The gospel is a wonderful simplifier of life's problems.
Its instruction, heeded, would make plain many a
perplexity and save us from many an error. It teaches us to
estimate things at their true value and to give the most effort to
the things of greatest worth--the things that will endure.
This lesson is needed by those upon whom rests the responsibility
of selecting a home. They should not allow themselves
to be diverted from the highest aim. Let them remember
that the home on earth is to be a symbol of and a preparation
for the home in heaven. Life is a training school, from which
parents and children are to be graduated to the higher school
in the mansions of God. As the location for a home is sought,
let this purpose direct the choice. Be not controlled by the
desire for wealth, the dictates of fashion, or the customs of
society. Consider what will tend most to simplicity, purity,
health, and real worth.
The world over, cities are becoming hotbeds of vice. On
every hand are the sights and sounds of evil. Everywhere are
enticements to sensuality and dissipation. The tide of corruption
and crime is continually swelling. Every day brings the
record of violence--robberies, murders, suicides, and crimes
unnamable.
Life in the cities is false and artificial. The intense passion
for money getting, the whirl of excitement and pleasure seeking,
the thirst for display, the luxury and extravagance, all
are forces that, with the great masses of mankind, are turning
the mind from life's true purpose. They are opening the
door to a thousand evils. Upon the youth they have almost
irresistible power.
One of the most subtle and dangerous temptations that
assail the children and youth in the cities is the love of
pleasure. Holidays are numerous; games and horse racing draw
thousands, and the whirl of excitement and pleasure attracts
them away from the sober duties of life. Money that should
have been saved for better uses is frittered away for amusements.
Through the working of trusts, and the results of labor
unions and strikes, the conditions of life in the city are
constantly becoming more and more difficult. Serious troubles
are before us; and for many families removal from the cities
will become a necessity.
The physical surroundings in the cities are often a peril to
health. The constant liability to contact with disease, the
prevalence of foul air, impure water, impure food, the
crowded, dark, unhealthful dwellings, are some of the many
evils to be met.
It was not God's purpose that people should be crowded
into cities, huddled together in terraces and tenements. In the
beginning He placed our first parents amidst the beautiful
sights and sounds He desires us to rejoice in today. The more
nearly we come into harmony with God's original plan, the
more favorable will be our position to secure health of body,
and mind, and soul.
An expensive dwelling, elaborate furnishings, display, luxury,
and ease, do not furnish the conditions essential to a
happy, useful life. Jesus came to this earth to accomplish
the greatest work ever accomplished among men. He came
as God's ambassador, to show us how to live so as to
secure life's best results. What were the conditions chosen by
the infinite Father for His Son? A secluded home in the
Galilean hills; a household sustained by honest, self-respecting
labor; a life of simplicity; daily conflict with difficulty and
hardship; self-sacrifice, economy, and patient, gladsome service;
the hour of study at His mother's side, with the open
scroll of Scripture; the quiet of dawn or twilight in the green
valley; the holy ministries of nature; the study of creation and
providence; and the soul's communion with God--these
were the conditions and opportunities of the early life of Jesus.
So with the great majority of the best and noblest men of
all ages. Read the history of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph, of
Moses, David, and Elisha. Study the lives of men of later
times who have most worthily filled positions of trust and
responsibility, the men whose influence has been most effective
for the world's uplifting.
How many of these were reared in country homes. They
knew little of luxury. They did not spend their youth in
amusement. Many were forced to struggle with poverty and
hardship. They early learned to work, and their active life
in the open air gave vigor and elasticity to all their faculties.
Forced to depend upon their own resources, they learned to
combat difficulties and to surmount obstacles, and they gained
courage and perseverance. They learned the lessons of self-reliance
and self-control. Sheltered in a great degree from
evil associations, they were satisfied with natural pleasures
and wholesome companionships. They were simple in their
tastes and temperate in their habits. They were governed by
principle, and they grew up pure and strong and true. When
called to their lifework, they brought to it physical and
mental power, buoyancy of spirit, ability to plan and execute, and
steadfastness in resisting evil, that made them a positive
power for good in the world.
Better than any other inheritance of wealth you can give
to your children will be the gift of a healthy body, a sound
mind, and a noble character. Those who understand what
constitutes life's true success will be wise betimes. They will
keep in view life's best things in their choice of a home.
Instead of dwelling where only the works of men can be
seen, where the sights and sounds frequently suggest thoughts
of evil, where turmoil and confusion bring weariness and
disquietude, go where you can look upon the works of God.
Find rest of spirit in the beauty and quietude and peace of
nature. Let the eye rest on the green fields, the groves, and
the hills. Look up to the blue sky, unobscured by the city's
dust and smoke, and breathe the invigorating air of heaven.
Go where, apart from the distractions and dissipations of city
life, you can give your children your companionship, where
you can teach them to learn of God through His works, and
train them for lives of integrity and usefulness.