A naturalis's proof of God

First, consider man’s cruelty to the animal. The horse–and-buggy era reveals too much cruelty. Also, the wholesale destruction of the wolf and prairie dog. Forty years of unparalled slaughter rid the plains of the great bison. But according to the naturalist, Edwin Way Teale, "In the whole revolting story of man’s inhumanity to feeling creatures of the earth, the record of the passenger pigeon forms one of the darkest pages."

Next, contrast nature’s beauty. Consider what Teale calls, "Nature’s eternal employment of what appeals to us as beauty for the attainment of her ends." He writes that "a week-old fawn may be the most beautiful of all the world’s beautiful and appealing wild creatures." Who can not agree encountering new innocence in spotted form viewing the world from behind liquid, brown eyes? W.H. Hudson contributes his opinion of the upland plover - "the mystery of that delicate, frail, beautiful being, traveling in the sky, alone, day and night, crying aloud at intervals as if moved by some powerful emotion, beating the air with its wings..."

How do we explain the chasm between nature’s beauty and what’s possible and probable in cruelty from men? Human beings are at a distinct disadvantage unless we utilize our higher power to ‘see’ beauty around us and act accordingly. Another naturalist, Richard Jefferies concludes that "the hours when the mind is absorbed by beauty are the only hours when we really live." When we ‘really live,’ we recognize the presence of God.