These declarations of the sacred Scriptures are plain and to the point. To be a disciple of Christ is to have nothing to do with the world. If any further proof were needed of so plain a fact, we may find it in the baptismal service, where the catechumen is engaged by the most solemn promises to turn his back upon the world. But what this world is, that we are so strictly engaged to renounce, is not at first sight so clear. Is it the visible world, called nature, so full of instruction and rich in beauty, that we are to turn our backs upon? {161} Are we called upon in our character as Christians to close our eyes to the flowers, the mountains, the rivers, the glowing sunsets, and the stars of heaven? Are we bound to shut our ears to the murmuring winds, the music of the rivulet, and the songs of the birds? Are we to be counted Christians on the condition only of our shutting out from our senses that beauty, which surrounds us on all hands, of the visible world? What is there profane in nature when Holy Writ assures us that, "The Lord is holy in all his works." [Footnote 56] and that "_all things serve Him?_" [Footnote 57] [Footnote 56: Psalm cxliv., 13.] [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Psalm cxlv., 13.] [Footnote 57: Psalm cxviii., 91.] [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Psalm cxix., 91.] The royal prophet David was accustomed to open all the avenues of his soul to the beauty of nature, and, filled with admiration, he seems hardly able to contain his praise of Him by whom all things were made. "_O Lord our Lord, how admirable_," he exclaims, "_is thy name in the whole earth_." [Footnote 58] "_How great are thy works, O Lord! thou hast made all things in wisdom; the earth is filled with thy riches._" [Footnote 59] [Footnote 58: Psalm viii., 2.] [Footnote 59: Psalm ciii., 24.] [Transcriber's note: The USCCB reference is Psalm civ., 24.] {162} Our blessed Saviour himself chose to convey the great truths of his gospel by illustrations drawn from the visible creation. He calls our attention at one time to "the birds of the air," at another, it is to the golden "harvests," and then it is to "the lilies of the fields." He seems to have looked with an attentive and friendly eye upon the attractions of nature. "_Consider_," He says, "_the lilies of the fields, how they grow: they labor not, neither do they spin. And yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory, was arrayed like one of these._" [Footnote 60] [Footnote 60: St. Matt, vi., 28-29.]