INFLUENCE OF THE HOME.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20619, 8 August 1932, Page 9

INFLUENCE OF THE HOME.

PRESENT-DAY TREND. ADDRESS BY REV. P. N. KNIGHT. "One of the most disquieting features of modern times is the breakdown, both of parental discipline and the influence of the home. Almost every moral and religious difficulty of the day can be traced to this failure," said the. Rev. P. N. Knight, at the Durham Street Methodist Church last evening. "In the beginning the' Creator said that it was # not good for man to live alone, and so He gave him his mate and set the solitary together in ff-li-lies and homes,"-the speaker continued. "IVom this • union sprang the greatest and most enduring happiness in the world. On the home, with its wholesome discipline, its ordered comfort, and security, men have staked all. Eor the home they have gone into the wilderness to dare and achieve, to dream of it by the lonely camp-fire or the stormy sea, and for its sake they have lived and, worked, suffered, and sometimes died. , A Holy Shrine. ~ "This holy shrine, common to all peoples, has had its differing standards, but, amidst even primitive tribes, some form of family life exists, and the shrine is kept sacred. "Modern civilisation must bear the heavy reproach that it has desecrated this sacred shrine and torn it from its lofty estate. Yet the home is admittedly the chief bulwark of the nation and the finest training ground of its citizens. There is no substitute for home life and no preparation for life's battles equal to that-found in the camaraderie, free criticism, and outspoken rivalry of a large family. An only child is to be pitied. In his most intimate and character-forming years he is without rivalry or opposition; he has I to share nothing and is often, petted and'pampered and seldom criticised or challenged, and thus his selfish instincts j are fostered and his generous feelings stifled and killed." Guidance of Religion. Mere family life, however, w*as not suflicient, continued Mr Knight. It required the guiding principle and mainspring which was found in religion. And it was because belief in the earnest following of Christ was so little in evidence in the average modern home that family life was tending to decline in influence, honour, and integrity. The family altar had largely disappeared and that was an iveparablo loss. People used to think of home as the.place where culture, refinement, and the great virtues were bred. The culture which was once so developed was now left to lie created and fostered by churches, Bible classes, and Sunday schools, and other institutions. All such development was admittedly admirable • in its way, but was not the natural order of things. The Lodge and the Club. "There can be no institution, however good and efficient, that can take the place of the home. The conviviality of the lodge, the fellowship of the club, the friendship of the church, and- the culture of the school can never compensate for the loss of early training in the home," continued Mr Knight. "We are living in an age, of standardisation. Boys and girls at school pass through the same classes and are cast in the same mould, learn to speak the same school accent, and tend to become all alike, with their individuality suppressed, if not quite killed. Moreover, children nowadays are rarely,.if ever, at home. Modern life calls them away. The - members of a modern family are little better than lodgers in a house. When we read of great men we are constantly told that the reason for their greatness was not in themselves, or their genius, but in their home training. "It is not enough to live in an age that produces great scientists and novelists. We must have great men with great characters, and we cannot grow these unless they are cradled in places of quiet strength, where virtue, piety, love, and sympathy reign supreme," added Mr Knight.