LESSON 01:
Four-Sided Men
1: I am sure you will agree it is very apparent to any thinking person that our world is in trouble today. Millions are suffering from starvation and poor nutrition in every form. Population explosion is a great cause of concern. Our water is polluted. In the large cities, our air is very badly polluted. Even though modern science claims it is finding many ways to treat disease, it seems there are more and more diseases to treat!
2:
What we need is a program that will insure good health. We need a sense
of security. We want happiness. As you read these lessons. you are going
to discover that it is possible to have the essential things. You can
have better health. You can find security. You can find happiness.
3: I invite you to begin to get better acquainted with yourself. Just what is a person? What makes you the person you are?
4: First of all you are a body. You do not just have a body, you are one. There are no thoughts, no actions, no works, no love, no worship--nothing is possible--without a body. We usually think of the body as the physical part of us. We eat and our food is digested. We work and use our muscles, and those muscles become tired. We bathe, dress, brush our teeth, comb our hair, and make ourselves look as attractive as possible. We do not like our bodies to become sick, for then we feel very miserable.
5: But your body is just one part of you. There is another important part. It is your mind. We have the ability to reason. When your body tells you it is tired, you know that you must sleep. When it tells you that you are hungry, you know that it is time to eat. When you have a problem you can think it through. Because you have a brain, you can plan. You can plan your activities for each day, and you look ahead and plan for the future. Because you are able to reason and plan, and because you are a body, you are able to act. Your plans are not mere dreams that burst like bubbles! As you read the important instruction given here, you will learn how to make your plans and dreams such that they can come true. God has plans for you too, and dreams and ideals. "Higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for His children, God-likeness is the goal to be reached."
6: But the body and the mind do not make up the total of your experiences in life. You are in contact with people. This involves your social life. Life would not be complete without your family, your relatives, your friends and your neighbors. You were not meant to live like a lonely island out in the sea. You were meant to share the experiences of life with others.
7: Is the physical, mental, and social all there is to your life? No, you say, I have my personal faith, I have a spiritual or religious phase of my life. I agree with you. Sometimes we who are concerned with health overlook this very important part of life. "The body is more that meat. The body is more than raiment." It is these various parts of your nature that help you to reach your goals in life. Whatever your goal is in life, you need to understand how to have good relationships with other people. You need to have a meaningful faith and relationship with God.
8: There is much helpful information on each of these four areas of concern to mankind. You will receive vital help concerning life at its best through balanced living, as you read this complete series of studies.
9: In this lesson, I want you to realize that health is much more than the absence of disease. Health is having a fine sense of well-being without having to resort to the use of drugs or other harmful substances, which often destroy mind as well as body. It is not dependent on a shelf full of medicines, or on some sort of magic injections.
10: Most discomfort and ill health is related to the violation of the laws governing the basic needs we have mentioned, and good health may be had by our desire to obey these laws. This was shown in the life of Daniel and his three friends.[Daniel 1] Because of their obedience to the physical, mental, social and spiritual laws of the body, they were found to be in ten times better physical, mental, social and spiritual condition and more advanced than the other students. For a few minutes let us note briefly the life building forces we all enjoy every day. Perhaps you have not thought very much about your dependence upon such important things as the sun. Yet all life in this world, including yours, is dependent upon the sun. You cannot have good health without sunshine.
11: The life-giving oxygen in the fresh air you breathe is an absolute essential to your health. Without air you would be dead in a few minutes. Of course we do not just sit in the air and sunshine. For good health, we move, we work, we exercise, or the body weakens, muscles become soft, and disease more easily invades the body. But with sunlight, fresh air, and exercise we must also include rest and periods of relaxation to give the body a chance to rebuild energy and make necessary repairs.
12: Another frequently overlooked factor in good health is water. Your body requires at least 6 to 8 glasses of water each day in order to function at its best. You noticed I said water, not coffee, tea, sweetened soft drinks, beer or liquor! Water is the best for cleansing and purifying the body both inside and out.
13: Could you imagine life without food? The condition of your health is very closely related to the food you eat. For the strength of mind and body we must have nourishing, well prepared food, eaten in proper quantities and at proper times. In future lessons in this series, we shall study this matter more in detail, so do not miss a single lesson.
