reached its highest unfolding. This is the goal toward which all nurture
of activity must be directed, else no life is safe after it goes out
from the restraints of the home. In the heart of the parent who is a
seer, the mere closing of the door or putting away of the toy in
response to a request is not the thing most desired, for that is
external and true obedience is internal. The father, possessing insight,
wants the heart as well as the hand of the boy to close the door or put
away the toy. Without this, no victory is gained. The act itself is the
least of all. "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire. ... Then
said I, Lo, I come. ... I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law
is within my heart." This attitude of voluntary heart acquiescence to
the will of another is never the product of compelling power, else God
would force His children to obey, since obedience is the thing He most
desires. Force can sway the hand but not the heart. Paul, whose tireless
activity spent itself out under the direction of his Master, discloses
the great secret when he says, "The love of Christ constraineth us." The
eternal Father says to His child, "I have loved thee with an everlasting
love; therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee."

It is by love, by words of approval, by patient encouragement and help,
and also by experiencing the consequences of each act, whether joyous or
painful, that the child is led to follow the one who points out the path
for his activity. Soon he faces the words, "right," and "wrong," and
though knowing only at first that "right" is the thing permitted, and
"wrong," the thing denied, he feels the difference in the results of
each. Then he learns that the pathway of the thing called "right," is
not an arbitrary one laid down by mother or teacher, but the pathway
traced by God Himself, wherein we all must walk, parent and child,
teacher and pupil alike. When with dimmest understanding but loving
heart, he first sets faltering foot in that path, because he catches
glimpse of its shining light, that "shineth more and more unto the
perfect day," the one who has nurtured him will hear God's voice
speaking to his soul, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

HUNGRY SENSES

Hungry senses, directed in their quest by a hungrier mind, mark the
second great characteristic of early childhood. These are the channels
through which the world around comes into the life of the child. The
sights an