The Good Old Days Of Jordan Jesse

How Often Are You a Spectator?

2010-05-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

IF YOU are a spectator, then you are wanted! Your time is wanted, your money is wanted and sometimes your actual presence is wanted. You are an indispensable part of investments and organizations involving millions of dollars.

Sports and entertainment events require spectators. The electrifying atmosphere surrounding a football, soccer or baseball match would be nonexistent without thousands of cheering, chanting onlookers. How the players respond to the crowd’s enthusiasm! Spectators also provide needed funds for renting facilities and paying the players, entertainers and officials. Moreover, there is usually enough left over for promoters to take home a sizable profit.

When it comes to television, spectators are all important. How television stations vie for the highest audience ratings! The results of advertising, as well as the income from advertisers, are very much affected by the number of viewers.

Gaining Your Attention

At times we all would like a change of pace, to enjoy some entertainment or relaxation. The challenge facing the sporting and entertainment world is to capture our attention.

One of the best ways to do this is to get us emotionally involved. If we take sides in a sporting event, for instance, then we are far more likely to watch the event through to its finish. In an effort to win fans, the sports and entertainment industries publish much literature about the personalities involved—be they sporting champions or “pop” stars. If the spectators really get to know the players or entertainers, along with their ups and downs, their hopes and disappointments, then emotions become involved. And as noted by a wise student of human behavior: “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45, Today’s English Version) So people frequently talk about why a certain team won or lost its last game, what will happen at the next, who is on the team and why certain others are not. Or fans may discuss what entertainers like and dislike, where they are and what they are doing. This habit is so ingrained in some teen-agers that they speak of “loving” certain entertainers, though they have never even met them.

Advertising goes a long way to gain our interest too. Intriguing or exciting excerpts of television or movie programs are shown to “whet your appetite.” Write-ups in newspapers and magazines heighten interest and curiosity.

Keeping Your Interest

Once a spectator’s interest and attention are gained they must be kept. Use of excitement, suspense and curiosity are some ways in which to do this.

The feeling that “something might happen” in the next moment keeps many a viewer glued to a sporting event. A home run or a goal may be scored, or a knockout punch delivered. If one is to see it when it happens, one has to keep watching.

Many crime and suspense programs work on the same principle. A crime takes place or looks like it will happen. Who really is the culprit? How will it be solved? Will someone escape or be killed? With the viewer’s curiosity and emotions involved, there is a compelling desire to keep watching, even though other matters may be crying for attention.

Some presentations focus on the natural interest of people in fellow humans. TV programs feature the same characters in different situations or in a continuing story. The characters can become real to the viewer. He becomes emotionally involved in the events portrayed and has a strong desire to watch the next episode. Before long a person finds himself devotedly setting time aside to view that program.

Are you a spectator much of your spare time? What have been the results to you personally? If watching sports events or other entertainment is merely a means of relaxation, that could be fine. We all need some relaxation. But are you really relaxed afterward? Or do you find yourself frustrated and irritable if in your favorite sports team failed to win? Are you tense and sleepless after an exciting late-night movie? Are you perhaps dissatisfied with the “emptiness” of the entertainment?

Are you controlling your entertainment or is it controlling you? Do you find yourself a spectator because you have been working hard and really feel the need for a break, or is it just an easy way to spend time, requiring neither effort nor thinking ability?

What about the standard of conversation your family? In some homes when the TV is operating, everyone has to keep “worshipful silence.” In others, father may be absorbed in his classical music in the living room, while his teen-age daughter listens to the latest “hit” records in her bedroom. The family regularly may scatter for entertainment in different directions, so that little communication is possible anyway. When families spend little time talking together, sharing viewpoints and experiences, it contributes to a serious breakdown in domestic relationships.

Decisions to Be Faced

Usually the decision is not whether we should be spectators or not, for we are all spectators to some extent in life, even if we are just watching someone learn how to accomplish something. Rather, it is a question of what is being watched, how often and for how long.

Of course, there are times when we should not be spectators, or not stop at just being spectators. For example, when there is a fire or an accident, human curiosity often leads many to crowd around, which can hamper others’ efforts to assist unfortunate victims.

Too, a person could consider whether personally participating in an activity instead of just watching others may be of more value to him. (Note 2 Chronicles 7:1-3.) Some find playing a sport with family members or friends refreshing for mind and body. Others enjoy a hobby or craft, or making something that can be enjoyed by others. This can bring a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment that one seldom obtains as a spectator. It also results in a special happiness that comes only to persons who practice giving.—Acts 20:35.

Christians must set aside ample time for involvement in spiritual activities. Personal reading or discussion of the Bible or related literature is refreshing and stimulating. It contributes to a person’s peace of mind. Sharing the good things of God’s Word with others is stimulating both physically and mentally. It upbuilds all involved, including the recipients. Sharing in this activity together strengthens family ties and provides a unique joy.

So, after spending an evening or even an hour as spectators, we all do well to ask ourselves: Was that time well spent? Have I benefited in some way? What else could I or should I have done? Remembering that “each one of us will render an account for himself to God,” we want to use our time and our lives in the best way possible. The extent to which we spend time as spectators affects our present happiness and satisfaction in life, and our future too.—Rom. 14:12; Gal. 6:7.

Why No One Can Figure Out the Economy?

2010-04-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

MAKING ends meet is not as easy as it once was. A housewife spends more money at the market for fewer groceries. Her husband makes higher wages than ever but has less to show for it. Will things get better?
The economy of the Western non-Communist world in particular has prompted predictions of national and international monetary collapse. In peculiar contrast, other experts say that the current economic plight is only a phase the economy is passing through as it adjusts to profound new influences. Soon, they prophesy, it will again vigorously move ahead.
Who is right? More than a few experts take a careful middle-of-the-road position. Business Week magazine, in a largely gloomy special issue about the U.S. “Debt Economy,” says that “the nation’s burden of debt is like a string drawn very taut . . . The string has not broken, and it may not. . . . Yet no one knows the precise breaking point and, while there are schemes and theories galore, no one really knows how to ease the tension, either.”
But why is it that the economic future is so hard to figure out? Why is it that you cannot be sure how much your money will buy tomorrow—if anything? Some background in elementary economics is of assistance.
Economics Is a System
In its simplest definition, economics has reference to how goods and services are produced and distributed. The study of economics, then, is the study of a system.
In virtually every society people need things that other people have. One man, A, has sheep, which produce wool; another man, B, possesses dyes. If each is willing, they simply swap or barter goods. A gets dyes and B gets wool. Economics is essentially a system of cooperative swapping.
But suppose that A wants dyes from B and yet B already has an ample supply of A’s wool. Then what does A do? Or, what if both need the weaving service offered by a third, C? How should C be compensated? An economic system has to be big enough to handle these slightly more complex arrangements. How?
Money is used. Money—that is, currency—stands for or represents something of value; it is an instrument that allows great flexibility in a system of exchanges. Money, of course, should not be confused with true wealth. What A has of real value is his sheep. Meanwhile, B and C have dyes and a skill, respectively, as things of genuine worth. The money thus stands for what each has of true value.
But what is it that makes each one’s product or service of value? The demand for it. If no one ever needed wool, the value would remain low. On the other hand, if everyone depended on wool for clothing, that product would be in great demand and thus of high value.
The so-called “classical economists,” such as the Scotsman Adam Smith who lived in the eighteenth century, advised that an economic system should be allowed to float freely and, like water, seek its own level. Supply and demand would determine the “level” of each product or service. Thus if one man or company produces a product or service more cheaply than another, his competitor will eventually be driven from business by the public demand.
Prices, too, would be set by demand. When demand is high and supply limited, prices are high. But when little demand exists for an item available in great abundance, prices are low. This constitutes the rudiments of a “free” economic system. Unobstructed, many have reasoned, this system would continue indefinitely.
But a warning is in order here. Just because a system has been devised this does not mean that it is a “good” one.
How “Good” Is the Economic System?
Measured by certain standards, the Western world’s economic system may appear to be very effective. But is it really proving to be a “good” one? Or will it eventually be shown up as largely self-defeating? Let us see.
Particularly in recent decades experts have applied more controls to the economy. Why? If the economic system really works with supply and demand setting prices, why try to manipulate it? Many reasons are offered, but there are essentially two factors.
For one thing, there is fear—a desire to “protect” one segment of an economy. A man, a company, a class of workers or a whole nation all know that if they lose out to their competition they have no work.
They may know economic “theory” very well. They know that public demand has made their service or product unnecessary and that they should merely be shifted to another part of the economy where they can play a productive role, supplying what the public demands.
But they also know that this means radical changes for them personally. Suppose a man is older and has spent his entire lifetime learning a trade that is no longer in demand; should he suddenly be expected to learn something entirely different? And what about salary? Obviously a man shifted from a skilled position in a now-defunct business will not make as much money when put on a job at which he is untrained. This means, in turn, that his family will have less money to live on, and his standard of living must drop. And who wants that?
Yes, the theory of supply and demand, a free uncontrolled market, and so forth, may look good on charts when extended over generations or centuries of time. But it cannot help the man who loses his job today. Thus economic writer Henry Hazlitt observes:
“It was precisely the great merit of the classical economists . . . that they were concerned with the effects of a given economic policy or development in the long run and on the whole community.”
However, Hazlitt adds:
“But it was also their defect that, in taking the long view and the broad view, they sometimes neglected to take also the short view and the narrow view. They were too often inclined to minimize or to forget altogether the immediate effects of developments on special groups. . . . [This situation is] incident to nearly all industrial and economic progress.”
For this reason, most modern Western economists lean to the other extreme, and the “long run” effect of policies is forgotten as they call for jobs to be preserved at all costs. Let us consider a couple of admittedly simple illustrations.
Suppose a man’s wool suit can be made and sold for $80 in the U.S. Yet Hong Kong companies make the same suit and can ship it and sell it in the U.S. for $40. Many, if not all, customers would buy two Hong Kong suits for the price of one U.S. suit. If this is kept up, American suits would go out of demand and thousands of garment-industry workers would be left idle.
So a tariff is imposed on suits imported to the U.S., heavily taxing them. This greatly raises the cost of the foreign-made suits, and U.S. jobs are rescued. Superficially, that looks fine; but let us look below the surface.
What about the buyer? He is paying an additional $40 for a suit. That money could be spent in other sectors of the economy, on, say, television sets and refrigerators. Theoretically, the American garment employee could shift over to work in one of these other industries. But the tariff prevents his being confronted with this uncomfortable shift. Yet what about the Chinese garment workers? They could lose jobs because their suits have been taxed out of the market, are no longer in demand. They are forced to do something else for a living. The problem is not really solved, merely pushed outside the U.S. in this example. With the tremendous assertion of national sovereignties in recent decades, more and more controls of this nature and those of a similar nature have been grafted into the economy.
The same process goes on inside each country. To illustrate: With the introduction of diesel locomotives, firemen became unnecessary; there was no longer any coal for them to shovel. But labor unions managed to preserve the fireman’s job. After that firemen were, so to speak, paid just to go along for the ride. The fireman’s job was saved but only at an increased cost to railroad passengers and freight shippers. Instead of shifting the firemen over to making suits, which may have been in demand, the system pays him to stay on with the railroad. Meanwhile the customer pays more for hard-to-obtain suits as well as for railroad service.
The number of controls of this kind has grown massively in recent decades to take in virtually every facet of the economy, from small shops to gigantic corporations and farmers. Each nation, each union, each company, yes, each man, is looking out for himself. Such fear—largely understandable under the circumstances—is prompted by the knowledge that if each one does not care for himself, who will? As we have seen, the system is certainly not geared to do so unless it is controlled for someone’s special interest.
This clearly points up a major inability on the part of the present economic system. How can it preserve an overall system of supply and demand indefinitely, if, at the same time, it must set up measures that restrict that very system? Yet that is necessary if people now are to have jobs. It does not take an economic genius to see that such a cumbersome, self-contradictory system must at some time sag from its own weight.
Compounding the System’s Problems
But as if that were not enough, another hard-to-control major element enters the murky economic soup. Greed. Regardless of actual need, people want more and more material things and a “better way of life,” even at the expense of others. Each worker wants higher wages and each manufacturer wants increased prices for his product. So, in Paris’ Le Monde, Bruno Durieux refers to “the permanent struggle between social groups to maintain or increase their share of the nation’s wealth.”
If a man hired to make wool suits demands higher wages, then the price of the finished product must reflect the same increase. Other people who want to buy the suit then need more money from their own employers. So the products and services that they provide also increase in cost, generating a terrible spiral. Because of skyrocketing demand, products cannot be made fast enough, and so prices continue to mount. This is one vicious form of inflation.
Equally if not more devastating is the role that governments themselves have had in stirring up inflation. It was noted earlier that money merely represents true worth. A nation’s currency, in simple theory, should not exceed what it is actually worth, that is, what it can produce. But modern nations, violating this elementary principle, have printed money far in excess of their true worth. Usually this has been done for a reason; for instance, to pay war contractors in time of national crisis. But the excess money introduced into circulation eventually makes it worth less; everything costs more in terms of “dollars and cents.”
As inflation settles in, the nation’s people can only buy less for more money. Currency, in other words, loses its value, and in relation to the currencies of other countries it is worth less than it was before the inflationary period began. Thus it must be officially devalued on the world market. Foreigners are then able to buy more easily the now-cheaper products of the affected nation, creating even more havoc. How so? They are demanding the supplies that were already in short supply and that largely brought on the inflation in the first place. Results? More inflation! “Runaway inflation” now plagues the economy of most Western nations.
Of course, too, when money is devalued, it loses something other than just face value. It loses the trust of many persons. They stop investing and try to hold onto what they have. So, business loses the further capital that it needs to expand in order to meet the demand for products. Rather than stepping up production, they must cut it back, but prices remain high. People are laid off from their jobs and a “recession” could set in. The current situation in the U.S. and elsewhere is described by some as a form of recession. A record number of strikes, too, has cut down production.
Inflation, recession, unemployment—all at one time—are staggering enough to consider. But the current plethora of problems has grown to nightmarish proportions. How? By the introduction of new, unexpected elements. Oil prices have quadrupled and other natural resources are becoming harder to obtain and subsequently more expensive. These radical adjustments—unheard of only a few months ago—have affected virtually every industry in the Western world with staggering and sometimes devastating results.
Uncooperative weather has meant low crop yields; burgeoning populations grab for the limited supplies. Thus even once-inexpensive staples like beans and sugar have multiplied several times in cost. Almost daily a larger percentage of the average person’s income is used to buy life’s necessities.
People’s desire for more of everything has affected the system in yet another way and that is through credit buying. While the economy was expanding and seemingly virile, credit was popular. Currently, there seems to be some tapering off of credit use as people realize that they cannot pay off their debts with inflated money. The high interest rates on cheap money further frighten away borrowers. Less credit used means fewer products and services sold, further depressing production. But up until recently everyone blindly expected economic growth to go on and on. In the U.S. a total debt of $2.5 trillion has accumulated. That is over two times the total gross national product (or the sum of all the nation’s products and services in one year). For every U.S. dollar of money supply in circulation, there is now $8 of debt.
In fact, much of the seeming “economic miracle” made in the Western world in recent decades is really no more than a mirage, since it is based largely on debt—borrowed money. As Thomas Oliphant writes in the Boston Sunday Globe, Americans today are “much less better off than their parents . . . Their greater material well-being appears at least as much the result of a huge increase in the use and availability of credit as of a healthier economy.” The nation, like others, is hopelessly in debt.
Prediction Impossible
Is it any wonder that with all these factors, and hundreds of others not here mentioned, twisting at the Western world’s economy, no one can accurately predict where it is heading? The problems are no longer limited to a few nations, but are all over and interlocked. The slightest adjustment in the political or economic situation of one country can jar the whole complex web.
Economists are thus adrift in the current economic ocean, dog-paddling to stay afloat like everyone else. They are baffled by the vast array of interacting factors. “Man’s knowledge of his own economic institutions is limited,” confesses R. W. Everett of New York’s Chase Manhattan Bank, Economic Research Division, adding: “Good analysis is made more difficult by the fact that these institutions are constantly changing.”
The impossible task before the economic forecasters is colorfully described by syndicated columnist Max Lerner:
“This is the season in the sun for economists. They don’t seem to know much, and what they do know they know to little avail. But they are beautiful to behold as they squirm and flounder, wriggle and leap about like fish in the encircling net of economic circumstance.”
Most of them hope for the best but can bring forth no sound reason for believing that things will get better. Even if the system were to pull out of the current crisis temporarily, how can anyone believe that it can maintain its balance in the future? As we have seen, its end seems obvious. The only question is, When will it end?
Persons with faith in the Bible know that world change—not just a major adjustment in the economic system—is coming. They know that the Bible says that the worldwide system cannot work and will soon pass away, to be replaced by one of God’s making. Right now, while obviously affected by the system in which they live, they do not rest their confidence in it. (Matt. 6:9, 10, 19-34) They look elsewhere for an accurate understanding of the future, and that is to God.

