THE SUN A BUILDER by S. N. Haskell

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 3, 1898

THE SUN A BUILDER.

By S. N. Haskell

We have noticed some of the effects of sunshine. Many more might be noticed, all of which show the sun in its operations in nature. God made no mistake when He said, “The Lord God is a sun and shield.”

The sunshine, or heat and light from the sun, is the motive power which sets in operation nearly all the forces of life, and also many of the physical forces which are continually going on upon the face of the earth. Plant life is fed by the sun. The sun, shining upon the leaves of a plant, sets up a process of digestion, or absorption. It is a process by which carbonic-acid gas is taken in, and the carbon organized into woody structure, into starch and sugar, and the various elements which compose our foods.

The sun, therefore, becomes a builder not only of plants, trees, and vegetation generally, but furnishes food which builds the human system.

It penetrates the earth down to the rootlets of the trees. In the spring it sets in operation life in the roots of the sugar maple, and as the sap is on its way to nourish the branches and small twigs of the tree, the farmer steals and manufactures it into sugar. So the sunshine is the source of food for animals as well as plants.

Some plants have very singular habits. The flowers will open to the morning sun, and close when the sun disappears. Others will always turn face toward the sun, so as to gather as much of the vitalizing influence of the rays as possible. The sunflower until ripe follows the sun through the arch of heaven all the day long, and catches the last lingering rays at the close of the day. Some flowers are so sensitive to the sun, and so regular in their manifestations, that they constitute a floral clock, and it is possible by looking at the face of them, to tell the time of day. Is there not a spiritual lesson in all this? Is not Christ the bread of life? Should not our hearts be closed to darkness and unbelief, and open to the Sun of Righteousness? See Isa. 42:18–20.

The various colors of flowers, and the variety of colors in the single flower, are all painted by the rays of the sunlight. For the sunbeams have all the colors in them; and it is from this source that the green leaf, the crimson flower, the golden orange, get their hues.

The sunlight is also promotive of human life, but destructive to germs which are fatal to human beings. If we spend a large portion of time outdoors where the sun can shine upon us, these germs can not flourish. So is Christ. His rays destroy those germs which act like a canker to the soul. He placed the natural life in the sun, to build vegetation, to give beauty to flowers by their varied hues. A harmony in variety is characteristic of divinity. See 1 Peter 3:3, 4.

The sun is also essential in the production of

vegetable and animal life, that the great Master Builder might in this instruct us. Even thus by this light He will fit His people for the heavenly kingdom. “For every house is builded by some man, but He that built all things is God.” And ye “are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord; in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” Eph. 2:20–22. “Ye are God’s building.”

We can through this object-lesson of the blessings of the sun understand better that “godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.” It is by connecting the spiritual with these object lessons in nature, that we become transformed, and partakers of the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world through lust. “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue; whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:3, 4.

God never designed that man should simply appropriate to himself for selfish interests the things of this life, but that in these things he should see the divine, and learn the lesson which would fit the soul to reign in the kingdom of glory.

It is thus that science should be studied. The Bible contains the practical lessons of life, but it is only the interpreter of nature. It shows to the diligent observer Christ’s character, and in its operation are manifest divine lessons. True science and the Bible always harmonize; not only so, but science in the light of the Bible becomes to mankind an object lesson of the sublimest spiritual truths, revealing even deeper mysteries of the kingdom of God than words without nature can express.

S. N. HASKELL.