Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 8 (1893)
Lt 36, 1893
Kellogg, Dr. and Mrs. [J. H.]
Napier, New Zealand
October 2, 1893
Portions of this letter are published in 2MR 239-240; 7MR 127; 14MR 88. +Note
Dr. J. H. and Mrs. Kellogg
Sanitarium
Battle Creek, Michigan
Dear Brother and Sister:
You must think [it] strange of me that I made no response to the sad news of your mother’s death. I read a portion of your letter, and must have been called away to go somewhere or do something, and put the portion in the wall pocket made with different apartments to hold my letters. A few days since I emptied these receptacles. One package I could not find any opening to reach it. [But] after a long time I found that package and it was a part of a letter from you with a long piece cut from a paper containing the particulars of your mother’s death. I know you must have this bereavement. Your mother was a noble woman, true as steel to principle. I always highly respected her and loved her as a sincere, devoted servant of Jesus Christ, as a tried friend, as one whom you knew was reliable under all and every circumstance. Her pilgrimage is ended. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 1
By faith she “looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” “These all died in faith not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” [Hebrews 11:10, 13.] I feel sad as I see one after another of the old standard-bearers laying off their armor, and yet I rejoice. “Thou hast a few names, even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.” [Revelation 3:4, 5.] I say I feel sad to see the old faithful tried ones passing away one by one but I do not mourn for them. With Paul they can say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me on that day; and not to me only, but unto all those that love his appearing.” [2 Timothy 4:7, 8.] 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 2
The Lord has graciously spared my life thus long and I am improving in health, but how long I shall be permitted to have a part in carrying forward the work I know not. I would be true and faithful as long as my life is spared. Time is passing so swiftly, and the great crisis is before us. We are really to have a part, if life is spared a little longer, in the closing scenes of this earth’s history. “Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.” [Revelation 14:13.] The time passes so rapidly. “And, Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” [Revelation 22:12.] Now is our sowing time. The reaping time will be ere long. Let us now, more than ever before, make the Lord God of Israel our trust. In proportion as the heart is more and more sanctified by grace and filled with the active love of God, the application of great truths will be brought and interwoven with little things, and there will be with the children of God a consistent course of obedience. We will find in our experience that the yoke of Christ is easy and His burden is light. The heart submissive to God’s will and to God’s way in even little things will bring a peace, a restfulness, a trustfulness in God [so] that we continually rejoice. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 3
“Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful (not overanxious) for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things.” [Philippians 4:4-8.] 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 4
Everything that can come to us will come to annoy and perplex and distress us. And I am sorry that I have brought one thing before your mind to worry and distress a mind that is so heavily burdened. Please pardon me for this. I will henceforth speak to others when my mind is distressed in reference to any particular thing. I see now I have done that which I never meant to [do]—to stir up your mind to annoying matters. I will do so no more unless the Lord shall especially lay upon me a burden for your individual self. Then I must speak. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 5
It hurts me when I think impressions are going out in reference to Battle Creek that create suspicion and prejudice, and to prevent this is the reason I have written. Now, please answer me one question, which is between you and me, but it may mean very much to our interest in the school. Who stands at the head of the cooking department of the college at Battle Creek? Some serious things have been presented to [my] mind in reference to the matter that there was not the most healthful preparations for the students. And all I want to know is who stands there as manager. If it is _____, well, who ever it is we do not want her. Prof. Prescott’s sister and her husband have been suggested to come to Australia to teach in the cooking department. Please give me your counsel in this matter. I fear to have any one come to these colonies to teach the manner of cooking that has been practiced in the school boardinghouse, for it will not take favorably here and will be a hindrance to our work rather than a help. Please let in a light on this matter. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 6
There is need of those who teach cooking to be hygienic in their preparations of food. The looking for [a] hygienist in cooking has been long; but we see not the veil uplifted yet that we can see beyond. We will give these hints and then rest, having all the patience for slow movements to accomplish tangible results. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 7
