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Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students
desire—a good mental discipline. Unless the youth are versed in
the science of how to care for the body as well as for the mind, they
will not be successful students. Study is not the principal cause of
breakdown of the mental powers. The main cause is improper diet,
irregular meals, a lack of physical exercise, and careless inattention
in other respects to the laws of health. When we do all that we can to
preserve the health, then we can ask God in faith to bless our efforts.
Before students talk of their attainments in the so-called “higher
education,” let them learn to eat and drink to the glory of God and to
exercise brain, bone, and muscle in such a way as to fit them for the
highest service. A student may devote all his powers to acquiring
knowledge, but as he disobeys the laws that govern his being he
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will weaken his efficiency. By cherishing wrong habits, he loses
the power of self-appreciation, and he loses self-control. He cannot
reason correctly about matters that concern him most deeply, and
becomes reckless and irrational in his treatment of mind and body.
The obligation resting upon us to keep the body in health is an
individual responsibility. The Lord requires each one to work out
his salvation day by day. He bids us reason from cause to effect, to
remember that we are His property, and to unite with Him in keeping
the body pure and healthy, and the whole being sanctified to Him.
The youth should be taught that they are not at liberty to do as
they please with their lives. God will not hold guiltless those who
treat lightly His precious gifts. Men should realize that the greater
their endowment of strength, of talent, of means, or of opportunities,
the more heavily should the burden of God’s work rest upon them,
and the more they should do for Him. The youth who are trained
to believe that life is a sacred trust will hesitate to plunge into the
vortex of dissipation and crime that swallows up so many promising
young men of this age.
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The teacher whose physical powers are already enfeebled by
disease or overwork should pay especial attention to the laws of
health. He should take time for recreation. When a teacher sees that
his health is not sufficient to stand the pressure of heavy study, he
should heed the admonition of nature and lighten the load. He should