426
Selected Messages Book 2
Mothers sometimes permit their daughters to take care of the sick
in illy ventilated rooms, and, as a result, have had to nurse them
through a period of sickness. And because of the mother’s anxiety and
care for her child, she has been made sick, and frequently one or both
have died, or been left with broken constitutions, or made suffering
invalids for life. There is a lamentable catalogue of evils which have
their origin in the sick room, from which the pure air of heaven is
excluded. All who breathe this poisonous atmosphere violate the laws
of their being, and must suffer the penalty.
The sick, as a general thing, are taxed with too many visitors and
callers, who chat with them, and weary them by introducing different
topics of conversation, when they need quiet, and undisturbed rest.
Many have made themselves sick by overtaxing their strength. Their
exhausted energies compel them to cease labor, and they are brought
to a bed of suffering. Rest, freedom from care, light, pure air, pure
water, and spare diet, are all that they need to make them well. It
is mistaken kindness that leads so many, out of courtesy, to visit the
sick. Often have they spent a sleepless, suffering night, after receiving
visitors. They have been more or less excited, and the reaction has
been too great for their already debilitated energies, and, as the result
of these fashionable calls, they have been brought into very dangerous
conditions, and lives have been sacrificed for the want of thoughtful
prudence.
It is sometimes gratifying to the sick to be visited, and to know
that friends have not forgotten them in their affliction. But, although
these visits may have been gratifying, in very many instances these
fashionable calls have turned the scale when the invalid was recovering,
and the balance has borne down to death. Those who cannot make
themselves useful should be cautious in regard to visiting the sick. If
[459]
they can do no good, they may do harm. But the sick should not be
neglected. They should have the best of care, and the sympathy of
friends and relatives.
Much harm has resulted to the sick from the universal custom of
having watchers, nights. In critical cases this may be necessary; but
it is often the case that more harm is done the sick by this practice
than good. It has been the custom to shut out the air from the sick
room. The atmosphere of such rooms, to say the least, is very impure,
which greatly aggravates the condition of the sick. In addition to this,