Here's Pastor Doug Batchelor from www.amazingfacts.org with the Sacramento church
To study the lesson with Dr Derek Norris of the Lake Forest church, click on the following link:
http://media.forestlakechurch.org/content/media/2010q206-12-optimism-happiness-and-healing
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Optimism: Happiness and Healing
Memory Text: Lamentations 3:21-23 NIV 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
“Scripture taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION”. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Publishers. Used by Permission.
Sabbath Afternoon
Sunday
Depression and Despair
Psalms 42:1-11 NKJV 1 <
1 Kings 19:2-18 NKJV 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!" 5 Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat." 6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, "Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you." 8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 10 So he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life." 11 Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. 13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" 14 And he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life." 15 Then the LORD said to him: "Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 "Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 "It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 "Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him."
1 Kings 19:4 NKJV 4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"
Psalms 42:11 NKJV 11 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
Monday
The Cares of this Life
Micah 6:8 NKJV 8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Luke 8:14 NKJV 14 "Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
Luke 10:38-42 NKJV 38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.
Luke 10:40-42 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
Luke 12:16-21 NKJV 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 "And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' 18 "So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."' 20 "But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?' 21 "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Luke 21:34 NKJV 34 "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
Tuesday
Be Joyful Always
1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 NKJV 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing,
Matthew 26:38 NKJV 38 Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me."
John 11:35 NKJV 35 Jesus wept.
Romans 8:31 NKJV 31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Romans 8:35-39 NKJV 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1 John 3:1 NKJV 1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Revelation 21:4 NKJV 4 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Wednesday
Laughter and Healing
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NKJV 9 And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Thursday
A Merry Heart–Practical Optimism!
Proverbs 17:22 NKJV 22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.
Isaiah 26:1-4 NKJV 1 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. 2 Open the gates, That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. 3 You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. 4 Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.
Proverbs 17:22 NKJV 22 A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.
Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, pp. 241-259
Chap. 18 - Mind CureThe relation that exists between the mind and the body is very intimate. When one is affected, the other sympathizes. The condition of the mind affects the health to a far greater degree than many realize. Many of the diseases from which men suffer are the result of mental depression. Grief, anxiety, discontent, remorse, guilt, distrust, all tend to break down the life forces and to invite decay and death. {MH 241.1}
Disease is sometimes produced, and is often greatly aggravated, by the imagination. Many are lifelong invalids who might be well if they only thought so. Many imagine that every slight exposure will cause illness, and the evil effect is produced because it is expected. Many die from disease the cause of which is wholly imaginary. {MH 241.2}
Courage, hope, faith, sympathy, love, promote health and prolong life. A contented mind, a cheerful spirit, is health to the body and strength to the soul. "A merry [rejoicing] heart doeth good like a medicine." Proverbs 17:22. {MH 241.3}
In the treatment of the sick the effect of mental influence should not be overlooked. Rightly used, this influence affords one of the most effective agencies for combating disease. (p. 242) {MH 241.4}
Control of Mind Over Mind There is, however, a form of mind cure that is one of the most effective agencies for evil. Through this so-called science, one mind is brought under the control of another so that the individuality of the weaker is merged in that of the stronger mind. One person acts out the will of another. Thus it is claimed that the tenor of the thoughts may be changed, that health-giving impulses may be imparted, and patients may be enabled to resist and overcome disease. {MH 242.1}
This method of cure has been employed by persons who were ignorant of its real nature and tendency, and who believed it to be a means of benefit to the sick. But the so-called science is based upon false principles. It is foreign to the nature and spirit of Christ. It does not lead to Him who is life and salvation. The one who attracts minds to himself leads them to separate from the true Source of their strength. {MH 242.2}
It is not God's purpose that any human being should yield his mind and will to the control of another, becoming a passive instrument in his hands. No one is to merge his individuality in that of another. He is not to look to any human being as the source of healing. His dependence must be in God. In the dignity of his God-given manhood he is to be controlled by God Himself, not by any human intelligence. {MH 242.3}
God desires to bring men into direct relation with Himself. In all His dealings with human beings He recognizes the principle of personal responsibility. He seeks to encourage a sense of personal dependence and to impress the need of personal guidance.
He desires to bring the human into association with the divine, that men may be transformed into the divine likeness. Satan works to thwart this purpose. He seeks to encourage dependence upon men. When minds are (p. 243) turned away from God, the tempter can bring them under his rule. He can control humanity. {MH 242.4}
The theory of mind controlling mind was originated by Satan, to introduce himself as the chief worker, to put human philosophy where divine philosophy should be. Of all the errors that are finding acceptance among professedly Christian people, none is a more dangerous deception, none more certain to separate man from God, than is this. Innocent though it may appear, if exercised upon patients it will tend to their destruction, not to their restoration. It opens a door through which Satan will enter to take possession both of the mind that is given up to be controlled by another, and of the mind that controls. {MH 243.1}
Fearful is the power thus given to evil-minded men and women. What opportunities it affords to those who live by taking advantage of other's weaknesses or follies! How many, through control of minds feeble or diseased, will find a means of gratifying lustful passion or greed of gain! {MH 243.2}
There is something better for us to engage in than the control of humanity by humanity. The physician should educate the people to look from the human to the divine. Instead of teaching the sick to depend upon human beings for the cure of soul and body, he should direct them to the One who can save to the uttermost all who come unto Him. He who made man's mind knows what the mind needs. God alone is the One who can heal. Those whose minds and bodies are
(p. 244) diseased are to behold in Christ the restorer. "Because I live, He says, "ye shall live also." John 14:19. This is the life we are to present to the sick, telling them that if they have faith in Christ as the restorer, if they co-operate with Him, obeying the laws of health, and striving to perfect holiness in His fear, He will impart to them His life. When we present Christ to them in this way, we are imparting a power, a strength, that is of value; for it comes from above. This is the true science of healing for body and soul. {MH 243.3}
Sympathy Great wisdom is needed in dealing with diseases caused through the mind. A sore, sick heart, a discouraged mind, needs mild treatment. Many times some living home trouble is, like a canker, eating to the very soul and weakening the life force. And sometimes it is the case that remorse for sin undermines the constitution and unbalances the mind. It is through tender sympathy that this class of invalids can be benefited. The physician should first gain their confidence and then point them to the Great Healer. If their faith can be directed to the True Physician, and they can have confidence that He has undertaken their case, this will bring relief to the mind and often give health to the body. {MH 244.1}
Sympathy and tact will often prove a greater benefit to the sick than will the most skillful treatment given in a cold, indifferent way. When a physician comes to the sickbed with a listless, careless manner, looks at the afflicted one with little concern, by word or action giving the impression that the case is not one requiring much attention, and then leaves the patient to his own reflections, he has done that patient positive harm. The doubt and discouragement produced by his indifference will often counteract the good effect of the remedies he may prescribe. (p. 245) {MH 244.2}
