WHEN TO BEGIN TRAINING. 61
the intellectual as the intellectual is above the
physical. The towering intellect of an archangel
can not secure to any man or woman admittance
into heaven; but the humble, believing, contrite
spirit will obtain abundant entrance therein. In
the final judgment day it will be seen that the
humble, obedient, pure morality will eclipse, the
proud, inflated, -disobedient, conceited, intellectu¬
ality: "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of lambs; for rebell¬
ion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness
as iniquity and idolatry." (1 Samuel xv, 22, 23.)
On account of his disobedience Saul, the first
king of Israel, lost his crown, his scepter, and
his throne. They were all given to David who,
as king of Israel, did obey the commandments of
the Lord.
As obedience is so important, how shall par¬
ents begin to teach it to so young a moral agent
as a baby ? Inflict no corporal punishment upon
it. Its bones, muscles, and nerves are too deli¬
cate to be bruised, or in any manner injured by
a slap of the hand. The eye must speak out the
command to obey; the voice must utter the ten¬
derness of a mother's love. When the determined
will is seen in the eye, and the loving heart is
felt in the voice, the conscious infant will soon
learn to yield to a parent's command.
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