The Story of our Health Message

Warned Against a Worldly Policy

In Mrs. White’s testimony regarding the work of the Health Reform Institute she warned of the danger that through following a “worldly policy, or personal interest, or a desire to be engaged in a great and popular work,” the blessing of God upon this branch of the cause would be withheld. She pointed out that skill, scientific knowledge, and facilities were not sufficient. In all these things the young institution at Battle Creek was surpassed by others; yet she gave assurance that, with God’s blessing, “angels will attend patients, helpers, and physicians, to assist in the work of restoration, so that in the end the glory will be given to God, and not to feeble, short-sighted man.”—Ibid., 562. SHM 178.3

In justice to those to whom these messages were sent, we should not forget that in the active leadership of our work, aside from Elder James White, there was no one who had special knowledge and experience in finance. Although making a gratifying recovery from his invalidism, he was still physically unable to carry heavy responsibilities, and these were for a time placed on younger and less experienced shoulders. The gratifying initial patronage of the institution led to unwarranted confidence in the ability of a small denomination with limited means to undertake a work comparable to the long-established larger health institution at Dansville, with which the Health Reform Institute physicians had been connected. SHM 178.4

Elder White feared that the testimony against overexpansion would make it difficult to secure further pledges to the institute. He expressed his conviction that the plans for erecting a large brick building at that time had been a mistake, and that its immediate completion would bring “worse results than to abandon” the enterprise. This opinion seems to have prevailed, for the work of that building was deferred and even the foundations that had been laid were leveled to the ground. SHM 179.1