If physicians could put themselves in the place of the one whose spirit is humbled and whose will is weakened by suffering, and who longs for words of sympathy and assurance, they would be better prepared to appreciate his feelings. When the love and sympathy that Christ manifested for the sick is combined with the physician's knowledge,
his very presence will be a blessing. {MH 245.1} Frankness in dealing with a patient inspires him with confidence, and thus proves an important aid to recovery. There are physicians who consider it wise policy to conceal from the patient the nature and cause of the disease from which he is suffering. Many, fearing to excite or discourage a patient by stating the truth, will hold out false hopes of recovery, and even allow a patient to go down to the grave without warning him of his danger. All this is unwise. It may not always be safe or best to explain to the patient the full extent of his danger. This might alarm him and retard or even prevent recovery. Nor can the whole truth always be told to those whose ailments are largely imaginary. Many of these persons are unreasonable, and have not accustomed themselves to exercise self-control. They have peculiar fancies, and imagine many things that are false in regard to themselves and to others. To them these things are real, and those who care for them need to manifest constant kindness and unwearied patience and tact. If these patients were told the truth in regard to themselves, some would be offended, others discouraged. Christ said to His disciples, "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." John 16:12. But though the truth may not all be spoken on all occasions, it is never necessary or justifiable to deceive. Never should the physician or the nurse stoop to prevarication. He who does this places himself where God cannot co-operate with him, and in forfeiting the confidence of his patients he is casting away one of the most effective human aids to their restoration. (p. 246) {MH 245.2}
The power of the will is not valued as it should be. Let the will be kept awake and rightly directed, and it will impart energy to the whole being and will be a wonderful aid in the maintenance of health. It is a power also in dealing with disease. Exercised in the right direction, it would control the imagination and be a potent means of resisting and overcoming disease of both mind and body. By the exercise of the will power in placing themselves in right relation to life, patients can do much to co-operate with the physician's efforts for their recovery. There are thousands who can recover health if they will. The Lord does not want them to be sick. He desires them to be well and happy, and they should make up their minds to be well. Often invalids can resist disease simply by refusing to yield to ailments and settle down in a state of inactivity. Rising above their aches and pains, let them engage in useful employment suited to their strength. By such employment and the free use of air and sunlight, many an emaciated invalid might recover health and strength. {MH 246.1}
Bible Principles of Cure For those who would regain or preserve health there is a lesson in the words of Scripture, "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:18. Not through the excitement or oblivion produced by unnatural or unhealthful stimulants; not through indulgence of the lower appetites or passions, is to be found true healing or refreshment for the body or the soul. Among the sick are many who are without God and without hope. They suffer from ungratified desires, disordered passions, and the condemnation of their own consciences; they are losing their hold upon this life, and they have no prospect for the life to come. Let not the attendants upon the sick hope to benefit these patients (p. 247) by granting them frivolous, exciting indulgences. These have been the curse of their lives. The hungry, thirsting soul will continue to hunger and thirst so long as it seeks to find satisfaction here. Those who drink at the fountain of selfish pleasure are deceived. They mistake hilarity for strength, and when the excitement ceases, their inspiration ends, and they are left to discontent and despondency. {MH 246.2}
Abiding peace, true rest of spirit, has but one Source. It was of this that Christ spoke when He said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you." John 14:27. This peace is not something that He gives apart from Himself. It is in Christ, and we can receive it only by receiving Him. {MH 247.1}
Christ is the wellspring of life. That which many need is to have a clearer knowledge of Him; they need to be patiently and kindly, yet earnestly, taught how the whole being may be thrown open to the healing agencies of heaven. When the sunlight of God's love illuminates the darkened chambers of the soul, restless weariness and dissatisfaction will cease, and satisfying joys will give vigor to the mind and health and energy to the body. {MH 247.2}
We are in a world of suffering. Difficulty, trial, and sorrow await us all along the way to the heavenly home. But there are many who make life's burdens doubly heavy by continually anticipating trouble. If they meet with adversity or (p. 248) disappointment they think that everything is going to ruin, that theirs is the hardest lot of all, that they are surely coming to want. Thus they bring wretchedness upon themselves and cast a shadow upon all around them. Life itself becomes a burden to them. But it need not be thus. It will cost a determined effort to change the current of their thought. But the change can be made. Their happiness, both for this life and for the life to come, depends upon their fixing their minds upon cheerful things. Let them look away from the dark picture, which is imaginary, to the benefits which God has strewn in their pathway, and beyond these to the unseen and eternal. {MH 247.3}
For every trial, God has provided help. When Israel in the desert came to the bitter waters of Marah, Moses cried unto the Lord. The Lord did not provide some new remedy; He called attention to that which was at hand. A shrub which He had created was to be cast into the fountain to make the water pure and sweet. When this was done, the people drank of the water and were refreshed. In every trial, if we seek Him, Christ will give us help. Our eyes will be opened to discern the healing promises recorded in His word. The Holy Spirit will teach us how to appropriate every blessing that will be an antidote to grief. For every bitter draft that is placed to our lips, we shall find a branch of healing. {MH 248.1}
We are not to let the future, with its hard problems, its unsatisfying prospects, make our hearts faint, our knees tremble, our hands hang down. "Let him take hold of My strength," says the Mighty One, "that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me." Isaiah 27:5. Those who surrender their lives to His guidance and to His service will never be placed in a position for which He has not made provision. Whatever our situation, if we are doers of His word, we have a Guide to direct our way; whatever our (p. 249) perplexity, we have a sure Counselor; whatever our sorrow, bereavement, or loneliness, we have a sympathizing Friend. {MH 248.2}
If in our ignorance we make missteps, the Saviour does not forsake us. We need never feel that we are alone. Angels are our companions. The Comforter that Christ promised to send in His name abides with us. In the way that leads to the City of God there are no difficulties which those who trust in Him may not overcome. There are no dangers which they may not escape. There is not a sorrow, not a grievance, not a human weakness, for which He has not provided a remedy. {MH 249.1}
None need abandon themselves to discouragement and despair. Satan may come to you with the cruel suggestion, "Yours is a hopeless case. You are irredeemable." But there is hope for you in Christ. God does not bid us overcome in our own strength.
He asks us to come close to His side. Whatever difficulties we labor under, which weigh down soul and body, He waits to make us free. {MH 249.2}
He who took humanity upon Himself knows how to sympathize with the sufferings of humanity. Not only does Christ know every soul, and the peculiar needs and trials of that soul, but He knows all the circumstances that chafe and perplex the spirit. His hand is outstretched in pitying tenderness to every suffering child. Those who suffer most have most of His sympathy and pity. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and He desires us to lay our perplexities and troubles at His feet and leave them there. {MH 249.3}
It is not wise to look to ourselves and study our emotions. If we do this, the enemy will present difficulties and temptations that weaken faith and destroy courage. Closely to study our emotions and give way to our feelings is to entertain doubt and entangle ourselves in perplexity. We are to look away from self to Jesus. (p. 250) {MH 249.4}
When temptations assail you, when care, perplexity, and darkness seem to surround your soul, look to the place where you last saw the light. Rest in Christ's love and under His protecting care. When sin struggles for the mastery in the heart, when guilt oppresses the soul and burdens the conscience, when unbelief clouds the mind, remember that Christ's grace is sufficient to subdue sin and banish the darkness. Entering into communion with the Saviour, we enter the region of peace.
