Chapter 20—The Family and the City
Hazards of City Life—Life in the cities is false and artificial. The
intense passion for money getting, the whirl of excitement and pleasure
seeking, the thirst for display, the luxury and extravagance—all are
forces that, with the great masses of mankind, are turning the mind
from life’s true purpose. They are opening the door to a thousand evils.
Upon the youth they have almost irresistible power. One of the most
subtle and dangerous temptations that assails the children and youth in
the cities is the love of pleasure. Holidays are numerous; games and
horse racing draw thousands, and the whirl of excitement and pleasure
attracts them away from the sober duties of life. Money that should
have been saved for better uses is frittered away for amusements
Consider the Health Standpoint—The physical surroundings in
the cities are often a peril to health. The constant liability to contact
with disease, the prevalence of foul air, impure water, impure food,
the crowded, dark, unhealthful dwellings, are some of the many evils
to be met.
It was not God’s purpose that people should be crowded into cities,
huddled together in terraces and tenements. In the beginning He placed
our first parents amidst the beautiful sights and sounds He desires us to
rejoice in today. The more nearly we come into harmony with God’s
original plan, the more favorable will be our position to secure health
of body and mind and soul
[136]
Hotbeds of Iniquity—The cities are filled with temptation. We
should plan our work in such a way as to keep our young people as far
as possible from this contamination
The children and youth should be carefully guarded. They should
be kept away from the hotbeds of iniquity that are to be found in our
cities
1
The Ministry of Healing, 364
.
2
Ibid., 365
.
3
Country Living, 30
.
4
Ibid., 12
.
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