Open Families Are Strong

It is most important to remember that the future of the family depends on skillful, wise handling of the reins by the person who is in charge of managing the household. That is usually the wife, who is also mediator of the family.
     If there are differences between the children and the older folks, the mother is often better at smoothing things over by talking them out. If there are arguments among the children she becomes an impartial judge. If the storms of malice whip up within the family, she can bring calm by wrapping them in love. When trouble does arise she provides the warmth and harmony to prevent it from getting worse.
   The type of woman most desirable is the one who gives unswerving effort to develop mutual trust and confidence between herself and the man, who will work for the exchange of love and respect between her and her children, and who will continually develop the bonds of cooperation between brothers and sisters. The housewife who is like a ray of sunlight in her family, who is wise, and filled with love and compassion is the one to whom I would like to entrust the future family and society.
   Some people see the family as an oasis in society. Others see the family as a place to relax, and also as a consumer. I would also bet that there are many young people who regard the family as a castle for themselves and those closest to them.
   I agree with all of them. Anyone living in a family which brims over with love and trust, where food is prepared fresh and economically and the parents are happy and cheerful will know what the true meaning of joy is. The senior members of the family experience the delights of age, the husband and wife restore their vigor for another day, and emotional warmth fills the hearts of the young children. I believe it was Fukujawa Yukichi who once said, “ There are many beautiful things done in a family, but the most precious of them is the family discussion where everyone talks things over openly, without reserve. “ Enshrine these words in the form of a picture and the scene would be magnificent.
   But there are times when happiness may be blown suddenly away, like the leaves in a sudden gale. Rising prices and dreadful  economic conditions may chill the wife’s warm smile, the whirlwind of unemployment may cause the husband to bolt from his family. The source of the storm may lie in a traffic accident, children’s illness, anywhere where sudden mishap occurs. And sometimes it may brew within the family.
   If a person looks at his family as a nook nestled in some secure corner of the world, isolated from the rest of society, it may at first glance seem a happy place, but this is the kind of home that will not be able to avoid sudden collapse.
   There is no group as vulnerable to unhappiness as a family that is closed off from the rest of society. I would like to see the kind of family equipped with a strong life-force which will allow them to gauge and cope with the powers of the storm, even while buffeted by the rapid change in society. That family would be always open, ready to fight the evils that fill society. Families such as these in a society are like the white corpuscles and antibodies that fight disease in the human body.
   Since the open family would allow itself to make direct contact with the adversities of society, It would derive the wisdom to sustain itself. If the people making up the family do not have a creative sense, then the family will not be able to cope with the repercussions of society and politics, no matter how great the love that passes between them.