rifice. The tremendous
hug of the little arms and the kiss of the rosy lips are manifestations of
physical love; while the child is in this loving mood the wise mother
should ask of him some little service, slight at first, but sufficient to
make him put forth some effort to serve her. In this way she can transform
this mere selfish love into the beginning of that spiritual love which
Christ commended when He said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

The parent stands to his child for the time being, as the one supreme
source of every power and blessing; the wise parent may establish
between himself and the little one almost the same beautiful and solemn
relationship as that which exists between the Supreme Giver of all good and
His children. "Not every one that sayeth unto me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall
enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in Heaven."

"Love is to be tested always by its effect upon the will. From the
beginning the will must be made strong and unselfish by repeated acts of
loving self-sacrifice. Contrast the selfish, all-absorbing love of Romeo
for Juliet, who could not live without the physical presence of the one he
loved, with that grandly beautiful love of Hector for Andromache, who, out
of the very love he bore her, could place her to one side and answer the
stern call of duty that she might never in the future have cause for
painful blush.

"I knew an ideal home where husband and wife were filled with the most
exalted love I have ever known, but the husband died. The wife said: 'All
that was beautiful or attractive in my life went out with my husband, and
yet I know that I must, for the love I bear him, remain and rear our child
as he would have him reared.' As I listened to these words, quietly uttered
by the courageous wife, I realized what love, real love, could help the
poor, stricken heart to endure."

The child must be trained through love to give up his own will to others,
and, from the beginning, learn to submit to things which are unpleasant.

If this thought is insisted on from the first, obedience will come easily
to the child; but woe be to both mother and child if egotism, self-will and
selfishness secure a fast hold upon the young heart.

A mother should never refuse the help offered by the child. If the work is
of such nature that the little one cannot share it, let the mother suggest
as a substitute something else which the child can