The sympathy which exists between the mind and the body is very great. When one is affected, the other responds. The condition of the mind has much to do with the health of the physical system. If the mind is free and happy under a consciousness of rightdoing and a sense of satisfaction in causing happiness to others, it will create a cheerfulness that will react upon the whole system, causing a freer circulation of the blood and a toning up of the entire body. The blessing of God is a healer; and those who are abundant in benefiting others will realize that wondrous blessing in their hearts and lives.—Testimonies for the Church 4:60.
(MM 105.1)
Thousands Needlessly Sick
Thousands are sick and dying around us who might get well and live if they would; but their imagination holds them. They fear that they will be made worse if they labor or exercise, when this is just the change they need to make them well. Without this they never can improve. They should exercise the power of the will, rise above their aches and debility, engage in useful employment, and forget that they have aching backs, sides, lungs, and heads. Neglecting to exercise the entire body, or a portion of it, will bring on morbid conditions. Inaction of any of the organs of the body will be followed by a decrease in size and strength of the muscles and will cause the blood to flow sluggishly through the blood vessels.—Testimonies for the Church 3:76.
(MM 105.2)
Health Through Service for Others
Those who, so far as it is possible, engage in the work of doing good to others by giving practical demonstration of their interest in them, are not only relieving the ills of human life in helping them bear their burdens, but are at the same time contributing largely to their own health of soul and body. Doing good is a work that benefits both giver and receiver. If you forget self in your interest for others, you gain a victory over your infirmities. The satisfaction you will realize in doing good will aid you greatly in the recovery of the healthy tone of the imagination.
(MM 105.3)
The pleasure of doing good animates the mind and vibrates through the whole body. While the faces of benevolent men are lighted up with cheerfulness, and their countenances express the moral elevation of the mind, those of selfish, stingy men are dejected, cast down, and gloomy. Their moral defects are seen in their countenances....
(MM 106.1)
Invalids, I advise you to venture something. Arouse your willpower, and at least make a trial of this matter. Withdraw your thoughts and affections from yourselves. Walk out by faith. Are you inclined to center your thoughts upon yourselves, fearing to exercise, and fearing that if you expose yourself to the air you will lose your life; resist these thoughts and feelings. Do not yield to your diseased imagination.—Testimonies for the Church 2:534.
(MM 106.2)
Drudgery Versus Healthful Activity
Manual labor quickens the circulation of the blood. The more active the circulation the more free will be the blood from obstructions and impurities. The blood nourishes the body. The health of the body depends upon the healthful circulation of the blood. If work is performed without the heart being in it, it is simply drudgery, and the benefit which should result from the exercise is not gained.—The Health Reformer, May, 1873.
(MM 106.3)
Contentment and Cheerfulness
A contented mind, a cheerful spirit, is health to the body and strength to the soul. Nothing is so fruitful a cause of disease as depression, gloominess, and sadness. Mental depression is terrible.—Testimonies for the Church 1:702.
(MM 106.4)
Enlisting the Willpower
In journeying I have met many who were really sufferers through their imaginations. They lacked willpower to rise above and combat disease of body and mind, and therefore they were held in suffering bondage. A large share of this class of invalids is found among the youth.
(MM 106.5)
I sometimes meet with young women lying in bed sick. They complain of headache. Their pulse may be firm, and they be full in flesh; yet their sallow skins indicate that they are bilious. My thoughts have been that, if I were in their condition, I should know at once what course to pursue to obtain relief. Although I might feel indisposed, I should not expect to recover while lying in bed. I should bring willpower to my aid, and should leave my bed and engage in active physical exercise. I should strictly observe regular habits of rising early. I should eat sparingly, thus relieving my system of unnecessary burden, and should encourage cheerfulness, and give myself the benefits of proper exercise in the open air. I should bathe frequently, and drink freely of pure, soft water. If this course should be followed perseveringly, resisting the inclination to do otherwise, it would work wonders in the recovery of health.
(MM 106.6)
Deceptive Ailments
I feel sad for those who are not only deceived themselves in thinking that they are sick, but who are kept deceived by their parents and friends, who pet their ailments and relieve them from labor. If these were so situated as to be compelled to labor, they would scarcely notice difficulties which, while indolent, keep them in bed. Physical exercise is a precious blessing for both mental and physical ailments. Exercise, with cheerfulness, would in many cases prove a most effective restorer to the complaining invalid. Useful employment would bring into exercise the enfeebled muscles, and would enliven the stagnant blood in the system, and would arouse the torpid liver to perform its work. The circulation of the blood would be equalized and the entire system invigorated to overcome bad conditions.
