Failure in the Home

"No other success can compensate for failure in the home."  —J.E. McCollough, as quoted by President David O. McKay

Liz and I were discussing this interesting and profound statement, and applying it to our church callings and professional work. We realized that we so often use this to emphasize the supreme importance of our homes in the mortal journey, but as we've experienced so many of the other things in life, his words have taken on so much more meaning.

I saw a political cartoon the other day wherein a teacher was was being grilled by politicians and media about what SHE was doing wrong in the classroom. On her desks were piles of paperwork next to a box of kleenex that was labeled as being purchased with her own money. The kicker, though, was the labels on each student desk. They read "Homeless," "No Father," "Teen Mom," "Abused," "Drugs," "TV on 24/7," "Hungry," and "No Discipline."  While these are heartbreaking in any situation, each and every one of those labels represent a failure in the home. As teachers, Liz and discuss, at least weekly, the fact that we can't take people with no work ethic, no sense of responsibility, poor personal habits, and addictive behaviours, and turn them into educated, responsible members of society. The ideas that mold their character are already set.

Our experience has shows us that Pres. McKay's statement cold be reworded in the following two ways:

"Failure in the home will make future success almost impossible."
or
"Success in the home sets the groundwork for future success."

Then, as I began typing this, I received even more light on the subject. While we may regard Pres. McKay's words as wise, timely, and eternal counsel, they are more than that.  He delivered those words over 75 years ago, in 1935, and we are seeing them fulfilled. Counsel to heed? Certainly. Prophecy fulfilled? Without a doubt.

So, as we review that idea in our minds, remember that a Prophet of God has warned us that if we succeed in our homes, then we set our children, our families, our posterity on a path of success in all areas of life. If we don't, we are subject to the prophetic consequences given by Pres. McKay.