The Healing Promises "The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants: And none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate." Psalm 34:22. "In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence:
And His children shall have a place of refuge." Proverbs 14:26. "Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and The Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, That she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands." Isaiah 49:14-16, A.R.V. (p. 251) "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: Be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness." Isaiah 41:10. "Ye that have been borne by Me from your birth, That have been carried by Me from your earliest breath, Even to your old age I am the same; Even to hoar hairs I will carry you; I have done it, and I will still bear you; I will carry, and I will deliver you." Isaiah 46:3, 4, Noyes. {MH 250.1} Nothing tends more to promote health of body and of soul than does a spirit of gratitude and praise. It is a positive duty to resist melancholy, discontented thoughts and feelings--as much a duty as it is to pray. If we are heaven-bound, how can we go as a band of mourners, groaning and complaining all along the way to our Father's house? {MH 251.1}
Those professed Christians who are constantly complaining, and who seem to think cheerfulness and happiness a sin, have not genuine religion. Those who take a mournful pleasure in all that is melancholy in the natural world, who choose to look upon dead leaves rather than to gather the beautiful living flowers, who see no beauty in grand mountain heights and in valleys clothed with living green, who close their senses to the joyful voice which speaks to them in nature, and which is sweet and musical to the listening ear--these are not in Christ. They are gathering to themselves gloom and darkness, when they might have brightness, even the Sun of Righteousness arising in their hearts with healing in His beams. {MH 251.2}
Often your mind may be clouded because of pain. Then do not try to think. You know that Jesus loves you. He understands your weakness. You may do His will by simply resting in His arms. {MH 251.3}
It is a law of nature that our thoughts and feelings are encouraged and strengthened as we give them utterance. (p. 252) While words express thoughts, it is also true that thoughts follow words. If we would give more expression to our faith, rejoice more in the blessings that we know we have,--the great mercy and love of God,--we should have more faith (p. 253) and greater joy. No tongue can express, no finite mind can conceive, the blessing that results from appreciating the goodness and love of God. Even on earth we may have joy as a wellspring, never failing, because fed by the streams that flow from the throne of God. {MH 251.4}
Then let us educate our hearts and lips to speak the praise of God for His matchless love. Let us educate our souls to be hopeful and to abide in the light shining from the cross of Calvary. Never should we forget that we are children of the heavenly King, sons and daughters of the Lord of hosts. It is our privilege to maintain a calm repose in God. {MH 253.1}
"Let the peace of God rule in your hearts; . . . and be ye thankful." Colossians 3:15. Forgetting our own difficulties and troubles, let us praise God for an opportunity to live for the glory of His name. Let the fresh blessings of each new day awaken praise in our hearts for these tokens of His loving care. When you open your eyes in the morning, thank God that He has kept you through the night. Thank Him for His peace in your heart. Morning, noon, and night, let gratitude as a sweet perfume ascend to heaven. {MH 253.2}
When someone asks how you are feeling, do not try to think of something mournful to tell in order to gain sympathy. Do not talk of your lack of faith and your sorrows and sufferings. The tempter delights to hear such words. When talking on gloomy subjects, you are glorifying him. We are not to dwell on the great power of Satan to overcome us. Often we give ourselves into his hands by talking of his power. Let us talk instead of the great power of God to bind up all our interests with His own. Tell of the matchless power of Christ, and speak of His glory. All heaven is interested in our salvation. The angels of God, thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand, are commissioned to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. They guard us against evil and press back the powers of darkness that are seeking our destruction. Have we not (p. 254) reason to be thankful every moment, thankful even when there are apparent difficulties in our pathway? {MH 253.3} Sing Praises Let praise and thanksgiving be expressed in song. When tempted, instead of giving utterance to our feelings, let us by faith lift up a song of thanksgiving to God. We praise Thee, O God, for the Son of Thy love,-- For Jesus who died and is now gone above. We praise Thee, O God, for Thy Spirit of light, Who has shown us our Saviour, and scattered our night. All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain, Who has borne all our sins, and has cleansed every stain. All glory and praise to the God of all grace, Who has bought us, and sought us, and guided our ways. Revive us again; fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled with fire from above. Chorus: Hallelujah! Thine the glory, Hallelujah! amen; Hallelujah! Thine the glory, Revive us again. {MH 254.1} Song is a weapon that we can always use against discouragement. As we thus open the heart to the sunlight of the Saviour's presence, we shall have health and His blessing. (p. 255) "Give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: For His mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." "Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him: Talk ye of all His wondrous works. Glory ye in His holy name: Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord." "For He satisfieth the longing soul, And filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, Being bound in affliction and iron; . . . They cried unto the Lord in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And brake their bands in sunder.
Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!" "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me?
Hope thou in God: For I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance, And my God." Psalm 107:1,2; 105:2,3; Psalm 107:9-15; 42:11. {MH 254.2} "In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 1 Thessalonians 5:18. This command is an assurance that even the things which appear to be against us will work for our good. God would not bid us be thankful for that which would do us harm. "The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?" "In the day of trouble He shall keep me secretly in His pavilion: In the covert of His tabernacle shall He hide me; . . . And I will offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord." (p. 256) "I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God." "The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: Therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; And with my song will I praise Him." Psalm 27:1; 27:5, 6, R.V.; 40:1-3; 28:7. {MH 255.1} One of the surest hindrances to the recovery of the sick is the centering of attention upon themselves. Many invalids feel that everyone should give them sympathy and help, when what they need is to have their attention turned away from themselves, to think of and care for others. {MH 256.1}
Often prayer is solicited for the afflicted, the sorrowful, the discouraged; and this is right. We should pray that God will shed light into the darkened mind and comfort the sorrowful heart. But God answers prayer for those who place themselves in the channel of His blessings. While we offer prayer for these sorrowful ones, we should encourage them to try to help those more needy than themselves. The darkness will be dispelled from their own hearts as they try to help others. As we seek to comfort others with the comfort wherewith we are comforted, the blessing comes back to us. {MH 256.2}
The fifty-eight chapter of Isaiah is a prescription for maladies of the body and of the soul. If we desire health and the true joy of life we must put into practice the rules given in this scripture. Of the service acceptable to Him, and its blessings, the Lord says: "Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, And that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; And that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? (p. 257) Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, And thine health shall spring forth speedily: And thy righteousness shall go before thee; The glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; Thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, The putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, And satisfy the afflicted soul; Then shall thy light rise in obscurity, And thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually,
And satisfy thy soul in drought, And make fat thy bones: And thou shalt be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, Whose waters fail not." Isaiah 58:7-11. {MH 256.3}
Good deeds are twice a blessing, benefiting both the giver and the receiver of the kindness. The consciousness of right-doing is one of the best medicines for diseased bodies and minds. When the mind is free and happy from a sense of duty well done and the satisfaction of giving happiness to others, the cheering, uplifting influence brings new life to the whole being. {MH 257.1}
Let the invalid, instead of constantly requiring sympathy, seek to impart it. Let the burden of your own weakness and sorrow and pain be cast upon the compassionate Saviour. Open your heart to His love, and let it flow out to others. Remember that all have trials hard to bear, temptations hard to resist, and you may do something to lighten these burdens. Express gratitude for the blessings you have; show appreciation of the attentions you receive. Keep the heart full of the precious promises of God, that you may bring forth from this treasure, words that will be a comfort and strength to others. This will surround you with an atmosphere that will be helpful and uplifting. Let it be your aim to bless those around (p. 258) you, and you will find ways of being helpful, both to the members of your own family and to others. {MH 257.2}
If those who are suffering from ill-health would forget self in their interest for others; if they would fulfill the Lord's command to minister to those more needy than themselves, they would realize the truthfulness of the prophetic promise, "Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily." Marah and Elim Today 'tis Elim with its palms and wells, And happy shade for desert weariness; 'Twas Marah yesterday, all rock and sand, Unshaded solitude and dreariness. Yet the same desert holds them both, the same Hot breezes wander o'er the lonely ground; The same low stretch of valley shelters both, And the same mountains compass them around. So it is here with us on earth, and so I do remember it has ever been; The bitter and the sweet, the grief and joy, Lie near together, but a day between. Sometimes God turns our bitter into sweet, Sometimes He gives us pleasant watersprings; Sometimes He shades us with His pillar cloud, And sometimes to a blessed palm shade brings.
(p. 259) What matters it? The time will not be long; Marah and Elim will alike be passed;
Our desert wells and palms will soon be done, We reach the "City of our God" at last.