“Go to the Ant”

2010-04-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

NO ONE expects you to be very happy if droves of ants show up for your picnic under the trees. They have a way of making pests of themselves. And these persistent little insects would be likely to get you and your party on the move rather quickly.
Yet, ants receive favorable mention in the oldest book on earth. “Go to the ant, you lazy one; see its ways and become wise,” says the Holy Bible. (Prov. 6:6) Evidently this means that the lazy person can learn something from the lowly ant. But what?
The Bible also indicates that ants are among creatures “instinctively wise.” (Prov. 30:24, 25) Does this mean that they think deeply, make intelligent plans and then carry them out?
Searching for answers to such questions will put us in unusual company. In fact, tracking ants, observing them and visiting their abodes can be quite an adventure.
Meet a “Superfamily”
Ants are insects of the “order” Hymenoptera, which also includes wasps and bees. But ants themselves form what is called the “superfamily” Formicoidea. All very scientific, isn’t it? Well, whatever you call them, there are some 15,000 species of ants on earth, and they live everywhere except in the polar regions.
One thing is sure: Ants are supernumerous. Why, in just one ten-acre (4-hectare) woodland plot investigated, there were an estimated eleven to thirteen million of only one species, to say nothing of all the other ants in that same area!
A Close-up View
While there are ants by the millions, suppose we take a closer look at them as individuals. Let’s start with color. Some ants are yellowish, but the majority are black, brown or red. “But I’ve also heard of white ants,” you may remark. “What about them?” Actually, “white ants” are not ants at all. They are termites and belong to another family of insects.
Now, for a word about ant anatomy. The body consists of three parts: (1) the head; (2) the thorax; and (3) the abdomen. Ants have several nerve centers, the largest being the brain, situated in the insect’s head. Most of these creatures have a compound eye on each side of the head. These eyes may consist of six to over a thousand lenses, each like a minute eye. Additionally, certain winged ants possess three simple eyes on the back of the head. Though ant vision is often very dim, and certain ants have no eyes, at least some ants can see rocks and other things and use these “landmarks” as a guide in their travels.
While looking at the ant’s head, notice the two antennae extending outward. Feeling, tasting and smelling all are associated with these “feelers.” And please do not overlook those jaws. They open and shut from side to side, not up and down.
The ant’s three pairs of legs are attached to the thorax. So are wings, if the insect happens to have any. Next comes the abdomen, containing the crop, in which food is stored and carried to others of the ant community. The ant’s stomach and intestines are situated behind the crop in its abdomen. One more thing: Some ants have a pain-producing sting. In fact, by stinging, fire ants have been known to kill young birds that have not yet left the nest.
A Place to Call “Home”
“Home” for the ants is just a small place to begin with, ‘a little nest to call their own.’ It may be a mere burrow in the ground or under some rocks. Certain ants form mounds or anthills, by piling earth and twigs around and over their nests. Inside there are corridors linking a number of chambers. Other ants dig perhaps some sixteen feet (five meters) into the earth, and their underground maze of rooms and passageways may become quite extensive. Why, some nests cover a whole acre (.4 hectare)!
Carpenter ants set up housekeeping in wood. While they do not consume the wood, they do chew out spaces in it. This is not so bad if their home happens to be an old log in the forest. But it is another matter, indeed, if “home” turns out to be the beams of your house. Why, buildings may collapse because carpenter ants establish living quarters in their timbers!
Some ants weave leaves together to make the outer walls of their homes. In doing this, they use the silky material given off by developing ants, or larvae. While some adult ants hold the leaves in place, others move the larva back and forth, sewing together the edges. Still other ants make “carton,” using wood particles, and possibly some sand, all cemented together with their saliva. But the insects called army ants are not housing engineers. They merely cluster around the mother ant and her young ones, perhaps hanging from a log with their legs hooked together to form a temporary shelter.
A Caste System All Their Own
Ants live cooperatively in well-organized groups or colonies, and the Bible appropriately calls these social insects “a people.” (Prov. 30:25) Among them there are three basic castes: (1) the “queen” or “queens”; (2) the males; and (3) the workers. The Bible says that the ant “has no commander, officer or ruler.” (Prov. 6:7) A person might think that the “queen” is the ruler in an ant community, but that is not so. Interestingly, it has been said: “Outstanding in any typical colony is the queen; she is not a ruler in any sense of the word, but is the mother, and frequently the founder, of the colony. She lays the eggs from which all the other ants develop.”—The Animal Kingdom.
Whereas the “queen” may live up to fifteen years, the males, which usually have wings, generally live just a few weeks. Their responsibility? To mate with the “queen.” For some reason unknown to man, ordinarily toward evening of a particular day all the ant colonies of a certain species within miles will drive out the winged males and females. The evicted ants then try out their wings in what is called the marriage flight. Usually while airborne, the males and females mate. At this time, and perhaps from more than one male, the female takes in sufficient sperm cells for a lifetime of prodigious egg-laying.
After the marriage flight, the ants drop to the ground and the males soon die or are eaten by various mammals or birds. The female chews or tears off her wings, crawls to a secure place under cover, lays some eggs and cares for them until workers develop. They then take over the arduous tasks and she becomes merely the attended egg-laying “queen.” This is the beginning of a new colony. How big do colonies become? They vary considerably, but one very large colony was made up of an estimated 238,000 ants.
Life in the colonies means laborious toil for worker ants, sexually underdeveloped females. Their tasks include finding and bringing in food, caring for the eggs and the young ones, cleaning and enlarging the nest, as well as defending the colony. Incidentally, with worker ants as caretaken, the eggs hatch into tiny white grubs that molt or shed their skin several times, becoming fully developed larvae. Some larvae spin cocoons from their own saliva. In time, the larva sheds its skin and becomes a pupa. While resting in this stage, changes occur and an adult emerges. Ants have no bones, but become hardbodied as adult insects.
Defending the colony is the task of “soldiers,” worker ants having rather formidable jaws and bigger heads. Speaking of heads, a janitor ant may block entry to the nest in a tree trunk by plugging the entrance from inside with its greatly enlarged and camouflaged head. Now, that’s really using one’s head! In defense, some ants use their stings effectively. Others spray intruders with caustic material or foul-smelling liquid that they produce. Upon contact, the caustic substance can cause a person’s skin to dry up and slough off. Insect victims may even be maimed or killed.
A Family of Many Kinds
There are ants of numerous types in the superfamily Formicoidea. Without being technical, let us look at them according to their “life-style.” Concerning the ant, the Bible says: “It prepares its food even in the summer; it has gathered its food supplies even in the harvest.” (Prov. 6:8) Once it was said that all ants were chiefly carnivorous and did not store food for the winter months due to remaining in a torpid state during that season. In the year 1871, however, a naturalist found certain ants in southern Europe that did “harvest” grain. Today it is known that some ants feed on seeds. Two very common varieties of ants in the Middle East—the black Atta barbara and the brown Atta structor—eat seeds and store them for use in winter, when it is difficult to secure food. For that matter, it is not uncommon to find the ant known as Messor semirufus nesting near threshing floors, granaries or grainfields, where their food is plentiful. Broadly known as harvester ants, certain species do ‘gather food supplies in the harvest,’ even as the Bible said centuries ago.
Some ants might be considered as “farmers.” Leafcutter ants use their jaws to cut bits of leaves and flowers. In fact, they have been known to strip an entire tree of foliage in just one night. As these insects take the pieces “home,” they appear to be carrying parasols; so they are called parasol ants. The leaves are not eaten, however. Rather, they are chewed into a mash on which fungus grows. Then the insects feast on these delicacies grown on the ants’ very own underground ‘mushroom farms.’
“Cows” of a sort are kept by some ants. These ants look after aphids (plant lice), leaf hoppers and scale insects that live on plants near the colony’s nesting site. For that matter, the brown cornfield ant keeps aphids right in its nest most of the time. With their antennae, the ants stroke the backs of their “cows,” thus ‘milking them and causing these insects to release from their abdomens a sweet substance called honeydew. On this, these ants feast ‘to their hearts’ content.’
Food storage poses no problem for the honey ants. Whether they themselves collect sweet juices from flowers or get honeydew from other insects, these ants store the delicious liquid. Some young ants continue swallowing it until they swell up to the size of a pea. Known as repletes, these living “honey pots” hang by their feet from the ceiling of the nest and give up honey from the mouth when hungry ants come along.
Whether intentionally or by accident, some ants turn out to be slave masters. They raid the nests of another species and bring home the pupae or cocoons of the other ants. Before these are eaten, however, some ants emerge and go right to work as though they originally belonged to the colony of their captors. It appears that the Amazon ant deliberately captures and enslaves other ants.
On the March!
Long-legged brown or black insects known as Driver Ants in Africa and Legionary Ants in the Americas can be quite a menace. Also called army ants, these “villains” go out in hunting parties, marching along in broad columns and devouring nearly all other insects in their path. Why, they have attacked birds and even humans, and have been known to reduce a tethered or tied horse to a mere skeleton in just hours!
Yet, there is a good side to this “villain.” Says The Animal Kingdom: “The Indians and other natives living in their palmthatch huts look forward to the appearance of driver ants. These people simply go outside and let the insects swarm through their homes, knowing that, when the ants have passed, every other insect, cockroach, fly, and spider will also be gone. Their only worry is that the colony might suddenly decide to bivouac for the night or longer in one of the houses, a situation not very pleasant for the occupants.”
Are Ants “Instinctively Wise”?
The Bible classes ants among things that are “instinctively wise.” (Prov. 30:24, 25) Scientists that have studied ants in mazes have concluded that these insects can use their sight to recognize “landmarks.” Employing the sense of smell, they can also be directed by odors. They even seem to learn from experience. None of this means, of course, that ants reason things out and make intelligent decisions. Why, when rains washed their normal odor trail away, a column of army ants accidentally started on a circular path on a sidewalk and went around and around until they all dropped dead! But of ants it has been admitted: “Small as they are when compared with man, they display memory, learning and the ability to correct mistakes.”
This is ‘instinctive wisdom’ in action. It results, not from the exercise of reasoning ability, but from the instincts with which the Creator has endowed these intriguing creatures.
By now you may realize why the “lazy one” is told, “Go to the ant.” (Prov. 6:6) Such a person can learn something about industriousness and foresight from this lowly insect. Instead of sleeping during a season favorable for work, he should be like the ant that ‘prepares its food in the summer.’ (Prov. 6:8; 30:25) In fact, if the “lazy one” happens to be loitering under a shade tree, perhaps a column of busy ants will get him into action without much delay.

