318
Counsels on Diet and Foods
grains. Occasionally some meat may have to be given to outsiders
who have so educated their taste that they think that unless they have
meat, they cannot keep up their strength. But they will have greater
powers of endurance if they abstain from meat than if they subsist
largely upon it.
[408]
The principal objection with physicians and helpers at the Health
Retreat to discarding a meat diet is that they want meat, and then plead
they must have meat. Therefore, they encourage its use. But God
does not want those who come to the Health Retreat educated to live
on a flesh diet. By parlor talks and by example, educate in the other
direction. This will call for great skill in the preparation of wholesome
food. More labor will be required, but nevertheless, it must gradually
be done. Use less meat. Let those who do the cooking and those who
bear the responsibility educate their own tastes and habits of eating in
accordance with the laws of health.
We have been going back to Egypt rather than on to Canaan. Shall
we not reverse the order of things? Shall we not have plain, wholesome
food on our tables? Shall we not dispense with hot biscuits, which
only cause dyspepsia? Those who elevate the standard as nearly as
they can to the order of God, according to the light God has given them
through His word and the testimonies of His Spirit, will not change
their course of action to meet the wishes of their friends or relatives,
be they one or two or a host, who are living contrary to God’s wise
arrangement. If we move from principle in these things, if we observe
strict rules of diet, if as Christians we educate our tastes after God’s
plan, we shall exert an influence which will meet the mind of God.
The question is, “Are we willing to be true health reformers?”
It is essential that continuous sameness in diet be avoided. The
appetite will be much better if changes in the food are made. Be
uniform. Do not have several kinds of food on the table at one meal,
and no variety the next. Study economy in this line. Let people
complain if they will. Let them find fault if there is not enough to
suit them. The Israelites always complained of Moses and of God. It
is your duty to maintain the standard of health reform. More can be
accomplished for sick people by regulating their diet than by all the
baths that can be given them.
Let the same amount of money expended for meat be used to
purchase fruit. Show the people a right way of living. Had this been