--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - C. A. Madsen collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 4 number: 2 published: 1900-12 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'C. A. Madsen, "Beauty and Harmony in Organic Creations," *Improvement Era* 4, no. 2 (December 1900): 118–119.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0402unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0402unse start_page: 118 end_page: 119 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1900-12) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0402unse publication_year: 1900 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1900, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Beauty and Harmony in Organic Creations BEAUTY AND HARMONY IN ORGANIC CREATIONS. BY BISHOP C. A. MADSEN. And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. — (Genesis 1: 31.) What an endless and most interesting variety of form, contents and character is met where and whenever feeble man with his short-sighted view analyzes or tries to unravel the wonders and mysterious and glorious creations of God! When, inspired by the good Spirit, one beholds, for instance, the beautiful flowery kingdom, how it speaks in a most impressive, distinct and pure language! Through the discernment given through the Spirit of God, man may understand that language. The flowers are divine messengers from God, revealing to you, that the hands which created them, and which lift your soul into the realm of their creator, are divine; they declare that they are the productions of the heavenly Designer. They bring you nearer to God. Every plant is in itself a physical and chemical laboratory of most wonderful workmanship, and which feeble man can not imitate. And then the hidden life behind, which animates it! It is more wonderful than you can comprehend. You can see its manifestations, but you can not solve it. Life-power is to man a mystery. Thus far mayest thou go, but no farther. When the season of plant-life is passed, and the flowers and foliage fall before the blighting cold of the approaching winter, the effect upon your soul may be dismal, but your knowledge that the temporal, produc- BEUATY AND HARMONY IN ORGANIC CREATIONS. 119 tion which faded, was a messenger from the Father to remind you that the spiritual production is eternal and does not fade, strengthens your faith, hope and love in the Father of our spirits. Next spring and summer will again visit our globe, and then will the flower's mystic life again array itself in its temporal garb and put itself in touch with mortality and ^temporal life, and with its joyful appearance again strengthen your faith, your hope, your love in the loving Father of our spirits. Spiritually was created, let us remember, "every plant of the field, before it was in the earth; and every herb of the field before it grew." It is made to appear that great creators of worlds are in possession of intelligence and light of glory by which they know how to apply the eternal composition of spirit and matter— a law which the feeble comprehension of man can only see in part. It is made manifest, too, in all the creations which we behold, that the Gods are in possession of means wherewith to bring forth the life-giving power, as well as the physical. This is done to an extent, which broadens more and more, as we view it with only our poor, mortal sight. In looking at these things with human, humble and venerating worship, we fall down in almost crushing awe, feeling, 0 God! that we might be able, even in some small degree, to be partakers in the labor and joy, in which the Gods engage and live, in such intelligence and glory as we can only partially comprehend, and, as yet, only in small part obtain.