Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-12
a parent deserved to have ev..,.

aparent deserved to have eyerv o,o
MS children cherish, such a onsst;sA "
would be impossible. And if men u.o'l
what Gods children ought to he thae
would no more think of ever asl;ny
why they ought to love and obev HIS
n of asking why twice five ara tan
rather than twelve. 'en
But if the child's murmurino o,,es+
should be answered, we should ton M
that the relation he sustained to h;s
father, combined with that fathers
character, made his love and obedienoe
an imperative duty. All our dnt;es
grow out of our relations to others os
a plant grows out of its seed wban
properly related to soil and heat .nd
moisture. We sustain to our Govern
ment such relations as we do NOT to that
OF England or France, and therefore wa
allegiance to the United States as
we do not to either of them. We sus.
tain relations to u own families such
as we do not to any other about us.
and therefore u own families have
rightful claims upon us which no other
has. So the relation of parent and child
imposes upon each duties to the other
which do not exist where that relation
ship does not. We should tell the child
that he ought to love and obey his faith
er for the same reason that his father
ought to feed and clothe and educate
him, because they were so related to
each other as parent and child. And the
wiser and better that father was, and the
more worthy of his children's esteem
and affection, SO much greater would be
their obligation to give him their entire
and loving obedience.
God has told us in the plainest terms
that He is our father. That name isnot
a mere name borrowed from men and
expressing no real fact. 1t is the reve-
lation of one of the most absolute and
precious truths that has ever sent its
heavenly rays into the darkness of our
present life. Our human fatherhood ia
the earthly reflection of Gods. He
tells us that we are His children, and
teaches us to regard ourselves as His
sons and daughters. And the substance
of all that He requires of us is that we
remember that He is our Father, and
give Him the love and obedience that
children ought to give to such a parent.
And that not for His sake so much as
our own He has no need of us or of
our infantile and sin-polluted service.
1t is true that His love for us makes him
desire u confidence and love, just as
the earthly parent in proportion to his
affectionateness Graves the confidence
and love of his children. But the main
object of His requirements is the well
fare and happiness of the beloved ones
of whom the requirements are made.
"The Lord commanded us to fear the
Lord u God for good alvoys."
He is trying to purify and educate His
children for eternal companionship and
assimilation to Himself in Heaven, and
the commands and prohibitions He has
given us are the means He is using for
this purpose.
Surely if children ought to love and
obey their earthly parents, a thousand
fold more ought we to obey ourF Father
in Heaven. For He is not merely our
Father who loves us better and does
more for us than any other Father in
the universe can. But no language
can tell us His worthiness of our love.
No thought but His own can grasp it.
Every thing noble and sublime in char
acter that has ever been known or i'm
aagined among men, every thing pure
and beautiful, every thing unselfish
and lovely, every thing worthy Of our
admiration and praise, every thing of
this kind that has ever adorned our
race or beautitied the creation of poetry,
is but the faint and infinite shadow of
some infinite beauty or excellency in
the character Of u Father in Heaven.
No being in the universe can imagine
the slightest respect in which he could
be more worthy than He is of His chill
dren's supremest confidence and love.
Such q Father has a right to His chill
dren's affection corresponding to His
infinite worthiness Of it. His claims
upon our hearts and lives are not only
just and right. They are themselves
the expression of His love for us. To
call them in question is simply to re-
reveal u own unworthiness.-Chicago
AdUancc.