REVERENCE AND RESPECT
“Life is the wonder of wonders.” We can neither create it nor can we comprehend its mystery. From the sun worshiper of the East to the red man of the West, from the philosopher to the child there is in him that natural inclination to bow with reverence to that all majestic, all powerful source of this which we call life. “The greatest harm one may do in life is to destroy it.”
The child has a natural tendency toward destruction, which we often see illustrated in the youth whose chief pleasure is obtained by pulling up the wild flowers and shrubs. He says, “they do not suffer.” Possibly not, but they have been a means used to decorate and beautify the earth. To destroy them for amusement is an insult to the great Creator, and is also hardening his own heart. He will not long be satisfied to trample upon the rose or crush the lily, but will want to torture living things that will cry out with pain. When he has robbed the bird’s nest, mutilated the toad and tied the tin can to the dog’s tail, he will then turn to his fellowman to satiate his cultivated taste for cruelty. The attack upon the flowers was only the preliminary act to destroy his sympathy, love and pity. He has forgotten the law, “Thou shalt not kill.”
EVIL EFFECTS OF BAD EXAMPLE, ETC.
To spoil another’s life is almost as grave an act as to take it from him. Each one of us in a way holds the health and happiness of others in his keeping, and by bad example, ill-treatment or injustice may make life to some one so undesirable that death would be a pleasure. Many children have been made nervous wrecks by the mockery and cruel tricks of their companions, and many parents and teachers have had their health and happiness seriously impaired by disobedience and disregard. Life is forever imperiled by the wickedness, ignorance and thoughtlessness of those who, in their childhood, failed to receive the instructions due them by those who were responsible for their future being.
As a counterpart to this disposition of destruction we have in our nature a gentle, sympathetic tendency which will respect life and development and will guide us to its protection and care from the dropping of the seed to the harvest. Pity must be aroused when we see life endangered, not only at the misfortune of humanity, but even the wounded bird or the flower crushed by the storm should bring a responsive heart-throb.
Teach the child to straighten the broken flower and to replant and gently press the soil around the uprooted shrub. Notice the pleasure he will experience when the flower revives and the shrub takes root. How much greater will be his pleasure to minister to some living thing. Help him dress the broken wing of the bird and warm the chilled kitten; with what eagerness he will work only that they may recover.
LOVE, HONOR AND REVERENCE
He has then learned to join to pity those activities which constitute mercy. It will then be an easy matter for him to care for the sick and infirm, to see for the blind, to hear for the deaf and to walk for the lame. Let them lift the burden from the shoulders of the aged who have “blazed the trail” and made possible our present benefits. To them all love, honor and reverence is due. It is said, “old men for counsel, young men for action.” Necessarily, the old engineer who has been going over the road for many years knows more of the dangerous grades and uncertain curves than the strong young man who is to take the throttle from the trembling hand, and who will be assured of success if he has learned the lesson of wisdom in respecting the counsel of the aged.
It is a mistaken idea to shield children from all knowledge of misery and suffering. It is not those who are blinded to suffering who experience the greatest amount of joy in life, but the acme of joy comes to those who have relieved some suffering. It is not always possible to do great acts of charity, but it is an easy matter to give the kind word or smile that may turn the tide which will convince some one that life is worth while. It has been our experience that children may be taught the elementary principles of nursing to a very great advantage. The knowledge of diet and hygiene enables them not only to care for others, but is applicable to their own bodily needs. The quiet step, the gentle voice, the self-control necessary to the care of the sick, and the respect due the physician and patient, are all good lessons in his early moral and mental training.
CHINESE RESPECT FOR PARENTS AND AGED
We must confess that the Chinese hold a higher regard for their parents and the aged than we do. They look upon the Western custom of the son’s coming of age and going out into the world without regard to his parents, or they for him in many cases, as behavior fit for the brute and not fit for human beings. With them, as the parents are held responsible for the conduct of the child, so the child is responsible for the credit of the parents.
All children cannot be clever or highly intellectual, but they may all be well trained and unselfish. A child should be taught in a mannerly fashion and not in accordance with a story told of a mother who was taking her well-beloved child, Tommy, to a Christmas-tree entertainment given in a public hall. At the door of the hall she said: “Tommy, mind your manners; smile and look pleasant, or when I get you out again I will break every bone in your body.” As the mother is rude to her child, in like degree she may expect rudeness from the child. A child has a right to civility as well as the adult. General Garfield said: “I never pass a ragged boy in the street without feeling that one day I might owe him a salute.”
RESPECT IN THE SCHOOL ROOM
There is no surer way to teach a child to respect himself than to respect him. Trebonius, a great schoolmaster, upon entering the school-room was wont to lift his hat and say: “I uncover to the future senators, counsellors, wise teachers, and other great men that may come forth from this school.” There is no place where the respect of children is more potent than in the school-room. The teacher who so respects them, will in return receive that reverence and love which will make labor pleasure instead of toil.
There is no greater indication of rudeness and ill-training than too great familiarity with any one, more especially to those in higher official positions. A young man was asked why, as he had a preference for the army, he did not seek to become an officer. He replied: “I would not like to have to salute a superior officer.” A young man of this description would not be of value in any profession or to society. It is not the individual that we salute, but the commission of the superior officer. Every rank in life has its distinctive dignity, so we should insist upon that respect due our position, at the same time not forgetting the respect due others in both private and public life.
LOVE AND REVERENCE FOR ONE’S COUNTRY
We cannot impress too early on the child’s mind the love and reverence he owes to his country. The superior merits of her institutions should always be present in such teachings so that the child always would recognize the best under the flag which stands for his welfare and protection. Regardless of the respective merits of different governments, let none be greater than his own so that the child will learn always to defend and maintain the honor and dignity of his country.
The essential condition to be aimed at in home life should be that as the child grows up there be no question of fear, and that if the parents are to do the most for their children and are going to get the greatest amount of pleasure and comfort for themselves from them, there must be a spirit of perfect respect and kindly comradeship. Parents and children, to use the common but most expressive phrase, should in the best sense of the term be companions.
The laws of this and every civilized land teach respect for the property of others, the justice, not the penalty which commands due respect. But respect for the opinions and views of others—this is a virtue that needs be inoculated in your children’s minds early. It is closely connected with charity. In teaching this form of respect impress upon them the great difference in people. No two persons see or think exactly alike. The world would be monotonous were all of its people the same in thought and expression. It is always well to remember that, “it takes all kinds of people to make a world.” Respect for parents, for strangers, for the aged, should be instilled in the mind of every child. Explain to them that, “respect for others’ views is the surest way of winning them to your own.” Reverence for things sacred always helps to brighten the way. The reverence with which a little child kneels at his mother’s side is a beautiful sight. Respect for the mother’s teachings and reverence in the worship of God through her implicit faith in a higher power. Reverence and respect go hand in hand. “As ye measure to others, so in like manner shall it be measured to you again.”