The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-02-09
HOME, SWEET HOME.


HE hath led me home"
Up THE LITTLE narrow path lead
y ing to the cottage a toii-bent man
is wa king. In one OF his hard hands
he carries his dinner pail. His cloth
ing is grimed with the labor Of the
day; tired lines are in his face. As he
nears the door il flies open and a child
appears. In a moment her arms are
around his neck. her kisses wet his lips
and check. her love oyerhows upon him
in demonstrations OF affection. And
now appears the mother, eager to bear
her share in the welcome.
Haven't you guessed the story? The
man is coming home. His shoulders
straighten and the lines slowly vanish
from his face Forgotten are all the
heat and the burden Of the day; for
gotten are the trials, the vexatlons, the
harshness OF the foreman, the hard, I'M
ceasing labor. The man is home.
It may be only a cabin in a wilder
ness: it may be stately palace set on
a hill. but call it home and around it
win linger a charm that no other spot
can possess. Men have wandered far
in search of weal-h or pleasure; they
have lived years away from the roof
that first gave them shelter. They
think they have forgotten the very ap-
pearance of the old place; even the
memory of the loving, patient, forgiv-
ing mother is diCimed. Let such a man
catch a Whit of honeysuck,e perfume ;
let the fragrance of a familiar flower
Of childhood touch his senses; let him
hear that grandest of anthems, Home.
Swee. Home" All, how memory rushes
back through the years over the grass
grown trail. He sees it all again, that
old home. and If there comes a mist
before his vision, if a queer lump tight
ems his throat, who shall say he is I'M
manly?
What's the use going home So long
rs other places are open?" hiccoughs :,
tipsy boy to a group OF boon compan-
ions. And they laugh at his poor wit
with never an idea that they are pro-
flaming the hottest CT sanctuaries. At
home mothers are waiting for those
boys. Sleepless they toss upon their
beds until they hear the click of the
key in the night latch, the unsteady
step upon the stair. God and mothers
only can forgive such boys as these.
The inspired writer's Of the Bible,
when they wanted to impress their
readers with the beauties of heaven,
spoke OF il as home" A happy home
IS a foretaste of heaven. 1t is the
closest approach to the idyllic hereafter
which man can possess. I'm my
fathers house are many mansions, -
said the Man of Sorrows. IF it were
not so 1 would have told you. 1 go to
prepare a place for you" There's one
OF the fahest promises in the Bible
Isn't it a temptation to the worn, the
weak. the weary. to follow one who
says he will lead them home?
The prodigai son o; the parable
~;asted his substance in a far country.
He was what would be called in these
times a good fellow" but ne walked
one morning in pig pen; his money
was gone, his head aching, his stomach
empty. Then he thought of home, the
home where he had never lacked the
good things of life, the home where the
fathers heart held forgiveness as the
Widows cruise held oil. and he said:
Il viii arise and go to my father"
Did you ever stop to think now
blessed that dissipated boy was in hav-
ms; a home to go 20? Too many never
think oe home until there is no home;
too many drift iEto the gulf of despair.
despite tie hoEle. 1t isn't the bog him
self who is always to blame. Perhaps
the home could have been made more
cheerful; perhaps some little, loving de-
tail that might have saved him was
left out of the home plan. 1t is pos
sibIe to make the home as attractive
to a boy as a saloon or a gambling
house.
Don't let him think he has to sit
at a certain angle on certain chair;
don't be eteTnally nagging at him be-
cause his clothes are spotted, his shoes
unpublished. If he likes to play cards
let him have a deck and let him invite
his young friends TO the house to play.
They are better off there than they
would be at a saloon card table. Ar
range wholesome amusenents for the
sons and the daughters and make them
want to stay at home no matter how
many other places are open.
As heaven holds out no greater prom
Use than that it will be a happy home,
so hell offers no greater terror than
an unhappy home. Home is largely
what we make it, after all. Let us
try to APPRECIATE this before it is too
late; let US all so live that when we
hear the words,
Mid p easures and palaces, though we
MAY roam,
BE it ever SO humble. there's no place
like home,
there viii be no jOt of self-aceusal in
our recoIlections.
GOVERNOR YATES FRANK.