Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-11
4 M0tber'9 Que.
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"HONOR THY .

"HONOR THY
This discourse Is designed not in any
Sense to ignore or undervalue fatherhood
but to pay just tribute to the other ten
derer. coordinate branch of parenthood so
dear to the heart of Observation-Disclosures.
erhood next to Himself in the moral law.
and this text is q part Of Christs arraign-
ment of the Jews of his day for having de-
parted from the spirit of the original law
the idea of deity from human thought the
next claimant to challenge human worship
would be pure northumberland woman
hood simply, but womanhood dignif1ed,
sublimated. nodded into motherhood
The world has honored other heroes and
heroines. but never yet has a proper mon
pure, unselfsh motherhood. The reason
is expressed In one word-inadequacy. HUI
man genius is too feeble and human re-
sources are too meager to conceive and
execute a memorial sufficiently noble. And
where could such monument stand? The
shaft that would do Justice to its subject
would cover the entire earth base and
reach in sublime altitude to the heaven of
heavens. 1t remained for God to conceive
and execute fitting tribute to motherhood
in the person of His Son, who was born
into the world apart from human father
hood, but who called a woman mother So
long as the Christ shall live God will not
be without witness before men and angels
of His estimate of the honor due to moth
erhood.
!. The divine command of the text to
honor mother is justified by the kind Of
service mothers render the human race.
According to the Christian conception
the home lies at the foundation of the So
cial structure. The home is pre-eminent-
ly the mothers proper workshop. and the
product of her skin there goes out to en-
rich the life Of the world. Her largest con-
tribution to the worlds success is made
through her children. She weaves the
fiber of her being into the life Of her chill
dren-not alone flesh, bone and blood. but
love, toll and self-sacrihce-and is mod
estly content to know that in them she is
blessing the world.
When her children leave her to enter the
conflicts of life the mother mounts guard
over their destiny. A mother Travelled far
to see her son who was a scout in the
army during the civil war. Late at night
the boy said: Mother. 1t is very late and
you must be fatigued by your long jour
ney. Retire. and in the morning we can
renew our rejoicings" Imagine his sur
that his mother had stood sentinel all
night over the building where he slept lest
the enemy should capture her boy. And
that is only picture OF the thousands of
mothers who today guard with vigilant
eye the career OF their children and pray
high heaven to save them from capture
on one occasion, he suddenly opened the
door of his mothers room and saw her on
her knees beside her chair. and heard her
speak his name in prayer. He quietly
withdrew with feeling of awe and rever-
ence In his heart. Soon he went away to
school, then to college, then into lifes
sterner duties But he never forgot that
one glimpse of his mother at prayer nor
the one word-his own name-which he
had heard her utter. He well knew that
what he had seen that day was going on
in that secret closet Of prayer every day,
and he was better man for the knowl-
edge that his mother was on guard
a mothers influence Is undying John
Randolph is on record as having testified:
Il should have been FRENCH atheist If