Course 1, Chapter 11: Knowledge of God — God considered in his works. End of the sixth day of the Creation

1. What does the ant teach us?

The ant, like all other creatures, teaches us to glorify God. It teaches us also to use forethought and industry in our labor; finally, it teaches the tenderness parents should have for their chilt^en, and the care they should take of their education.

2. AVhat do the bees teach us?

The bees teach us to respect our superiors, to love and aid our neighbor. They also invite us to thank their Creator and our own, for it is by his or ders and for us they make their honey.

3. What does the silk worm teach us?

The silk worm teaches us: 1 st. How great is the power of God, who from a simple worm produces a source of riches for whole provinces. 2d. How agreeable humility is to God, since in reliirion, as in nature, he makes use of the little and the humble to perform his greatest works. 3d. How foolish we are to take pride in our dress, since the most costly dresses are only the cast-off clothes of a worm.

4. What service do the reptiles and wild animals rcmlcr us?

58 CATECHISM OF PERSEVERANCE.

A. The reptiles and wild animals render us many services. They teach us to respect and fear God, whose power has created so many terrible, animals, and whose paternal arm, which keeps them confined to the deserts and rocks, could let them loose, whenever he pleases. They also furnish us with costly furs, and eat up the dead bodies of other animals, which if not removed from the earth would corrupt the air.

5. What should we think of those things which we cannot comprehend in nature?

We should think: 1 st. That like the rest, they are the work of a God infinitely good and infinitely wise. 2d. That they are useful, because they form a part of the creation, of which they help to make up the whole. 3d. They make us know and feel our ignorance, and teach us to believe the mysteries of religion. 4th. That a great number of them exercise our virtue, expiate our sins, and thus contribute to our sanctification, which is the object God proposed to himself in creating the world.

6. What is meant by saying, all is harmony in the world?

In saying that all is harmony in the world, we mean that all the parts of the universe have reference the one to the other; that they pre-suppose one an other, and that, like the wheels of a watch, they are interlinked with one another, and that if the smallest thing should be added to or taken from it, the equilibrium would be destroyed, and neither order nor beauty would remain.

7. In what light should we look upon the world?

We should look upon the world as a book in which God has written his existence, his goodness, his wisdom, his power; our duty towards him, towrards our neighbor and towards ourselves. If we know how to read this beautiful book, we shall see God present everywhere, and this thought will sanctify us, by filling us with respect, confidence and love.