And
why? Because love can only love what is somewhat like itself, He made
all things according to the idea of His own eternal mind. Because He is
unchangeable, and a God of order and of law, He made all things according
to one order, and gave them a law which cannot be broken, that they might
continue this day as they were at the beginning, serving Him and
fulfilling His word. Because He is a God of justice, He made all things
just, depending on each other, helping each other, and compelled to
sacrifice themselves for each other, and minister to each other whether
they will or not. Because He is a God of beauty, He made all things
beautiful, of a variety and a richness unspeakable, that He might rejoice
in all His works, and find a divine delight in every moss which grows
upon the moor, and every gnat which dances in the sun. Because He is a
God of love, He gave to every creature a power of happiness according to
its kind, that He might rejoice in the happiness of His creatures. And
lastly, because God is a spirit--a moral and a rational Being--therefore
He created rational beings to be more like Him than any other creatures,
and constituted the services of men and angels in a most wonderful order,
that they might reverence law as He does, and justice as He does--that
they might love to be loving as He loves, and to be useful as He is
useful--that they might rejoice in the beauty of His works as He rejoices
in them Himself; and, catching from time to time fuller and fuller
glimpses of that Divine and wonderful order according to which He has
made all things and all worlds, may see more and more clearly, as the
years roll on, that all things are just, and beautiful, and good; and
join more and more heartily in the hymn which goes up for ever from every
sun, and star, and world, and from the tiniest creature in these worlds:
"Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for Thou
hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.
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