The Entering Wedge 1

The Entering Wedge Society of America

1997 Reprint

The Entering Wedge 2

THIS BOOKLET'S MISSION

The reader will well appreciate the fact that the importance of this health-bringing agent is in some respects similar to that of the gospel, because no home, be it Christian. Jewish, or heathen, can afford to be without a copy of it. And the gospel's first concern being one's health, this heaven-sent agent is, therefore, the "entering wedge" for Bible and colporteur work, and it will, if rightly used, not only open doors and hearts to the gospel of all time, but also to Its "meat in due season" (Matt. 24:45), the message of the hour, "the everlasting gospel." Rev. 14:6. Hence, those wishing to engage in such a worthy cause, can more successfully labor with this appealing, friend-making, heart-changing, and body-building forerunner.

And, moreover, that it be comprehensible to all classes of society, it is written in language which all can readily comprehend. And finally, to give it the usefulness of a pocket-companion, so that one can conveniently refer to it at all times -- at home and away from home -- only the most practical and essential health hints are given, the things which one needs to refer to daily, along with a few sample recipes.

The enlightenment herein contained is highly essential in maintaining good health,

The Entering Wedge 3

because the world is now living a life that is contrary to its well-being. Consequently, unless one is equipped to proceed wisely through life's long journey, he can, of course, with certainty expect to break down somewhere in life's race track, and consequently not reach his goal.

The greater proportion of people realize that they are now living in a new, unnatural, and upset world, but unless they reform and line up their habits of life with the world that used to be, they too, will gravitate deeper into the ocean of disease and misery, and thus into an untimely and, perhaps, hopeless grave.

In a natural world books on this subject would not be so essential to one's daily regimen, but in a world like the one we are now living in, the necessity for such a book as this becomes as serious as if death and misery were about to conquer the last of us. That the world today is in just such a predicament is evident from the fact that it is now increasingly sick and dying from all manner of diseases, and unless there is something done quickly to save it, it will forever pass into oblivion.

Such a health-wasting and degenerating condition as the one which now prevails throughout so-called civilized lands, is doubtless due to the fact that heretofore all of us health reformers have been teaching only the theoretical side of right living. But now the long-looked-for, the practical, health companion (the only kind that can

The Entering Wedge 4

help anybody correct his erroneous habits, that can enlighten his path, and rescue him from the current of destruction), having finally come, we as Christian workers for the good of others, are hastening to reach all with it. Yes, all, because anyone can have it without money. "Ho," now Inspiration invites, "every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isa. 55: 1.

If it were to be sold on a strictly commercial basis, the price of this health service would be we perceive, as inestimable as is the worth of one's health and happiness. Hence, the publishers, operating a strictly gospel press, have made it possible for the distributors to send this health booklet free of charge to all who care to have it.

The Entering Wedge 5

CONTENTS

THE CAUSES OF DISEASES 9

What Should Everyone Know 10

Summarizing the Causes of All Diseases 12

LESSONS FROM THE MODERN MACHINE 13

LESSONS FROM NATURE 15

A TIME FOR FOOD RATHER THAN FOR DRUGS 20

A TIME FOR DRUGS RATHER THAN FOR FOOD 21

WHAT SHOULD A FLESH EATER KNOW? 22

WHAT SHOULD A VEGETARIAN KNOW? 27

Group 1 -- 80% of the Diet 29

Group 2 -- 20% of the Diet 30

Group 3 -- Seasoning for All Foods 30

THE SUMMER AND THE WINTER DIET 30

FOOD COMBINATIONS 33

RAW FOOD 36

USING COMMON SENSE 36

THE ENLIGHTENED,

PROGRESSIVE WAY OF LIFE 37

OVEREATING 39

EATING BETWEEN MEALS 41

RIGHT HABITS, HYGIENE

AND EXERCISE BRING GOOD HEALTH 44

PLEASANT SURROUNDINGS 46

THE CITY LIFE 47

WORK AND REST, YEAR ROUND 48

THE USE OF PURGATIVES 50

THE WATER IN EDEN 51

WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SLEEP? 52

WHAT SHOULD A CHRISTIAN KNOW? 55

FAITH ESSENTIAL TO GOOD HEALTH 58

THE LABORATORY TEST

AND THE DIETITIAN'S OPINION 59

The Function Of Food 60

The Calories 61

The Minerals 62

Oxygen and Its Function 64

Carbohydrates 65

Fats 65

Proteins 66

Vitamins 66

Acid and Alkaline Foods 72

BETTER LINE UP WITH

ALL THE LAWS OF GOD 75

FOOD AND COOKERY 76

Special Don't and Do's 80

NO NEED OF STAYING

HUNGRY AND HELPLESS 83

RECIPES 87

The Entering Wedge 6

THE ENTERING WEDGE-

THE GENESIS OF DIET AND HEALTH

"Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself In fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto Me hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." Isa. 55:2, 3.

To appreciate the importance of this Divine counsel one must first fully realize that in the beginning God created man in His own image male and female created He them. Yes, in God's own image were they both to live forever as He Himself lives, never to experience pain or death.

To eat understandingly, "that which is good," and to keep well, however, is to eat only that which the Creator sanctified for man's use. "Behold," He instructed, "I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Gen. 1:29.

Although given an immense variety of foodstuffs -- every herb and every tree bearing seed -- the sinless, holy pair, being tempted, and being inexperienced, reached

The Entering Wedge 7

for the only forbidden fruit in all God's creation, the fruit of the tree that was in the midst of the garden. Having eaten of it, they became subject to that experience which was to exhibit to them and to their descendants the results of both good and evil -- joy and sadness, health and disease, redemption and damnation, -- all these were henceforth to he the lot of humanity. Consequently, while going through these experiences, death passed upon all men and upon all else that was subject to Adam's rulership.

