p. 11 | Body Building by D. H. KRESS, M. D.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Aug 10, 1905

Body Building

By D. H. KRESS, M. D.

D. H. KRESS, M. D.

Very little thought is given to body building. Men, women, and children eat and drink, they know not why,—sometimes for mere amusement. Yet it is possible, and it is also a duty, to go about the work of body building just as intelligently as the carpenter or mason goes about the work of house-building. The quality of the materials used in either case determines the quality of the structure erected. Man is composed of that which is furnished the organs of digestion, just as truly as a building is composed of the material furnished the carpenter and other workmen. No special transformation takes place in the material in either case. The food furnished for body building is merely dissolved by the digestive juices, or converted into liquid, so that it may be absorbed. Then it is built up into bone, muscle, nerve, and brain. The old German proverb is therefore true, and applies to both body and mind, “As a man eateth, so is he.”

Mentally we are what the mind feeds upon, physically we are what we eat. The physiological chemist Bunge demonstrated this. He once experimented upon a dog, feeding him upon sheep’s fat for six weeks. At the expiration of this period he killed the animal, and in analyzing his fat found it was not dog’s fat, as one would suppose, but sheep’s fat. The sheep’s fat had undergone no change, but was stored up as sheep’s fat in the animal. Some careful observer has said, “There is either a good deal of human nature in the pig or a good deal of pig in human nature.” The latter is probably the truth, and accords with the statement made by another, “He who eats pig becomes pigified.” Certainly a gross diet tends to produce a grossness of body, mind, and morals. This being so, it becomes doubly important to exercise care in the selection of material out of which to build the body. Especially should care be exercised by the one who recognizes that he is erecting a temple for God to dwell in.

Anciently when Solomon erected the temple he said, “Behold I build an house to the name of the Lord my God.” In its erection only the choicest and best material available was employed, for he was erecting a habitation for the Lord. The stately cedars were brought at great expense from Lebanon, and costly stones from afar. The floors and ceilings, and in fact the whole house, he “overlaid with gold.” When it was completed, he said, “I have built an house of habitation for Thee, and a place for thy dwelling forever.” Then the ark, containing the law of God, the principles of his government, was brought into the temple, and the glory of the Lord filled the house.

This should be the aim of every body builder, to build day by day, using only the best food available, then he may eventually say, It is “a place for Thy dwelling forever.” This is what the command means, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” Each evening the body builder should be able to say, I have been building a house of habitation for Thee to-day. Every one who purposes to build a habitation for God will purpose with Daniel not to defile it with the meat and wine of Babylon; that is, with the ordinary building material. Had Solomon erected the temple with inferior or decayed timbers, and other rubbish lying about, merely because convenient or to pass away time, he certainly could not have expected the glory of the Lord ever to fill it. Yet there are many who eat and drink anything and everything placed before them,—pork, pigs’ feet, sausage, cheese, pepper, mustard, pickles, and other inferior food and rubbish,—then they are surprised at their leanness of soul, and wonder why the glory of the Lord does not fill them. How can we invite the Lord to dwell in such a habitation?

The Lord says, “Eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” This is the remedy. Even though the greatest care is exercised in the selection of food for the body, more than this is necessary. The law of God, the principles of the divine government, must be placed into that sacred casket, the mind. But the mind like the ark should be built of pure gold. Out of the mind are the issues of life. There the Lord said, “I will commune with thee.” Upon it are to be written the principles of the kingdom of heaven. When this is done the glory of the Lord will fill the place, and his glory will be seen upon us. “Man liveth not by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Body building is important, but is of little value, if the mind is not built up with the living bread, the word of God.

Wahroonga, N. S. W.