Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-03-15
SundayMorning Talk
Spiritual Forces That Make for
Health.

When one falls sick what is the best
thing that can be done? Send for the
doctor? Very likely. Doctors know their
business-most of them. They are pre-
sumably masters of the science of medi-
cine and of surgery. They are doing won
derful things with their X-rays and in
struments. their prescriptions and their
hygienic treatment They can almost
take a man apart and put him together
again.
sick chamber does he look upon you as
simply a mass of bones and muscle and
blood? If he is really aware of the di-
mansions of his task. If he is an up-to-
date physician. he recognizes what the
wisest men in the profession have recog-
nized through the centuries-namely, the
fact that man is a combination of soul
and body: that the two elements exist In
the closest and most delicate relationship;
that relatively few diseases affect only
the body; that when he prescribes he
must not ignore the part that the will.
the. affection and the conscience play in
the life of the average patient, and espe-
cially in the life of sufferers from chronic
and nervous troubles. He knows that the
patient can cooperate powerfully with
the medicine and help produce the desired
result and that IL his attitude be one OF
despair it can almost neutralize the RENE
dies. SO. If he knows. his man. particu-
larly If he trusts his man. he will say to
him If the case be desperate: See here.
won't deny that you are pretty ILL., but you
have q fighting chance for recovery. Take
it. Do all you can to help me pull you
through"
Now what are some of these resources
of the spirit that thus lend themselves
to the summons of the physician; that
can help a man when he is i'll to get well
L to- all
A fund of good cheer Is splendid re-
storative. TritN is the saying, ut isn't
work that kills men. but worry" and
yet we need to take the profound truth
Of the saying home to our hearts every
new day. If man has a fountain of
good cheer in his soul he will instinctively
carry himself more erectly; he will mini
mize the little aches that come to him
during the the day: he will open his lungs
joyously to the fresh winds Of heaven
he will not fear contagion: he will look
habitually on the bright side of things,
that 1t is but a temporary experience
and that he will be all the healthier in the
long run because of It,
The habitual cherishing of large and
generous thoughts makes for health. A
church in Boston is now undertaking to
minister to the physical and nervous ills
Of men by getting into play certain
powers of the soul which the average
victim Of nervous disorders seldom cult
Yates. 1t works upon the principle of
suggestion. The persons who come thith-
err for collective and individual treatment
are urged first of all to think of some
thing besides their own persistent diff
culties something besides their own little
and diseased selves They are asked to
open their minds to great. enlarging. tran
QUILTING thoughts. to the order and
beauty of the eternal world. to the eter-
nifty and infinity of the Divine Being, to
the glory and dignity of man as he has
manifested his genius and capacity
through the centuries They are asked to
open their hearts to magnanimous and
friendly emotions toward their fellow
men. What a difference between such
thoughts and brooding over the personal
problem as to whether one is going 70
sleep or lie awake tonight.
Another tremendous spiritual force that
has a direct relation to health is prayer.
This does not mean that every disease
can be cured by prayer. but that true
prayer brings into action hidden forces
and capacities which. by their very oper-
alton. quiet the soul and put 1t into such
a frame that medicine can act upon the
body more effectively. THE PARSON.