O happy land! beyond these lonely hills, Where gush in joy the everlasting springs;
O holy Paradise! above these heavens, Where we shall end our desert wanderings. --Horatius Bonar. Blessed Assurance Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood. Chorus: This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Saviour all the day long; This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Saviour all the day long. Perfect submission, perfect delight, Visions of rapture now burst on my sight. Angels descending bring from above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love. Perfect submission, all is at rest, I in my Saviour am happy and blest, Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love. --Fanny J. Crosby. {MH 258.1}
Ellen G. White Comments, The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 209-210
The consecrated messengers who in the early days of Christianity carried to a perishing world the glad tidings of salvation, allowed no thought of self-exaltation to mar their presentation of Christ and Him crucified. They coveted neither authority nor pre-eminence. Hiding self in the Saviour, they exalted the great plan of salvation, and the life of Christ, the Author and Finisher of this plan. Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever, was the burden of their teaching. {AA 209.1}
If those who today are teaching the word of God, would uplift the cross of Christ higher and still higher, their ministry would be far more successful. If sinners can be led to give one earnest look at the cross, if they can obtain a full view of the crucified Saviour, they will realize the depth of God's compassion and the sinfulness of sin. {AA 209.2}
Christ's death proves God's great love for man. It is our pledge of salvation. To remove the cross from the Christian would be like blotting the sun from the sky. The cross brings us near to God, reconciling us to Him. With the relenting compassion of a father's love, Jehovah looks upon the suffering that His Son endured in order to save the race from eternal death, and accepts us in the Beloved. {AA 209.3}
Without the cross, man could have no union with the Father. On it depends our every hope. From it shines the light of the Saviour's love, and when at the foot of the cross the sinner looks up to the One who died to save him, he (p. 210) may rejoice with fullness of joy, for his sins are pardoned. Kneeling in faith at the cross, he has reached the highest place to which man can attain. {AA 209.4}
Through the cross we learn that the heavenly Father loves us with a love that is infinite. Can we wonder that Paul exclaimed, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ"? Galatians 6:14. It is our privilege also to glory in the cross, our privilege to give ourselves wholly to Him who gave Himself for us. Then, with the light that streams from Calvary shining in our faces, we may go forth to reveal this light to those in darkness. {AA 210.1}
Ellen G. White Comments, The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 517-518
In the later years of his ministry, Peter was inspired to write to the believers "scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." His letters were the means of reviving the courage and strengthening the faith of those who were enduring trial and affliction, and of renewing to good works those who through manifold temptations were in danger of losing their hold upon God. These letters bear the impress of having been written by one in whom the sufferings of Christ and also His consolation had been made to abound; one whose entire being had been transformed by grace, and whose hope of eternal life was sure and steadfast. {AA 517.1}
At the very beginning of his first letter the aged servant of God ascribed to his Lord a tribute of praise and thanksgiving. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," he exclaimed, "which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." {AA 517.2}
In this hope of a sure inheritance in the earth made new, (p. 518) the early Christians rejoiced, even in times of severe trial and affliction. "Ye greatly rejoice," Peter wrote, "though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, . . . ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." {AA 517.3}
The apostle's words were written for the instruction of believers in every age, and they have a special significance for those who live at the time when "the end of all things is at hand." His exhortations and warnings, and his words of faith and courage, are needed by every soul who would maintain his faith "steadfast unto the end." Hebrews 3:14. {AA 518.1}
The apostle sought to teach the believers how important it is to keep the mind from wandering to forbidden themes or from spending its energies on trifling subjects. Those who would not fall a prey to Satan's devices, must guard well the avenues of the soul; they must avoid reading, seeing, or hearing that which will suggest impure thoughts. The mind must not be left to dwell at random upon every subject that the enemy of souls may suggest. The heart must be faithfully sentineled, or evils without will awaken evils within, and the soul will wander in darkness. "Gird up the loins of your mind," Peter wrote, "be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation (p. 519) of Jesus Christ; . . . not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." {AA 518.2}
Jerry Giardina of Pecos, Texas, assisted by his wife, Cheryl, prepares a series of helps to accompany the Sabbath School lesson. He includes all related scripture and most EGW quotations. Jerry has chosen the "New King James Version" of the scriptures this quarter. It is used with permission.
http://www.ssnet.org/qrtrly/eng/10b/helps/lesshp11.html
www.whiteestate.org
Chapter 24
Health Principles/1
Emergence of a Health Message
[Return to the Table of Contents]
[Return to the Homepage]
Interaction a Spiritual Matter
Nineteenth-Century Health Notions
Physical Afflictions of Early Adventists
Dramatic Healings
First Health-minded Adventist
Ellen White’s Early Awareness of Health Principles
The Health Vision of 1863
Led Step by Step
Ingredients of the Otsego Health Vision
Adventist Lifestyle
Endnotes
Study Questions
“Through it all [the development and history of Seventh-day Adventist health principles and medical practice] we see the guidance of God as projected by the little lady from Elmshaven. At strategic moments in the development of our medical work, this remarkable woman gave the encouragement and wise counsel needed to keep the program balanced and moving forward.”1
Because of her understanding of the Great Controversy Theme, Ellen White saw the implications involved in humanity’s indivisible unity of body, mind, and spirit. Not only were human beings “free moral agents,”2 the interacting, integrating components of body, mind, and spirit required the health of each component so that all the components would function effectively. Without the well-being of this synergy, the human being would soon suffer and hasten the slide to death.3
Interaction a Spiritual Matter
In 1875 Ellen White called this interaction between mind and body “a mysterious and wonderful relation. They react upon each other.” Further, she made this profound concept intensely practical: “It cannot be to the glory of God for His children to have sickly bodies or dwarfed minds.”4
One may ask, why do “sickly bodies or dwarfed minds,” as a general rule, have anything to do with “the glory of God”? Ellen White is consistent and wholistic: “Anything that lessens physical strength enfeebles the mind, and makes it less capable of discriminating between right and wrong. We become less capable of choosing the good, and have less strength of will to do that which we know to be right.”5
The question is: How did Mrs. White develop her expansive, wholistic contribution to health awareness, an emphasis that has become more relevant as the years pass? Was her distinctive formulation of health principles developed in a mind hermetically sealed from the world around her and penetrated by the Spirit alone? No, that is not how God works.6 Her theological understanding of the Great Controversy Theme provided the mental grid whereby she was able to recognize in the area of health and disease the fundamental and enduring wisdom of her age, and to reject that which would soon prove worthless.
Emanating from this theological sense of wholeness flowed a distinctive and eventually coherent philosophy of health. This philosophy, in addition to clear insights by which millions of church members have ordered their personal lives, has spanned the earth with a singular system of health institutions.
Nineteenth-Century Health Notions
To better appreciate the distinctiveness of Ellen White’s philosophy of health, let us review some of the prevailing health notions of the nineteenth century. At the beginning of the century, a remarkably standardized pattern for the treatment of disease relied “mostly on bleeding, purging, and polypharmacy.”7
The cause of disease was a matter of widely diverse conjecture. The Christian world generally believed that illness and suffering were divinely inflicted because of sin. Healing, if possible, was the result of prayer and faith.
