THE HOME INFLUENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19781, 31 October 1927, Page 10

THE HOME INFLUENCE.

BASIS OF SOCIAL UPLIFT. GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S ADVICE. VALUE OF BIBLE-READING. "Most of the wasted lives come from the caivless homes, and half the good in the world is the direct result of the early home training of the young," said the Governor General, Sir Charles Fergusson, in performing the opening ceremony of the new Beresford Street Congregational Church hall on Saturday. He added that some parents thought they had discharged thenobligations by lending their children to Sunday schools, but the work of the Church required the encouragement and foundation which only home training could give. " If you look back on the history of oui race you will find that in the darkest periods a light comes," said His Excel lency. There was an example in the 18th century when society had reached the lowest grade of degredation. Early in the period a revival set in, and the new era came. With the aftermath of the recent war had come the inevitable reaction and a new spirit had entered the younger generation. There had been anxious times, but the revival had come. Huge social enterprises had been fostered by a section of the community which might have been expected to be too much absorbed in commerce to have been moved. In spite of the continuance of much that was disheartening, the Church was encouraged to furthei efforts by the great volume of public spirit which was now behind it. " New ideas have come since the war and we somewhat old-fashioned people find it a little difficult to envisage things from the point of view of the young. It is a situation which requires a great deal of tact I want to appeal to parents to recognise the value of home-training. It gives the child the instinct to do good and it makes virtue second nature." Ills were not corrected by legislation so much as by the upbringing of a generation in a desirable atmosphere. I'he Sunday school could not teach everything and the child could not comprehend Divine love if it had no experience of love m the home. " Can we not try, old-fashioned as we are, to bring back some of the old spirit of Christian worship in the home ? Is it impossible to bring back the old custom of reading a few verses of the Bible in the home ? 1 am not minimising the value of Sunday school work; 1 am emphasising it." Parents should realise that they could help by making the home influence impressive. The young would then leave their homes having learnt a little and anxious to learn more. " We must always try to understand new conditions and adapt old ideas," His Excellency said in conclusion. "We should try to see the other point of view, seek out the old paths, see where is the good way, and walk therein."