MEANING OF HOME

New Zealand Tablet, 8 November 1906, Page 37

MEANING OF HOME

-Home means more than the threshold whither are ' brought and where are gathered the fruits of our daily toil. Home means more than the roof-tree supporting : the rafters under which we securely rest. ' It 'means more than the dwelling places where those •of one famiily eat and drink and chat and sleep. % It* means more than the abode of comfort, more than the eit-r ;adel of private life. Home means ■ the fireside. It .is from* around the fireside, as from the 'parent nest that young love first flutters forth on life; and as ■the birds at eve come home to roost, so 'tis'towa) = the fireside of one's childhood that the fondest mem;ories of age turn • back. Many and many a time the 'wanderer in far off- lands, weary of limb and sore of ■heart will have forgotten the scorching sand of the 'desert, or the seething fever of- the swamps," or ; the. bitter waste of salt sea waves, and as in his heavy ;sleep,he .remembers no more the callousness or the Icruelty of the strangers around him, a dream that iWill have dawned on bis soul, a dream that shows :to him again with the light of the flickering flame, < the -circle of happy faces round the fireside, till a mist •of holy tears will have clouded his eyes and "a wave ;of holy love will have lifted up his heart; bringing his wild, wilful, wayward" spirit near to home, and Jtherefore, nearer to God. .»*".»«