Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1911-09-22
THE CHRISTIAN
HOME.
Man goeth to his long home.-
EccLesiQstes, xii, 5.

/
Ecclesiastes, xii, S.
One of the most nomentous
problems of the present day is
the question of home life. Shall
home influence, home training,
home, religion, become things of
the past? Shall there be such an
institution as home in the civili-
cation of the twentieth century {
These are no imaginary inquiries.
Thoughtful men and women
everywhere, who see the signs of
the times, are asking them in
anxiety and alarm. The old
home life which has been the
strength of our Anglo-Saxon peo-
pie is being 1nenaced and under
minded by some of the subtlest
and strongest forces of modern
civilization. There are powerful
influences at work which threaten
lis dissolution and decay. Some
of these may be indicated in
few words.
First are the new ideas of
woman's sphere and work which
are coming into vogue. A social
revolution is proposed which
shall take woman out of home
life, place her side by side with
! man in business and politics, and
put her into competition with
him in every activity of life. We
are not speaking now of those
noble women who, under the
compulsion of stern necessity,
have gone out into the world to
earn living for themselves and
those who are dependent upon
them. We refer to that modern
theory which insists that the
education of woman shall be
identical with that of man, that
her position in business and So
ciety shall be the same as his,
and that every avenue OF life
shall be thrown wide opeu to her.
These ideas are rapidly gaining
ground. If they continue to
grow apace, we must soon bid
good-by to the fair ideals of wo-
manhood which the past has
laboriorsly built up. Let woma n
unSex herself, and abdicate the
throne from which she has long
ruled the world, and go out to
hold her own among MEN, and
she will forfeit the reverent honor
which men have learned to pay
her and leave behind her land
full of deSolate and ruined homes.
She will have to answer to God
Tor having deprived the world of
the oldest, sweetest, sacredest,
mightest institution which He
has given it, the human home.
Another of the enemies of
home life is the increased social
activities of our day. The eX-
actions Of social life haye become
almost more than we can bear.
1t demands time and thought,
lures men and women out OF quiet
homes, drags them madly to and
fro, makes them public charac-
tiers, wears them out under the
tremendous strain, and leaves the
children and the home life to
hunger, and starve, and die for
want of them. Yes, and worse
than this--it draws the young,
sometimes the veryyoung, out of
the healthful seclusion of home
and hurries them Gall unprepar-
ED into the full glare of social
publicity, to be dazzled, blinded,
lost.
| Another of the hostile forces is
the business world. Its demands
have become enormous. Its cruel
competition, its desperate rival
rles, its ceaseless activity, involve
tremendous wear and tear. Bust
ness men are often untitled to fill
their rightful place at home.
They are nervous, overweight,
absorbed, unable to enter into the
pursuits and pleasures Of family
life. Sometimes the stern re-
quirements of trade keep them
away from home until they be-
come strangers at their own fire
| side.
! The last enemy of which we
have time to speak is the secular
spirit Of the times. This is moi
a deeply religious age. The ten
dency is to try to make men an6
women and human institutions
simply moral without making
them religious. This movement
Iinvades domestic as well as pub
lie life. It sets up the ideal of q
home where worldly standards Of
morals and manners prevail, but
where Christ is not recognized a:
Lord and King. How many
nominally Christian homes there
are whose elegant prophetic:
would be rudely shocked if thu
j, name of Christ were spoken alout
within their walls How many II
which the Bible is not read, thu
voice of prayer is not heard, ant
there is not single sign to show
that God is honored and worship
ed there No; home religion i
not popular nowadays.
A Christian home-why is i
such fine and precious thing
Because it is garden of thu
Lord, a nursery for human live
to grow in. It's rich, fertile sol
furnishes the very best field TO
the development of the virtue
which we most need. It's seclu
sion, its shelter, its wise and care
full culture. are invaluable t
growing souls and nothing cal
make up for the lack of them
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