1908 



GLEANINCiS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1081 



Our Homes 



By a. I. Root 



what God katk joined tOKether. let not man pat asunder. — 

 Matt. 19:6. 



This growing business in the way of divorces 

 has worried and troubled me for a long time back. 

 1 am sure it is the result of misapprehension and 

 misunderstanding; and it is Satan himself, the 

 arch enemy of mankind, who is fostering and 

 encouraging this uneasiness and discouragement 

 between man and wife. This whole great world 

 of people does not seem to realize or recognize 

 the sacredness and the solemn responsibility that 

 rests on the marriage ceremony. As it looks to 

 me, there are three great events in every human 

 life. The first is life itself, or we may call it 

 birth — coming into this world of ours. The 

 next great event, or perhaps the other great event, 

 is death — the taking leave of this world and the 

 closing up of human life. Now, we have but 

 little to do with the matter of birth. Somebody 

 has said we were not consulted in regard to the 

 time or place and other circumstances. We have 

 something to do with death, it is true; but most 

 of us are powerless when we come to die, and, in 

 fact, are almost as helpless as when we were born. 

 But the third great and important event is, in my 

 judgment, marriage. It should be regarded by 

 both man and woman as the most sacred and 

 solemn event that happens to them between life 

 and death. Perhaps they do not always look at 

 it in that way; but it is the planning and arrang- 

 ing for giving other human beings a glimpse of 

 human life, through them. 



A few days ago somebody sent me a little 

 book, the title of which was, " How to Care for 

 a Wife." All things considered, I do not know 

 that I would want to recommend the book, 

 especially for general reading. But there were 

 some very good things in it. One especially was 

 an earnest exhortation to all young people ap- 

 proaching maturity to consider marriage in the 

 way I have been urging, as a sacred and solemn 

 undertaking; that in choosing a partner for life 

 each one should carefully consider the building- 

 up of a home and rearing children who will be 

 a credit to humanity and to our nation. While 

 Mrs. Root and I were reading and discussing it, 

 one of our daughters and her husband, and one 

 or more of the young prattlers of their home, 

 came in. I read an extract from the book, and 

 asked the two young parents how many young 

 people in contemplating marriage, or, say, during 

 their courtship, look at the matter in that solemn 

 and methodical way. Mr. Boyden burst out 

 into a laugh and said, "There is not one couple 

 in ten thousand that ever think of such things." 

 I looked up at Mrs. Root and said, "Sue, when 

 you and I were spending so much time together, 

 say a year or two before our marriage, how much 

 of an idea had we in our heads about rearing a 

 family in the fear of God ? " She laughed at the 

 idea almost as loudly as did Mr. Boyden, and 

 declared that she never gave even a thought to 

 the responsibility of rearing a family. Perhaps 

 neither one of us was ready just then for any such 

 problem; but the dear Savior led us and taught 

 us, and prepared us for the task, all in his own 



good time, as the little strangers came into our 

 home, sometimes a little faster than we two had 

 planned to have them come. My attention has 

 been called to this whole matter by an article in 

 the Ladies' Home Journal for August. The title 

 of the article is, " Why I Would Not Marry My 

 Husband Again." Mrs. Root read a part of it 

 to me just as I was getting ready to go to sleep; 

 but before she got very far I raised up in bed 

 and said with vehemence, "Sue, that article 

 should never have been written. The Ladies' 

 Home Journal made a mistake and a blunder in 

 giving place to it. It is treason against all hu- 

 manity. No wife and no husband should ever 

 let the thought enter the head or consider for a 

 moment such a. question." Mrs. Root smiled a 

 little at my vehemence, and a little later gave me 

 a big smile that gave my heart a thrill when she 

 asked very quietly, "Would you, my husband, 

 choose the same wife if you had your life to live 

 over again ? " 



She knew, bless her dear heart, what the an- 

 swer would be, when I replied, before she had 

 hardly finished her question, "Yes, to be sufe I 

 would. You know, dear old comrade and part- 

 ner, that I would not trade you off for any other 

 woman or for all the other women the world has 

 to offer." Perhaps it was my turn to turn around 

 and ask her the same question; but I knew what 

 the answer would be, without asking. May God 

 be praised that Satan with all his machinery and 

 band of helpers has no power to shake or weaken 

 in the least our love and trust in each other. 

 But, dear friends, as I look out on the world and 

 remember the experience of years past, I again 

 still feel sorry that this question has ever come 

 up. I can remember too many cases where the 

 husband and wife did not seem to be greatly at- 

 tached to each other. Some of them did not get 

 the one they wanted, and some of them finally 

 took up somebody else because they could not 

 do any better. This latter course is all right. 

 I believe in people getting married, even if they 

 do not succeed in getting just the companion they 

 wanted. Often death takes the loved one away. 

 Shall the other go through life single, out of re- 

 spect to the memory of the departed one ? Not 

 so. God sent us into this world to help the 

 world along; and no person can really be in the 

 harness, and be one of the world's efficient work- 

 ers, until that person is married and has children. 

 If God does not see fit to send the children, then 

 let them take some of the children who have no 

 father or mother and bring them up in the fear 

 of the Lord. 



What would you think of the woman who 

 . would go through life comparing her own hus- 

 band with other men to his disadvantage, and 

 saying to herself, " Now, if that man had been 

 my husband I might have had some chance to 

 amount to something. As it is, what is the 

 use } " 



Some women do have such thoughts in their 

 mind. I have seen some so foolish that they 

 even talked it to their neighbors. I know some 

 wives have great trials, but so have some men; 

 but let them remember the words of our text, and 

 let them strive to be loyal to God and loyal to 

 the companion God has given them. Perhaps 

 some of you may say, " God did not do the giv- 

 ing. It was my own blundering when I made 



