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Section 11—The Sanitarium Family
239
the narrow path of holiness that leads heavenward.... There are grave
mistakes made in dealing with unbalanced, diseased minds. They
are sick. They need a physician, not to cut them off as a diseased
limb, but to heal them. Jesus’ course of management is given in
the parable of the lost sheep. Should Jesus deal with us as we deal
with one another, not one of us would be saved. Oh, how many will
be lost because the words that should have been spoken in tender
forbearance were left unsaid!—
Letter 20, 1892
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The Dull Student
Students who at first may seem to be dull and slow, may in the
end make greater progress than those who are naturally quicker.
If they are thorough and systematic in their work, they will gain
much that others will fail to gain. Those who form habits of patient,
persevering industry will accomplish more than those of quick, vi-
vacious, brilliant minds, who, though grasping a point quickly, lose
it just as readily. The patient ones, though slower to learn, will stand
ahead of those who learn so quickly that they do not need to study.—
Manuscript 115, 1903.
Attitude of the Instructor
While the students must be ready to begin with lesser responsi-
bilities and give evidence that they can be trusted, he [the instructor]
should feel for them the tenderest affection. He should not become
discouraged at their ignorance, but should give them credit for all
the good qualities he sees in them. In educating himself in this di-
rection, he is obtaining a valuable experience—an experience which
he needs in order to be a practical Christian.
If the students make mistakes, let him not think them unworthy
to be placed on trial again, as though they had committed sins that
cannot be forgiven. He should kindly point out their errors, and they,
in turn, should be grateful for a friend so faithful as to tell them their
faults and how to correct them. To cast off the erring, or to treat
them coldly, would not be doing as Christ has done for him. We are
all fallible, and need the pity and consideration and forgiveness of
one another. He cannot find perfection anywhere, and should not