HAPPY THE HOME

          Today our homes are under attack like never before and, unfortunately, many are in danger and crumbling.  Many things put stress on our families today.  Often marriages are hit with separation and divorce.  Often finances and jobs create divisions and many of these come as a result of pride and selfishness.  Often it is children who create problems as they become disobedient and lack respect for others.  And usually there is little or no time for the Lord in homes.  Many homes today are not happy places and that is so sad.

          There aren't too many songs or hymns written about homes that are happy and where the Lord has first place.  This week's song choice shares that in happy homes God's love is a motivating factor.  In these homes Jesus's name is its authority and the children and their parents speak of Him and hold Him dear.  Such homes are full of prayer, praise and the study of the Word.  And there is peace and unity.  Does this describe your home?

          I don't know what kind of home Henry Ware (1794-1843) came from, but I am guessing that it was a home where the Lord was loved and served.  At last he knew the characteristics of a happy home.  His father was a Unitarian minister and later a professor at Harvard.  Ware graduated at Harvard, studied theology, and became minister of the Second Unitarian Society, in Boston, in 1817. After a ministry of twelve years, he made a foreign tour, and on his return was elected "Parkman Professor of Pulpit Eloquence and Pastoral Theology" in Harvard College.  When Ware's health began to fail in 1829, Ralph Waldo Emerson became his assistant. Ware also served as professor of pulpit eloquence and pastoral care at Harvard Divinity School from 1829 to 1842. Upon his retirement in 1842, he moved to Framingham, MA, and died there a year later.  His collected works in four volumes, were edited after his death, by the Rev. Chandler Robbins.

          While times and our culture change, we need to claim the words that Joshua claimed centuries ago.  "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. " (Joshua 24:15)  That proclamation sums up the way to have a happy home.  Maybe we need to be reminded of that.  And maybe we need to make some changes in our homes. "Happy the home where God is there!"

1.    Happy the home when God is there,

And love fills every breast;

When one their wish, and one their prayer,

And one their heav'nly rest.

2.    Happy the home where Jesus' name

Is sweet to every ear;

Where children early speak His fame,

And parents hold Him dear.

3.    Happy the home where prayer is heard,

And praise is wont to rise;

Where parents love the sacred Word

And all its wisdom prize.

4.    Lord, let us in our homes agree

This blessed peace to gain;

Unite our hearts in love to Thee,

And love to all will reign.

You can listen to it here.   HAPPY