(MM 107.1)
I frequently turn from the bedside of these self-made invalids, saying to myself, “Dying by inches, dying of indolence, a disease which no one but themselves can cure.” I sometimes see young men and women who might be a blessing to their parents, if they would share with them the cares and burdens of life. But they feel no disposition to do this, because it is not agreeable but is attended with some weariness. They devote much of their time in vain amusement, to the neglect of duties necessary for them to perform in order to obtain an experience which will be of great value to them in their future battles with the difficulties of real life. They live for the present only, and neglect the physical, mental, and moral qualifications which would fit them for the emergencies of life and give them self-reliance and self-respect in times of trial and of danger.—The Health Reformer, January, 1871, Patriarchs and Prophets, 132, 133.
(MM 107.2)
The Holy Spirit as a Restorative
Dr. E. has made a great mistake in regard to exercise and amusements, and a still greater in his teaching concerning religious experience and religious excitement. The religion of the Bible is not detrimental to the health of body or mind. The exalting influence of the Spirit of God is the best restorative for the sick. Heaven is all health, and the more fully the heavenly influences are felt, the more sure the recovery of the believing invalid....
(MM 108.1)
Let invalids do something, instead of occupying their minds with a simple play, which lowers them in their own estimation and leads them to think their lives useless. Keep the power of the will awake, for the will aroused and rightly directed is a potent soother of the nerves. Invalids are far happier to be employed, and their recovery is more easily effected.—Testimonies for the Church 1:556, 557.
(MM 108.2)
Sanctified Mind Cure
The light given me is that if the sister you mention would brace up and cultivate her taste for wholesome food, all these sinking spells would pass away. She has cultivated her imagination; the enemy has taken advantage of her weakness of body, and her mind is not braced to bear up against the hardships of everyday life. It is good, sanctified mind cure she needs, an increase of faith, and active service for Christ. She needs also the exercise of her muscles in outside practical labor. Physical exercise will be to her one of the greatest blessings of her life. She need not be an invalid, but a wholesome-minded, healthy woman, prepared to act her part nobly and well.
(MM 108.3)
All the treatment that may be given to this sister will be of little advantage unless she acts her part. She needs to strengthen muscle and nerve by physical labor. She need not be an invalid, but can do good, earnest labor. Like many others, she has a diseased imagination. But she can overcome and be a healthy woman. I have had this message to give to many, and with the best results.
(MM 108.4)
Chronic Invalidism
Once I was called to see a young woman with whom I was well acquainted. She was sick, and was running down fast. Her mother wished me to pray for her. The mother stood there weeping and saying, “Poor child; she cannot live long.” I felt her pulse. I prayed with her, and then addressed her, “My sister, if you get up and dress and go to your usual work in the office, all this invalidism will pass away.”“Do you think this would pass away?” she said. “Certainly,” I said. “You have nearly smothered the life forces by invalidism.” I turned to the mother and told her that her daughter would have died of a diseased imagination if they had not been convinced of their error. She had been educating herself to invalidism. Now this is a very poor school. But I said to her, “Change this order; arise and dress.” She was obedient, and is alive today.—Letter 231, 1905.
(MM 109.1)
Indigestion Caused by Fear
Exercise will aid the work of digestion. To walk out after a meal, hold the head erect, put back the shoulders, and exercise moderately, will be a great benefit. The mind will be diverted from self to the beauties of nature. The less the attention is called to the stomach after a meal, the better. If you are in constant fear that your food will hurt you, it most assuredly will. Forget self, and think of something cheerful.—Testimonies for the Church 2:530.
(MM 109.2)
Inspire the Despondent
Tell the suffering ones of a compassionate Saviour.... He looks with compassion upon those who regard their case as hopeless. While the soul is filled with fear and terror, the mind cannot see the tender compassion of Christ. Our sanitariums are to be an agency for bringing peace and rest to the troubled minds. If you can inspire the despondent with hopeful, saving faith, contentment and cheerfulness will take the place of discouragement and unrest. Wonderful changes can then be wrought in their physical condition. Christ will restore both body and soul, and, realizing His compassion and love, they will rest in Him. He is the bright and morning Star, shining amid the moral darkness of this sinful, corrupt world. He is the Light of the world, and all who give their hearts to Him will find peace, rest, and joy.—Letter 115, 1905.