W. C. White and I have had a consultation, and I have about decided to sell all the real estate I have in Battle Creek and invest it in the advancement of the cause of God here. We cannot, dare not, leave the work as it is, all unfinished, to ravel out that which we have had such hard work to get advanced, even a little, and build upon a solid basis as much as possible. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 8
The people have confidence increasing all the time in the mission. The Lord has given me health, and the result is I am called here and there and almost everywhere. I had decided [that] when my under teeth were extracted I should feel at liberty to refuse to speak. This held good for some weeks, but since September 1, I have spoken twenty times without any lower teeth. I simply could not resist the appeals. One week ago last Sabbath, I spoke with [a] lower set of teeth, and all said it was a success, but my mouth was and is fearfully sore. It was not healed and will take all of two months more before I shall have my permanent set of teeth. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 9
We made preparations to leave New Zealand for Melbourne, Australia by the way of Sydney, in a short time, but a telegram came from Auckland that the Pitcairn will be there in a few days. Then a telegram came from Elder Olsen that he will be in New Zealand to attend camp meeting November 23rd. Willie left at once for Auckland. They had been promised that the camp meeting would be there, but if Elder Olsen comes, it should be in or near Wellington which is more central. What Auckland really needs is a ministerial effort. W. C. White must meet the Pitcairn when it should arrive, for [there is] trouble in the ship’s crew, and there must be changes made in the seamen. W. C. White has received many letters from Captain and passengers. He must also counsel with the Auckland people and get their consent to have the [camp] meeting held in or near Wellington. [A] telegram received [states] that they consented and W. C. White went on to Kaeo to see the brethren there, and also that the Pitcairn will call near Kaeo. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 10
Here we are, soon to be engaged in another camp meeting, a baby camp-meeting, but it means much to the people in these Colonies. We cannot get into a church and many will not come out to a hall, and then the charges are very high, but we can reach the people by a camp meeting; it is our only way to get the truth before them. O, may the Lord help His people in this time, in our last resource to break down their prejudice! 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 11
Could we have had a hygienic cooking school in connection with our camp meeting we could have accomplished much good. We do not think it best to introduce the variety of dishes that are studied that can be prepared, but we want the plain wholesome foods. The pastries, the little delicate dishes that are arranged would not be of the least use to our people in these Colonies. This would mislead them, and they would never practice them, and I should seriously object to their being educated in their preparation. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 12
There is seldom a family who knows how to make good bread, and a pie is a rare thing to be seen on the table. Vegetables and meat preparations have been their usual diet. Fruit has not been used much. Any preparation of cake is a rare thing. We see plenty of mush or porridge at least once a day. Breakfast is little more than bread [and] some kind of jam; and if they can afford it, butter and milk are used quite plentifully, and also eggs when they are cheap, but when high-priced [they are] rarely seen. Our people use bran coffee quite generally. Meat is used largely, but we are not in the habit of partaking of meat. Some families do not eat it at all. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 13
I was visiting one of our Sabbath keeping sisters and her two daughters who live at home, and they told me that they did not use any meat. When they accepted the truth the family were meat eaters, but the husband willingly adopted the vegetarian diet, and the son said that he wanted to be in harmony with the family and he would give it a one-week’s trial, then if he fell off in weight he would go back to his meat. He was weighed at the end of his probationary trial and found that he had gained 11 pounds. The father and son are not with us in the faith. Neither make any profession of religion. They are, as a family, harmonious on the diet question. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 14
They have a convenient home up, up a winding road to the top of Napier hill. This high ascent is chosen by the wealthy people of Napier. The buildings are so located so as to overlook the waters of the bay and are adorned with a variety of evergreens and flowers of every description. Fig trees, lemon trees, and fruit trees of every variety are cultivated upon the crest of these hills. Mr. and Mrs. Reed’s home was not the highest, but plenty high enough. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 15
A complete hedge of geraniums bordered the path leading from the road to the house. These pink and scarlet blossoms looked very beautiful; they flourish summer and winter. I have received the most beautiful camellias, roses, and rich rare varieties of these flowers at all times from their garden kindly sent to me when at Wellington and Hustings. They have a fine, nice fernery, and their home is a picture of loveliness. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 16
