Having taken you to Bristol in my last week’s thought I am remaining there for 2 or 3 more weeks, and this week I am still at John Wesley’s New Room. In the 18th century Bristol was the largest UK city after London and levels of poverty and sickness were very high. The city was still largely contained within the old medieval walls. The population of around 40,000 were crowded into old timber and plaster houses originally built to hold around 5,000. There was no system of sanitation and the streets were clogged with filth. While a small group of wealthy merchants controlled the city and started to build expensive new homes for themselves, most of the workers were paid wages that scarcely enabled them to live, and disease was rife with the city riddled with crime, drunkenness and brutality.
John and Charles Wesley questioned how such a rich city could let most of its people live in such dire poverty? From their viewpoint everyone was a child of God and therefore was a person who should be valued and treated fairly. For a time, they provided free medicines to the poor administered from the “New Room” but funds ran out and their concern for people’s health continued.
So, John Wesley wrote a book, ” Primitive Physickâ containing health advice to try to promote good health before people fell into serious illness. In the book he emphasised keeping clean drinking water as the best beverage, eating plain food, avoiding excess salt, pickled foods and alcoholic spirits. The value of exercise was stressed,
“Exercise is of greater service to your health than a hundred medicines”.
He also advised against smoking, not because he knew of its impact on the lungs, but because it destroyed people’s teeth. He believed everyone should have access to medical care and advocated herbal remedies. So, he was a man ahead of his time, who took seriously his responsibility to promote good health practices, as well as offering people the gift of salvation.
Down the centuries Christian philanthropists have become concerned about people’s physical health, seeing the link between poverty, poor living conditions and levels of sickness. Their work and influence lie behind the development of public health services, housing, water and sanitation services and legislation. In trying to help make things better for all citizens they have striven to practice and develop the healing ministry of Jesus.
Prayer – Dear Lord Jesus. We see your concern for those who were sick and disabled throughout the gospel accounts. We thank you for those Christians who work to promote good health for everyone and to minister to the sick. May we play our part in this ministry in small ways as far as we can.