Why Crime Flourishes?

2010-03-15T04:35:00.000-07:00

SINCE 1960 serious crimes in the United States have increased 88 percent, while the population has increased only 10 percent. Now one out of every five American families suffers from a criminal act every year. But crime is not strictly an American ailment. It is on the increase world wide.

In the Philippine Republic, for example, the crime rate during the year of 1965 jumped an astounding 51 percent.

Regarding crime in England, the book Crime in Our Time, by Josephine Bell, observes: “The increase in the volume of crime in England since the end of the Second World War is both frightening and inexplicable.”

With regard to the Soviet Union, Newsweek magazine of December 23, 1968, remarked: “The Soviet Government, which normally tries to bury its shortcomings under mountains of statistics, takes the opposite tack with crime; it rarely publishes any crime statistics at all. But all signs are that crime is on the increase in Russia just as it is in all industrialized countries.”

The rate of crime is actually much higher than official statistics reveal, because many crimes are not reported to the police. It has been found that in many big-city slum areas crime may be as much as ten times the official police figures. Time magazine of February 14, 1969, reported: “Only about one-half of the rapes, robberies, aggravated assaults, burglaries and major larcenies that are committed in the U.S. each year manage to get onto the police blotter.”

It would seem, therefore, that crime is flourishing far more than is generally thought. What is the reason? Is it really due to lack of education, poor housing and poverty? Or are there more important reasons?

Too Lenient

It is the view of many persons that the courts have been too lenient with lawbreakers, and that this has encouraged lawlessness. The U.S. attorney in Chicago, Edward V. Hanrahan, said in 1968: “Many sentences are way too lenient. They don’t teach the defendant a lesson or pose a warning to the rest of the community.”

Voicing a similar opinion, the police chief of Cleveland remarked: “Recent court decisions encourage crime and are very discouraging for police.” And Judge Tim C. Murphy of Washington, D.C., said: “There is an attitude that these cases must be moved through. Charges are reduced day after day.”

Speaking with regard to British crimes, Lord Shawcross, who was Britain’s Attorney General from 1945 to 1951, noted: “Crime is booming. We have been faced since the war with a massive increase year by year in serious crimes . . . . The truth is, I believe, that the law has become hopelessly unrealistic in its attitude toward the prevention and detection of crime . . . . Our laws are too heavily loaded in favor of criminals.”

Unpunished

The fact that most crimes are unsolved and unpunished is another reason why crime flourishes. It has been estimated that less than 21 percent of the reported crimes are solved by the arrest of suspects and only 6 percent end up with convictions. That is only about one conviction for every seventeen crimes committed!

In a report made in 1967 by the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice the conclusion was made that “if a suspect is neither known to the victim nor arrested at the scene of the crime, the chances of ever arresting him are slim.” Regarding this same situation in Great Britain, Lord Shawcross observed: “Why is it that crime pays? It pays because most criminals are not caught.”

Unless a person has a very high standard of morals, is he not likely to commit an unlawful act if he feels fairly certain that he will not be caught? For example, when reporting his income taxes, is he not likely to withhold some of his income if he thinks he can get away with it?

In the case of more serious offenses, too, a criminal will feel bolder and will strike more frequently if he thinks there is a good chance he will not get caught. The longer he is able to engage in criminal acts without detection the more set he becomes in continuing his unlawful activities. Others seeing his success are encouraged to commit crimes of their own.

All this underscores a basic truth expressed long ago in the Bible. “Because sentence against a bad work has not been executed speedily, that is why the heart of the sons of men has become fully set in them to do bad.” (Eccl. 8:11) Due to inherited sin and imperfection humans are inclined toward bad from the day of their birth. They need restrictive laws and good moral standards to guide them to do what is right.

Public Support

Although the public are the victims of crime, they help to finance it by buying illegal services and products. Criminals are willing to supply these at a price. For example, could prostitution exist if it were not supported by the public? Would burglary be such a problem if thieves could not find a market with the public for stolen goods? How could the vicious narcotics trade survive if there were no market for illegal narcotics?

Also, is it not the public who support the gambling empire of organized crime? The fact is that the proceeds from gambling corrupt many public officials, finance a host of criminal activities, and even make it possible for gangsters to take over legitimate businesses. The book The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society, which is the report by the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, states: “Law enforcement officials agree almost unanimously that gambling is the greatest source of revenue for organized crime.”

Further showing how gambling by the public supports criminals, Harper’s Magazine of April 1964 stated: “Our system as a whole is at fault and we must all share responsibility—down to the individual citizen who contributes his nickels, dimes, and dollars to a policy game or bookmaker. He thus supports the army of syndicate soldiers and ‘hit’ men and feeds the coffers of this hidden government called The Syndicate, Cosa Nostra, The Mob, or whatever name you choose.”

A family may think it is not personally affected by organized crime, but it is. Racketeer-owned businesses may endanger the health of the family by illegally selling tainted foods and harmful drugs. Also, the family may have to pay higher taxes for a larger police force to fight local crime, or because corrupt public officials are wasting tax money on public works contracts given to gangster-owned contracting companies.

What Is Lacking

Why is it that the public perpetuates the climate that breeds crime and corruption? A fundamental reason is that so many persons lack respect for the high moral standards of God’s Word the Bible. Notwithstanding their profession of being Christian, they prove by their actions to be influenced by materialistic atheism. They put personal, selfish interests ahead of obedience to divine laws.

One of the persons on the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement stated: “Thorough as the Commission’s studies have been and comprehensive as its valuable recommendations are its report seems deficient to me in that it neglects to recognize godlessness as a basic cause of crime.”

Also the book Crime in Our Time remarks with regard to England: “A lowering of moral perception and standard is a definite feature of life in this country today . . . . But the number of fully believing practising Christians must now be very small, relative to the whole population.”

When the moral standards of the Bible are thrown aside, what is left to restrain man’s inherent inclination toward badness? With no restraints, with people doing what is right in their own eyes, is it any wonder that crime is skyrocketing? Furthermore, we live in the generation in which, as the Bible reports, Satan the Devil, knowing his time is short, vents great anger. “On this account. . . woe for the earth,” the Bible says. (Rev. 12:7-12) Is it any wonder that there are riots and spreading lawlessness? Is it any wonder that many city streets are no longer safe after dark?

Crime will cease to flourish and even to exist only when the Devil is put out of operation by God and when all persons live by the moral standards and divine laws of the Bible. Such a worldwide transformation is possible only by the hand of God. That it will be realized is assured us by God’s own promise: “For evildoers themselves will be cut off . . . And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more; and you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be. But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.”—Ps. 37:9-11.

TV News—How Much of It Is Really News?

2010-02-15T02:48:00.000-08:00

After analyzing 102 local TV newscasts from 52 metropolitan areas in the United States for content and presentation, a media-watch group found that only 41.3 percent of the programs contained news. What makes up the rest of the newscast?

On an average, 30.4 percent of airtime of local TV news consists of commercials. In fact, some of the stations surveyed devoted more time to commercials than to news. In addition, news airtime is often filled with fluff, states the report summarizing the findings of the study. Under the heading “Fluff,” the report groups “the cumulative air-time given to chit-chat between anchors, promotions and previews of upcoming stories, the ‘soft’ or silly news and the items about celebrities.” A sample of some fluff stories: “Terrible Tenors Contest,” “Reporter Takes ‘Awesome, Incredible, Astounding’ Ride on Roller Coaster,” and “More People Buy Sandwich Spread at Supermarkets.”

What stories make up the actual news? Crime stories dominate the TV news, comprising 26.9 percent of the news airtime. “‘If it bleeds, it leads’ remains a truism on local TV news . . . Crime rates may be down across the U.S. over the last few years, but not on local television news.” Why? According to the authors of the study, “crime events are dramatic and gain people’s attention.”

Next to crime comes coverage of disasters, such as fires, car crashes, floods, and explosions (12.2 percent of the news), followed by sports news (11.4 percent). Then comes coverage of health (10.1 percent), government (8.7 percent), and the economy (8.5 percent). Such topics as education, the environment, the arts, and science receive little attention (from 1.3 to 3.6 percent). Weather reports, on the other hand, average 10 percent of all newscasts. “Everyone likes to talk about the weather and TV news is no exception,” comment the researchers. They add: “Any type of weather, good or bad, hot or cold, wet or dry, can elicit extensive TV news coverage.”

On a positive note, the report states that a growing number of journalists and viewers see the need for change. However, the study admits that such a change will not come easily because “market forces and greed may always threaten quality journalism.”

The Problem of Old Age

2010-01-15T03:52:00.000-08:00

NO ONE really wants to get old. True, we may want the experience and wisdom that can come from living many years; but we do not want the severe limitations that old age may bring to the body and mind. Nor do we want what follows—death. If we had our choice, likely we would combine the wisdom of age with the vitality of youth. That is what Ponce de León had in mind when seeking the “Fountain of Youth” in Florida centuries ago.

