Making Health Reform Attractive

I suppose the same problem exists in most of our homes—Who will be the first to read the new issue of THE MINISTRY?—and our home is no exception. The series of articles currently appearing in the section "Counsel From the Spirit of Prophecy" has stimulated my thinking. Let's talk this problem over in­formally for a few minutes to see whether we can help one another come to a clearer under­standing of our beliefs and responsibilities re­garding healthful diet.

Over and over again that familiar verse "And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their souls" ' has impressed itself on my mind as I have read those quotations about inferior, insufficient, poorly cooked food and its effect on one's family. I had not fully realized how much good cooking has to do with the sweetness of disposition all of us need so des­perately, with the effectiveness of my husband's sermons and the clearness of his thinking, with our ability to "attain to Christian perfection"' and a "moral fitness for the finishing touch of immortality,' and with the condition of my mind which makes it possible for God to "im­press it with the precious truths of His word." ' Do the health habits that prevent "leanness of soul" contribute in any degree to leanness of body? How can I make true health reform so attractive that I may help influence the mem­bers of my church to adopt it?

First, let's frankly ask ourselves, What is health reform? Is it a distasteful program of eat­ing only what is good for me, no matter how it tastes, which I resolve to stick to even if it kills me? Has it become tied in my thinking to one or two reforms, either for which I have a tremendous conviction or which others have tried to convince me are the elements of which health reform consists? If so, I need to read widely for myself from both the Spirit of proph­ecy and authorities who are well educated and wholly consecrated, until I have a new vision of what constitutes true health reform and what it can do for me and for the church I love.

In its broadest sense, health reform is a way of life that should give us as a people better health and keener minds, minds more sensitive to the impressions the Holy Spirit tries to make upon us. To some, the term "health reform" con­notes a list of taboos, and as such it becomes distasteful and gives false impressions to our neighbors that our church has set up a list of things we may and may not eat, restrictions such as in Jesus' time surrounded Sabbathkeep­ing. These prejudice thoughtful, educated peo­ple, who know sound principles of nutrition.

It is obvious that not every one of the state­ments in the Spirit of prophecy applies to every person. Some of us overeat; others have a ten­dency to supply an inadequate quantity or variety; some of us cannot use articles of food that the systems of others require; some of us enjoy cooking too much, whereas others need to discipline themselves to spend more time and thought in preparing tasty meals. My def­inition of health reform, consequently, may not necessarily be identical with everyone else's, and it is something I must formulate after wide reading from carefully selected sources; prayer; straight, clear thinking; and counsel with others of more experience.

/ Must Believe in It Myself

If I am not a firm believer in the importance and benefits of healthful living in the broadest sense of the word, I surely cannot hope to make it an attractive way of living to others. True reform is to draw our people together and fit them for translation; consequently, it will not become a source of ill feeling and division in our churches. Not only will it give us more abundant health and joy in living and keener minds, but it will also open doors and break down prejudice as its sensibleness appeals to those whom we are trying to lead into acceptance of the third angel's message.

Our ministers are to "find out what con­stitutes true health reform, and teach its prin­ciples, both by precept and by a quiet, consistent example." If more can be done by "example to advocate health reform than by preaching it," then the responsibility of lead­ership in this field falls even more heavily on the shoulders of us wives rather than upon those of our husbands, for as wives we are responsible for the food placed upon our tables. In fact, our ability to make healthful reforms attractive will to a large extent determine our husbands' conclusions as to their benefits. Still, most of us have not had the broad experience in working with people that our husbands and their brethren in the ministry have, and we can profit from their experience.

We will probably discover from our study that some reforms are overdue, and if we will take pains to prepare appetizing meals in harmony with those reforms, they will have a convincing power not only to our own families but to those for whom we labor. We will also discover from our study that other foods are not the most healthful—neither morally right nor wrong to use, but not the very best. It is in this area that we need to move carefully, seek counsel, use good, sanctified judgment and Christian tolerance. We should feel keenly our responsibility before the judgment seat of heaven to lead our people gently in straight paths, by our quiet, consistent, sensible prac­tices.

Be Positive, Not Negative

When health reform degenerates into only a list of condemned foods, it is no wonder that it does not merit wholehearted acceptance. If "the brain nerves which communicate with the entire system are the only medium through which Heaven can communicate to man and affect his inmost life," it is clear why it "is a sin to place poorly prepared food on the table." ⁸ "The work of teaching the peo­ple how to prepare a dietary that is at once wholesome and appetizing, is of the utmost im­portance." Those who develop this talent are rated by heaven as possessing ten talents, and the most valuable of all gifts. If we do not know how to cook well, we have counsel from Sister White: "I would go to the very best cook that could be found in the country, and remain there . . until I had become . . . an intelligent, skillful cook. I would pursue this course if I were forty years old." "

There is abundant material available to help us develop this talent. There are several ex­cellent cookbooks printed by our own denom­inational publishing houses that are in harmony with the principles of health reform. We have well-qualified nutrition instructors who make it their lifework to show our people some­thing better, more nutritious and appetizing, to make it easier for our people to change their habits. There should be such a demand for their services that many more would need to be called into this work full time.

