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MRS. ANNA L. COLCORD

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Jan 21, 1904

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 81, No. 3.

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MRS. ANNA L. COLCORD

By Mrs. Anna L. Colcord

Cleanliness

MRS. ANNA L. COLCORD

(Concluded)
VENTILATION, especially of the sleeping rooms, may also be considered under the laws of cleanliness. The breathing of foul, impure air enfeebles the body, and causes a feeling of stupor and mental depression. It costs no more to breathe pure, fresh, invigorating air than it does to breathe close, impure, vitiated air, for it is one of God's free gifts, and if we do not have it, it is our own fault. Health and activity are dependent upon the vitalizing action of pure air upon the blood. The little birds that flit so rapidly through space breathe an abundance of pure air; while the sluggish toad that sits contentedly in the quagmire breathes almost none at all.
The young colored student of Tuskegee Institute showed good, practical common sense when she took for the subject of her graduating essay, “The Proper Care of the Bedroom.”
Besides being an essential to health and prosperity, there is also a moral aspect to cleanliness. The connection between the mind and the body is intimate. One acts and reacts upon the other. The mind is more or less influenced by the outward surroundings. It is impressed and educated by what is seen as well as by what is heard. Habits and customs weave themselves into the whole character. Purity and elevation of thought will naturally result from habitual purity and cleanliness of body and home. High thinking and low living do not go together. Clean thoughts and unclean habits and surroundings are not compatible with each other. The body is the temple of the soul, and should be kept in a proper condition to be a fit residence for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Our senses are given us for a purpose. Wherever there are foul odors and unsightly views, we may know a work of cleansing needs to be done. Order and cleanliness are twin sisters. They go hand in hand. Those who allow heaps of rubbish to accumulate about their houses are lacking in both good order and due regard for health. It is an easy matter to fall into disorderly habits; to allow sticks, pieces of broken boards, piles of tin cans, rubbish, and the like to lie about. All this is obnoxious to good taste. A person of orderly mind will seek to remedy such defects. Even a bent-over post he will endeavor to straighten up.
The spirit of cleaning up is catching. The story is related of a little girl from a back alley who at school was induced to wash her hands and face. Seeing her improved appearance, the whole family began to wash up. The neighbors, noticing the improvement of the family, began to tidy up. Before long the whole alley was cleaned up; and all as the result of one little girl washing her hands and face. Even little children catch the spirit. When they see older ones making a raid on the rubbish, of their own accord they will join in and help in the work.
It is an old saying that cleanliness is next to godliness. But we think the statement may be improved, and the truth more nearly expressed in saying that “cleanliness is godliness.” Cleanliness is purity, and to be pure is to be like God. God designs that we shall be clean. When he brought his people out of Egypt, he gave them explicit instructions in regard to cleanly habits and wholesome sanitation. No impurity was to be allowed in the camp. All refuse or decomposing matter was to be either buried or burned. And as God does not change, he can be no less particular with his people in this respect to-day.
Of all people in the world Christians ought to be the most cleanly. And of all Christians in the world, we who have received such an abundance of light and instruction on these matters, should be models. Everything around our dwellings should be clean and neat. Sinks, sewers, drains, vaults, etc., should be frequently and thoroughly disinfected. Dry earth, coal ashes, air-slacked lime, and raw carbolic acid (a poison) diluted with water, make good disinfectants. Decayed fruit and vegetables should not be allowed to remain in the cellar. Weeds, burs, and rubbish should be destroyed. For these no disinfectant is equal to fire. Anything like vermin should not be tolerated. Every plant has its parasite, every living thing its pest. All parasites, pests, weeds, thistles, and thorns are the result of sin. And just in accordance as we hate sin, so we should hate these, and endeavor to exterminate them. A person who can sit contentedly amid squalor and dirt, can remain contentedly in sin. It is not enough that we have a knowledge of the laws of health and temperance. We must put into practise what we know, or our knowledge is of no account.
In our person we should be models of purity and cleanliness. Especially should we see that everything about us is scrupulously clean on the Sabbath, when we come to appear before the Lord.
The Lord has told us in his Word that no filthiness or uncleanness should exist in our midst, and has admonished us to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the Lord.
The thought that we are soon to enter heaven and associate with the pure and holy angels should inspire us to habits of pure and holy living.