SEPTEMBER 1, 191^ 



665 



Our Homes 



A. I. Root 



While he yet talked to the people, behold his 

 mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to 

 speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold 

 thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring 

 to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto 

 him that told him. Who is my mother? and who 

 are my brethren ? And he stretched forth his hand 

 toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother 

 and my brethren I For whosoever shall do the 'will 

 of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my 

 brother, and sister, and mother. — Matt. 12:46-50. 



Many times while dictating these Home 

 papers I have earnestly prayed for wisdom 

 and guidance from above. Especially this 

 morning I feel like uttering a prayer some- 

 tlung like tliis : "0 Lord, help me to com- 

 prehend the full meaning of the beautiful 

 text that stands at the liead of this Home 

 paper. Clothe me with thy Holy Spirit 

 that I may make known to the multitudes 

 who are following me the great truth and 

 the much-nee(ied truth brought forth in the 

 words of our Savior when he said, 'Behold 

 my mother and my brethren.' " It occurs 

 that, in years gone by, I have heard adverse 

 criticisms of this very passage. It prob- 

 ably came from the same skeptics who were 

 trying to tind fault with some of the words 

 and doings of our Lord and Master. If I 

 remember cori'ectly, they said he had be- 

 come so excited and set up by the wonder- 

 ful miracles he was performing that he re- 

 fused even to notice the mother who had 

 nursed him and the brothers and sisters 

 who had been his companions through 

 childhood. It is only within about 24 hours 

 that the full significance of this wonderful 

 passage has been revealed to me — or per- 

 haps T had better say, partially revealed; 

 for all that is included in those five verses 

 will, perhaps, never be fully explored while 

 the world stands. Just now the world seems 

 to expect that a man shall not only respect 

 and reverence his father and mother, no 

 matter ivhat happens, but he shall remem- 

 ber the ties of brotherhood and sisterhood 

 and relationship. If one of the family gets 

 to be quite wealth}', public opinion, and, we 

 may say, good common sense, say that he 

 should look after his poor relations, and at 

 least give them a helping hand. This is all 

 right and proper. But let us push it a 

 little further. Suppose some man who is 

 high up in the world, and has authority- — 

 one, say, who has been given some high 

 position in the State or in the general gov- 

 ernment of the United States ; and suppose 

 this person should begin right away to put 

 his relatives into important offices, and 

 give them big salaries. You may smile at 

 this illustration when you remember how 

 many times this has been done and is 

 being done. Suppose tliis same man who 



is paid a handsome salary by the govern- 

 ment to protect the interests of the people 

 begins to manipulate politics and finance so 

 as to "feather liis own nest," or, if you 

 choose, the nests of his particular friends 

 and relatives. As you take the above into 

 consideration I should not Ayonder if you 

 would smile again. Let us now go a little 

 further still. 



Suppose the policemen of our great 

 cities, and perhaps I might include some 

 small cities also, who are employed to pro- 

 tect the public — the women and children — 

 those who are unaccustomed to city ways 

 and customs — the ignorant and untutored. 

 This big policeman is supposed to be a 

 father to all these unfortunates. He is ap- 

 pointed to see that every woman and child 

 has a chance to live and have a "square 

 deal" all around. Suppose a saloon-keeper 

 begins to cultivate the acquaintance of this 

 policeman, or, may be, the saloon-keeper 

 who lives neighbor to him is on friendly 

 terms. Suppose this policeman should hesi- 

 tate to do his duty because of old acquaint- 

 ance, or because the offender is an old ac- 

 quaintance, or may be a relative. Let us 

 now push the matter still further. Sup- 

 pose a saloon-keeper agrees to give his 

 friend the policeman five dollars a month, 

 or may be, where he is doing a big busi- 

 ness, five dollars a week, providing said 

 policeman will look the other way when 

 trouble happens in his saloon, or use his 

 influence generally to protect him from ar- 

 rest. Let me mention an instance of recent 

 occurrence — or, instead of mentioning the 

 incident, suppose I mention a few names: 

 Lorimer ; Judge Archbald ; Judge Hanf ord, 

 of Seattle; Police Lieut. Becker, of New 

 York, and Rosenthal, who was recently mur- 

 dered by the alleged connivance of the said 

 Becker*, and Stephenson and Holstlaw. 

 I iDresume I need not go any further. The 

 trouble is these judges, policemen, gov- 

 ernors, and (I wish to say it with reverence 



*I might mention also from our own State of 

 Ohio, Senators Diegle, Andrews, and Huffman. 

 While going over the above names, that expression 

 in one of our former Home papers comes vividly 

 to my mind: "4700 dirty dollars — dollars that he 

 did not need, and, in fact, had no use for after 

 he got them." What an awful contrast between 

 this spirit and that of the Master when he said, 

 "These are my mother and my brethren" I There 

 is no mention, I believe, in the Bible where Jesus 

 ever had a dollar. In fact, he owned nothing. He 

 once said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds 

 of the air have nests ; but the Son of man hath 

 not where to lay his head." I have been told 

 there is good evidence that the clothing he wore 

 was supplied by thoughtful good women ; and yet 

 he in his poverty healed more pain and conferred 

 more happiness on humanity at large than any 

 more mnrtal w^g eyer lived. "He pleased not 

 himself," 



