Brother Brown seemed to be very slow about learning that the Lord required the missionaries engaged in his ministry to use wisdom in the matter of conserving their health, to avoid undue exposure, the drinking of impure or contaminated water, going heedlessly in the way of epidemics, etc. While the Lord has the power to heal them, and they, being in His service, should have a special claim upon His protection and blessing, they should not knowingly "tempt the Lord." The account given us in the Bible of Satan taking the Savior up on to the pinnacle of the Temple and proposing that he cast Himself down, may serve as an illustration of the principle under consideration. Of course, the Father had it in His power to save Him, but the injunction was, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." In the ordinary nature of things certain penalties follow the breaking of certain laws. One of the laws of nature is that the human body is incapable of enduring an intense heat. If it comes in contact with fire the flesh is burned, and pain and suffering and perhaps dissolution follows. Of course, the Almighty is able to arrest the operation of a law of nature, as He did in the case of the three Hebrew children that the Bible tells us of being cast into the fiery furnace, but there was special reason for His doing so in their case. They were in the line of their duty, and it was because of their devotion to His cause that they were cast into the furnace, and there was therefore more reason for the Lord coming to their rescue than there would have been had they voluntarily gone into the fire, and thus "tempted the Lord" to suffer them to be destroyed.
Every missionary owes it to himself, to his family, to the people among whom he is sent to labor and to the cause he represents, to take good care of his health, to consider differences in climate, and food, and water and altitude, any or all of which may affect him injuriously unless great care be exercised on his part until he become acclimated or accustomed thereto.
Elder Brown had exhibited more zeal than wisdom in persisting in staying in the mission field after his President had advised him to go home, in enduring hardships and privations that were enough to break the constitution of a thoroughly healthy man in his anxiety to make a record as a missionary. Of course his traveling without purse or scrip rendered him more subject to exposure than if he had been entirely master of the situation by having money in his pocket to pay for food and lodging and transportation whenever required. But if he had been impressed with the fact that his health was of the first importance, and that being out in a shower or even getting his feet wet, and especially going to bed in his wet clothing meant endangering his health in the malarial region in which he traveled, he would have been less reckless than he really was. If he had realized that the natural effect of fasting—voluntary and involuntary—to which he had been subjected, sometimes to an excessive degree, was to weaken his body and render it less capable of withstanding disease and enduring hardship, he might have curbed his enthusiasm, and been more moderate in that respect. As it was, his zeal and enthusiasm really made him reckless, and there is little doubt that he has suffered ever since as a result.
When President Elias S. Kimball received the letter from Elder Brown's companion informing him of the real situation, he sent peremptory orders for the release of the suffering missionary and had him forwarded home without delay.
On his arrival in Salt Lake City he called upon President Woodruff and reported his labors in the mission field, and was taken to task for his reckless disregard of the rules of health. He was told that it was his positive duty to return home when the President of the mission wished to release him, as he was the man whose privilege it was to know the will of the Lord on the subject. His persistence in remaining in the mission and continuing his labors under such unfavorable conditions after such ample warning as he had received of the danger, was really tempting the Lord. The fact that the Lord had mercifully healed him on two different occasions in the mission field, did not even justify him in continuing the risk in the face of the mission president's protest.
How far his good intentions served as a palliation of his offense, is a matter of conjecture. That the Lord has not cast him off is evident from the fact that he enjoys a goodly degree of His spirit. He is a faithful laborer in the cause of God, but his usefulness is very much impaired by his poor health.
Brother Brown has had many evidences since his return from his mission of the willingness of the Lord to hear and answer his own prayers and the prayers of others in his behalf. As an instance, he mentions that he was accidentally thrown from a street car on the evening of January 30, 1913. He was unconscious when picked up, and taken to a hospital, and remained so until 10 o'clock the next morning, when he rallied. Upon examination, it was found that his nose had been broken, three teeth knocked out, four ribs fractured and a rupture produced. Three days afterwards, while suffering from internal hemorrhage and in very great pain, he called for Brother William Newell to administer to him. He felt a change occur while the hands of the Elder were upon his head and testifies that it was by the power of God that he was healed. His improvement from that time was rapid, and the readiness and completeness of his recovery surprised his friends and the doctors who knew the extent of his injuries.
[Remarkable Patriarchal Blessing]
DR. GLEDHILL'S WIFE OPERATED UPON REPEATEDLY FOR INTERNAL TUMOR—BLESSED BY A PATRIARCH—PROMISED THAT SHE SHOULD RECOVER AND GIVE BIRTH TO MORE CHILDREN—SCIENTIFIC OPINIONS UPSET BY FULFILLMENT OF INSPIRED PROMISE.
When we read the many miracles in healing that we find recorded in a few chapters in the Bible, one is apt to think that to-day these things are not found among us so generally now as anciently, but on more mature thought, one will discover that there are many more manifestations of God's healing power to-day on record than in the Holy Bible.