The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1898-04-01

| prayer is that God may help them
to teach the children to honor and
obey Him. The best women the
world has ever known have been
those who devoted their lives to
toll. They have been purest in
heart and life, and have influenced
the world for God. ''The hand
that rocks the cradle" still rules
and will rule the world.
! The society woman may be
wealthy, as he says she is, and may
attend regularly the festive board
and fill her place at the theater
and occupy a front seat at church
occasionally, but the churches will
be slow to believe that she is the
better qualified to teach success
fully a class in Sunday school. AS
a rule such women know very little
about the bible and less about
teaching the child how to live as
God would have him. She may
be able to tell how to conduct a
successful game of progressive eu-
cher, play game of backgammon
and conduct successful tea party,
and yet not be able to teach in the
Sunday school.
Again, the Journal tells US that
it requires experience to know how
to deal with and successfully teach
the Sunday school. Now | don't
know how "old maids" and child.
less women in that particular
quarter are, but I do know that as
a rule, they have not had exper-
ience with children, and if called
upon to deal with them, are very
impatient and fail to influence the
child as the mother does. Again,
| ask how can they have that ex-
perience necessary for successful
teacher, if they must be as the
Journal tells US, without any cares
all the week, and if to do anything
disqualifies them for the position,
Now, if experience is essential, and
is power, as the Jounal says, is not
the mother better qualified to teach
a Sunday school class than are un-
married women? We say yes, a
thousand times.
1t is evident to my mind that
one great drawback to our schools,
and probably the greatest, is the
putting of inexperienced teachers
over Sunday school classes. Young
girls are entrusted with classes,
who do not understand anything
about the bible, much less under
standing how to teach it; but this
is no worse now than it has been,
and is no evidence that the Sunday
school is decaying. 1t is the duty
of all God-loving people to help
make the Sunday school all it
ought to be, and to accomplish this
an exchange of ideas is necessary,
but we cannot do this by telling the
world that the school is decaying.
Our words should be hopeful and
encouraging, although those who
are at the helm may not be con-
ducting things in the very best
way. Tell the child who has
climbed to the very topmost round
of the ladder that he is going to
fall, and fall he will,
Let us hold on to all the good
we have, maintaining the ground
we occupy and as opportunity is
afforded, climb higher until under
the guidance of God we scale the
highest peak and stand secure on
the summit of perfection, never
scorning the degrees by which we
came.
The mother who rocks the cradle
and sings the sweet lullabies, prays
continually and labors constantly
for the good of her child, knows
what is in the child's heart better
than any one else--knows how to
touch and mould its life for good.
She is the heroine and ever will be;
doing more to mould the individ-
ual and national character than any
other. She lives nearer to God
and being in closer touch with the
divine life, can raise the child
nearer to God than any other.
It is a great blunder to suppose
for one moment that wealth aud
position in society, in the sense
spoken of, is necessary to a godly
life or q successful teacher of chill
dren. The best, most useful and
most godly men have been taught
by mothers TO whom wealth was a
stranger, but to whom God was
well known, and in whose heart
the sunlight of Gods love never
grew dim until it went down to
rise in splendor on the shores of a
brighter cline. OH for mothers
whose lives are in touch with God
and whose smiles are a benediction
to mankind.
Churches are, in my humble
judgment, catering too much to the
whims of society. 1t is right TO
try to save these society people,
we should not for one moment
think because one happens to be
wealthy, that he is wiser than
others. A more correct knowledge
will, as a rule, be found among the
common class, as they are called,
than among the wealthy. Yet, if