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Section 12—The Prevention of Disease and Its Cure by Rational Methods
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Life Only in Christ
The fruit of the tree of life in the Garden of Eden possessed
supernatural virtue. To eat of it was to live forever. Its fruit was
the antidote of death. Its leaves were for the sustaining of life and
immortality. But through man’s disobedience death entered the
world. Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the
fruit of which he had been forbidden to touch. This was his test. He
failed, and his transgression opened the floodgates of woe upon our
world.
The tree of life was a type of the one great Source of immortality.
Of Christ it is written, “In Him was life; and the life was the light
of men.” He is the fountain of life. Obedience to Him is the life-
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giving, vivifying power that gladdens the soul. Through sin man shut
himself off from access to the tree of life. Now, life and immortality
are brought to light through Jesus Christ....
Benefits of Open-Air Exercise
Why deprive the patients of the health-restoring blessing to be
found in out-of-door life? I have been instructed that as the sick
are encouraged to leave their rooms and spend time in the open air,
tending the flowers, or doing some other light, pleasant work, their
minds will be called from self to something more health-giving.
Open-air exercise should be prescribed as a beneficial, life-giving
necessity. The longer patients can be kept out of doors, the less care
they will require.
The more cheerful their surroundings, the more hopeful they will
be. Surround them with the beautiful things of nature, place them
where they can see the flowers growing and hear the birds singing,
and their hearts will break into a song in harmony with the song of
the birds. Shut them in rooms, and, be those rooms ever so elegantly
furnished, they will grow fretful and gloomy. Give them the blessing
of outdoor life; for thus their souls will be uplifted, unconsciously,
and, in a large sense, consciously. Relief will come to body and
mind....