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In Contact With Nature
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sweet sense of restfulness and refreshing comes over them as they
listen to the murmuring of the breezes. The drooping spirits revive.
The waning strength is recruited. Unconsciously the mind becomes
peaceful, the fevered pulse more calm and regular. As the sick grow
stronger, they will venture to take a few steps to gather some of the
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colorful flowers, precious messengers of God’s love to His afflicted
family here below.
Plans should be made to keep patients out of doors. For those
who are able to work, let some pleasant, easy employment be pro-
vided. Show them how agreeable and helpful this outdoor work
is. Encourage them to breathe the fresh air. Teach them to breathe
deeply and to exercise the abdominal muscles in breathing and
speaking. This is an education that will be invaluable to them.
Exercise in the open air should be prescribed as a life-giving
necessity. And for such exercise there is nothing better than the
cultivation of the soil. Let patients have flower beds to care for
or work to do in the orchard or vegetable garden. As they are
encouraged to leave their rooms and spend time in the open air,
cultivating flowers or doing some other light, pleasant work, their
attention will be diverted from themselves and their sufferings.
The more that patients can be kept out of doors, the less care
they will require. The more cheerful their surroundings, the more
hopeful they will be. Shut up in the house, be it ever-so-elegantly
furnished, they will grow fretful and gloomy. Surround them with
the beautiful things of nature. Place them where they can see flowers
growing and the birds singing, and their hearts will break into song
in harmony with the songs of the birds. Relief will come to body and
mind. The intellect will be awakened, the imagination quickened,
and the mind prepared to appreciate the beauty of God’s Word.
Direct Minds to God
In nature something may always be found to divert the atten-
tion of the sick from themselves and direct their thoughts to God.
Surrounded by His wonderful works, their minds are uplifted from
the things that are seen to the things that are unseen. The beauty of
nature leads them to think of the heavenly home, where there will