HEALTH AND PHYSIQUE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8101, 29 August 1904, Page 1

HEALTH AND PHYSIQUE

— . * BY EUSTACE MILES, M.A., (Author of "The Twining of the Body," "Muscle, Biain and Diet, 1 ' "Avenues to Health.") No. V. THE CHURCH PHYSICAL : AN OPPORTUNITY. [Au. Rights Reserved.] There are some who inveigh against all Institutions; Individuality, free self-expres-sion, is the cry of these people. But institutions may be^neceasary to a mind untrained to or,in«af& telf-expression, a mind ■which ,' N if given free run and allowed to be original, might rush into death or hell. Anyhow, institutions do exist, and reach millionSj and have power over them. Institutions have their values, even while they have their/very obvious faults : their eetness, their loss of attraction and interest for the most living people ; then their lo«5 of power; then their attempt to force peoj»le; then their complaint because they cannot force the best people. Such complainte have been ma-dc in recent years against the Church of England. My object in this article is to show that the abuse may be merited but is not inevitable. The Church has an easy way out of the difficulty, and it never has had, and never will have, a bstter opportunity of •walking in this way. Constantly we hear complaint* that religion fails to appeal to young men, that the type of young man whom it -attracts is not the typical Anglo-Saxon, in not the aggressive and competitive person who has done so much to win our Empire and our fame. It is maintained that, if some sort of external compulsion, social and domestic obligations, etc.. were removed altogether, the Church would be attended by anaemic, weedy and long-haired males rather than by virile men. And the question arises, is this the fai?!t of the Church or of the virile young men? Now, in all matters educational, I.takeit that the chief onus ifes with the institution of elders, and that their main failure to get and keep learners is a failure to interest Icarner3 ; they have missed or destroyed the link of contact: Concrete examples are of more value than many theories. Let us contrast the classes of young men who frequent average V.M.C.A. buildings in England and in America. Let us ignore striking exceptions and try to Arrive at an average. In America I found that interest came first, religion afterwards. " Get the men into the place " — that was the aim of the manager*. Theinterests were numerous, but 2 especially, ktbletic: cycling, gymnastics, a pride in the body, a pride in athletics for the glory of self or the club or both), and individual or team competitions ; this interest brought in the most active and aggressive young men in America. Afterwards there were lectures, sermons, services, and so on, for those who Fdced them ; . and I believe it was found that many young men liked them in moderation ; and the most popular religious institution, or rather the most genuine one, that I have ever seen was a free and voluntary one at Yale University. The V.M.C.A. buildings are very valuable institutions in America,^ be- j csnse^'they attract the finest 'young ~ men first, and then lead' them along. the right lines, along the lines of sensible self-con-trol and sensible self-expression. Now, the Church, if it wishes to include the best s of our young men, and our : youug womed.'as.' well , (and by. including I imean.' include, as. willing members, not -/because' they /"fcreitoo lazy to fight against custom) i can -attract them by an appeal to motives j llike thos^of the V.M.C.A. In the j Baxon thpre is the spirit of rivalry, at 'first rivalry with others, then rivalry with the past and present self. . There is love of games and athletics, partly because they include this rivalry. There is also a certain amount of interest' in this or that form of physical education— though far' less interest than we may find on the. Continent — chiefly, perhaps, because trie *' element of competition and ..danger is not so strongly marked. There :is an interest in bathing, which, has. ofher characteristics besides competition and physical culture. Besides this, the open air and general helps towards training would probably attract the young men. Here is the link of contact between the Institution and the 'learners whom it wishes to reach. There is absolutely no need -for the Church, as an institution, to ignore this link. ( For already it is nearer to this link than the Roman Catholic Church in Europe ig. Look at many priests on the Continent; spiritual, perhaps, but unathlctic, undeveloped, they take little exercise Beyond gentle walking ; their very dTe?s makes .vigorous exercise not merely difficult, but. also undesirable. They have no physical education to set free Nature's clogged -wheels. They do not seek the best- air and the best light. They do not breathe rightly. They do not even eat slowly. Now our clergy are in some ways a. contrast. Many of them ot& personally athletic. We find them walking, cycling, boxing, fencing, playing lawn tennis, cricket and golf. Many of them- foster athletics in their parishes. We "believe tuiat all want their: Church to spread and to get hold of the best people. There is nothing