But new ideas were surfacing in the early 1800s. Horace Mann, in his famous 1842 report to the Massachusetts school authorities, wrote that suffering was “no part of the ordination of a merciful Providence, but to be directly chargeable to human ignorance and error.” Further, if people would obey “the physical laws of God, they would no more suffer pain than they would suffer remorse, or moral pain, if in all things they would obey the moral laws of God.”8
But changing the source of disease from heaven to earth did not automatically explain its cause. Mann, for example, rejected the idea of an invading, foreign body. Contemporaries blamed various causes, including variations in body fluids, filth and odors as found in garbage and sewage, and stimuli, either too much or too little. For many medical specialists, health was an intermediate state of excitement, and the physician’s task was to adjust the excitement level. Whenever people occasionally raised the possibility that nature itself contained healing powers, as Hippocrates long before had believed, they were “confronted with the almost uniform opposition of the regular medical practitioners, who labeled them as empiric rustics attempting to restore a discredited element of primitive medicine.”9
The “stimuli” theory, probably the prevailing treatment of disease, became known as “heroic” medicine. Benjamin Rush (1745?-1813), dean of American physicians, actively promoted this popular treatment wherein the sick had to resign themselves to “massive bloodletting, considered a panacea for almost every problem, and to submit to the violent purgatives and emetics which the medical doctors administered.” The physician’s task was to “conquer nature” with a special drug, the more violent the better, for each disease. George Washington became a well-known victim of deadly conventional medicine during the first half of the nineteenth century.10
In 1860 Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, professor of anatomy at Harvard University, wrote that “if the whole materia medica, as now used, could be sunk to the bottom of the sea, it would be all the better for mankind—and all the worse for the fishes.”11
The second quarter of the nineteenth century, often known as the Jacksonian era, was swamped with innovation and change in most all areas of American life. Emotional, human-centered ideas overtook the rational, classical order of the preceding century. Fresh optimism and the sense of equality of all human beings inspired “reforms” in such areas as education, prisons, abolition of slavery, women’s rights, politics, and health.12
This new focus on the individual and away from traditional theories was thoroughly evident in the remarkably fresh concern for personal health.13 Distrust of traditional medicine with its “heroic” treatments and pitiful results turned the minds of many in all classes to what could be done with common sense.14
In this exhilarating era of optimism and its new focus on the “common man,” such health reform movements as the following sprang up everywhere: The temperance movement,15 promotion of vegetarianism,16 public renunciation of “all evil habits,” (tobacco, alcoholic beverages, tea, coffee, etc.),17 development of “physiological” societies,18 emphasis on public health, including sanitation and hospitals,19 new attention to fashion,20 and the emergence of “water” treatments.21
Physical Afflictions of Early Adventists
Early Adventists were as physically afflicted as their contemporaries. Many of them, fearful of the prevailing medical practice, turned to prayer as their best hope. In 1846 Otis Nichols wrote to William Miller about young Ellen White: “The Spirit of God is with her and has been in a remarkable manner in healing the sick through the answer of her prayers; some cases are as remarkable as any that are recorded in the New Testament.”22
Dramatic Healings
Ellen and James White participated in many dramatic healings within their own family. But they did not consider the use of natural remedies to indicate lack of faith. From her early years to her last, Mrs. White clearly warned against fanaticism: “We believe in the prayer of faith; but some have carried this matter too far . . . . Some have taken the strong ground that it was wrong to use simple remedies. We have never taken this position, but have opposed it. We believe it to be perfectly right to use the remedies God has placed in our reach, and if these fail, apply to the great Physician, and in some cases the counsel of an earthly physician is very necessary. This position we have always held.”23
In 1854 she visited a “celebrated physician in Rochester” for a painful swelling on her left eyelid that was diagnosed as cancer. But the physician told her that she would die of apoplexy before the cancer would kill her! About a month later, after much trust and prayer, she suddenly was healed of both the cancerous eyelid and the oppressive heart condition that had made breathing difficult.24
First Health-minded Adventist
Joseph Bates, that indefatigable former sea captain, seemed to be the first and, for some time, the only Adventist leader who had come to terms with health principles and the cause of disease. On the basis of observation and personal experience, he had decided in 1824 (at the age of 32) to abstain “from all intoxicating drinks.” Earlier, he had given up tobacco in all forms. After another seven years, he determined not to drink tea or coffee. Probably the lectures of Sylvester Graham, who had written that “both tea and coffee are among the most powerful poisons of the vegetable kingdom,” confirmed his observations.25 By 1843 Bates had given up flesh food.26
However, though a staunch Millerite and later an energetic apostle of the seventh-day Sabbath, Bates apparently was not a health-reforming evangelist. He did not write out his strong health-reform beliefs nor personally try to persuade his associates.27 But he was very successful, through his Sabbath pamphlet, in convincing James and Ellen White in 1846 that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. Thereafter, Bates and the Whites were intrepid leaders of the “scattered flock.”
Ellen White’s Early Awareness of Health Principles
As early as 1848 Ellen White was shown the harmful effects of tobacco, tea, and coffee.28 Some church members were not easily convinced regarding tobacco. In an 1851 letter she responded to the question as to whether she had seen “in vision” that it was wrong to use tobacco: “I have seen in vision that tobacco was a filthy weed, and that it must be laid aside or given up.” She wrote encouraging letters to those who struggled to break the tobacco habit.29
But diet was another matter for the Whites. Many lifestyle changes had already been made within a few short years. The introduction of further change, such as self-denial in dietary habits, would have been enormously distracting and a source of much division among these early Sabbath keeping church members. Achieving doctrinal unity was more important for early Sabbatarian Adventists. Such unity established the spiritual climate for the more personal tests that would be introduced later.30
The issue of eating swine’s flesh is a good example of an important Biblical concept that had to wait until a church was ready for its significance. Some had contended as early as 1850 that the Bible definitely forbids eating swine’s flesh, but James White thought that some of the Biblical reasoning was inappropriate: “We do object to a misapplication of the Holy Scriptures in sustaining a position which will only distract the flock of God, and lead the minds of the brethren from the importance of the present work of God among the remnant.”31
By 1858 the issue was being zealously pushed by the Haskells, to whom Ellen White wrote this interesting counsel: “I saw that your views concerning swine’s flesh would prove no injury if you have them to yourselves; but in your judgment and opinion you have made this question a test, and your actions have plainly shown your faith in this matter. . . . If it is the duty of the church to abstain from swine’s flesh, God will discover it to more than two or three. He will teach His church their duty. . . . I saw that the angels of God would lead His people no faster than they could receive and act upon the important truths that are communicated to them.”32
The Whites were not ready to take positions unless they had the clearest Biblical evidence or a clear word from the Lord through a vision. Up to the health vision of June 6, 1863, they believed that the dietary restrictions set forth in Leviticus 11 as part of the Jewish ceremonial laws, were no longer applicable since the Cross. During the 1850s, Adventists freely ate pork. After the June 6 vision, the issue of eating swine’s flesh was settled among Seventh-day Adventists. Why? Ellen White now wrote with vision-certainty: “God never designed the swine to be eaten under any circumstances. . . . The eating of pork has produced scrofula [derived from the Latin word for a breeding sow, a term for tuberculosis of the lymph nodes], leprosy, and cancerous humors [blood or lymph fluids]. Pork-eating is still causing the most intense suffering to the human race.”33
Ellen White had been suggesting for a decade other aspects of healthful living that cut across the general habits of almost everyone. In 1854, at a time when modern conveniences were not even thought of, she called for cleanliness among those professing Christianity: “I saw that the houses of the saints should be kept tidy and neat, free from dirt and filth and all uncleanness.” Turning to maintaining health, especially in dietary matters, she wrote that we must “take special care of the health that God has given us. . . . Deny the unhealthy appetite, eat less fine food, eat coarse food free from grease. Then as you sit at the table to eat you can from the heart ask God’s blessing upon the food and can derive strength from coarse, wholesome food.”34
The Health Vision of 1863
On May 21, 1863, at Battle Creek, Seventh-day Adventists organized themselves under a General Conference that unified their scattered churches. For the first time they had a center that promised unity and efficiency in their missionary outreach. About two weeks later, on June 6, 1863, Ellen White was given the epochal health vision in Otsego, Michigan.35 It seems that God waited until the church had completed its organizational struggles before giving them the next step in their assignment—a responsibility that required unity of spirit and a general sense of harmony in doctrinal matters.
