BETTER HEALTH — MADE SIMPLE !Thirty-four Steps to Happier Living – A Complete Online Health Course! Published by TRAIL GUIDES - Altamont, TN 37301 USA Road maps for pilgrims traveling home
LESSON TWENTY-FIVE - THE AVENUES OF THE SOUL1- When God formed man, He kept in mind the importance of communication with him. What would it have been if the human body had been made up of all the wonderful processes and mechanisms and there had been no means to communicate with the world around us and with God, our Maker? We could have been only a collection of intricate systems and mechanical wonders. In order for man to communicate with God and His other created works, man has been created with what we call our special senses. These are five in number; hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting and feeling. I want you to take just a few minutes to consider two of these marvelous senses. 2- The first avenue to the soul is the eye. Our eyes bring us the best understanding of what is going on around us. They have been called the "Windows" of the soul. Because of these wonderful sense organs, we recognize shapes, colors, and motion. We see the faces of our friends. We enjoy nature. We are able to read and thus to learn. Eyes receive sensations from great and small distances. 3- We can see the sun which is one million times as bright as a page of white paper. When our eyes are rested we can see something in the dark only one millionth as bright as a page of white paper. At night, we can see the light of a match several miles away. 4- Visible light is a very small part of the electromagnetic field which is all around us. A picture shows the wave lengths of visible light are only .0004 - .0008 mm. long. Then, there are the infra-red rays and the ultra-violet rays which our eyes cannot see, but which we can photograph easily. 5- In many ways our eyes are like a camera. The light passes through a transparent protection (cornea), and goes through a hole (pupil) which becomes larger or smaller, depending on the amount of light entering just like a camera shutter. It then passes through a lens and is focused on the film (retina) at the back of the eye. In a camera, the film has to be removed in order to develop the picture, but the retina of the eye contains special nerves which telegraph the picture to the brain instantly, and we "see". 6- The special cells are called rods and cones, and there are so many millions of these in the retina. The rods help us to see in dim light, thus, we are able to see even at night. The cones give us the ability to see best by using our peripheral vision, in other words we can see better in dim light by not looking directly at the object but to one side. 7- In normal eyes, as the light enters the eye it is focused by the lens so that the image of what we are looking at falls exactly on the retina. 8- But if the eyeball is either too long or too short, the image does not focus properly. Such persons are nearsighted (the eyeball is too long), or farsighted (the eyeball is to short). Wearing proper glasses corrects the focus so that the image falls exactly on the retina, and sends an accurate picture to the brain. The lens of our eyes help focus pictures sharply. The lens becomes thick when we look at objects that are close, and thin when we look at distant objects. 9- The rods and cones in the retina are connected to the brain by means of the optic nerve. The fibers come together from all parts of the eye and leave the eye at one spot. Since this spot does not contain rods and cones it is called the "blind spot." Because the blind spot is on the right side of the one and the left side of the other eye, we do not notice them since the two eyes focus from two different positions. 10- Our eyes are protected in many ways. They are continually washed and lubricated by tears which come from a gland behind the upper lid, on the side away from the nose. As we blink, the tears are spread evenly over the surface of the eye. Another example of economy in the body is that the tears after being used in the eye drain into a tiny canal (tear duct) from the corner of the eye into the nose and are there used as mucous in the nose. The eyelids also keep out strong light. The eyelashes act like screens to keep out dust and dirt. The eyebrows jut out over the eyes and help to protect them from blows. 11- In spite of such good protection, great care should be taken of the eyes. Redness, watering of the eyes, twitching of the eyelids, swollen eyelids, headaches, may mean eye strain and indicate the need for an examination by an optician. 12- To avoid passing eye infections from one member of the family to another, each should have his own towel and wash cloth. Eyes are very sensitive to bright light and it is possible to burn them by looking without protection at the sun or at a bright welding arc. Our eyes are very valuable and deserve the best care. 13- The second avenue to the soul is the ear. Very much like the electrical impulses that combine to form light by which we see, are other electrical impulses in the air all around us. The sounds you hear are what the special organs of hearing are able to translate from the vibrations in the air about you. All sound travels by means of invisible sound waves, which if we could see them, would remind us of the ripples caused by dropping a stone into a pond of still water. How high or low (not loud or soft) a sound is, is determined by the number of "ripples" (vibrations) every second. 14- The more vibrations there are each second, the higher the pitch of the sound is. Most of us can hear sound with between 40 and 18,000 vibrations per second. 