and, above all, that it has no special connection with the
hour and act of retiring for sleep but rather, so far as time is
concerned, with the closing of the day. Mothers must see far beyond the
charm of the picture formed by the little white-robed figure at her
knee. There is no hour so rich in possibilities for this growing life.
It is one of the great opportunities to guide its consciousness of
God.[28]

3. _General family prayers._--It is true that, in many homes, under
modern conditions of business, it is almost impossible for the family to
be united at the hour when worship used to be customary, following
breakfast. However, that is not the only hour available. In many
respects it is a poor one for the purpose of social worship; it lacks
the sense of leisure. But there are few families where the members do
not all gather for the evening meal. It is not difficult to plan at its
close for ten minutes in which all shall remain. Without leaving the
table it is possible to spend a short time in united, social worship.
Or, by establishing the custom and steadily following it, it is possible
to leave the table and in less than ten minutes find ample time for
worship in another room.

Really everything depends at first on how much we desire to have family
worship, whether we see its beauty and value in the knitting of home
ties, in the elevation of the family spirit, and in the quickening of
the religious ideas. We find time to eat simply because we must; when
the necessity of the spirit is upon us we shall find time also to
worship and to pray.

Next to the will to make time comes the question of method. First,
determine to be simple, natural, and informal. A stilted exercise soon
becomes a burden and a source of pain to all. In whatever you do, seek
to make it possible for all to have a share by seeing that every thought
is expressed within the intelligence of even the younger members, that
is, of those who desire to have a share. This does not mean descending
to "baby-talk." Just read the Twenty-third Psalm; that is not baby talk,
but a child of seven can understand what is meant up to the measure of
his experience; the language is essentially simple though the ideas are
sublime.

Secondly, insure brevity. For that part of worship in which all are
expected regularly to unite, ten minutes should be ample. Some excellent
programs will not take more than half this time. Family worship is not a
diminutive facsimile o