James White may have said it best when he reflected in 1870 on how the Lord had been leading the “scattered flock” into becoming a transcontinental movement. Although his sentiments could be applied as well to their doctrinal development in the earlier years, he contemplated the growing unity around the health messages: “The Lord also knew how to introduce to His waiting people the great subject of health reform, step by step, so they could bear it, and make a good use of it, without souring the public mind. It was twenty-two years ago [1848] the present autumn, that our minds were called to the injurious effects of tobacco, tea, and coffee, through the testimony of Mrs. White. God has wonderfully blessed the effort to put these things away from us, so that we as a denomination can rejoice in victory, with very few exceptions, over these pernicious indulgences of appetite. . . . When we had gained a good victory over these things, and when the Lord saw that we were able to bear it, light was given relative to food and dress.”36
Led Step by Step
Psychologically, it could not have been otherwise. It was the method of Jesus: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now” (John 16:12). People cannot relate to too much change at once. Early Adventists proclaimed the seventh-day Sabbath at a time when a six-day work week was common, and to get Sabbath privileges was virtually impossible. Their enthusiastic announcement of a very near Second Coming seemed far-fetched to their neighbors who remembered the Millerite embarrassment in 1844. To declare further, in those early years, that Adventist Christians should not smoke tobacco, drink alcoholic beverages, use tea and coffee, or eat swine’s flesh—would have been too much to contemplate. Change takes time, even today.
And now the Otsego health vision. Many items in it were extremely relevant to the Whites themselves as to how they could improve their health by setting better priorities for their time and energies, by a more “cheerful, hopeful, peaceful frame of mind,” and by not leaving their own health care to God “to take care of that which He has left for us to watch and care for.”
Further, the Lord instructed the Whites and others to speak out “against intemperance of every kind . . . in working, in eating, in drinking, and in drugging.” But they were not to have only a negative message. They were to guide Seventh-day Adventists and others to a life style that harmonized with the laws of the spiritual and natural world. The sweep of the vision “astonished” Ellen White. She wrote: “Many things came directly across my own ideas.”37
In May 1866, she visited Dr. H. S. Lay, an Adventist physician in Allegan, Michigan. Fascinated with her vision summary, he wanted a full interview. Mrs. White responded reluctantly because she “was not familiar with medical language,” and because “much of the matter presented to her was so different from the commonly accepted views that she feared she could not relate it so that it would be understood.”38
Dr. Lay was impressed. Her insights were accurate and the overall coherency profound. He knew that the interacting nature of these principles did not come from human sources. He often related to others what he learned that day.
One of his medical friends with whom he much later shared this special information was Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. In 1897 Dr. Kellogg said: “It is a very interesting fact that the Lord began giving us this light thirty years ago. Just before I came to the Conference I had a talk with Dr. Lay, and he told me of how he heard the first instruction about health reform away back in 1860 and especially in 1863. While he was riding in a carriage with Brother and Sister White, she related what had been presented to her upon the subject of health reform, and laid out the principles which have stood the test of all these years—a whole generation.”39
Speaking to the assembled delegates at the 1897 General Conference, Dr. Kellogg added: “It is impossible for any man who has not made a special study of medicine to appreciate the wonderful character of the instruction that has been received in these writings. It is wonderful, brethren, when you look back over the writings that were given us thirty years ago, and then perhaps the next day pick up a scientific journal and find some new discovery that the microscope has made, or that has been brought to light in the chemical laboratory—I say, it is perfectly wonderful how correctly they agree in fact. . . . There is not a single principle in relation to the healthful development of our bodies and minds that is advocated in these writings from Sister White, which I am not prepared to demonstrate conclusively from scientific evidence.”40
While traveling on a brutal schedule, still mourning the sad death of Henry, their firstborn, Ellen White rushed to completion Spiritual Gifts, volumes 3 and 4. Volume 4 contained a section called “Health,” which contained the first comprehensive statement on health principles since the Otsego vision.
Were Adventists ready for this next call for personal reform? So many orders were received that an announcement was made in the Review and Herald, August 23, 1864: “The call for Spiritual Gifts is so great that we are unable to fill orders as soon as they are received. We have two binders at work, but today have not a single copy in the office.”
Reports of immediate and beneficial results began to pour into the Review and Herald, the Adventist clearing house for information. Pastor Isaac Sanborn wrote that for ten years he had tried many remedies for his inflammatory rheumatism. Then, in the spring of 1864 he gave up pork, and a few months later he adopted a two-meal-a-day program, without meat of any kind. He joyfully reported: “I enjoy as perfect health as probably can be enjoyed in this mortal state. I would not return to my old habits of eating for any consideration. . . . I thank God for the light He has given upon this subject.”41 M. E. Cornell recounted how his wife lay at the point of death with typhoid: “We knew that to take the drugs of physicians would be in this case certain death.” They applied hydrotherapy treatments, giving “nature a chance to throw off the disease.” In a short while, as they united in prayer, Mrs. Cornell was out of danger.42
Ellen White was forthright about the changes that had come to her as she applied the counsel she passed on to others, counsel that “came directly across my own ideas.” In her “Health” article, one year after the vision, she wrote: “Since the Lord presented before me, in June, 1863, the subject of meat-eating in relation to health, I have left the use of meat. For a while it was rather difficult to bring my appetite to bread, for which, formerly, I have had but little relish. But by persevering, I have been able to do this. I have lived for nearly one year without meat. For about six months most of the bread upon our table has been unleavened cakes, made of unbolted wheat meal and water, and a very little salt. We use fruits and vegetables liberally. I have lived for eight months upon two meals a day.”43
Ingredients of the Otsego Health Vision
What was so electrifying, so sweeping, so full of promise in the Otsego health vision?44 The core principles were:
· Those who do not control their appetite in eating are guilty of intemperance.
· Swine’s flesh is not to be eaten under any circumstance.
· Tobacco in any form is a slow poison.
· Strict cleanliness of the body and home premises is important.
· Tea and coffee, similar to tobacco, are slow poisons.
· Rich cake, pies, and puddings are injurious.
· Eating between meals injures the stomach and digestive process.
· Adequate time must be allowed between meals, giving the stomach time to rest.
· If a third meal is taken, it should be light and several hours before bedtime.
· People used to meat, gravies, and pastries do not immediately relish a plain, wholesome diet.
· Gluttonous appetite contributes to indulgence of corrupt passions.
· Turning to a plain, nutritious diet may overcome the physical damage caused by a wrong diet.
· Reforms in eating will save expense and labor.
· Children eating flesh meat and spicy foods have strong tendencies toward sexual indulgences.
· Poisonous drugs used as medical prescriptions kill more people than all other causes of death combined.
· Pure water should be used freely in maintaining health and curing illnesses.
· Nature alone has curative powers.
· Common medicines, such as strychnine, opium, calomel, mercury, and quinine, are poisons.
· Parents transmit their weaknesses to their children; prenatal influences are enormous.
· Obeying the laws of health will prevent many illnesses.
· God is too often blamed for deaths caused by violation of nature’s laws.
· Light and pure air are required, especially in the sleeping quarters.
· Bathing, even a sponge bath, will be beneficial on rising in the morning.
· God will not work healing miracles for those who continually violate the laws of health.
· Many invalids have no physical cause for their illness; they have a diseased imagination.
· Cheerful, physical labor will help to create a healthy, cheerful disposition.
· Willpower has much to do with resisting disease and soothing nerves.
· Outdoor exercise is very important to health of mind and body.
· Overwork breaks down both mind and body; routine daily rest is necessary.
· Many die of disease caused wholly by eating flesh food.
· Caring for health is a spiritual matter, reflecting a person’s commitment to God.
· A healthy mind and body directly affects one’s morals and one’s ability to discern truth.
· All God’s promises are given on condition of obedience.