Thus, as descendants of father Adam, we naturally came unto this world as first degree sinners, subject to all the good as well as to all the evil that is in it. And now if we choose to practice the good, we shall add no other sin, and eventually our sinful nature will be changed and, guided by Divine Light, we shall be brought to the Edenic sinless state. But if we continue to do otherwise, then as a result we shall acquire additional curses, curses which result from our own sinning. And if we never turn from pursuing such an evil course, we shall suffer even the "second death." Rev. 20:14.

Now the fact that early in the history of mankind, men were not subject to so much sickness disease, and suffering as they are at the present time, and were capable of living nearly a thousand years, proves that the nations of today have not chosen

The Entering Wedge 8

the good, but rather the evil course -- the course which leads to destruction of both body and soul. Thus adding sin to sin, evil to evil, and pain to pain, they are running full speed to ruin in this life, and, except they repent, to final destruction in the life to come; to the second death, a death from which there is no resurrection.

THE CAUSES OF DISEASE

Disease has been identified in three different categories -- hereditary, communicative, and self-created (acquired). This being so, then there must be three kinds of sin, three laws to transgress. Two of these laws are found in the Decalogue (Ex. 20:3-17): The first prohibits sinning against God, and the second against our fellowmen. The Third, therefore, is the law of health, the law which forbids transgressing against our bodies (Lev. 11; Isa. 66:16, 17).

Plainly, then, sinning against God brings in its wake a hereditary curse, the kind that passes from father to son "unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me" (Ex. 20:5), saith the Lord. And sinning against our fellowmen brings communicative diseases, shown in the fact that when Miriam sinned against her brother, Moses, she was stricken with the contagious disease, leprosy (Num. 12). "Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may

The Entering Wedge 9

be long...." Ex. 20:12. So "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Gal. 6:7. Thus it was that when Haman built the gallows upon which to hang Mordecai, he himself was hanged on them (Esther 7:9, 10). And when Daniel was unjustly cast into the lions' den, his enemies were devoured by the hungry beasts, but Daniel was spared (Dan. 6:16, 22, 24). Moreover, when the three Hebrews were cast into the fiery furnace, those who carried them were consumed by the flames, but the Hebrews came out unharmed (Dan. 3:21-23). So also, "he that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword." Rev. 13:10.

It is therefore a never-failing fact that if one molests his neighbor, or intends to do so, the harm will fall on himself; and if he harms his neighbor's children, his own children will suffer as a result. The diseases, though, which are not inherited, the sinner himself creates by sinning against his own body. Sinning against a neighbor or against oneself, nevertheless, is indirectly sinning against God also.

WHAT SHOULD EVERYONE KNOW?

If one is suffering from a hereditary disease, for which his parents, grandparents, or great grandparents alone are guilty, he is, of course, helpless to do much of anything in the line of complete recovery,

The Entering Wedge 10

be it by dieting or by using drugs. He may, however, be able to control the disease or even to overcome it by being strictly obedient to the laws of God, knowing that nothing in the world will effect a cure for such illness but prayer, if God's wisdom so decrees.

On the other hand, if one is suffering from a disease which has been communicated to him or that is communicative, due to one's sinning against his fellowmen, then to remove the disease once and forever, he must repent of his sin, practice the golden rule: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." Matt. 7:12.

But if the disease be neither hereditary nor communicative, then it must be self-created, acquired by oneself, by violating the laws of health, by not living right in one respect or another.

The wise will, therefore, correct their habits of living -- make sure that they do not sin against God or against their fellowmen, that they sleep, breathe, eat, drink, and work correctly and religiously, and if there is a cure at all, they will have it.

The cause of each type of disease having now been defined, the sufferer of any of the three kinds of diseases may without difficulty determine which one of the three laws he is transgressing and as a result

The Entering Wedge 11

paying the penalty it imposes. If he is afflicted with complications of diseases, though, he must be breaking all of God's laws. Let him henceforth quit sinning in any line if he expects to recover and stay well, too.

Many diseases, of course, are wrongly classed as contagious. For example, tuberculosis is not actually communicable, for when one becomes infected with the disease, he can effect a cure if while it is yet in its early stages, he begins to live right. Obviously, then, if one always lives right, he need not fear of the disease ever getting a foothold in his body. So in the last analysis a number of diseases so-called contagious are not in reality such. Strictly speaking, they are infectious, brought on by oneself. And now, how fortunate should one consider himself to know that right living and right doing, with faith in God, actually do away with a multitude of sorrows!

SUMMARIZING THE CAUSES OF ALL DISEASES

Those who wonder what is the cause of this, of that, and of the other disease, may quickly test every case:

It is now fully understood that life and death are at war with each other as are the nations among themselves: One nation's army may pour fire upon another, but not all of the soldiers receive the same kind of wound even though the whole army be under

The Entering Wedge 12

the same fire. In like manner, the bodies of men are the soldiers and the cause of disease the Enemy's mighty weapon in the warfare between heaven and earth. Hence, though some suffer from headache, some from stomachache, some from diabetes, some from anemia, from heart disease gallstones, neuritis, or other ailments, yet all suffer for the same reason -- simply because they have in one way or another moved away from their only fortress, the laws of God. This is the final diagnosis of all diseases. Stick close to Nature, and Nature will stick close to you.

LESSONS FROM THE MODERN MACHINE

One must realize that the human body is in some respects similar to a man-made machine. When the gas tank of an auto goes empty the engine immediately stops. This same law operates within the human body: When the body runs out of energy (starves, runs out of calories) it stops running, dies; and although man who made the auto can refill its tank with fuel and put it to running again, he cannot do so with the human body. Once the heart stops beating, at that very moment life ceases and the body lies down until the resurrection day -- until the One Who created it starts it moving again.

