The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-10-17


ONE TYPE OF HOME
LET us see another mother under SINH
lar conditions more an ideal picture than
this one. In the first place, the home bears
| the impress of attractive comfort and use
fulness, without superficial and fimsy or
fermentation, costly to provide and more
costly to take care of. Even missionary
women sometimes have little shrnes about
| which they hold cherished offerings. 1t
may be delicate china, with gold or silver
| accessories, or costly fligree, elaborate
embroideries or dainty draperies, which are
| the household affairs of sacrifice which not
only consume the mortgaged hours but the
| comfort and convenience of the entire
| family. The dresser was intended to hold
| necessary toilet articles, but il the gentle
man of the house can find room for the
comb and brush, and with the greatest dex-
| terity and delicacy of touch. avoid the
! wholesale destruction of these little gods
| that work the women and worry the men,
| he is fortunate. But the home of which we
speak, instead of being a tyrannical task
| master, is a servant made for the comfort
| of the inmates, the mistress prescribing its
| eXactions and even necessary requirements.
| Nor does ii lack grace and beauty in its
adornmentS, especially in its floral decora-
| tons, its few choice pictures and literary
! abundance for mind and neart. but all OF
| these are made but gracious aids to the ac-
oomplishment of a purpose, the immediate
| fulfllment of which is to train the children
| of the family to be unseltish, useful and
| happy Christians. The wise mother knows
| this must begin with the babies, or rather
| with the self-control of the mother. 1t is
not an easy matter. even when she knows
| the little darling is well and comfortable.
to let it cry itself to sleep; It's lusty and
amuses, but the pathetic little sob
of loneliness or defeat goes TO
mother to absolutely dnf deny herself and not
compromise in this first lesson of surren-
| der, nor, indeed, in all the after years,
f1,a x,ifo otrni1, oft I.An ha
| and to do is such a present cost to the
mother. This trial will not have to be re-
| ing the baby heart with tenderness and
| love will be the staple of it's daily lite and.
| indeed of the entire family in which the
| truest expression of faithful aHectloh is
manifest in the ready OBEDIENCE, tender
| respect and willing service of all the chill
| dren, each taught from it's earliest years
| that a useful life is a happy one and that
| instead of adding weight to the home cares
| as they grow Older they must llghten ana
| relieve them This mother leads her chill
| dren and stands a peer of her gifted nus,
| band, they together, in mutual love and
efheleney OF mind ana heart as Wen as as
| their household. She observes the law or
| spiritual proportion seeking first the king
| DOM, carefully guarding against the natu-
| raj tendency to absorption involved in the
| routine of caring for the food, raiment ana
| shelter Of her family These material ne
| cessities are not neglected, nor are they
| made the only duties of the home. me
| immortal spirit and eager, craving mind of
|
supplies, and she conscientiously hts her-
| self to meet them. Toys satisfy the little
ones, but maturing powers demand Jewels
| She gives her children the best. She knows
| that the fire itself will prove her work of
what sort it is, and that nothing will abide
save spiritual character. The garments,
| costing much of either time or money, and
| fostering a spirit of pride in the childish
| heart, the elaborate adornments In the
| home, the excess of food upon the table
1 and absorbing social claims-will they stand
| the trial of fire? She thinks not, henGe
| she builds into the spiritual life of her chill
| dren gold and silver, with earthly alloy, to
| be sure, but when the droSS is consumed
| the work will abide.
| THE MATERIAL MOTHER.
Now we have before us two types Of
mothers and homes, for as is the mother
so is the home First, we have the ma
terial mother who surrenders herself
| wholly to the physical wants Of her. fam
| lily. She, consciously or unconsciously.
starves mind and spirit, until she has moth
ing to give her children except a manual
service, much of which is positively hurt
full. not alone in instilling selishness and
want of proper respect for the mother. but
| in hindering healthful bodily development
| In the child. She is, in a sad sense, a self
| sacrificing mother for her better self,
| which could be such blessing to her fam
! lily and to others, has not the moral STAN
| ina to divide the labors of the household
| is being slowly, and under protest, crushed
| out. The fate of such q mother mingleS
real heartache with our regret, for the
| martyrdom appeals to our compassion and
| sympathy. But there is another type of
| mother, calling herself Christian, which
| has no such claim upon our forbearance.
1t is the woman of ample means and for
| tunate environment who gives herself and
her household primarily to the pleasures
| and frivolities of the world. She eSteems
| 1t safe and desirable thing to be q church
| member, and even on occasions to be pub
| ltcly identified with some of it's depart
ments of service, but as for committing
| herself to be one of its burden bearers. or
a real coworker with the family of God,
| reliable, faithful and untir1ng, so big
| thought has never taxed the dimensions of
her dwarfed spirit. The honor of the
| church. the integrity of her own Christian
| character or even the welfare of the souls
| that are dearest to her, do not weigh in
the balance. This poor deluded mother,
| and the deceitfulneSs of riches, is deceiv-
| ing her heart with the thought that she Is
a a, Christian, and that the training Of her
| unfit them for heaven.
1T is with heart of pain that we turn
| from these unsymmetrical types to be re-
| assured in our faith by the spiritually
| nodded mother, attained unto a full
grown woman, unto the measure of the
| dealing truly in love, growing up in all
| things unto Him who is head even Christ
| This all-around woman is none the less a
true mother in her own home because she
mothers the race, belonging first of ALL
and including ALL to the family of God,
| to whom the shining and suffering appeal
| as to the members of our family. Like
| Paul, she is a debtor to every unsaved
soul. She is quick to detect in herself, or
| those for whom she is Immediately respon-
| sible, symptoms of spiritual disease. Any
| command of God to which her will does
| not respond warns her of imperfect spirit
| ual circulation, and the chilling heart and
| benumbed soul means paralysis, and must
! have the Great Physicians care 1t is not
| hers to delay falter because of the mag
| nitude of the work of soul saving or the
| lnadequacy of the means, or the Imperfect
| lions of the plans, or even of her own per-
| sonal limitations. The thing required of
her is obedience. She is. however, content
with her own responsibilities, and does not
| assume Gods, nor does she despise the day
| of small beginnings The uneasy STRINGS
| of an abused missionary conscience NAV
| prompt to very humble service. which
| counts for but little to the work but is of
| untold value to the worker. The weakest
| for greater ones; so the woman of small
| gifts, by tanning them into a fame as
| Paul directs will soon have given to her
! the ten talents of her unfaithfuI sister
| The best service of any one Individual
seems Of small avail, and especially do we
| often underestimate weak and inefficient
| first efforts / have read that Cape Cod is
| anchored by myriad little cables, forming a
network of invisible roots, our govern
| ment. spending large sums in plant
| ing beach grass the shifting
| sands to resist the encroachments
| of the Atlantic and the force of the whirl-
| ing east WlndS-may we not be at least as
| one OF thousands of rootlets, staying the
! wavering and unstable: forming a bulwark
| against the hungry waves of defiIement
! and sin? This beautiful illustration of the
| triumph Of united effort by the cohesion of