The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1962-02-09
10 Make A Home
Lesion for February II. 1862


for home. Other languages have
words meaning family, or house,
but not home. It is a Christian
word. through we did not so
much invent it as inherit it from
our n1other-religion, the jewish
faith. The Bible does not say
much about the Christian home
as such, for Of Testament times
there were no Christians. and in
New Testament tunes no writer
OF those books had been born into
a Christian home. It was some
thug quite new.
Nevertheless. as was just said.
we inherit the home. as an IN
stltution. from the Jews. We
may well be grateful. for no
other one thing Is SO fraught
with blessing as a true home.
Father and Mother
What does it take to make a
home? A modern popular poet
wrote. and truly, that 1T takes
a heap of hvln' to make a
mouse a home" Another poet re-
torred that it takes a heap Of
plunloln' and a heap 0 mortgage,
AID a heap Of reparin', and who
knows what, to make a home.
Indeed this is all true. But be-
lore The nvlng and the mortgage
and all the rest of 1t, two peo-
pie must love eacn otner ana
want a home together Homes
40 not spring up ~ magic. Incy
are planned. So the Old Tesla
mene Scriptures seldom if ever
speak OF a home llnueed they
olan't have the word in the
heorew language; but they do
speak often OF Father and MOTH
er. Now a father and a mother
90 not by themselves make a
home. They may both travel and
Hve in sultcases, he may be
away so much he seems almost
like a stranger when he does
come home. rather and n1orner
may acmeve nothing but a mad
house. and a divorce as the re-
suit OF it. But where there is true
lasting determined hope1ul
Christian love. there you have
the Fight 1olndahon TOR a nome.
This does not mean that only
with father-mother combina-
ton and partnership. can there
be true home. A mother can
carry on-heavy though the bur-
den by when her husband is
taken from her: and a father can
carry on Though not SO well as
a mother) if he has to be father
and mother both. Indeed there
are homes where there are
children, and where those who
live there are not even related
to one another. For example, we
have the well-known story of how
Jesus said from the corss,
Son behold thy Mother!" and
Mother. behold thy son!" And
how John Took Jesus mother
Mary into his own home. John
and Mary were no relation that
we know Of; yet we can be sure
that their home was a real one.
We do not know Johns wife said
to this; but it is not likely that
Jesus, who must have known
Johns home situation well
would have said what he did if
he thought for a moment that
Johns wife was a selfish wom-
an. At the very threshold Of
Christian history. then. we see
already what has been multiplied
many times over and over
the making of homes by, aid
for, those whose own homes
have been broken by death and
disaster.
One Of Jesus p'zzling sayings
is that one about Corban. The
reader may wonder what that
has to do with a home. Well, our
Lord is speaking Of a situation
where a man who should be
contributing to the home where
his father and mother lives
makes excuse for not helping
them by claiming that he gave
the money to the church (as we
would say. The home has first
claim among all our creditors.
For it takes money to suppot a
home. This doesn't mean we all
have to be rich. What it does
mean-among other things-is
that such matters as income,
minimum wages, and so forth.
are not just economic" mat
terS. They affect peoples ability
TO make homes at all. A bus
broke down in Louisville, Ken
lucky. last summer. It was H.
led with migrant workers headed
tor the cherry orchards of Mich
gan. Those hard-working people
had no money at i'll, and only
the clothes on their backs. They
are not covered by minimum
wage laws. How much of a
homie can you have on a mig
rants wages? To deny people
a decent living is deny them
LIES greatest blessing. a home.
Biased on outlines copyrighted
by the Division Of Christian Edu-
cation. National Conncil nf tl.r