Show THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN HEAVA like memories dear of long departed debalt days floating across the misty pas come echoes of childish laughter that fill me with tenderness as I 1 think of t the little angels whom I 1 have loved who have flashed across my life with their cheer and passed on to woman hood forgetting me but leaving be hind them in my heaxt heart the strong strongest edt inducement to a belief in Immor immortality taO I 1 have ever known well begotten well borne well bom well reared children the offspring oc clean honest intelligent parents cw chu l dren who grow without fear without temptation and without learning the J white lies that so often spoil a child children whose eyes are calm and deep and look into mine with the trust of innocence are the dearest work of at god that I 1 have ever heard ohl oh tr the precious tots could but carry into years of maturity the purity the innis cence the freedom from a sorrow 1 ow that every well bred child enjo enjoys bo how different the world might be in time why can they not because as a they thay grow they come in contact with A i much to make their nature change soon they find the ideal of their you youna lives shattered by contact with eta tho of their own age who lie and steal among the older people they find jealousy and backbiting back biting and disregard far things that to their young minds were sacred they find hate where thy expected love suspicion grows grown wust weakens temptation comes contact with the hard world kills the innocence of their childhood and too often they become like the world and the sw kweit promise of their early years is lost it is a crime not only against nu hu manity but against god to poison tb the white mind of an Inho innocent cent trusting truthful child and if tf parents knear this not theoretically but actually they would pray for chila lessne rather than dare the awful risk that through inability or indifference they might raise a child only to see it sink into the dismal slough in which the great masses wallow there are too many children born bom no me more should come than can be reared to manhood and womanhood with tb the i sweet innocence trust and purity that made their childhood a present of god in the world this is true the world around while I 1 have seen many maly toy lev able children among the mormons cormons I 1 have seen many neglected and growing era wins wrong morally because the poor mother had so many she know what to do it was a daring and humorous assertion to call the thel cables babies bent crop but it was not true they might have been at the time the phrase was coined biggest crop but no woman should have more mom children than she can rear well and no woman should have any if she is incapable of raising them to honor I 1 am aware that this is a subject to treat thus in a domaoa paper but I 1 believe you will not quen r tion my sincerity if I 1 am in error yoa will correct me but I 1 want to sho from my concept conception ign of one phase of mormonism why I 1 write as above the mormon conception of life is that the heavenly father created spirits they were immortal like their source the fathers desire is that they shall become immortal souls and to do this they must have an opportunity to choose between good and evil by living ft a term of existence in mortal bodies to bring this about the race of mortals ott 0 the earth is established with instructions to increase to each mortal child there comes a spirit child from the heavenly father to run the gauntlet of this life know the evil and choose the good if it can at death the spirit returns to its father to await the resurrection of the body if the spirit has chosen the good in this life its mortal body will rise with the saints spirit and body will be united and become 1 an immortal soul if it has chosen the evil the chances are that it is lost forever J X see in this a beautiful theory at least though I 1 cannot say that I 1 know it to be true but for my argument I 1 ahll assume it to be true my first claim is that the heavenly father of these theme spirit children must desire that they shall ahall all choose the good in mortal 3 y life and become immortal souls in the resurrection any other supposition would be inconsistent with the character of the father it must follow aan that ile he will equally desire that svery mortal child shall be bred borne r born azid arid reared udder under those conditions that will give temptation to evil the mast least power to lead his children astray to lead them to reject the good and snoose the evil any other supposition would again be inconsistent with the character of the father thus it follows also that the procreation and aw turing of children to be the taber of heavenly spirits must be a L duty in regard to which the father w require the most scrupulous i care are I 1 repeat that any other supposition would be inconsistent with the character of the heavenly father such being the case I 1 insist that there are too toe many children born whenever and i wherever there are those born who can not be reared in the innocence and purity that should be the home of children from the heavenly father I 1 have seen miny many children in salt balt lake who are mean and bad if they are aft the tabernacles of spirits from heaven those spirits stand all chances of being lost and it seems to me logi eel al to believe that the father must hold the parents of such r for the loss of his own spirit eh children adren hence the great duty of parents understand this subject what they owe to their children what responsibilities they are under to the heavenly father to my mind there is nothing in this world as lovable as a beautiful innocent trusting child near my home there are many of them they know ine ane their generous hello mr te ile manna to my solitary life they keep me young I 1 would not miss their greeting erecting for a throne they are the love of my human world as flowers are the love of the physical world they are god with us are sweet innocent children with their free wild laughter and happy unconcern nothing so BO clearly shows to me the great manly heart of jesus as his love tor for children buffer them permit them to come to me he said it seems as though he saw in them the spirits of kc children who were his brothers and in the long ago the children too saw in him a brother and crowded upon him the hypocrites who sought to condemn him held them back they wanted even the children to hate him butche drew them they were balm ta kis his sorrow burdened life they brought peace a and d joy and sunshine to RIM and he sa said they were the kingdom of heimen heaven if the kingdom of heaven say I 1 be only half as charming as some of the deax dear tots I 1 have known I 1 hope to get there myself but unto all good children everywhere I 1 send my hearts wish that they may grow to maturity and never lose or forget the innocence and sweetness of their childhood CHARLES ELLIS |