The Entering Wedge
[PICTURE]
The Entering Wedge 1
Copyright, 1946 by
V.T. Houteff
All Rights Reserved
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The
reader will well appreciate the fact that the importance of this
health-bringing agent is in some respects similar to that of the gospel,
because no home, be it Christian. Jewish, or heathen, can afford to be without
a copy of it. And the gospel's first concern being one's health, this
heaven-sent agent is, therefore, the "entering wedge" for Bible and
colporteur work, and it will, if rightly used, not only open doors and hearts
to the gospel of all time, but also to Its "meat in due season"
(Matt. 24:45), the message of the hour, "the everlasting gospel." Rev.
14:6. Hence, those wishing to engage in such a worthy cause, can more
successfully labor with this appealing, friend-making, heart-changing, and
body-building forerunner.
And,
moreover, that it be comprehensible to all classes of society, it is written in
language which all can readily comprehend. And finally, to give it the
usefulness of a pocket-companion, so that one can conveniently refer to it at
all times -- at home and away from home -- only the most practical and
essential health hints are given, the things which one needs to refer to daily,
along with a few sample recipes.
The
enlightenment herein contained is highly essential in maintaining good health,
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because the world is now living a life that is
contrary to its well-being. Consequently, unless one is equipped to proceed
wisely through life's long journey, he can, of course, with certainty expect to
break down somewhere in life's race track, and consequently not reach his goal.
The
greater proportion of people realize that they are now living in a new,
unnatural, and upset world, but unless they reform and line up their habits of
life with the world that used to be, they too, will gravitate deeper into the
ocean of disease and misery, and thus into an untimely and, perhaps, hopeless
grave.
In a
natural world books on this subject would not be so essential to one's daily
regimen, but in a world like the one we are now living in, the necessity for such
a book as this becomes as serious as if death and misery were about to conquer
the last of us. That the world today is in just such a predicament is evident
from the fact that it is now increasingly sick and dying from all manner of
diseases, and unless there is something done quickly to save it, it will
forever pass into oblivion.
Such
a health-wasting and degenerating condition as the one which now prevails
throughout so-called civilized lands, is doubtless due to the fact that
heretofore all of us health reformers have been teaching only the theoretical
side of right living. But now the long-looked-for, the practical, health
companion (the only kind that can
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help anybody correct his erroneous habits, that
can enlighten his path, and rescue him from the current of destruction), having
finally come, we as Christian workers for the good of others, are hastening to
reach all with it. Yes, all, because anyone can have it without money. "Ho,"
now Inspiration invites, "every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters,
and he that hath no money come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price." Isa. 55: 1.
If it
were to be sold on a strictly commercial basis, the price of this health
service would be we perceive, as inestimable as is the worth of one's health
and happiness. Hence, the publishers, operating a strictly gospel press, have
made it possible for the distributors to send this health booklet free of
charge to all who care to have it.
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THE CAUSES OF DISEASES ............................................................................................ 9
What Should Everyone Know............................................................................................ 10
Summarizing the Causes of All Diseases ............................................................................ 12
LESSONS FROM THE MODERN MACHINE ............................................................... 13
LESSONS FROM NATURE ............................................................................................ 15
A TIME FOR FOOD RATHER THAN FOR
DRUGS ...................................................... 20
A TIME FOR DRUGS RATHER THAN FOR
FOOD ...................................................... 21
WHAT SHOULD A FLESH EATER KNOW? ................................................................. 22
WHAT SHOULD A VEGETARIAN KNOW? ................................................................. 27
Group 1 -- 80% of the Diet .............................................................................................. 29
Group 2 -- 20% of the Diet .............................................................................................. 30
Group 3 -- Seasoning for All Foods .................................................................................. 30
THE SUMMER AND THE WINTER DIET....................................................................... 30
FOOD COMBINATIONS ................................................................................................ 33
RAW FOOD...................................................................................................................... 36
USING COMMON SENSE.............................................................................................. 36
THE ENLIGHTENED,
PROGRESSIVE WAY OF LIFE..................................................................................... 37
OVEREATING.................................................................................................................. 39
EATING BETWEEN MEALS ........................................................................................... 41
RIGHT HABITS, HYGIENE
AND EXERCISE BRING GOOD HEALTH................................................................... 44
PLEASANT SURROUNDINGS ....................................................................................... 46
THE CITY LIFE ................................................................................................................ 47
WORK AND REST, YEAR ROUND ............................................................................... 48
THE USE OF PURGATIVES............................................................................................. 50
THE WATER IN EDEN..................................................................................................... 51
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SLEEP?..................................................................... 52
WHAT SHOULD A CHRISTIAN KNOW? ..................................................................... 55
FAITH ESSENTIAL TO GOOD HEALTH ....................................................................... 58
THE LABORATORY TEST
AND THE DIETITIAN'S OPINION............................................................................... 59
The Function Of Food ..................................................................................................... 60
The Calories .................................................................................................................... 61
The Minerals ................................................................................................................... 62
Oxygen and Its Function .................................................................................................. 64
Carbohydrates ................................................................................................................. 65
Fats ................................................................................................................................. 65
Proteins............................................................................................................................ 66
Vitamins .......................................................................................................................... 66
Acid and Alkaline Foods ................................................................................................. 72
BETTER LINE UP WITH
ALL THE LAWS OF GOD ............................................................................................ 75
FOOD AND COOKERY ................................................................................................. 76
Special Don't and Do's .................................................................................................... 80
NO NEED OF STAYING
HUNGRY AND HELPLESS........................................................................................... 83
RECIPES............................................................................................................................ 87
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"Wherefore
do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which
satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and
let your soul delight itself In fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto Me
hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with
you, even the sure mercies of David." Isa. 55:2, 3.
To
appreciate the importance of this Divine counsel one must first fully realize
that in the beginning God created man in His own image male and female created
He them. Yes, in God's own image were they both to live forever as He Himself
lives, never to experience pain or death.
To
eat understandingly, "that which is good," and to keep well, however,
is to eat only that which the Creator sanctified for man's use. "Behold,"
He instructed, "I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon
the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree
yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Gen. 1:29.
Although
given an immense variety of foodstuffs -- every herb and every tree bearing
seed -- the sinless, holy pair, being tempted, and being inexperienced, reached
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for the only forbidden fruit in all God's
creation, the fruit of the tree that was in the midst of the garden. Having
eaten of it, they became subject to that experience which was to exhibit to
them and to their descendants the results of both good and evil -- joy and
sadness, health and disease, redemption and damnation, -- all these were
henceforth to he the lot of humanity. Consequently, while going through these
experiences, death passed upon all men and upon all else that was subject to
Adam's rulership.
Thus,
as descendants of father Adam, we naturally came unto this world as first
degree sinners, subject to all the good as well as to all the evil that is in
it. And now if we choose to practice the good, we shall add no other sin, and
eventually our sinful nature will be changed and, guided by Divine Light, we
shall be brought to the Edenic sinless state. But if we continue to do
otherwise, then as a result we shall acquire additional curses, curses which
result from our own sinning. And if we never turn from pursuing such an evil
course, we shall suffer even the "second death." Rev. 20:14.