When the crankcase of an engine becomes empty, but the engine continues running,

The Entering Wedge 13

then the machine breaks down, and its usefulness ends. And as the life of an auto is maintained by reducing friction through means of lubrication, the life of a human being is kept up by Nature's replacing the worn out cells after the day's task is done, while he takes his rest in bed. Thus is he able to arise in the morning with renewed strength. But if he fails to provide the material which Nature needs in order to rebuild the worn out cells and tissues, he, of course suffers the consequences as does the neglectful person who fails to replenish the oil in his auto's crankcase. And if one fails to drink enough water, too, during the day, his blood will, as a result, become impoverished, and his system stagnant and clogged with waste material, there to ferment and decay; and if Nature is deprived of energy by which to throw off the toxins through the pores, kidneys, and the bowels, or to raise fever and endure the burning process of the wastes, then there is nothing to do but to give up trying -- decease.

It is therefore necessary that Nature be well supplied with all the essentials if one expects to maintain his usefulness unimpaired and to live his allotted life.

Moreover, no good engineer puts useless or needless parts into an engine, and if the user of it takes out any part, regardless how small and insignificant, the engine is made just that much less efficient. The

The Entering Wedge 14

same is true with the human body. But though the engineer can replace the missing parts in the machine which he designed and built, the surgeon cannot replace the body organs which his patient may cause him to remove. For example, one may remove only a set screw from a machine and not affect its performance for the time being, but at length he will find that the machine fails to perform, and if he cannot replace the part which he has taken out, the machine will become altogether useless. The same thing occurs, more or less, when one removes an organ from his body.

LESSONS FROM NATURE

Since the well-being of the body is even more accurately taught by Mother Nature herself, no one who wishes to enjoy life dares overlook her counsel. Plants never do well in soil that is deficient, or depleted of its life-giving properties. Some plants do better in one soil or climate than do others. Some thrive in higher altitudes and others in lower. The same law seems to operate in mankind: The darker races fare better in the torrid regions, and the lighter in the frigid regions.

While plant life subsists on inorganic matter, animal life subsists on organic. Moreover, as plant life was created before animal life, the truth is that the plant

The Entering Wedge 15

kingdom can get along without the animal, but that the animal kingdom cannot get along without the plant. Thus it is that vegetation needs only Mother Earth, but man needs both the earth and plant. In other words, plant life is dependent on the soil for existence, while animal life is dependent on vegetation. Flesh diet is therefore, artificial, and thus deficient -- incapable of maintaining life.

So, just as plants cannot thrive on poor soil, men cannot thrive on poor diet. And if one is aware of the fact that almost immediately after the soil is enriched, the plant awakens with health and vigor, then he will have no difficulty realizing that as soon as he corrects his own diet, his health will likewise spring up. Is it not true, then, that one's health depends on the food he uses as does the plant's on the soil in which it feeds?

If the sufferer's faulty diet is the cause of his aliment, and in most cases in our day it is, then no kind or amount of drug can cure him. Yet when something goes wrong with one's organism, he generally runs to a doctor, not to find and to remove the cause, but to be cured, while the cause remains and while it brings him closer and closer to the grave! And if he is not given drugs, he dislikes the doctor! Why not check up on your daily diet and habits of living? Why take drugs when you need to take water, fresh air, sunshine, the

The Entering Wedge 16

right kinds of food; to exercise; or perhaps to clean up your home, your body, and your surroundings?

Let it be now understood that anyone living on a poor diet, or in unpleasant surroundings and unsanitary conditions, is subject to disease in one form or another, just as is a plant that is planted in poor soil and unconducive surroundings. Then, too, one must remember that unbalanced food, regardless of quality or quantity, is poor food; and as too much fertilizer kills the plant, so too much food kills the man. Too much of anything is as bad as is too little. Illness, therefore, is only a warning of one's improper habits of living. But, alas, who can understand! and who is taking heed!

What else can the cause of diseases that are not hereditary or communicative, be but wrong living -- malnutrition, "unclean" flesh food (Lev. 11), overeating, poor elimination, insufficient exercise, lack of sunshine and fresh air, living in filth, neglecting to drink enough water between meals, or perhaps smoking or chewing tobacco, habitually using coffee, tea, or some other stimulant that whips up the body to the last ounce of energy? To be sure, such diseases as cancer are the result of wrong living. If such is not the cause of the sufferer's illness, then the last and final cause, as referred to before, is sin against the Decalogue.

The Entering Wedge 17

Nature teaches that if a tree becomes sickly from within rather than from without then to spray it with any kind of drug will only hasten its death, waste the drug, the time, and one's energy. The human body is no exception. If the disease is from internal cause, then what good will it do to try to remove it by the use of drugs? In such a case drugs will not remove the cause but rather do greater harm and hasten the end.

If it is not possible to keep a water-cooled engine from overheating when the radiator is empty, and if nothing but to fill the radiator with water will cure the trouble, then why should it be possible to cure a diseased body without curing the cause? Stop and think.

True, many do suffer from hereditary and contagious diseases, but most persons suffer from diseases caused by erroneous habits of living. Alcoholic beverages and other stimulants, rich pastries, commercial sweets, overeating, wrong combinations, and too many grain products, any one or all of these collectively have more or less afflicted every human being of this age with one ailment or another.

Constipation is one of the commonest diseases that one brings upon himself by erroneous eating. And constipation in itself is a cause of a number of diseases, as is malassimilation. Man is not naturally

The Entering Wedge 18

subject to constipation, -- no, not any more than is a water main subject to plugging up if nothing but water is put through it, the only thing the manufacturer ever intended that should be put through it.

That commercially prepared foods, too, are among the many causes of constipation, a faculty member of a certain health institute writes: "Because of our civilized foods and the way they fill the bowel with toxic material and gas, it is absolutely necessary to give oneself a series of colonic irrigations at least twice a year in order to stay well. Headaches,

colds, flu, intestinal pains, mucous, gas, and many disturbing disorders disappear after one or two colon treatments."

