| Impurities are constantly and imperceptibly passing from the body through the pores, and if the skin is not kept in a healthy condition, the system is burdened with impure matter. If the garments worn are not frequently cleansed from these impurities, the pores of the skin absorb again the waste matter thrown off. The impurities of the body, if not allowed to escape, are taken back into the blood, and forced upon the internal organs. Nature, to relieve herself of poisonous impurities, makes an effort to free the system, which effort produces fevers and what is termed disease.-- H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 60. {HL 206.2} |
| I should do a very unwise thing to enter a cool room when in a perspiration; I should show myself an unwise steward to allow myself to sit in a draft, and thus expose myself so as to take cold. I should be unwise to sit with cold feet and limbs and thus drive back the blood from the extremities to the brain or internal organs. I should always protect my feet in damp weather. I should eat regularly of the most healthful food which will make the best quality of blood, and I should not work intemperately if it is in my power to avoid doing so. And when I violate the laws God has established in my being, I am to repent and reform, and place myself in the most favorable condition under the doctors God has provided--pure air, pure water, and the healing, precious sunlight. {CG 367.1} |
| In order to follow the fashions, mothers dress their children with limbs nearly naked; and the blood is chilled back from its natural course and thrown upon the internal organs, breaking up the circulation and producing disease. The limbs were not formed by our Creator to endure exposure, as was the face. The Lord provided, . . . also, large veins and nerves for the limbs and feet, to contain a large amount of the current of human life, that the limbs might be uniformly as warm as the body. They should be so thoroughly clothed as to induce the blood to the extremities. {CG 426.3} |
| Many labor under the mistaken idea that if they have taken cold they must carefully exclude the outside air, and increase the temperature of the room until it is excessively hot. But the system of one suffering with cold is deranged, the pores are closed by waste matter, and there is more or less inflammation of the internal organs, because the blood has been chilled back from the surface, and thrown upon them. At this time, of all others, the lungs should not be deprived of pure air. Judicious exercise would induce the blood to the surface, and thus relieve the internal organs. The power of the will is a great help in resisting cold, and giving energy to the nervous system. To deprive the lungs of air, is like depriving the stomach of food. Air is the food that God has provided for the lungs. Welcome it; cultivate a love for it, as a precious boon of heaven. {CTBH 104.3} |
| Another serious evil is the wearing of skirts so that their weight must be sustained by the hips. This heavy weight, pressing upon the internal organs, drags them downward and causes weakness of the stomach and a feeling of lassitude, inclining the wearer to stoop, which further cramps the lungs, making correct breathing more difficult. {CH 91.5} |
| I have been shown mothers who are governed by a diseased imagination, the influence of which is felt upon husband and children. The windows must be kept closed because the mother feels the air. If she is at all chilly, and a change is made in her clothing, she thinks her children must be treated in the same manner, and thus the entire family are robbed of physical stamina. All are affected by one mind, physically and mentally injured through the diseased imagination of one woman who considers herself a criterion for the whole family. The body is clothed in accordance with the caprices of a diseased imagination, and smothered under an amount of wrappings which debilitate the system. The skin cannot perform its office; the studied habit of shunning the air and avoiding exercise, closes the pores, the little mouths through which the body breathes,--making it impossible to throw off impurities through that channel. The burden of labor is thrown upon the liver, lungs, kidneys, etc., and these internal organs are compelled to do the work of the skin. {CH 96.2} |
| Strict habits of cleanliness should be observed. Many, while well, will not take the trouble to keep in a healthy condition. They neglect personal cleanliness, and are not careful to keep their clothing pure. Impurities are constantly and imperceptibly passing from the body, through the pores, and if the surface of the skin is not kept in a healthy condition, the system is burdened with impure matter. If the clothing worn is not often washed, and frequently aired, it becomes filthy with impurities which are thrown off from the body by sensible and insensible perspiration. And if the garments worn are not frequently cleansed from these impurities, the pores of the skin absorb again the waste matter thrown off. The impurities of the body, if not allowed to escape, are taken back into the blood, and forced upon the internal organs.--H. to L., Chap. 4, p. 60. {HL 143.1} |
