imply habit. He has no right to interfere
with her liberty in this respect. The one to give in is the one whose
conscience is not trampled upon. If the husband refuses to go to church
with his wife, he can do so amicably, and in such a tactful way that his
wife cannot reasonably feel permanently offended, but he must not object
to his wife going to church, nor has he the right to insist on being
accompanied in his outing by his wife. On the other hand, the wife must
not nag or quarrel with him continuously on the subject of religion.
Those little incidents will come up in the experience of every married
couple. They are not serious or insurmountable in themselves, but they
can be made serious by mismanagement.
The true wife is the home-maker, not simply the housekeeper. She is
responsible for its attractiveness and its comfort, its morals and its
existence. The marriage vow "does not make a wife, but comradeship in
the bearing of the burdens of life, does." She must be Love and Justice
and Truth to her children, and companion and friend and helpmeet to her
husband.
We, therefore, advise the young wife to begin wedded life with definite
plans and ideals.
THE ATTAINMENT OF SUCCESS.--In the first place, you do want your
particular matrimonial venture to be a success. Success in one sense is
getting what you want. You must, however, know exactly what you want.
Very few people know what they want, but those few are the ones who
manage to "get there." If you ask a dozen of your friends what their
plan of life is, what they are working for, what they really want, not
one of them probably could tell you with any degree of exactness. Most
people go along in an indefinite way, working from day to day, more or
less dissatisfied, and with absolutely no feeling of certainty as to
what the future holds in store for them.
Human effort is an example of energy misdirected and it is the greatest
potential energy in the universe. Really to want something means that we
must be willing to sacrifice everything necessary to attain our wish,
and to concentrate and direct all our efforts in its attainment. To do
this, we must be efficient, we must be healthy, we must strive day and
night, and we must want intensely to achieve success.
During the first few weeks of married life the young wife, if she is a
wise little lady, will take stock. She will begin to think, and she will
naturally speculate about the future. She will try to deter
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