We should not overlook the fact that Noah lived 900 years of good, happy life, and that we have no record of his having had to take colonic irrigations or to under go an operation! Rather than resort to artificial means for cleansing now and then, why not eat the right kinds of food, the kinds that keep the bowels clean every day of the year? Moreover, a balanced diet will not only keep the bowels free from "toxic material and gas," but will supply the entire system with the necessary minerals and vitamins, without which no one can keep well any considerable length of time. Then why spend your money on manufactured vitamins and devitalized foods at sky-high prices when you can have

The Entering Wedge 19

Nature's own, full of vitality, and at prices as low as gravity? Ever remember that artificial nutratives are no better than artificial arms or legs.

A TIME FOR FOOD RATHER THAN FOR DRUGS

No one should overlook the fact that the human body is made up of certain minerals, all of which are found in foodstuffs, and by these Nature is well able to keep the body in perfect condition provided that its master supplies the materials, and provided that no "monkey wrenches," so to speak, are ever dropped in to its delicate but long-enduring mechanism. Plainly, then, if we fail by the food we eat to supply Nature with the proper building materials, Nature will consequently be unable to perform her work, and though the result of the deficiency may not be felt immediately, it will nevertheless be felt as life continues and the years go on.

And if the transgressor fails to awake and amend his ways on time, then even the most careful observance of the laws of health will fail to repair the damage done. Obviously, one should endeavor to live right, not because he is becoming sickly, but because he is determined ever to keep well. Moreover, a machine that has been broken down and repaired is never so good as the one that has never been damaged.

The Entering Wedge 20

Neither is the man who makes himself sickly and then well. His best is never let his health be impaired. Each one should realize that his health is his wealth; that without it all else is as good as lost; and that he can never enjoy all his God-given rights and privileges if he does not carefully attend to both his physical and spiritual welfare.

Drugs have their own place, but do not expect them to do that which you yourself must do.

Many are like Asa, the king. He was "diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great; yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians." 2 Chron. 16:12. (See Prophets and Kings, p. 113.)

A TIME FOR DRUGS

RATHER THAN FOR FOOD

There are diseases which attack even the healthiest and best-cared for plants. For example, when a tree that is planted in the best of soils and is well cared for, becomes infested with insects or disease, then no matter what one does with the soil, he cannot thereby cause the pestilence to disappear: and if the tree is not sprayed with drugs that will exterminate the disease, the tree dies. In like manner, if one's morals, diet, and hygiene, have been faultless and still are when he takes sick, and if his ailment

The Entering Wedge 21

is not hereditary, then no matter what more he does with his diet, he will realize no healing virtues from it. Drugs are his best remedy if prayer fails.

Again, if a healthy and well-cared-for horse takes sick, drugs of some kind are obviously the only possible cure. Thus if the daily living of a human being is faultless, and yet he takes sick, then outside of prayer, what can he do but resort to drugs?

For example, is it not true that one starving for food cannot be spared by taking in water, air or something other than food? And is it not also true that one's broken and distorted arm cannot be set in place and healed right by dieting, poulticing, massaging, or by anything of the like? Nothing will do the trick, of course, but a competent physician to set the broken bones in place.

WHAT SHOULD A FLESH EATER KNOW?

No living being should overlook the fact that in the beginning God said to the man: "Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Gen. 1:29.

Yes, even after Adam fell in sin and was driven out of the garden, after the earth

The Entering Wedge 22

brought forth thorns and thistles, his "meat" was still the herb," no longer that which grew in Eden, of course, but that which grew in the open field (Gen. 3:18). It was after the flood that he was permitted to use flesh food, and although he made use of only "clean" animal flesh (Lev. 11) the average length of life immediately dropped under the 200-year mark. Evidently flesh diet was permitted in order to shorten man's life and thus the miseries brought upon him through increased sin, and also perhaps to make it possible for him to perform the typical ceremonial system. Now, though, that life is altogether too short and the sacrifices no longer operative, the use of the Edenic fleshless diet becomes to us, in our weakened condition, even more urgent.

Being mindful of this light, Daniel refused to defile himself with the king's meat. He requested that he and his companions be given "pulse" (legumes) for their daily food. And a ten-day trial proved their simple vegetable meals to be superior to the king's meat (Dan. 1:8-20).

Since we have seen that in the beginning the diet created for man's needs was flesh-free, we may with certainty conclude that health can be adequately built and far better maintained without the use of flesh. History records that when man thus lived, he was able to attain super health and vigor and to endure almost a thousand

The Entering Wedge 23

years; and rather than dying of disease, he died of good old age. In fact, even as late as Abram, so rare was the death of persons before the death of their parents that Inspiration takes occasion to record that "Haran died before his father Terah." Gen. 11:28.

The ox, as we know, is able to maintain vigorous strength and perfect health on an average of 20% grain and 80% grass, without the use of flesh. The elephant on even less grain maintains good health, gains gigantic strength, and reaches great age. On the other hand, the dog, though carnivorous, cannot maintain good health on flesh alone. Merely by instinct he knows that he has to help himself to grain and to some grass, too, while the herbivorous animal never even tastes flesh, -- facts which prove that a balanced vegetarian diet is complete in itself, but that flesh diet is never complete alone. The only animal that can get by fairly well on flesh, though not altogether, is the one which eats the whole -- hide, hair, bones, hoofs, flesh, and all. (How painful the realization that through continued sin, man's God-given intelligence concerning his body's needs has degenerated lower than that of the dumb animal!)

Besides these considerations, looking in retrospection down through the ages we see that those who were given special work, work of great importance, were also given

The Entering Wedge 24

special diet, diets equal to their task. For instance, John the Baptist, the Elijah of his day (Matt. 17: 11-13, 11: 14), being given the greatest task of all the prophets before him -- not to predict, but to prepare the way of the Lord, to make the crooked straight, and the rough places plain (Isa. 40:3, 4) -- was a strict vegetarian, living on locust fruit and honey (Matt. 3:4; Luke 1:15).

Is it not even more essential, then, that we who bear the Elijah message of today, the message just before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, should be strict vegetarians as was John?

