REAL WEALTH OF THE NATION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 299, 19 December 1945, Page 4

REAL WEALTH OF THE NATION

. . You are the real wealth of your families and the nation.” to sous and daughters of Wanganui Rotarians on Monday, the Rev. A. C. McLean, of St. Paul’s, stressed the statement above. What he said was true, and it was said aptly. There TS a tendency to-day to think too much in terms of profit and too little in terms of home. From the homes come the young men and women of to-morrow, and it depends on how well equipped they are how well the nation will fare. The great British Commonwealth of Nations grew out of the homes of the British people. Sanctity of home, tenderness, love, joy, with its intermingling sadness and pain, all went into the making and enduring of the British home, and from those homes emerged a nation. To-day we seem to forget that, probably because we can so easily get away from home. We incline these days to seek our pleasures not within the surroundings of home, but in some place distant, that beckons and is so quickly and easily reached. Yet, no sooner do wc “shake tlie dust of home from our feet” than we want to be back again to the familiar paths. Even if the door docs creak on its hinges, or the path needs attention, they are parts of home, and home is never so bright as when viewed from the far distance. Servicemen and women are aware of that, and it is usual, after such an unsettling time as they have had, to regard home life in a new light. We commend the Rev. Mr. McLean’s reminder that the sons and daughters of to-day are the real wealth of the nation, which, in spite of treaties, loans and organisations, profits or lack of profits, is fajtndcd in its homes.