her home, she left it as soon as
she was able to make her own
hrrxrsosc living.
Often girls, and boys too, who leave
home before they have bridged their
adolescence, have a hard time to adjust
themselves to the hardships of the world,
so, home should by all accounts be a place
where young people can stay until they
are mature enough and experienced enough
to face life and cope with it successfully.
In Lida’s case the father and mother
separated when the girl was eleven or
twelve years old, and she went away to a
distant city where her mother was in busi-
ness. Here she found a certain measure
of peace, at least from family quarrels;
but an irascible mother kept her in a state
of fear and dread. There were hours, long
hours, when she could browse among her
books and go on long walks into the woods.
Always, however, back in her mind was
the consciousness that her home was not
like the homes of most of her schoolmates.
She had something to hide. An unsuccess-
ful home had been flaunted in the face of
her old world, and in this new place, she
permitted people to think that her father
had died; for she felt that she could not
stand the gossip and remarks occasioned
by a knowledge of the real state of af-
fairs.
How she envied the girls whose homes
were complete! With eager, hungry eyes
she watched her friend Jannet Carrol as
she accompanied her father to the school
where he was principal. Somehow a father
Page SIXTEEN
Xx “Sometimes she
would board the
train and go back to
see Grandma Gil-
”)
man.
NAN 222.
777 SSS
of that kind gave
a person standing
and “face.”
Sometimes she
would board the
train and go back
to see Grandma
Gilman. Her fa-
ther had gone
back there to live
after his home was
shattered.
Grandma Gil-
man’s home was
peaceful, quiet, calm as it had always
been, and Lida’s father as gentle and
considerate as everyone else was there.
“Just grandmother’s influence,” Lida
thought as she grew older.
Since the separation Lida did not feel
much at home at her grandmother's. This
living with her mother created a feeling
in her heart that she did not belong to
grandmother any longer. Tossed from one
parent to the other, she became, in spirit,
a lone wanderer on the face of the earth.
Neither of her parents remarried, so that
the situation did not involve the complex
circumstances of a set of step-parents; but
home was spoiled for her.
When she was seventeen years of age,
opportunity came for her to enter a small
Christian college, and she accepted eagerly.
Here she found Christ, who came into her
heart and gave her that protection, guid-
ance, and love which had been denied her
all her life.
God intends that parents shall build a
secure, happy background for their chil-
dren. To use a hackneyed phrase, “Home
should be a little heaven on earth.” Yet
how few reach this stage of sheer delight!
Childhood should be filled with happy
memories of a loving mother and a sure,
dependable father. Bickering, unkindness,
anger have no place in any dwelling. An
old writer declares that the angels of God
flee away from a home where quarreling
and strife find a place.
If there are differences of opinion, they
LUNDITIONING
HE HOME
By May Cole Kuhn
should be discussed behind closed doors,
where the children do not hear. Open
eruptions of temper, fractious ‘speeches,
and abrupt contradictions have no place
in any home. If disagreements occur, they
should be relegated to privacy; and parents
should come to a happy, sensible solution
of a nature best for the whole family.
“I can’t do it,” someone remarks. “We
Just don’t agree on anything, and we can-
not find solutions to our difficulties.”
Christ can. He can and will solve any
problem, whether in the home or elsewhere.
He who bore the unsympathetic, unkind
remarks of the sons of Joseph, knows how
to bring comfort and wisdom to parents
beleaguered with the hundreds of cares,
enigmas, and questions of life today. He
who knew the love of a good mother, and
the rest and peace such mothers impart to
their homes, can put something into the
heart of every mother which will keep her
brave, and sweet, and strong: and He who
knows the protection, love, and guidance
of the great God more fully than any other
being can understand it, can teach human
fathers the way to protect, uplift, and
guide their families.
Only as the parents partake of the Christ
life can home become a place of joy and
light; and at the heart of it all is prayer.
They who really commune with God will
not quarrel; for prayer and contention have
nothing in common. They who pray for
the Spirit of Christ will find that He comes
in and dispels discontent, bad humor, sulki-
ness, grumbling, and vexation. The Branch
which sweetened the bitter waters of
Marah sweetens every bitter pool, and He
will make every home a happy place to
dwell in—if the dwellers will permit Him
to come in and abide with them. Then,
whether home be in a mansion or a humble
lodge, it will be a place of attraction and
charm.
Blessed the family that lives in this at-
mosphere with Christ.
What Is Your Future Task?
(Continued from page 5)
This spokesman of foreign ideologies
perverts the sacred liberties of democracy
into license to plot their downfall. He is
quick to claim the martyr’s crown when
his exercise of these liberties is challenged.
Any attempt by duly constituted law en-
The WATCHMAN MAGAZINE