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The Ministry of Healing
Those who have overtaxed their physical powers should not be
encouraged to forgo manual labor entirely. But labor, to be of the
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greatest advantage, should be systematic and agreeable. Outdoor
exercise is the best; it should be so planned as to strengthen by use
the organs that have become weakened; and the heart should be in it;
the labor of the hands should never degenerate into mere drudgery.
When invalids have nothing to occupy their time and attention,
their thoughts become centered upon themselves, and they grow
morbid and irritable. Many times they dwell upon their bad feelings
until they think themselves much worse than they really are and
wholly unable to do anything.
In all these cases well-directed physical exercise would prove
an effective remedial agent. In some cases it is indispensable to the
recovery of health. The will goes with the labor of the hands; and
what these invalids need is to have the will aroused. When the will
is dormant, the imagination becomes abnormal, and it is impossible
to resist disease.
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Inactivity is the greatest curse that could come upon most in-
valids. Light employment in useful labor, while it does not tax
mind or body, has a happy influence upon both. It strengthens the
muscles, improves the circulation, and gives the invalid the satis-
faction of knowing that he is not wholly useless in this busy world.
He may be able to do but little at first, but he will soon find his
strength increasing, and the amount of work done can be increased
accordingly.
Exercise aids the dyspeptic by giving the digestive organs a
healthy tone. To engage in severe study or violent physical exercise
immediately after eating, hinders the work of digestion; but a short
walk after a meal, with the head erect and the shoulders back, is a
great benefit.
Notwithstanding all that is said and written concerning its im-
portance, there are still many who neglect physical exercise. Some
grow corpulent because the system is clogged; others become thin
and feeble because their vital powers are exhausted in disposing of
an excess of food. The liver is burdened in its effort to cleanse the
blood of impurities, and illness is the result.
Those whose habits are sedentary should, when the weather
will permit, exercise in the open air every day, summer or winter.