The Farm Home

By Mrs. A.J. Wilder, Rocky Ridge Farm

Peace upon earth the angels sang,

Good will unto men the chorus rang.

But that was many, many years ago at the first Christmas time. We could scarcely hear the angels, if they were singing now, for the clamor of disputing and wrangling which is going on where peace is supposed to be.

In our own country there is a gathering into groups with mutterings and threats of violence, with some bloodshed and danger of more and there is still war and threat of war over most of the world. This would be bad enough at any time, but just now when we are thinking of all the blessed meanings of Christmas tide, it becomes much more terrible.

A great deal is said and written about natural, national boundaries and learned discussions of racial antagonism as causes of the restlessness and ill temper of the nations and there are investigations and commissions and inquiries to discover what is the matter with the world and to find a remedy.

But the cause of all the unrest and strife is easily found. It is selfishness, nothing else, selfishness deep in the hearts of the people.

It seems rather impossible that such a small thing as individual selfishness could cause so much trouble, but my selfishness added to your selfishness and that added to the selfishness of our neighbors all over the big, round world is not a small thing.

We may have thought that our won greed and striving to take unfair advantage were not noticed and never would be known, but you and I and our neighbors make the neighborhood and neighborhoods make the states and states make the nation and the nations are the peoples of the world.

No one would deny that the thoughts and actions and spirit of every person affect his neighborhood and it is just as plain that the spirit and temper of the communities are reflected in the state and nations and influence the whole world.

The nations of Europe are selfishly trying to take advantage of one another in the settlements of boundaries and territory and so the World War is like a fire that has been stopped in its wild advance only to smoulder and break out here and there a little farther back along the sides.

At home, in the troubles between labor and capital, each is willing to stop disputes and eager to cure the unrest of the people if it can be done at the expense of the other party and leave them undisturbed in their own selfish gains.

Following all the unrest and unreason on down to its real source where it lurks in the hearts of the people its roots will be found there in individual selfishness. In the desire to better one’s own condition at the expense of another, by whatever means possible, and this desire of each person infects groups of people and moves nations.

Here and there one sees a criticism of Christianity because of the things that have happened and are still going on. “Christian civilization is a failure,” some say. “Christianity has not prevented these things, therefore it is a failure,” say others.

But this is a calling of things by the wrong name. It is rather the lack of Christianity that has brought us where we are. Not a lack of churches or religious forms, but of the real thing in our hearts.

There is no-oppression of a group of people but has its root and inception in the hearts of the oppressors. There is no wild lawlessness and riot and bloodlust of a mob but has its place in the hearts of the persons who are that mob.—Just so if justice and fairness and kindness fill the minds of a crowd of persons those things will be shown in their actions.

So if we are eager to help in putting the world to rights, our fist duty is selfishness and be as eager that others shall be treated fairly as we are that no advantage shall be taken of ourselves; to deal justly  and have a loving charity and mercy for others as we wish them to have for us. Then we may hear the Christmas angels singing in our own hearts, ”Peace upon earth! Good will unto men.”

Mrs. A.J. Wilder. "The Farm Home." Missouri Ruralist (December 20, 1919): 27.

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