Can aging be halted, reversed? Can the wisdom of age someday be combined with the vitality of youth and last indefinitely? Confidently we answer, YES! When? Much sooner than you may imagine, as we will explain later in this magazine.

But before old age is reversed, its problems remain with us. And these must be confronted.

“Golden Years” or Not?

Some have called the period of old age the “golden years.” When one is not plagued by many illnesses, regrets or fears, the advancing years may indeed be a period of gracious tranquillity similar to what the patriarch Abraham evidently experienced, for the Bible says that he “died in a good old age, old and satisfied.”—Gen. 25:8.

However, others would call old age not “golden,” but “disaster.” One prominent person, on reaching the age of 70, was asked how he viewed old age. He answered: “Like shipwreck.” He compared his growing old to a ship washed ashore and being beaten to pieces by the winds and waves. Or as Boston psychologist Dr. Rebecca Black stated:

“People are led to believe that when they retire they will live happily ever after, but there is very little done to prepare people for the reality of retirement—and often it’s a disaster.”

Thus the thought of old age brings with it a conflict of images. There is the one image of lost youth, declining strength, and finally the possibility of a lonely death. The other image is that of having achieved something in life and getting respect and honor.

This conflict was noted in an editorial by Daniel Calahan of the Institute of Society, Ethnics and the Life Sciences when he passed the age of 46. He stated:

“To one who recently reached the advanced age of forty-six, the rapidly approaching prospect of old age is both entrancing and terrorizing.

“My children will be grown, my life will once again be my own. That is entrancing.

“But I am not altogether reassured by some of the elderly people I see around me, who spend a good deal of their extra leisure visiting hospitals, going to the funerals of old friends, and restlessly looking for something to do with idle time. . . .

“Many of the elderly are in nursing homes, those cunning institutions created to make certain that the elderly are not under foot around the house. The prospect that I might end my days in one of those places—staring at walls or everblaring television sets—terrifies me, but only slightly more than the prospect of aging itself.”

More Elderly

In some ways modern science has complicated the problem of those who are old and in poor circumstances. How so? In that medical science has prolonged life, but has not done much about the kind of life elderly people live. For instance, in America the child born today has an average life expectancy of 24 years more than that of the child born in 1900. But if the elderly have to spend many of those extra years in misery, what has been gained?

Because more people are living to grow older, the problems associated with aging increase. In the United States alone, there are now more than 24 million people aged 65 or over. Practically every family is affected by old age, since a family that does not have at least one of its members over the age of 65 is an exception. The census bureau reports that, of these Americans who are over 65 years of age, well over five million women live alone. About one and a half million men also do.

Because in many lands older persons are living longer, and there are more of them, the problem of what they should do with their lives is a real one. Many older folks will spend as much time living after age 65 as they did before becoming an adult. What are they to do with all that time?

Adding to the problem is the fact that the mind does not diminish its powers as fast as the body does. One group of psychologists states that the mind achieves its fullest powers at about 60 years of age, and after that it declines only very slowly. Hence, the problem of how to occupy the mind grows at the very time that the body no longer responds as it used to.

Problems for Others

The problems of the aged, of course, are faced not only by the aged themselves; younger family members are faced with their problems too. For instance, Business Week magazine says:

“Next to bringing up teenagers and financing their college education, the hardest family problem faced by executives over age 35 is caring for elderly parents.

“Says a New York insurance executive: ‘Taking care of my 91-year-old mother has turned us upside down—emotionally and financially.’ His reaction is all too typical.”

Old age, then, certainly is a problem. And more and more people are having to face it. How can they do so and be “satisfied,” as was Abraham? What can they do? What can young adults do about their aging parents?

And the most vital question of all: Can old age ever be reversed?

Do You Go ‘the Extra Mile’?

2010-01-08T05:26:00.000-08:00

WHEN the neighbor’s dog drank his baby’s milk, a man in Nicaragua demanded compensation. But his neighbor became enraged and a knife fight resulted. The two men cut each other severely—all just because of the loss of a little milk.

This is typical of what can happen when people blow a small thing completely out of proportion. Often this leads to far greater loss to those concerned than if the original demand had been granted, or withdrawn peacefully.

Yes, many very serious problems would never develop if people were more willing to follow the principle of going ‘the extra mile.’ This is what the Bible encourages: “Do not resist him that is wicked; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other also to him. And if a person wants to go to court with you and get possession of your inner garment, let your outer garment also go to him; and if someone under authority impresses you into service for a mile, go with him two miles.” (Matt. 5:39-41) Consider how this counsel given by Jesus Christ could prevent difficulties over comparatively minor things.

A slap on the face is insulting and designed to provoke the one slapped. But would it really be to your advantage to retaliate? Rather, would not retaliation mean playing right into the hands of the one who wanted to start a fight? The wise course, then, is to ‘turn the other cheek,’ to disregard the insult. Generally this would end the whole thing.

You may know people who are bent on getting every personal advantage regardless of the expenditure of time and money. They make issues over trifles and insist that they must be vindicated. Would it be wise to get involved with them in lengthy and costly legal battles? Often it is better to take a loss and thus avoid getting embroiled in a maze of legal problems.

As far as an official or a supervisor is concerned, he may have the authority to request the performance of a particular service. Instead of protesting, the individual asked to do something usually is farther ahead by being willing to do what is required of him and even to do more than that. He thus avoids needlessly incurring the displeasure of those in authority.

Now, in the case of the two men in Nicaragua, likely neither one of them would have been scarred for life had there been a willingness to make compensation or to take a small loss. This is well illustrated in what happened to two women attending a Christian assembly in the same country. One of them accidentally knocked over a bottle of milk that the other woman had bought to feed to her baby. She quickly cleaned everything up and, when the other woman returned to her seat, offered to pay for the spilled milk. But the owner had no interest in compensation, and the two women soon were engaged in pleasant conversation.

Truly, the person who gains is the one who avoids making issues over trifles and really goes beyond what is asked of him to settle matters peaceably. There is real wisdom in being willing to walk that ‘extra mile.’

The Art of Persuasion

2009-12-16T03:50:00.000-08:00

A CHILD has a hungry mind. He wants to know the reason for things. “What makes the sky blue?” “How did I get here?” “Where do the stars go during the day?” “What are you doing?” “Why this?” “Why that?” When he gets his answers, he is satisfied. No persuasion needed.
Later on he asks, “Why can’t I have more candy?”
“Because you’ll spoil your supper. Candy isn’t a balanced food. It’s bad for your teeth. Too much isn’t good for you.”
He gets his answers, all solid reasons. But this time he is not satisfied. Why not? Because now it is not a curious mind that is involved; rather, an emotional desire. He does not want answers. He wants candy. You may give reasons, but you probably do not persuade him by explaining that it is not good for him. How many five-year-olds care about what is good for them?
For that matter, many adults do not care what is good for them either. They know the hazards of smoking, for example. The evidence mounts daily, and examples of those who defy it are buried in cemeteries daily. Nevertheless, millions of otherwise intelligent persons ignore reason and continue this practice that is hazardous to their health. Why? Simply because they want to.
Can they be persuaded to stop? Can the child that wants more candy be persuaded to limit himself? To persuade others to change an opinion or a practice is not just a simple matter of giving them reasons to change. The art of persuasion involves much more.
First, it is important to know the reasons people have for clinging to wrong ideas. See beneath the surface. Are they uninformed, only partially informed, or misinformed? Oftentimes their position is based solely on emotion. If emotion is involved, reasoning alone will not persuade. Early in the conversation try to discover the real basis of their belief, and tailor your words accordingly. This is the Bible’s advice: “Study how best to talk with each person you meet.”—Col. 4:6, The New English Bible.
Logic a Basic Requirement
If your beliefs are based solely on emotion, you will have little to offer in their defense. Moreover, they will not be strongly anchored in your own mind. Your own thinking will be swayed willy-nilly by emotional appeals and rabble-rousing tactics. So know your subject well.
Many know just one side, their side. It is all they are interested in. They read the writers that agree with them. They listen to the speakers that confirm their convictions. They believe what they want to believe, and listen to nothing that might rock their mental boats. “In accord with their own desires,” the Christian apostle Paul said of such ones, “they will accumulate teachers for themselves to have their ears tickled; and they will turn their ears away from the truth.”—2 Tim. 4:3, 4.
But if you are to be persuasive, an important requirement is for you to know the facts. All of them, pro and con. If you know only the arguments for your case, you are vulnerable, even though you are convinced it is right. The opposition comes along and punches it full of holes! Then it is with you as the wise writer of Bible proverbs said: “He who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”—Prov. 18:17, Revised Standard Version.
But now, we presume, you have not committed this folly. You are ready. You have researched the question. You know your side. You also know the other side, and how to refute the arguments for it. You come to grips with your adversary. You open up with two of your best points. He is hard-hit, flushes, but strikes back with an argument. The words are hardly out of his mouth before you have smashed them down and unloaded two more strong points. He is getting angry. He is on the run. He cannot answer. He gets mad and starts to yell. You won!
No, you lost. You lost him. You were trying to win him over to your side, but you have alienated him and hardened his heart against you. In a situation like that, think of the wisdom packed into the brevity of the Bible proverb that says: “A man may be pleased with his own retort; how much better is a word in season!”—Prov. 15:23, NEB.
You had the right answers, but you served them to him in a way he could not stomach. They came as an attack, not graciously tasteful and seasoned with salt, not “with a mild temper and deep respect,” as the Christian apostle Peter counseled. As another Bible writer puts it: “He that is sweet in his lips adds persuasiveness.”—1 Pet. 3:15; Prov. 16:21.
Apply the Golden Rule?
“Always treat others as you would like them to treat you” is the advice the persuasive teacher Jesus gave. (Matt. 7:12, NEB) Do you like to be criticized, shown up as wrong, forced to change? Even when deep inside we know we are wrong, it is difficult to admit it when the one opposing us is blunt and dogmatic. We react defensively, justify ourselves, try to save face. But it is not so difficult if our opponent listens to us, understands our side, agrees where he can, and shows some flexibility in his own thinking.
What if he says to us: “I may be wrong on that point. However, I think these others I mentioned are true, but I could be mistaken. Why don’t we go over the facts once more and try to get the right answer? I’m sure you’re reasonable, and I hope I am. Now, we both agreed on this fact. How do you think it fits in with this other point?”
He continues with questions that draw us out. Now we do not feel challenged or under attack. We open up our minds, begin to think objectively, and weigh points we had previously overlooked or rejected. In the end we may even think we have discovered the new answer ourselves, or at least feel we shared in its discovery. Actually, the other fellow led us into it, tactfully, painlessly, all because he proved to be like the “wise one” mentioned in Proverbs 16:23: “The heart of the wise one causes his mouth to show insight, and to his lips it adds persuasiveness.”
We must treat others this way if we hope to convince them that their views are wrong. Our presentation should be guided by genuine neighbor love for the one we are persuading. Follow the advice of the three-thousand-year-old proverb that says: “An answer, when mild, turns away rage, but a word causing pain makes anger to come up.” (Prov. 15:1) By making it as painless as possible for him, you will persuade your neighbor to accept your view of matters.
Entrenched Emotional Barriers
Some persons, when arguing, deliberately blind themselves to facts unacceptable to them. The religious leaders in Jesus’ day did this. They knew quite well what the Bible prophecies had said would constitute the signs by which to identify the Messiah, but they refused to see that Jesus fulfilled all these signs. Jesus was emotionally unacceptable to them, because he did not offer them the political independence, power and glory they craved. So they closed their eyes to the facts and rejected him. But in doing so, as Jesus observed, the prophecy of Isaiah was having fulfillment, which says: “For the heart of this people has grown unreceptive, and with their ears they have heard without response, and they have shut their eyes; that they might never see with their eyes and hear with their ears and get the sense of it with their hearts.”—Matt. 13:14, 15.
When strong emotional barriers exist, you cannot persuade an individual to change his position until they are removed. What is the emotion in each instance that blocks persuasion? Is it pride, prejudice, self-interest, desire for group acceptance? Or does he reject truth because it is unpopular, or would curtail fleshly pleasures, or would bring obligations? To discern the cause, let him talk.
Illustrations are an important tool in persuasion. By dramatizing a point they make us see and feel. They stir us emotionally.
Some Noteworthy Examples
We emotionally resent someone who tells us we are wrong, and if we hold power over him he is treading on dangerous ground if he attempts to correct us. This was the position the prophet Nathan was in when he had to tell King David he had sinned in taking another man’s wife. So he used an illustration. A rich man had many sheep. A poor man had only one. But when the rich man needed a lamb to slaughter for a feast, he did not use one of his many, but took the poor man’s lamb.
King David’s emotions boiled! His “anger grew very hot against the man,” the account tells us, “so that he said to Nathan: ‘As Jehovah is living, the man doing this deserves to die!’” Nathan responded: “You yourself are the man!” Many women were available to the king, but he had taken Bath-sheba, the only one Uriah had. David, crushed, confessed: “I have sinned against Jehovah.” (2 Sam. 12:1-14) By an illustration Nathan roused David’s emotions and caused him to condemn himself!
In Santa Barbara, California, a woman, an environmentalist, raged against the Union Oil Company a few years back when an oil spill polluted the ocean, but when the city proposed an ordinance requiring pleasure boats to install chemical toilets, she and other boat owners protested vehemently: “What little we throw into the sea doesn’t matter!” Later she was walking on the sidewalk with a friend and saw a gum wrapper on the ground. She picked it up, bitterly denouncing litterbugs. “Oh, well,” her friend replied, “it’s so little it doesn’t matter.” After a stern rebuke for this lax attitude, the friend countered: “I was only quoting you on polluting the ocean with your sewage.” Her emotion against litterbugs was used against herself.
The two preceding examples involve outflanking a person’s subjective feelings to make him look at himself objectively, as he would look at another individual. But more often persuasion involves causing the interfering emotion to fade by creating another feeling to supplant the wrong emotions. An actual case involving a scientist illustrates this.
Scientists, often viewed as paragons of logic and objectivity, abandon reason like the rest of us when emotion intervenes. Most of them believe evolution, though it is devoid of any factual proof. The theory lacks the spontaneous generation of life it needs, the good mutations it needs, the fossil record it needs, and all the additional evidence it so desperately needs. So why do they believe it? To agree with fellow scientists? To appear wise? To downgrade the Bible? To avoid obligation to their Creator? To tickle their ego?
Whichever it is, can a different emotion be created to replace it? The scientist in this case was in the space program, versed in astronomy, and awed by the vastness of the universe and his insignificance in comparison. How could life have any meaning? It is a human need to feel that life has meaning, purpose. When this scientist had explained to him Jehovah’s purpose in creating man and putting him on earth as caretaker, his need for meaning was filled. This satisfying feeling replaced entirely his former emotional basis for believing evolution.
The Candy Eater and the Smokers
What about the question raised at the outset: Can the child that wants more candy be persuaded to limit himself? He goes to the circus, and is awestruck by the trapeze artist high above who hangs head down with a strap in his teeth. The other end is clenched in the teeth of a woman as she spins like a pinwheel, colored spotlights playing on them all the while. The boy can hardly contain himself! He’s going to be an aerialist!
“Takes very good teeth.” His father shakes his head, dubious.
“Mine are strong!” The boy’s eyes are shining.
The father thinks a while. “Milk builds teeth that can grip like a bulldog’s! I guess that man and woman drank lots of milk when they were kids.” He then looks at the boy: “I don’t know . . . you like candy . . . don’t drink too much milk.”
Nothing more was said, but from then on the boy drank lots of milk and seldom begged for candy.
And what about the smokers? Can they be persuaded to stop? Some can; some cannot. Some choose health and stop. Millions choose tobacco and continue on toward lung cancer or heart attack. But there are other incentives to quit. A teen-ager wants to be champion miler at school, more than he wants to smoke. A fifty-year-old is exhilarated by jogging, wants it more than smoking. Another wants to be considerate of his nonsmoking family and friends. Another responds to a challenge: Can he quit? He’ll prove he can!
But others, numbering in the tens of thousands, have had even a higher motivation to quit smoking. More than anything else they have desired to please their God, to be “slaves to God,” and not enslaved addicts to tobacco. (Rom. 6:16, 22) For them this indeed has been a more persuasive reason to quit tobacco than all the arguments about the health hazards of smoking.

