120. Rational Remedies
Today’s reading: “The Ministry of Healing” pp. 234–235a.
Key Words
- Laws / Principles of health and nature.
- Vital / Life Force
- Cause
Disease never comes without a cause.
Think about that for a moment… Every disease you see, or experience, has a cause and that cause is the defined as,
disregard of natural law.
At the time Ellen wrote this many people died of infectious illnesses or accidents. Today it is much more as a result of lifestyle diseases so what she said is even more accurate today than it was then.
How would a “parent’s transgression” cause my disease? Epigenetically, their habits can cause my weaknesses to be expressed. Then there is the huge effect of our parents’ habits of “eating, drinking, dressing and working” that we acquire and think of as normal.
We need to rethink these habits then start “correct living.”
However disease is usually a result of, (again)
disregard of natural law.
Instead of looking upon an observance of the laws of health as a matter of sacrifice or self-denial, they will regard it, as it really is, as an inestimable blessing. p. 147.
There is a wonderful piece of advice and statement of fact,
If we carefully preserve the life force, and keep the delicate mechanism of the body in order, the result is health…
And the converse is true too, use the force too quickly and we get sick. Notice that Ellen makes the point that disease is nature’s “determined effort to remove the effects of ill-treatment” and to “correct the conditions.” Of interest here is that she mentions “fevers” as manifestation of the body’s attempt to correct poor habits. Fevers are integral to inflammation which is the basis of most chronic lifestyle disease.
“Life force” has countercultural, spiritualistic overtones today. I guess the next best, most neutral, word is “vitality”. It is a very practical way of looking at things, not the least because it gives us a great way of judging whether some particular thing is good for us by asking, “Will this increase my vitality?”
