it makes your finger pain. Your are pleased with the candy, but you are pained by the fire. Just as there is something within you which finds pleasure in the candy and pain in the fire, so there is something within you which finds pleasure in goodness, or the right, but which is pained by badness, or the wrong. iv. The something within you which finds pleasure in goodness and is pained by badness is your Conscience. If you do what is right and good your Conscience will make you feel happy; if you do what is wrong or bad, your Conscience will worry you and make you feel unhappy. Children, sometimes, who are going to do something naughty look around the room to see if anyone is watching; or if they do the wrong thing they are, sometimes, worried that they will be found out. What does this mean except that their Conscience is pained by their naughty deeds? V. Whenever you do what your Conscience tells you is right and good, you will hear a voice within. you saying "Bravo! Well done!" There is no joy in all the world equal to the sound of that voice. As you grow older you will learn that when Conscience says to you "Well done!" you will be getting one of the greatest rewards, one of the highest prizes in life. vi. At different times, Conscience speaks in different ways. Don't do that! Sometimes is says, Don't do this! You know it is wrong and bad! Don't do it! But sometimes it speaks the other way saying, Do this! Do that! Go on, step ahead! Do it now! Most of you know the simple difference between Right and Wrong. Conscience says, Do what you feel is right! or it says, Don't do what you feel is wrong! Of course you are too young yet to know all about Right and Wrong, but you will learn more and more as you grow older. vii. Obey your Conscience! Listen to its voice, for when it talks it is the still small voice of God speaking. The loudest thunder cannot drown the soft sounds of Conscience; though you try to put it down you cannot keep it down. Keep Conscience fresh and healthy by trying always to have clean. hands and a pure heart. Of all the blessings that God can send you there is none so great and good as a clean Conscience. viii. Learn the following memory gems: Sin croucheth at the door and desireth to rule over thee; but thou shalt rule over it. verse 7.) (Genesis 4, Consider three things and thou wilt not be easily led to sin. Consider whence thou comest, whither thou goest, and before Whom thou must finally give an account of thy actions. (Ethics of the Fathers iii., 1.) A clear conscience is a soft pillow. To live with no conscience is to live like a beast. To live with good conscience, a perpetual feast. 2. Purity. i. If you wish to be healthy you must keep yourself clean. The skin has much work to do for you and, in order to do that work, it must be kept clean. You must wash thoroughly and often. You wish to look nice, and you cannot do so unless you keep yourself clean. ii. Not only must the body be kept clean; you must keep your heart, soul and mind clean also. The body is kept clean by soap and water; the heart, soul and mind are kept clean by pure thoughts, pure words, pure deeds. If you want to be really good, you will always try hard to be clean outside and pure inside. iii. To be pure you must first be very careful about what you think! You should only let those things enter your mind which you would be willing to write down on paper and let your parents read. God knows your every thought and you should, therefore, only think of such things as you would be willing to share with Him. iv. A wicked or impure thought is a very dangerous things. It is like poison in your food. Sup pose you were drinking milk and your mother knew that there was poison in it; wouldn't she try to prevent you drinking it? Just as good to you as your own mother is the teacher who wishes to prevent you thinking about wicked things. A bad thought. may be the beginning of your unhappiness. It may destroy your life; therefore think only such things that you would like God to know you have in your mind. V. To be pure you must also be careful about what you say! Use clean words and pure language. Bad words spoil your lips just as bad thoughts spoil your soul. Don't give way to a bad temper! Anger is a foolish thing and you will never be happier for getting angry. Sometimes when angry you will say mean things that you will be sorry for, a little later on. It is always good to count ten before you speak; when you are angry count a hundred before you talk. vi. To be pure you should also be careful about what you do! You must remember that children are more than animals that walk on two feet. Each of you has a soul, and you are also a child of God. As God's child you should behave so as to please your Father. Always remember the saying, "Enough is as good as a feast." Seek to do and to have enough of anything; too much is worse than too little. This is as true of playing and studying as of eating and drinking. vii. In every one of you there is to be found a love for the good and a desire for the bad. To be pure you must overcome the desire for the bad by your love for the good; that is to say that if you wish for something you ought not have, you should try to understand why you ought not have it, and when you understand the reason for not having it, your love for the good will help you not to want what you should not have. By being careful about what you think, say or do, you will be able to keep yourself pure, and then God will answer your prayer, "Help us to be pure of heart and clean of hands." vii. Learn the following memory gems: Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. (Psalm 24, verses 3 and 4.) Sinful thoughts are more dangerous than sinful deeds. (Talmud, Yoma 29 a.) He who hunts for flowers, will find flowers; he who loves weeds may find weeds. A clean mouth and an honest hand |