Survival in the Country

2009-11-23T19:03:00.000-08:00

THE man was stranded in a desolate part of the Arizona desert without food or water. He was days away from help. Could he survive? Could you if you were stranded there or in another country area?
It took him eight days to reach help. He traveled some 150 miles (241 kilometers), much of it during the hottest part of the day with temperatures up to 120° F. (49° C.). The last few miles he crawled completely naked. The heat and lack of water so dehydrated him that he lost 25 percent of his weight, though a 10-percent loss is often fatal. When rescued, his blood was so thick that the lacerations on his hands and knees did not even bleed until he had taken in a lot of water.
What do you conclude from this experience? Does it show that if you have the ‘will to live’ you can survive almost anything? Well, after relating it, a book on survival training observed: “He had done nothing right, had no survival training. But he wanted to survive and he did survive . . . You will encounter other stories of equally harrowing experiences . . . Don’t accept them as advice.” Why not? Because examples of those who have survived on nothing but willpower should be measured in the light of all those persons who have not survived, but who could have, had they acted differently.
‘But why should I be bothered with such matters?’ you may think.
Any of Us
Most people who live in cities and towns do not appreciate that there are vast areas on the earth where a simple automobile breakdown, small accident or wrong turn can spell death. This could happen in the jungles of the Amazon or on the frozen tundras of Alaska, but it sometimes happens in countries that are well populated.
Take, for example, Rhodesia. If you have never been here, you might imagine Rhodesia as a sparsely inhabited land of uninterrupted jungle. But actually most of Rhodesia is high, rolling plateau. And it has a population of well over six million people. So it is more densely populated than Norway or Chile.
Still, from time to time, persons have gotten lost in the countryside and died. What usually causes these people to die is ignorance of how to survive in the country. Had they followed a few basic survival principles they would likely be alive today. Take note! This is a matter that involves you and your family. Why? Because it is quite likely that such unnecessary deaths occur also in your land, perhaps even in areas where you drive on vacation.
Becoming Lost on Foot
Have you ever gone for a walk in the country and gotten lost for a time? Or has your car broken down and left you stranded on a deserted road far from civilization? If that has not yet happened, you must face the fact that it could. What should you do? The very first thing is not to panic. The feeling of being lost is a very real one, and it can make you afraid. Control this, and then sit down and think about your predicament. Definitely do not go rushing off in haste. You will only expend your energy and time, which are both vital for survival.
You are faced with the decision of whether you should stay where you are or you should travel. If making important decisions is normally difficult, it is even more so when your life may hinge on what you decide. But if ever you are in need of making a proper decision, this is the occasion. When it comes to keeping yourself alive, survival is one thing that you want to do right the first time, is it not?
Consider, are you in a location where you are reasonably sure that you soon will be found, perhaps by a passing motorist? If so, it is better for you to remain there than to head out across the countryside where no one would even expect you to be.
Perhaps you conclude, though, that you will definitely not be found or survive where you are. But before you try to ‘walk out of it,’ ask yourself: ‘Am I sure of exactly where I am now? And am I certain of where and how I can reach food, water, shelter and help?’ Such advance thinking will help to prevent you from just striking off in some chance direction.
Also, think over these factors: What about food and water as I travel? At what time during the day will I travel, and what about rest? Is there some gear available that I can take along without burdening myself down? This final matter is important, for you may have a few things on you or in your car, such as a small knife, some cord and cloth to make a covering, matches to start a fire, that can help you to keep alive in the country. Don’t discard your clothing; properly used it can keep you either warm or cool, as well as protect you from wind, sun and insects. And before you depart, leave indication of when you left and in which direction you headed; if perchance that is found, it will help rescuers to locate you.
In What Direction?
If you can determine from a map in your disabled car or if you know from experience or from landmarks just where you now are, then the question is where do you want to head? Try to determine the nearest rescue point or location where you can find help. So, in what overall direction will you have to travel? Perhaps it is due west, or maybe it is northwest, that is, halfway between west and north.
Now, orient yourself. While there are more exact methods involving latitude, the most elementary way is by finding the four points of the compass using the sun. It rises in the east and sets in the west. At night, you can use the moon as a guide. It basically rises in the east and sets in the west, varying only a few points of the compass according to the time of the season. So you can use it as a rough guide to get relative bearings.
You can also use the stars at night. In the southern hemisphere, such as in southern Africa, the Southern Cross points from true south. If you are in the northern hemisphere, locate the Big Dipper. Note the two stars on the outer edge. By drawing an imaginary line up through these, you will locate Polaris, also called the North Star. You can figure it to be due north and orient yourself accordingly.
Once you have firmly fixed the compass points, you will know in which direction to strike out to reach the nearest main road, town or railway line.
But keep this in mind: Some men who died near Ghanzi in the Kalahari Desert knew that there was a main road close by; they also knew in which direction the town of Ghanzi lay, but they failed to find either. Why? Because they could not walk in a straight line. Are you sure that you will?
Walking in a Straight Line
This is always difficult because usually one of your legs is shorter than the other and will be inclined to push you off course without your being aware of it. In many cases, newcomers to the country have walked in complete circles within a few kilometers.
It therefore helps to take a bearing on some prominent object in the distance such as a large tree or a mountain. Even in the flattest of country there probably will be some object in the distance that stands out. You could climb a tree or (in Africa) an anthill to find one. (If you are traveling during the night, use a bright star near the horizon.) Walk with your eye on the object. Every few kilometers check your bearings to make sure you are still going in the right direction.
Will you try to walk in an absolutely straight line? That is not necessarily the best. While it is true that the object toward which you are heading should be in a straight compass line, and you should keep it in sight, it is good to follow the easiest route to reach it. The straightest course may be across a huge marsh or a series of ponds. So curving around obstacles may get you to the object quicker and less exhausted. Following a game trail is often wise, if it heads you somewhat toward the object that is your goal. If you can keep the object in sight while taking the easier curved route, you can correct your course as you get closer to it.
Conserve Energy
When the cross-country trip is long or difficult, you should keep in mind the conserving of energy. What good is it going to do you to know exactly where you are going only to collapse before you get there? As a general rule, if you do not have plenty of water, never walk during the heat of the day unless it is absolutely essential. Rather, spend that time resting, in the shade if it is available. Travel during the morning and late afternoon when it is cooler. If the day is extremely hot and you can maintain the right direction, travel by night. By remaining inactive during the heat of the day, you conserve energy and moisture. Dehydration can spell death, and is experienced faster in the heat of the day. Suck a small pebble or chew a leaf to keep your mouth moist. And in extreme heat or cold, ‘Keep your mouth closed’ is good advice. When talking to yourself, singing or breathing through your mouth, you use up more precious moisture than when you breathe through your nose. If your water supply is low, it is sensible to cut down on your food intake, for your body must use extra water to carry off food wastes.
Finding Water
Though you may be able to get along for days or weeks without food, you cannot live very long without water. So water may be your first and most vital need. Take with you what you can, as well as a container for when you find water. Various signs give indications of water’s being near. The flight of a honeybee, the presence of doves and weavers or a green strip of trees in the distance likely indicate a river or a pond. If the ground is dry, dig in the sand near vegetation and you will often find water. Select the biggest patch of sand upstream from a natural dike, like an outcrop of rocks, and you may find water trapped in the sand below. But don’t waste your time and energy digging for water unless there is some sign that it is present.
Finding Native Communities
In the countryside where you are lost, it might be that you will be able to find nearby the dwellings of local people. This may be done by following any well-used footpaths; they always lead somewhere, such as to or from water, to grainfields or to homes. Rural people are usually kind and humble and will provide a stranger with water and some food. And they may be able to help you to communicate with your family, or with the authorities who can help you.
Sleeping at Night in the Country
If you are lost in the country without shelter and there are wild animals about, the safest place to sleep may be in a tree. This can be more comfortable than you expect.
Relax and be determined to make the best of your situation. You are lost. You are walking in the right direction. But now it is dark and there are wild animals about. So, select a tree and build a platform in it. You can do this with the branches of smaller trees, using bark to bind them together and packing the platform with twigs or with plenty of leaves to make it comfortable.
Where there are no trees you can, if you have matches, light a fire. A fire should scare off wild animals; also it may be seen by rescuers, and at least it will keep you warm. Another means to keep warm and protected from the wind is sleeping in an empty ditch. Or you could construct on the ground a cone-type wigwam or shelter made of branches and bushes. This is often done by Africans traveling in the country.
The Main Criteria
There are many potential dangers in the country, depending on where you are lost. It is true that experience can best teach you how to survive until help arrives. But even just reading and thinking about basic survival techniques can be a real asset. The main thing when one is lost or marooned is to remain calm and controlled. Praying to God for guidance will also help. You will thus realize that you are not alone, and so you will probably be more controlled and reasonable in what you do. Then observe your surroundings and move according to this observation and good sense.

