The House We Live In; or, The Making of the BodyFarnsworth, Vesta J.
Science
The House We Live In; or, The Making of the Body
Farnsworth, Vesta J.
Hygiene -- Juvenile literature; Physiology -- Juvenile literature
Alcohol is a liar. Listen to what the wisest man who ever lived says
about it: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and who-so-ev´er
is deceived thereby is not wise.”
Alcohol says, “I am a food, and will make your body warm.”
Truth says: “It’s a lie. You do not feed any part of the body. It is
true that you make it feel a little warmer for a time, because all the
servants work so hard to throw you out; but the whole body is colder
afterward than at first.”
Alcohol says, “I will make your body so plump and fat that you will
look very healthy.”
Truth says: “It is true that you make the body fat. The liver ought to
weigh about four pounds, and you have made it sometimes weigh as much
as fifty. The fat you give is disease, not strength.”
Alcohol says, “I will help you digest your food.”
Truth says, “You hinder di-ges´tion, and make the food unfit to make
good blood.”
Alcohol says, “Let me come in, and I will make you merry.”
Truth says: “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath con-ten´tions? who
hath babbling [foolish talk]? who hath wounds without cause? who hath
redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek
mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth
his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. AT THE LAST IT
BITETH LIKE A SERPENT, AND STINGETH LIKE AN ADDER.”
“Take a drink? No, not I!
Reason teaches better
Than to bind my very soul
With a galling fetter.
Water, sweet and cool and free,
Has no cruel chains for me.
“Take a drink? No, not I!
I have seen too many
Foolish men by taking drinks
Stripped of every penny.
Water, sweet and cool and clear,
Costs me nothing all the year.
“Take a drink? No, never!
By God’s blessing _never_
Will I touch, or taste, or smell,
Henceforth and forever!
Water, sweet and clear and cool,
Makes no man a slave or fool.”
—_S. S. Times._
CHARACTER OF THE MASTER
MOTHER: We have now taken a hasty look at the larger rooms in the
body-house. I hope that the short visit we have made to each will
create in you all a wish to know more about them. Do not think you
have learned it all; for we have only begun to study its beauties and
wonders.
HELEN: But why do we need to know so much about it?
MOTHER: That you may be able to care for it properly, and “glorify God
in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” We are not our own,
and some day we must give account for the way in which we have treated
this holy temple given into our care. “Whether therefore ye eat, or
drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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