The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1919-08-09
THE FATHER AND HIS BOY.

Fathers are quite as hard to train
as boys, and from experience all along
tbe line, | have come to the conclu-
sion that fathers and boys allKe VIII
mostly go their own way, in the long
run getting what is coming TO tnem.
But it is in the power of the fatner
to help a boy realize his best 1nstead
of his worst tendencies and posslpln-
ties saws David Starr Jordan. 10
this end, father should be sympa-
thetic and patient, helping the deVef
oDment of whatever natural taste or
genius a boy may have. Virtue is
never negative and boy is held from
idleness or vice by giving him some
thing better to work at. Ii a boy mas
a real love for some study or for some
worthy line of work encourage that.
It marks the way out from temptation.
A boy needs in his development sym
Dathy rather than financial help. HIS
ideals need Strengthening, not MS
purse. To have money to burn will
ruin all those who burn it. 1t is hard
to raise a boy who is rich and knows
that whatever he wants is his for the
asking. He is likely to be content
with what money can buy, and 1t can
not buy very much that is worth haV-
ing. 1t can help in many things, but
n mere aid is not the thing itself.
The father can promote the plain
virtues of sobriety, honesty, tolerance,
and kindness. The most effective
way of teaching these virtues is for
him to illustrate them in himself-to
show how righteousness looks when 1t
is lived. Occasionally a father sue
cessfully proves his point by becom-
ing the awful example. But that is
not the best way, and right living can
be most effectively taught, not by pre-
cept but by practice. And remember
always that right living is positive
thing. 1t is not secured by inhibi-
lions. Don't, don't, don't" never
leads to anything worth while. Don't
say to boys: Keep off the grass
keep out of the dirt. Keep away from
he Sums" Rather indicate places it
is better to go to: This way to citi
zenship; this way to science, to art
10 a worthy profession.
It is worth while to remember thai
luo boy is the germ of what the man
~ to be- You cannot change his ma
lure much, but you can develop the
best in him till it overshadows the
worst. The life of man at forty viii
he what was in his heart at twenty
one.
And a father may say to his boys
something like this, which in one way
or another l have said to thousands
of boys in this and other countries:
Your first duty in life is toward
Your afterself. So live that your af
rer5elf-the man you ought to be
may in his time be possible and &C
Jual.
Far away in the years he is wait
ing his turn. His body, his brain
his soul, are in your boyish hands. He
cannot help himself.
What will you leave for him?
will it be a body unspoiled by
lusg or dissipation; a mind trained tC
think and act; nervous system true
cac a. uldl III IIo 1SopOuoC W IL uII
about you. Will you, Boy, let him
come as a man among men in his
lime?
Or will you throw away his in
hefitance before he has had the
chance to touch it? Will you turr
over to him a brain distorted, a minC
diseased; a will unframed to action
q spinal cord grown through ant
through with the devil grass we cal
Wild oats?
will you let him come, taking YOU
place, gaining through your expert
ance, happy in your friendships, hal
owed through your joys, building OF
them his own?
COR will you fling it all away, de
creeing, wanton-like, that the MAJ
you might have been shall never be?
This is your problem in life How
will you meet it, as man or as fool
1t is your problem today and ever,
day, and the hour of your, choice i
the crisis in your history"