Acts 3:2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful… It is among the mosses of the wall that the richest harvest of beauty and interest may be gathered. Well do I remember the bright July afternoon when their wonderful structure and peculiarities were first unveiled to me by one long since dead, whose cultured eye saw strange loveliness in things which others idly passed, and whose simple warm heart was ever alive to the mute appeals of the humblest wild flower or tiniest moss. There was opened up to me that day a new world of hitherto undreamt of beauty and intellectual delight; in the structural details of the moss which illustrated the lesson I got a glimpse of some deeper aspect of the Divine character than mere intelligence. Methought I saw Him, not as the mere contriver or designer, but in His own loving nature, having His tender mercies over all His works — displaying care for helplessness and minuteness — care for beauty in the works of nature. Small as the object before me was, I was impressed — in the wonder of its structure, at once a means and an end, beautiful in itself and performing its beautiful uses in nature — not with the limited ingenuity of the finite, but with the wisdom and love of an Infinite Spirit. To that one unforgotten lesson, improved by much study of these little objects alike in the closet and in the field, I owe many moments of pure happiness. (H. Macmillan, LL. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; |
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