p. 18 | A Last Call to Parents by M. E. K.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 17, 1914

A Last Call to Parents

By M. E. K.

FAR better that a child should have fewer and plainer clothes on his back, simpler food in his stomach, and a harder bed on which to sleep, if by this he may have a better training for his mind. Yet how many parents, after providing the necessities of life, give very little serious attention to the things of the mind and the heart.

The home is the one school above all others which sways the future. It is the most potent factor in the making of character. God-fearing parents, however humble their circumstances, can lay the foundations of a liberal education and of strong Christian manhood. They can train their children for Christian work and leadership, as did Amram and Jochebed.

Like all great achievements, these results are accomplished by adherence to a fixed purpose and by the faithful improvement of every opportunity for the furtherance of that purpose.

One of the greatest factors in this home education is reading. S. D. Gordon has truly said:—

“The books may be few, but they can be chosen, and be choice. The father and mother teachers may have hard work holding the roof over their heads, and getting meal from the mill, but the purpose of the life will decide the conduct of both life and home. They can live with their children in their studies. They can piece in spare moments to keep ahead of the children. They can take bits of time to read with the children and talk over what is read. Many a strong leader of thought among men has had the foundation of his education laid in just such a home, and by such love-wise parents. “There is no finer mental training that can be done than to teach the child the reading habit, a good, intelligent book-reading habit. It is astonishing how rare the reading habit is. To the thousands books are sealed treasures. They can listen to men if they talk simply enough, but they can’t get information out of a book, though they can pronounce the words easily enough. The crowd stands deaf and blind before a book; because they haven’t acquired the reading habit while young.

“And that is true not simply of the ignorant, but of thousands who are reckoned intelligent, and who are intelligent in making money and in discussing the common affairs of life. The book-reading world is a very small one. It’s a very difficult task to write a book that many people will read. The paper-reading and magazine-reading world is much larger. But the reading is pretty much of a very shallow sort.

“Papers and magazines are of great value if one has learned how to read them. They should have only a small proportion of a man’s reading time. With thousands they make shallow reading, and shallower thinking, and tongues loose at both ends. To teach a child to read a book thoughtfully is one of the greatest services that can be rendered. The thoughtful mastering of one good book will frequently train and transform the whole life. And, more, it fixes the reading habit, which makes all books your helpers and servants.”

It was for this twofold purpose — fixing the reading habit, and bringing into play the transforming power of good books — that our Missionary Volunteer Reading Courses were established. These courses have already become an important factor in the lives of our youth, and are accomplishing for those who take them the purpose for which they were established.

The courses for this year begin in the Instructor of September 29. This is a last appeal to our parents to do their duty in this matter. The first book in the Senior Course is J. Hudson Taylor’s “A Retrospect,” which costs 35 cents, and the first in the Junior Course is a fine missionary story, “Under Marching Orders,” 50 cents.

“Form a home reading circle, in which every member of the family shall lay aside the busy cares of the day, and unite in study.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VII, page 64. M. E. K.