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Fundamentals of Christian Education
The time spent in physical exercise is not lost. The student who is
continually poring over his books, while he takes but little exercise in
the open air, does himself an injury. A proportionate exercise of all the
organs and faculties of the body is essential to the best work of each.
When the brain is constantly taxed while the other organs of the living
machinery are inactive, there is a loss of strength, physical and mental.
The physical system is robbed of its healthful tone, the mind loses its
freshness and vigor, and a morbid excitability is the result.
The greatest benefit is not gained from exercise that is taken as
play or exercise merely. There is some benefit derived from being in
the fresh air, and also from the exercise of the muscles; but let the
same amount of energy be given to the performance of helpful duties,
and the benefit will be greater, and a feeling of satisfaction will be
realized; for such exercise carries with it the sense of helpfulness and
the approval of conscience for duty well done.
In the children and youth an ambition should be awakened to take
their exercise in doing something that will be beneficial to themselves
and helpful to others. The exercise that develops mind and character,
that teaches the hands to be useful, and trains the young to bear their
share of life’s burdens, is that which gives physical strength, and
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quickens every faculty. And there is a reward in virtuous industry, in
the cultivation of the habit of living to do good.
The children of the wealthy should not be deprived of the great
blessing of having something to do to increase the strength of brain
and muscle. Work is not a curse, but a blessing. God gave sinless
Adam and Eve a beautiful garden to tend. This was pleasant work,
and none but pleasant work would have entered our world, had not the
first pair transgressed God’s commandments. Delicate idleness and
selfish gratification make invalids; they can make the life empty and
barren in every way. God has not given human beings reason, and
crowned their lives with His goodness, that they may be cursed with
the sure results of idleness. The wealthy are not to be deprived of the
privilege and blessing of a place among the world’s workers. They
should realize that they are responsible for the use they make of their
intrusted possessions; that their strength, their time, and their money,
are to be used wisely, and not for selfish purposes.
The Christian religion is practical. It does not incapacitate one
for the faithful discharge of any of life’s essential duties. When the