Judges 5:7

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"A mother in Israel." Judges 5:7 .

We need the womanly element in the Church. The mother is the soul of the family. We cannot live upon hard law and severe discipline; there must always be a tender element in our education, for we are weak, and need the ministry of compassion and love. We speak much about the fathers of the Church, and the fathers of the nation, and are apt to forget that the "mothers in Israel" have often been more heroic than the fathers, and that their very gentleness has become their strength in time of danger. Whilst discouraging some aspects of what are termed sisterhoods, and whilst deprecating what is known as the worship of the Virgin Mother, we should seek for the truth which underlies all this womanly ministry. Many could serve the Church by miracles of love, patience, compassion, and encouragement, whose voice could never be heard on public questions. Every woman can at least be "a mother in Israel" within the limits of her own family. She is not called upon to be a theologian, a scholar, a pedant, a source of alarm to the ignorant and the incompetent, but she is called upon to be compassionate, sympathetic, and encouraging. It is a mistake to suppose that the Church is either a drill-ground or a school alone. It is a house, a home, a nursery; it is a place of healing, education, and comfort; many a strong man would be the better if to all his strength he added a touch of tenderness. Beautiful is the service of mothers in the Church of Christ. They can speak with an influence all their own, absolutely indisputable, even by the most learned and eloquent men. They know how to whisper to sorrow, how to touch weakness without burdening it, how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. All womanly influence in the Church and in the family should be abundantly and gratefully encouraged.