For the Family Is Forever

“Lord, behold our family here assembled.

We thank Thee for this place in which we dwell;

for the love that united us;

for the peace accorded us this day;

for the hope with which we expect the morrow.”¹

These thoughtful lines from Robert Louis Stevenson turn our hearts to home, to fathers, mothers, family, remembering that we move in and out of many other things⎯but the family is the foundation of society. When the family is broken the strongest bind is broken, and there is nothing left to take its place with such permanence, or safety, or assurance. The strength and hope and peace and purpose of life are set essentially within the walls we call our home, with children there to live, to learn, then soon to leave to make their way in the world. But “they are not made up . . . plastic and plywood,” said one observer on the subject. “You can’t stack them up in a corner to await your own good time to put together the parts . . . “² There’s a time beyond which some things cannot so well be done. Our opportunities with children are so perishable, so precious. And so we come to parents with a plea to listen. Listen⎯so we’ll know their needs. Listen. Keep the lines open. And never cease the patient waiting until all are accounted for. It may be a long wait, but a wait that is worth it. And to you our children⎯Remember that a father, a mother who cares enough to worry and to wait⎯who cares enough to counsel and to be concerned⎯is among the greatest blessings God has given. Keep close. Communicate⎯fathers, mothers, families: keep close, with respect and kindness and consideration⎯for truth and decency, law and order, peace and happiness are somehow set and summarized in family love and loyalty, and the things that could break up a home are all too hazardous to tamper with. Oh, “thou who wouldst give,” said Carlyle, “give quickly. In the grave thy loved ones can receive no kindness.”³ Fathers⎯mothers⎯children⎯open your hearts this day and always⎯for the family is forever.