Chapter 90—Proper Mental Food
What shall our children read? is a serious question, and demands a
serious answer. I am troubled to see, in Christian families, periodicals
and newspapers containing continued stories that leave no impress of
good upon the mind. I have watched those whose taste for fiction has
been thus cultivated. They have had the privilege of listening to the
truths of God’s word, of becoming acquainted with the reasons of our
faith; but they have grown to mature years destitute of true piety.
These dear youth need so much to put into their character building
the very best material,—the love and fear of God and a knowledge of
Christ. But many have not an intelligent understanding of the truth as
it is in Jesus. The mind is feasted upon sensational stories. They live
in an unreal world, and are unfitted for the practical duties of life.
Results of Reading Fiction
I have observed children allowed to come up in this way. Whether
at home or abroad, they are either restless or dreamy, and are unable
to converse, save upon the most commonplace subjects. The nobler
faculties, those adapted to higher pursuits, have been degraded to
the contemplation of trivial or worse than trivial subjects, until their
possessor has become satisfied with such topics, and scarcely has
power to reach anything higher. Religious thought and conversation
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has become distasteful.
The mental food for which he has acquired a relish is contaminating
in its effects, and leads to impure and sensual thoughts. I have felt
sincere pity for these souls as I have considered how much they are
losing by neglecting opportunities to gain a knowledge of Christ, in
whom our hopes of eternal life are centered. How much precious
time is wasted, in which they might be studying the Pattern of true
goodness.
I am personally acquainted with some who have lost the healthy
tone of the mind through wrong habits of reading. They go through
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