A SANITARIUM A LIFE-SAVING STATION.
By David Paulson
For the purpose of rescuing those wrecked by storm, elaborately equipped life-saving stations are maintained at great expense, at various places of danger on our seacoast. These stations are under the supervision of carefully trained men, and each year are the means of rescuing hundreds of men who otherwise would find watery graves. A properly equipped sanitarium maintains a somewhat similar position, as it seeks to rescue those who have ventured too far out on the rocks and shoals encountered by those who persist in violating the laws of nature. There is not a shadow of doubt that thousands of persons are to-day enjoying a fair degree of health who would have been dead if they had not drifted into one of our health institutions, and there learned how properly to relate themselves to the violated law. In the calm seas, almost anyone can row out to the rescue of one struggling in the water; but when the waters roll high, then it requires such an experience as the life-saving crew possesses in order to reach the wrecked vessel, stranded on the rocks. And it is certainly the privilege of every Christian worker to be so acquainted with life-saving principles that he may be the means, in the hands of God, of speedily restoring to health those who are suffering from merely simple and ordinary ailments; but our sanitariums possess the requisite equipments, and a corps of workers who have the necessary skill and training to enable them to deal with the more complicated cases. If such persons, who are so situated that they might go to one of our health institutions, die without receiving an invitation to do so, will not God require their blood at the hand of those who were in a position to know, but who neglected to tell them of these “cities of refuge”? Many have wandered so far into forbidden paths that they are sealed for the tomb; yet frequently much good results from even such ones coming into contact with our sanitariums, for in many instances the friends or relatives accompanying them become so impressed with spiritual and physical truth that, on returning to their homes, they become bright and shining reformatory lights. Furthermore, frequently it is the case that the hopeless from a physical standpoint, becomes a hopeful one from a spiritual standpoint, is converted, and dies inspired by the same sweet trust in God that imbued the nurse who tenderly cared for him. There are thousands of chronic invalids who will never get well at home, even if they are fortunate enough to have the advantages of the very best medical attention; for their surroundings are not such as to facilitate their recovery. Perhaps some indulgent wife, or possibly some well-meaning grandmother, is determined to satisfy every whim or notion, no matter how disastrous to the health of the patient, and to gratify a perverted taste, even when by so doing the invalid is sunk a little deeper and more hopelessly into the depths of physical despair. There may be those who do not feel clear to urge invalids to come to our health institutions for physical restoration, or even to encourage young people to come to secure an efficient training to fit them for further usefulness, because they happen to know of some defect that has existed or still exists in these institutions. Such should bear in mind the fact that the stamp of perfection has not yet been placed upon any earthly institution; and just as long as God is content to carry on his work with the co-operation of frail, erring men, so long will annoying mistakes and distressing blunders occur. It is well for us to remember that before he directs any one's steps to either our educational or health institutions, the Lord knows just what experiences such a one will meet. So those who have left our institutions, disappointed with everything, may be sure that they have overlooked some great and grand opportunity that God had in store for them while there. The experiences of the children of Israel after passing through the Red Sea illustrate this point clearly. There is no one who has come to our institutions in quest of either health or training who has met with such bitter disappointments as the children of Israel did when, led by the Lord, they went three days' journey into the wilderness, without water, and then found bitter water. But many who meet with minor disappointments in our institutions pursue precisely the same course that the children of Israel did. How few there are who recognize in their disappointments God's appointments, and therefore, like Moses, pray for light upon the complicated situation. Those who do so will discover, just as surely as Moses did, that branch that grows in Rom. 8:28 which can antidote the bitterest experience that the Christian will ever be called to meet. Some do not feel that they can consistently advise their sick friends and neighbors to obtain the716advantages of our sanitariums on account of the necessary expense. Such do not take into consideration that the majority of our health institutions, in order properly to carry on the work, must have, on an average, from one to two workers for every patient that they care for, and that though these workers are willing to deny themselves and live upon small wages, yet even this item of expense is larger than might seem at first thought. Then medical apparatus can not be purchased as cheaply as farm machinery. Frequently a medical appliance that could easily be packed into an ordinary hand-grip will cost as much as a self-binder, or more. Many of the patients who come to our sanitariums have wandered the world over in search of health, and apparently long ago ceased to respond to any of the ordinary remedial efforts; and in order to treat their cases successfully, the most thorough-going appliances are required. There are chronic invalids in every community, who, after dragging out a few years of miserable existence, will probably find that they have either paid out directly or lost from failure to carry on their work, more money than would be required to secure the benefits of several months' stay at one of our health institutions, and thereby, in many instances, secure a new lease of life, just as truly as did Hezekiah; for it is just as true in their case as it was in his, that “the Lord was ready to save me.” Isa. 38:20. When they come to that point in their experiences that they are willing to say from the heart, “I shall go softly all the years of my life” (Isa. 38:15); and are as willing as Hezekiah was to have applied to them the rational remedies that their case demands, then why should they not experience the same blessings that he received?