This Is a Beautiful World

What is the secret of gladness? There are many things which help to make people glad. This is a beautiful world in which we live. When the work of creation was finished, God surveyed it and saw that it was very good . We do not think enough of what God has done for our pleasure in the way he has adorned this world, preparing it to be our home. He has spread loveliness everywhere. He has covered the fields with a luxuriance of vegetation . He has sown the earth with flowers .

The wonderful variety in nature — mountain and valley, lake, river, and stream — gives an added charm to the marvelous beauty. Then over all this splendor God has thrown a vast vaulted roof of blue, in which, when night comes, instead of black darkness, thousands of star-lamps are hung to pour their soft, quiet radiance over us while we sleep.

Many Bible scholars say that when Jesus speaks of the many mansions in the Father's house, he does not refer to Heaven only, but means that this world is one of the mansions, and Heaven is another. Thus earth is one apartment of the Father's house. Surely it is beautiful enough, glorious enough, for this. No doubt Heaven will be more lovely, more resplendent, than earth; for sin has left its marrings here on everything.

"The whole creation groans and travails together in pain." Earth's storms and earthquakes and floods and other calamitous events and occurrences, are in some mysterious way, a part of the fruit of sin. In the story of the fall we have hints of a sad change that came upon the earth in consequence of sin.

At least we know that the heavenly home will not have any of these sad things in it. Earth is not so beautiful nor so good as Heaven. Yet this is really one of the mansions of our Father's house in which we are now living, and its wondrous beauty and splendor ought to make us glad.

He who studies nature, and has an eye for its beauty — has found one of the secrets of gladness! There are scenes which have in them splendor enough to fill our hearts with rapture. He who has learned to see what is lovely in field and forest and landscape, has found an exhaustless resource of gladness!

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