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STEPS TO HEALTH

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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 5, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 44.

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STEPS TO HEALTH.

By E. H. Matthewson, M.D.

BY E. H. MATTHEWSON, M.D.

Its Importance.

IN beginning a series of articles on the subject of health, it is well to consider for a moment its importance, and our special need of it as Christians. It is unnecessary to prove that it is God's wish to have his people healthy, as before man brought upon himself ill health and disease, there was neither sickness, unhappiness, or death; and when God led the Israelites through the wilderness we are told "there was not one feeble one among them;" besides we are exhorted to look forward to a state of perfection in both mind and body.We see therefore that health is not a matter of small concern, for if any part of our body, by reason of disease or otherwise, does not do its full duty, every other function of the body is affected. The happiness of our life, the effect of the Spirit of God upon us, and the condition of our religious experience, will depend largely upon the condition of our health. Imagine a man without a mind to think and reason for himself—what real enjoyment can he have? Can such a man be a Christian? No; such a person is not accountable for his life and actions.
It is with the mind we reason, with it we choose or decide any question which comes to us, and it is only with the mind that we can receive knowledge, religious or otherwise. Take a man of sound mind and let him becloud the same by drink or other poison, and in such a condition he can neither receive knowledge or carry out what he would otherwise know to be right.
Should any organ of the body be diseased, the mind and other functions are proportionately damaged and just so far incapable of fulfilling God's purpose of giving us life and being.
The mind is simply one of the functions of the body, and we have to depend upon it for learning Christianity, and we need its full power to carry out Christian principles.
As Christians, therefore, how to attain to a perfect action of all the functions should claim a great deal of our attention. Inspiration gives us instruction as to the care of the body as well as to our relation to God and our fellow men; and while it is true that everything that brings us peace of mind helps us physically, there can be no doubt that anything which helps us physically will enable us to be better Christians. Let us then remember that health is necessary to Christianity and Christianity necessary to perfect health.
When we study our bodies we can not fail to notice how intimately all parts are related to each other, and the more we study the more we will appreciate the importance of the smallest matters when they concern the good of the whole body. A small injury often repeated may result in great harm.
If a person feels gloomy or discouraged, no function of the body works properly.
Excitement affects the appearance of the face, the rate of the pulse, and in fact every function of the body; death has occurred as the result of fright. The felon may be small, but it incapacitates one for either business or pleasure, or when the stomach gives us pain, or we feel miserable from the poison of an undigested meal, we do not feel like improving our time, or thinking soberly on any subject. The thing that goes wrong may not give us such severe symptoms, and yet there is a damage done in every case, and it may often be out of proportion to the cause.
The mind is the ruling function, and everything that lessens the activity or health of other parts is apt to so lessen its power of control over us as to make us an easy prey to disease. And when the mind becomes diseased, almost any condition in other parts of the body may result. We should, therefore, understand the laws of health, that we may be able to obtain full vigor of mind and body.