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Chapter 31—The Mother
What the parents are, that, to a great extent, the children will
be. The physical conditions of the parents, their dispositions and
appetites, their mental and moral tendencies, are, to a greater or less
degree, reproduced in their children.
The nobler the aims, the higher the mental and spiritual endow-
ments, and the better developed the physical powers of the parents,
the better will be the life equipment they give their children. In
cultivating that which is best in themselves, parents are exerting an
influence to mold society and to uplift future generations.
Fathers and mothers need to understand their responsibility. The
world is full of snares for the feet of the young. Multitudes are
attracted by a life of selfish and sensual pleasure. They cannot
discern the hidden dangers or the fearful ending of the path that
seems to them the way of happiness. Through the indulgence of
appetite and passion, their energies are wasted, and millions are
ruined for this world and for the world to come. Parents should
remember that their children must encounter these temptations. Even
before the birth of the child, the preparation should begin that will
enable it to fight successfully the battle against evil.
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Especially does responsibility rest upon the mother. She, by
whose lifeblood the child is nourished and its physical frame built
up, imparts to it also mental and spiritual influences that tend to the
shaping of mind and character. It was Jochebed, the Hebrew mother,
who, strong in faith, was “not afraid of the king’s commandment”
(
Hebrews 11:23
), of whom was born Moses, the deliverer of Israel.
It was Hannah, the woman of prayer and self-sacrifice and heavenly
inspiration, who gave birth to Samuel, the heaven-instructed child,
the incorruptible judge, the founder of Israel’s sacred schools. It was
Elizabeth the kinswoman and kindred spirit of Mary of Nazareth,
who was the mother of the Saviour’s herald.
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