(MM 109.3)
Counterfeit Miracles
Satan is a diligent Bible student. He knows that his time is short, and he seeks at every point to counterwork the work of the Lord upon this earth. It is impossible to give any idea of the experience of the people of God who shall be alive upon the earth when celestial glory and a repetition of the persecutions of the past are blended. They will walk in the light proceeding from the throne of God. By means of the angels there will be constant communication between heaven and earth. And Satan, surrounded by evil angels and claiming to be God, will work miracles of all kinds, to deceive, if possible, the very elect.
(MM 110.1)
God’s people will not find their safety in working miracles; for Satan will counterfeit the miracles that will be wrought. God’s tried and tested people will find their power in the sign spoken of in Exodus 31:12-18. They are to take their stand on the living word, “It is written.” This is the only foundation upon which they can stand securely. Those who have broken their covenant with God will in that day be without God and without hope.—Testimonies for the Church 9:16.
(MM 110.2)
Taking Hold of the Eternal
The mind cure must be free from all human enchantment. It must not grovel to humanity but soar aloft to the spiritual, taking hold of the eternal.—Letter 120, 1901.
(MM 110.3)
Satan’s Apparent Miracles
We are to be on guard against Satan’s deceptive arts. He will take possession of human bodies, and make men and women sick. Then he will suddenly cease to exercise his evil power, and it will be proclaimed that a miracle has been wrought. We need now to have a true understanding of the power of Jesus Christ to save to the uttermost all who come unto Him....
(MM 110.4)
Men and women are not to study the science of how to take captive the minds of those who associate with them. This is the science that Satan teaches. We are to resist everything of the kind. We are not to tamper with mesmerism and hypnotism— the science of the one who lost his first estate and was cast out of the heavenly courts.
(MM 110.5)
The science of a pure, wholesome, consistent Christian life is obtained by studying the word of the Lord. This is the highest education that any earthly being can obtain. These are the lessons that the students in our schools are to be taught, that they may come forth with pure thoughts and clean minds and hearts, prepared to ascend the ladder of progress and to practice the Christian virtues.— Manuscript 86, 1905.
(MM 111.1)
Efforts of Satan to Confuse Minds
For thousands of years Satan has been experimenting upon the properties of the human mind, and he has learned to know it well. By his subtle workings in these last days he is linking the human mind with his own, imbuing it with his thoughts; and he is doing this work in so deceptive a manner that those who accept his guidance know not that they are being led by him at his will. The great deceiver hopes so to confuse the minds of men and women that none but his voice will be heard.—Letter 244, 1907.
(MM 111.2)
A Dangerous System of Mind Cure
I am so weighed down in your case that I must continue to write to you, lest in your blindness you will not see where you need to reform. I am instructed that you are entertaining ideas with which God has forbidden you to deal. I will name these as a species of mind cure. You suppose that you can use this mind cure in your professional work as a physician. In tones of earnest warning the words were spoken: Beware, beware where your feet are placed and your mind is carried. God has not appointed you this work. The theory of mind controlling mind is originated by Satan to introduce himself as the chief worker, to put human philosophy where divine philosophy should be.
(MM 111.3)
No man or woman should exercise his or her will to control the senses or reason of another, so that the mind of the person is rendered passively subject to the will of the one who is exercising the control. This science may appear to be something beautiful, but it is a science which you are in no case to handle.... There is something better for you to engage in than the control of human nature over human nature.
(MM 111.4)
I lift the danger signal. The only safe and true mind cure covers much. The physician must educate the people to look from the human to the divine. He who has made man’s mind knows precisely what the mind needs.
(MM 112.1)
In taking up the science you have begun to advocate, you are giving an education which is not safe for you or for those you teach. It is dangerous to tinge minds with the science of mind cure.
(MM 112.2)
A Deceptive Fallacy
This science may appear to you to be very valuable; but to you and to others it is a fallacy prepared by Satan. It is the charm of the serpent which stings to spiritual death. It covers much that seems wonderful, but it is foreign to the nature and spirit of Christ. This science does not lead to Him who is life and salvation.
(MM 112.3)
The poor, afflicted souls with whom you are brought in contact have needed more of your attention than they have received. You have it in your power to encourage them to look to Jesus, and, by beholding, be changed to His image.
