The Development of Ideals in the Home by Mrs. Iza E. Clement

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 18, 1909

The Development of Ideals in the Home

By Mrs. Iza E. Clement

MRS. IZA E. CLEMENT

It is the privilege, the right, and the duty of every mother to choose the ideals which shall mold the characters of her children, dominate their course of action, and determine to a large degree their destiny in the world to come.

Very early in a child's life, even before he is able to speak his thoughts, it will be seen that ideals have been formed in his mind. The inward conception will find outward expression in his daily habits and preferences. As the mother is the earliest and most constant companion of the little one, the first impressions made on its plastic mind lie almost entirely under her control. First impressions are important and far-reaching in their results; but no mother should ever allow her guiding interest to cease or wane with the passing of babyhood and its first lessons. On the contrary, her vigilance should be increased day by day, while the child is growing, its mind developing, and it is being brought in contact with outside influences, worldly attractions, and perhaps with unchristian associates.

It is in the period of early school-days, when the first stinging darts of the enemy are most keenly felt, that the restraining power of a mother's love, and the shielding influence of a Christian home, have their most telling effect. It is a critical time for the little one taking its first steps out from the loving protection of the home into the bewildering maze of the world. Home must be a place where the little trials and disappointments of child-life are overcome, and turned into lessons of patience and strength; where aches and pains are soothed away by the power of love, and where weary hearts and hands find rest. To such a home the children, even when grown to manhood and womanhood, will never tire of coming.

When we speak of the influence of home, however, the living, breathing, spirit-endowed beings who compose the family are not the only character-forming instrumentalities under consideration. There are indirect and inanimate agencies, as well as the direct and living ones, which play an important part in determining a child's choice of his life's calling. One of the most influential, and at the same time the most easily controlled, of these is the pictures on the wall. Mothers, look about you. What are the pictures in your home? Does the haughty mien of war heroes, with drawn swords, 'mid scenes of blood and carnage, invite your boy to follow in their footsteps? Do hunting pictures of dogs and guns teach him to be a butcher, and to kill God's innocent creatures? Are there on your walls cheap and unreal daubings of love-sick maidens and gallant knights, or showy actresses, wielding their influence of silly day-dreams over your daughter, beguiling her to hours of idleness and unholy ambitions? If any such pernicious representations mar the walls of your little world, take them down and cast them into the fire.

But do not stop here. Replace them with the true and the beautiful. Henry Ward Beecher used to say that “a home without pictures is like a body without a soul.” Good pictures are silent but mighty teachers; give them a chance. Let the pure countenance of the Captain of our salvation win the heart of your boy. Exchange the scene of the tempest and horror of battle, for the quiet of field and stream, of cloud and sky, or of mountain wood and unfettered animal life. Such pictures as Abraham and the Angels, Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh, Joseph's Dreams, Mary at the Saviour's Tomb, the Believer's Vision, Christ Walking on the Water, John on the Isle of Patmos, even though they are nothing but inexpensive lithographs or wood cuts, will be an inspiration to true holiness, and will furnish ideals which the angels of God will delight in, and which they can use in helping the children to form characters that will stand the test of the judgment.

Another fruitful source of family ideals is found in the literature of the home. The newspapers of our day, with their records of crime and their descriptions of evil deeds, are unfit intellectual food for the pure minds of the youth Banish them, especially the Sunday paper with its highly colored, meaningless, or pernicious pictures. We have periodicals enough to furnish us with something new and clean to think about every day, keeping us abreast of the times, and informing us as to the fulfilment of prophecy, besides giving us in a condensed form whatever news of the day is worth while. However, if in order to keep up with the events of the world, it becomes necessary to consult the newspaper, let such portions as are of consequence be read aloud by the parents, their relation to the Sacred Word pointed out, and then let them be destroyed.

There are good books without number, to place in the hands of the children; and who can estimate their value? Eternity alone will reveal the victories gained, the calls to duty answered, the heavenly aspirations reached, the souls won to Christ, through the noble resolutions formed by the perusal of a good book. Carey, “the father of modern missions,” was aroused to put into practise the missionary idea, by reading Andrew Fuller's book, “The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation.” Abraham Cowley, the poet, read a book which he always found lying in his mother's window, until, to use his own words, it made him “irrecoverably a poet.” Robert Moffat's life was changed by fulfilling a promise made to his mother to read a chapter from the Bible every morning and evening. These are only a few of the many instances which might be cited to prove the influence of good literature. Why not, then, acknowledge its power, and grant it its true place in your home as a mighty instrument in developing the proper ideals for the guidance of your children?

Still another one of these agencies without which no home, be it the palace of the king or the cottage of the peasant, is complete, is music. Carlyle calls it “the speech of the angels,” Chateaubriand tells us that “it is the child of prayer, the companion of religion.” How is it in your home? Is it the sweet melody of sacred song, accompanied by some instrument which requires skill, study, and diligent practise to master, training the hand, developing the mind, and tuning the ear? Or is it the cheap little-tattle of dime museum or moving-picture show, with its boisterous laugh and vile suggestion reproduced on the graphophone; turning the home into a bedlam, and making rakish dancing clowns of innocent children who would otherwise be quiet and well-behaved? Never desecrate the sanctity of your home with such entertainments.

Do not imagine that these things are insignificant; they are vital, and fraught with weighty consequences. They come within your sphere of influence; they demand your attention and immediate action. Watch them! Guard them! They are avenues to the souls of your children; they are providing your little ones with ideals which are leading them to eternal ruin or to everlasting life.

Madison, Tenn.