Health and Efficiency
[
Testimonies for the Church 4:264-270
(1876).]
It is necessary, in order to pursue this great and arduous work, that
the ministers of Christ should possess physical health. To attain this
end they must become regular in their habits and adopt a healthful
system of living. Many are continually complaining and suffering
from various indispositions. This is almost always because they do not
labor wisely nor observe the laws of health. They frequently remain
too much indoors, occupying heated rooms filled with impure air. Here
they apply themselves closely to study or writing, taking little physical
exercise and having little change of employment. As a consequence,
the blood becomes sluggish, and the powers of the mind are enfeebled.
The whole system needs the invigorating influence of exercise in
the open air. A few hours of manual labor each day would tend to
renew the bodily vigor and rest and relax the mind. In this way the
general health would be promoted and a greater amount of pastoral
labor could be performed. The incessant reading and writing of many
ministers unfit them for pastoral work. They consume valuable time
in abstract study, which should be expended in helping the needy at
the right moment....
Our ministers who have reached the age of forty or fifty years
should not feel that their labor is less efficient than formerly. Men of
years and experience are just the ones to put forth strong and well-
directed efforts. They are especially needed at this time; the churches
cannot afford to part with them. Such ones should not talk of physical
and mental feebleness, nor feel that their day of usefulness is over.
[194]
Many of them have suffered from severe mental taxation, unre-
lieved by physical exercise. The result is a deterioration of their powers
and a tendency to shirk responsibility. What they need is more active
labor. This is not alone confined to those whose heads are white with
the frost of time, but men young in years have fallen into the same
state and have become mentally feeble. They have a list of set dis-
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