He could do about as he pleased. He could divorce his wife without the permission of any court. He could abuse the children, he could even sell them into slavery. The spirit of such a home could hardly be ideal, and the Bible indicates this in many passages. Yet Jesus' advice about reconciling brothers who had quarreled, or one who had ill-treated another, is just as good advice now as then. It is easy for a long-standing grudge to grow out of some little slight which ought to have been quickly settled at the time. The trouble is most folks are angry when they have been wronged, and wait for the brother who has injured them to come and apologize. Jesus reminds us that reconciliation will come a good deal sooner if the injured one makes the first move, thus showing that he is willing to forgive and start fresh:

If your brother does you an injury, go to him and convince him of his fault when you and he are alone. If he will listen to you, you have won back your brother. But if he will not listen to you alone, then take one or two more, that every word spoken may be vouched for by several witnesses.-Matthew 18: 15.

Notice that this is in accord with the Golden Rule which tempers justice with mercy. It is giving the offending brother the chance to apologize, a better chance than he really deserves, for you would want to be treated that way yourself in his place.

How to prevent family troubles. Many of the courts in our larger cities now have branches called "the court of family rehabilitation" or "domestic relations court." Or sometimes one member of the bench who is especially tactful and kind is selected to handle this sort of cases. Remarkable results have followed. In Cleveland

more than half the divorce cases are being settled out of court, in friendly conference alone with the judge, and hundreds of homes are thus saved from ruin. The judge just sits down in a small room with the husband and wife and talks over their difficulties with them. Often they come to him for help before any steps are taken toward a divorce; thus he is able to apply preventive treatment, and a great deal of good is accomplished.

All this sad business would be unnecessary, if we should all try to be more thoughtful of each other in our homes and lubricate the points of friction before the human sparks fly! That day you came home from a school picnic, in high spirits over the fun you had had, and found your older sister plodding along at housework in the kitchen— just what happened? When she spoke a sharp word to you about having to work for you all day while you were playing, how did you answer? If you spoke without thinking, you probably gave her an angry reply, “as good as she sent." But if you realized that she was nervous and tired, you understood her impatience and overlooked it. Quickly putting yourself in her place, you well knew you would have been tempted to be ill-humored if you had had to work indoors all that beautiful day while she had been out by the lake. So the Golden Rule saved a hot box in the family that time, and soon your tired sister was mollified by your mild reply, and was laughing over your vivacious story of the day's lark. Have you ever

known this prescription of Jesus to fail?

Treat others in

the home as you would like them to treat you, and soon every one of the family catches the spirit of good will and fair play.

POINTS FOR DISCUSSION

1. How many homes in this class have the whole family

regularly at meals? How many have an hour together at night? In what ways is the modern city home life broken up more than in the country? Honestly, what do you like and dislike about your own home? What have you done to help?

2. Discuss Jesus' ideal of the family as the type of the kingdom of heaven. Why did he call God Father? Who taught him this? What about his own home? What shows that he was sometimes homesick? (Matthew 8: 20.) How did he show his appreciation of family life?

3. Why do you think Jesus never married? How do you know he believed in marriage? Contrast his home ideals with the common practice in the Roman Empire then. What did he say about marriage? Show how the Golden Rule prevents divorce.

4. Why is a good home the best school for character? Why is a hasty marriage dangerous? What does selfishness do to a home? How has your home given you practice in team-work? How has it taught you honor and chivalry? sympathy and kindness? reliability and a sense of fair play?

5. Try for a week to make the Golden Rule reign in your home. Watch for every opportunity to avoid the friction which an impatient word or an inconsiderate act usually makes. Say nothing about this, but take notes on your success and failure and discuss them with your teacher.

FOR FURTHER STUDY AND HONOR WORK

6. In Peabody's The Christian Life in the Modern World read the chapter on "The Christian Life and the Modern Family." Note the three best suggestions in this chapter.

7. Do the same with the chapter on "The Family and the Beloved Community" in Kent and Jenks' book on Jesus' Principles of Living.

8. If there is a "domestic relations court" in your city, find out how the judge applies the Golden Rule in settling family troubles.

9. What is your opinion of Jesus' way to settle a dispute between brothers? Show how the Golden Rule applies in such a case. Have you ever known the Golden Rule to fail in your own family when honestly put to the test?

CHAPTER XVII

THE GOLDEN RULE MUST REDEEM BUSINESS

WE naturally think of the great field of industry when we speak of social justice. Here is where injustice has most often been practiced, ever since the early days of the unpaid labor of the slave. Surely, if the Golden Rule is needed anywhere, it is needed in business.

Problems of the young wage-earner.-More than four-fifths of American young people of the age of sixteen are daily wage-earners, in spite of the rapid growth of high schools since the World War. These alert boys and girls are starting business careers with eager enthusiasm. Some of them enjoy their work and are glad of their freedom from school. Others left school reluctantly, to help support the family. All too early the burdens of mature life have fallen upon them and childhood's freedom is left far behind.

Doubtless many who study this chapter are of this working army of youth. Are you finding it difficult to live the Christian life in the world of business? Have your employers treated you as Christians? Are you getting a square deal in wages and working conditions? If not, is it because your employers neglect the Golden Rule, or somebody else? Some folks say business is always selfish, competition is always cruel. Do you believe it? Some say there is no place for the Golden Rule in business; that if a man really tried it, it would bankrupt him. Do you believe it? Are you finding the methods in your line of business straightforward and honest? Or are you forced under orders to practice fraud and deception?

Cheer up! Don't get cynical, whatever happens. And