How to Live. This is a collection of articles from 1865 on health reform and includes material by Ellen White but also comes from other sources. It has historical interest and it is interesting to see the simplicity of many of the recipes included.
Appeal to MothersAlthough this was written long ago, the problems addressed are still very much with us; only the settings have changed. The counsel is still of great value for anyone wise enough to recognize its truthfulness. For example, when novel reading is mentioned, with the harm it creates, just think of the romances and the TV soap operas of today; also women are not likely to be found laboring over the hot cook stove today, but instead a myriad of activities, clubs, groups and social events still take time and attention from the careful rearing and training of the family and the cultivation of moral graces.
Perfect unity should exist among the workers who handle the books that are to flood the world with light. Wherever the canvassing work is presented among our people, let both the health books and the religious books be presented together as parts of a united work. The relation of the religious and the health books is presented to me as illustrated by the union of the warp and the woof to form a beautiful pattern and a perfect piece of work. The Colporteur Evangelist. 71.1
The indifference with which the health books have been treated by many is an offense to God. To separate the health work from the great body of the work is not in His order. Present truth lies in the work of health reform as verily as in other features of gospel work. No one branch when separated from others can be a perfect whole. The Colporteur Evangelist. 72.1
The gospel of health has able advocates, but their work has been made very hard because so many ministers, presidents of conferences, and others in positions of influence have failed to give the question of health reform its proper attention. They have not recognized it in its relation to the work of the message as the right arm of the body. While very little respect has been shown to this department by many of the people, and by some of the ministers, the Lord has shown His regard for it by giving it abundant prosperity. When properly conducted, the health work is an entering wedge, making a way for other truths to reach the heart. When the third angel's message is received in its fullness, health reform will be given its place in the councils of the conference, in the work of the church, in the home, at the table, and in all the household arrangements. Then the right arm will serve and protect the body. The Colporteur Evangelist. 72.2
Our bodies are built up from the food we eat....It is a wonderful process that transforms the food into blood and uses this blood to build up the varied parts of the body. Ministry of Health 295.1
Nature's process of healing and upbuilding is gradual, and to the impatient it seems slow. Ministry of Healing, p.127.3
In Christ, God has provided means for subduing every evil trait and resisting every temptation, however strong. Ministry of Healing, p.65.2,3
There are many more simple remedies which will do much to restore healthful action to the body. All these simple preparations the Lord expects us to use for ourselves, but man's extremities are God's opportunities. If we neglect to do that which is within the reach of nearly every family, and ask the Lord to relieve pain when we are too indolent to make use of these remedies within our power, it is simply presumption. The Lord expects us to work in order that we may obtain food. He does not propose that we shall gather the harvest unless we break the sod, till the soil, and cultivate the produce. Then God sends the rain and the sunshine and the clouds to cause vegetation to flourish. God works and man cooperates with God. Then there is seedtime and harvest. God has caused to grow out of the ground, herbs for the use of man, and if we understand the nature of those roots and herbs, and make a right use of them, there would not be a necessity of running for the doctor so frequently, and people would be in much better health than they are today. I believe in calling upon the Great Physician when we have used the remedies I have mentioned. Letter 35, 1890
