The Useof Evil,^197
youfindthat wheretherewasagrindingglacier
there Is now a newchannel, a channel which
has been dug out of the mountain side and
through the plainsby Its giant action, and as
you watch you find water collecting in this
channel andgradually more and moreflowing
into it, until where there was the destructive
action of the ice thereis a great river fullof
life-givingwater; andasthewaterflowsdown
through the plain vegetation springs up onthe
banks,andgreatcitiesarebuilding,foodcanbe
grownforkeepingupthe lifeof man,treesare
growingluxuriantly,andhumanhomesareseen,
andhappinessoneveryside. But whatwould
have been man's lot without that previous
evolution? We can see that unless the dis-
turbing agency had had full sway in these
earlier growths of life you would never have
had the later; so you cannot call that evil.
There is nothing evil in Itself, for these are
simpledestructiveand attractiveforcesatwork,
andthe Beingwhoisthesourceof all life,the
greatOne, the Lord, is known sometimes as
the Destroyer and sometimes as the Regener-
ator,for, untilthelowerisdestroyedthehigher
cannot be born, and every death is but the
loweraspectof ahigherbirth.
But if we turn to man, to those who have