Editor's Table: Parents Should be Consulted

PARENTS SHOULD BE CONSULTED. One of the first duties that a young man owes in this world is his duty to his father and mother. The commandment which God gave early in the history of the Israelites: "Honor thy father and thy mother" was accompanied with a promise that holds good to this day; namely: "that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." With obedience naturally comes that respect and considera- tion for his parents that should characterize a noble youth. They stand as the head of the family, the patriarch, the mother, the rulers; and no child should fail to consult them and obtain counsel from them throughout his whole career under the parental roof. This feeling should be respected by the Church. Hence, officers who desire to use the services of a young man, in any capacity for the business of the Church, should not fail to consult the father before the call is made. We have instances where young men have even been called to fulfill important missions, their names having been suggested to the Church by bishops of wards, or by presidents of quorums, without the father having been con- sulted whatever. The parents have been entirely overlooked. This is neither desirable nor right, nor is it in conformity with the order of the Church, or the laws that God instituted from the earliest times. The Church is patriarchal in its character and

308 IMPROVEMENT ERA. - nature, and it is highly proper and right that the head of the family, the father, should be consulted by officers in all things that pertain to the calling of his children to any of the duties in the Church. No one understands as well as the father, the conditions that surround the family, and what is best for his children; his wishes should, therefore, be consulted, and respected. Our elders would justly think it wrong to baptize a wife with- out the consent of her husband, and children without the consent of the parents. So also, it is improper for any officer in the Church to call the children in any family, as long as they are under the care and keeping of the parents, to receive any ordina- tion, or to perform any calling in the Church, without first con- sulting the parents. The family organization lies at the basis of all true govern- ment, and too much stress cannot be placed upon the importance of the government in the family being as perfect as possible, nor upon the fact that in all instances respect therefor should be up- held. Young men should be scrupulously careful to impress upon their minds the necessity of consulting with father and mother in all that pertains to their actions in life. Respect and veneration for parents should be inculcated into the hearts of the young peo- ple of the Church — father and mother to be respected, their wishes to be regarded, — and in the heart of every child should be implanted this thought of esteem and consideration for parents, which characterized the families of the ancient patriarchs. God is at the head of the human race; we look up to him as the Father of all. We cannot please him more than by regarding and respecting and honoring and obeying our fathers and our moth- ers, who are the means of our existence here upon the earth. I desire, therefore, to impress upon the officers of the Church the necessity of consulting fathers in all things that pertain to the calling of their sons to the priesthood, and to the labors of the Church, that the respect and veneration which children should show for parents may not be disturbed by the Church, nor over- stepped by its officers. In this way, harmony and good will are made to prevail; and the sanction of the families and the family life, on which the government of the Church is based and perpet-