Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene - Ellen G. White

save upon the most common-place subjects. The
nobler faculties, those adapted to higher pursuits,
have been degraded to the contemplation of trivial,
or worse than trivial subjects, until their possessor
has become satisfied with such topics, and scarcely
has power to reach anything higher. Religious
thought and conversation has become distasteful.
The mental food for which he has acquired a relish,
is contaminating in its effects, and leads to impure
and sensual thoughts. I have felt sincere pity for
these souls as I have considered how much they are
losing by neglecting opportunities to gain a
knowledge of Christ, in whom our hopes of eternal
life are centered. How much precious time is
wasted, in which they might be studying the pattern
of true goodness.
I am personally acquainted with some who
have lost the healthy tone of the mind through
wrong habits of reading. They go through life with
a diseased imagination, magnifying every little
grievance. Things which a sound, sensible mind
would not notice, become to them unendurable
trials, insurmountable obstacles. To them, life is in
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