Moreover, the diet of the Exodus Movement (the Movement which came into being to exemplify a second exodus -- Isa. 11:16 -- the one that is to come out of all the nations and to make up the Kingdom in the latter days -- Mic. 4:1, 2), was strictly vegetarian to the very day it set foot in the promised land, forty years in all (Josh. 5:6). O, yes, they lusted after the flesh pots of Egypt, thinking that the restriction was due to adverse circumstances -- that flesh, although very much essential, was not available in the desert. And it was then that to their surprise the great I AM brought the quails to them right in the camp, whereupon thousands of the people died even while the flesh of the fowl was yet between their teeth (Num. 11:33). What a rebuke! What an ensample to behold! Now, knowing

The Entering Wedge 25

full well that the Movement is a type of the one that is arising at this time, and that the failures of the former should be the stepping stones of the latter (1 Cor. 10:11), should we not be thankful and happy for having been given a better diet than that which angry beasts are still subsisting on?

And should we not gladly comply with this exemplified Divine request to abstain from flesh food, so that our strength and character be equal to our task? Only by so doing shall we be fitting ourselves for the work and for the Kingdom, where "the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Isa 1 1:6-9.

Should we not now as intelligent human beings, Divinely enlightened candidates for the Kingdom, privileged to prepare the way for such a happy and perfect day, give up flesh food before the lions and the serpents do?

The Entering Wedge 26

WHAT SHOULD A VEGETARIAN KNOW?

With a reasonable variety of fresh vegetables legumes, grains, nuts, and fruits, also milk and eggs or their equivalents, the vegetarian can easily balance his diet to supply all his body's needs. He should therefore not neglect to include in his diet as wide as possible a variety of such foods both cooked and raw, remembering that the latter are even more essential and more complete.

"If we plan wisely," asserts Inspiration, "that which is most conducive to health can be secured in almost every land. The various preparations of rice, wheat, corn, and oats are sent abroad everywhere, also beans, peas, and lentils. These, with native or imported fruits, and the variety of vegetables that grow in each locality, give an opportunity to select a dietary that is complete without the use of flesh-meats." -- Ministry of Healing, p. 299.

Why is it, though, that some strict vegetarians rather than improving their health and building up resistance against disease, often suffer from malnutrition and become even more susceptible to various physical ailments than before they gave up flesh foods? -- Because in most cases flesh food is discarded without supplementing the diet with a satisfactory substitute. Many have the mistaken idea that by merely increasing their intake of protein foods -- nuts,

The Entering Wedge 27

legumes, and grains, they adequately replace the deficiency. By so doing they do not at all replace the deficiency, but instead unbalance the nutrients. Ever remember that flesh is composed of about 80% grass and 20% grain. Biological experiments unmistakably demonstrate that animals cannot thrive on whole grain proteins divorced from the associated leafy plants. The health seeker must bear in mind that often the immediate result of an unbalanced diet is constipation, followed by rheumatism or arthritis, if not by other even more dreadful and destructive diseases. Balance your diet, and Nature will take care of the rest.

The truth that the substances in superior quality flesh are derived from grain and grass, approximately 20% of the former and 80% of the latter plainly demonstrates that flesh is adequately substituted only by the proportionate use of both grain and leafy plants. Be not misled. Your body needs both grain and vegetable proteins in exactly these proportions. Indeed, they are all essential, and man's constitution demands that for health and longevity there be neither a missing link nor a weak one in the chain of nutriments.

There is also another important lesson in the fact that just as the All-wise Creator did not bless any particular locality with all the riches of creation, but scattered and scientifically proportioned them throughout

The Entering Wedge 28

the earth. He has likewise carefully distributed the essential body-building and upkeeping materials throughout the food kingdom, has not placed them all in one plant.

To maintain perfect health, therefore, be sure to make use of all the thirteen types of foods grouped below, and give them the proper proportions in your diet. Approximately 80% of your diet should consist of the first eight classes of foods (Group 1), and 20% of the second three classes of foods (Group 2). The last two classes of foods (Group 3) are seasonings for all foods.

GROUP 1

EIGHTY PER CENT OF THE DIET

80% of one's diet must consist of the foods in this group:

1st -- Leaves (watercress, beet tops, spinach lettuce, parsley, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, chard, etc.)

2nd -- Stalks (Celery, rhubarb, asparagus, etc.)

3rd -- Herbal Fruits (pineapple, okra, eggplant, peppers, string beans, tomatoes, etc.)

4th -- Tubers (carrots, potatoes, radishes, onions, yams, beets, turnips, etc.)

5th -- Cucurbits (squash, melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, etc.)

6th -- Tree Fruits (peaches, dates, bananas oranges, pomegranates, olives, avocados etc.)

The Entering Wedge 29

7th -- Vine Fruits (berries, grapes, etc.)

8th -- Dairy Products

GROUP 2

TWENTY PER CENT OF THE DIET

Only about 20% of one's diet should be made up of the foods in this group:

1st -- Grains (oats, rice, corn, rye, wheat, barley, etc.)

2nd -- Legumes (beans, lentils, peas, etc.)

3rd -- Nuts (pecans, coconuts, almonds, walnuts, chestnuts, etc.)

GROUP 3

SEASONING FOR ALL FOODS

All foods may be seasoned with the foods of this group:

1st -- Oils (olive oil, soy bean oil, sesame oil, nut oils, cottonseed oil, etc.)

2nd -- Sweets (honey, raw sugar, maple sugar, sorghum, etc.)

THE SUMMER AND THE WINTER DIET

As God caused vegetation to grow in the summer and to be dormant in the winter, He consequently constituted man to thrive on fresh garden produce during the summer and on dry during the winter. The fact that no tree can survive the summer without its leaves, but that it does well without them during the winter, again points out that a human being cannot fare

The Entering Wedge 30

well if he neglects to make his diet of fresh garden produce when in season, but that he can fare splendidly on dry, winter, foodstuffs when the fresh are out of season.

