How children were taught to love God in 1855

This is Part 3 in a Herald-Guide series

MY DEAR CHILD - I wish to tell you some things about yourself. Do you remember who made you? God. Yes, God made you, and put you in this beautiful world to live. God made your body and your soul.

Do you know what your body is?

It is your head and neck, and your hands and arms and feet. It is all of you that you can see and touch. Your eyes that look at your dear mother, and your ears which listen to her voice, these are part of your body. Your little tongue which talks so fast is part of your body too.

Would you not be sorry to lose any part of your body? If you had no feet, how could you walk and run and play? If you had no hands, what could you do? Was not God good to give you such a nice little body, so that you might be happy?

But I want to tell you of something else which God has made for you. When you think about God, what part of you is it that thinks? Is it your hands, or your feet? Can you think with them? No.

It is your soul which thinks. When you love your dear mother and father, what is it that loves them? Is it your head, or your eyes, or your ears? No. You cannot love with these. You love with your soul. Your soul is inside of you. You cannot see it, but you can think with it, and love with it, and understand with it. God made your soul and put it in you, so that you could love him.

God has not given every thing a soul. Your little dog has no soul, neither has the cat, nor the horse. None of these creatures have souls. But all people have souls: that is, men and women and children- they all have souls. God made their souls, and their bodies. Are you not glad that God gave you a soul as well as a body?

PRAYER.

O God, I thank thee for my life, and that I have both a body and a soul. Make my soul good. May I love thee, and all things which are good; and make me fear to do wrong. Please to keep my body well, and free from harm; and may I serve thee with both my soul and body. Amen.

NEXT WEEK, Part 4 in our exclusive 12-part series: Why we can’t see God.