It is to be feared that much of the force of God’s spirit is cut off
by the world’s atmosphere before it reaches a soul that is immersed in
worldliness:
The greatest difficulty in arriving at a correct conception of
the amount of heat received from the sun lies in the fact that
all such measures must be made at the earth’s surface. Before
reaching the apparatus the sun’s rays pass through many miles
of atmosphere; the heat and light are absorbed and only a small
portion of the original energy of the rays actually reaches
the surface and becomes effective in heating the water of our
apparatus.--CHARLES LANE POOR, “The Solar System.”
(1662)
* * * * *
In “One Word More” Browning tells us that Dante “once prepared
to paint an angel”; but “certain people of importance” broke in
upon him, and so, much to the poet’s and the world’s regret, we
can never see that angel he might have wrought.
Perhaps the very serious power of interruptions, and what we may
call their irreligiousness, has been too little appreciated.
Florence Nightingale recognized the possible harm done to an
invalid by making any abrupt change in his condition. “You may
suffocate him by giving him his food suddenly; but, if you rub
his lips gently with a spoon, and thus attract his attention,
he will swallow the food with perfect safety. Thus it is with
the brain.” Miss Nightingale adds acutely, “I have never
known persons who exposed themselves for years to constant
interruption who did not muddle away their intellects by it at
last.”
(1663)
See HAPPINESS.