--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 33 number: 4 published: 1930-02 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations, “Recreation in the Home,” *Improvement Era* 33, no. 4 (February 1930): 276–277." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3304unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera3304unse start_page: 276 end_page: 277 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1930-02) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera3304unse publication_year: 1930 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1930, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Recreation in the Home Recreation in the Home AN ideal of profound signifi- cance among Latter-day Saints is that of family unity, family loyalty. The turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the chil- dren to the fathers is a basal theo- logical and sociological principle. It is a condition of happiness, of salvation, of eternal progression. The Latter-day Saint home is ready to avail itself of every op- portunity to realize this great ideal. Its genealogy, its temple work and also, by no means least important, its family reunions, are means of achieving this great ideal. The Family Reunion THE love, sympathy and co- operation prized so highly by our people properly begins in a family group. From there it ex- tends to larger organizations. The occasional coming together of families in a social way will tend to develop a family pride. The members of the family who have made unusual success in business or in the professions or in religious activities naturally will be brought forward and serve as ideals and in- spirations to the younger mem- bers of the group. So also will the lives of the great pioneer fathers and mothers, if there \ be any in the family, tend to become idealized. But more than all else it will enable every member of the group to know every other mem- ber of the group; and to know each other, generally means to love each other. It will make the family name sacred, and thereby be a source of strength to all who bear it. A family reunion tends to de- velop family loyalty-— a pride in the family name; it inspires de- termination to "Honor thy Father and thy Mother," and to secure the promised blessings. It in- vites closer association of all family members and offers oppor- tunity to celebrate family events — such as birthdays and wedding anniversaries or other family his- torical events. The reunion may be held at a II home, the ward hall, a resort, or in a canyon. The adult members of the family might unite in a temple excursion. A carefully prepared program should be arranged with different branches of the family participate ing. Games and activities should be arranged for both children and adult members of the family, that all might partake of the congenial- ity of the occasion. Suggested Program for Family Reunion Part I should include the more formal features such as: (a) Community singing. (b) Family statistics — births, marriages, deaths. (c) Who's Who and Where (Significant items concerning the whereabouts and accomplishments of various family members) . (d) Excerpts from old diaries, or early family reminiscences. (e) Report on progress of genealogical and temple work. (f) Round table discussion relative to a desirable project to be undertaken by the family during the coming year. (g) Two minute talks on subjects such as: "My proudest moments as a — (Brown) ." "Why I married a — (Brown)" Given by In-Laws. "What I loved most in Grandfather." "What I loved most in Grand- mother." "Looking backward and forward." (Courtship and social customs of the past, present and future) . "What I hope to contribute to the — (Brown) name." (h) Dramatizations or tableaus represent- ing pictures from the past: "Grandfather's conversion," "Entering the valley/' "The first home," "Bones from the family skeleton," etc. (i) Music interspersed throughout the program. Part II should be informal in its na- ture and include such things as: (a) Refreshments, (b) Anecdotes, (c) Games (for adults and children) , (d) Dancing. Worship in the Home ONE of the general objectives set ^ forth in our recreational pro- gram is that it shall engender responsiveness to the deeper reli- gious experiences. Nothing in family life contributes more po- tently to the realization of this ob- jective than family prayer and worship. Prayer brings a spirit of hu- mility. The gathering in the morning and evening, where all members of the family, bow in rev- erence, brings a spirit of humility and tolerance for each other's im- perfections and desires. All know that the members fail and succeed as the days come and go. Hence the family ties are linked together with a spirit of mutual under- standing and sympathy. Family prayer gives confidence. A new day has begun. Each mem- ber goes out with a feeling of doing his best, if he is to ap- proach his Maker at the close of day. Merely asking for divine guidance strengthens individual de- termination and gives confidence in maintaining family ideals — honesty, loyalty, truthfulness, etc. Family prayer increases family loyalty. As each member takes a turn voicing his desires for the family, the others get a glimpse into the soul of that individual. They pray for the absent brother in the mission field, for the girl away at school and for a realiza- tion of all the righteous desires of each in their daily service. This anxiety expressed in family prayer for their well-being and success, increases family loyalty and spirit. Soul speaks to soul in its appeal to God for the things needed and re- calls the manifold blessings in words of appreciation and thank- fulness. The hearing of these petitions for the well-being of all members glorifies the family tie. Sunday and the Home '"THE Lord's Day is a holy day — • -*- not a holiday. It has been set apart as a day of rest and wor- ship. A sacred Sabbath begets rev- erence for God. It is not pleas- ing in His sight that the day be given over to pleasure-seeking in places of amusement or elsewhere. Sunday Schools and meetings have been so arranged as to meet The improvement Era for