15- How do sounds that begin as air vibrations reach the part of the brain that identifies them? You may well be amazed at the answer to this question as you follow the many steps. First of all, vibrations are caught by the outer ear and a funnel-shaped tube (canal). This canal is lined with hair and glands which produce ear wax for ear protection. 16- As the vibrations go down the canal, they strike against the ear drum. This is a skin-like structure stretched tightly across the canal. O n the inner side of the ear drum are three tiny, delicate bones, called the hammer, the anvil, and the stirrup. These bones are stretched across the cavity of the middle ear, and they pass the vibrations from the ear drum to the fluid-filled inner ear. This is done by the ear drum vibrating the hammer (which is attached to it), and the hammer in turn pushing the anvil. The anvil moves the stirrup, which in turn vibrates the liquid of the inner ear. But the end is not yet! The liquid now activates small hairlike processes much like the hammers strike the strings in a piano, making sound. These, in turn, stimulate nerves which carry the impulses to the brain and we hear sound. And all this happens in a fraction of a second. The strings of a piano number 88 and supply a range of seven and a half octaves. The "strings" of the ear (the hair-like processes) number 24,000! Again we are amazed at the marvels of these bodies of ours. 17-These senses of ours are called the "avenues of the soul." This is very fitting because it is communication through the senses plus experience and knowledge that enables our minds to make the judgments and decisions of life. No wonder God has encased these in the protection of the skull, for these avenues must be carefully guarded. But this skull is not enough protection. For the use of sight and hearing can lead either to our own destruction or to great enrichment of our personal lives and the making of us to be a blessing to our fellow men. How can we know what to see and hear? 18- Satan knew that the way to destroy man was to attack his mind first. He knew that the way into that perfect mind was through the wonderful avenues we have mentioned. So he chose the most beautiful creature (sight), spoke in melodious voice (hearing), chose most attractive fruit (smell-taste) and gained entrance (touch). So there are the five avenues of the soul. 19- The study of God's word and prayer are avenues which are a means of guarding us against Satan. Some one has fittingly said, "No prayer, no power, less prayer, less power, more prayer, more power." Satan trembles when he sees a child of God on his knees. 20- While the Word of God can be compared to our food, prayer can be compared to breathing. Our spiritual life cannot exist long. without prayer which is said to be the breath of the soul. This is the reason why God says, "Pray without ceasing." We have to be always in the mood of prayer, when we stop praying, we stop breathing and start dying. When we become spiritually dead then we fall an easy prey to sin. 21- An inspired writer has said, "Prayer is a key to open the store house of heaven." Through prayer men have gained victories over bad habits. The sick have been healed, the dead have been raised to life, demons have been cast away, captives have been freed. Prayer can do the impossible. Prayer is talking to God our Heavenly Father as a friend talks to his friend. Tell Him of your successes and failures, your desires and do not hide anything from Him. 22- When asked how to pray. Jesus gave a pattern of prayer for His disciples. First of all, we are to remember that we pray to God, our Heavenly Father, and so we say, "Our Father." We address all our prayers to Him 23- Jesus as a man spent much time in prayer, praying to His Heavenly Father. At times, He used to spend the whole night praying. He was tempted like any of us. He could have easily consented to sin; but prayer was His strength and it always kept Him a victorious person. Realizing the importance of prayer, Jesus himself said, "that men ought always to pray, and not faint." Luke 18:1. At another time, He said, "watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." Matthew 26:4 1. If it was so important for Jesus, how much more important it is for us! 24- We address our prayer to our Heavenly Father, and after giving Him our praise and thanks for His goodness and mercies, we ask Him to help us in our life's experiences. Then we close the prayer in Jesus' name. He has assured us of hearing if we pray in His holy name. 25- Another very important thing we are to keep in mind if we want an answer to our prayers is found in 1 John 3:22, and it says, "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Again in Psalms 66:18 it says, "if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." This means in order to receive an answer to all our prayers, we ought to live our lives according to His will. 26- There are different kinds of prayers: individual prayers, family prayers, public prayer. All have their important places but individual prayers are very essential for our spiritual living. This is the time when we can come closer to our Maker. This is when we can really pour out all our secrets to Him. 27- Next to individual prayer, family prayer is also very important. Some one has said, "The family that prays together—stays together." By prayer we can keep a guard around our family circle. 28- There is no special place for prayer. We can pray anytime and anywhere and under any circumstances. We can pray aloud and we can pray quietly. God will hear and answer sincere prayer that is sent to Him. 29- All power of heaven and earth is given to Jesus and it can be ours if we faithfully and sincerely pray to Him always. His ears are eager to hear our prayers. This is how we can protect the avenues of our soul from defilement and can keep it spiritually sound. God grant that we pray to Him without ceasing. Here is additional information on prayer: "If
