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Choice and Preparation of the Home
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Through the working of monopolies and the results of labor
unions and strikes, conditions of life in the city are constantly be-
coming more and more difficult. Serious troubles are before us, and
for many families moving out of the cities will become a necessity.
The physical surroundings in the cities are often a peril to health.
The constant likelihood of contact with disease, the prevalence of
foul air, polluted 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 better chance we will have to
secure health of body and mind and soul.
Conditions for the Best Life
An expensive dwelling, elaborate furnishings, display, luxury,
and ease do not furnish the conditions essential to a happy, useful
life. Jesus came to this earth to accomplish the greatest work ever
undertaken among us. He came as God’s ambassador, to show us
how to live so as to secure life’s best results. What were the condi-
tions chosen by the infinite Father for His Son? A secluded home in
the Galilean hills; a household sustained by honest, self-respecting
labor; a life of simplicity; daily conflict with difficulty and hardship;
self-sacrifice, economy, and patient, gladsome service; the hour of
study at His mother’s side, with the open scroll of Scripture; the
quiet of dawn or twilight in the green valley; the holy ministries of
nature; the study of creation and providence; and the soul’s commu-
nion with God—these were the conditions and opportunities of the
early life of Jesus.
So with the great majority of the best and noblest people of all
ages. Read the history of Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph, of Moses,
David, and Elisha. Study the lives of men and women of later times
who have most worthily filled positions of trust and responsibility,
people whose influence has been most effective for the world’s
uplifting.