Understanding Ellen White

Statement 5: Dangers of disease from miasma

If we would have our homes the abiding place of health and happiness, we must place them above the miasma and fog of the lowlands Dispense with heavy curtains, open the windows and the blinds, allow no vines, however beautiful, to shade the windows, and permit no trees to stand so near the house as to shut out the sunshine. . . . Shade trees and shrubbery close and dense around a house make it unhealthful, for they prevent the free circulation of air and shut out the rays of the sun. In consequence, a dampness gathers in the house, especially in wet seasons. ²⁶ UEGW 184.2

The commonsense reading of this counsel simply indicates that high, dry ground, with ample circulation of pure air, affords a healthier environment for a home than poorly drained or swampy surroundings. Some have ridiculed this statement as attributing illness to mere bad odors. In northern climates with short summers and severe winters (such as Michigan and the New England states where Ellen White spent much of her life), the chill of cold weather is intensified by persistent dampness, which in turn fosters growth of mold and bacteria. These factors are either explicit or implied in White’s several statements on this topic. ²⁷ The “lowlands” or swampy areas with stagnant water near houses describe conditions under which mosquitoes proliferate, which in her day carried malaria. ²⁸ UEGW 184.3