Value of the Reading Courses by Mrs. H. W. Carr

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Sep 5, 1912

Value of the Reading Courses

By Mrs. H. W. Carr

This phase of the Missionary Volunteer work is not only interesting, but it is of great importance. Why?—Because it enlists the interests of our young people in a work which, if continued, will be as lasting as eternity. It does this by creating a love for pure, healthful reading that will uplift and ennoble the soul; it develops perseverance, and enables the young people to place a value on their spare moments, guarding them wisely; also, it awakens in them a deeper interest in their young friends, whom they often can enlist in the Reading Course by lending them books, or better yet, by having them secure the books for their own personal study.

In any line of work much more can be accomplished by having a system and working to it each day. This is very clearly the case with our reading. Horace Mann said, “Resolve to do a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year.”

The selection of the right kind of reading is vitally essential now, when Satan is working every device possible to place before the world, and more especially before our young people, trashy literature, which not only consumes hours of precious time, but creates an insatiable desire for more like it. This kind of reading is shallow and not hard to understand, and is no food for the mind. It is sad to know that the effect upon those who read such literature is that they soon lose their love and desire for deeper reading. Dear young people, you who are tempted on this point, will you not fall on your knees before God and plead with him for help to overcome this habit? He will help you. You will then relish the books that have been tasteless to you, and the Bible will be a precious book. You will have a greater interest in the Reading Course, and enjoy reading the books. Napoleon said, “Show me a man that reads good books, and I will show you the man that moves the world.” Do we not have a message now that is moving the world? God is using human instrumentalities in this message. The young people of this denomination are acting an important part in the closing drama. The Lord of the harvest is selecting and placing responsibilities upon

those whom he can trust; but those whose minds are filled with the poisonous miasma of infectious reading will be left out.

Parents, what are you doing to help your children? Do you begin when they are small to select the best reading for their expanding minds, and, as they grow older, do you read with them and enter into their confidence, that you may know what they are feeding upon? Do you advise them what is best, and warn them against that which is unsuitable, and pray together with them that God will strengthen the desires for healthful reading? They must have something to read, and if you procure the best for them, it will be money well invested; for you will be abundantly rewarded when in after years you see your boys and girls anchored in the truth. This cooperation between parents and children will inspire confidence in each other, and bring in the conditions that make a happy home. In nearly every case, better results will come from this way of dealing than by arbitrary government over your children's reading.

Each year now an excellent opportunity is afforded you to join with your children in the Reading Courses, which will help them and you, too. It is true that you are burdened with cares, and their school work takes much of their time; but set aside a little time each day when all can gather around the fireside; and plan to make it an interesting time. Missionary fires will begin to burn brighter. Your boys will love the home circle better than outside society, which so often proves detrimental. Now is the time to get ready to begin the courses for 1912-13.

Keep close to your children. Know what they are reading; for the influence their reading has on their minds is lasting. A noted skeptic gave as a reason for his hatred of the Bible the reading of an infidel tract when a boy. Two young men, on the scaffold to be publicly executed for murder some years ago, exhorted the youth to let cheap novels alone, for such reading had been responsible for their fall. We must do our best to prevent Satan from stealing the youth from our ranks; for they are the gold-mine of this denomination.

MRS. H. W. CARR, M. V. Secretary, Western New York.