5. Little Things that Make for HEALTH.

5. Little Things that Make for HEALTH.

"Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well." 3 John 1:2

Bodily health is a great blessing. To be free from pain, to have the right use of all the organs of our physical constitution, places us in a position to enjoy life, and make life enjoyable to others.

"A sound mind in a sound body" has been for ages the highest conception of earthly bliss, viewed from the standpoint of the philosopher and the student of the human form divine. That there have been brilliant minds developed in bodies of frailty, as there have been souls cultured by suffering--does not disprove the general law that the normal condition of physical soundness is necessary to the best service and most perfect development of mental and spiritual life.

Steadiness of nerve,
clearness of brain,
strength and endurance of all the bodily powers--
are essential to best results in the realm of the intellect. So also in the realm of thespiritual, the highest attainments are to be gained, with physical and mental soundness--and are hindered by disease and impaired health. That this body of ours, wonderfully wrought and fearfully made, is to receive our care and our attention continually, is solemnly and strongly set forth by the apostle Paul, who said: "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 The prayer of the beloved disciple John for his friend Gaius, that he might prosper and be in health, was a wise and tender petition. The mind needs a healthy body in order to do its best work; the soul develops wisely and well when dwelling in a house where every part harmonizes with the highest laws of physical being.

But, alas! how many and how fierce are the enemies that attack and wound and weaken this body of ours! Who of us is free from pain, from weariness at slight exertion--and who is not in search of a remedy for the ills the flesh is heir to? Who has perfect health? Who has never been sick a day in a score or more of years? Who is vigorous and strong, ready for any task, any kind of exposure, or any service along the lines of ordinary service? The fevers of the South, the "white terror" of the North, the plague-spots and contagions of the crowded East, the hurry and haste and worry of the West, are like invading armies, bent on the utter destruction of the frail citadel of man. The skill of the physician, the marked progress in surgical knowledge, the skill of the trained nurse, the multiplied appliances of hospital service, the patience and genius that has wrought in laboratory and brought to pharmacy the wealth of helpful remedies--all have done much to make life worth living. Yet again I ask: Who has reached manhood or womanhood without the lingering reminder of an attack of severe illness successfully warded off, where yet the scars are seen?

Boast as we may of athletes and champions of the sports and in the arena of physical contest, nevertheless we are but a race of emaciated, unsound, sickly people. This is still more remarkable when we consider the multitude of remedies that a kind and thoughtful class has provided for us; "no cure, no pay." Look at the shelves of any druggist; note the large assortment of liquids and minerals and what not, all of them warranted "sure cure," and all of them under a patent. Cures there are, many and interesting. Disease cure, fatigue cure, mind cure, mirth cure, pain cure--you take your choice. They are harmless, even if they do not cure you of your "pain" or "mind" or "disease."

Then, there are the baths. Note their number and variety: Sea baths, mineral-water baths, electric baths (shocking!), vapor baths, Turkish and sun baths; and in Indiana there are mud baths. A gentleman inquired of another if he had ever taken one of those wonderful "mud baths." He said: "Yes, once when I ran for office." It must have been a mud-slinging campaign. It is to be hoped that he was cured.

Then, there is the Health-food plan, the advocate of vegetarian diet, the plan and practice of "no breakfast" or one-meal-a-day theories.

Every once in a while some new "fad" springs up among the people, has a great rage, flourishes for a season--but then subsides and is unheard of again, being superseded by something else equally sensational and equally absurd.

Some years ago there was a "blue glass" craze. The theory was that instead of the pure golden light of the sun beaming into the sick-room through the transparent window-pane or open window, there should be a division of these rays, and by the use of blue glass only the blue light should thus be admitted. So sudden and great was the demand for blue glass, that the markets of St. Louis, Chicago, and all the Eastern cities were overwhelmed with orders for the article, in order to try the new remedy. That craze died away almost as quickly as it was born.