Now
the fact that early in the history of mankind, men were not subject to so much
sickness disease, and suffering as they are at the present time, and were
capable of living nearly a thousand years, proves that the nations of today
have not chosen
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the good, but rather the evil course -- the
course which leads to destruction of both body and soul. Thus adding sin to
sin, evil to evil, and pain to pain, they are running full speed to ruin in
this life, and, except they repent, to final destruction in the life to come;
to the second death, a death from which there is no resurrection.
Disease
has been identified in three different categories -- hereditary, communicative,
and self-created (acquired). This being so, then there must be three kinds of
sin, three laws to transgress. Two of these laws are found in the Decalogue
(Ex. 20:3-17): The first prohibits sinning against God, and the second against
our fellowmen. The Third, therefore, is the law of health, the law which
forbids transgressing against our bodies (Lev. 11; Isa. 66:16, 17).
Plainly,
then, sinning against God brings in its wake a hereditary curse, the kind that
passes from father to son "unto the third and fourth generation of them
that hate Me" (Ex. 20:5), saith the Lord. And sinning against our
fellowmen brings communicative diseases, shown in the fact that when Miriam
sinned against her brother, Moses, she was stricken with the contagious
disease, leprosy (Num. 12). "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy
days may
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be long...." Ex. 20:12. So "whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Gal. 6:7. Thus it was that when
Haman built the gallows upon which to hang Mordecai, he himself was hanged on
them (Esther 7:9, 10). And when Daniel was unjustly cast into the lions' den,
his enemies were devoured by the hungry beasts, but Daniel was spared (Dan.
6:16, 22, 24). Moreover, when the three Hebrews were cast into the fiery
furnace, those who carried them were consumed by the flames, but the Hebrews
came out unharmed (Dan. 3:21-23). So also, "he that leadeth into captivity
shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the
sword." Rev. 13:10.
It is
therefore a never-failing fact that if one molests his neighbor, or intends to
do so, the harm will fall on himself; and if he harms his neighbor's children,
his own children will suffer as a result. The diseases, though, which are not
inherited, the sinner himself creates by sinning against his own body. Sinning
against a neighbor or against oneself, nevertheless, is indirectly sinning
against God also.
If
one is suffering from a hereditary disease, for which his parents,
grandparents, or great grandparents alone are guilty, he is, of course,
helpless to do much of anything in the line of complete recovery,
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be it by dieting or by using drugs. He may,
however, be able to control the disease or even to overcome it by being
strictly obedient to the laws of God, knowing that nothing in the world will
effect a cure for such illness but prayer, if God's wisdom so decrees.
On
the other hand, if one is suffering from a disease which has been communicated
to him or that is communicative, due to one's sinning against his fellowmen,
then to remove the disease once and forever, he must repent of his sin,
practice the golden rule: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should
do to you, do ye even so to them." Matt. 7:12.
But
if the disease be neither hereditary nor communicative, then it must be
self-created, acquired by oneself, by violating the laws of health, by not
living right in one respect or another.
The
wise will, therefore, correct their habits of living -- make sure that they do
not sin against God or against their fellowmen, that they sleep, breathe, eat,
drink, and work correctly and religiously, and if there is a cure at all, they
will have it.
The
cause of each type of disease having now been defined, the sufferer of any of
the three kinds of diseases may without difficulty determine which one of the
three laws he is transgressing and as a result
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paying the penalty it imposes. If he is
afflicted with complications of diseases, though, he must be breaking all of
God's laws. Let him henceforth quit sinning in any line if he expects to
recover and stay well, too.
Many
diseases, of course, are wrongly classed as contagious. For example,
tuberculosis is not actually communicable, for when one becomes infected with
the disease, he can effect a cure if while it is yet in its early stages, he
begins to live right. Obviously, then, if one always lives right, he need not
fear of the disease ever getting a foothold in his body. So in the last
analysis a number of diseases so-called contagious are not in reality such. Strictly
speaking, they are infectious, brought on by oneself. And now, how fortunate
should one consider himself to know that right living and right doing, with
faith in God, actually do away with a multitude of sorrows!
Those
who wonder what is the cause of this, of that, and of the other disease, may
quickly test every case:
It is
now fully understood that life and death are at war with each other as are the
nations among themselves: One nation's army may pour fire upon another, but not
all of the soldiers receive the same kind of wound even though the whole army
be under
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the same fire. In like manner, the bodies of
men are the soldiers and the cause of disease the Enemy's mighty weapon in the
warfare between heaven and earth. Hence, though some suffer from headache, some
from stomachache, some from diabetes, some from anemia, from heart disease
gallstones, neuritis, or other ailments, yet all suffer for the same reason --
simply because they have in one way or another moved away from their only
fortress, the laws of God. This is the final diagnosis of all diseases. Stick
close to Nature, and Nature will stick close to you.
One
must realize that the human body is in some respects similar to a man-made
machine. When the gas tank of an auto goes empty the engine immediately stops. This
same law operates within the human body: When the body runs out of energy
(starves, runs out of calories) it stops running, dies; and although man who
made the auto can refill its tank with fuel and put it to running again, he
cannot do so with the human body. Once the heart stops beating, at that very
moment life ceases and the body lies down until the resurrection day -- until
the One Who created it starts it moving again.
When
the crankcase of an engine becomes empty, but the engine continues running,
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then the machine breaks down, and its
usefulness ends. And as the life of an auto is maintained by reducing friction
through means of lubrication, the life of a human being is kept up by Nature's
replacing the worn out cells after the day's task is done, while he takes his
rest in bed. Thus is he able to arise in the morning with renewed strength. But
if he fails to provide the material which Nature needs in order to rebuild the
worn out cells and tissues, he, of course suffers the consequences as does the
neglectful person who fails to replenish the oil in his auto's crankcase. And
if one fails to drink enough water, too, during the day, his blood will, as a
result, become impoverished, and his system stagnant and clogged with waste
material, there to ferment and decay; and if Nature is deprived of energy by
which to throw off the toxins through the pores, kidneys, and the bowels, or to
raise fever and endure the burning process of the wastes, then there is nothing
to do but to give up trying -- decease.
It is
therefore necessary that Nature be well supplied with all the essentials if one
expects to maintain his usefulness unimpaired and to live his allotted life.
Moreover,
no good engineer puts useless or needless parts into an engine, and if the user
of it takes out any part, regardless how small and insignificant, the engine is
made just that much less efficient. The
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same is true with the human body. But though
the engineer can replace the missing parts in the machine which he designed and
built, the surgeon cannot replace the body organs which his patient may cause
him to remove. For example, one may remove only a set screw from a machine and
not affect its performance for the time being, but at length he will find that
the machine fails to perform, and if he cannot replace the part which he has
taken out, the machine will become altogether useless. The same thing occurs,
more or less, when one removes an organ from his body.
