Chapter 39—Harmonious Action of the Whole
Personality Necessary
A Mysterious Interrelationship—Between the mind and the
body there is a mysterious and wonderful relation. They react upon
each other. To keep the body in a healthy condition to develop its
strength, that every part of the living machinery may act harmoniously,
should be the first study of our life. To neglect the body is to neglect
the mind. It cannot be to the glory of God for His children to have
sickly bodies or dwarfed minds.—
Testimonies for the Church 3:485,
486
(1875).
Harmony Depends Upon Conformity to Fixed Laws—The har-
mony of creation depends upon the perfect conformity of all beings,
of everything, animate and inanimate, to the law of the Creator. God
has ordained laws for the government, not only of living beings, but
of all the operations of nature. Everything is under fixed laws, which
cannot be disregarded. But while everything in nature is governed by
natural laws, man alone, of all that inhabits the earth, is amenable to
moral law.—
Patriarchs and Prophets, 52
(1890).
A Harp of a Thousand Strings—It is not only the privilege but
the sacred duty of all to understand the laws God has established in
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their beings.... And as they more fully understand the human body,
... they will seek to bring their bodies into subjection to the noble
powers of the mind. The body will be regarded by them as a wonderful
structure, formed by the Infinite Designer, and given in their charge
to keep this harp of a thousand strings in harmonious action.—
The
Health Reformer, September, 1871
. (
My Life Today, 148
.)
All Part of a Perfect Whole—We are all represented as being
members of the body, united in Christ. In this body there are various
members, and one member cannot perform exactly the same office
as another.... Yet all these organs are necessary to the perfect whole
and work in beautiful harmony with one another. The hands have
their office, and the feet theirs. One is not to say to the other, “You
are inferior to me”; the hands are not to say to the feet, “We have
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