Peace Of Mind


 

 

Effects Upon The Mind.

     153. That which darkens the skin and makes it dingy, also clouds the spirits, and destroys the cheerfulness and peace of mind. . . . Every wrong habit which injures the health of the body, reacts in effect upon the mind. 

     154. Those things which fret and derange the stomach will have a benumbing influence upon the finer feelings of the heart.

     155. The gloom and despondency supposed to be the result of obedience to God's moral law is often attributable to disregard of physical law. Those whose moral faculties are beclouded by disease are not the ones rightly to represent the Christian life, and show forth the joys of salvation or the beauties of holiness. They are too often in the fire of fanaticism, or the waters of cold indifference or stolid gloom.

     156. Unless they practise true temperance, they will not, they cannot, be susceptible to the sanctifying influence of the truth.

     157. Eating, drinking, and dressing all have a direct bearing upon our spiritual advancement.

     158. By indulging in a wrong course of action in eating and drinking, thousands upon thousands are ruining their health, and not only is their health ruined, but their morals are corrupted, because diseased blood flows through their veins.

     159. Overeating prevents the free flow of thought and words, and that intensity of feeling which is so necessary in order to impress the truth upon the heart of the hearer.

     160. Excessive eating of even the best of food will produce a morbid condition of the moral feelings. . . . Wrong habits of eating and drinking lead to errors in thought and action. Indulgence of appetite strengthens the animal propensities, giving them the ascendency over the mental and spiritual powers. . . . Everything that conflicts with natural law creates a diseased condition of the soul.

     161. Irregularity in eating and drinking, and improper dressing, deprave the mind and corrupt the heart, and bring the noble attributes of the soul in slavery to the animal passions.

     162. If those who profess to be Christians desire to solve the questions so perplexing to them,--why their minds are so dull, why their religious aspirations are so feeble,--they need not, in many instances, go farther than the table; here is cause enough, if there were no other.

     163. A religious life can be more successfully gained and maintained if flesh meats are discarded; for a meat diet stimulates into intense activity lustful propensities, and enfeebles the spiritual and moral nature.

     164. Children reared in a healthful way are much more easily controlled than those who are indulged in eating everything their appetite craves, and at all times. They are usually cheerful, contented, and healthy. Even the most stubborn, passionate, and wayward have become submissive, patient, and possessed of self-control by persistently following up this order of diet, united with a firm but kind management in regard to other matters.

HL 40-42