Regular, appropriate physical exercise is the one phase of health reform generally neglected by many Seventh-day Adventist workers. Preachers as a rule are quite careful about their diet, more or less consistent about their hours of needed sleep, and extravagant in the amount of work they will crowd into one day. But just how much stress is placed on true physical culture as a necessary health measure —judging by the slouching postures, abdominal curves, and nervous breakdowns occurring in the ministry? This study is presented, therefore, as a reinvestigation of the importance of exercise in the minister's personal program as a prescribed means of preserving efficiency, rightly representing the gospel requirements, and insuring added years of service to the denomination.
For the purposes of this study, evidences are confined to the testimonies of Mrs. E. G. White. An examination of her counsel is intended to throw light on such questions as the following : Is regular, planned, physical self-improvement justifiable, or is it to be considered a sinful waste of the worker's time? If exercise is vital to health, to what extent should we partake of it? What types of physical recreation are best for the worker's health and influence?
This study is planned to answer these questions, since it deals with ( 1) the importance and need of physical exercise, (2) the quantity or frequency, and (3) the ideal forms of exercise for the preservation of all-round health.
I. Importance and Need of Exercise
Because man is an integration of a physical, mental, and moral being, there is a very definite relationship between physical, mental, and moral health.
Truly there is a delicate interrelationship between body, mind, and spirit. The need of maintaining physical health is clearly emphasized by Mrs. White. A quotation from the book Education is typical of her philosophy of general health. We read:
"Since the mind and the soul find expression through the body, both mental and spiritual vigor are in a great degree dependent upon physical strength and activity ; whatever promotes physical health, promotes the development of a strong mind and a well-balanced character. Without health, no one can as distinctly understand or as completely fulfil his obligations to himself, to his fellow-beings, or to his Creator. Therefore the health should be as carefully guarded as the character."—Page 195.
MENTAL INFLUENCE.—Let US notice first the important bearing that sound physical health has upon the intellectual faculties, as stated by the Spirit of prophecy:
"Ministers, teachers, and students do not become as intelligent as they should in regard to the necessity of physical exercise in the open air. They neglect this duty, which is most essential for the preservation of health: They closely apply their minds to books, and eat the allowance of a laboring man. under–sucli habits, some grow corpulent, because the system is clogged. Others become lean, feeble, and weak, because their vital powers are exhausted in throwing off the excess of food; the liver becomes burdened, and unable to throw off the impurities in the blood, and sickness is the result. If physical exercise were combined with mental exertion, the blood would be quickened in its circulation, the action of the heart would be more perfect, impure matter would be thrown off, and a new life and vigor would be experienced in every part of the body.
"When the minds of ministers, school teachers, and students are continually exerted by study, and the body is allowed to be inactive, the nerves of emotion are taxed, while the nerves of motion are inactive. The wear being all upon the mental organs, they become overworked and enfeebled."—Testimonies, VOL 3, pp. 489, 490.
The foregoing quotation emphasizes the effect of lack of exercise upon mind and nerves. Many a student who might have become an intellectual asset, has thus been lost to the cause. Not only older ministers, but also "men young in years," "have become mentally feeble" for lack of active physical labor. Unlike the pioneers "who traveled on horseback" and "enjoyed much better health," their successors "avoid all physical exertion as far as possible, and confine themselves to their books."—Ibid., vol. 4, pp. 269, 270.
It is obvious that we must find some compensation for the physical exercise that has been lost with the vanishing form of ministerial activity of the horse-and-buggy days.
Because the tone of the mind is in direct proportion to the health of the body, this caution is given the modern preacher : "To keep the body in a healthy condition to develop its strength, that every part of the living machinery may act harmoniously, should be the first study of life. To neglect the body is to neglect the mind."—Ibid., vol. 3, pp. 485, 486.
INFLUENCE ON SPIRITUAL.—Not only is mental strength determined by the individual's physical condition, but the spiritual experience, likewise, is to a large degree affected by the health of the body. To a study of this phase of health, the relation of the physical to the spiritual, we now turn our attention.
Concerning the relation of body to soul, we are advised in Education, page 209: "Teach the students that right living depends on right thinking, and that physical activity is essential to purity of thought." Apparently the weakest points of man's spiritual nature are prone ter rise to the surface in times of physical fatigue and debility. The very definite relationship existing between a sound Christian experience and good bodily condition is further emphasized in Christ's Object Lessons:
"Our impulses and passions have their seat in the body, and it must be kept in the best condition physically, and under the most spiritual influences, in order that our talents may be put to the highest use.
