HOME LIFE AFTER THE WAR.

By Miss M. C. GOLLOCK.

The task of reconstruction so far as our homes are concerned
is simpler than it seems, partly because the essential part of it—
the power to do it—is beyond our blundering touch, and partly
because the rest of it lies within our immediate reach and is the
setting of our daily life, and partly because we ourselves are
being borne onward by the tide of human progress and the
Christian faith towards that Kingdom of God where His will is
to be done on earth. What we want to do is in fact what we
are in the process of being made to do whether we will it or not.
We want to resume our home life—the basis of all social
[ife—after the war as a trust for the Church, for the nation, for
the world. For this purpose it does not matter who comprises
the home—the family, whatever its components, makes the
home. There may be the completeness of father, mother and
children, the arrested perfection of husband and wife alone, or the
dismembered unity of children left without parents; yet in all
cases the power of living together to fulfil corporate functions is
attested, and such a combination of individuals is the ground for
hope of an ultimate unity of the human race. The home
potentially is what we want the world to be. When we talk of
reconstruction of such home life we are not suggesting that it
can be accomplished by any mechanical or scientific means. We
cannot pick out from other social institutions those ingredients
we might think best, blend them together in suitable proportions
and say, “This according to the best modern ideas—this is home
life, improved and up to date!” But we can get back into the
gentle light of Nazareth and the meaning of the Holy Incarnation
and see the new in the old and learn where we have lapsed and
fallen short in all the attainment that was possible to us.
We want to reconstruct our home life as a trust for the
Church because we want religious sanctions to regulate morals,
govern conduct, and hallow practices. For instance, we shall
be more careful about family prayers, grace at meals, Sunday
occupation, church attendance, the choice of professions for our
sons, the moral standard of the men our daughters marry. Asa
trust for the nation, we want our home life to be the school of
integrity and duty and a democracy of fellowship that shall
prepare us for a place in national life. For instance, we shall
be particular about the type of tradesmen we employ and the