Self-Improvement by MRS. I. H. E.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 16, 1916

Self-Improvement

By MRS. I. H. E.

Now that the long evenings have come, bringing relief from the summer’s heat and the cessation of some of the activities of farm and shop, there is opportunity for most fathers and mothers to take a little time for self-improvement. By this is not meant the spiritual help that should come to each of us in the reading of the Word of God, in meditation, and in prayer. These are primary, and must take the leading place in every successful Christian life. No desire for self-improvement, no social duty, no labor, however pressing, should hinder parents from daily reading the Word and from other spiritual exercises.

It is of another matter that we wish to speak at this time. Often it is a real relief to mind and body, as well as an inspiration and uplift, for fathers and mothers to take a little time for mental improvement. One cannot devote himself wholly to the grind of daily toil without shriveling in soul. Not that any duty in life is humiliating, but the heart of man needs something besides the daily routine, it matters little what that routine may be, to ennoble his life and elevate his ideals.

How Reading Helps

Of all the varied means of self-improvement there is no other so beneficial and at the same time so widely available as reading. One who acquires a taste for reading carries a key of happiness which the world cannot take from him. Sir John Herschel said: “If I were to pray for a taste which would stand by me under every variety of circumstances, and be a source of happiness and cheerfulness to me through life, and a shield against its ills however things might go amiss and the world frown upon me, it would be a taste for reading.”

The gifted statesman and author, Disraeli, declared that “the delight of opening a new pursuit or a new course of reading imparts the vivacity and novelty of youth even to old age.”

“Think what reading, if it is well ordered, can do for us,” says Amos R. Wells. “It introduces us to the best and wisest and strongest of all the past and present, and tells us more about them than their closest friends could know, sometimes more than they knew themselves. It renders us participants in all the stirring scenes of human history, admitting us to the council chambers of kings, the cabinets of presidents, the consultations of great generals. It gives us the inestimable advantages of travel, transports us instantly to the pampas of Brazil, the steppes of Russia, the forests of Alaska, or the Strand of London. It carries us where only the most fortunate and courageous explorers have gone, and gives us in an hour the experience of years. It admits us also to the secrets of nature, and familiarizes us with the high designs of the universe. Carried safely in its paper canoe, we float backward on the stream of time, see antediluvian monsters along the banks, pass amid forests of strange foliage, and watch new continents arising from the deep. Lifted on its paper wings, we fly to other worlds, . . . consort with the comets and the meteors, and grow at home in Orion and the Pleiades.”

We May Choose Our Book Friends

To form a taste for good books is to keep the best company, and have it when we choose. Neither social disadvantages nor lack of wealth can deprive us of this intellectual communion with the great minds of all time; for few are so poor that they cannot have a few choice volumes. “As friends and companions, as teachers and consolers, as recreators and amusers, books are always with us, and always ready to respond to our wants. We can take them with us in our wanderings, or gather them around us at our firesides. In the lonely wilderness and the crowded city, their spirit will be with us, giving a meaning to the seemingly confused movements of humanity, and peopling the desert with their own bright creations.”

Books are among our most precious inheritances, and we should prize them as such. “They are a guide in youth and an entertainment for age. They support us under solitude, and keep us from becoming a burden to ourselves. They help us to forget the crossness of men and things; compose our cares and our passions, and lay our disappointments asleep. When we are weary of the living, we may repair to the dead, who have nothing of peevishness, pride, or design in their conversation.”

Now is the Time

The long evenings of fall and winter afford a favorable opportunity for profitable reading, and parents as well as the younger members of the family should improve this time to the best advantage. It is wonderful what a little application can do in enlarging the vision, and bringing hope and cheer to the performance of life’s daily tasks. Recently a young woman, who is teaching school and doing heavy work, wrote me that she is devoting her spare time to the study of birds. She really enjoys this nature study so much that it gives her even greater satisfaction in the performance of her school duties.

Many fathers and mothers could, by planning a systematic course of reading during the present autumn and winter, widen their acquaintance, enlarge their mental capacity, elevate their standards, add to their happiness, and gain an immeasurable enrichment of mind and heart. Suppose one were to devote an hour a day during the four months from November 20 to March 20 to good reading, that would make one hundred twenty hours—fifteen days of eight hours each, or a little over two working weeks! If one can read ten pages in an hour, he will be able to read during this time about twelve hundred pages. That would be three or more good, substantial books. Many will read more.

Wise Use of Time

Economy of time is essential for success in any undertaking, especially in carrying out a plan for self-improvement; but such economy will pay large dividends. Gladstone said: “Believe me when I tell you that thrift of time will repay you in after-life with a usury of profit beyond your most sanguine dreams, and the waste of it will make you dwindle, alike in intellectual and in moral stature, beyond your darkest reckonings.” Yet in how many homes the precious hours of the long fall and winter evenings are practically wasted! Idle conversation, gossiping about the neighbors, story-telling, foolish games, and other things steal away the golden moments, and self-improvement is neglected. Of all spendthrifts he who squanders time is most to be pitied; for time “is the stuff that life is made of.”

Naturally, the reading hour will have to be planned for, and it will require resolution and self-discipline to keep it free for this purpose. “Allow no exceptions” is a good rule to lay down as a safeguard to the time set aside for self-improvement. Not all who receive the benefit from the reading will need to lose the entire time from other duties. The husband can read aloud while the mother is

mending or doing other hand sewing; and often the husband can work at some quiet task while the wife reads.

Not only are the hours spent in this way an inspiration and a source of happiness to the parents, but they are a help to the children. Many young people get the idea that father and mother are behind the times. Often this is because they never hear discussed at home the subjects which are more or less constantly brought before their attention at school. When their parents show themselves familiar with the facts of history, enjoy excursions into the wide field of nature study, and keep up with the trend of present-day events, children are quick to ask father and mother for help on the questions that puzzle them, and to show a proper respect for their opinions.

The Choice of Books

What shall we read? How, among so much that is good, shall we choose the best? Certainly there is a wide field to select from, and one has need of good sense in making the choice. Not all will receive the same help from reading the same books. Emerson says: “The profit of books is according to the sensibility of the reader.” Much depends upon our education and special need.

In general it may be said that books of history, biography, missions, and travel offer a wide field for entertainment and instruction. Books of nature and science, books dealing with the problems of home or farm or school, and books of poetry will be the choice of many. Books on meditation, prayer, and the Bible and its characters, and books relating to special epochs or movements in religious history, will appeal to others.

Two very simple and satisfactory rules to govern the choice of reading have been laid down by D. H. Martin: “(1) Read standard books—those that have stood the test of time; (2) read only elevating books—such books as will stimulate your mental powers, and elevate your morals.”

Shall we not set apart a definite time for daily reading? MRS. I. H. E.