Why Are We Here on Planet Earth?

2009-09-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

HAVE you ever looked up into a cloudless sky at night and wondered, Why am I here? Of all the planets and other heavenly bodies, the earth alone is known to provide an ideal environment for the maintenance of a great variety of plant and creature life. Is it just by a chance combination of many improbabilities that this earth and its various life forms came into existence? Or, is there evidence that such things are the handiwork of an intelligent Maker?
Many people today believe that humans are the product of evolution and have no accountability to a superior being. So they conclude that our purpose for being on earth is to live our life according to our own desires and standards. As “no person is an island,” each would, of course, have to exercise care not to ruin relationships with those upon whom he or she depended. Basically, one’s whole life might center around pleasing oneself and trying to make some contribution to society with a view to gaining personal satisfaction and recognition in the world.
But of what real encouragement is such a view? Regardless of what a person may accomplish during his lifetime, all will be lost at death. Eventually he will be forgotten as a person, though his name may be mentioned for a number of years thereafter.
All of this gives rise to the question, Are some seventy or eighty years of life on earth really enough to make life seem meaningful? Rather, does it not seem frustrating that so much is lost at death? A person spends some twenty years growing up, another twenty years or so gaining further knowledge and experience, and not long thereafter he begins to age and weaken. Finally death puts a stop to all his work. While some of his knowledge may have been imparted to others, the sum total of his knowledge and experience is lost to posterity. What a shame and waste this is when, after so many centuries of man’s existence, there are still countless mysteries about this earth and boundless space that remain to be solved!
On the other hand, millions of persons believe that an intelligent Maker exists. If this is so, what is his purpose for the earth and man upon it? Is the earth, as many think, a place that will finally be destroyed? Is it merely a testing ground for determining the eternal fate of mankind? If the earth is such a proving ground, how could one explain why even newborn babies die? What have they done to prove what kind of persons they are? Then, too, why would an intelligent Creator rip men and women off the earthly scene long before they could get acquainted with more than just a small part of their vast testing ground? And what reason would there be for His wanting to burn up our beautiful planet, with its delightful variety of life forms?
In ever-increasing numbers people today are not satisfied with the commonly held views as to why humans are here on earth. This may well be your feeling too. But is there any way to know for a certainty the real reason for our being here on earth? Or, might it be to our advantage just to forget about this matter and live our life as best we can?
The fact is that wrong viewpoints about these things could be damaging to us. For example, if there is no Maker to whom humans have any accountability, hundreds of millions of persons are being deluded. Their beliefs may be moving them to sacrifice their time, energy and assets in furthering religious goals that will benefit no one. On the other hand, if a Supreme Being exists and this One has a purpose for man, we should want to know what that purpose is. Only then would we be in a position to live in harmony with His purpose. Yes, the view we have as to our reason for being on earth may affect our life both now and in the future.

That Amazing Fluid Within You!

2009-09-04T10:30:00.000-07:00

MANY individuals are uncomfortable or squeamish about blood. Are you? You may want your blood ‘under your skin,’ that is, in your blood vessels where it should be. How right you are! That is where it belongs, for there it serves you every second. You are alive because of your blood. But just what is your blood? Do you know its parts? How does it serve you? Why is your blood uniquely your blood?

What It Is

You have seen your blood, perhaps more often than you would prefer. It may appear to be simply a red fluid. But note what the Encyclopædia Britannica (1974) says about it:

“The blood has an almost unbelievably complex structure, and many components participate in its functional activities, often in an intricate and poorly understood way.”

In some senses your blood might be illustrated by a glass of iced lemonade. Basically, lemonade is water in which lemon juice and sugar are mixed or dissolved. Also, some pieces of ice and lemon pulp float in the liquid. Your blood is similar. It is a complex mixture with two basic parts. The largest part is the fluid or plasma. It is 91.5 percent water, but it contains hundreds of chemicals and soluble constituents, such as hormones, sugar, salts, cholesterol, proteins, minerals, and so forth. The other basic part of your blood is the “solids” or formed elements that are carried in the plasma.

Your blood system as a whole and also its individual components perform a vast array of important functions. Are you aware of some of them? Well, as we discuss the blood components watch for the six main functions of this complex fluid.

Your Red Blood Cells

Have you ever wondered why your blood is red? That is because of the red cells (erythrocytes) in your blood. In one cubic millimeter, about as big as the dot on an “i,” a man has some five million red cells. You have about half a million less if you are a woman. Each red cell is a tiny rounded disk that is slightly indented on the two sides. You cannot see them with the unaided eye, for it would take 3,200 of them placed side by side to measure an inch (2.5 centimeters).

Without any conscious effort you are constantly forming these important red cells in the bone marrow of your ribs, skull and vertebrae. Why? Well, each second some 1.2 million of them wear out and are removed by your spleen and liver. Yet, the iron and other important materials of your worn-out red cells are used in various ways, including the making of new cells.

What, however, are your red cells doing during their “life-span” of about four months? Respiration is their key function. You may associate respiration with your lungs. Yet how does the oxygen in the air you breathe get from your lungs to the 60 trillion cells of your body? Your red cells rise to the occasion. In your lungs each red blood cell picks up oxygen, just as a truck might load up at a warehouse. A red cell contains an iron-rich protein called hemoglobin that oxidizes or “rusts,” as it were, in your lungs, that is, it unites with oxygen, becoming bright red. Then comes a quick trip to deliver this to the customers, your body cells. From your lungs the blood speeds to your heart, where it gets a strong push, carrying it through progressively smaller arteries until it reaches the minute capillaries throughout your body. As each red cell passes single-file through a capillary, it quickly delivers up its cargo of oxygen and makes a pickup for the return trip. Your body cells then “burn” oxygen and nutrients to produce energy for you so you can move, think and keep warm. So in the brief passage through your capillaries the blood delivers oxygen and collects the by-product carbon dioxide, which is brought back to your lungs for discharging.

During a blood test your doctor checks as to whether you have a normal amount of healthy red cells. A shortage spells anemia. If that exists, it might mean that you need more iron-containing food in your diet. But a low red-cell count also alerts your doctor to check to see if you might be losing blood internally, as from a bleeding ulcer. Or a serious deficiency could be caused by some problem in your bone marrow. In any event, the condition should be investigated carefully, for there is no known substitute for red cells in bringing oxygen to your body cells.

White Blood Cells

Overshadowed in number, if not in importance, by their red companions are your white blood cells (leukocytes), some 5,000 to 10,000 in each cubic millimeter of blood. These, unlike the red cells, are independently mobile. They can move to where they are needed, either in the bloodstream or outside it. Simply stated, their crucial job is defense. Yes, they are constantly saving your life.

You have various types of white blood cells. Two of them, your granulocytes and monocytes, serve as ever-vigilant “policemen” within you. By accident you might scratch your arm, letting dangerous bacteria into your body. Immediately these “policemen” are alerted. They are able to pass through the walls of your capillaries and engulf invading bacteria, digesting them with potent enzymes. The pus that forms at the site of an infection tells you that they are on the job, for it consists mainly of white cells and defeated bacteria. White cells also respond if you have an infection inside your body, such as appendicitis. In fact, one way your doctor can confirm the seriousness of such diseases is by checking your white-blood-cell count. If it is elevated, it indicates that your white cells are rallying to fight an acute infection.

Another type of white cells, your lymphocytes, is involved with your developing immunity and with acquired resistance to infections. Somehow they recognize what is part of your body and what is foreign. For instance, if skin from one part of your body is grafted on another part, it will likely adhere and survive. But if the skin is from someone else, lymphocytes migrate to the area, recognize “That’s not mine” and begin rejecting it. They also have a “memory” that aids you to be immune to various diseases.

Your Platelets

Imagine trying to carry water in a sieve. Were it not for your platelets, it would be just as hard to keep the blood within the circulatory system. A platelet is a small, colorless and flexible blob of cellular material. Does that sound unimpressive? Well, what your platelets do certainly is not. If you cut yourself, within seconds platelets attach themselves to the injured area and to one another. Thus they plug the wound and stop bleeding. What “glue” causes them to do this at a wound but not inside your bloodstream? There you have another deep mystery. Also, they release factors that stimulate the formation of a more durable sealing clot.

If our simplified consideration of your blood’s “solids” or formed elements has impressed you with its importance, what about your plasma, the liquid part that is 55 percent of your blood by volume?

The Other 55 Percent

A tasty meal is a delight! But once you digest the food it must get to the cells in order to be useful to the body. Silently but efficiently your blood plasma does the job, thus providing nutrition for every cell in your body. It delivers carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, salts and vitamins to where they are needed.

Your plasma does not come back from that delivery job “empty” either. Besides carbon dioxide, other wastes must be removed from the cells. Your plasma does this, thus playing an important role in excretion. For example, it transports urea and uric acid from your cells to your kidneys, where they are eliminated.

If you are too warm, capillaries near your skin open, allowing the blood to carry excess heat to the surface. Conversely, when it is cold the blood stays deeper inside the body and so conserves body heat. Yes, your blood contributes to temperature regulation; it helps to maintain a uniform body temperature of about 98.6° F. (37° C.).

Recall the role of the platelets in keeping your pressurized blood from escaping from your blood vessels. This important role is called hemostasis. The plasma contains a number of important substances or factors that also contribute to this, for they are vital in blood clotting. Hemophilia is a dangerous condition where one or more of these factors are missing. But this is rare. With most of us, when we cut ourselves or are injured, a very complicated process begins that results in a blood clot. Fibrinogen is an important protein in your blood plasma that plays a role in the wound’s being sealed by a tough layer of fibers and cells. Then no more blood escapes and the body can repair the damage.

Your plasma also contains albumin. It works to retain water in your bloodstream, thus keeping the plasma in a liquid state and flowing in your system. If you experienced edema or swelling of your body, a blood test might show that your albumin level had dropped, and so let water from your blood escape through capillary walls and accumulate in your body tissue.

When it comes to amazing aspects of your blood, we cannot overlook the globulins in the plasma. When harmful bacteria or viruses invade your body, your defense system reacts by producing special molecules called antibodies. These are contained in the globulins. The antibodies kill or neutralize the invaders, which are then eaten by your white blood cells.

What a memory these antibodies have! Scientists earth wide marvel over it. Perhaps as a child you had chicken pox. Even if you have forgotten the disease, your antibodies have not. As long as the antibodies are present and active, you are immune to having the disease again. If a chicken-pox virus invades your body, your antibodies immediately pounce on it. During your life you develop naturally an enormous number of different specific antibodies that protect you from many diseases.

Globulins and antibodies are sometimes used as a treatment when a person has already contracted a disease, such as diphtheria. Instead of taking the risk of allowing the disease to run its course, doctors might recommend accepting a serum prepared from the blood of an animal or human that already contains the right antibodies.

One of the most widely known things about human blood is that there are various blood types. You may have heard of ‘type A blood’ or some of the other common types, B, AB, and O. If a person with one blood type is transfused with another blood type likely he will become severely ill and perhaps die. So hospitals try to “match” his blood type with that of blood from a blood bank. So far fifteen different blood types have been identified.