alien to their tendencies in what I suggest that they should do ; but the question is : Would it be orthodox for the Church -Spiritual to become the Church Physical as well? Indeed, in appealing to the finest young men, would it be unorthodox for it to become the Church Physical first and foremost, the Church Spiritual as the almost inevitable accompaniment or result"? The tesfc for' the orthodox should surely be life and words of Jesus, as far as we can ascertain them. Now, throughout His life and throughout His words, He set physical health and physical 'healing power as a duty of everyone, and not only as a duty, but as a test. If a man could not heal, then it followed that he did not believe. There is no possible mistake as to His meaning. If the clergy of to-day are, in reality, the di&ciples of Jesuar, then, they hot only preach, but also heal. This is a strong saying, but not an atom too strong. If the clergy of to-day are, in reality, the disciples of Jesus, then they do those things .which Jesus did, and more besides. They heal the ill. 1 They may heal the. ill, not only by laying on hands or by praying, but •Is© by urging! the ill to heal themselves. There are plenty of simple ways of healing which Jesus Himself did not despise. To-

day we feel sure that He .would urge for us, in a city life and sedentary work, physic*] education of the most sensible kind. Ie those days, so strict w«re the Jewish laws of health, so hygienic the conditions — open air, sensible drtes, plain living, and sc on — that special care was ssldam. needed. To-day can there be any doubt that H< would refuse to reoognise as Hi* disciples those who oould not iheal others, 'or help others to heal themselves? Indeed, if a clergyman come to Him and asked Him why he could .iiot.Jbeal others, the answei would often V&i " Becajise Jw haye no-1 healed yourself." X told you to heal the ill : therefore, if "you are ill, I told you to iheal yourself." If any clergyman ventures to quote some words about the "soul," the anerwer is an explanation of the meaning of that word in the Greek. Tho Greek word "psycho" meant, not the spiritual part of man, but the living co-operation between the spiril or the "ego" and the body. We may . almost, paraphrase the word by "healthy life," or. at any rate, by "physical -life," "What shall a man profit if he shall gain the whole world and lose "—not his soul, but— "his physical litfe," or, almost, "his health." Physical life without health is a misnomer. His words are clear and irrefutable. H« urged health (and therefore the simplest means to health) as a duty and as a test of discipleship. His own example- is not kss striking. He never did. He n«ver could, separate the two kinds of health and ill-health— -the physical and the spiritual ; they were indissoiubly one. When John asked Him who and what He wss, tlie answer was, not simply, "I am spiritually good," hub " Go and tell John what I do," and also (as included among the things they saw), "Go and tell John what I am : lam myself healthy ; I make others healthy ; Ido not preach to them a dreary gosprl ; I tell them good news that the Kingdom of Heaven, the state of health, the state of healthy instinct, the state of guidance by God, is within us." To-day His word to the clergy would be : " I was fit, physically as well as mentally ; you can and ehould be fife ; you can and should make others fit ; without physical fitness your work is not My work." Little is known about the details of His life, but even our few records show considerable attention to phyaicalhealth, even if such attention was half unconscious, and •was not for physical health alone. He went up into the mountains; He walked frequently ; He spoke frequently ; He breathed deeply ; He fasted ; He was physically strong (or He could not have- driven the money-changers out of th& Temple, or lifted the little children, and held them in His arms). Yet in those days, as we have said, great carefulness was less necessary because the conditions of life were s» favourable. • ■ To-day is the day when enormous carefulness is essential, and when there is so great a variety of paths or avenues to health that no one has any excuse for refusing to try this or that. v Few, if any, of these paths are against true religion *and virtue ; most of them, would increase the sympathy between the Church and the- lay people. And to-day is the day for the Church to regain its .hold on the nation, and on other nations. While Commissions are examining statistics as to whether we are " degenerate" or not (though it matters little whether wo are '" degenerate " so long a3 we are "deficient"), while iconoclasts are saying that the Church is not wanted, let the Church step in and insist on reasonable attention/ to physical . health and hygiene, not as extras, but as foundations of a good mental, moral and spiritual life. * . Let the Church say : "If anyone thinks he is a member of thie Church while, he neglects, the health of the body he is deceived ;• he is not a member, of the Ghurcli at ajl-" Let there be.