space. I get no hope in this direction; but I look down, and find
that the shoulders of all inferior creation are under me, lifting
me into the very presence of God. I find that God has been at work
below me, in a mass of minute and munificent detail, by the side
of which my life is great and simple, and satisfyingly significant.

So, if I may not believe in a "pistareen Providence," I must make
a God of the universe itself, or pass into the hands of many Gods
the world's creation and governance. If the God that made the bee,
and the ant, and the daisy, made me, then He is not above taking
care of me, and of maintaining an interest in the smallest affairs
of my life. The faith that lives in reason is never stronger than
when it stands on flowers. There is not a fly that floats, nor a
fish that swims, nor an animalcule that navigates its little drop
of sea-spray, but bears a burden of hope to despairing humanity.
"If God so clothe the grass which to-day is, and tomorrow is cast
into the oven," then what, Mr. Emerson?

This subject is a very large one, and I can present only one more
phase of it. A great multitude--the larger part, in fact--of the
human race are engaged in doing small work. It may be a comfort
for them to know that the Almighty Maker of all things has done a
great deal of the same kind of work, and has not found it unworthy
or unprofitable employment. Let them remember that it is just as
hard to do a small thing well as a large thing, and that the
difficulty of a deed is the gauge of the power required for its
doing. Let them remember that when they go down, they are going
just as directly toward infinity as when they go up, and that
every man who works Godward, works in honor.