The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-09-15
!Srecia1 Contributors.
GOD-FEARING YOUTH.
BY REV. c. S. NICKERSoN.
(Chicago.)

To fear God does not mean to wear a
long face or to have solemn heart. II
is not the throwing away Of all the
happiness and beauty Of this world, ii
being regarded as but an allurement OF
Satan. To fear God is to reverence
Him. 1t is to learn of the true and the
right, and to let that knowledge con-
troll our conduct.
This is an age when defalcation and
dishonesty are known on nearly every
hand. It is an age when men are
eagerly grasping for gold. 1t is
an age when the proud mothers
son proves himself unmanly, and when
the idolized daughter of a loving father
becomes disgraced through immoral
practices. 1t is an age when sin rises
up before US like mighty demon; an
age which shall leave as an inheritance
to those who shall come after US, issues
which will require manhood-moral
power-to meet. 1t is an age which
emphatically foretells that the coming
generation should be one which will
reverence God and which will endeavor
to live as He directs.
In order to have such succeeding
generation, the children of the present
need attention. In every great city there
are hundreds, yes, thousands, of 1aspised
and neg ed children. We see them
"a tne ss. lie Steps about the
saloons, They have no place ht to be
called home, no resting place at night
except they find some box in an alley,
or some secluded doorway. These lit
tie ones hear no word Of greeting, ex-
cept in vile or blasphemous language
They are forgotten, despised, neglected.
And these are the children who need
care and attention; who need to be
nursed and nurtured; who need to be
brought in from the highways of sin
and to be taught to remember their
Creator in the days of their youth. "
We console ourselves that the chill
of our households are not neglected,
not forsaken, not despised, nor forgot
ten. We pride ourselves on that our
children receive constant attention.
We put about them the arms of pro-
tective love. We furnish the children
with the delights Of home life. We
place paint .ngs on the wall to satisfy
their sense of the beautiful. We give
them musical instruments to satisfy
and to cultivate their sense of melody.
In fact, we try to make our homes
heavenlike, that they may be the most
attractive of all places for our families.
1t is all done out of love that the chill
dren may be protected and benefited.
For their companions we do not desire
the vulgar and coarse, the ill-bred and
uneducated. We seek for them such
associations as will be refining and
elevating. For their friends we want
the cultivated, the upright, the moral.
We desire that the children know
something of literature, of science and
of art. People contribute of their
means for the erection of art galleries
and for the maintenance Of the higher
educational institutions to this end. In
all these ways parents manifest an in
terest in, love of, and their care for,
the coming generation. Still, even
with such fond and anxious parents,
there is one thing which is not only
danger of our time, but which is real
neglect. How many people we hear
nowadays say, "When 1 was child l
was forbidden to laugh and play on
Sunday; was not allowed to read any
book except the Bible; was not per-
mitted to have any sociability on the
Lords day. My parents believed in
sobriety and quietude and that alone
on the Sabbath"
Now, because these persons were
thus trained they say, and with good
deal of earnestness, that they will not
at all influence their children; that
they will not talk to them about this,
that or any idea of religion, that they
will do little toward having them "keep
the Sabbath day holy" and as for
studying the Bible or attending church
or Sunday-school, they will allow the
children to do just about as they
please. This is most always added,
"When my children are Of age or are
old enough to know what they want,
will let them choose their religion for
themselves"
A wrong theory, wrong philosophy,
a bad principle and the worst practice!