Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-11-30
Inner Spirit of Home
Life Needs Attention
SAFEGUARD THE HOME LIFE AND
WELFARE or THE NATION
TAKES CARE or ITSELF

II our homes are to be better in the
finest and best sense there must be a
cultivation of that almost indefinable
something that we call the Inner
Spirit" The home is the basic unit
of modern society The very founda-
lions of national glory are set in the
homes Of the people, and they will re
main mistaken only while the. home
life is strong, simple and pure. l be-
Leve the greatest factor in building
and conserving the integrity of the
home life is the Christian religion.
Please dc not misunderstood me-
am not now trying to emphasize any
particular Interpretation of the teach
ings of the Master of Men. That can
be very safely left to the individual
conscience. However, l am greatly
concerned that each of us shall APP
proach and give consideration to the
subject with an open mind and an hon
est heart.
The homes of America are, in a
sense, breaking down. Every phase of
modern society seems to be organized
against the home. Good roads, the
automobile, the rapidly growing inter
est in all forms of outdoor sport and
amusement golf, tennis, boating,
camping. moving picture shows; the
ever increasing demand, social and
political, upon the time Of our splen-
did women; the apartment house with
its sign, mo children allowed" our
present day industrial system seems
to be so organized as to make the
practice of religion in the home ex-
ceedingly difficult The diminishing
estimate Of the sanctity of the mar
riage vows has gone far to break down
the integrity of the home life. The
irregularity of hours, the infrequency
when families can come together as
a unit, afford excuse to parents who
are inclined to follow the line of least
resistance. The reckless reading of
cheap literature, and the subtle and
uCCQly d11tl~11O114C p1OpcSnIOcI oOCGlC1-
ed broadcast in places of cheap enter
tainment have become a menace to
modern life.
Perhaps the most fatal danger grows
out of the dismissal of religious respon
sibility from the family group. We
have made the home a secondary in
stitution in our whole program of re
lgious education for youth This has
been a great blunder We have been
talking in terms of supplementing the
work Of the church by extending our
program of religious training to the
weekday schools and to the home.
We must now turn the task end for
end The home holds the place of
primary responsibility in the program
of religion. There is no priesthood
like the priesthood of parents. We
have come to the time when we must
accord to the home the place of first
Importance, and. begin to deal with it
as the very heart of our whole relig-
ious program-a program that must
be defined in terms of life and be con-
sidered as an essential, and not a
convenience and made so natural and
fascinating that it will be delight
and joy.
My statement as to the ever increas
ing social and political demands upon
our fine women deserves more than
passing thought. l am fully conscious
of our obligation to the community
and of the necessity of giving modi
cum of our time to creating whole
some conditions, for no matter how
we'll we may train our own children,
they are subject to the influences
emanating from the homes of our
neighborhood. There are women who
have successfully raised their families
and who out Of a wealth of wisdom
gained thru this experience can rem
der a great service to the community
in this direction without calling upon
women who have families to train
The danger hours in the life of our
youth are from o'clock in the after
noon until they are safely tucked
away in bed, and especially the hours
from 3 until 6;3O-the dinner hour
and it is largely during these hours of
greatest danger that social and polit-
icaI demands take our women away
from their homes. A woman has no
greater mission in life than to be a
good wife and mother, and that means
a good home without a question. |
invite your thoughtful consideration
of this point in safeguarding the in
terest of the home.
Formerly, the home was the con-
trolling center of interest. Let us use
our influence and energy to restore
it to it's old time place. The call to an
aroused and rejuvenated parenthood is
most insistent today The service of
America is in the balance. Youth is
summoned on all sides. The world
wants to know what democracy means