Sm,—The energy which lives in a grain of wheat is
the same motive force as that which promotes any other action in life. When such a grain is buried in the soil, it refuses to remain entombed; it bursts at one end and begins immediately to breathe and nourish itself, send- ing its roots downward and its stem upward, until in due course the plant emerges from the soil with its green leaves beautiful to the eye and delicate to the touch. Then it erects its stalk, a marvel of architecture, hollow inside so that it may bend before the wind. At the head of this stalk are born ,the seeds which may, in turn, fall to the ground. The whole process could repeat itself in the same marvellous way again and again for ever and ever.
But man comes, scythe in hand, and the little grain's ordeal begins. It is beheaded, threshed, ground between heavy stones or in powerful machines, kneaded by rough hands, baked in the heat of the oven, cut with a sharp knife, and ground again between merciless teeth. Yet, in spite of this apparently manifold death, the life inherent in the little grain still survives. It enters into the blood stream of man, gives him health and strength, and, by sustaining his circulation, enables his brain to think over the problems of life and death, and over the ever- lasting problem of a grain of wheat itself.
If the life inherent in a small grain resists annihilation so success- fully, can anyone still believe that the life of man, at his departure from this earth, comes to a sudden and inexorable end ? Whether we read the Gospel or the book of Nature we find that the great principle of resurrection is everywhere manifest.—Yours faithfully,
Chesham Street. Beigrave Square, S.W.I. PAUL DE HEVESY.
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