Recently a fad took a start, that the early morning dew had in it medicinal qualities, and to walk barefooted on the grass before the sun drove the sparkling diamonds from the green--was a sure cure for a multitude of ills. It had its day (and doubtless had some cleansing effects beside the value of early morning rising and exercise); but it went the way of all other fads. The proof of a diseased and credulous humanity is certainly very evident, not alone in the substantial support given to a variety of schools of medical practice--allopathy, homeopathy, hydropathy, osteopathy, and a combination of some of each for a very accommodating and general practice called the Eclectic school--but also in the rise and wonderful flourish of a host of "isms" that allure with great promise, and, by cures produced by other causes, deceive the helpless victims and their faithful friends for the sake of the dollar. Was not "Weltmerism" a growing panacea for suffering humanity’s ills--until denied the use of the mail for their long-distant and far-absent treatment, but always pay-in-advance system? Does notmagnetismfurnish a field for the display of individual skill upon individual subjects, more or less successful? Do you know of the sacred relic at St. Anne, Illinois, where dupes of the nervous-spinal-rheumatic-trouble come, see, touch, leave their crutches, go their way, and say: "Great is the miracle of St. Anne!" Has Schlatter, the modern medical Messiah, been forgotten? Does Dowieism flourish? Is there much of science or of Christianity inChristian Science, numbering its followers and its testimonials by the thousands? Are we indeed growing wiser as weakness grows upon us? Perhaps the world is in possession of much valuable knowledge concerning the cause and cure of disease. The failure to disseminate that knowledge, the inability of the masses to appreciate and understand it--above all, to make use of it in a general way--may account for much of the distress and consequent weakness in the world. The violent outbreak offanaticism, now and then, running mad after some supposed supernatural or mysterious deliverance from bodily suffering, would seem to question the oft-quoted statement as to the growth of wisdom in a race evidently growing weaker. Were it not for the more conservative, the evenly balanced remnant of the race, who set out to correct the error after which the multitude has gone, before these wise men are even aware of its presence--we might despair of the permanency of progress among us. The more there is of an appearance of Divine intervention, the more stubborn the opposition. Sohealing by prayerbecomes a belief and a practice. Its limitations have never been established. What can be cured, and what is not proper subject of prayer, has not been definitely stated; but that, after all, death is final victor has never been questioned.To prolong life and relieve pain is the most that can be claimed.

Let it be understood that here, in the affairs of the flesh and body as in other affairs of human life, there is a ruling divine Providence; there is law and order and system and consistency in every department of the infinite realm of the spiritual. The spiritual and mental are superior to the physical and the material. That the soul should find relief and resignation in the compassionate and all-wise and infinite One is not surprising. But to believe, to pray, and then ignore the plain and explicit directions of the laws of our common being--is to presume upon divine Mercy, and expect good to come, when the conditions of a righteous life have not been met. Will faith heal us if we refuse food and drink? Will prayer save us if we avail not ourselves of the simple and necessary remedies that cleanliness, exercise, rest in sleep afford? What, then, about surgery, and the remedies suggested by the experienced and skillful physician?

Two thousand years ago Ecclesiasticus spoke a true word, that finds confirmation in both God’s Word written and God’s Word spread out before us in nature and events. Hear it:

"The Lord has created medicines out of the earth; and he who is wise will not abhor them. My son, in your sickness be not negligent. Leave off your sin, and order your hands aright, and cleanse your heart from all wickedness. Then give place to the physician, for the Lord has created him; let him not go from you, for you have need of him. There is a time when, in their hands, there is good success." Is there anything wrong about that?

We are too much inclined to ignore God in the ordinary affairs of life, and some of us seem to think we have nothing to do in the matter of our own restoration of health, when once it has been impaired by our own indiscretion, but to turn it over to the Lord. That is faith "without works."

It is true, confirmed by every honest druggist and every conscientious physician in the land, that there is a tendency to resort to medicines, to appeal to physicians, more frequently than is necessary. The testimony of doctors in the matter would come a little nearer being unanimous if the custom prevailed of paying an annual fee for advice and needed service, than payment on account of special visits. More frequently we would hear it said: "You are not seriously ill; you will be yourself again in a few days. Don’t get uneasy."

