Letters and Manuscripts — Volume 20 (1905)

Lt 128, 1905

Hare, G. A.

Washington, D. C.

June 8, 1905

Portions of this letter are published in MM 34, 192-193. +^Note

Dr. G. A. Hare
Fresno, California

Dear Brother,—

I have an intense desire that you shall make a complete success of your work of managing the sanitarium which you have labored so hard to establish. You would be greatly helped if your wife would connect with you as a physician and supply your lack, while a trustworthy woman was taking care of your children. But this is a matter that must be adjusted by yourselves. We must all act intelligently. You need to be more systematic. Bring system and order into the sanitarium. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 1

Your wife and children need your co-operation; each is to help the other. Your children need wise, tender, even discipline and training. Educate the elder to take some responsibility in the care of the younger members of the family. The whole universe is subject to law. Every tree and plant that grows is subject to law. If by imperfect treatment they are twisted and marred, they themselves testify to the abuse. So it is with our natural life. The laws of God for our being must be obeyed. If there is a diverging from these laws, given to preserve the human family from sin and injury, we reveal in our characters and persons the marks of our transgression. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 2

It is for our health and peace to obey the laws of God; for every infringement upon the laws of health, for every indulgence, we must pay the penalty in suffering. Habits must not be allowed to sway us in ways contrary to the Lord’s ways. Our being is placed under the law of God, that we may escape the corruptions that are in the world through lust. The Lord calls us to come to the light He has given us. He has instructed us how to act in order to have health and capabilities to work in lines of obedience to Him. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 3

Father and mother, guard your dear children. Do for them the work that God has given you to do, giving them line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little. The Lord will certainly bless and strengthen you in this work. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 4

Some matters have been opened before me that I am grieved at heart to speak of. There have been defects in the management at the sanitarium. The patients have felt that they were not treated as they should be. Appointments have been made which have not been filled. Such failures as these will greatly militate against the influence of a physician. The patients will not be often thus disappointed without feeling bitterness of soul and mind. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 5

My dear brother, you are not aware how much is at stake in this new sanitarium in the city of Washington. The leading physician must give character to the work. If he would retain the confidence of the patients, he must be prompt in keeping his appointments. The sick pay for their treatment in order that they may recover health; but if they are disappointed again and again, the reputation of the sanitarium will be imperiled. This evil must be corrected; the attention that has been promised must be given to the patients or the physician breaks his word. If the leading physician cannot possibly meet the appointment, he should have his associate physician meet it for him, explaining to the patient the cause of his absence. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 6

Unless the physicians in our sanitariums are men of thorough habits, unless they attend promptly to their duties, their work will become a reproach, and the Lord’s appointed agencies will lose their influence. By a course of negligence to duty, the physician humiliates the great Physician, of whom he should be a representative. Strict hours should be kept with all patients, high or low. No careless neglect should be allowed in any of the nurses. Ever be true to your word, prompt in meeting your appointments; for this means much to the sick. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 7

There is another serious matter to be considered. Among Christian physicians there should ever be a striving for the maintenance of the highest order of true refinement and delicacy, a preservation of those barriers of reserve that should exist between men and women. The light given me of the Lord regarding this matter is that as far as possible lady physicians should have the care of lady patients and gentleman physicians the care of gentleman patients. Every physician should respect the delicacy of the patients. Delicate treatments should not be given by male physicians to women in our institutions. Never should a lady patient be alone with a gentleman physician, either for special examination or for treatment. Let physicians be faithful in preserving delicacy and modesty under all circumstances. In the giving of all those treatments be guarded; for great scandal may be created and the physician lose his reputation by the circulation of falsehoods that have a seeming foundation. Satan is a very busy agent in all such matters. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 8

The report that went out concerning you surely was a false one; but it is high time that greater care be exercised. “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” [1 Thessalonians 5:22.] The publication of such falsehood as went forth concerning this matter will bring no credit to the ones who gave publicity to it; but our physicians must work in such a manner that those who wish to make up such reports will be given no opportunity. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 9

Those who would spread evil reports are not the ones to do credit to our institutions. I am charged to urge upon every physician to guard his reputation. If nurses are employed who by their talk would injure the reputation of the physician, he should make such laws for the sanitarium workers as will keep his name untainted by the strife of tongues; and he should see that these laws are strictly obeyed. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 10

The utmost care should be observed never to take a lady patient into the physician’s room unless a lady physician can be present or the wife of the practitioner. This matter must be adjusted, that we give no place to the devil to spoil the reputation of one who is innocent. The practicing physician is to be wide awake to preserve his influence from one taint of suspicion, or undeserved reproach may fall on him, and through him upon the institution. The physician should guard continually every action that will affect the standing of the sanitarium. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 11

My brother, the Lord would have you stand in moral dignity as a physician. Heed the cautions given. There has been a neglect of religious services in the sanitarium home and of the work of educating the family in the sanitarium line upon line and precept upon precept. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 12

Organization and discipline and order are essential. Surface work will never do. There must be a purification of the very springs of the life practice, a cutting away of everything that will taint and defile the soul. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 13

The Lord wants you to be cheerful and to have cheerful words for the sick. Let the Sun of righteousness shine forth in your features. Be very decided in your religious service. Make the Lord Jesus your confidant. Make your aim a high one, and let your attainments be higher and higher still in the knowledge of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. You must improve decidedly, if you would fill properly your position as physician. No haphazard work must be allowed. Set your standard high. Respect yourself, but counsel with your associate physician. In some matters you need to consult much with other minds and take their advice; if you would do this, you would be greatly helped. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 14

The illness of your wife has been a great discouragement to you. Let not your mind become confused because of this. If she will bring herself, heart and soul and mind, to health reform, she will not die in the process, but live. This dear soul must not be molded and fashioned by the customs of the world. She needs to be reconverted, to put her faith and trust in God, and to stand out as a child of God. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 15

Ever bear in mind that the physician is dealing with the souls of men and women who are God’s property, bought with a price. Keep before them a perfect example. Teach them what it means to be sons and daughters of God. Set before them the great and eternal reward. Exalt your position as a true, God-fearing physician, a pattern of good judgment. You can win the crown of life. Keep the prize continually before you. Feed the flock of God with pure provender, thoroughly winnowed. Labor to build up souls in the most holy faith. 20LtMs, Lt 128, 1905, par. 16