Chapter 50—Responsibilities of the Physician
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Professional
men, whatever their calling, need divine wisdom. But the physician is
in special need of this wisdom in dealing with all classes of minds and
diseases. He occupies a position even more responsible than that of
the minister of the gospel. He is called to be a colaborer with Christ,
and he needs stanch religious principles and a firm connection with
the God of wisdom. If he takes counsel of God he will have the Great
Healer to work with his efforts, and he will move with the greatest
caution lest by his mismanagement he injure one of God’s creatures.
He will be firm as a rock to principle, yet kind and courteous to all.
He will feel the responsibility of his position, and his practice will
show that he is actuated by pure, unselfish motives and a desire to
adorn the doctrine of Christ in all things. Such a physician will possess
a heaven-born dignity and will be a powerful agent for good in the
world. Although he may not be appreciated by those who have no
connection with God, yet he will be honored of heaven. In God’s sight
he will be more precious than gold, even the gold of Ophir.
The physician should be a strictly temperate man. The physical
ailments of humanity are numberless, and he has to deal with disease
[440]
in all its varied forms. He knows that much of the suffering he seeks
to relieve is the result of intemperance and other forms of selfish
indulgence. He is called to attend young men, and men in the prime of
life and in mature age, who have brought disease upon themselves by
the use of the narcotic tobacco. If he is an intelligent physician he will
be able to trace disease to its cause, but unless he is free from the use
of tobacco himself he will hesitate to put his finger upon the plague
spot and faithfully unfold to his patients the cause of their sickness.
He will fail to urge upon the young the necessity of overcoming the
habit before it becomes fixed. If he uses the weed himself, how can he
present to the inexperienced youth its injurious effects, not only upon
themselves, but upon those around them?
396