Environment

Just as prevention is the best policy for personal health, so it is with the environment. It is not easy to restore polluted water, denuded forests, toxic air, and contaminated soils to their pristine quality. Without sunshine, clean air, atmosphere, soil, and water, the human race cannot survive. Let us celebrate the gift of a life-giving environment and do all we can to restore and protect it. According to Webster’s dictionary environment means any conditions or circumstances that affect the development of an organism or group of organisms. Environment includes many things that surround us, such as the atmosphere, the climate, the sunshine, the water, the soil, and the vegetation. Health-conscious people care for their environment. The community attitude toward pollution begins with the individual. All life on earth depends on the energy of the sun. Sunshine helps maintain ambient temperatures of the planet. In this way it supports both plant and animal existence and is a vital ingredient in our environment. Sunlight produces vitamin D. Sunlight converts cholesterol derivatives in the skin (cholecalciferol) into vitamin D1 which is then absorbed into the blood stream.

Those in more equatorial climates, who rely on sunlight for their vitamin D conversion, require at least five minutes per day of exposure to the face and hands. Dark-skinned people require six times more exposure to sunshine to produce an equivalent amount of vitamin D than do light skinned people. Where the sunlight is intense, the best time for exposure to the sun is in the earlier morning or the later evening. It is a healthful practice to open curtains and windows to allow the sunlight to enter our rooms, helping to destroy bacteria lurking in the dust. Glass filters much of the ultraviolet light and removes the risk of sunburn. "In the building of houses, it is especially important to secure thorough ventilation and plenty of sunlight. Let there be a current of air and an abundance of light in every room in the house… No room is fit to be occupied as a sleeping room unless it can be thrown open daily to the air and sunshine" (Ministry of Healing, p. 179). Pollution of the atmosphere with polychlorinated hydrocarbons has led to a depletion of the ozone layers with an increased intensity of radiation. Consequently, the incidence of several varieties of skin cancers has increased. Outbreaks of infection often result from water polluted with sewage. Equally serious is the pollution of water supplies with industrial waste such as mercury, lead, and polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs), which result from careless handling of these waste products. Increasingly, the water supplies of the world are becoming less suitable for drinking. Protection of our water supplies should be a priority of all citizens.

The dumping of waste products onto the soil has resulted in serious health problems. Whether the waste is radioactive, old oil, toxic chemicals, or materials that do not decay and biodegrade naturally, the soil is damaged. Many plastics will remain for decades. Problems associated with chemical fertilization and pesticide residues continue to pose challenges to both farmers and environmentalists.

When we are exposed to the Sun of Righteousness, our whole life will be illuminated and changed. When we drink of the fountain of life that He imparts within us, we will not thirst. When we breathe the atmosphere of Heaven, we will be at peace. When we are grounded in the rich soil of biblical truth, we will live a healthful lifestyle, and God will fill our lives with CELEBRATIONS.