Healthful desserts can be made so appealing that rich, sickish-sweet pastries will lose all their attractiveness. Healthful entrees can be made so satisfying that our people need never hunger for protein foods that have no place in our diet. Well-cooked vegetables can be made so attractive that hard-to-digest conglomerations will in time become distasteful. And nothing in the world so excites the appetite as the aroma of wholesome, whole-wheat bread baking in the oven.

Consecrate Our Appetites

Sometimes we wonder just how much pre­judice against health reform stems from one little private room in our hearts into which we have not yet admitted Jesus. Do we some­times plead fear of fanaticism when really we just don't want to change our habits? Perhaps some articles of diet we now use may in the future become unsafe. Will we then be willing to cross them from our shopping lists? You know, we grownups have dietary habits that are already quite well set, but under the pos­session of the Holy Spirit it is possible to change those habits. When Jesus takes complete con­trol of the heart, the appetite for tobacco and alcohol may be overcome. Cannot He do the same with our appetites for unhealthful foods, or our poor dietary habits, or overeating?

We constantly point out to our people the high cost of taking the first drink, the first step in any wrong direction. Have we realized fully that the first step in the wrong direction concerning healthful living will lead to viola­tion of the Ten Commandments in order to avoid reproach? " Intemperance or wrong hab­its of eating are a "fruitful source of most church trials." ¹² They contribute to the increas­ing immorality of our day." Breaking the com­mandments, church dissension and friction, and prevalent immorality are three of the evils we take such a firm stand about; still they are often the end results of this first wrong step.

How can we afford to consider it unimpor­tant what and how we eat? How concerned are we with keeping clear minds through which heavenly impressions may reach us? Are we so in earnest over attaining Christian perfection that we are willing to bring our appetites into subjection to our convictions? Our first mother fell upon the point of appetite. If we fall on the same thing now, how can we be sure we would not have done the same thing she did so long ago in the Garden of Eden?

Avoid Extremes

This complete consecration of our appetites will not lead us into fanaticism; we need not fear that. "Health reformers, above all others, should be careful to avoid extremes"" "Those who advocate an unpopular truth should seek to be consistent in their own life. They . . . should not try to see how different they can be from others, but how near they can come to those whom they wish to influence, that they may help them to the positions they themselves so highly prize.' "Narrow ideas, and over­straining of small points, have been a great in­jury to the cause of hygiene," ¹⁶ and we believe this statement to be still true. "Health reform means something to us, and we must not be­little it by narrow views and practices." " As mentioned before, not every statement from Sister White's pen refers to every situation. She wrote a great deal on denying appetite, un­healthful foods and practices, et cetera, but she also counseled many not to be so extreme in their views. So often those who have a tend­ency to go to extremes see only the statements that were intended for their brothers and sisters, while others who do not wish to change their practices look for excuses that will ease their consciences in their pet indulgences. If we could only pull together, instead of some run­ning ahead of the Lord while others lag behind to try to balance their overeager teammates, how much easier the load would pull!

Sister White herself sometimes ate lemon pie." And she did not specify that it be made with a concoction of rare grains and oils and soybean extracts. While we do not follow any person's example, we have her testimony that she lived the health reform that had been re­vealed to her, with which lemon pie occasion­ally was apparently not out of harmony. True health reform will not divide our churches into two camps. Every minister's wife and worker should carefully read the Appendix in Counsels on Diet and Foods, and measure his approach and results by the background given there.

Love Others into the Reforms

Health reformers above all others should guard against trying to drive others into their own patterns of living. We must remember that a person's Christian maturity is not to be meas­ured by the articles of diet he denies himself. Some of the strictest health reformers have other weaknesses with which they are fighting a valiant battle, while some who may not eat according to our ideas of health reform may be living closer to God than we would think. Try­ing to push people into our patterns will only disgust and prejudice them. Until we have reached the place where we love others as much as Jesus loves them, we may expect difficulties in influencing others to follow any changes we advocate.

A highly respected teacher under whom I learned many valuable lessons told her class, "So many reformers are possessed with a love of their reforms rather than a love of the peo­ple." An appeal for a reform, however timely it may be, is neutralized by a critical attitude, a characteristic fully as un-Christlike as the self-indulgence the reformer would like to correct. "He who takes it upon himself to correct others, is likely to cultivate a habit of faultfinding, and soon his whole interest will be in picking flaws and finding defects. Do not watch others, to pick at their faults or expose their errors." " When we have become the loving and lovable Christians we should be, others will not be able to resist the drawing power of our exam­ple.

Let us all together lay aside our prejudices and practice genuine health reform in our homes, teach our people the better way, con­secrating ourselves, including our appetites, to the Lord, still being careful to avoid all ex­tremes, and love others with an irresistible de­votion. The key to happiness and peace of mind lies in an educated, sanctified, clean conscience. "Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth."