To a Young Minister and His Wife
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Brother and Sister A, were both in danger on this point. Overeating
prevents the free flow of thought and words, and that intensity of
feeling which is so necessary in order to impress the truth upon the
heart of the hearer. The indulgence of appetite beclouds and fetters the
mind, and blunts the holy emotions of the soul. The mental and moral
powers of some of our preachers are enfeebled by improper eating
and lack of physical exercise. Those who crave great quantities of
food should not indulge their appetite, but should practice self-denial
and retain the blessings of active muscles and unoppressed brains.
Overeating stupefies the entire being by diverting the energies from
the other organs to do the work of the stomach.
The failure of our ministers to exercise all the organs of the body
proportionately causes some organs to become worn, while others
are weak from inaction. If wear is left to come almost exclusively
upon one organ or set of muscles, the one most used must become
overwearied and greatly weakened. Each faculty of the mind, and each
muscle, has its distinctive office, and all are required to be equally
exercised in order to become properly developed and to retain healthful
vigor. Each organ has its work to do in the living organism. Every
wheel in the machinery must be a living, active, working wheel. All the
faculties have a bearing upon one another, and all need to be exercised
in order to be properly developed.
Brother and Sister A, neither of you enjoy physical, domestic labor.
Both of you need to cultivate a love for the practical duties of life.
This education is necessary for your health and will increase your
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usefulness. You think too much of what you eat. You should not touch
those things which will give a poor quality of blood; both of you have
scrofula.
Brother A, your love for reading and your dislike for physical
taxation, while talking and exercising your throat, make you liable to
disease of the throat and lungs. You should be guarded and should
not speak hurriedly, rattling off what you have to say as though you
had a lesson to repeat. You should not let the labor come upon the
upper portion of the vocal organs, for this will constantly wear and
irritate them, and will lay the foundation for disease. The action should
come upon the abdominal muscles. The lungs and throat should be the
channel, but should not do all the work.