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Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene
The angels are workers; they are ministers of God to the children
of men. Those slothful servants who look forward to a heaven of
inaction, have false ideas of what constitutes heaven. The Creator has
prepared no place for the gratification of sinful indolence. Heaven
is a place of interested activity; yet to the weary and heavy laden, to
those who have fought the good fight of faith, it will be a glorious
rest; for the youth and vigor of immortality will be theirs, and against
sin and Satan they will no longer have to contend. To these energetic
workers a state of eternal indolence would be irksome. It would be no
heaven to them. The path of toil appointed to the Christian on earth
may be hard and wearisome, but it is honored by the footprints of the
Redeemer, and he is safe who follows in that sacred way.
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The idea that those who have overtaxed their mental and physical
powers, or who have broken down in body or mind, must suspend
activity in order to regain health, is a great error. In a few cases, entire
rest for a time may be necessary; but such instances are rare. In most
cases the change would be too great to be beneficial.
Those who have broken down by intense mental labor, should have
rest from wearing thought; yet to teach them that it is wrong, or even
dangerous, for them to exercise their mental powers at all, leads them
to view their condition as worse than it really is. They are nervous,
and finally become a burden to themselves, as well as to those who
care for them. In this state of mind, their recovery is doubtful indeed.
Those who have overtaxed their physical powers should not be
advised to forego labor entirely. To shut them away from all exercise
would in many cases prevent their restoration to health. The will goes
with the labor of the hands; and when the will-power is dormant, the
imagination becomes abnormal, so that it is impossible for the sufferer
to resist disease. Inactivity is the greatest curse that could come upon
one in such a condition.
Nature’s fine and wonderful mechanism needs to be constantly
exercised in order to be in a condition to accomplish the object for
which it was designed. The do-nothing system is a dangerous one
in any case. Physical exercise in the direction of useful labor has a
happy influence upon the mind, strengthens the muscles, improves
the circulation, and gives the invalid the satisfaction of knowing how
much he can endure, and that he is not wholly useless in this busy
world; whereas, if this is restricted, his attention is turned to himself,