It is refreshing to find families like these who are strict hygienists, and we believe that the father and son will yet receive the truth. We have weak faith, altogether too weak when we should be strong. We see so great a work to be done in these Colonies and the work moves so slowly. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 17
I am so much pleased with the prospect of your brother Merrit remaining in this country awhile. He can help us much. I am intensely interested in the education of medical students as missionaries. This is the very means of introducing the truth, where otherwise it would not find an entrance. Do your best to send us out some workers in this line while we are here to unite our work with their work. We want those who are firm and reliable, that go weighted with the burden of their mission as those <who are the> sent of God. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 18
[With] the ignorance that prevails in these colonies as to the means they should use in care-taking, in self-protection, [it] is a marvel to us that mortality is not greater than it is. If they would only study the subject for their own interest, study from cause to effect, we would see great changes in the health of our own people. I rejoice that Merrit is to work with us. He is having a precious experience in the things of God. His letters to us are excellent. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 19
I can see in the Lord’s providence that the medical missionary work is to be a great entering wedge whereby the diseased soul may be reached. I think, Dr. Kellogg, that there should be no mistake made now to devote the powers too largely to the lowest class. There is work to be done for the higher classes, that they <be converted and> shall exert an influence in that line and be laborers together with God. From the light given me of God, there have been altogether too much hopelessness and despair of reaching those in high places. Many souls may be reached with personal efforts that will not be affected by the preaching discourses. They have hunger of soul for something better than a religion handed down to us by our fathers. They need truth applicable to the present time. They need a better and deeper teaching than they have heard from blind-leading shepherds. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 20
Many, many in high places are hungering and thirsting for the simplicity of true godliness, the very truth that the Bible is revealing, the righteousness of Christ. Christ must be held up before them as the sin-pardoning Saviour. He must dwell in their hearts just as the blood must be in the body, circulating there as a vitalizing power. We cannot hold our peace on this subject. We cannot be too positive, too urgent in [the] wisdom of God, in presenting the truth as it is in Jesus. O, what a field of usefulness is open before the medical missionary. Jesus Christ was in every sense of the word a missionary of the highest type, and combined with His missionary work [that of] a great physician, healing all manner of diseases. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 21
Many in Christ’s day refused to be convinced of their lost condition. When Christ was in their midst as a mighty healer of bodily woes, as well as the maladies of the sinsick soul, some would not come unto Him that they might have life. They refused to be illuminated. So will it be in our day. Some will not be healed of their soul diseases. Every physician can and ought to be a Christian, and if so, he bears with him a cure for souls as well as bodies. He is doing the work of an apostle as well as of a physician. What need of the preciousness of pure and undefiled religion that the spiritual teacher may be administering to the soul necessities while relieving the distress of the body! How refreshing to the suffering, tempest-tossed soul to hear words of hope, words from God spoken to the suffering ones, to hear the prayers offered in their behalf! How essential that the living missionary should understand the diseases which afflict the human body, to combine the physician, educated to care for diseased bodies, with the faithful conscientious shepherd for the flock to give sacredness and double efficiency to the service! 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 22
The Lord in His great goodness and matchless love has been urging upon His human instrumentalities that missionaries are not really complete in their education unless they have knowledge [of] how to treat the sick and suffering. If this had been felt as an important branch of education in the missionary line of labor, many who have lost their lives might have lived had they understood how to treat the ailments of the body and study from cause to effect, and through their intelligent knowledge of the human body, and how to treat its maladies, they could have reached many darkened minds that otherwise they could not approach. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 23