Since
the well-being of the body is even more accurately taught by Mother Nature
herself, no one who wishes to enjoy life dares overlook her counsel. Plants
never do well in soil that is deficient, or depleted of its life-giving
properties. Some plants do better in one soil or climate than do others. Some
thrive in higher altitudes and others in lower. The same law seems to operate
in mankind: The darker races fare better in the torrid regions, and the lighter
in the frigid regions.
While
plant life subsists on inorganic matter, animal life subsists on organic. Moreover,
as plant life was created before animal life, the truth is that the plant
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kingdom can get along without the animal, but
that the animal kingdom cannot get along without the plant. Thus it is that
vegetation needs only Mother Earth, but man needs both the earth and plant. In
other words, plant life is dependent on the soil for existence, while animal
life is dependent on vegetation. Flesh diet is therefore, artificial, and thus
deficient -- incapable of maintaining life.
So,
just as plants cannot thrive on poor soil, men cannot thrive on poor diet. And
if one is aware of the fact that almost immediately after the soil is enriched,
the plant awakens with health and vigor, then he will have no difficulty
realizing that as soon as he corrects his own diet, his health will likewise
spring up. Is it not true, then, that one's health depends on the food he uses
as does the plant's on the soil in which it feeds?
If
the sufferer's faulty diet is the cause of his aliment, and in most cases in
our day it is, then no kind or amount of drug can cure him. Yet when something
goes wrong with one's organism, he generally runs to a doctor, not to find and
to remove the cause, but to be cured, while the cause remains and while it
brings him closer and closer to the grave! And if he is not given drugs, he
dislikes the doctor! Why not check up on your daily diet and habits of living? Why
take drugs when you need to take water, fresh air, sunshine, the
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right kinds of food; to exercise; or perhaps to
clean up your home, your body, and your surroundings?
Let
it be now understood that anyone living on a poor diet, or in unpleasant
surroundings and unsanitary conditions, is subject to disease in one form or
another, just as is a plant that is planted in poor soil and unconducive
surroundings. Then, too, one must remember that unbalanced food, regardless of
quality or quantity, is poor food; and as too much fertilizer kills the plant,
so too much food kills the man. Too much of anything is as bad as is too
little. Illness, therefore, is only a warning of one's improper habits of
living. But, alas, who can understand! and who is taking heed!
What
else can the cause of diseases that are not hereditary or communicative, be but
wrong living -- malnutrition, "unclean" flesh food (Lev. 11),
overeating, poor elimination, insufficient exercise, lack of sunshine and fresh
air, living in filth, neglecting to drink enough water between meals, or
perhaps smoking or chewing tobacco, habitually using coffee, tea, or some other
stimulant that whips up the body to the last ounce of energy? To be sure, such
diseases as cancer are the result of wrong living. If such is not the cause of
the sufferer's illness, then the last and final cause, as referred to before,
is sin against the Decalogue.
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Nature
teaches that if a tree becomes sickly from within rather than from without then
to spray it with any kind of drug will only hasten its death, waste the drug,
the time, and one's energy. The human body is no exception. If the disease is
from internal cause, then what good will it do to try to remove it by the use
of drugs? In such a case drugs will not remove the cause but rather do greater
harm and hasten the end.
If it
is not possible to keep a water-cooled engine from overheating when the
radiator is empty, and if nothing but to fill the radiator with water will cure
the trouble, then why should it be possible to cure a diseased body without
curing the cause? Stop and think.
True,
many do suffer from hereditary and contagious diseases, but most persons suffer
from diseases caused by erroneous habits of living. Alcoholic beverages and
other stimulants, rich pastries, commercial sweets, overeating, wrong
combinations, and too many grain products, any one or all of these collectively
have more or less afflicted every human being of this age with one ailment or
another.
Constipation
is one of the commonest diseases that one brings upon himself by erroneous
eating. And constipation in itself is a cause of a number of diseases, as is
malassimilation. Man is not naturally
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subject to constipation, -- no, not any more
than is a water main subject to plugging up if nothing but water is put through
it, the only thing the manufacturer ever intended that should be put through
it.
That
commercially prepared foods, too, are among the many causes of constipation, a
faculty member of a certain health institute writes: "Because of our
civilized foods and the way they fill the bowel with toxic material and gas, it
is absolutely necessary to give oneself a series of colonic irrigations at
least twice a year in order to stay well. Headaches,
colds, flu, intestinal pains, mucous, gas, and
many disturbing disorders disappear after one or two colon treatments."
We
should not overlook the fact that Noah lived 900 years of good, happy life, and
that we have no record of his having had to take colonic irrigations or to
under go an operation! Rather than resort to artificial means for cleansing now
and then, why not eat the right kinds of food, the kinds that keep the bowels
clean every day of the year? Moreover, a balanced diet will not only keep the
bowels free from "toxic material and gas," but will supply the entire
system with the necessary minerals and vitamins, without which no one can keep
well any considerable length of time. Then why spend your money on manufactured
vitamins and devitalized foods at sky-high prices when you can have
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Nature's own, full of vitality, and at prices
as low as gravity? Ever remember that artificial nutratives are no better than
artificial arms or legs.
No
one should overlook the fact that the human body is made up of certain
minerals, all of which are found in foodstuffs, and by these Nature is well
able to keep the body in perfect condition provided that its master supplies
the materials, and provided that no "monkey wrenches," so to speak,
are ever dropped in to its delicate but long-enduring mechanism. Plainly, then,
if we fail by the food we eat to supply Nature with the proper building
materials, Nature will consequently be unable to perform her work, and though
the result of the deficiency may not be felt immediately, it will nevertheless
be felt as life continues and the years go on.
And
if the transgressor fails to awake and amend his ways on time, then even the
most careful observance of the laws of health will fail to repair the damage
done. Obviously, one should endeavor to live right, not because he is becoming
sickly, but because he is determined ever to keep well. Moreover, a machine
that has been broken down and repaired is never so good as the one that has
never been damaged.
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Neither is the man who makes himself sickly and
then well. His best is never let his health be impaired. Each one should
realize that his health is his wealth; that without it all else is as good as
lost; and that he can never enjoy all his God-given rights and privileges if he
does not carefully attend to both his physical and spiritual welfare.
Drugs
have their own place, but do not expect them to do that which you yourself must
do.
Many
are like Asa, the king. He was "diseased in his feet, until his disease
was exceeding great; yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the
physicians." 2 Chron. 16:12. (See Prophets and Kings, p. 113.)
A TIME FOR DRUGS
RATHER THAN FOR FOOD
There
are diseases which attack even the healthiest and best-cared for plants. For
example, when a tree that is planted in the best of soils and is well cared
for, becomes infested with insects or disease, then no matter what one does
with the soil, he cannot thereby cause the pestilence to disappear: and if the
tree is not sprayed with drugs that will exterminate the disease, the tree
dies. In like manner, if one's morals, diet, and hygiene, have been faultless
and still are when he takes sick, and if his ailment
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is not hereditary, then no matter what more he
does with his diet, he will realize no healing virtues from it. Drugs are his
best remedy if prayer fails.
