These words, then, seem to suggest the idea that the brooding of the Spirit may have some connexion with the formation of that ether which is indispensable to the manifestation of light, and probably to the operations of all force; and that, if so, the ether may also be the point at which, and the medium through which, Spirit acts upon Matter.  On the one hand, the facts that force, as used, is constantly in process of degradation, and that it is also constantly poured forth into space from the Sun and Planets in the shape of heat, and so lost to our system, seem to indicate that fresh supplies of it are continually needed; while, on the other hand, the supply of that need seems to be implied in the words, “By Him all things consist.”  “Upholding all things by the word of His Power.”

If this be so, we have a point up to which natural laws may possibly be traced, but at which they merge in the action of the Will of God, which is beyond our investigation.  Here, then, is a solution of that great difficulty, which those who are most familiar with the laws of nature have felt in reconciling the existence of those laws with a particular Providence and with the efficacy of Prayer, since we have here the point at which all forces and all laws begin to act, and at which, therefore, the amount of the force, and the direction of its action, are capable of unlimited modification, without any alteration of, or interference with, the laws by which that action is regulated, and consequently without the danger of introducing confusion into the Universe.

“And God said, ‘Let light be’ and light was.”  It has already been pointed out that these words differ from those used in describing any other creative act.  They are the only ones which seem to imply an instantaneous fulfilment of the command.  Another matter which has long since been observed, is their exact harmony with what science teaches us respecting the nature of light.  Light is not a material substance, but a “mode of motion.”  It consists of very small undulations propagated with inconceivable velocity.  Hence of it, and of it alone, it could not be correctly said that it was created.  To say that God made light would be inexact.  The words which are used exactly suit the circumstances of the case.  But the discovery of the correlation of forces has given to these words a much more extended significance, while at the same time it furnishes a satisfactory reason for their occurrence at this particular point.  So long as they were supposed to refer to light simply, they seemed out of place.  Light was not apparently needed till there were organisms to whose existence it was essential.  But we now know that to call forth light, was to call force in all its modifications into action.  It has been seen that matter and force are the two elements out of which everything that is discernible by our senses is built up.  The formation of matter has already been described in the original act of creation.  But till force