February 4, 2021 | Miami, Florida, United States | By Melchor Ferreyra, Inter-American Division
This is a valid question as the current pandemics drags on. Perhaps there is nothing more useful than to check historical records before we answer, just as we did when we discussed What Ellen White Did During a Pandemic. She highlighted principles that we can apply to our time. Those principles helped the Seventh-day Adventist Church in White’s days to ride the crisis out and will help us make crucial decisions as we face this new pandemic. But the question stands: Who was better able to fend off the epidemic in Ellen White’s days? Who was able to recover faster, and why? We might find answers to these questions in a letter she wrote on August 13, 1894, to Pastor Haskell where she shared her deep concern for the people who were dying because of the influenza virus.
She wrote, “Throughout New South Wales, we have been tested and tried with the influenza epidemic. Nearly every family has been afflicted in the cities and country towns. Some are now very, very sick. Their lives are hanging in the balance. We pray for the sick and do what we can financially, and then wait for the result. When patients are under the doctor’s care, we can do little by way of treatment, for should the case prove unfavorable, we should be charged with taking life. One day last week, there were eleven funerals. Those who eat meat do not recover from the attack as readily as those who do not eat meat. Children do not seem to suffer so much as the adults and the aged. I have been severely attacked and have not been able to attend meetings for four weeks; but have not given up to take to my bed one day. I have written my number of pages nearly every day, though I have been coughing and sneezing and bleeding at the nose” (Letter 30, August 1894).
It is important to point out that, by the time she wrote this letter, Mrs. White was 76 years old, so she was a high-risk person. Her trust in God and her lifestyle kept her strong during the crisis, and she ended up victorious.
We read in the highlighted phrases that those who fared better had a different lifestyle, which helped them to ward off the virus. How they faced the epidemic during that time may be instructive for us now during our current COVID-19 pandemic.
Lifestyle
By the time the epidemic affected New South Wales, Mrs. White have received direct advice regarding a health message for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
As we can see, by the time the influenza epidemic reached New South Wales in 1894, Seventh-day Adventists had already heard about health principles; many had embraced them and were already practicing them. This letter by Sis. White is significant not only in regard to meat-eating, which is an important part of the health message, but it also highlights lifestyle issues that helped people to stay healthy during a pandemic. In her visions, White showed the responsibility of living in harmony with principles that would prevent disease and result in sound health.
Lessons for our day
We cannot deny that we are dealing with a deadly, infectious, and invisible virus; but neither can we deny that our body fights the infection in a way that directly correlates to the strength of our immune system. The better we are with regard to our body defenses, the more effective our resistance to the virus will be, and this is connected to our lifestyle.
As Seventh-day Adventists, we have been given abundant information from Ellen G. White about living a healthy lifestyle. We must practise and share this advice so that as we live healthier lives, we can also share this wonderful message of hope.
We can see that, through the Adventist health message, there are three crucial aspects to consider, namely:
Based on these aspects, we can organize our lives around the eight natural remedies, which are related more to prevention than to cure. As Seventh-day Adventists, throughout our history, we have shown that we are at the forefront of prevention-related actions. Prevention is essential to faring better when facing disease. A healthy lifestyle is a good response for a world facing a pandemic.
Even though readers may be well aware of these prevention elements for a healthy life, we list them here, urging everyone to adopt careful personal habits and keep researching on this topic.
May I suggest that if we follow the advice and practices church members used to face the pandemic in 1894, we will be better equipped to deal with the current pandemic.
Melchor Ferreyra is the personal ministries director of the Inter-American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.