Patients themselves make it necessary for the physician to look solemn, shake his head, compound some bitter but harmless medication, in order that nature may have a chance to help the frightened, grown-up child of a imagined ailment. That is supposed to be the most desirable state of bliss, where one is as ignorant of the existence of vital organs and their functions, as it is possible to be. The more one knows, of the little learning sort, the more certain he is that he has received a death-dealing blow when a slight pain strikes him in the region of the heart or the lungs, or a little lower down. Some people cannot regale themselves with the freshness and wisdom of the annual almanac, issued by some proprietary medical company, but are sure to feel a sympathetic anxiety, somewhere in their bodily make-up, calling for that very remedy, which has effected such marvelous cures in the case of others. The facts are, the better informed concerning this body of ours and the things that help or injure it--the better off we are. The introduction of the study of physiology and hygiene in our public schools, within the lifetime of those now teaching, and the later requirement of scientific study of the effects of stimulants and narcotics upon the human system, has had, and will continue to have, a beneficial influence upon public health. All laws looking to the abatement of nuisances, plague-spots; all quarantine regulations; all addresses at institutes, and lectures devoted to the principles of health, help to prolong life and make it worth living. We need physicians; we need instruction; we need rules, regulations, requirements for the public health. But with all these guides and guards, this body will, in spite of care and patching and tinkering--die; and out from the material will pass that which animated it, which gave it personality and power, into another and spiritual body, eternal in the heavens. It is for the

 soul within, that the house without, should have our constant care and our unremitting attention. What, then, are the little things that make for bodily health? 

1. A Healthy Diet. This has to do, not only with the food we eat, the liquids we drink, but also as to theirquantityandquality, the time and the condition of eating and drinking. The application of just ordinary common sense would save many hours of pain, and prevent serious sickness, if not loss of life.

Frominfancywe have been prone to put almost everything into the mouth, whether it was digestible or not. Ingrowing youththe "taste of things" governed. We ate or rejected whatever the capricious palate said was good or bad. Inmanhoodand womanhood, with little knowledge and no judgment as to food values, we came into possession of a complete set of rebellious organs, and soon became the victims of dyspepsia and a host of other disagreeable aches and pains--the heritage of overeating, feasting on "good things" that were very bad for us. The habits of overeating, and eating of rich foods, has done for the man animal what is seldom known of among other animals--created disturbances not easily allayed. That we have been also the victims of much that is impure in the food articles of commerce is very generally known. The canned goods, the baking powders, the various condiments supplied us from the mammoth establishments of our day, may have in them elements of danger unknown, unthought of by our fathers and mothers of a generation or two back. The bread, the pie, the cake that our mother used to make may have been more substantial, even if less palatable, than that of present-day science. We are not anxious to return to the "good old days" of early cookery; we hope yet to see better foods prepared, and to enjoy them, than any boasted of in the past.

More and more are we beginning to appreciate the necessity of good cooking; not the elaborate and peculiarly concocted dishes of special occasions--but instruction concerning the preparation of seasonable food for the system. Cooking schools, like other professional schools, or hours of special training in cooking in the public school, as in matters of manual training, will be honored and appreciated when it is found out how essential such things are to health. Consider well when you are at the table, eat to live; eat slowly; be temperate in all things. Let Dr. Diet be your attendant physician. Heed his instruction; follow closely his prescription. 

2. Adequate Sleep.

Beecher said: "Working consumes, sleep replaces; working exhausts, sleeping repairs; working is death, sleep is life. The man who sleeps little, repairs little; if he sleeps poorly, he repairs poorly. If he uses up all the day less energy than he accumulates at night, he will gain in life and vigor. If he uses up all the energy that he gains at night, he will just hold his own. If he uses more energy by day than he gathers at night, he will lose; and if this last process be long continued, he must succumb. A man who would be a good worker, must see to it that he is a good sleeper."

John Wesley exhibited a page in his note-book, on which was written, after a number of dates, the significant entry: "Lost thirty minutes of sleep;" "Lost an hour of sleep;" "Lost an hour and a half of sleep,"--until the total counted up an equivalent of two weeks. "This," said he, "must all be made up. It represents so much time taken from the allotted seven hours of sleep out of every twenty-four. I do not intend to regain it all at once--but shall retire so much earlier each night than I have been accustomed to, and make up all this loss." The great haste and hurry of our modern life, the prolonging of day and its duties long into the night, has been disastrous to the health and vigor of the average American. The high stress, the tensions of school and trade and travel, necessitate more of counteraction in sleep than ever before. Excitement of city life, demands in social circles, concentration of thought upon a multitude of interests, attention drawn from the peaceful village and farm life to the stirring scenes in Asia, in Africa, in Alaska, will, unless in some way relief is found, make us a nation of stressful, nervous, hysterical, if not insane people! The commercialism of our age, its excitement and stir and strife, is bringing men prematurely to old age and the grave. Need is more evident of seasons of relaxation and vacation days; by the merchant, society people, the banker, the lawyer, the preacher, the housewife, the teacher, everybody urged on by this task and that, until, either broken in health or doing poorly in the business, a change is demanded.

