The Paulson Collection of Ellen G. White Letters

June 2, 1905

Takoma Park, Washington, D. C.

June 2, 1905

Dear Brother Burden,

I am much encouraged by the letters that I have received from you regarding Loma Linda. From your description of the place, I believe it meets the representation which I have seen of what we should seek for as sanitarium locations. Such a place was presented to me a few miles from an important city. The city has recently been built up. PC 237.2

I have tried to place before our people the representations given me regarding sanitariums in the country, and I have urged upon them the necessity of establishing our sanitariums outside of the cities. I have had repeatedly presented to me the advantage of securing locations some miles out of the cities. Those who follow the counsel of God in providing places where the sick and suffering can receive proper treatment will be guided to the right places for the establishment of their work. PC 237.3

Let our sanitariums be located where there is an abundance of land. I can see the advantage of such a place as Loma Linda. The Lord worked to help us to secure this property. The work of this institution is to be carried forward on pure, elevated lines. It can be conducted in such a way that the truth will be presented as the rock upon which to build. PC 237.4

In order that our institutions shall teach right lessons, there must be connected with them men of such simplicity that they are willing to learn of the great Teacher. “To you it is given,” Christ said, to the people who keep My commandments and do those things that I have presented in my work, “to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” PC 237.5

We are to proclaim the truth to the world, for thus the great Medical Missionary has commanded us. “What ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the house top; for there is nothing hid that shall not be made known.” “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and keep His commandments.” “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God.” PC 237.6

The church of Christ is dependent on Him for her very existence. Only through Him can it gain continued life and strength. The members are to live constantly in the most intimate, vital relationship with the Saviour. They are to follow in His steps of self-denial and sacrifice. They are to go forth into the highways and byways of life to win souls to Him, using every possible means to make the truth appear in its true character before the world. PC 238.1

The truth is to be presented in various ways. Some in the higher walks of life will grasp it as it is presented in figures and parables. As men labor to unfold the truth with clearness, that conviction may come to their hearers, the Lord is present as He promised to be. As they go forth on their mission, teaching all things whatsoever Christ has commanded, the promise will be fulfilled, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Those who are honest in heart will see the importance of the truth for this time, and will take their place in the ranks of those who are keeping and teaching the commandments. PC 238.2

All that can be done to make clear the mystery of godliness is to be done. The earthly has its place in illustrating the heavenly. All nature is a lesson-book, a teacher to every one who will learn. PC 238.3

In His wonderful sermon on the mount, Christ used the lilies of the field in their natural loveliness to illustrate a great truth. His language is adapted to the opening intellect of child life. The great Teacher brought His hearers in contact with nature, that they might listen to the voice which speaks in all created things; and as their hearts became tender and their minds receptive, He helped them to interpret the spiritual teachings of the scenes upon which their eyes rested. The parables, by means of which He loved to teach lessons of truth, show how open His spirit was to the influences of nature, and how He delighted to gather spiritual teaching from the surroundings of daily life. PC 238.4

The birds of the air, the lilies of the field, the sower and the seed, the shepherd and the sheep, - with these Christ illustrated immortal truth. He drew illustrations from the facts of life, facts of experience familiar to the hearers, - the hid treasure, the pearl, the fishing net, the lost coin, the prodigal son, the houses on the rock and on the sand. In His lessons there was something to interest every mind, to appeal to every heart. Thus the daily task, instead of being a mere round of toil, bereft of higher thoughts, was brightened and uplifted by constant reminders of the spiritual and the unseen. PC 238.5

Our medical workers are to do all in their power to cure disease of the body and also disease of the mind. They are to watch and pray and work, bringing spiritual as well as physical advantages to those for whom they labor. The physician in one of our sanitariums who is a true servant of God has an intensely interesting work to do for every suffering human being with whom he is brought in contact. He is to lose no opportunity to point souls to Christ, the great Healer of body and mind. Every physician should be a skilful worker in Christ's lines. There is to be no lessening of the interest in spiritual things, else the power to fix the mind upon the great Physician will be diverted. While the needs of the body are to be strictly attended to, while all efforts are to be made to break the power of disease, the physician is never to forget that there is a soul to be labored for. PC 239.1

God would draw minds from the conviction of logic to a conviction deeper, higher, purer, and more glorious, a conviction unperverted by human logic. Human logic has often nearly quenched the light which God would have shine forth in clear rays to convince minds that the God of nature is worthy of all praise and all glory, because He is the Creator of all things. PC 239.2

Christ illustrated character-building by a house built on a rock, against which storm and tempest were powerless, and the house built on the sand, which was swept away. We are living in perilous times. - PC 239.3