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Opening Address

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 19, 1908

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 85, No. 12.

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Opening Address

By Dr. H. F. Rand

Medical Day, Pacific Union Conference

(Concluded)

For years after I began this work, I wondered why our patients should die. I thought for a time that with the application of the principles which God has given us, all should get well. But now I know the reason. We have had, during the past year, several individuals who knew nothing about God. I knew that their physical condition was such that from a human point of view, nothing could be done for them.
I have in mind now one patient who lived only about ten hours after he came to us. I asked this man if he was a Christian. His answer was that he was not, and that he had never even read the Bible, though he had read nearly everything else. I told him that he had but a few hours to live, and asked him if he was ready to meet the future. He said he could not meet it. Then I told him the story of the thief on the cross. That was the only thing I could think of to present to a man in his condition. He asked me if God could receive him, when he had never had any respect or thought for God. He said he could not take it to himself. But I told him the thing for him to do was to believe what God said, that the sacrifice had been made, and God had accepted it. Then I said, “Will you accept it?” He said, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Then he stiffened out in death. These were the last words he ever spoke. And this experience is only one of many. There are times when hearts are touched to the very depths. This one experience meant everything to that man, and I believe he will be in the kingdom.
I believe we should always be in such a state of mind that when people come to us in this condition, we shall be ready to meet them where they are and tell them the gospel story. I know that some of them are led to take a firm stand for the truth. We have been told that many of the influential people who come to our institutions, will, when the crisis comes, take their stand with the people of God. They will become acquainted with it here. The seeds are planted in their hearts, and God will cause them to grow and bear fruit.
I have in mind also the case of a certain patient who came to us at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. She really had nothing. The people of the town in which she lived had taken up a collection large enough to pay her railroad fare to Battle Creek, and they supposed the sanitarium would do anything in the nature of charity work. Dr. Kellogg made a very careful examination of this woman. He turned to me and said that we must send her home right away, as she could not live more than five days; there was absolutely no hope.
At this time we were having thirty-minute Bible studies in the hospital, for the patients. Those who led out in these meetings were at this time dwelling upon the works of Christ, and his miracles of healing. At one of the meetings just after this woman came, the leader talked about the poor woman who had been bent over so long. This patient had been brought in in a wheel-chair, and was deeply impressed by the story. She asked if that same Christ still lived. She said, “Is he here?” The leader of the meeting said the same Christ was there, and had the same power as in the olden days, and talked with this woman still further. She said: “Here is the doctor, who says I can not get well. I have a husband and six little children at home who know nothing of this Christ. I must get well so I can go and tell them.” She asked for prayer, and of course her request was granted. The physician and the patients joined in prayer for her. She came down to the meeting again the next day, and manifested the deepest interest in the service. Then she came the third day, but without her wheel-chair. The fifth day was her day to go home. We took her up to the examination room, and asked Dr. Kellogg to examine her. But we did not tell him her name or anything about the case. The doctor said she was a perfectly well woman, and that everything was all right. He did not know she was the same woman he had examined before. We did not want him to know, but we did want to see what he would decide about the case. When he went into his private office, I followed him, and told him of our experience with this case. Then the doctor broke down and wept. A miracle had been wrought right there in the institution. The woman went home.
The conductor on the train told me afterward that a wonderful thing had surely taken place in that woman. He told me how she had suffered on the way to the sanitarium. He said he had never seen such suffering as hers. But when she went back home, she was all smiles and happiness. I asked him if he had questioned her. He said she had told him just the simple story of what had taken place. He said he had never heard of such a case, and asked me if it was really true. I heard afterward that the woman did as she had said she would do—told her husband and children about Christ. And the result was that she and her family were made happy. They were all converted. And so I believe it should be with every one of our patients. God healed this woman because he had a work for her to do.
We all know that the time came when it seemed as if this work had almost received its death-blow. The work had gotten into a bad condition, but now God has taken it up, and will put it where it should be, if we are faithful to the trust he has given us. The good old ship Zion is going straight home to the heavenly harbor, and each of us may have the privilege of being on board.
