The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1900-03-31
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of all, you save yourself a great deal OF
trouble, o parent, if you can early
watch the children and educate them
for God and Heaven. sThe first five
years of my life made me an infdel,r
said Tom Paine. A vessel puts out to
sea, and after it has been five days out
there comes a cyclone. The vessel
springs a leak. The helm will not work.
What is the matter? Is it not sea.
worthy? Can you mend it now? 1t is
too late. Down she goes with $50 pas.
sengers into a watery grave. What was
the time to fix that vessel? What was
the time to prepare it for the storm:
In the drydock. All, my friends, dc
not wait until your children get out into
the world, beyond the Narrows and out
on the great voyage of life. 1t is toe
late then to mend their morals and
their The drydock of the
Christian home is the place. Correc.
the sin now, correct the evil now.
Begin early with your child4 en-
You stand on the banks of a river anc
you try to change its course. 1t has
been rolling now for 100 miles. Yo,
cannot change it. But just go to ths
source of that river, go to where the
water just drips down on the rock
Then with your knife make a channel
this way and a channel that way, and
it will take it. Come out and stand
on the banks of your child's life when
it was 30 or 40 years of age, or even
20, and try to change the course oi
that life. 1t is too late! 1t is toe
late! Go farther up at the source OF
life and nearest to the mothers heart
where the character starts, and try tc
take it in the right direction. But,
oh, my friend, be careful to make o
line, a distinct line, between innocent
hilarity on the one hand and vicious
proclivity OIL the other. Do not think
your children are going to ruin be.
cause they make a racket. All healthy
children make a racket. But do not
laugh at your child's sin because It is
smart. If you do, you will cry after
awhile because it is malicious. Re.
member it is what you do more than
what you say that is going to affect
your children. Do you suppose Noah
would have got his family to go into
the ark if he staid out? No. His sons
would have said: 81 am not going
into the boat. There's something
wrong. Father won't go in. If IA
Their stays out, I'll stay OUT" An Off
Ger may stand in a castle and look of
upon an army fighting, but he can
not be much of an officer, he cannot
excite much enthusiasm on the part
of his troops standing in a castle OF
on a hilltop looking off upon the fight.
1t is a Garibaldi or q Napoleon /. who
leaps into the stirrups and dashes
ahead. And you stand outside the
Christian life and tell your children
to go in. They will not go. But you
dash on ahead, you enter the king
dom Of God, and they themselves will
become good soldiers of Jesus Christ.
Lead If you would have them follow.
Have a family altar. Do rot with
long prayers wear out your children's
knees. Do not have the prayer a re-
pulsion. If you have a piano or an
organ or q melodeon in the house,
have it open while you are having
prayers. If you say: 81 cannot con.
struct a prayer; I am slow of speech
and never could construct a prayer"
then take Matthew Hcnry's Y
or take the Episcopal church prayer
book. There is nothing better than
that. Put it down on the chair.
gather your children about you and
commend them to God. You say it
will not amount to anything. 1t will,
long after you r under the soil.
That son will remember father and
mother at morning and evening
prayers, and it will be a mighty help
to him. And above all, in private
commend your children to God. Say:
Here, Lord, l am-all my imperfec
lions Of discipline and government
here are these immortals-make them
thine forever. The angel that re-
deemeth us from all evil, bless the
lads"
Are your children safe? 1 know it
is q ~stupendous question to ask, but
| must ask it. Are all your children
safe? A mother when the house was
on fire got out the household goods,
many articles of beautiful furniture,
but forgot to ask until too late: "Are
the children safe?" When the ele-
ments are melting with fervcnt heat
and God shall burn the world up and
the cry of Fire, fire!" shall resound
amid the mountains and the valleys,
will your children be safe?
1 wonder if the subject strikes a
chord in the heart of any man who
had Christian parentage. but has not
lived as he ought? God brought you
here this morning to have your men,
DRY revived. Did you have a Christian
ancestry? "Oh, yes" says one man.
IF there ever vas a good woman, my
mother was good" How she watched
you when you were sick! Others
wearied. If she got weary, she never
theless was walleful, and the medi-
cine was given at the right time. and
when the pillow was hot she turned
it. And, oh. then when you began to
go aStray what a grief it was to her