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Page 33
The teacher will, therefore, say to himself, The religious knowledge I
am putting into the minds of my pupils is of supreme importance--if it
makes them live better and act more nobly; the religious attitudes and
emotions I am cultivating in my class are full of value and
significance--_if_ they cause their possessors to live more broadly,
sympathetically, usefully, and happily. The true teacher will then add,
And it is my task _to see that this result follows without fail!_
RELIGIOUS HABITS AS AN AIM
Indirectly all this is to say that our first care in teaching the young
child religion should be to lead him to form _religious habits_. For our
lives are controlled by a great network of habits which come to us as
the result of acts often repeated, until they have become as second
nature. There are many things about the child's religion that should
become second nature; that is, should become habit--and which are not
certain and secure until they have grown into habits. For example, it is
wholly desirable to have the habit of attending church, of personal
devotions, and of resisting temptation, so well fixed that the acts
required for each take care of themselves with a minimum of struggle and
decision each time the occasion arises. Not only will this method
require less strain and compulsion on our part, but it will result in
more uniform churchgoing, attention to devotions, and the overcoming of
temptation.
The age for habit forming.--The principle, then, is simple and clear.
At the beginning of the child's contact with the church school he cannot
grasp the broader and deeper meanings of religion; but he can during
this period be led into the doing of right acts and deeds, and thus have
his religious habits started. At a time when his brain is yet unripe,
and hence unready for the more difficult truths or the more exalted
emotions of religion, the child is at his best in the matter of
habit-forming. For habits grounded in early childhood are more easily
formed and more deeply imbedded than those acquired at any later time,
and they exert a stronger control over the life.
How habits grow.--But habits do not come of their own accord; they
must be gradually acquired. Immediately back of every habit lies a chain
of acts out of which the habit grows. Given the acts, and the habit is
as sure to follow as night the day. Hence the great thing in religious
instruction of the young is to afford opportunity for our teaching to be
carried as immediately as may be over into deeds.
As we make the desired impressions upon the minds of our pupils, we must
see that the way is reasonably open for _expression_. The lessons should
be so direct, simple, and clear that there is no difficulty in
connecting them immediately with the daily life, and then we should do
our best to see _that the connection is made_.
As we teach we should have in mind the week that lies ahead in the
child's life--in the home, the school, on the playground, in the
community, and in whatever personal situations and problems we may know
are being met. Then we should use every power as a teacher to make sure
that we help the child meet the challenge of his daily life with the
finest acts, best deeds, and noblest conduct possible for him to
command.
APPLICATION OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION TO THE DAILY LIFE
One great purpose, then, in religious instruction is to attach the
stimulus and appeal of religion to the common round of daily life and
experience of the child. As Christ came that we might have life, not a
future life alone, but a full, happy, and worthy life in the present as
well, so we come to the child as a teacher to help him in his _life_
here and now. Our task at this point is to lead him to practice the
great fundamental virtues whose value has been proved through ages of
human experience, to incorporate directly into his living the lessons
learned slowly and with great sacrifice by generations which have
preceded him. Our aim will be to lead our pupils, out of their own
choice and conviction, to adopt and follow a _code of action_ such as
the following:
_I will respect and care for my body._ I will keep my body clean and
pure. I will try to avoid sickness and disease. I will breathe good air
day and night, and live out of doors all I can. Because I shall need all
my strength and endurance at their best, I will pay no toll to the
poisons of alcohol and nicotine. I will be temperate in my food, and eat
such foods as will favor growth, health, and strength. I will bathe
often, play and work hard, and get plenty of sleep and rest. My
character will be judged by my poise and carriage; therefore I will try
to walk, stand, and sit well, and not allow my manner to show
slouchiness and carelessness. Both because of my own self-respect and
because I owe it to others, I will strive to make myself neat and
attractive in dress and person. I will treat my body right so far as I
can know what is best for it, and will do nothing to defile or injure
any part of it. I will try to keep my body a fit dwelling place for my
soul, for God gave them both to me. And I will do all I can to make my
home, school, and community a beautiful and healthful place for others
to live.
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