any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James
1:5. LESSON TWENTY-SIX - SMOKE STACK1- Most people think of death, if they think of it at all, as something that happens to other people. Very seldom do we think of it as something to be closely associated with ourselves. Yet many people are doing things that will put them in the grave much earlier than might otherwise be the case. 2- A very common nickname given to these little white rolls is "coffin nails". Nicknames like this do not come without a reason. Many years ago, before all the present scientific knowledge about cigarettes had been learned, understanding people recognized that the use of cigarettes could contribute to an early death, and so called them "coffin nails." 3- Perhaps, you have wondered if smoking really does contribute to shortening a person's life, and if so, by how much. Now it is known that every cigarette smoked definitely cuts down a person's life potential. Of course, it depends on how much a person smokes. For a light smoker of say 4-6 cigarettes per day, it is 6 minutes per day. For heavier smokers of a pack or 2 packs per day, each cigarette cuts down life potential by as much as 18 minutes. 4- This is because each cigarette contains about 28 different kinds of poison. Fortunately, when a person smokes he does not take all of these poisons into his body. The nicotine from 2 cigarettes alone, if concentrated, could kill a large size man. Besides nicotine there are other deadly poisons in tobacco. However, there is no way a smoker can avoid retaining some of these poisons in his body each time he smokes. Little by little, they build up until they destroy the smoker. 5- In these days we are hearing a great deal about cancer. Not many people realize that cancer of the lungs kills more than any other kind of cancer. One out of every 18 smokers will die of lung cancer. More than 120 persons a day die of lung cancer in the USA. A person who has smoked for 20 years of cigarettes is almost certain to die of lung cancer or a tobacco related disease. 6- Perhaps before going farther, we ought to know that healthy lungs looks firm. Then we could look inside the lungs of a man who has smoked for more than 20 years, we would find that it certainly looks like it has had a rough time during its life. It has been subjected to very unfair treatment. It is coated black all over and the tissue have been damaged badly. 7- The tar from cigarettes really does cause lung cancer. There is no possible way to deny that now. It has been proved beyond any shadow of doubt. Lung cancer among smokers is 20 times more common than non-smokers; and that's not all. Heart disease is three times as prevalent among smokers as compared with non-smokers. Emphysema is times more; premature deaths are twice as much. 8- For one thing, nicotine constricts the blood vessels. That means that the body cannot get its proper supply of blood . Smoking damages the blood circulation. Special color x-ray machines, developed in the search for cancer, show how the blood vessels in the fingers have constricted thereby preventing the blood from flowing freely, and consequently causing a drop in temperature. The blue color shows where there is inadequate blood supply—this has happened as the result of smoking only one half of one cigarette! By the time a whole cigarette has been smoked, the constriction will be much worse. 9- Smoking also causes a rise in the blood pressure. As the blood vessels constrict, they put an added burden on the heart which is already suffering from an inadequate supply of oxygen because many cells tend to combine with the carbon monoxide of the cigarette smoke more easily than they do with oxygen in the air and so, not only the heart but the whole body is cheated of the vital oxygen it really needs! 10- Thomas Edison, inventor of the electric light, never used tobacco and said that he would not hire anyone who did because he had learned that every time one smokes a cigarette or a pipe or cigar, some brain cells are destroyed. These brain cells could never be replaced. They were forever lost. A student who smokes has placed himself under an unnecessary 10% mental handicap with the students who do not smoke. The same is true, of course, for adults also. 11- Every athlete knows that smoking will disqualify him from reaching the top in any competition. Consequently, we find that men and women who are serious about winning in sports are also very serious about abstaining from anything that would keep them from winning, including tobacco and alcoholic beverages. 12- We sometimes wonder why, since tobacco is so bad for people, do people continue to use it. For one thing, the power of example is very strong. Children want to "grow up" as quickly as possible. At every opportunity they will imitate their elders. Then again, there is advertising. Many countries of the world are strongly restricting the advertising of tobacco. Some of the large publishing companies have announced that they are not taking any more advertising. In some countries governments are requiring cigarette companies to put a warning sign of each packet of cigarettes stating that the use of cigarettes can cause lung cancer. 13- However, if one just considered his pocket book for a minute, he'd understand how much better off he'd be without using tobacco. For instance, a person using a packet a day of any very ordinary brand will have spent hundreds of dollars in the course of one year. What did he do with his money? He just burned it up! That really is paying a lot for ill health, poor appetite, poor mental performance, and a very painful death. 14- As we began this series of lessons, we tried to stress the fact that each person is a complex unit: physical, mental, social, and spiritual. We have noticed the harm that tobacco does mentally and physically. 15- Perhaps we should point out here that a person who smokes in the presence of non-smokers is really taking a very unfair advantage of them. He unthinkingly pollutes the air they must breathe, forcing them to breathe his second hand smoke, saturates their clothes with highly undesirable odors, which will not leave until the garments have been sent to the cleaners. In short, tobacco seems to deprive the user of any sense of regard for the rights and comforts of others—a highly developed characteristic of the socially balanced person. 16- Not only does tobacco unbalance a person physically, mentally, and socially. Of greater importance is the fact that it unbalances him in his relationship with God. It unbalances him spiritually. 17- Paul in writing to the early Christian church in Corinth said, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is Holy, which temple ye are." 1 Corinthians 3:16, 17. 18- In the beginning man was created as a perfect creature: physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. There was nothing to prevent him from having direct communion with God. He could both see God and converse with God. Sin brought a barrier between man and God. "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you." Isaiah 59:2. 19- Satan has tried by every means possible to fasten man in his hold so that man would be completely separated from God forever. First, by leading man into rebellion against God, so separating himself from God. Then by leading man to do things that are displeasing to God and so widening the gulf between man and God. 20- In His mercy and love to man God made a way through His son Jesus Christ whereby all man's sins could be paid for in the sacrifice of Jesus and any one who so desired could avail himself of the great transaction of Calvary. "For ye are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Corinthians 6:20. 21- By sin man sold himself to the devil, a hard master who only brings disease, sorrow, suffering, and death. A master who has no love for these he has deceived into following him, but only seeks to lead them into deeper and deeper degradation. 22- In His wonderful love Christ has paid for our sins and bought us back to be His possession and now He admonishes us, "Whether therefore ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31. 23- By taking into his body a poison like tobacco or any other narcotic like it, that defiles the body itself, and degrades the mind and sensibilities, one cannot possibly glorify God. God desires us to be well and healthy in full possession of our minds and faculties. A sickly body and clouded intellect do not glorify God. Paul advises us that "ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." Romans 12:1. 24- Speaking of the New Jerusalem in the New Earth, we are very clearly told "and there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth." Revelation 21:27. Neither in heaven nor on the New Earth will there be any smokers, or any one using anything that defiles. To prepare for a home there, we are advised that now we are to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit." 2 Corinthians 7:1. 25- Tobacco in any form is dangerous, whether it is used in pan or in pipe, cigar, or cigarette, biri, or hookah. It has been described as a "slow, insidious poison." It works slowly, but surely, deceiving its user with a feeling of having a "lift"; At the same time it is stealing his happiness and life away. It is a deadly killer. Using it is contrary to God's command that says, "Thou shalt not kill." 26- There are some who use a tobacco powder or crushed leaves. They put it under their tongues. The Bible gives a very vivid description of such an act in Job 20:12-14. "Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue, though he spare it and forsake it not, but keeps it still within his mouth, yet his meat (food) in his bowel is turned. It is the gall, (poison) of asps (serpents) within him." 27- In olden times God instructed His people that they were not to plant or even have among themselves any poisonous plants like tobacco. "Lest there be among you a root bearing gall and wormwood (poison)". Deuteronomy 29:18. 28- So, we see that tobacco is a killer, not only of the body and mind, but also of the soul and spirit. It is to our eternal benefit to follow the Bible injunction of Colossians 2:21, "touch not, taste not, handle not." 29- The purpose of Christ's first coming was to prepare the way whereby He could give to man the life He had forfeited in Eden—Abundant life here and hereafter. Satan seeks to bind us to himself with chains of habit that we cannot break. But Christ has defeated Satan and is able to break every chain that would separate us from Him. With Him—is all power to set us free from the habits with which Satan has bound us. He will do it and we shall be free indeed. 30- Christ is returning, He is coming back to this world to take to His home those who have permitted Him to make them free of Satan's devices. At that time, He will not be helping those who have held on to their bad habits until then. He will be coming for only those who have already been made clean by hearing and obeying His words. May we all be ready to meet Him at that time. Here is additional information on caring for our body temple: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."-1 Corinthians 10:31. "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things."-1 Corinthians 9.25. "I beseech you .. that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God."-Romans 12:1. "Eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness."- Ecclesiastes 10:17. |
