Page:The Philosophy of Creation.djvu/326

 manent, must not the uses of the sun to the earth that are still greater and prior be equally lasting? The use of providing creative forces with material to be formed and reformed perpetually into bodies, can not be less enduring than the creative forces, which all concede are eternal. As uses rule over all, and are constant in nature, what seems to suggest final destruction in reality confirms the opposite. This appears with the greatest clearness when the relation that man and nature bear to each other is observed.

The human body draws for its structure and sustenance from all the degrees in nature. It is an organization in correlation with nature. Man feels nature's objects, tastes its substances, smells its odors, hears and breathes in its air, sees by its ether, and is nourished by its products. Thus nature responds to the needs of the body. Still more extensively is nature adapted to his mind. In response to his desires her laws yield him the sciences, and instruct him in art. She provides him material and conditions that he may realize his endeavors in his work. As he advances and needs new power, secret forces are found to serve the new demand. Indeed, nature is observed to be a vast reservoir of forces satisfying all his demands upon her. She is a