Counsels on Health - Ellen G. White

must be kept closed because the mother feels the
air. If she is at all chilly, and a change is made in
her clothing, she thinks her children must be
treated in the same manner, and thus the entire
family are robbed of physical stamina. All are
affected by one mind, physically and mentally
injured through the diseased imagination of one
woman who considers herself a criterion for the
whole family. The body is clothed in accordance
with the caprices of a diseased imagination, and
smothered under an amount of wrappings which
debilitate the system. The skin cannot perform its
office; the studied habit of shunning the air and
avoiding exercise, closes the pores, the little
mouths through which the body breathes,—making
it impossible to throw off impurities through that
channel. The burden of labor is thrown upon the
liver, lungs, kidneys, etc., and these internal organs
are compelled to do the work of the skin.
Thus persons bring disease upon themselves by
their wrong habits; yet, in the face of light and
knowledge, they will adhere to their own course.
They reason thus: “Have we not tried the matter?
147