BASIC PRINCIPLES OF HEALING

 The basic principles upon which modern medicine is based are twofold: poisoning and cutting. While in training, every physician and nurse is taught that every drug is poisonous. Two primary types of poisons are used: chemical poisoning and radiation poisoning. The other method is cutting. If something is wrong with an organ, instead of letting it heal, cut it out. In great contrast are the natural healing principles, which work with the body's own efforts to restore health. Here we find rest, generally brief liquid fasts, light meals, enemas, water applications, fresh air, sunshine, avoidance of harmful substances, and trust in divine power. Here is a clarifying passage that is outstanding in its simplicity and breadth of understanding, written by a pioneer in natural remedies, Ellen White.

 Paragraph headings have been added to focus the points made: The solution is to teach the people: "The only hope of better things is in the education of the people in right principles. Let the physicians teach the people that restorative power is not in drugs, but in nature." The true nature of "disease." It is a cleansing process: "Disease is an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that result from a violation of the laws of health." What we should do when a person is sick: "In case of sickness, the cause should be ascertained. 

Unhealthful conditions should be changed, wrong habits corrected. Then nature is to be assisted in her effort to expel impurities and to re-establish right conditions in the system." Here are the eight natural remedies: "Pure air, sunlight, abstemiousness, rest, exercise, proper diet, the use of water, trust in divine power,—these are the true remedies." Everyone should be taught how to use these remedies: "Every person should have a knowledge of nature's remedial agencies and how to apply them. It is essential both to understand the principles involved in the treatment of the sick and to have a practical training that will enable one rightly to use this knowledge." The use of natural remedies requires thought and work, but is well worth it: "The use of natural remedies requires an amount of care and effort that many are not willing to give. Nature's process of healing and upbuilding is gradual, and to the impatient, it seems slow. 

But in the end, it will be found that nature, untrammeled, does her work wisely and well. Those who persevere in obedience to her laws will reap the reward in health of body and health of the mind." Prevention is better than treatment: "Too little attention is generally given to the preservation of health. It is far better to prevent disease than to know how to treat it when contracted." There are important laws of life that govern every part of our bodies, our diet, and our behavior: "It is the duty of every person, for his own sake, and for the sake of humanity, to inform himself in regard to the laws of life and conscientiously to obey them." We need to learn about these laws and how they govern the parts (anatomy) and function (physiology) of our bodies: "All need to become acquainted with that most wonderful of all organisms, the human body. 

They should understand the functions of the various organs and the dependence of one upon another for the healthy action of all. They should study the influence of the mind upon the body, and of the body upon the mind, and the laws by which they are governed." Health is not the result of chance, but of obedience to the law: "We cannot be too often reminded that health does not depend on chance. It is a result of obedience to the law." Athletes understand this principle better than many others: "This is recognized by the contestants in athletic games and trials of strength. These men make the most careful preparation. They submit to thorough training and strict discipline. 

Every physical habit is carefully regulated. They know that neglect, excess, or carelessness, which weakens or cripples any organ or function of the body, would ensure defeat." Failure to understand and practice these principles, and obey these laws of nature,—can have effects that reach far into the future: "How much more important is such carefulness to ensure success in the conflict of life. It is not mimic battles in which we are engaged. We are waging a warfare upon which hang eternal results. We have unseen enemies to meet. Evil angels are striving for the dominion of every human being." When we weaken our health, we weaken our mental and moral powers: "Whatever injures the health, not only lessens physical vigor but tends to weaken the mental and moral powers. Indulgence in any unhealthful practice makes it more difficult for one to discriminate between right and wrong, and hence more difficult to resist evil. It increases the danger of failure and defeat." Everyone can be a winner if he will determine to control himself and practice the right principles: " `They which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. 

In the warfare in which we are engaged, all may win who will discipline themselves by obedience to right principles. The practice of these principles in the details of life is too often looked upon as unimportant—a matter too trivial to demand attention. But in view of the issues at stake, nothing with which we have to do is small. Every act casts its weight into the scale that determines life's victory or defeat. The Scripture bids us, `So run, that ye may obtain.' " If we would have success, we must obey the law of God: "The foundation of all enduring reform is the law of God. 

We are to present in clear, distinct lines they need of obeying this law. Its principles must be kept before the people. They [the moral law of Ten Commandments and the physical laws of nature] are as everlasting and inexorable as God Himself. One of the most deplorable effects of the original apostasy was the loss of man's power of self-control. Only as this power is regained, can there be real progress." The mind must control the body, or the mind will lose control of itself: "The body is the only medium through which the mind and the soul are developed for the upbuilding of character. Hence it is that the adversary of souls directs his temptations to the enfeebling and degrading of the physical powers. His success here means the surrender to the evil of the whole being. 

The tendencies of our physical nature, unless under the dominion of a higher power, will surely work ruin and death." The power of the will must be exercised to bring both body and mind under the control of God: "The the body is to be brought into subjection. The higher powers of the being are to rule. The passions are to be controlled by the will, which is itself to be under the control of God. The kingly power of reason, sanctified by divine grace, is to bear sway in our lives." We must urge upon men and women the vital importance of self-mastery, in controlling the appetites and passions, and keeping the body in good health: "The requirements of God must be brought home to the conscience. Men and women must be awakened to the duty of self-mastery, the need for purity, freedom from every depraving appetite, and defiling habit. They need to be impressed with the fact that all their powers of mind and body are the gift of God, and are to be preserved in the best possible condition for His service." Only in the enabling strength of Christ can this be done: "Apart from divine power, no genuine reform can be effected. Human barriers against natural and cultivated tendencies are but as the sandbank against the torrent. 

Not until the life of Christ becomes a vitalizing power in our lives can we resist the temptations that assail us from within and without." Each of us can have the strength to bring our appetites and passions under control: "Christ came to this world and lived the law of God, that man might have perfect mastery over the natural inclinations which corrupt the soul. The Physician of soul and body, He gives victory over warring lusts. He has provided every facility, that man may possess completeness of character." A surrendered life makes obedience a delight, not a drudgery: "When one surrenders to Christ, the mind is brought under the control of the law; but it is the royal law which proclaims liberty to every captive. By becoming one with Christ, man is made free. Subjection to the will of Christ means restoration to perfect manhood." Obedience to God is the freedom to be happy: "Obedience to God is liberty from the thralldom of sin, deliverance from human passion and impulse. A man may stand conqueror of himself, conqueror of his own inclinations, conqueror of principalities and powers, and of `the rulers of the darkness of this world,' and of `spiritual wickedness in high places.' "