Again,
if a healthy and well-cared-for horse takes sick, drugs of some kind are
obviously the only possible cure. Thus if the daily living of a human being is
faultless, and yet he takes sick, then outside of prayer, what can he do but
resort to drugs?
For
example, is it not true that one starving for food cannot be spared by taking
in water, air or something other than food? And is it not also true that one's
broken and distorted arm cannot be set in place and healed right by dieting,
poulticing, massaging, or by anything of the like? Nothing will do the trick, of
course, but a competent physician to set the broken bones in place.
No
living being should overlook the fact that in the beginning God said to the
man: "Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the
face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree
yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Gen. 1:29.
Yes,
even after Adam fell in sin and was driven out of the garden, after the earth
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brought forth thorns and thistles, his
"meat" was still the herb," no longer that which grew in Eden,
of course, but that which grew in the open field (Gen. 3:18). It was after the
flood that he was permitted to use flesh food, and although he made use of only
"clean" animal flesh (Lev. 11) the average length of life immediately
dropped under the 200-year mark. Evidently flesh diet was permitted in order to
shorten man's life and thus the miseries brought upon him through increased
sin, and also perhaps to make it possible for him to perform the typical
ceremonial system. Now, though, that life is altogether too short and the
sacrifices no longer operative, the use of the Edenic fleshless diet becomes to
us, in our weakened condition, even more urgent.
Being
mindful of this light, Daniel refused to defile himself with the king's meat. He
requested that he and his companions be given "pulse" (legumes) for
their daily food. And a ten-day trial proved their simple vegetable meals to be
superior to the king's meat (Dan. 1:8-20).
Since
we have seen that in the beginning the diet created for man's needs was
flesh-free, we may with certainty conclude that health can be adequately built
and far better maintained without the use of flesh. History records that when
man thus lived, he was able to attain super health and vigor and to endure
almost a thousand
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years; and rather than dying of disease, he
died of good old age. In fact, even as late as Abram, so rare was the death of
persons before the death of their parents that Inspiration takes occasion to
record that "Haran died before his father Terah." Gen. 11:28.
The
ox, as we know, is able to maintain vigorous strength and perfect health on an
average of 20% grain and 80% grass, without the use of flesh. The elephant on
even less grain maintains good health, gains gigantic strength, and reaches
great age. On the other hand, the dog, though carnivorous, cannot maintain good
health on flesh alone. Merely by instinct he knows that he has to help himself
to grain and to some grass, too, while the herbivorous animal never even tastes
flesh, -- facts which prove that a balanced vegetarian diet is complete in
itself, but that flesh diet is never complete alone. The only animal that can
get by fairly well on flesh, though not altogether, is the one which eats the
whole -- hide, hair, bones, hoofs, flesh, and all. (How painful the realization
that through continued sin, man's God-given intelligence concerning his body's
needs has degenerated lower than that of the dumb animal!)
Besides
these considerations, looking in retrospection down through the ages we see that
those who were given special work, work of great importance, were also given
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special diet, diets equal to their task. For
instance, John the Baptist, the Elijah of his day (Matt. 17: 11-13, 11: 14),
being given the greatest task of all the prophets before him -- not to predict,
but to prepare the way of the Lord, to make the crooked straight, and the rough
places plain (Isa. 40:3, 4) -- was a strict vegetarian, living on locust fruit
and honey (Matt. 3:4; Luke 1:15).
Is it
not even more essential, then, that we who bear the Elijah message of today,
the message just before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, should be
strict vegetarians as was John?
Moreover,
the diet of the Exodus Movement (the Movement which came into being to
exemplify a second exodus -- Isa. 11:16 -- the one that is to come out of all
the nations and to make up the Kingdom in the latter days -- Mic. 4:1, 2), was
strictly vegetarian to the very day it set foot in the promised land, forty
years in all (Josh. 5:6). O, yes, they lusted after the flesh pots of Egypt,
thinking that the restriction was due to adverse circumstances -- that flesh,
although very much essential, was not available in the desert. And it was then
that to their surprise the great I AM brought the quails to them right in the
camp, whereupon thousands of the people died even while the flesh of the fowl
was yet between their teeth (Num. 11:33). What a rebuke! What an ensample to
behold! Now, knowing
The Entering Wedge 25
full well that the Movement is a type of the
one that is arising at this time, and that the failures of the former should be
the stepping stones of the latter (1 Cor. 10:11), should we not be thankful and
happy for having been given a better diet than that which angry beasts are
still subsisting on?
And
should we not gladly comply with this exemplified Divine request to abstain
from flesh food, so that our strength and character be equal to our task? Only
by so doing shall we be fitting ourselves for the work and for the Kingdom,
where "the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their
young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And
the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall
put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my
holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea." Isa 1 1:6-9.
Should we not now as intelligent human beings, Divinely enlightened
candidates for the Kingdom, privileged to prepare the way for such a happy and
perfect day, give up flesh food before the lions and the serpents do?
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With
a reasonable variety of fresh vegetables legumes, grains, nuts, and fruits,
also milk and eggs or their equivalents, the vegetarian can easily balance his
diet to supply all his body's needs. He should therefore not neglect to include
in his diet as wide as possible a variety of such foods both cooked and raw,
remembering that the latter are even more essential and more complete.
"If
we plan wisely," asserts Inspiration, "that which is most conducive
to health can be secured in almost every land. The various preparations of
rice, wheat, corn, and oats are sent abroad everywhere, also beans, peas, and
lentils. These, with native or imported fruits, and the variety of vegetables
that grow in each locality, give an opportunity to select a dietary that is
complete without the use of flesh-meats." -- Ministry of Healing, p. 299.
Why
is it, though, that some strict vegetarians rather than improving their health
and building up resistance against disease, often suffer from malnutrition and
become even more susceptible to various physical ailments than before they gave
up flesh foods? -- Because in most cases flesh food is discarded without
supplementing the diet with a satisfactory substitute. Many have the mistaken
idea that by merely increasing their intake of protein foods -- nuts,
The Entering Wedge 27
legumes, and grains, they adequately replace
the deficiency. By so doing they do not at all replace the deficiency, but
instead unbalance the nutrients. Ever remember that flesh is composed of about
80% grass and 20% grain. Biological experiments unmistakably demonstrate that
animals cannot thrive on whole grain proteins divorced from the associated
leafy plants. The health seeker must bear in mind that often the immediate
result of an unbalanced diet is constipation, followed by rheumatism or
arthritis, if not by other even more dreadful and destructive diseases. Balance
your diet, and Nature will take care of the rest.
The
truth that the substances in superior quality flesh are derived from grain and
grass, approximately 20% of the former and 80% of the latter plainly
demonstrates that flesh is adequately substituted only by the proportionate use
of both grain and leafy plants. Be not misled. Your body needs both grain and
vegetable proteins in exactly these proportions. Indeed, they are all
essential, and man's constitution demands that for health and longevity there
be neither a missing link nor a weak one in the chain of nutriments.
There
is also another important lesson in the fact that just as the All-wise Creator
did not bless any particular locality with all the riches of creation, but
scattered and scientifically proportioned them throughout
The Entering Wedge 28
the earth. He has likewise carefully
distributed the essential body-building and upkeeping materials throughout the
food kingdom, has not placed them all in one plant.
To
maintain perfect health, therefore, be sure to make use of all the thirteen
types of foods grouped below, and give them the proper proportions in your
diet. Approximately 80% of your diet should consist of the first eight classes
of foods (Group 1), and 20% of the second three classes of foods (Group 2). The
last two classes of foods (Group 3) are seasonings for all foods.
GROUP 1
EIGHTY PER CENT OF THE DIET
80% of one's diet must consist of the foods in
this group:
1st -- Leaves (watercress, beet tops, spinach
lettuce, parsley, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, chard, etc.)
2nd -- Stalks (Celery, rhubarb, asparagus,
etc.)
3rd -- Herbal Fruits (pineapple, okra,
eggplant, peppers, string beans, tomatoes, etc.)
4th -- Tubers (carrots, potatoes, radishes,
onions, yams, beets, turnips, etc.)
5th -- Cucurbits (squash, melons, cucumbers,
pumpkins, etc.)
6th -- Tree Fruits (peaches, dates, bananas
oranges, pomegranates, olives, avocados etc.)
The Entering Wedge 29
7th -- Vine Fruits (berries, grapes, etc.)
8th -- Dairy Products
GROUP 2
TWENTY PER CENT OF THE DIET
Only
about 20% of one's diet should be made up of the foods in this group:
1st -- Grains (oats, rice, corn, rye, wheat,
barley, etc.)
2nd -- Legumes (beans, lentils, peas, etc.)
3rd -- Nuts (pecans, coconuts, almonds,
walnuts, chestnuts, etc.)
GROUP 3
SEASONING FOR ALL FOODS
All
foods may be seasoned with the foods of this group:
1st -- Oils (olive oil, soy bean oil, sesame
oil, nut oils, cottonseed oil, etc.)
2nd -- Sweets (honey, raw sugar, maple sugar,
sorghum, etc.)
As
God caused vegetation to grow in the summer and to be dormant in the winter, He
consequently constituted man to thrive on fresh garden produce during the
summer and on dry during the winter. The fact that no tree can survive the
summer without its leaves, but that it does well without them during the
winter, again points out that a human being cannot fare
The Entering Wedge 30
well if he neglects to make his diet of fresh
garden produce when in season, but that he can fare splendidly on dry, winter,
foodstuffs when the fresh are out of season.
Moreover,
as the Lord did not from the beginning provide present-day transportation
facilities, did not make it possible for man to import or to export foodstuffs
from one remote locality to another, He constituted him to thrive best on the
things which his own locality or the one closest to it can produce. To him,
therefore, all foods grown elsewhere become secondary, and those which are not
in season he does not need. In other words, while the fresh produce is the best
for one's health in the summer, the dry is the best for him in the winter,
unless he lives where the fresh produce naturally grows during the winter
months, too.
From
these considerations one can logically conclude that the person who lives in a
warm climate needs to eat more of the fresh foods, but a person who lives in a
cold climate needs to eat more of the dry, preserved, concentrated,
heat-producing foods. He who does otherwise is, as it were, firing his house
furnace full blast in the summer and running his house cooling system full
blast in the winter! Is it not a wonder that a man thus tampering with his
body, can long survive through it all? If a deciduous tree should were it
possible, shed its leaves in the summer, or put them
The Entering Wedge 31
on in the winter, it would never have a chance
again to try such an off-season idea.
In
pre-engine transportation times only a "ruler" could obtain
out-of-season foodstuffs: strawberries, cherries, etc., when the snow flurries
covered the trees and the icicles spanned from the roof to the ground.
Having
this in mind Inspiration warned: "When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,
consider diligently what is before thee: and put a knife to thy throat, if thou
be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are
deceitful meat." Prov. 23:1-3.
In
Solomon's time only a ruler could have used the numerous dainties made from
white flour refined sugar, and other commercial foods, but modern machinery now
brings the ruler's "meat" to everybody's table, and consequently the
modernized world is feeding on "deceitful meat," meat that does not
supply the body's needs, that does as much good to men as a fisherman's bait on
a hook and line does to a fish that goes after it.
Fruit
is a summer food, designed to keep the body cool. And moreover it is more of a
dessert than a meal.
Canning
of foodstuffs has become another health-destroying device, because the majority
of people try to subsist on canned goods the year around. If you wish a
prosperous and happy life, then break away
The Entering Wedge 32
from artificial, lawless life and thus from the
world's ills.
There
are a number of theories as to the combinations of foods, but since one
contradicts another, they cannot all be correct, and, therefore, rather than
convincing, they are creating doubts as to whether there is anything to be
worried about after all.
People,
though, lived and kept well all through the centuries without giving even a
thought to food combinations. Why? Stop and think: Only since the years of
modern transportation and commercial preparations of foods has this matter
urged itself upon the public at large. This being so, the trouble is obvious:
Modern transportation facilities, as previously pointed out, have flooded the
markets with imported foodstuffs from all parts of the world, making it
possible for anyone to purchase out-of-season foodstuffs and, in many
instances, of the kinds that the consumer's locality does not even grow. Naturally,
then, these foreign, off-season products cannot combine well with the local
seasonal ones. Herein mainly lies the trouble with food combinations. Again,
consider what results you will obtain if you have both the heating system and
the cooling system in your home going at the same time!
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And,
moreover, food that is adaptable to the consumer's body needs in one climate
may not be in another. This is discernible from the fact that in the days when
people lived entirely on what they raised in their own localities, they did not
have the trouble that the world is now having. The same truth is manifested in
the fact that the Creator caused certain kinds of foodstuffs to grow in one
locality and other kinds in another locality but at the time created no means
for quick distant transportation.
Specifically
speaking, there are on the one hand health authorities who maintain that protein
foods such as "milk, cheese, eggs, nuts, and beans," make bad
combinations with carbohydrate foods such as "artichokes, bread, barley,
cereals, cakes, flour, potatoes, pumpkins rice and spaghetti." On the
other hand, there are health authorities who hold that these two classes of
food combine excellently. Who is right? -- In view of the fact that cheese,
eggs, and milk are made up of grains and grass, it seems illogical to conclude
that a grain-and-vegetable product cannot combine well with grains and
vegetables. Moreover, we might well observe that calves grow perfectly healthy
on meals made up of milk, grain, and grass.
Then
there is the contention that grains and vegetables ought never be combined. But
contrary to this theory, cattle are raised best on grass combined with grain.
The Entering Wedge 34
Moreover, grain is seed, and seed is nothing
less or more than the fruit of vegetables.
Now
comes the question: Should grain be combined with fruit? -- As far back as
history records, man has followed the custom of eating bread with every meal,
and no past generation has left a complaint of ill effects on health.
The
most popular question to be answered with reference to food combinations is
that of whether fruit should be combined with vegetables. The solution to this
question may be found in the laws which were ordained in the week of creation. Not
given the same degree of intelligence as man, the cow was made to live on grass
exclusive of fruit, and the monkey was made to live on fruit exclusive of
grass. This we know from the fact that cattle are well equipped to help
themselves to grass, and monkeys, to help themselves to fruit. Moreover, cows
do not naturally care for fruit, and monkeys do not naturally care for grass so
long as fruit is available. From these examples in nature we might logically
conclude that not all fruits should be mixed with all vegetables.
When
one considers that milk is made up of both grain and grass properties, and that
although grain combines with fruit, grass does not, therefore the combination
of milk and fruit, generally speaking, is somewhat questionable.
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As
uncooked food is much more nutritious than the cooked, it is urgent that all
foodstuffs which can be eaten raw should not be eaten cooked, or at least not
all of the time. Many articles of food are cooked only because of custom. Spinach,
asparagus, okra, young green peas, turnips and carrots, to mention just a few
examples, though as a rule cooked, are even more delicious when eaten raw. Persons
who are not accustomed to using raw foods should start on small amounts, then
gradually increase them. They should however, be very well masticated and
should be taken along with cooked and bland articles of food, lest the lining
of the stomach become irritated.
"There is real common sense in health reform. People can not all
eat the same things. Some articles of food that are wholesome and palatable to
one person, may be hurtful to another. Some can not use milk, while others can
subsist upon it. For some, dried beans and peas are wholesome, while others can
not digest them. Some stomachs have become so sensitive that they can not make
use of the coarser kind of Graham flour. So it is impossible to make an
unvarying rule by which to regulate everyone's dietetic habits." --
Counsels On Health, pp. 154, 155.
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"But not all foods wholesome in themselves are equally suited to
our needs under all circumstances. Care should be taken in the selection of
food. Our diet should be suited to the season, to the climate in which we live,
and to the occupation we follow. Some foods that are adapted for use at one
season or in one climate are not suited to another. So there are different
foods best suited for persons in different occupations. Often food that can be
used with benefit by those engaged in hard physical labor is unsuitable for
persons of sedentary pursuits or intense mental application. God has given us
an ample variety of healthful foods, and each person should choose from it the
things that experience and sound judgment prove to be best suited to his own
necessities." -- Ministry of Healing, pp. 296, 297.
"As
thy days, so shall thy strength be." Deut. 33:25.
This
scripture plainly reveals that God never intended that man should be sick or
weak, and pass away before his days be full, but that he should retain his
strength commensurate with his age, and die, not of disease, but of ripe old
age.
"And
this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he [the wicked] came, so shall
he go: and what profit hath he that hath
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laboured for the wind? All his days also he
eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness." Eccles.
5:16, 17.
Naturally those who go on living independently of God, are not only
committing wickedness, even though unconsciously, but are also laboring in
vain. Furthermore, their eating in darkness, not having Divine light on the
subject, causes them to eat food such as brings, not strength, but sorrow,
wrath, and sickness.
The
two Divine Guides of life, the Word and Nature, as we have already seen are the
best and the only teachers that speak with authority. Anyone, therefore, who
neglects their counsel is unwittingly walking in darkness and heading for
trouble, and if he should finally get into it certain it is that he will be
anxious to get out of it. But as he may hastily grope about, he will find
himself just as helpless to get out as he was to keep out. Any theory,
therefore, however plausible or logical it may seem, is definitely misleading
unless it be one hundred percent in harmony with the two never-erring Guides of
life -- the Bible and Nature.
As
these Teachers authoritatively speak that man was made out "of the dust of
the ground" (Gen. 2:7), there is good reason that the body of man and the
soil of the earth contain the same minerals. Naturally, then, it is because
flesh cannot adequately perpetuate itself on flesh that the
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plant is the agency which picks up the minerals
from the soil and prepares them for human and animal consumption. Obviously,
grains, nuts, fruit, and vegetables, man's original, best, and lawful diet, if
used in the right proportions, will keep his mind keen, his body healthy, his
morals and his integrity unquestionable.
There
are number of books on the market, some advocating one thing and some another,
but Nature and the Book of God both positively recommend these
health-maintaining and character-building principles, and though fanatics may
add to or subtract from, they are helpless to control the results. The
"no-grain" diet and the "fireless kitchen" ideas, although
seemingly based on true principles, are only two of the many fruits of
fanaticism. We, therefore, authoritatively declare that all who stay in the
middle of the straight and narrow path, all who wisely make their daily menu
only from the lawful foodstuffs, will doubtless preserve their health, and grow
away from a beastly to a more noble and human-like nature; reap many blessings
and avoid great curses.
Since
the average normal stomach holds about a quart, the average meal for an active
person should never amount to more than a pint and a half. Overloading the
stomach is as harmful to the system as to
The Entering Wedge 39
swill intoxicating liquor. Yes, even, more so. One
of the resultant evils of such an erroneous habit is that, besides causing gastro-intestinal
disorders, it enlarges the size of the stomach, and as a consequence the whole
body becomes misshapen. Especially is this so with the youth who are in the
growing stages, for one organ has influence over another. Besides such injuries
overeating wears out the whole organism -- shortens the life. A milling machine
grinds only a certain amount of grist before it breaks down, be it during a
long or short period of time. The human machine in like manner can take care of
only a fixed amount of food, then it, too, retires. Thus it is that one can, as
it were, chew away his life.
Overeating
causes fermentation, fermentation causes irritation, irritation causes
constipation, and constipation opens the gateway to a multitude of diseases. Overloading
anything is bad on its everything.
Let
the reader, therefore, now be well reminded that man passes through three
distinct periods in life: (1) the years of his growth, (2) the years of his
prime, and (3) the years of his decline. While he is ascending the hill of
development he needs food for growing besides for the upkeep of his body. But
after he has reached the peak of maturity, and he moves out across the ridge
prime of his life, he needs only to eat enough to keep himself going. And when
he passes over the crestline of
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life, becomes older and less active, he then
needs proportionately less. Taking more food than his body requires and his
work calls for, wastes not only the food but needed energy, too, because he
then overtaxes his digestive organs, forces them to do more than they are able,
and uses his energy to grind needless food, to throw out excess poisons and
wastes -- he overburdens his whole organism. And if this injudicious practice
be continued on and on, also eating at any and all times, eating for fun rather
than for health and strength, as men are in this age habitually doing,
eventually the organs of the body will become unable to carry out such an
unreasonable demand. Consequently, those who eat in such darkness, must pass
through a period of misery, and end their lives long before their work is
finished, before their usefulness is used up.
"Blessed
art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in
due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!" Eccles. 10:17.
"The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly
of the wicked shall want." Prov. 13:25. Christians should eat to live, not
live to eat.
Suppose you leave a little food in your breakfast dish, then at lunch
add more to it, but again not use up the whole, and repeat
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this again and again, day after day. Can you
imagine how the plate and the food will look and smell in a few days? Yet a
person who eats between meals, eats before the previously taken food leaves the
stomach, is unconsciously creating a condition that is just as bad.
