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Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene
organism, the relation and dependence of all its complicated parts,
is one in which most mothers take little if any interest. They do not
understand the influence of the body upon the mind, or of the mind
upon the body. They occupy themselves with needless trifles, and
then plead that they have no time to obtain the information which they
need in order to care properly for the health of their children. It is less
trouble to trust them to the doctors. Thousands of children die through
ignorance of the laws of their being.
If parents themselves would obtain knowledge upon this subject,
and feel the importance of putting it to a practical use, we should see a
better condition of things. Teach your children to reason from cause to
effect. Show them that if they violate the laws of their being, they must
pay the penalty by suffering. If you cannot see as rapid improvement
as you desire, do not be discouraged, but instruct them patiently, and
press on until victory is gained. Continue to teach them in regard to
their own bodies, and how to take care of them. Recklessness in regard
to bodily health tends to recklessness in morals.
Do not neglect to teach your children how to prepare healthful
food. In giving them these lessons in physiology and in good cooking,
you are giving them the first steps in some of the most useful branches
of education, and inculcating principles which are needful elements in
a religious education.
All the lessons of which I have spoken in this article are needed. If
properly heeded, they will be like a bulwark that will preserve our chil-
dren from the evils which are flooding the world. We want temperance
at our tables. We want houses where the God-given sunlight and the
pure air of heaven are welcomed. We want a cheerful, happy influence
in our homes. We must cultivate useful habits in our children, and must
instruct them in the things of God. It costs something to do all this. It
costs prayers and tears, and patient, oft-repeated instruction. We are
sometimes put to our wit’s end to know what to do; but we can take the
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children to God in our prayers, pleading that they may be kept from
evil, praying, “Now, Lord, do thy work; soften and subdue the hearts
of our children.” And he will hear us. He hearkens to the prayers of the
weeping, careworn mothers. When Christ was on earth, the burdened
mothers brought their children to him; they thought that if he would
lay his hands upon them, they would have better courage to bring
them up as they ought to go. The Saviour knew why these mothers