“I AM FEARFULLY AND
WONDERFULLY MADE”
Importance of Physical Culture
Since the mind and the soul find expression through the body, both mental and spiritual vigor are in great degree dependent upon physical strength and activity; whatever promotes physical health, promotes the development of a strong mind and a well-balanced character. Without health, no one can as distinctly understand or as completely fulfil his obligations to himself, to his fellow-beings, or to his Creator. Therefore the health should be as faithfully guarded as the character. A knowledge of physiology and hygiene should be the basis of all educational effort.
Disregard of Principles
Though the facts of physiology are now so generally understood, there is an alarming indifference in regard to the principles of health. Even of those who have a knowledge of these principles, there are few who put them in practise. Inclination or impulse is followed as blindly as if life were controlled by mere chance rather than by definite and unvarying laws.
A Cause of Failure
The youth, in the freshness and vigor of life, little realize the value of their abounding energy. A treasure more precious than gold, more essential to advancement than learning or rank or riches,—how lightly it is held! how rashly squandered! How many a man, sacrificing health in the struggle for riches or power, has almost reached the object of his desire, only to fall helpless, while another, possessing superior physical endurance, grasped the longed for prize! Through morbid conditions, the result of neglecting the laws of health, how many have been led into evil practises, to the sacrifice of every hope for this world and the next!
In the study of physiology, pupils should be led to see the value of physical energy, and how it can be so preserved and developed as to contribute in the highest degree to success in life’s great struggle.
Teaching Physiology