Moreover, as the Lord did not from the beginning provide present-day transportation facilities, did not make it possible for man to import or to export foodstuffs from one remote locality to another, He constituted him to thrive best on the things which his own locality or the one closest to it can produce. To him, therefore, all foods grown elsewhere become secondary, and those which are not in season he does not need. In other words, while the fresh produce is the best for one's health in the summer, the dry is the best for him in the winter, unless he lives where the fresh produce naturally grows during the winter months, too.

From these considerations one can logically conclude that the person who lives in a warm climate needs to eat more of the fresh foods, but a person who lives in a cold climate needs to eat more of the dry, preserved, concentrated, heat-producing foods. He who does otherwise is, as it were, firing his house furnace full blast in the summer and running his house cooling system full blast in the winter! Is it not a wonder that a man thus tampering with his body, can long survive through it all? If a deciduous tree should were it possible, shed its leaves in the summer, or put them

The Entering Wedge 31

on in the winter, it would never have a chance again to try such an off-season idea.

In pre-engine transportation times only a "ruler" could obtain out-of-season foodstuffs: strawberries, cherries, etc., when the snow flurries covered the trees and the icicles spanned from the roof to the ground.

Having this in mind Inspiration warned: "When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat." Prov. 23:1-3.

In Solomon's time only a ruler could have used the numerous dainties made from white flour refined sugar, and other commercial foods, but modern machinery now brings the ruler's "meat" to everybody's table, and consequently the modernized world is feeding on "deceitful meat," meat that does not supply the body's needs, that does as much good to men as a fisherman's bait on a hook and line does to a fish that goes after it.

Fruit is a summer food, designed to keep the body cool. And moreover it is more of a dessert than a meal.

Canning of foodstuffs has become another health-destroying device, because the majority of people try to subsist on canned goods the year around. If you wish a prosperous and happy life, then break away

The Entering Wedge 32

from artificial, lawless life and thus from the world's ills.

FOOD COMBINATIONS

There are a number of theories as to the combinations of foods, but since one contradicts another, they cannot all be correct, and, therefore, rather than convincing, they are creating doubts as to whether there is anything to be worried about after all.

People, though, lived and kept well all through the centuries without giving even a thought to food combinations. Why? Stop and think: Only since the years of modern transportation and commercial preparations of foods has this matter urged itself upon the public at large. This being so, the trouble is obvious: Modern transportation facilities, as previously pointed out, have flooded the markets with imported foodstuffs from all parts of the world, making it possible for anyone to purchase out-of-season foodstuffs and, in many instances, of the kinds that the consumer's locality does not even grow. Naturally, then, these foreign, off-season products cannot combine well with the local seasonal ones. Herein mainly lies the trouble with food combinations. Again, consider what results you will obtain if you have both the heating system and the cooling system in your home going at the same time!

The Entering Wedge 33

And, moreover, food that is adaptable to the consumer's body needs in one climate may not be in another. This is discernible from the fact that in the days when people lived entirely on what they raised in their own localities, they did not have the trouble that the world is now having. The same truth is manifested in the fact that the Creator caused certain kinds of foodstuffs to grow in one locality and other kinds in another locality but at the time created no means for quick distant transportation.

Specifically speaking, there are on the one hand health authorities who maintain that protein foods such as "milk, cheese, eggs, nuts, and beans," make bad combinations with carbohydrate foods such as "artichokes, bread, barley, cereals, cakes, flour, potatoes, pumpkins rice and spaghetti." On the other hand, there are health authorities who hold that these two classes of food combine excellently. Who is right? -- In view of the fact that cheese, eggs, and milk are made up of grains and grass, it seems illogical to conclude that a grain-and-vegetable product cannot combine well with grains and vegetables. Moreover, we might well observe that calves grow perfectly healthy on meals made up of milk, grain, and grass.

Then there is the contention that grains and vegetables ought never be combined. But contrary to this theory, cattle are raised best on grass combined with grain.

The Entering Wedge 34

Moreover, grain is seed, and seed is nothing less or more than the fruit of vegetables.

Now comes the question: Should grain be combined with fruit? -- As far back as history records, man has followed the custom of eating bread with every meal, and no past generation has left a complaint of ill effects on health.

The most popular question to be answered with reference to food combinations is that of whether fruit should be combined with vegetables. The solution to this question may be found in the laws which were ordained in the week of creation. Not given the same degree of intelligence as man, the cow was made to live on grass exclusive of fruit, and the monkey was made to live on fruit exclusive of grass. This we know from the fact that cattle are well equipped to help themselves to grass, and monkeys, to help themselves to fruit. Moreover, cows do not naturally care for fruit, and monkeys do not naturally care for grass so long as fruit is available. From these examples in nature we might logically conclude that not all fruits should be mixed with all vegetables.

When one considers that milk is made up of both grain and grass properties, and that although grain combines with fruit, grass does not, therefore the combination of milk and fruit, generally speaking, is somewhat questionable.

The Entering Wedge 35

RAW FOOD

As uncooked food is much more nutritious than the cooked, it is urgent that all foodstuffs which can be eaten raw should not be eaten cooked, or at least not all of the time. Many articles of food are cooked only because of custom. Spinach, asparagus, okra, young green peas, turnips and carrots, to mention just a few examples, though as a rule cooked, are even more delicious when eaten raw. Persons who are not accustomed to using raw foods should start on small amounts, then gradually increase them. They should however, be very well masticated and should be taken along with cooked and bland articles of food, lest the lining of the stomach become irritated.

USING COMMON SENSE

"There is real common sense in health reform. People can not all eat the same things. Some articles of food that are wholesome and palatable to one person, may be hurtful to another. Some can not use milk, while others can subsist upon it. For some, dried beans and peas are wholesome, while others can not digest them. Some stomachs have become so sensitive that they can not make use of the coarser kind of Graham flour. So it is impossible to make an unvarying rule by which to regulate everyone's dietetic habits." -- Counsels On Health, pp. 154, 155.