-physical tests, as for the army and navy., And this is my chief point. Let the clergy immediately set the example and nofc merely preach. Let the clergyman who says we must develop our bodies develop his own body. Jesus had the veriest contempt for preachers who preached without practising : they were surely among' tha "hypocrites." Then, when the members of the Church are encouraging and practising all sensible helps to v health, they; will be still more popular, and more in touch with the best people and 'the most scientific people. There heed be no conflict between orthodox religion and the practical scisnee of hygiene and physical education. . Let the Church claim all health-movements as her own. Theoretical " Science " has left, plenty of them still unclaimed and'" going begging." ' . The advantages of this Church Physical are almost too obvious to need mention. In the first place, the clergy would be more truly representatives of God, nofc merely speakers of His words, but livers uf His life. Morbid or atrophied or deformed men could not possibly be true j prophets of God. Then there would be the interesting lessons for spiritual and moral reform — such i ! lessons as Paul used. These le«sons are | not, effectual unless the clergymen himself J illustrates them in his own person. The comparison with the race that is run, with the fight that is fought, is far more cogent lif the- clergyman himself runs, however j ! badly, and "boxes, however unskilfully, or t at least uses a punch-ball. Then, also, games and athletics and j gymnastics, and physical education in general, would, be raised far higher : they need it. There would be no need to give up the spiritual preaching about such matters as the forgiveness of sins, but to this preaching would be added the preaching and thepractice of physical forgiveness, which means the destruction of unpleasant results of past mistakes. Let the clergyman, in his own person, display an example ofI the forgiveness of sins, and of the removal of the consequences of mistakes, by a new physical life, and right physical action henceforth. Think of all the comparisons which would come from the care of the body^-the excretion of waste and poison by exercise, etc., the development of all-round manhood and womanhood by th«se and other means, the power of Nature, if w« start in the right direction, to help good habits and instincts -which become ours when we are healthy : all these and a thousand otherphysical parabks could be preached, and would make the services and sermons living and engrossing realities. (For why declaim about the spirit and soul? It i» not that which interests most people, till just before dsatla or the expectation of death. It is the body, the feelings of the body, the emotions, that interest people. Begin with these. The spirit is surely better able to take care of itself when once we have restored correct instincts. We have now found the link of contact between the .finest young men and women and religion, namely, physical* culture and physical health. Let religion make it a chief aim to render and keep the body fit for the work of expressing the mind adequately, easily, nay necessarily and inevitably.. Let religion, everywhere and everywhen, insist on physical morality (so j Herbert Spencer and others have called it) as an integral part of religion, and she becomes once more the throbbing heart of the nation, as she is still, and always has been, the heart of the Hindu nation. Let j religion seize the opportunity whii« Go- j

, vernment sleep* or collects statistics. Let I the Church be quick to do what it should s, bava done long ago, and what it may lose j the chance of initiating if it waits much i longer. Let the clergy practise and preach > physical as well as spiritual purity, poise, promptitude and power. i In all reform of an institution there ? should he another link of contact besides > the link between teacher and learner, 1 namely, the link between the institution 1 and the reform. Is there any h«r«? Can c w« point to any Commandment recognised by the Church as a genuine Commandment 5 of Jesue, if not of the Old Testament. We * can. "We have the Commandment : " Heal thoso vrho are ill." If the clergyman himi self is ill, or if he is in any way physically 1 unsatisfactory or deficient, th«n, let us re- \ peaty wo have the clear Commandment that % -must heal himself — he is one of the I illt But how is he to do it? The Jews, in spite- of their healthy life, added to it 6trict , laws. For ua such laws are even more eswntial, though we may have to allow k more for individuality. ' . lam not urging the neglect of the mental and spiritual. The clergy should be abreast, and if their life is superior, their methods and meditation superior, should be ahead of all practical science. But no ' science ie easier to study, because it is ! largely An individual matter — a matter of . interesting experiment and observation on I one's own person. This is the opportunity of- the Church. L All waHt health, even if (apparently) for . the sake, primarily^ of improved aprear- ■ anca or money-earning power, or bodily comfort. All will praise and revere the i physical health-giver. Let the Church ba the health-giver, and it will be the most i popular institution in the world as well aa the most useful. (The Exd.)