“To him who in the love of Nature holds communion with her visible forms, she speaks a various language."
William Cullen Bryant
To such an one who knows the delicate sound of her going and divines her moods, certainly there is no need of an almanac to let him know spring has come. The intimations are in the air-there are no exact or fixed impressions confirmed by the senses really definite enough to be reported, yet there is that inner consciousness of her presence. A flurry of snow or sharp wind cannot change it. A subtle vibration, thrilling and penetrating, reaches the heart, which in turn tells us spring has come. “To every man is given a measure of faith.” It is through the exercise of this element in our makeup that we dare to launch out upon the unseen and “with the heart believe” what is impossible to have reported to us through our sense perception. Faith has to do with the heart (fully as important a factor as the head). Often this is the only means of apprehending truths so delicate and spiritual as to wholly escape the analysis of reason, and if ever known at all, must be learned through the heart. Faith refuses to be governed by the things seen, but by the Word of God, and may be likened to a sixth sense, which moves beyond the realm of the seen and penetrates into the realm of the spirit. In the many phases of spiritual development and culture, “it is with the heart man believeth” before there are outward and visible signs to confirm his faith. The divine certitude of faith defies analysis and rests in the heart. It is not the heart’s business either to explain how, or substantiate by visible proof.