The  modern  scientific  mind,  quite  as  imaginative
—  if  not  more  so  —  as  the  typical  theological  mind,
never  gets  mired  in  such  contradictions  or  tangled
up  in  such  childish  anthropomorphism.  Such  con-
fusion arises  out  of  the  habit  of  mind  which  sees  the
whole  creation  directed  to  man;  his  good  is  its  one
object  and  aim,  and  when  his  good  suffers,  some-
thing has  miscarried.  The  cruel  and  destructive
things  in  nature  can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the
theory  that  some  aboriginal  calamity,  like  the  fall
of  man,  had  visited  the  world  before  God  took
charge  of  things.
The  naturalist  sees  this  as  the  best  possible  world,
sees  that  Nature  is  not  an  indulgent  stepmother,
but  a  strict  disciplinarian;  that  the  good  and  well-
being  of  all  is  her  aim;  that  suffering  and  defeat
are  relative;  that  God's  ways  to  man  are  not  justi-
fied in  a  day  or  a  week,  or  in  this  place  or  that,  but
require  ages  and  continents  to  come  to  their  full
fruition.  The  good  and  the  evil  that  will  come  out  of
the  terrible  World  War  will  not  all  be  apparent  this
year,  or  next,  but  only  in  the  perspective  of  history
269


ACCEPTING  THE  UNIVERSE

—  in  the  sum  total  of  human  progress  of  the  ages.
Such  a  view  is  a  slap  in  the  face  of  our  egotism
which  demands  instant  returns,  and  which  makes
the  individual  supreme.
