Centering Too Much in Battle Creek
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comes in contact. God has made His people the depositaries of sacred
truth. Talents have been committed to them for wise improvement, for
God designs that by constant use their talents shall be multiplied.
The Danger from Enlargement
My brethren, the enlarging of your facilities, the increasing of
your numbers, is not after the order of the Lord. Large buildings call
for large patronage, and large patronage calls for men of education
and talent, and for men of deep religious experience, to conduct the
institution in the ways of God; and to manage it with tact and skill
demands that there shall be a general increase in spiritual experience,
that the fear of God shall circulate through the sanitarium in order that
popular patronage shall not mold and fashion it, and thus cause it to
cease to be that which God designed it to be—a refuge for the poor
and lowly. Those who are steadfast to the truth should not be set aside
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in favor of worldlings. Prices should not be set so high to meet current
expenses that the poor will, to a large extent, be excluded from the
benefits of the sanitarium.
With the present talent and facilities, it is impossible for the physi-
cian in chief to do all that is essential to be done in the various branches
and departments, much as he may desire to do this. It is not possible
for him to give personal supervision to all parts of the work.
This matter has been opened up before me again and again. While
there is continual growth in the institution, while the buildings are en-
larging and the responsibilities increasing, there is not a corresponding
growth in the talent and capability necessary for the management of
so large an enterprise. Will our physician in chief and the members of
the board consider this? My brother, you are not immortal. I thank the
Lord that you are as wise concerning your health as you are. But you
cannot always do as you are now doing. Your health may fail. Your
life is uncertain, and it has been set before me that there ought to be
three times as large a working force in the sanitarium as there is. Even
then the workers would all have an abundance to do if they did their
work well.