Finding the Key to Family Happiness

1 Many human needs for happiness can be
satisfied in the family circle. There we may
find the things that all of us normally yearn for:
to feel needed to be appreciated, to be loved. A
warm family relationship can fill these longings
in a wonderful way. It can produce an atmosphere
of trust, understanding and compassion. Home
then becomes a real haven of rest from outside
troubles and turmoil. Children can feel secure and
their personalities can blossom out to their full
potential.

2 This is family life as we would like to see it
lived. But none of this comes automatically. How
can it be attained? Why is it that family life is
in such deep trouble today in many parts of the
world? What is the key that makes the difference
between marital happiness and marital misery,
between a family that is warm and united and
one that is cold and divided?

3 If you feel deep concern for the welfare and
success of your family, it is with good reason.
Describing the importance of the family arrangement,
The World Book Encyclopedia (1973) says: "Family is
the oldest human institution. In many ways it is the most
important. It is society's most basic unit. Entire civilizations
have survived or disappeared, depending on whether family
life was strong or weak."

4 But how many families today are close-knit
with strong bonds of love? How many enjoy the
warmth that mutual expressions of kindness, gratitude
and generosity bring? How many have learned
the truth of the saying, "There is more happiness
in giving than there is in receiving"?

5 Today a very different spirit is spreading
throughout the earth. Though prominent in the
Western world, it is also penetrating into the
Orient and other places where family life has
traditionally been quite stable. Included in current
views are: 'Do what you want to, and let others look
out for themselves.' 'Discipline is old-fashioned;
let children choose their own course.'
'Make no judgments of what is right or wrong.'
In more and more countries divorce, juvenile
delinquency and adult immorality are rising at an
alarming rate. Psychologists, psychiatrists, clergy-
men and other counselors give advice. But instead
of fortifying the unity of the family, many advisers
condone or even recommend immorality as
a means to relieve frustration. The bad harvest
from all of this confirms the saying: "Whatever a
man is sowing, this he will also reap."
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