14: For physical health what will you include in your daily program? Here they are: sunlight, fresh air, food, clean water, exercise, rest, temperance and trust in Divine Power.
15: But remember, physical health is just one part of you. What I wish to emphasize is that health has many sides and many components, and that each is dependent upon others. All must be included if your life is to be in proper balance.
16: We cannot say "I am not sick. I have no obvious disease nor sores, therefore I am well-balanced." Neither is it enough to say that we are mentally alert, even though that is very important. We must also have social concern for our fellow human beings. We must also have a personal faith. It is only when we have these ingredients in proper balance that we can achieve the important goals and find life at its best, abundant life.
17: When this world was first made, it was God's intention that all men should always be happy, healthy and completely balanced. For a few minutes let us see how man came to be living on this world. [Genesis 1] He commanded the atoms of which the world was made, to come together in their proper place, and they obeyed Him. At that time there was no light here. The world was in darkness. God caused the light to shine upon the world He had just made. Since that time, a dark part and a light part, have always made a complete day.
18: When the world was first made the water was all mixed up with the earth like mud. There was no clean water and there was no dry land. On the second day God made the air around the world and some of the water of the earth He caused to rise above the air. So today, we still see clouds holding rain high in the sky.
19: On the third day God caused the waters on the earth to separate from the earth. He gathered the waters together and the dry land appeared. Then God caused trees and plants with all kinds of flowers and fruits to spring up from the earth and to cover the dry land with beauty. These would also furnish food and shelter for the animals, birds and man.
20: On the fourth day God made two great lights which He set in the heavens. We call the greater light the sun. God made it to rule the light part of the day. The sun is about 93 million miles distance from the earth. It is much larger than the earth. The earth continually rotates around the sun. God made the sun to send heat and light to the world.
The lesser light He called the moon, It is smaller than the earth and has no light of its own. It reflects the light of the sun. It is not very far away from the earth; only 238 thousand miles. The moon revolves around the earth once in every twenty-eight days. God said these two light were to be for signs and seasons. The same God who made this world and the sun and the moon also made all the stars, which we can see up in the heavens on a clear night. Man cannot possibly count all the stars. Long ago a wise man wrote: "Because God is great in power, none of the stars fall." He upholds them all. They all show how great and powerful and wonderful is God, their Creator.
21: After God had gathered the waters into seas and made the dry land appear, after He had made the plants and made the sun and moon to shine, He wanted other things. On the fifth day He made all kinds of birds to fly in the air, and to live on the ground and in the water. Some were very large and others were very small. He also made the fish on the same day. Some fish were very large and others were very small. There are fish that live in rivers and others that live in oceans. They were all made on the same day.
22: On the sixth day God made different kinds of animals. Tigers, elephants, cows, horses, dogs, cats, and all the many different kinds of animals were made on the sixth day, and then God also made man.
23: Man was a very special part of creation. He was different from all the other animals. He stood up straight. He also had a different kind of brain. He could know right from wrong. God made man to be the ruler over all the world and everything in it. It was man's responsibilities to care for all the animals and birds and fish and plants that lived on the earth.
24: But man was all by himself and God saw that it was not good for man to be alone so He made a woman to be the man's wife. These two were the first parents: the parents of all the people who have lived on the earth since then.
25: You may wonder why man is not now the ruler of all the things in this earth. Why do animals fear man? Why do people get sick and die? In the next lecture we shall discuss these questions, because they are vital to every person's happiness and fullness of life.
Here is additional information about the Creation of this world:
The story of how this world was made, is explained in the first two chapters of the Bible: Genesis 1 and 2. Here are some other Bible verses about how it took place:
"By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. . For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." Psalm 33:6:9.
"For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited." Isaiah 45:18.
"For by Him [Jesus, God's Son] were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him." Colossians 1:16. (Also John 1:3, Hebrews 1:1:2, Ephesians 2:10.)
"The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens." Jeremiah 10:11:16. (Acts 17:22:29, Isa. 40:25:29.)
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork." Psalm 19:1. (Psalm 8:4:6, Hebrews 1:3, Romans 1:20, Psalm 95:6, Revelation 4:11.)
"For God so loved the world that He gave." John 3.16.
