The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-12-18
"Enmeshed in Flesh"

The medievalist thought of the relationships
of soul and body as being somewhat like that of
the Siamese twins. One was loosely tied to the
other. One could act independently of the other
and pull the other down lift it up A sinful
man was one who let his body rule while spirit
ual man put his body under" and believed man
could somehow rise superior to all the influences
of the flesh.
That theory of dualism is giving way to our
modern theory of "monism" We think of an in
dividual as a being manifesting himself in two
fold manner through body and mind, and we be-
lieve the body to be essential to a man as his
''soul.' They rise or fall together and nothing
can affect one without at the same time influence
ing the other. The sound body is the product OF
a sound mind while mind cannot go forward
into complete sanity without taking the body
with it.
A striking illustration of this truth is af,
forded by an experiment recently conducted in q
Philadelphia school. This institution drew many
Of its pupils from the poorer quarters of the for
eign born element They were found i'll cared
for and undernourished; they were difficult tc
deal with and their work was below the average
Instead of scolding and furnishing the chill
dren for their "stubbornness and stupidity" a
wise teacher organized a free food "clinic.' Each
morning at ten o'clock the children were given a
ration composed of milk and cereal properly
cooked.
The result of this was that in four weeks liz
children gained in weight total of $50 pounds
Their spirits and activity were much improved
One grade, typical Of the rest, so improved in its
school work that it gained 25.6 per cent in spell
ing and 1901 per cent in arithmetic. Above all
they were less nervous, less irritable, and were
far more cordial"
1t is this last improvement which strikes us
as being most significant It opens up to us at
once the whole vista of the possibility of improv-
ing character and morals through better care
and development of the body.
When we come to realize the momentous i'm
portance of this fact we shall better understand
why it is that bad living and especially bad work
ing conditions responsible for many of the
chronic vices and sins of the time.
Consider one single factor alone-fatigue
Whole volumes being written to show
that tagged man can never be at his best or
measure up to normal requirements either of
labor or of morals. Prof Mosso, the worlds
leading authority on the subject, says:
Fatigue is sort of poisoning by chemical
products Of decomposition
NERVE CeIAS SIlTlHK up, organic functions are
interfered with, the blood becomes loaded down
with toxins and the entire body suffers
In such state it is impossible to think clear
ly. School pupils do better work in the early
morning. Authors, such as Goethe, have found
this the best time for creative work. DR..
Burnham says, "The one essential thing in eco
nomic brain action is the maintenance of the
proper balance between the storage and the ex-
penditure of energy
Fatgued people break down under response
bility. They suffer temporary loss of memory
power. Their will grows flabby and strength of
purpose is undermined. Senses are less acute.
A majority of accidents in factories are due to
this and fall in the latter part of the working
period. 1t is literally true that the world looks
brighter in the morning because the brain is not
then clogged with poisonous wastes.
Even ones vocabulary suffers in condition
of tredness. Public speakers have learned that
ready speech cannot be had from a WORKOUT
mind. And as for it's effect on ones disposition
when one is tired.
1t was after considering these facts that Pres
ident Henry Churchill King was led to say:
Fatigue is therefore, not merely physically
it is intellectually and morally
dangerous and it makes temptations possible
that have cost many man his character Bodi-
ly conditions rightly observed can help both in
tellectual and MORAL efficiency"
We need not wonder that the Christian
church, which is peculiarly concerned with the
conditions that make for character is turning it's
attention to the working conditions under which
men are toiling 1t behooves the whole church
to reply to the hard heads who growl to the
preachers, "Stick to your last and let us run our
business what one gingery minister snapped
back:
What avails to preach the gospel of sal
tinr,