Adventist Lifestyle
These fundamental principles became the clear, sensible, practical outline of what has become known worldwide as the Seventh-day Adventist life style.45 Ellen White often amplified these core principles, probably most clearly in her 1905 volume, The Ministry of Healing. One of her graphic statements that has galvanized millions is: “Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power—these are the true remedies.”46
For Adventists living in 1864, these health principles were indeed electrifying. Adventists had read and heard some of these principles before but not within Ellen White’s spiritual context. Furthermore, Adventists now had a concise, coherent outline of health laws separated from the excesses and frivolities of others who were promoting lifestyle changes.
The Whites knew that Adventists would need all the help possible in educating themselves and others concerning the laws of life. James White used the church paper to draw attention to books and lecturers then available that would support his wife’s first article on “Health”: “Our people are generally waking up to the subject of health. . . . And they should have publications on the subject to meet their present wants, at prices within the reach of the poorest.”47
He was referring to books by Mann, Jackson, Trall, Coles, Lewis, Shew, Graham, Alcott, and others.48 For years these writers had been trying to get the attention of their world. Each of them emphasized certain aspects of healthful living that Ellen White recommended. But their books were often technical, voluminous, costly, and, at times, merely personal opinion floating in oceans of verbiage. And none of them had placed healthful living within the context of the Third Angel’s Message, preparing a people to meet the Lord.
So innovative James White moved ahead with his usual enthusiasm. He announced that since Adventists had an urgent need for health literature “to meet their present wants” and “at prices within the reach of the poorest,” six pamphlets were being prepared and would be published under the title, Health, or How to Live. Mrs. White would “furnish a liberal chapter in each number on health, happiness, and miseries of domestic life, and the bearing which these have upon the prospects of obtaining the life to come.”49 The six “chapters” unfolded the basic message of her earlier message, “Health.” In addition, in the second article Ellen White wrote specific counsel regarding the relationship between husbands and wives and the proper care of infants and young children. In article four she gave added counsel to those who cared for the sick.
New material on the subject of dress for women and children appeared in the fifth and sixth articles.50
Endnotes
1. Godfrey T. Anderson, long-time president of Loma Linda University, cited in Warren L. Johns, Richard H. Utt, editors, The Vision Bold (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1977), p. vii.
2.Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 49, 331.
3.“Since 1863, Seventh-day Adventists have promulgated a wholistic view of the human person. The view that the body, mind, and spirit are all integrated and interrelated constituent elements that together form a single being is the very cornerstone on which much of our work as a church has been built. Believing that these three are interdependent and constantly interacting, we have adopted a ‘systems’ approach in our anthropology: the whole person cannot be understood merely as the sum of separate, constituent parts. Each variable in the system is so enmeshed in its interaction with the other parts as to make the relationship the key to understanding each individual component. . . . From this vantage point, the spiritual enterprise addresses a sentient being with the capacity to monitor the universe and respond to it (both consciously and unconsciously) on the basis of information gleaned from physical, rational-emotive, and spiritual radar. Thus, each of these spheres provides the total person with methods of learning and wisdom distinctly its own, and may be the appropriate starting point for spiritual education or discernment, just as distortion or distress in any one of these spheres will serve to undermine the survival or well-being of the person.”—Ginger Hanks-Harwood, “Wholeness,” Charles W. Teel, Jr. ed., Remnant and Republic: Adventist Themes for Personal and Social Ethics (Loma Linda, Calif.: Center for Christian Bioethics, 1995), pp. 127, 128.
4.Testimonies, vol. 3, pp. 485, 486.
5.Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 346. “The moral powers are weakened, because men and women will not live in obedience to the laws of health and make this great subject a personal duty.”—Testimonies, vol. 3, p. 140.
6.See p. 111.
7.George W. Reid, A Sound of Trumpets (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1982), p. 21.
8.Horace Mann, “The Study of Physiology in the Schools,” Educational Annual Report for 1842, Annual Reports on Education, ed. Mary Tyler Mann, vol. 3, Life and Works of Horace Mann (Boston: Horace B. Fuller, 1868), p. 227, cited in Reid, A Sound of Trumpets, p. 25.
9.Reid, A Sound of Trumpets, pp. 25-28.
10. Ibid., pp. 29-31; D. E. Robinson, The Story of Our Health Message (Nashville, Tenn.: Southern Publishing Association, 1965), pp. 13-27.
11. Ronald L. Numbers, Prophetess of Health (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1976), p. 49.
12. Reid, A Sound of Trumpets, pp. 31-48.
13. Malcolm Bull and Keith Lockhart, Seeking a Sanctuary, p. 128.
14. Rennie B. Schoepflin, “Health and Health Care,” Land, World of E. G. White, pp. 143-158.
15. Jerome L. Clark, “The Crusade Against Alcohol,” Land, World of E. G. White, pp. 131-140; Stephen Nissenbaum, Sex, Diet, and Debility in Jacksonian America (Chicago: The Dorsey Press, 1980), pp. 69-85; Robinson, Our Health Message, pp. 38-42.
16. Nissenbaum, Sex. Diet, and Debility, pp. 39-52; Reid, A Sound of Trumpets, p. 85; Robinson, Our Health Message, pp. 42-47.
17. Reid, A Sound of Trumpets, pp. 42, 43.
18. Ibid., p. 37; Robinson, Our Health Message, pp. 47, 48.
19. Schoepflin, in Land, World of E. G. White, pp. 151-157.
20. Ibid., p. 155.
21. Ibid., pp. 146-148; Reid, A Sound of Trumpets, pp. 79-81; Robinson, Our Health Message, pp. 28-37. See also Ronald L. Numbers, Prophetess of Health, pp. 48-76.
22. Otis Nichols Letter, Apr. 20, 1846, cited in Bio., vol. 1, pp. 76, 77. Several instances of divine healing include Mrs. Penfield—Letter 1, 1848 in MR, vol. 5, pp. 248, 249; Frances Howland—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, p. 42; William Hyde—Ibid., p. 44; Clarissa Bonfoey—Letter 14, 1850 in MR, vol.7, pp. 352; vol. 8, pp. 221, 222; Lumen Masten—Review and Herald, Sept. 30, 1852. J. N. Loughborough reported on these experiences in 1909, noting that in the 1850s Adventists “had not the light on the treatment of disease by the use of nature’s remedies, but were requested to bring our sick ones to the Lord in prayer, following the rule in the fifth chapter of James. . . . This led some to conclude that every case thus presented to the Lord would be healed. For this conclusion we had not, however, had any such instruction from either Brother or Sister White.” When some were troubled after prayed-for people died, Loughborough pointed to Ellen White’s counsel in Testimonies, vol. 1, pp. 120, 121, where she made clear that every sincere prayer is answered in God’s wisdom. In some cases, death may be the most compassionate way for a prayer to be answered. See J. N. Loughborough, “Sketches From the Past—77,” Pacific Union Recorder, Sept. 16, 1909, p. 1.
23. Spiritual Gifts, vol. 2, p. 135 (1860). In The Ministry of Healing (1905), Ellen White wrote: “Those who seek healing by prayer should not neglect to make use of the remedial agencies within their reach. It is not a denial of faith to use such remedies as God has provided to alleviate pain and to aid nature in her work of restoration.”—Pages 231, 232.
24. Bio., vol. 1, p. 292. Some people are puzzled by a statement Ellen White made in a January 31, 1849 broadside (a one-sheet publication) that said: “If any among us are sick, let us not dishonor God by applying to earthly physicians, but apply to the God of Israel. If we follow His directions (James 5:14, 15), the sick will be healed.” This broadside was edited and reproduced in Experience and Views and again in Early Writings, pp. 56-58. This particular reference to physicians was one of the sentences deleted in later printings. Ellen White often edited her own material, sometimes several times, before publication and before reprints. Any wise author does the same for the sake of clearer communication and to avoid misunderstanding. As time passed for this material to be republished, Mrs. White could see how it could be misunderstood in view of her own practice of consulting physicians when it seemed appropriate. When we think of the limited medical knowledge of the mid-nineteenth century, we can understand well her agreement with Oliver Wendell Holmes’s assessment of contemporary medicine (see p. 279) when she wrote in the early 1860s: “I was shown that more deaths have been caused by drug-taking than from all other causes combined. If there was in the land one physician in the place of thousands, a vast amount of premature mortality would be prevented”—Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4, p. 133. But there was more behind that 1849 statement. Adventists in the late 1840s experienced many dramatic divine healings (see Life Sketches, pp. 121-124, and Bio., vol. 1, pp. 88, 89, 115, 158, 159, 232, 371), from illnesses that often defied medical knowledge at that time. They threw themselves on James 5:14, 15 and rejoiced with the promise fulfilled, over and over again. They saw too many of their contemporaries being bled, purged, and drugged to an early death. In later writings, Mrs. White made very plain the proper balance between faith and working with God in employing the best of medical knowledge.
25. Joseph Bates, The Autobiography of Elder Joseph Bates (Battle Creek, Mich.: Steam Press of the Seventh-Adventist Publishing Association, 1868), pp. 168, 234.
26. The Health Reformer, July 1871.
27. “Regarding the minor points of [dietary] reform, he [Bates] exerted a silent influence, but did not urge his practices upon others. Sometimes his friends would ask him why he did not partake of flesh meat, or grease, or highly spiced foods; and he would quietly reply, ‘I have eaten my share of them.’ He did not make prominent in public or in private his views of proper diet unless asked about them.”—Robinson, Our Health Message, p. 59.
28. Review and Herald, Nov. 8, 1870.
29. Bio., vol. 1, p. 224. Tobacco was tolerated for some time among Sabbath-keeping Adventists. The church paper published various articles with both scientific and scriptural arguments against tobacco in the 1850s. The first disfellowshipping of tobacco users occurred in Morristown, Vermont, in 1855.—Robinson, Our Health Message, pp. 66-70.
30. James White wrote in 1857: “In those days [referring to the late 1840s and early 1850s] there were trials, and these trials generally arose in consequence of a disposition to draw off from the great truths connected with the Third Message, to points of no vital importance. It has been impossible to make some see that present truth is present truth, and not future truth, and that the Word as a lamp shines brightly where we stand, and not so plainly on the path in the distance.”—Review and Herald, Dec. 31, 1857.
31. Present Truth, Nov. 1850.
32. Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, pp. 206, 207. See p. 34.
33. Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4, pp. 124, 146.
34. Manuscript 3, 1854, cited in Selected Messages, book. 3, p. 274. Careful examination of Ellen White’s writings indicates that by “grease” she meant animal fat, such as lard and suet, very common cooking ingredients in her day. “Coarse” was a word that could have at least two meanings, such as “coarse” in a healthy sense (unrefined bread) and “coarse” in an unfavorable sense (certain vegetables not properly cooked).— Education, p. 204.
35. Background for this important vision may be found in Bio., vol. 2, pp. 16-22; Robinson, Our Health Message, pp. 75-85. It was actually Friday evening, June 5. Since the Sabbath had already started, Ellen White refers to the date as June 6.
36. Review and Herald, Nov. 8, 1870; also cited in Counsels on Diet and Foods, pp. 495, 496.
37. Manuscript 149, undated, cited in Robinson, Our Health Message, p. 81.
38. Robinson, Our Health Message, p. 83.
39. General Conference Daily Bulletin, March 8, 1897, p. 309; cited in Robinson, Our Health Message, pp. 83, 84.
40. Ibid., p. 84.
41. Review and Herald, April 11, 1865.
42. Robinson, Our Health Message, p. 96.
43. Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4, p. 153, cited in Robinson, Our Health Message, p. 94. For a continuing record of Ellen White’s experience with health reform principles, plus her principles of common sense, see Testimonies, vol. 2, pp. 362-390. For a discussion of her dietary record and personal growth, see p. 311.
44. Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4, pp. 120-151. See Counsels on Diet and Foods, pp. 481-494.
45. Time, Oct. 28, 1966, referred to the astounding health and mortality statistical differences between California Adventist men and the general population as “The Adventist Advantage.”
46. The Ministry of Healing, p. 127. See also Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 443.
47. Review and Herald, Dec. 13, 1864.
48. Horace Mann “Report for 1842,” Life and Works of Horace Mann (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1891); James C. Jackson, American Womanhood: Its Peculiarities and Necessities (Dansville, N.Y.: Austin, Jackson & Co., Publishers); Russell T. Trall, Drug Medicines; their Nature, Consequences, and Modus Operandi; with an Exposition of the False Doctrines on which their Employment is Predicated (New York: Davies & Kent, 1862); Larkin B. Coles, Philosophy of Health: Natural Principles of Health and Cure (Boston, Ticknor and Fields, 1855); Larkin B. Coles, The Beauties and Deformities of Tobacco-Using (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1855); Dio Lewis, Weak Lungs and How to Make Them Strong (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1863); Joel Shew, Tobacco: Its History, Nature, and Effects on the Body and Mind (New York: Fowler and Wells, 1850); Joel Shew, The Hydropathic Family Physician; a Ready Prescriber and Hygienic Advisor with Reference to the Nature, Causes, Prevention, and Treatment of Disease, Accidents, and Casualties of Every Kind (New York: Fowlers & Wells, 1854); Mrs. M. L. Shew, Water-Cure for Ladies: a Popular Work on the Health, Diet, and Regimen for Females and Children, and the Prevention and Cure of Diseases; With a Full Account of the Processes of Water-Cure; Illustrated With Various Cases (New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1844); Sylvester Graham, Lectures on the Science of Human Life—People’s Edition (London: Horsell, Aldine, Chambers, 1849); Sylvester Graham, A Lecture to Young Men on Chastity (Boston: Charles H. Pierce, 1848); William A. Alcott, The Physiology of Marriage (Boston: Dinsmoor and Co., 1866); William A. Alcott, Forty Years in the Wilderness of Pill and Powders (Boston: John P. Jewett and Co., 1859); William A. Alcott, The Library of Health, and Teacher on the Human Constitution (Boston: George W. Light, 1837).
49. These “chapters” have been republished in Selected Messages, book 2, pp. 410-479. In this material Ellen White utilized some information from contemporary writers that she could endorse.
50. When discussing Ellen White’s admonitions on dress today, knowledge of dress customs in the 1860s and her common-sense principles need to be seen in perspective. One of her basic principles appeared in the sixth article: “Christians should not take pains to make themselves gazing-stocks by dressing differently from the world. But if, in accordance with their faith and duty in respect to their dressing modestly and healthfully, they find themselves out of fashion, they should not change their dress in order to be like the world.”—Selected Messages, book 2, pp. 476. See also Selected Messages book 3, pp. 241-255.
Study Questions
1. In what integrating way did the Great Controversy Theme contribute to Ellen White’s health message?
2. How did the Whites maintain common sense in their practice of healing themselves and others, when ill?
3. How did the Adventist Church arrive at a position against the eating of swine?
4. What was the essential contribution of the Otsego health vision of 1863 that transcended any particular aspect of the health reform message?
5. What was the significance of including the writings of well-known health reformers in the Seventh-day Adventist magazine, The Health Reformer?
6. Review some of the elements of conventional medicine in the nineteenth century.
7. Why were dramatic healings apparently more prevalent among Adventists in the middle nineteenth century than now?
8. Explain Ellen White’s rebuke to Stephen Haskell in 1858 regarding swine’s flesh and her later condemnation of the practice. What principle can explain each event?
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