There is another thing with reference to the training of our young people. They have an important part in this work, and they must be trained thoroughly and carefully. They should be taught not only what to do, but whatnot to do. It is well known, of course, that the spirit of the age is, “Everything is for money.” This idea is not a new one. It is one of the things we must always meet; and it is true that we meet it more often in this kind of work than in any other. One of the greatest dangers that surrounds our young people is this craving, or love, for “filthy lucre.” Another danger is immorality. These are the two great dangers to be constantly guarded against in our institutions. Quite often we have sent to us young people who are not really converted. The parents hope that they may be placed under an influence in our institutions that will convert them. But God has told us that our institutions are not reformatories. The young people who are sent to us should have characters formed, and a definite idea of their life-work before their minds. They should fully realize what they are coming here for. Only those who have been in our institutions can realize what temptations surround the young people in our sanitariums and training-schools. Satan uses all his devices to turn aside the young people who are earnestly engaged in this work. We have these things to meet continually. We want help, and we must have it. We want help of the right kind. We want the help of every conference officer, and every minister, and every educator. We want the best young people that can be found in the denomination, for we are on the firing line. We need the best people available to stand in the front rank and bear the brunt of this great battle which is being waged between right and wrong. It means everything to us. We should not be asked to take young people who have not a definitely settled experience in this truth. We should have those who know the truth, and can stand in the day of temptation.
We now have six workers here from foreign fields. These young people came here to get a training for more efficient service. I often happen around where they are busy at their work, or with their patients. I do not always call at the same hour. I go for two purposes—to see the patients, and to see the nurses. Of these six who are here at the present time from the foreign fields, I am glad to say that five are in the habit of reading the Bible and praying with their patients; and the same may be true of the other one. When I have happened in early in the morning, I have seen them kneeling beside the beds of their patients, whether they were Christians or not. I have found but few of our home people doing that. Some think the rules of the institution are very hard and unjust, and they are continually getting into difficulty. They do not see that the work is of God. But we have no trouble with these praying ones. They live in harmony with the institution. This shows how necessary it is for us to give our young people a different training than they have had.
You know what all this has meant to the eleven hundred people who came to us last year from every part of this and other States. When our helpers and nurses do not appreciate these things, but simply look at the professional side, they do not rightly represent the work, and the people go away without a chance to see the beauty of these truths. The nurse has far more influence than any other person in the building. The nurse is kept right with the patient; and the patient will unbosom himself to the nurse who is attending him.
In this or any other work there is just one thing that makes us great. The psalmist has said, “Thy gentleness hath made me great.” There is nothing in the sick-room that works like that.
And before I close, I wish to express my gratitude to God for making it so plain what these institutions should be, and for so clearly mapping out the work of our training-schools. All these principles were given to us years ago, but we have been standing still. I sincerely hope it will not be so any longer.
I am glad that such a change has come about in this institution. You know, many of you at least, that for many years the finger of scorn has been pointed at this institution. You know the experiences of many physicians who have been here. You know that everything has not gone as smoothly as it should. But now a change has come. We are more grateful than we can tell that God has so wonderfully blessed this institution. We can thank him for much good that has been accomplished.
After the earthquake, things did not look very bright. I could not afford to look at things as they were at that time, but, like Abraham, I had to look ahead. So we all took hold and worked hard, and it was only a few months until the sanitarium was filled with patients. We had just sufficient help to run the institution as it was. We had economized in every way. In 1906 there were eight hundred patients and guests. The next year there were over eleven hundred. Financial difficulties began to clear up, and other troubles were removed, and we soon began to realize that great changes were coming. When God is back of a work, he will see that it goes on if the people are in harmony with him, and he will see that our institutions are well filled. I am glad to say that the work here is doing well, and you will rejoice with us that this is so. This special part of the work is being watched now. And though it has had a hard blow, the wound was not a deadly one, and God is healing it in his own good time and way.