(MM 112.4)
The true knowledge of Jesus Christ will lead your mind ... in a safe direction. It gives the inspiration of true worship. It is the fellowship of the soul with Him who is its life. Coming in contact with Him, the mind is drawn to His heart of life and is inspired with the essence of His sanctification.
(MM 112.5)
Be careful, my brother, ... in regard to where your faith is tending. Jesus lives to make intercession for you. Let your mind be one with the mind of Christ. Having His mind, you will not soar to heights which will at last bring you down to the lowest depths. Dabble not in those things which now appear to you so attractive, but which do not lead to Christ. Let your ambition ascend higher, to pure, true fellowship with Him in whom you may safely glory. Then your religion will be a power for good. You will not then communicate that which will prove a snare unto death.
(MM 112.6)
A Call to Perfection
Our Saviour understood all about human nature, and He says to every human being, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”Matthew 5:48. As God is perfect in His sphere, so man is to be perfect in his sphere. Those who receive Christ are among the number to whom the words so full of hope are spoken, “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”John 1:12. These words declare to us that we should be content with nothing less than the best and highest character, a character formed after the divine similitude. When such a character is possessed, the life, the faith, the purity of the religion, is an instructive example to others. “Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.”Proverbs 14:34 ∙∙∙ .
(MM 112.7)
“I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3) ∙∙∙
(MM 113.1)
“Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”Ephesians 6:11~17.
(MM 113.2)
Personal Experience in Meeting False Science
At the beginning of my work I had the mind-cure science to contend with. I was sent from place to place to declare the falseness of this science, into which many were entering. The mind cure was entered upon very innocently—to relieve the tension upon the minds of nervous invalids. But, oh, how sad were the results! God sent me from place to place to rebuke everything pertaining to this science.
(MM 113.3)
I wish to speak plainly to you. You have entered upon a work which has no place in the work of a Christian physician, and which must find no place in our health institutions. Innocent though it may appear, this mind cure, if exercised upon the patients, will in its development be for their destruction, not their restoration. The third chapter of Second Timothy describes persons who accept error, such as one mind exercising complete control over another mind. God forbids any such thing. The mind cure is one of Satan’s greatest sciences, and it is important that our physicians see clearly the real character of this science; for through it great temptations will come to them. This science must not be allowed a particle of standing room in our sanitariums.
(MM 113.4)
Through the Mind Satan May Control the Body
God has not given one ray of light or encouragement for our physicians to take up the work of having one mind completely control the mind of another, so that one acts out the will of another. Let us learn the ways and purposes of God. Let not the enemy gain the least advantage over you. Let him not lead you to dare to endeavor to control another mind until it becomes a machine in your hands. This is the science of Satan’s working. Thus he works when he entices men to sell the soul for liquor. He takes possession of body, mind, and soul, and it is no longer the man, but Satan, who acts. And the cruelty of Satan is expressed as the drunkard lifts his hand to strike down the wife he has promised to love and cherish as long as life shall last. The deeds of the drunkard are an expression of Satan’s violence.
(MM 114.1)
A Positive Peril
Now, my brother, I consider you to be in positive peril. I present this because I know that you are in great danger of being seduced by Satan. We are living in a time when every phase of fanaticism will press its way in among believers and unbelievers. Satan will come in, speaking lies in hypocrisy. Everything that he can invent to deceive men and women will be brought forward.
(MM 114.2)
Just in proportion as men lose their sense of the need of vital religion, so they become filled with common, earthly ideas, which they exalt as wonderful knowledge. Physicians who lose their hold on Christ become filled with ideas of their own, which they look upon as some wonderful science, to be brought into the medical profession as something new and strange.
(MM 114.3)
I have been awakened at the early hour of twelve to write out these things. Let me tell you plainly that you are in an uncertain condition of mind, and that the efforts you put forth to rescue yourself are in vain. No man can serve two masters. If you try to serve the world and the Lord at the same time, the result will be that worldly policy and worldly schemes will become supreme in your life. Why? Because the word of God will become uncongenial; for the heart is not committed to the molding and fashioning of the Holy Spirit. The will is not given up to God, and therefore enmity to God is revealed. The natural impulses of the heart, ministering to the natural man, are chosen to control....
(MM 114.4)
My brother, while you cherish your own suppositions as truth, God cannot enlighten you. With your present phase of character, you are not capable of understanding the best course to pursue in introducing principles which rest upon a solid basis. Your greatest consideration is, “Is my proper position recognized? Am I called upon as I should be to decide matters?” Your selfish ideas must never become the ruling power in any sanitarium. You are to blend with other men and women who have understanding....