The Great Physician-in-Chief is at the side of every true, earnest, God-fearing practitioner who works with his acquired knowledge to relieve the sufferings of the human body. He, the Chief of Physicians, is ready to dispense the balm in Gilead. He will hear the prayers offered by the physician and missionary if His name will be glorified thereby and the life of the suffering patient be prolonged. He that vanquished death when humanity was upon Him will now [be] glorified [to] do greater things than these. If the laborers together with God will work in faith, and trust wholly in God, He will give endless life to all who believe in Him and who endure unto the end. He is God over all. He is the true Head of the missionary, of the medical profession. Blessed indeed shall be that physician who has connected himself with the Chief Physician, who has learned from Him to not only treat the suffering bodies, but to watch for souls, to understand how to apply the prescription, and as under-shepherds use the balm of Gilead to heal the bruises that sin has made upon the soul, as well as upon the bodies of suffering humanity under the serpent’s sting. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 24
O how essential that the physician is one divested of selfishness, one who has a correct knowledge of the atonement made by Jesus Christ [so] that he can uplift Jesus to the despairing soul, one who holds communion with God. What a treasure he possesses in his knowledge of the treatment of the diseases of the body, and also the knowledge of the plan of salvation. Resting in Jesus as his personal Saviour, he can lead others to hopefulness, to saving faith, to find rest and peace and a new life in Jesus Christ. There are men whom the Lord has convicted in regard to the perils of a physician’s calling and have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before them in the gospel. Their souls were drawn out in earnest prayer for wisdom and defense in the many temptations to which they were subjected in their medical profession. Making God their refuge, they were guided by His Holy Spirit in the path of surety and perfect trust. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 25
All who obey the invitation with their whole heart will find rest. “Come unto me,” it says; “all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” [Matthew 11:28.] All who accept this invitation, know how to repeat the same to the disturbed, almost hopeless soul. In complying with this invitation the mental powers become clear, sharp, and decisive, for is he not connected with the God of wisdom? The personal Saviour is brought into the practical life. Christ is represented in character, and He will roll back every reproach from the pure, elevated, ennobling truth of God’s Holy Word. There is an inclination with many physicians to take false views of religion, and misapprehend Bible truth, and those who profess to be Bible Christians, if they walk humbly with God, can counteract, by their practicing the truth, the prejudice and incorrect ideas which have been accepted. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 26
God will just as surely advance the humble, faithful, praying whole-souled medical missionary as He advanced Daniel and his fellows. “As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” [Daniel 1:17.] The Lord sanctions the efforts of the consecrated worker, a true shepherd. He may have little time to preach discourses, but he can act sermons which will be far more powerful. The truths expressed in living, unselfish deeds is the strongest argument for Christianity. The relieving of the sick, the helping of the distressed, is working in Christ’s lines and demonstrates most powerful gospel truths representing Christ’s mission and work upon the earth. The knowledge of the art of relieving suffering humanity is the opening of doors without number where the truth can find a lodgment in the heart, and souls are saved unto life, eternal life. Even the most hard, apparently sin-cased souls, may be approached in this way, and [may] understand something of the mystery of godliness and become so charmed that they will not rest until they have a <complete> knowledge of Jesus Christ and His saving grace. The divine love of God has transformed their hard, rocky characters into meek disciples of Jesus Christ. O, what a work such souls can do to reach others who are as hard as themselves! May the Lord work, is my prayer. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 27
I have written far more than I intended, but I have traced line after line until I am convinced that I must stop where I am. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 28
In regard to the work on Christian Temperance, I could do much if I could only get time to arrange and correct matter already written, but to get out a work thorough and as it should be done, I fear is not possible now. I will wait for you to suggest what I had better do. I have only Emily with me. May Walling is in Melbourne school. I have no one with me to prepare articles for the books needing to be prepared for publication. I am about bare handed in regard to helpers in this line. Emily has the caring for me, packing and unpacking, settling and unsettling. She has more to do than one person should do. She cares for me faithfully. I have several articles written in regard to temperance since coming to these colonies, but they are not edited or prepared for printing. Shall I send them without being prepared? Can Mary Steward prepare such articles? Willie White suggested this. Please let me know what I had better do. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 29
Your sister in Christ Jesus. 8LtMs, Lt 36, 1893, par. 30