Omaha daily bee., 1889-09-30
81 WISH l WE'RE UNMARRIED"
Synopsis OF Rev. Harsha's Sermon at
the Presbyterian Church.

Synopsis of Rev. Harsha's Sermon at
the Presbyterian Church.
The following is a synopsis of sermon do
livered by the Rev, w. j. Harsha, ID. D., at
the First Presbyterian church, last night
The subject was, T wish 1 were unmarried"
the sermon being companion to the one de-
livered by the doctor on the previous Sun
day. The text chosen was Deuteronomy "a
s. He shall cheer up his wife which he hath
taken"
/ anu glad this verse is in the bible Men
usually recognize their obligation to support
their wives, 20 pay the dry goods and mlli-
merry bills; but very few of them know that
God has commanded them to cheer their
wives up. II l. had my way | would have
this verse embla4oned on a large card, nicely
framed ana hung up over the head of every
divorce iudge,in the country. If the hus-
bands of our land would observe 1t there
would be fewer, divorces asked for. L want
to preach little common sense to you to-
night. ,aa
/ shall not enter into discussion of the
divorce question, though as minister of the
gospel | atnr often called upon to
discuss it, te with an audience OF
two persons. There is great deal of fam
lily nnpleasantness in the world, and have
been trying to discover the cause of it. We
have hints of family jars in the bible, as for
example that between Abraham and Sarah,
which resulted IN putting HaEar ana her
son out into the wilderness. And l must
| say that the sort of foollshness and sin Abb
| raham was about at that time is the cause
| of great deal of misery.
Then there was the family disturbance in
Lots house, the result of the wofldliness of
| Lots wife. The extravaganza, love of dress
| and love of pleasure characterizing many
| women is the cause of much trouble. Then
| there was the unpleasantness between Job
| and his wife, which resulted from loss of
| money. Many families get along very well
| as long as wealth holds out but the moment
poverty comes in trouble begins. There
| can be no real love between the contracting
| parties when this is so, yet often this species
| of family Wrangling comes to PASTORS no.
| tice.
If you want to know the bible law on fam
lily jars you will find it in Numbers $685.
| where it IS implied that If man keeps Still
when his wife is in a temper he is clear from
blame. The tongue is little member, but
oh, what an awful amount of trouble 1t
| causes! Add to this silence an attempt to
| cheer your wife up when she is discouraged,
as my text tells you TO do, and you husbands
| will have come very near the bible standard.
One of the causes of family jars is lack OF
assimilation. just think of it u moment
| You take two young people from different
| families, with different tastes, friends and
ambitions. You bind them together by an
indissoluDle bond and then they are left to
| develop Il oneness Of aim. No wonder there
| is some friction at first. There is nothing
| more beautiful than the gradual assimilation
| of young husband and young wife in
| all those things that go to make up their
| Weuueu lie. lUty grow up ullh6 III dlI III
taste, even in looks. They get to talking of
the same things, and rejoicing in the same
children and struggling for tho same happi-
ness. When this assimilation comes 1t is
very beautiful; when it fails to come there
is misery in the home. Every married couple
ought to strive for IL.
Another cause of family uupleasantness
is lack of fOrbearanCe. / have heard of
couple which had had trouble, but were un-
derstood TO be living more happily. Some
one asked how it was: "Oh," said the wife,
''we have two bears in the house now and
| we get along better' "rwo beari" "Yes,
one is Bear ye one another's burdens and
the other is or-bear-ing one another in
love- ;" / believe in having that sort OF u
menagerie in the house.
Some one has said that "polteness is that
| which we waste on our enemies and
| strangers" 1t IS good plan to reserve some
| for the home.
Then family Jars often come from lack Of
helpfulness. Each party IN the marriage
contract oughr 20 try TO fulfill u share The
man ought 70 cheer up the woman, the
woman comfort the man.
In order to help family matters along we
ought to cultivate the home idea What a
blessed thing IS "a home! Bunyan married
for a home and was converted by his wife,
do not belfeye in marrying for position,
or for money; but If we can marry for any
thing besides pure aud simple love think it
might be for a home Edmund Burke used
to say that the moment he crossed the thresh-
hold of his home all the worries flew away
from hun. Truly only in the home do we
| secure iSi'vh
"Ihat truest rarest light Of social Joy,
Which gledins ffpon man of many cares"
And then we ought 10 cultivate the christian
idea if we yantl TO have happy married
life. Begin your life together by attending
some church, Develop the manliness of your
children, enlarge and purify your own minds
by thoughts of God and duty. Remember
that eternity is coming, when we will have
10 account for every idle and passionate
word, and there will be fewer quarrels and
fewer divorces Have family prayer at
home. You might as we'll think to live in a
house without a roof as TO expect to live
happily without the blessing of heaven. And
may God bring US all into that city where
they neither marry nor are given in mar
riage,