But since your blood is so very complex, with unnumbered unique combinations of antibodies, hormones, proteins and other factors, can you expect that doctors truly can “match” your blood with someone else’s? In 1966, Science Digest observed: “It is estimated that only one transfusion in 10,000 is completely compatible, considering the number of known factors that make blood different.”

Since that was written, even more has been learned that shows how distinctive your blood is, different from that of any other person. Thus, in 1974, Readers Digest said:

“There is a growing probability that [a man’s] blood may be quite as distinctive as his fingerprints, different from all other bloods on earth. In fact, it might be possible to take a blood sample from each person in a large stadium right now, and then a year from now take another sample and assign each fan his proper seat—on the basis of individual blood characteristics.”

There is increasing realization in the medical community of the potentially dangerous reactions from transfused blood, to say nothing of the possibility of transmission of diseases such as hepatitis and syphilis by means of transfusions. These problems merely underscore the wisdom of the Bible’s prohibition against sustaining one’s life by taking in animal or human blood.—Gen. 9:3, 4; Acts 15:19, 20.

There is no question that your blood is amazing in its composition and functions. Yet with just a basic knowledge of some of its components and how it daily sustains and preserves your life, you can well appreciate the Creator’s choosing blood as a symbol of life. He said: “For the soul [or life] of the flesh is in the blood. . . . That is why I have said to [you]: ‘No soul of you must eat blood.’”—Lev. 17:11, 12.

What Can You Do About It?

2009-08-31T02:45:00.000-07:00

REALLY, there is little that you can do to influence today’s troublesome world economic conditions. You did not cause them, but, instead, you are a victim of them.

Yet, there are things that you can do to help ease the burden of making a living today. Often, this revolves around self-control. How so?

Exercising Self-Control

One of the greatest problems regarding debt today is that many people cannot exercise self-control when it comes to buying things. Before they fully realize it, they have spent too much and must borrow money needlessly.

But in difficult economic times, stern measures should be taken. A family’s needs should be carefully reassessed. Is the family living within its income?

If not, then nonessentials can be cut out, or at least reduced. True, one’s neighbor may have, say, an expensive color television set. But if this is going to put the family deeper in debt, why not wait until it can be afforded?

Expensive entertainment and luxury foods, as well as costly liquors, can be curtailed with no loss. Smoking should be eliminated; this not only will save a great deal of money over the course of a year, but may save one’s very life!

For those who gamble, it would be well to ask themselves how gambling establishments, such as racetracks and betting “parlors,” exist. They can exist only because gambling is a losing proposition for the overwhelming majority of people. If it was not, then the gambling establishments could not make their huge profits. So self-control here could save large sums of money that could be better spent, or saved for future purchases.

The key to saving money is to lower one’s desires and expectations so that they realistically conform to income. It does no good to dwell constantly on what would be nice to have. Instead, consider what you can afford without going into debt.

Pay Cash

There is great encouragement to borrow money these days. Money lenders are everywhere. But why? Because money lenders make a good profit.

True, the cost of 6 or 7 or 8 percent for borrowing money may not seem high. But in actuality that comes to about double or triple over the life of the loan. Why? Because you do not have the use of all the money all that time, but must begin paying it back almost immediately.

For instance, in a recent year average car loans in the United States cost $860 in interest charges. This is above the actual cost of the car. Now, while it usually is not possible for most people to save in advance for such a large-item, it does demonstrate how much loans can cost. The same principle is true of smaller loans. So, buying on credit is indeed costly. Pay cash (or by check) whenever you can.

A major problem is the use of credit cards. More and more people use them for purchases, including food. But credit cards should be used as if they were dangerous weapons. It is easy to purchase things when you do not have to pay cash. But trying to pay for hasty, unnecessary credit-card purchases can cause money hardships later.

If at all possible, save money in advance for purchases instead of borrowing. This not only prevents debt and large interest payments, but, if put in a bank, would collect interest.

On the Way Out

There are some things, then, that you can do to protect yourself financially at present. But there is nothing you can do to help the present economic system to survive. Why not? Because any recovery it makes in the near future will only be temporary.

God’s unerring prophetic Word tells us that all of today’s systems, including its economic ones, are “passing away.” (1 John 2:17) They cannot last long, because it is God’s purpose to intervene soon in man’s affairs and to bring this unsatisfactory system to its finish.—Dan. 2:44.

That is why God’s Word cautions: “Do not be loving either the world or the things in the world.” (1 John 2:15) It will do no good to try to hold on to this system, or perpetuate it. Soon, as Jesus Christ foretold, “there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.” (Matt. 24:21) During that “great tribulation,” today’s money system undoubtedly will collapse.

Viewing the mountains of debt now building up everywhere, one can appreciate how swiftly such an economic collapse could occur. Indeed, the Bible shows that, as has happened before, “into the streets they will throw their very silver, and an abhorrent thing their own gold will become.” Ezek. 7:19.

Nor is that “farfetched.” Even many observers of the world scene feel that something drastic must happen. For example, in The Eco-Spasm Report, author Alvin Toffler states: “What we are seeing today is not simply an economic upheaval, but something far deeper, something that cannot be understood within the framework of conventional economics. This is why increasingly mystified economists complain that ‘the old rules don’t work any longer.’ What we are seeing is the general crisis of industrialism . . . What is happening, no more, no less, is the breakdown of industrial civilization on the planet.”

Toffler observed that pessimistic predictions about the world economy were once dismissed as “lunatic.” But, he notes, they “are now being taken seriously.”

Because of what is certain to come in the future, you would do well not to put undue trust in material things. Money is necessary to daily living, true. But putting one’s confidence in it is bound to result in disappointment.

What we all need to learn more about, and put our confidence in, is what will replace this old system. That will be God’s new order, under his heavenly Kingdom government. (Matt. 6:10) Here, on earth, under a righteous administration, all of mankind’s distressing problems will be solved. This includes the economic ones. And they will be solved to our total satisfaction, since the Bible says of the Almighty Creator of the new order: “You are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing.”—Ps. 145:16.

Can You Lengthen Your Life-Span?

2009-08-23T04:21:00.001-07:00

LIFE is precious. Who among the millions enjoying good mental and physical health would want to pick the year, month, day and hour of his death? Certainly no one. When people are doing meaningful work and feel that they are appreciated and loved, they want life to continue. But how can a person secure for himself a long and meaningful life?

Worrying about it certainly will not add even a minute to a person’s life-span. Instead of contributing toward a lengthening of life, undue anxiety only brings unpleasantness and may even shorten it.

Of course, a person may be able to do very little about inherited weaknesses and defects in the functioning of his physical organism. Then, too, an unforeseen occurrence—accident, flood, earthquake or volcano—may quickly snuff out his life. Nevertheless, things can be done in order to enjoy a longer life even now. We can avoid taking foolish chances and can see to it that our bodies get needed food and rest. Most importantly, we can choose to be guided by wisdom.

A Bible proverb points to the good effect that applied wisdom can have on the life-span, saying: “It is a tree of life to those taking hold of it, and those keeping fast hold of it are to be called happy.” (Prov. 3:18) Yes, wisdom, the ability to apply knowledge successfully, can save us from untold trouble, including a premature death.

Consider, for example, what the Bible book of Proverbs says about alcohol abuse: “Who has woe? Who has uneasiness? Who has contentions? Who has concern? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has dullness of eyes? Those staying a long time with the wine, those coming in to search out mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it exhibits a red color, when it gives off its sparkle in the cup, when it goes with a slickness. At its end it bites just like a serpent, and it secretes poison just like a viper.”—Prov. 23:29-32.

As here described, the person who is given to heavy drinking often becomes quarrelsome without cause and may find himself embroiled in fights. To him, wine looks unduly attractive, sparkling. His intemperance in the use of alcoholic beverages has the same effect upon him as the poison of a viper. It can make him physically sick, causing, for instance, cirrhosis of the liver. It can also harm him mentally by producing delirium tremens. Like a serpent’s poison, heavy intake of alcoholic beverages may be death-dealing.

Describing what can happen to a person in a drunken state, the book of Proverbs continues: “Your own eyes will see strange things, and your own heart will speak perverse things. And you will certainly become like one lying down in the heart of the sea [experiencing the confusion of one drowning, finally passing into unconsciousness], even like one lying down at the top of a mast [the rocking of a ship being at its greatest point here, the drunkard’s life is in greatest danger from such things as an accident, a stroke or a brawl]. ‘They have struck me, but I did not become sick; they have smitten me, but I did not know it [says the drunkard, as if talking to himself; his senses are totally dulled to what is happening to him]. When shall I wake up? I shall seek it yet some more [yes, after sleeping off the effects of his overindulgence, he will go right back to his drinking].’”—Prov. 23:33-35.

Truly the person who avoids alcohol abuse is wise. His wisdom is a “tree of life,” protecting him from all kinds of trouble and, possibly, an untimely death.

Other counsel provided in the book of Proverbs can, if applied, likewise contribute to a lengthening of one’s life. There is encouragement to pay attention to sound counsel, to avoid involvement with lawless elements and to shun sexual immorality. We read: “A wise person will listen and take in more instruction.” (Prov. 1:5) “If sinners try to seduce you, do not consent. If they keep saying: ‘Do go with us. Do let us lie in ambush . . .’ do not go in the way with them.” (Prov. 1:10-15) “Why should you, my son, be in an ecstasy with a strange woman or embrace the bosom of a foreign woman? . . . His own errors will catch the wicked one, and in the ropes of his own sin he will be taken hold of. He will be the one to die because there is no discipline.”—Prov. 5:20-23.

Clearly, conduct that harmonizes with the Holy Scriptures contributes to a longer and happier life. The benefits of godly conduct, however, are not limited just to the present. The Christian apostle Paul wrote: “Godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come.”—1 Tim. 4:8.

The kind of life in the future that the Most High has in mind for mankind is described in the Bible as follows: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.”—Rev. 21:3, 4.

Therefore, living in harmony with God’s requirements can add years to a person’s life now and put him in line for a grand future. But not all persons today favor living by the Bible. They prefer their own ways. Among these people are persecutors of God’s servants.

There may be times when such persecution threatens a godly person’s life. What then? Should he yield to the demands of the persecutors and thereby escape a premature death? It might seem that compromise in such a case could result in the lengthening of one’s life-span. But that is not the case. Jesus Christ said: “Whoever wants to save his soul [life] will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for the sake of me and the good news will save it.” (Mark 8:35) “He that is fond of his soul destroys it, but he that hates his soul [not holding life as too precious] in this world will safeguard it for everlasting life.”—John 12:25.

How can the loss of one’s life prematurely at the hands of persecutors result in safeguarding it for an endless life-span?

Because the person who dies in faithfulness to God can rest assured of being raised from the dead with everlasting life in view. On the other hand, the person who compromises may live a few more years on earth, but he has jeopardized his prospect for gaining eternal life. When he loses his approved standing with God, this means that he has exchanged an eternal, happy future for a few short years of life in an ungodly world. What a foolish decision this is!

So, if you are truly interested in lengthening your life-span, make the sound guidelines of the Bible your own and apply them. Do so regardless of what pressure might be brought against you for this. Never lose sight of the fact that, not man, but God alone can give you unending life.

Evidence of Design

2009-08-15T16:37:00.001-07:00

THE existence of design invariably calls for a designer with skill and ability. Who would think for a minute that a finely tooled watch would form by accident? Its precision of movement is evidence of a skilled designer.

So, too, let us take a good look at the human body to see indications of a great Designer. A glistening newborn baby, teeming with life, is in itself a breathtaking miracle. Moreover, within this little “bundle” are evidences of sophisticated design that impress even highly educated engineers and scientists. So, as the child develops, notice some examples of superb designing.

Our Bones: “Triumphs of Structure and Design”

Why did the book The Body, which strongly advocates evolution, describe the bones in the way that it does? Because bone “supports the body the way a steel framework supports a skyscraper, and it protects its vital organs the way a cast-concrete roof protects a building’s occupants. In filling these structural assignments, the human body solves problems of design and construction familiar to the architect and engineer.”

