nd in the Christian religion? Growing out of lessons I teach
these children are they coming to _like_ the Bible? will they want to
know more about it? will they turn to it naturally as a matter of course
because they have found it interesting and helpful? will they care
enough for it through the years to search for its deeper meanings and
for its hidden beauties? and because of this will they build the
strength and inspiration of the Bible increasingly into their lives?"

And, further: "Are my pupils developing a _growing_ interest in
religion? Do they increasingly find it attractive and inspiring, or is
religion to them chiefly a set of restraints and prohibitions? Do they
look upon religion as a means to a happier and fuller life, or as a
limitation and check upon life. Is religion being revealed to them as
the pearl of great price, or does it possess but little value in their
standard of what is worth while?" These questions are of supreme
significance, for in their right answers are the very issues of
spiritual life for those we teach.

Spiritual responsiveness.--The teacher must accept responsibility for
the spiritual growth as well as the intellectual training of his pupils.
There is no escape from this. We must be satisfied with nothing less
than a constantly increasing consciousness of God's presence and reality
in the lives of those we teach.

As the child's knowledge grows and his concept of God, develops, this
should naturally and inevitably lead to an increasing warmth of attitude
toward God and a tendency to turn to him constantly for guidance,
strength, comradeship, and forgiveness. Indeed, the cultivation of this
trend of the life toward God is the supreme aim in our religious
leadership of children. Without this result, whatever may have been the
facts learned or the knowledge gleaned, there has been no worthy
progress made in spiritual growth and development.

The evolution of spiritual responsiveness.--The realization of this
new spiritual consciousness in the child's life may not involve any
special nor abrupt upheaval. If the child is wisely led, and if he
develops normally in his religion, it almost certainly will not.
Countless thousands of those who are living lives very full of spiritual
values have come into the rich consciousness of divine relationship so
gradually that the separate steps cannot be distinguished. "First the
blade, then the ear, and then the full grain in the ear" is the natu