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Testimonies for the Church Volume 2
settlement of accounts you will not be ashamed to meet the record
made by the recording angel.
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But what about an impoverished diet? I have spoken of the
importance of the quantity and quality of food being in strict accor-
dance with the laws of health. But we would not recommend an
impoverished diet. I have been shown that many take a wrong view
of the health reform and adopt too poor a diet. They subsist upon a
cheap, poor quality of food, prepared without care or reference to
the nourishment of the system. It is important that the food should
be prepared with care, that the appetite, when not perverted, can
relish it. Because we from principle discard the use of meat, butter,
mince pies, spices, lard, and that which irritates the stomach and
destroys health, the idea should never be given that it is of but little
consequence what we eat.
There are some who go to extremes. They must eat just such an
amount and just such a quality, and confine themselves to two or
three things. They allow only a few things to be placed before them
or their families to eat. In eating a small amount of food, and that
not of the best quality, they do not take into the stomach that which
will suitably nourish the system. Poor food cannot be converted
into good blood. An impoverished diet will impoverish the blood.
I will mention the case of Sister A. That case was presented to
me to show an extreme. Two classes were presented before me:
First, those who were not living up to the light which God had given
them. They started in the reform because somebody else did. They
did not understand the system for themselves. There are many of
you who profess the truth, who have received it because somebody
else did, and for your life you could not give the reason. This is
why you are as weak as water. Instead of weighing your motives in
the light of eternity, instead of having a practical knowledge of the
principles underlying all your actions, instead of having dug down
to the bottom and built upon a right foundation for yourself, you
are walking in the sparks kindled by somebody else. And you will
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fail in this, as you have failed in the health reform. Now, if you had
moved from principle you would not have done this.
Some cannot be impressed with the necessity of eating and drink-
ing to the glory of God. The indulgence of appetite affects them
in all the relations of life. It is seen in their family, in their church,