Paradise is Home

Christian parents must not worry that they are too much in the flesh if they enjoy making their homes comfortable and pretty.   Children should always remember their homes with tears of fondness, and this tear-evoking memory ought to be a memory of physical beauty as well as warm hugs.   Indeed, Paradise and home are psychological synonyms. The Bible’s narrative arc takes us from one paradise, at the beginning of time, to another, at the end of time, and in both cases the descriptions of the two paradises are unashamedly pretty.   The one time we get a description of God’s decorating style for Himself is in the details of the tabernacle in the wilderness.  There, He hangs baubles on the priest’s robes and apparently enjoys pictures of animals.

Since home is supposed to be paradise it cannot, in theory, be too materialistically plush.  Nice surroundings will not replace love, of course.   But there is no reason to have to make a choice. We’re also not saying that wealth is necessary, since many families demonstrate every day that creativity is not linked to money.

The mother’s natural instinct to feather around her family a paradisaical bower is not corrupt; see Proverbs 31 for a an approving survey of all she does to “look to her household”.  The woman in Proverbs 31 is an artisan, a decorator, an entrepreneur.    Since the mother is usually the one who is most interested and the best at this task, the father’s job is to fund it and support it. The natural male tendency to be nakedly utilitarian is not helpful here. If we say that the father’s role is to be the source of law and structure for the child, this is not to say that he dominates the home aesthetically or tonally.   The home should be built (skeletonized) by dad, but it should FEEL like mom.