(MM 115.1)
Our physicians must not rest content with a half conversion. They need to place their whole trust in Christ. Then the healthy beats of a new heart will change the atmosphere surrounding the soul. Make sure that you are accepted by Christ because you rely on the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. His righteousness must be your righteousness. He wrought it out for you, and when you receive it you stand justified in the presence of God.—Letter 121, 1901.
(MM 115.2)
Directing the Mind to Christ
Christ, the Mighty Healer, is to be exalted—and not any human physician. Physicians, Jesus will hear your prayers. Nurses, if you have a living connection with God, you can in confidence present the sick before Him. He will comfort and bless the suffering ones, molding and fashioning the mind, inspiring it with faith and hope and courage. The Christ life, the Christ grace, is the only power that can safely be brought to bear upon the human mind. Every other influence is to be taken away.
(MM 115.3)
No individual should be permitted to take control of another person’s mind, thinking that in so doing he is causing him to receive great benefit. The mind cure is one of the most dangerous deceptions which can be practiced upon any individual. Temporary relief may be felt, but the mind of the one thus controlled is never again so strong and reliable. We may be as weak as was the woman who touched the hem of Christ’s garment; but if we use our God-given opportunity to come to Him in faith, He will respond as quickly as He did to that touch of faith.
(MM 115.4)
It is not God’s design for any human being to yield his mind to another human being. The risen Christ, who is now set down on the throne at the right hand of the Father, is the Mighty Healer. Look to Him for healing power. Through Him alone can sinners come to God just as they are. Never can they come through any man’s mind. The human agent must never interpose between the heavenly agencies and those who are suffering.
(MM 116.1)
Everyone should be in a position to cooperate with God in directing the minds of others to Him. Tell them of the grace and power of Him who is the greatest Physician the world ever knew. He came to the world to restore in man the moral image of God. Seeing that Satan was exercising a controlling influence over the minds of men and women in order to further his evil designs, Christ came to combat the powers of darkness, to break the control which Satan had gained over human minds. Make the Saviour the center of attraction.
(MM 116.2)
A minister once said that he could but think that Christ must have known something about science. Of what could this minister have been thinking? Science! Christ could have opened door after door of science. He could have revealed to men treasures of science on which they might have feasted to the present time. But knowing that this knowledge would have been appropriated to unholy uses, He did not open the door.
(MM 116.3)
A Perilous Science
We do not ask you to place yourself under the control of any man’s mind. The mind cure is the most awful science which has ever been advocated. Every wicked being can use it in carrying through his own evil designs. We have no business with any such science. We should be afraid of it. Never should the first principles of it be brought into any institution.
(MM 116.4)
Christ can do nothing for those who are yoked up with the enemy. His invitation to us is, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”Matthew 11:28~30. When in our daily experience we learn His meekness and lowliness, we find rest. There is then no necessity to search for some mysterious science to soothe the sick. We already have the science which gives them real rest—the science of salvation, the science of restoration, the science of a living faith in a living Saviour.— Manuscript 105, 1901.
(MM 117.1)
For Further Study
Mind Cure: Counsels on Health, 344-346; The Ministry of Healing, 241-260; Testimonies for the Church 3:168, 169. Relation of Mind to Body: Counsels on Health, 28, 29. Healing of Body Through the Mind: Counsels on Health, 349, 350 (Testimonies for the Church 3:184). Diseased Imagination, Instances of Effect of, on Various Disorders: Testimonies For The Church 1:700; Testimonies for the Church 2:523-536 Caused by Exciting Reading: Fundamentals of Christian Education, 163, 164. Power of the Will in Healing: Counsels on Health, 94, 439, 440; The Desire of Ages, 202, 20; Testimonies for the Church 2:325, 428, 533. Illustrated by Healing of Paralytic: Testimonies for the Church 3:168, 169; The Desire of Ages, 267-269. Control of Imagination: Counsels on Health, 95-97 (Testimonies for the Church 2:522-525). Dealing With Spiritual Maladies: Counsels on Health, 323-325. Effect of Godliness on Health: Counsels on Health, 627-630; Testimonies for the Church 4:552-554. Faith Destroyed by False Systems: Testimonies For The Church 1:291, 296, 297. Counterfeit Miracles: Early Writings, 59, 60. Clairvoyant and Magnetic Healers: Prophets and Kings, 210, 211.
(MM 117)