The lowing herd, the sheepfold’s simple bell;
The pipe of early shepherd dim descried
In the low valley; echoing far and wide
The clamorous horn along the cliffs above;
The hollow murmur of the ocean-tide;
The hum of bees, the linnet’s lay of love,
And the full choir that wakes the universal grove.”
After all, what is our real Environment? Most people would say, at once—the air, the building, the scenery, in which, and the people and paraphernalia among which, we happen to be at any time. And these are indeed part of our Environment.
But our true Environment is, first of all, the contents of our mind, and especially that part of the contents—whether memories or imaginations—to which we give most attention and interest; secondly, the Divine influence in which, whether we recognise it or not, we “live and move and have our being.”
And, chiefly, we live in whatever we think of or allow ourselves not to refuse as residents in our mind.