If
given no chance to empty from one meal to the next, the stomach is bound to ferment
and to produce gas and toxins, so that what little energy is realized from the
food, the system must use to throw out the poisons. Rather than take food
between meals, flush your stomach with pure fresh water -- promote a good
healthy appetite for the next meal. Moreover, if after a reasonable length of
time all the food has not left your stomach, rather than eat only because the
regular time for meal has come or only because you have a false hunger, keep on
drinking warm water until your stomach becomes light and your appetite
stimulated. Correct eating habits make one's earnings go further, promote
health, increase energy, sweeten the breath, and develop amiability. What a
gain without having to invest!
"Regularity
in eating is of vital importance. There should be a specified time for each
meal. At this time, let everyone eat what the system requires, and then take
nothing more until the next meal. There are many who eat when the system needs
no food, at irregular intervals, and between meals, because they have not
sufficient
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strength of will to resist inclination. When
traveling, some are constantly nibbling if anything eatable is within their
reach. This is very injurious. If travelers would eat regularly of food that is
simple and nutritious, they would not feel so great weariness, nor suffer so
much from sickness.
"Another
pernicious habit is that of eating just before bedtime. The regular meals may
have been taken; but because there is a sense of faintness, more food is eaten.
By indulgence, this wrong practice becomes a habit, and often so firmly fixed
that it is thought impossible to sleep without food. As a result of eating late
suppers, the digestive process is continued through the sleeping hours. But
though the stomach works constantly, its work is not properly accomplished. The
sleep is often disturbed with unpleasant dreams, and in the morning the person
awakes unrefreshed, and with little relish for breakfast. When we lie down to
rest, the stomach should have its work all done, that it, as well as the other
organs of the body, may enjoy rest. For persons of sedentary habits, late
suppers are particularly harmful. With them the disturbance created is often
the beginning of disease that ends in death.
"In
many cases the faintness that leads to a desire for food is felt because the
digestive organs have been too severely taxed during the day. After disposing
of
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one meal, the digestive organs need rest. At
least five or six hours should intervene between the meals...." --
Ministry of Healing, pp. 303, 304.
To
overcome poor digestion drink warm water an hour before and two hours after
meals. Eat slowly and thoroughly masticate your food, mixing as much saliva
with it as possible. Always leave the table while yet hungry; and by all means
keep your bowels open. Three bowel movements a day are advocated by health
authorities; never less than two. Mark this point, do not lightly pass over it,
for here is where the greatest share of diseases spring forth. Quickly attend
to this business, for you cannot afford to make your body a septic tank for any
length of time. If you have been constipated, and are suffering as a result,
you need a thorough cleansing, not by three bowel movements a day, but by five.
Even then it will take a period of time before any apparent healing results can
be obtained.
Remember,
too, that your body is the Lord's tabernacle, that it should be kept clean
within and without. Clean clothes and two hot baths a week, with cold water
finish, also a quick cold shower or sponge bath daily, are essential -- a
splendid tonic
The Entering Wedge 44
to keep out colds, and to help you keep up with
the day's task.
Keep
your house immaculately clean, within and without, especially the floors,
furniture, and dark corners; and remember that uncovered and unclean cabinets
and toilets kill the oxygen. Have the home attractive and orderly -- everything
in its place. Ever remember that cleanliness is next to godliness, and that
heaven-like law and order save energy, means, and time.
And
do not forget that even more essential to health are fresh water, sunshine,
pure fresh air and outdoor exercise. A home garden provides all these, and
besides supplying the table with fresh life-giving food, it saves cash, too. Yes,
home garden work can even keep the children out of mischief and at the same
time help them to develop strong physiques, noble characters, and usefulness --
to learn to he industrious.
Never
sleep in a room with closed windows. Breathe deeply; drink water at every
opportunity; two quarts a day are not too much for a grown person -- only two
glassfuls an hour or more before breakfast, three between breakfast and dinner,
two between dinner and supper, and in some cases one after supper; more in a
hot climate.
Be
not overanxious to avoid sunshine. Always keep in mind that roses and fruit
obtain their beautiful colors only when they come in direct contact with the
rays
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of the sun, and that without the sun nothing
can keep alive. Health makes a person beautiful, whereas artificial makeup on
an anemic complexion never does. But if a sunless complexion is more appealing
to you, then consider well and make your choice as to whether you wish to look
better or to feel better. Moreover, you can use a hat with a wide brim to shade
your face and still get the benefit of the sun's rays.
It is
because no one can afford to stint himself on these three indispensables
(sunshine, air, and water), that the Creator has lavished the earth more
abundantly with them than with any other gift, and has placed them within the
easiest reach of all living. These are the cheapest and most essential body requirements
obtainable. Futile it is to stay away from them.
Those
who fail to observe these health principles, cannot, of course, hope to regain
health or even to maintain it at its present level.
All
God's creation is artistically designed and beautifully dressed, causing happy
smiles and deep thinking each time one beholds it. All this He did for the good
of humanity. Is it not true then, that your home and its surroundings affect
not only your health but also your countenance?
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Pleasing surroundings bring happiness, and
happiness brings health. By beholding we become changed. Make sure, therefore,
that your change is for the better; then you will find natural beauty crowding
out all artificial makeup.
Man
was not made to live in a city modernized according to man's short-sightedness,
but rather in a well-dressed garden planted according to the Creator's pattern.
Yes, the Garden of Eden was man's model city site. What a contrast between It
and the cities of today! Anyone knows, of course, that when a large number of
domesticated animals are as closely confined as are the people in the modern
cities, they become subject to all manner of diseases. Human beings are no
exception. It is no exaggeration to say that those living in the cities are
living in Death's stockyards. Hence, if you must live in a city home, then
rather than remain in a crowded district, let your dwelling be as far out and
as much like the Eden home as possible. This you can do by having a neatly
designed, well-cared-for garden and plants of all kinds artistically planted
around the home.
Always
remember that city life is artificial and not in God's plan for His children
today any more than it was for them in the days of Lot; that curse and
destruction
The Entering Wedge 47
devoured all the ancient cities, and that they
were finally buried deep under the ground; that the city evils today surpass
the evils of all times, and that doom is as certain today as it was yesterday;
that if you cannot now move out of the city, and if you wish to escape its doom
and be found worthy to share the future blessings with the faithful, you have a
task to perform -- you must sooner or later, at a moment's notice, run away
from it with your back against it. This you must do if you are in it when the
call comes to you as it came to Lot. Yes, he came out, but with what a loss! You
cannot afford to take a chance on faring no better than he did!
Time,
we know, is divided into two parts, night and day. In the summer (the season
for raising and gathering the supplies for the winter months) the days are
long, but during the winter (the season in which there is no farming to be
done) the nights are long. These Divine regulations definitely suggest that one
should put longer hours in working during the summer months than he should
during the winter months. And how long should they be? -- Evidently as long as
the sunlight lasts. Yes, the parable of Matthew 20:1-17, too, plainly declares
that the Lord commanded His servants to start early and
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work through to the end of the day, to sunset
So
while the natural way of life demands longer working hours during the summer
months, it demands shorter working hours during the winter months -- a daily
average year-round of 12 hours work and 12 hours rest. One who complies with
all the requirements which Truth herein recommends, complies with the natural
laws of his being, with the laws which promote good health and which bring
happiness into the home. But if he disregards these laws, he cannot of course,
expect to receive more than his investment permits. And, too, a person should
clearly see that the full amount of work is just as essential to good health as
is the full amount of rest, that one should balance the other; and that to the
extent he violates these laws, just to that extent will he suffer the penalty
they impose. "Because thou hast...eaten of the tree," again warns the
Creator,"...in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return
unto the ground." Gen. 3:17-19.