Now, a very simple remedy is found, not in costly pilgrimages to seashores, or total abandonment of all home and business interests for a two months’ vacation--but in rest, quietness, sleep, as the days and nights come and go.

Children should have sleep regularly, and undisturbed. Growing boys and girls should not be allowed to dissipate the hours assigned by nature to the recuperation of the system, but should be trained to regularity of hours of retiring and rising; for many of the disasters to bodily health come along the line of disobedience to the demand for sleep. Next after Dr. Diet, consult Dr. Quiet for valuable hints on health. 

3. Sunshine. To eat well, to sleep well, one must feel the effect of fresh air,exercise, and the invigorating influence of sunlight. Let the house welcome this blessed health-bringer, through window and open door. Let each one catch a glimpse of the sun’s first dawning, stay with him while he lifts the load from depressed spirits during the day, and sends him to the room and to the bed that the blessed beams have visited during the waking hours. Then will sleep be refreshing. Sunshine is the tonic and soporific medicine for all God’s children in poverty and distress. It purifies the air, warms it for the lungs, invigorates the body, kindles a light in the eye, and enriches the life of all who court its glory. Make sunshine a regular and constant physician.

4. Shelter.

Protection from the severity of winter, from oppression of the heat of summer, is necessitated by this very susceptible body of ours. From the storm, from the rain, from the heat and the cold, we need houses in which to live. But remember, the house in which we live is not as important as the man or woman who dwells there, just as this bodily house is not as important as the soul that lives within.

Shelter, then, should be the means to an end, and not the end itself. Fine houses, like fine clothes, may serve the purpose of shelter, but there may be much discomfort and little protection in the finery of both house and clothes. "I feel so chilly!" said a fashionably dressed lady in a stagecoach, as she shiveringly drew her thin lace shawl about her shoulders.

Don’t sacrifice comfort, endanger health by any foolish behest or unreasonable demand of fashion or rule of propriety. Don’t let false modesty prevent the observance of rules of health; nor allow ridicule to cheat you out of comfort, health, education, or Heaven. Protect your body; surround yourself with safeguards. Endurance and exposure have limits, refuse to go beyond reasonable bounds.

Shelter the feet. Great battles have been lost because the feet of the common soldiery were not properly shod. More diseases have had their beginning in ill attention to the comfort and protection of the feet than are commonly supposed. A great company, engaged in the manufacture and sale of shoes, has adopted a wise trademark advertisement, which contains four words--hear them in behalf of your lower extremities--namely: "Make Your Feet Glad." A cost of a pair of overshoes may be saved by a woman wearing thin shoes, and health upheld. Look to the comfort of the feet, even if you have to deny yourself of a piece of stunning neckwear or a new-style hat.

Shelter the throat and lungs. Breathe through the nose. Warm up the wintry air by having it pass through the longer channel than that which admits its chill to the lungs from the mouth. Breathe deep, and expel the poison by the introduction of fresh air. Keep the body clean; keep it from danger as well as from disease. Be in health, and prosper with the prosperity of the soul. Seek the advice of those who are qualified to speak, and beware of kindly-intentioned, well-meaning friends, who may send you to mountain heights--when seashore influences may be best. Be sure thatDrs. Diet,Quiet, andSunshineare given a respectful hearing. Consult them daily. Let the kindly comfort of that trained and experienced nurse, "Shelter," be always welcome. Commune with the laws of physical being and God, your Creator--and you will have done much to make a soundbodyfor a soundmindand an eternalspirit. But some day this tenement of clay will be no longer serviceable. It will die, give place to another, which is being prepared for us. "For we know that if this earthly house of our tabernacle is dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens!"