February, 1930 277 the convenience of the people and leave a considerable portion of the Sabbath day without Church ap- pointments. We earnestly appeal to the people to keep their meet- ing appointments faithfully and to utilize that portion of Sunday not appointed for meetings in promoting family association in the home, with the purpose of stimulating and establishing great- er home fealty, a closer companion- ship among parents and children, and more intimate relations among all kindred. We believe that it is unnec- essary for families to go beyond their own homes or those of their kindred for the relaxation and as- sociation which are proper for the Sabbath day, and we therefore dis- courage more traveling than is necessary for this purpose and for attendance upon appointed meet- ings. Let all unnecessary labor be sus- pended, and let no encouragement be given by the attendance of members of the Church at places of amusement and recreation on the Sabbath day. If Sunday is spent in our meetings and in our homes, great blessings will come to our families and communities. Heber J. Grant Anthony W. Ivins Charles W. Nibley ' First Presidency. Enriching The Home With Truth and Beauty U OMES were established as ^ places of shelter, and little else at first. Gradually the de- velopment of this institution has added to the significance of the term, until today the word home holds a world of meaning. Per- haps we fail to realize the possi- bilities of the home in character building and the formation of ideals, but we do know that chil- dren and grown people alike ex- press in various ways the type of home which is theirs. Eating and sleeping are not per- haps, the most important of the needs which the home should sup- ply. In addition to the merely creature comforts there is the vital craving for mental and spiritual food, and only the home can sup- ply these needs adequately. A beautiful picture may hang upon a wall and be seen daily by a child, but until he absorbs the message, discovers the spirit of the thing, and feels the warmth of the sunshine, or hears the rustle of the leaves or the murmur of the brook, the child is being de- prived of one degree of the richness which should attend his fa- miliarity with that picture. The eternal questions as to how the moon shines, what makes thunder, how matches strike, what electricity is, and so on indefinitely are manifestations of the develop- ment of the human intelligences which are gathered under the head of "family," and in the home every effort should be made to an- swer such queries satisfactorily and fully. There are many books and magazines which are invaluable in helping to solve these problems, The Book of Knowledge, Uni- versity Book Shelf, and Popular Mechanics being especially good. The fundamental secret underly- ing the successful home is satis- faction and contentment — the place to which we turn because of the fulness of the hours and days spent there. "Beauty is truth, truth beauty; that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." — Keats. (To be continued) Music — A Gift of God By CHARLES KENT f" T is of course very desirable that ■*■ the young should learn to play some stringed or other instrument. It is likewise important that they master, as far as possible, the simpler rules of harmony and the still useful intricacies of counter- point. Doubtless there is very much to be said for all these ac- complishments, but I am of the opinion that for every one person who is able to acquire such a mu- sical education a hundred will be able to learn to sing. Indeed, I have long felt that every person should show cause why he cannot sing, instead of, as now, regarding this accomplishment as a remark- able one. For this reason alone it would be justifiable to regard singing as the foundation-stone of our musical structure; the building may remain in complete without the other courses but. speaking generally, it can hardly be said to exist at all without this beginning, for after all singing is the basis of music itself — which is another and sufficient reason for desiring the common practice and knowledge of it among young and old alike. This is hardly the place, perhaps, for an apology for the human voice as a medium of musical expression, but in view of the opinions already expressed, not to mention the pres- ent unfortunate decadence of the art of singing, a few remarks, how- ever parenthetical, may not be amiss. It has been said that up to the time of Wagner, composers, either consciously or unconsciously, had the human voice in mind when writing a phrase for an instru- ment. Despite obvious exceptions, such as might be observed in the works of Bach and in the latter compositions of Beethoven, this is probably true in the main. You can find traces of Bellini in Chopin; and almost every phrase of Haydn, Schubert, Mozart and Handel can be sung. Music since Wagner has traveled far in the op- posite direction. If any single in- fluence had to be traced in modern music, it is instrumental rather than vocal, which, incidentally, may account for that lack of charm (an unsatisfactory term but I think of no other) with which the more advanced experiments in the art have been reproduced. However, there is an encouraging revival of interest on the part of some mod- ern composers in the possibilities of the human voice as a means of human expression. Artistically speaking the orthodoxy of one generation is often the heresy of the next, so that no one need feel surprised at the reviving interest in the voice among serious musicians. It was bound to come and is very welcome for of all instruments of music the human voice is the most varied, the most expressive — and the most natural, no single instru- ment can ever equal it. Music is an inspirational gift of God to his children. It spurs us on to deeds that are higher and nobler, while it aids in the building of real character. The Almighty himself has deemed this subject of sufficient importance to justify a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is to be hoped, therefore, that par- entswill cultivate the habit of sing- ing in the home. The results will richly repay the effort.