Think
of the unnatural life the world is now living! It endeavors to get along on as
little work and rest and on as much fun and play as possible. It eats denatured
and out-of-season foods, drinks alcoholic, spirituous, and drug-containing
liquids all day long -- what a swill! A wonder that it still lives! Indeed, it
is "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
The Entering Wedge 49
naked;" and not knowing its condition, it
says, "I am, rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing"!
Purgatives
have their place as do fire extinguishers. Although it is wise to have the
extinguisher on hand, better if you never need to use it. So it is with the use
of purgatives -- good to have them in the medicine chest, but better not to
have to use them. An enema, if it can answer the purpose, is better than a
purgative, that is, if the trouble is not higher up than the colon.
Some
obtain even better results from one can, or less, of evaporated milk, or half
milk and half fruit juice, than from a commercial purgative; others from a
glass or two of sweet milk taken between meals, and still others get the same
or even better results from buttermilk. Such laxatives are not only harmless,
but are also nourishing food. They will lose their effect though, if the same
is taken day after day. Rotating them brings more permanent results.
A
proper diet should correct any case of constipation. Prunes, figs, dates, dried
olives, and other such fruits give excellent results. Start with a half dozen
dried prunes (chewed well) at the beginning of a meal, then keep alternating
with other articles of food such as previously named. Occasionally, hot
lemonade before breakfast
The Entering Wedge 50
is also an effective intestinal cleanser. A
well-balanced diet, though, 80% bulk vegetables, and 20% grains, as before
pointed out, will cure constipation and resultant diseases, besides maintain good
health.
We
are told that in the garden of Eden, man's Divinely designed home, there was
but one kind of water. It was not from a well or from a roof, but from a
spring; yes, it formed the river that watered the garden. Plainly, then, spring
water is the natural, the best, to drink.
But
beware of false springs, springs which issue, not from a clean reservoir, but
from someone's cesspool or septic tank. Spring water from clean sources is even
better when obtained a little farther down than the spring itself, because
while rippling down the hill, the water becomes oxidized, and thus lighter, and
besides being further purified, it receives added life as the sun's rays beat
upon it. Distilled water, like rain water, is robbed of all its minerals; it is
dead. And as such was not the water provided in the Eden home, it is evident
that a certain amount of mineral salts which is imbedded in the soil and picked
up by spring water as it runs over or under, must be beneficial to the body.
The Entering Wedge 51
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SLEEP?
(From The Reader's Digest, June, 1945)
Between the ages of 25 and 70 the average person spends 15 years
sleeping. Lack of sleep has made generals lose battles, nervous patients lose
their minds, wives lose their husbands. Obviously an understanding of sleep is
important to us all, but how many of us know the scientifically established
facts about it? What's your score on the following statements, some true,
some false?
Healthy sleepers never toss and turn.
False.
Everyone changes his position many times because the muscular arrangement of
the body is such that we cannot relax all over at once. Thirty-five shifts a
night is average.
The
most refreshing sleep comes early.
True.
Studies at Colgate University show that many of the benefits of sleep have been
fully obtained by the end of the first few hours.
If
you sleep six hours instead of eight, you must expend more energy the next day
to accomplish the same work.
True.
Laboratory tests show that we use up to 25 percent more calories to compensate
for lost sleep.
To
make up lost sleep we must sleep a few hours longer for several nights in
succession.
False.
One normal night's sleep will give us all the recovery that extra sleeping can
bring.
The Entering Wedge 52
Sleeping
with someone makes restful sleep more difficult.
True.
The slight motions of the other person keep us from sinking into the deepest
and most refreshing sleep.
Men
who are able to get along with very little sleep are among the most energetic.
False.
Napoleon and Edison went with only a few hours' sleep a night, but they took
cat naps during the day. In any 24-hour period they apparently slept a normal
length of time.
Lack
of sleep alone may lead to really serious illness.
True.
Animals die more quickly from lack of sleep than from lack of food.
We
fall completely asleep and also wake up in one split second.
False.
When we are half asleep, either at the beginning or the end of the night, we
pass through a period when we cannot speak but can clearly hear sounds. Our
power to move is then asleep, but our hearing faculties are awake.
Sleeping
on the left side strains the heart.
False.
It makes no difference whether the average person sleeps on his back or on
either side.
Drinking
hot liquids before going to bed is one of the best ways of insuring good sleep.
False.
Pressure of liquids on the bladder causes restlessness. Only small amounts of
liquids should be drunk during the evening if you want to pass a restful night.
It is
unhealthy to sleep in summer with an electric fan on in the room.
The Entering Wedge 53
False.
If the fan is turned to the wall to avoid drafts and placed on heavy felt to
absorb sound, it will improve your chances of a restful night.
Physical
fatigue can make it difficult to get to sleep.
True.
A warm bath is probably the best way of reducing the tension that comes from
too much unaccustomed exercise before going to bed.
The
worst thing about insomnia is worrying about its effects on the next day's
work.
True.
Dr. Donald A. Laird, who studied sleep habits at Colgate University, suggests
that when sleep is difficult you decide to get up later the next day. Knowing
that you have plenty of time in which to rest, you will dose off easily.
Mattress
and springs should be of medium softness to insure the most restful sleep.
True.
A soft bed is the worst enemy of sound sleep, a hard bed almost as bad.
A nap
after lunch is sheer self-indulgence and cuts down a person's efficiency.
False.
Studies at Stephends College, Missouri, show that when students slept for an
hour after lunch their scholastic records were higher than when they used the
time for studying.
Mental
effort to is worst possible preparation for getting to sleep.
True.
A dull evening, ending with a walk to tire your muscles, is the best
preparation for sleeping.
The Entering Wedge 54
So
far these Divinely-revealed health principles speak loudly that a large
majority of Christians who ever pray for health but never do a thing to correct
their erroneous habits, are only wasting their breath. Now, though, has come
the opportune moment, the blessed moment, for each to realize that it is an
irony to try to convince the Lord that the sinners' bodies should be made
whole, but His laws of health ignored or put aside!
All
Christians should now awake to the realization that praying for health is not
their only duty; that their doing nothing more than praying, and nothing more
than listening to a preacher, is not only making their bodies sick, but also
keeping their minds inactive and their souls in darkness of advancing Truth. Anyone
placing on the doctor's shoulders the whole burden of his health, and on the
minister's shoulders the whole burden of his spiritual well-being, gains
neither health nor truth. Each must bear his own yoke in order to be fair to
himself.
As to
the next means by which church members as a body may regain both their physical
and spiritual health, the Lord asks the question and then answers it Himself:
"Is
it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are