The worst is, that all the thinking in the world does not bring us to thought; we must be right by Nature, so that good thoughts may come before us like free children of God, and cry, “Here we are.”
A far more difficult task arises when a person’s thirst for knowledge kindles in him a desire to view nature’s objects in their own right and in relation to one another . . .he loses the yardstick which came to him and when he looked at things from the human standpoint.
In the human spirit, as in the universe, nothing is higher or lower; everything has equal right to a common center which manifests its hidden existence precisely through this harmonic relationship between every part and itself.
Whatever appears in the world must divide if it is to appear at all. What has divided seeks itself again, can return to itself and reunite. . .in the reunion of the intensified halves it will produce a third thing, something new, higher, unexpected.
But these attempts at division also produce many adverse effects when carried to an extreme. To be sure, what is alive can be dissected into its component parts, but from these parts it will be impossible to restore it and bring it to life again.
The things we call the parts in every living being are so inseparable from the whole that they may be understood only in and with the whole. Life as a whole expresses itself as a force that is not to be contained within any one part.
No living thing is unitary in nature; every such thing is a plurality. Even the organism which appears to us as an individual exists as a collection of independent living entities.
When in the exercise of his powers of observation man undertakes to confront the world of nature, he will first experience a tremendous compulsion to bring what he finds there under his control. Before long, however, these objects will thrust themselves upon him with such force that he, in turn, must feel the obligation to acknowledge their power and pay homage to their effects.
As soon as we observe a thing with reference to itself and in relation to other things, forswearing personal desire or aversion, we shall be able to regard it with calm attention and form a quite clear concept of its parts and relationships. The further we continue these observations, the more we are able to provide links between isolated things, and the more we are able to exert our powers of observation.