‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart’… The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself….’ Mark 12: 30-31
Little Women is one of the most beloved American classic novels. The story celebrates a family of girls growing up in Concord, Massachusetts, during the Civil War. It is based on a real family and their education in Christian living, which is why it still interests us today—we face similar challenges and joys.
As the story progresses, we become acquainted with each of the March sisters. We feel their delights and disappointments as they grow in Christian character under the loving hand of Marmee, their beloved mother. We learn that the home is God’s ordained “nursery of the soul” and the first place we learn Christian self-government, the source of our liberty.
Also notable is the setting of Little Women, Concord, Massachusetts, which was the home of many liberty-loving patriots and the focal point of the Revolutionary War. The first Minute Men militia was formed in Concord; the first shots of the Revolution were fired there, and it was made famous in Longfellow’s poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride.”
TEACH THE CHILDREN
- The Christian home is “the nursery of the soul.” Family prayer and Bible study are central to the nurturing of the soul.
- Christian character, usefulness, and happiness depend on the habits learned at home.
- Liberty passes from one generation to the next—the home forms the future citizen that develops America’s civil and political character.