The Entering Wedge36

"But not all foods wholesome in themselves are equally suited to our needs under all circumstances. Care should be taken in the selection of food. Our diet should be suited to the season, to the climate in which we live, and to the occupation we follow. Some foods that are adapted for use at one season or in one climate are not suited to another. So there are different foods best suited for persons in different occupations. Often food that can be used with benefit by those engaged in hard physical labor is unsuitable for persons of sedentary pursuits or intense mental application. God has given us an ample variety of healthful foods, and each person should choose from it the things that experience and sound judgment prove to be best suited to his own necessities." -- Ministry of Healing, pp. 296, 297.

THE ENLIGHTENED, PROGRESSIVE WAY OF LIFE

"As thy days, so shall thy strength be." Deut. 33:25.

This scripture plainly reveals that God never intended that man should be sick or weak, and pass away before his days be full, but that he should retain his strength commensurate with his age, and die, not of disease, but of ripe old age.

"And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he [the wicked] came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath

The Entering Wedge 37

laboured for the wind? All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness." Eccles. 5:16, 17.

Naturally those who go on living independently of God, are not only committing wickedness, even though unconsciously, but are also laboring in vain. Furthermore, their eating in darkness, not having Divine light on the subject, causes them to eat food such as brings, not strength, but sorrow, wrath, and sickness.

The two Divine Guides of life, the Word and Nature, as we have already seen are the best and the only teachers that speak with authority. Anyone, therefore, who neglects their counsel is unwittingly walking in darkness and heading for trouble, and if he should finally get into it certain it is that he will be anxious to get out of it. But as he may hastily grope about, he will find himself just as helpless to get out as he was to keep out. Any theory, therefore, however plausible or logical it may seem, is definitely misleading unless it be one hundred percent in harmony with the two never-erring Guides of life -- the Bible and Nature.

As these Teachers authoritatively speak that man was made out "of the dust of the ground" (Gen. 2:7), there is good reason that the body of man and the soil of the earth contain the same minerals. Naturally, then, it is because flesh cannot adequately perpetuate itself on flesh that the

The Entering Wedge 38

plant is the agency which picks up the minerals from the soil and prepares them for human and animal consumption. Obviously, grains, nuts, fruit, and vegetables, man's original, best, and lawful diet, if used in the right proportions, will keep his mind keen, his body healthy, his morals and his integrity unquestionable.

There are number of books on the market, some advocating one thing and some another, but Nature and the Book of God both positively recommend these health-maintaining and character-building principles, and though fanatics may add to or subtract from, they are helpless to control the results. The "no-grain" diet and the "fireless kitchen" ideas, although seemingly based on true principles, are only two of the many fruits of fanaticism. We, therefore, authoritatively declare that all who stay in the middle of the straight and narrow path, all who wisely make their daily menu only from the lawful foodstuffs, will doubtless preserve their health, and grow away from a beastly to a more noble and human-like nature; reap many blessings and avoid great curses.

OVEREATING

Since the average normal stomach holds about a quart, the average meal for an active person should never amount to more than a pint and a half. Overloading the stomach is as harmful to the system as to

The Entering Wedge 39

swill intoxicating liquor. Yes, even, more so. One of the resultant evils of such an erroneous habit is that, besides causing gastro-intestinal disorders, it enlarges the size of the stomach, and as a consequence the whole body becomes misshapen. Especially is this so with the youth who are in the growing stages, for one organ has influence over another. Besides such injuries overeating wears out the whole organism -- shortens the life. A milling machine grinds only a certain amount of grist before it breaks down, be it during a long or short period of time. The human machine in like manner can take care of only a fixed amount of food, then it, too, retires. Thus it is that one can, as it were, chew away his life.

Overeating causes fermentation, fermentation causes irritation, irritation causes constipation, and constipation opens the gateway to a multitude of diseases. Overloading anything is bad on its everything.

Let the reader, therefore, now be well reminded that man passes through three distinct periods in life: (1) the years of his growth, (2) the years of his prime, and (3) the years of his decline. While he is ascending the hill of development he needs food for growing besides for the upkeep of his body. But after he has reached the peak of maturity, and he moves out across the ridge prime of his life, he needs only to eat enough to keep himself going. And when he passes over the crestline of

The Entering Wedge 40

life, becomes older and less active, he then needs proportionately less. Taking more food than his body requires and his work calls for, wastes not only the food but needed energy, too, because he then overtaxes his digestive organs, forces them to do more than they are able, and uses his energy to grind needless food, to throw out excess poisons and wastes -- he overburdens his whole organism. And if this injudicious practice be continued on and on, also eating at any and all times, eating for fun rather than for health and strength, as men are in this age habitually doing, eventually the organs of the body will become unable to carry out such an unreasonable demand. Consequently, those who eat in such darkness, must pass through a period of misery, and end their lives long before their work is finished, before their usefulness is used up.

"Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!" Eccles. 10:17.

"The righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul: but the belly of the wicked shall want." Prov. 13:25. Christians should eat to live, not live to eat.

EATING BETWEEN MEALS

Suppose you leave a little food in your breakfast dish, then at lunch add more to it, but again not use up the whole, and repeat

The Entering Wedge 41

this again and again, day after day. Can you imagine how the plate and the food will look and smell in a few days? Yet a person who eats between meals, eats before the previously taken food leaves the stomach, is unconsciously creating a condition that is just as bad.

If given no chance to empty from one meal to the next, the stomach is bound to ferment and to produce gas and toxins, so that what little energy is realized from the food, the system must use to throw out the poisons. Rather than take food between meals, flush your stomach with pure fresh water -- promote a good healthy appetite for the next meal. Moreover, if after a reasonable length of time all the food has not left your stomach, rather than eat only because the regular time for meal has come or only because you have a false hunger, keep on drinking warm water until your stomach becomes light and your appetite stimulated. Correct eating habits make one's earnings go further, promote health, increase energy, sweeten the breath, and develop amiability. What a gain without having to invest!

