The journal. (Caldwell, Ohio) 1934-1961, 1946-07-25
WHERE THE SPARROWS
MAKE THEIR NEST


yea, the sparrow hath found an
house, and the swallow a nest for
herself, where she may lay her
young, even thine altars, o Lord
of hosts"
The text tells us that we may
well build our human homes close
TO the Holy of Holes. Let the altar
never be far away from where we
rear our brood. Let the atmosphere
of our home be such that every
thing they see and hear and feel
may remind them of religion. Let
the home and religion be kept to-
gether that is our message in a
sentence.
Adolph Hitler is commonly
charged with starting a terrible
war. That's an oversimplification,
of course, but he certainly was a
potent factor in it. One is baffled
as to how anyone could have done
the things he did, until one recalls
his home life. His father was a
drunkard and died of alcoholism,
His mother, many years his fathers
junior, had been servant to the
fathers first wife. She became an
invalid in the boys early life, died
when ne was in his teens. When a
growing youth needed guidance
and control his father was coming
home drunk out of control himself
to abuse the family. He never
felt the touch of a vital religion
upon him. He knew only drunken
ness, and pickering, and suffering.
Is it any wonder that he went out
of that home into the world a
warped, distorted personality, who
nearly wrecked two-thousand-
year-old civilization in his mad
ness?
The first observation we would
make is that if children don't get
next to religion in their homes
they probably won't ever get it.
Humanity doesn't rise much above
the level of its home life religious
ly. It is a statistical fact, for ex-
ample, that more people join the
Church before they are fifteen
when they are presumably still
under the religious influence OF
home-than all those who join
afterwards.
There are many reasons Tor this
phenomenon. Childhood is the i'm
questionable time of life. If chill
dren don't feel the impress of re-
ligion then their personalities
harden usually never to become
plastic again. But there is deeper
reason. Christianity is by nature
family religion. 1t takes its SYM
bols from family life.
We must acknowledge that 1t IS
difficult to keep religion alive In
a modern home. The first reason
is that we live in a secular world.
We belong to a generation that
thinks it doesn't need religion; 1t
can get along without 1t.
God is just an elective, so lar as
our civilization is concerned. Just
as when it gets cold outdoors you
must bestir yourself inside to keep
warm. so when a whole civilization
is cool to religionA home has to
keep up its religious hearth flres
or the coldness outside becomes
coldness inside.
Secondly, we live in a genera
ton that is not only untavoraole
TO religion but also unfavorable to
home life. We live at such dizzy
pace that slow growth of family
life doesn't have a chance to take
place. So it is very difficult to de-
velop religion in an average rush
ing. bustling, American home.
Keeping religion alive in home
these days is difficult business. In
the light of these facts what are
we to do? My answer is: Do the
best we can. We still do splendid
lob with our children religiously,
despite all the handicaps, If we
really want to. The trouble with
so many of us parents is that we
don't see how important it is that
we train our children religiously.
We would Danish from our COM
pany any father or mother VINO
would starve their children bodies.
We compel parents to educate
their children's minds And yet all
around us there are parents who
are starving their children's souls;
they are bringing UP the little ones
God gave then in religious litter
acy. It is so easy to assume that
a home just makes itself. Parents
learn to play bridge, they learn
to dance, they train long years to
build a business or a profession;
but they take no training to build
a home"
These times may be hard for
religion, and yet the home is still
way out ahead as an influence in
children's lives. It is true from the
standpoint of time: a child is one
hour a week in church school, forty
hours in day school, fifty or sixty