New Britain herald., 1924-03-24

discovering the real love, and the mother never cultivated that love. | What was the result? One boy be- came a murderer, one boy did away with himself and the girl turned out on the wrong side morally, and the mother wakened too late to reali<6 that in those years when she might have been giving her life to those boys and that girls she had been vast ing 1t. and she had raised a family that were no credit to this life and had no chance at the life hereafter.
 Increase in Divorce.
 Take the matter of divorce and its alarming increase:
 Tn 1886 there were in the United States 17,962 iivorces: in 1896, 3S,- 0oo: in 1906, 72,Oo0: In 1916. 112, ,o0o.
 Tn those 30 years the population of the country increased at the rate of 72 per cent and the dicorce rate SPA per cent-more than seven times as rapidly as the increase in population.
 Lest l spend too much time on these things that are tearing down the influence of the home l want 10 spend the last few minutes on some constructive suggestions. We cannot think of real home life without think ing of it in terms of religion. Re- ligious atmosphere is the very funda- mental atm mosphefe of the home life. If your home life is not religious what chance has your boy or girl at high moral standards? Some schools have been having honesty tests. As the re- suit of those tests it was discovered that more than half of the boys and girls of public school age were un- moral or dishonest in variety of tests. Is that reflection upon the boys and girls or upon the parent hood. the manhood and womanhood of the country It is an indictment against the homes of America today. We must do something to remedy conditions or the coming generation will be no better than the present one even worse.
 What can we do to make our homes those blassed units of society really religious, religious atmosphere producing institutions. .I want to mention four different things that VIC Sdh blilhh ul Itpll u NoiiifuOu GSfcS standpoint. First of all, we must use our homes in a sense as church. There must be an expression of re- iigton there. We cannot depend up- on the church just one hour week. There ought to be in every home some expression of religion every day. IL can he formal or informai--just so you give some attention to 1t, make God real to those boys and girls. II is a hard task; it challenges ns; we hardly know how to go about i., and yet, how easy it Is. I never embarrass any congregation by asking how many observe grace at table. There's an opportunity for that little formal cero- mony to be observed more widely than 1t is. Is it fair not to thank God for the material blessings of life? One Of the most sacred institutions given to the church was given at meal time, at the table of the Lords Supper. Isn't 1t an honor 10 God and an hon or 10 us to thank Him for ihe ma tcrial blessings of life?
 "Then family worship: l suppose that has faded out from the present generation. No it hasn't; thero arc more than we realize who observe Family worship. We teach our boys and girls 10 say. Now lay me down 10 sleep:' but how many of our boys and girls do vs teach to prsy2 We teach them to say their prayers. hut do we teach them 10 pray? Reading the Bible. praying together, private dovotions and saying grace at table, and there ought to be other forms of nlaintaining tho Christian stmos- pherc in our homes. One might be the form of the conversation around the table; keeping the conversation wholesome, free from criticism and cynicism that characterlzes too many Of our table conversations today. What father does and mother does and what parents say Is pretty sure index Of the type of conversation boys and girls have. What do we talk about Sunday afternoon around the dinner table? I know some homes where they have roast preacher. God forgive them. What kind of attitude Of mind are those boys and girls going to have towards religion and tho church?
 Newspapers and Jszz.
 What kind of books are the boys and girls reading: what kind of pa. pcrs7 Is there any chance for re- ligious life through the literature that comes Into your homer Is there anything more aesthetic, on a higher level than the daily newspaper with all it's low suggestions. low ideals that are expressed in every form? And the music: Whats the kind of music your boys and girls are learning 10 play? Is 1t all jazz? Some one said a while ago that jazz was dying out. The last time I heard 1t thought it was dying. It cannot die any too quick to suit me. The pity of it that our boys and girls are not getting a higher taste Of things worth while. Jazz In music. literature and conyer- sation 10 such an extent that our boys and girls minds get perverted. Let us sec to it that they don't find that in our homes. please God.
 Then xampie-conduct: And the