easy to say where we shall or shall not find its nest; but most likely it will not be more than a few feet from the water's edge; sometimes hidden in a clump of tall grass, or built in a hole in a wall, or beneath some over-hanging ledge or rock. The nest is very neatly and carefully built, fine grass, moss, and the fibers of roots being used; the inside has a soft lining of horse-hair and feathers.
Two broods are reared during the nesting season. The eggs are five or six in number, of a blue-gray shade, spotted with gray and brown. Sometimes the markings are all over the shell, but at others only at the larger end. A pair of Wagtails will often return to their old homes, and build in or near the same place year after year.
The Gray Wagtail is a very near relation of the Pied or Water Wagtail, but, though it too loves to build near a stream or river, it may often be seen in the early months of summer on some common, or open hillside; the parent birds busily engaged in attending to the wants of their small, but hungry, family of five or six wee birdies. The nest in which five or six eggs of a greyish-white are laid, sometimes having a pale yellow tinge, are speckled or spotted with a darker gray, and sometimes have a circle of brown spots at the wider end, is nicely built of fine grass, wool and roots, and so carefully hidden, often in some prickly clump of bramble or thorn-bush that it is by no means easy to find.
The first brood is generally out of the nest by the end of May or early in June.