Nature has manifold ways of illustrating
the parable of the ten pieces of money. Spiritual law is natural
law: "From him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken
away." Among plants as among souls, there are all degrees of
backsliders. The foxglove, which is guilty of only sly, petty
larceny, wears not the equivalent of the striped suit and the
shaved head; nor does the mistletoe, which steals crude food from
the tree, but still digests it itself, and is therefore only a
dingy yellowish green. Such plants, however, as the broomrape,
pinesap, beechdrops, the Indian pipe, and the dodder - which
marks the lowest stage of degradation of them all - appear among
their race branded with the mark of crime as surely as was Cain.
No wonder this degenerate hangs its head; no wonder it grows
black with shame on being picked, as if its wickedness were only
just then discovered! To think that a plant related on one side
to many of the loveliest flowers in Nature's garden- - the
azaleas, laurels, rhododendrons, and the bonny heather - and on
the other side to the modest but no less charming wintergreen
tribe, should have fallen from grace to such a depth! Its
scientific name, meaning a flower once turned, describes it
during only a part of its career.
Pages:
537
538
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561