Article September 26, 1936 Issue

Signs of the Times

Topic: Loving Our Neighbor

with contributions from Frederic Greeves, Joseph B. Perskie, Allen Knight Chalmers, Richard Roberts, David P. Gaines, William Lyon Phelps

[Frederic Greeves, B. A., in the Christian World Pulpit, London, England]

How often love is not sufficiently "broad"! It is because family life can become so narrow in its loyalties, so selfish in its scope, that many social reformers have seen the destruction of the family as one the clews to the ideal society. The existence of this very real danger is the explanation of many of Christ [Jesus'] hard sayings about the occasions when parents must be disregarded and family ties broken. He himself showed in his own life the necessity, ... and the reason for such actions. Love cannot be limited in its scope and remain true love for long. Charity that not only begins at home but also ends there soon becomes disruptive even in the home. For our loved one's sake, as well as for our own sake and God's sake, duty to God must come before duty to parent, brother, child. Just as patriotism that does not grow from nation to world patriotism becomes vicious in its results, so family love which is not the school in which we learn to love the whole family of God becomes destructive in its effects upon the common good.

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