Responsible Calling
341
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? ...
Of all men in the world, the physician and the minister should
have strictly temperate habits. The welfare of society demands total
abstinence of them, for their influence is constantly telling for or
against moral reform and the improvement of society. It is willful sin
in them to be ignorant of the laws of health or indifferent to them, for
they are looked up to as wise above other men. This is especially true
of the physician, who is entrusted with human life. He is expected to
indulge in no habit that will weaken the life forces....
The question is not, What is the world doing? but, What are
professional men doing in regard to the widespread and prevailing
curse of tobacco using? Will men to whom God has given intelligence,
and who are in positions of sacred trust, be true to follow intelligent
reason? Will these responsible men, having under their care persons
whom their influence will lead in a right or a wrong direction, be
pattern men? Will they, by precept and example, teach obedience to
the laws which govern the physical system? If they do not put to a
[323]
practical use the knowledge they have of the laws that govern their
own being, if they prefer present gratification to soundness of mind
and body, they are not fit to be entrusted with the lives of others. They
are in duty bound to stand in the dignity of their God-given manhood,
free from the bondage of any appetite or passion.
The man who chews and smokes is doing injury, not only to him-
self, but to all who come within the sphere of his influence. If a
physician must be called, the tobacco devotee should be passed by.
He will not be a safe counselor. If the disease has its origin in the use
of tobacco, he will be tempted to prevaricate and assign some other
than the true cause, for how can he condemn himself in his own daily
practice?
There are many ways of practicing the healing art, but there is
only one way that Heaven approves. God’s remedies are the simple
agencies of nature, that will not tax or debilitate the system through
their powerful properties. Pure air and water, cleanliness, a proper
diet, purity of life, and a firm trust in God, are remedies for the want
of which thousands are dying, yet these remedies are going out of date
because their skillful use requires work that the people do not appre-