"Regularity in eating is of vital importance. There should be a specified time for each meal. At this time, let everyone eat what the system requires, and then take nothing more until the next meal. There are many who eat when the system needs no food, at irregular intervals, and between meals, because they have not sufficient

The Entering Wedge 42

strength of will to resist inclination. When traveling, some are constantly nibbling if anything eatable is within their reach. This is very injurious. If travelers would eat regularly of food that is simple and nutritious, they would not feel so great weariness, nor suffer so much from sickness.

"Another pernicious habit is that of eating just before bedtime. The regular meals may have been taken; but because there is a sense of faintness, more food is eaten. By indulgence, this wrong practice becomes a habit, and often so firmly fixed that it is thought impossible to sleep without food. As a result of eating late suppers, the digestive process is continued through the sleeping hours. But though the stomach works constantly, its work is not properly accomplished. The sleep is often disturbed with unpleasant dreams, and in the morning the person awakes unrefreshed, and with little relish for breakfast. When we lie down to rest, the stomach should have its work all done, that it, as well as the other organs of the body, may enjoy rest. For persons of sedentary habits, late suppers are particularly harmful. With them the disturbance created is often the beginning of disease that ends in death.

"In many cases the faintness that leads to a desire for food is felt because the digestive organs have been too severely taxed during the day. After disposing of

The Entering Wedge 43

one meal, the digestive organs need rest. At least five or six hours should intervene between the meals...." -- Ministry of Healing, pp. 303, 304.

RIGHT HABITS, HYGIENE, AND EXERCISE BRING GOOD HEALTH

To overcome poor digestion drink warm water an hour before and two hours after meals. Eat slowly and thoroughly masticate your food, mixing as much saliva with it as possible. Always leave the table while yet hungry; and by all means keep your bowels open. Three bowel movements a day are advocated by health authorities; never less than two. Mark this point, do not lightly pass over it, for here is where the greatest share of diseases spring forth. Quickly attend to this business, for you cannot afford to make your body a septic tank for any length of time. If you have been constipated, and are suffering as a result, you need a thorough cleansing, not by three bowel movements a day, but by five. Even then it will take a period of time before any apparent healing results can be obtained.

Remember, too, that your body is the Lord's tabernacle, that it should be kept clean within and without. Clean clothes and two hot baths a week, with cold water finish, also a quick cold shower or sponge bath daily, are essential -- a splendid tonic

The Entering Wedge 44

to keep out colds, and to help you keep up with the day's task.

Keep your house immaculately clean, within and without, especially the floors, furniture, and dark corners; and remember that uncovered and unclean cabinets and toilets kill the oxygen. Have the home attractive and orderly -- everything in its place. Ever remember that cleanliness is next to godliness, and that heaven-like law and order save energy, means, and time.

And do not forget that even more essential to health are fresh water, sunshine, pure fresh air and outdoor exercise. A home garden provides all these, and besides supplying the table with fresh life-giving food, it saves cash, too. Yes, home garden work can even keep the children out of mischief and at the same time help them to develop strong physiques, noble characters, and usefulness -- to learn to he industrious.

Never sleep in a room with closed windows. Breathe deeply; drink water at every opportunity; two quarts a day are not too much for a grown person -- only two glassfuls an hour or more before breakfast, three between breakfast and dinner, two between dinner and supper, and in some cases one after supper; more in a hot climate.

Be not overanxious to avoid sunshine. Always keep in mind that roses and fruit obtain their beautiful colors only when they come in direct contact with the rays

The Entering Wedge 45

of the sun, and that without the sun nothing can keep alive. Health makes a person beautiful, whereas artificial makeup on an anemic complexion never does. But if a sunless complexion is more appealing to you, then consider well and make your choice as to whether you wish to look better or to feel better. Moreover, you can use a hat with a wide brim to shade your face and still get the benefit of the sun's rays.

It is because no one can afford to stint himself on these three indispensables (sunshine, air, and water), that the Creator has lavished the earth more abundantly with them than with any other gift, and has placed them within the easiest reach of all living. These are the cheapest and most essential body requirements obtainable. Futile it is to stay away from them.

Those who fail to observe these health principles, cannot, of course, hope to regain health or even to maintain it at its present level.

PLEASANT SURROUNDINGS

All God's creation is artistically designed and beautifully dressed, causing happy smiles and deep thinking each time one beholds it. All this He did for the good of humanity. Is it not true then, that your home and its surroundings affect not only your health but also your countenance?

The Entering Wedge 46

Pleasing surroundings bring happiness, and happiness brings health. By beholding we become changed. Make sure, therefore, that your change is for the better; then you will find natural beauty crowding out all artificial makeup.

THE CITY LIFE

Man was not made to live in a city modernized according to man's short-sightedness, but rather in a well-dressed garden planted according to the Creator's pattern. Yes, the Garden of Eden was man's model city site. What a contrast between It and the cities of today! Anyone knows, of course, that when a large number of domesticated animals are as closely confined as are the people in the modern cities, they become subject to all manner of diseases. Human beings are no exception. It is no exaggeration to say that those living in the cities are living in Death's stockyards. Hence, if you must live in a city home, then rather than remain in a crowded district, let your dwelling be as far out and as much like the Eden home as possible. This you can do by having a neatly designed, well-cared-for garden and plants of all kinds artistically planted around the home.

Always remember that city life is artificial and not in God's plan for His children today any more than it was for them in the days of Lot; that curse and destruction

The Entering Wedge 47

devoured all the ancient cities, and that they were finally buried deep under the ground; that the city evils today surpass the evils of all times, and that doom is as certain today as it was yesterday; that if you cannot now move out of the city, and if you wish to escape its doom and be found worthy to share the future blessings with the faithful,