"Anything that lessens physical strength enfeebles the mind, and makes it less capable of discriminating between right and wrong. We become less capable of choosing the good, and have less strength of will to do that which we know to be right. . . . Those who thus shorten their lives and unfit themselves for service by disregarding nature's laws, are guilty of robbery."—Page 346.
Not only does a lack of exercise, then, enfeeble the intellect as we have observed; but if neglected to the place where the vitality is seriously impaired, it weakens the moral powers. This, Mrs. White declares, is an offense against God. Because the human body is the purchase of Christ's blood, she declares that we must "feel a great responsibilty resting upon us to keep ourselves in the very best condition of health, that we might render to God perfect service"; and she reminds us that "when we take any course which expends our vitality, decreases our strength, or beclouds the intellect, we sin against God."—Counsels on Health, p. 43.
II. Frequency of Physical Exercise
That physical exercise should be engaged in regularly every day, for the best good to be derived from it, is the unequivocal testimony of the messenger of God. This health principle is held up as a standard in such counsels as the following:
"Those who do not use their limbs every day, will realize a weakness when they do attempt to exercise.
Moderate exercise every day will impart strength to the muscles, which without exercise become flabby and enfeebled. By active exercise in the open air every day, the liver, kidneys, and lungs also will be strengthened to perform their work. Bring to your aid the power of the will, which will resist cold, and will give energy to the nervous system. In a short time you will so realize the benefit of exercise and pure air that you would not live without these blessings."—Ibid., p. 54.
"Those who are engaged in constant mental labor, whether in studying or preaching, need rest and change. The earnest student is constantly taxing the brain, too often while neglecting physical exercise. . . . If all our workers were so situated that they could spend a few hours each day in outdoor labor, and felt free to do this, it would be a blessing to them ; they would be able to discharge more successfully the duties of their calling."—Gospel Workers, p. 240.
"Those whose habits are sedentary should, when the weather will permit exercise in the open air each day, summer or winter. Walking is preferable to riding or driving, for it brings more of the muscles into exercise. . . . Such exercise would in many cases be better for the health than medicine."—Ministry of Healing, p. 240.
These testimonies should be sufficient to convince the most skeptical reader that it is part of God's plan to exercise daily in order to safeguard and improve one's physical, mental, and spiritual health. In one paragraph from Counsels on Health, the expression "every day" occurs three times, in three consecutive sentences. We are missing the mark, and perhaps even depriving God and man of years of useful service, by failing to exercise the body recreatively, daily, as well as the mind and spirit.
If we have a daily program of spiritual culture and a daily schedule for mental improvement, then why should we not also work out a plan for physical culture into the daily program? Let us remember that the Spirit of prophecy tells us that the mind, the body, and the spirit all work harmoniously, and each is affected by the condition of the others. We evaluate a man's spiritual worth by the regularity and nature of his daily, devotions. A scholar's standing is determined by the amount of time he devotes daily to reading and to pursuit of definite study. Is it not highly important that we recognize the part daily exercise has upon the making of a man, not only physically, but mentally and morally?
Surely the laity should cease criticizing a pastor who spends some time in his garden. In fact, there may be times of severe strain when it may be necessary for a worker to spend unusually long periods in rest and labor by way of counteracting nervous tensions. The broadminded view of the Spirit of prophecy leads one to feel that individual needs are the determining factor in the question. We read from a testimony previously unpublished, but now incorporated in Evangelism:
"If a minister, during his leisure time, engages in labor in his orchard or garden, shall he deduct that time from his salary? Certainly not, any more than he should put in his time when he is called to work over hours in ministerial labor. . . . The system could not endure the heavy strain were there no time for letting up. There are hours in the day that call for severe taxation, for which the minister receives no extra salary, and if he chooses to chop wood several hours a day, or work in his garden, it is as much his privilege to do this as to preach. A minister cannot always be preaching and visiting, for this is exhaustive work....
"I have been shown that at times those in the ministry are compelled to labor day and night and live on very meager fare. When a crisis comes, every nerve and sinew is taxed by the heavy strain. If these men could go aside and rest a while, engaging in physical labor, it would be a great relief. Thus men might have been saved who have gone down to the grave. It is a positive necessity to physical health and mental clearness to do some manual work during the day. Thus the blood is called from the brain to other portions of the body."—Pages 660, 66. (Italics mine.)
Of course, it need hardly be observed that what Mrs. White has said above is not to be construed as a defense of laziness. There is no justifiable room in God's service for a willful waste of time. Few err in this direction. Rather, the above statement must be regarded as a broad-minded emphasis on the necessity of saving the lives of our workers. To this end she recommends daily exercise as part of each person's program. Thus the body will be brought to peak performance, the mind will be clear, and the spiritual discernment unbefogged.
(To be concluded)
