The Home Council

Little Children with Jesus

Permit the little children to come unto me; forbid them not: for to such belongeth the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein. And He took them in His arms, and blessed them, laying His hands upon them.

—Jesus.

The Baby

Where did you come from, baby dear?
Out of the everywhere into here.

Where did you get those eyes so blue?
Out of the sky as I came through.

What makes the light in them sparkle and spin?
Some of the starry spikes left in.

Where did you get that little tear?
I found it waiting when I got here.

What makes your forehead so smooth and high?
A soft hand stroked it as I went by.

What makes your cheek like a warm white rose?
I saw something better than anyone knows.

Whence that three-cornered smile of bliss?
Three angels gave me at once a kiss.

Where did you get this pearly ear?
God spoke, and it came out to hear.

Where did you get those arms and hands?
Love made itself into bonds and bands.

Feet, whence did you come, you darling things?
From the same box as the cherubs’ wings.

How did they all just come to be you?
God thought about me, and so I grew.

But how did you come to us, my dear?
God thought about you, and so I am here.

—George MacDonald.

Alternate Reading: Luke 1:68-79

Motherhood

Lord, who ordainest for mankind
Benignant toils and tender cares,
We thank Thee for the ties that bind
The mother to the child she bears.

All-Gracious! grant to those who bear
A mother’s charge, the strength and light
To guide the feet that own their care
In ways of Love, and Truth, and Right.

—William Cullen Bryant.

A mother is a mother still
The holiest thing alive.

—S. T. Colbridge.

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.

—W. M. Thackeray.

For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

—W. R. Wallace.

Womanliness means only motherhood:
All love begins and ends there,—roams enough,
But, having run the circle, rests at home.

—Robert Browning.

Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall;
A mothers secret hope outlives them all.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes.

In the heavens above,
The angels, whispering to one another,
Can find, among the burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of “Mother.”

—Edgar Allan Poe.

Alternate Reading: Luke 1: 46-55.

The Birth of Jesus

Among others Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem, the town of David, in Judea—because he belonged to the family and house of David—to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was about to become a mother… While they were there her time came, and she gave birth to her first child, a son. And because there was no room for them in the inn, she swathed him round and laid him in a manger.

In that same country-side were shepherds out in the open fields, watching their flocks that night, when an angel of the Lord suddenly stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were seized with fear.

“Have no fear,” the angel said. “For I bring you good news of a great joy in store for all the nation. This day there has been born to you, in the town of David, a Savior, who is Christ and Lord. And this shall be the sign for you. You will find the infant swathed, and lying in a manger.” Then suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and singing—

“Glory to God on high, And on earth peace among men, in whom he delights.”

-Luke

Home, the House of God

I set out early to find God.
I found Him not on the hot sands of the desert,
Nor in the solitude of the wilderness,
Nor in the thronged market-place,
Nor in the confused halls of learning,
Nor in the temples of dogma and creed.
Then, returning late, I found Him,
Waiting to supply all my soul’s need,
In the shrine of the heart—Home.

This is a reading of Part 1 of “Home: The Savior of Civilization” by J. E. McCulloch. It explains what a home council is, why work done in the home is of paramount importance, and what to expect from the episodes that follow.

While following episodes of this podcast will only be a few minutes each, this one is an hour and twenty minutes.

This shold give you a flavor of what to expect. Here are a few quotes from the text:

“We moderns are incurably conceited over our inventions and machines. We pride ourselves on being able to talk to a friend a thousand miles away and forget that a far more important thing is the thought we express when we do talk. We can fly a hundred miles an hour and how proud we are when we alight I But we forget that almost any good Greek twenty-three centuries ago could travel in an ox-cart and teach more truth than we can possibly think of and teach it faster. It is not how fast we can travel nor how far we can convey our words that counts, but how well we can think and how sincerely we feel and how genuine is our message when we arrive.”

“There never was, and there never can be, a club, or society, or party, or anything else that the sun shines on, important enough, or attractive enough, to justify members of the family in habitually neglecting this school of character and fellowship. If one’s soul is worth more than a little gold or pleasure, he should do this thing seriously and in dead earnest.”

“When one puts business or pleasure above his home, he that moment starts on the down grade to soul ruin. The loss of a fortune is nothing compared with the loss of home. When the club becomes more attractive to any man than his home, it is time for him to confess in bitter shame that he has failed to measure up to the supreme opportunity of his life and has flunked in the final test of true manhood. No other success can compensate for failure in the home. This is the one thing of limitless potentialities on earth. The poorest shack of a home in which love prevails over a united family is of greater value to God and future humanity than the richest bank on earth. In such a home God can work miracles and will work miracles.”

“Pure hearts in a pure home are always in whispering distance of Heaven.”