THE HOME.

White Ribbon, Volume 7, Issue 74, 1 July 1901, Page 10

THE HOME.

The Effect of Thought on the Body.

Some comments of Trine, the noted American author, on the physiological and ethical effects of thought on the body are quoted as follows in Sandou 's Magazine :—

“ Every thought that tends to reproduce itself, and ghostly mental pictures of disease, sensuality, and vice of all sorts, produce scrofula and leprosy in the soul, which reproduces them in the body. Anger changes tlie chemical pr< perties of the saliva to a poison dangerous to life. It is well known that sudden and violent emotions have not

only weakened the heart in a few hours, but have caused death and insanity. It has been discovered by scientists that there is a chemical difference between that sudden cold exudation of a person under a deep sense of guilt and the

ordinary perspiration ; and the state of the mind can sometimes be determined by a chemical analysis of the perspiration of a criminal, which when brought into contact with selenic acid, produces a distinct pink colour. It is well known that fear has killed thousands of victims; while, on the other hand, courage it a :reat tnvig >rator “ Full, rich, and abounding health is the normal and the natural condition of life. Anything else is an abnormal condition, and abnormal conditions as a rule come through perversions. God never created sickness, suffering, and disease ; they are man s own creation. They come through his violating the lu\v under which he lives. So used are we to seeing them that we come gradually, if not to think of them as natural, to look upon them as a matter of course.”

“ The time will come when the work of the physician will not be to treat and attempt to heal the body, but to heal the mind, which in turn will heal the body. In other words, the true physician will be a teacher', his work will be to keep people well, instead of attempting to make them well after disease comes on: and still beyond this there will come a tune when each will be his own physician. In the degree that we live in harmony with the higher laws of our being, and so, in the degree that we become better acquainted with the power of the mind and spirit, will we give less attention to the body,—no less cure , but less attention ‘‘The bodies of thousands to-day would be much better cared for if their owners gave them less thought and attention. As a rule those who think least of their bodies enjoy the best health. Many are kept in continual illhealth by the abnormal thought and attention they give them. “ Give the body the nourishment, the

exercise, the fresh air, the sunlight, it requires, keep it clean, and then think of it as little as possible. In your thoughts and in your conversation never dwell upon the negadve side. Don’t talk of sick ness and disease. By talking of these you do yourself harm, and you do harm to those who listen to you. Talk of those things that will make people the better for listening to you. Thus you will infect them with health and strength, and not with weakness and disease.

“ To dwell upon the negative side is always destructive. This is true of the body the same as it is true of all other things. The following from ove whose training as a physician has lv “n supplemented by extensive study and observation along the lines of the po»versofthe interior forces, is of special significance and value in this connection : ‘ We can never gain health by contemplating disease, any more than we can reach perfection by dwelling upon imperfection, or harmony through discord. We should keep a high ideal of health and harmony constantly before the mind.’ . . .

“ Never affirm or repeat about your health what you do not wish to be true. Do not dwell upon your ailments, noi study your symptoms Never allow yourself to be convinced that you are not complete master of yourself. Stoutly affirm your superiority over bodily ills, and do not acknowledge yourself the slave of any inferior power. “ I w ould teach children early to build a strong barrier between themselves and disease by healthy habits of thought, high thinking, and purity of life. I would teach them to expel all thoughts of death, all images of disease, all dis-

cordant emotions like hatred, malice, revenge, envy, and sensuality, as they would banish a temptation to do evil. I would teach them that bad food, bad drink, or bad air makes bad blood, that bad blood makes bad tissue, and bad

flesh bad morals. I would teach them that healthy thoughts are as essential to healthy bodies as pure thoughts to a clean life. I would teach them to cultivate a strong will power, and to brace themselves against life’s enemies in every possible way. I would teach the sick to have hope, confidence, cheer. Our thoughts and imaginations are the only real limits to our possibilities. No man’s success in health will ever reach beyond his own confidence; as a rule, we erect our ow n barriers.

“ Like produces like, the universe through. Hatred, envy, malice, jealousy, and revenge all have children Every bad thought breeds others, and each of these goes on and on, ever reproducing itself, until our world is peopled with their offspring. The true physician and parent of the future will not medicate the body with drugs so much as the mind with principles. The coming mother will teach her child to assuage the fever of anger, hatred, malice, with the great panacea of the world—love. The coming physician will teach the people to cultivate cheerfulness, goodwill, and noble deeds for a health tonic as well as a heart tonic; and that ‘a merry heart doethgood like a medicine.’ ”

In the “ Odds and Ends ” of “ The Wide World Magazine,” there is a picture of an open air Parliament in Switzerland. It is held in the Canton of Glams, where Government by the people is absolute. At this gathering, held on the first Sunday in May, if the weather is fine, every single detail of importance connected with the State is discussed and voted on. “In the centre is a platform for the president and speakers, while round the platform are special places for the boys, who are thus taught the work of their country at an early age.”