Where Shall the Home Be?
95
ensuring to all the health-giving blessings of a natural, unperverted
life
Effect of Environment on the Character of John—John the
Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, received his early training from his
parents. The greater portion of his life was spent in the wilderness....
It was John’s choice to forego the enjoyments and luxuries of city
life for the stern discipline of the wilderness. Here his surroundings
were favorable to habits of simplicity and self-denial. Uninterrupted
by the clamor of the world, he could here study the lessons of nature,
of revelation, and of providence.... From his childhood his mission
had been kept before him, and he accepted the holy trust. To him the
solitude of the desert was a welcome escape from the society in which
suspicion, unbelief, and impurity had become well-nigh all-pervading.
He distrusted his own power to withstand temptation and shrank from
[134]
constant contact with sin lest he should lose the sense of its exceeding
sinfulness
Other Worthies Reared in Country Homes—So with the great
majority of the best and noblest men of all ages. Read the history of
Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph; of Moses, David, and Elisha. Study the
lives of men of later times who have most worthily filled positions of
trust and responsibility.
How many of these were reared in country homes. They knew
little of luxury. They did not spend their youth in amusement. Many
were forced to struggle with poverty and hardship. They early learned
to work, and their active life in the open air gave vigor and elasticity
to all their faculties. Forced to depend upon their own resources,
they learned to combat difficulties and to surmount obstacles, and
they gained courage and perseverance. They learned the lessons of
self-reliance and self-control. Sheltered in a great degree from evil
associations, they were satisfied with natural pleasures and wholesome
companionships. They were simple in their tastes and temperate in
their habits. They were governed by principle, and they grew up pure
and strong and true. When called to their lifework, they brought to
it physical and mental power, buoyancy of spirit, ability to plan and
6
Ibid., 280
.
7
Testimonies For The Church 8, 221
.