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Health and Efficiency
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our schools are not to be served with flesh foods or with preparations
of food that are known to be unwholesome. Nothing that will serve
to encourage a desire for stimulants should be placed on the table. I
appeal to all to refuse to eat those things that will injure the health.
Thus they can serve the Lord by sacrifice.
Those who obey the laws of health will give time and thought
to the needs of the body and to the laws of digestion. And they will
be rewarded by clearness of thought and strength of mind. On the
other hand, it is possible for one to spoil his Christian experience
by abuse of the stomach. Those things that derange the digestion
have a benumbing influence on the finer feelings of the heart. That
which darkens the skin and makes it dingy also clouds the spirits and
destroys cheerfulness and peace of mind. Every habit that injures
the health reacts upon the mind. That time is well spent which is
directed to the establishment and preservation of sound physical and
mental health. Firm, quiet nerves and a healthy circulation help
men to follow right principles and to listen to the promptings of
conscience.
Ventilation and Sanitation
Special attention should be paid to ventilation and sanitation.
The teacher should put into practical use in the schoolroom the
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knowledge of the principles of physiology and hygiene. He may
thus guard his pupils from many dangers to which they would be
exposed through ignorance or neglect of sanitary laws. Many lives
have been sacrificed because teachers have not given attention to
these things.
Sudden changes of temperature should be avoided. Care should
be taken to see that the students do not become chilled by sitting
in drafts. It is not safe for the teacher to regulate the heat of the
schoolroom by his own feelings. His own good, as well as that of
the students, demands that a uniform temperature be maintained.
The Reward of Obedience
The brain is the citadel of the being. Wrong physical habits
affect the brain and prevent the attainment of that which the students