How would you feel if you were a building contractor and were asked to enlarge a home, making it three times higher and wider and yet not disturb the occupant’s daily labors or night’s rest even for one hour? Impossible, you say. Yet that very thing is required of our bones. Our frame must increase threefold from our infancy till we reach maturity.

How do our bones accomplish this task? Imagine someone scraping a little material off the interior of the walls and ceiling of a room and then depositing this material on the outside of the walls and ceiling. Each week the room “grows” several millimeters until, finally, after 20 years, our house is three times as large as before. Well, special cells in our bones do this same “masonry” work—osteoclasts (bone breakers) and osteoblasts (bone builders).

And what strength and flexibility is built into our bones! Their construction is similar to reinforced concrete (a material of astounding strength used extensively in modern construction with poured concrete formed around flexible rods of steel). Crisscrossed through the concrete-like calcium in bones, run fibers of collagen, providing the reinforcement. Yet bone is eight times stronger than reinforced concrete. Its tensile strength is greater than cast iron. Your shin bone can regularly support a weight of nearly two tons and can be subjected to pressures up to 20,000 pounds per square inch (1,400 kilograms per square centimeter). Yet bone is flexible and amazingly light. If steel were used instead, a 160-pound (73-kilogram) man would weigh nearly 800 pounds (360 kilograms)! Think about that the next time you are floating in water. So a perfect mixture is used in our bones, combining strength with flexibility and lightness.

As if this alone were not enough, the interior of the bones is like a “mint” where new blood cells, the life of the body, are “coined and issued.” As the book Man in Structure and Function comments:

“Just as banks build their vaults in the foundations of their buildings so as to deposit their gold reserves in the safety and security of their depths, similarly the body has used the most protected places in the human body, the interior of the bones, to deposit there the coin and gold of the cell state: the blood.”

No wonder the magazine Today’s Health says: “The human skeleton represents a masterpiece of engineering design, . . . ”

“The Ear: Masterpiece of Engineering”

So the book Sound and Hearing describes our organ of hearing. The book adds: “Yet behind [the outer ear] lie structures of such delicacy that they shame the most skillful craftsman, of such reliable automatic operation that they inspire awe in the most ingenious engineer.”

Just think: miniaturized into a space about one square inch (6 square centimeters) is an entire high-fidelity receiving and transmitting system. From the outer ear (which gathers the sound waves) through the middle ear (which converts the sound waves into mechanical movements) to the inner ear (which transforms the mechanical movements into electrical impulses), we see evidence of really sophisticated design.

In the cochlea (a part of the inner ear resembling a snail’s shell [note the picture above]), the real miracle occurs. It is here that mechanical movements are converted into electrical impulses and fed to the brain, which decodes these as sounds. To accomplish this function 24,000 tiny hairs within this organ act as the strings of a piano. The sound waves cause movements within the cochlea from which these “strings” then reproduce the various tones. Through nerves attached to these hairs electrical impulses are sent to the brain. One reference work says: “Since the cochlea in a pianist’s ear is approximately a million times smaller than the piano upon which he plays, one must imagine the keyboard and strings of a concert piano reduced about 100 million times in order to arrive at the dimensions of the auditory ‘piano’ in the ear.” Our “piano” reproduces perfectly every sound—from a faint whisper to the crescendo of a great orchestra—and all of this within a part the size of a pea! Design or accident? Have you ever heard even of a grand piano that came into existence by pure accident?

The Human Hand: “Instrument of Instruments”

So said an ancient physician about that which has made possible so many of man’s achievements. Biochemist Isaac Asimov echoed such feelings by calling the hand:

“ . . . a superlative manipulative organ, incomparably the best thing of the sort in all the realm of life—with four limber fingers and an opposing thumb so that the whole can be used as a delicate pincer or firm grasper, a twister, bender, puller, pusher, and manipulator of piano and typewriter keys.”

Indeed the hand is not only powerful, but strikingly agile. With it we can pound with a hammer yet also pick up a small pin.

Where are the powerful muscles located that control our fingers? Now if you were designing a hand, where would you put the muscles? Perhaps in the fingers themselves? How dreadful that would be! For even though they would have strength, they would look like thick sausages. Have you ever tried to pick up a pin with a thick sausage? But the bending muscles of the fingers for the most part are located in the forearm. Flex your fingers and feel your forearm. Feel the muscles moving? These are connected by “strings” or tendons to the tips of your fingers, resulting in great strength, but genuine flexibility. What a remarkable design! By mere accident?

The Brain: “Most Miraculous Creation in the World”

That is what a leading anthropologist, Loren C. Eiseley, an evolutionist, called our brain back in 1955. Man today, with all his increased technology is still dumbfounded at what our brain is capable of doing. It has “10 billion nerve cells, any one of which may connect with as many as 25,000 other nerve cells. The number of interconnections which this adds up to would stagger even an astronomer—and astronomers are used to dealing with astronomical numbers,” reports one reference work, and it adds: “A computer sophisticated enough to handle this number of interconnections would have to be big enough to cover the earth.”

Yet all of this is miniaturized into a mass weighing about three pounds (1,360 grams), small enough to fit in your two hands. Fittingly it is called “the most highly organized bit of matter in the universe.”

Our brain is capable of something for which no man-made computer has ever had a capacity: creative imagination. This was especially evident from the experience of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. When one of his greatest works, his Ninth Symphony, was introduced, the audience broke into “frantic applause,” they loved it so. Beethoven was not audibly aware of it; he was totally deaf! Just think, he “heard” the full richness of the composition first in his own imagination and then set it down in notes, and he never actually heard one tone. What power of creative imagination our brain possesses!

Is it not obvious that there are examples of superb designing in our body? Should we not be drawn to the same logical conclusion as that reached by an outstanding consultant engineer who struggled for two years designing an “electronic brain”? He said: “After facing and solving the many design problems which [the computer] presented, it is completely irrational to me to think that such a device could come into being in any other way than through . . . an intelligent designer. . . . If my computer required a designer, how much more so did that complex . . . machine which is my human body.”

Could all these examples of design merely have “just happened”? George Gallup, a renowned statistician, one who carefully compiles figures and facts on certain subjects, once said: “I could prove God statistically. Take the human body alone—the chance that all the functions of the individual would just happen is a statistical monstrosity.” In other words, the chance that all of this could “just happen” without some directive power is, in reality, impossible, “a statistical monstrosity.”

The great physicist Lord Kelvin who at the time of his death, “was without dispute the greatest scientific genius in the world,” reached the same conclusion: “We are absolutely forced by science to believe with perfect confidence in a Directive Power—in an influence other than physical or dynamical or electrical forces . . . You will be forced by science into a belief in God.” (Italics added)

We can see convincing evidence of God’s existence through (1) sound scientific logic and (2) existence of design in the world around us. Still a question comes to our mind: What is this God like?

Astronomical Calculations and the Count of Time

2009-07-29T07:15:00.001-07:00

HISTORIANS generally have a preference for their own calculated chronologies over the chronology of the Bible. In this attitude they claim support from ancient astronomical calculations—some of them on tablets uncovered by the archaeologist’s spade. One historian even declares that “astronomical confirmation can convert a relative chronology, one that merely establishes the sequence of events, into an absolute chronology, a system of dates related to our [modern] calendar.”1

How accurate is this claim? Of course, the celestial bodies were provided by the Creator to serve as a timekeeper for men upon earth. At Genesis 1:14 we can read: “Let luminaries come to be in the expanse of the heavens to make a division between the day and the night; and they must serve as signs and for seasons and for days and years.” However, the efforts of men to relate ancient astronomical data to human events of the past involves a number of factors that allow for error—error in calculation and in interpretation.

At first glance it might seem to be quite simple to determine the date of some specific happening when an ancient cuneiform tablet informs us that the event coincided with some eclipse of the sun or moon. There are, however, partial eclipses and total eclipses, and it is quite important to know which it is in any given connection. Why? Well, according to The Encyclopœdia Britannica, any “particular town or city would on the average experience some 40 lunar eclipses and 20 partial solar eclipses in 50 years, [although] only one total solar eclipse in 400 years.”2 So, the fixing of some specific historical date by means of an eclipse would be open to considerable question unless it was a case of a definitely stated total solar eclipse visible in a specific area. Unfortunately, such precise and vital information is rare in ancient sources.

WEAK LINKS IN THE CHAIN

Even as to the area of visibility for any given eclipse there is an element of uncertainty. Earth scientists have long understood that tidal currents in the oceans, coming into contact with sea bottom in shallower areas, may tend slightly to retard the earth’s rotation. “A number of scientists,” reports a recent scientific work, “have found plausible evidence for the cumulative effect of tidal slowing in ancient records of eclipses. An eclipse is visible over only a small part of the earth’s surface. Moreover, the area of visibility can be calculated for eclipses that occurred centuries (or even millennia) in the past. It turns out, however, that modern calculations do not agree with the ancient records. The eclipses seem to have been observed in areas some hundreds of miles to the east of where they should have appeared.”3

Here is an example that will reveal the weakness in this method of arriving at precise dates. There is one solar eclipse that is specially relied on by historians in their attempt to relate the chronology of Assyria with that of the Bible. This eclipse is mentioned in an Assyrian eponym (prominent name) list as taking place in the third month, counting from spring, of the ninth year of King Assur-dan III. Modern historians conclude that it was the eclipse occurring on June 15, 763 B.C.E.4 Counting back 90 years (or names, since they calculate a name for each year) on the eponym list, they arrive at 853 B.C.E. as the date for the battle of Qarqar in Shalmaneser’s sixth year. They claim that in other records Shalmaneser lists King Ahab of Israel as in the enemy coalition facing Assyria in that battle, and that twelve years later (Shalmaneser’s 18th year) he refers to King Jehu of Israel as one of those paying tribute to him.5 They then deduce that the year 853 B.C.E. marked the date of Ahab’s last year and 841 B.C.E. the start of Jehu’s reign.6

How sound are those calculations? Since the eponym list did not state the nature of this eclipse, whether partial or total, historians may not be warranted in concluding that it marked the year 763 B.C.E. Indeed, some scholars have preferred to settle for the year 809 B.C.E., during which an eclipse occurred that would have been at least partially visible in Assyria. But on the same basis there were also partial eclipses in the years 817, 857, and so on—each visible in Assyria.7 Nevertheless, historians object to any change from the solar eclipse of 763 B.C.E. on the ground that it would ‘introduce confusion into Assyrian history.’ Assyrian history, however, is already in considerable confusion.

The presence of King Ahab at the battle of Qarqar in the year 853 B.C.E. is quite unlikely. The Bible says nothing of it, and the translation of the Assyrian text on which this idea is based is quite conjectural. Bible chronology places Ahab’s death around 919 B.C.E. and the commencement of Jehu’s reign about 904 B.C.E. Shalmaneser’s mention of Jehu is not necessarily a reference to his first year. It could have been a later year of Jehu’s reign. Then, too, we have to keep in mind that the chroniclers of Assyria were given to juggling the years of their campaigns and even crediting their kings with receiving tribute from persons long dead. So there are weak links in the chain of data, including the astronomical data, relied on to synchronize Assyrian chronology and Bible chronology.

LUNAR ECLIPSES

Lunar eclipses, as found in Ptolemy’s canon and presumably drawn from data in the cuneiform records, have been used in efforts to substantiate the dates usually given for particular years of the Neo-Babylonian kings. But even though Ptolemy may have been able to calculate accurately the dates of certain eclipses in the past, this does not prove that his transmission of historical data is correct. His relating of eclipses to the reigns of certain kings may not always be based on the facts. Additionally, the frequency of lunar eclipses certainly does not add great strength to this type of confirmation.

For example, a lunar eclipse in 621 B.C.E. (April 22) is used as proof of the correctness of the Ptolemaic date for Nabopolassar’s fifth year. However, another eclipse could be cited twenty years earlier in 641 B.C.E. (June 1) to correspond with the date that Bible chronology would indicate for Nabopolassar’s fifth year. Besides, this latter eclipse was total, whereas the one in 621 B.C.E. was partial.8

Perhaps the date of Herod’s death furnishes the best illustration of the uncertainty involved in dating by means of lunar eclipses. The Jewish historian Josephus shows Herod’s death to have occurred shortly after a lunar eclipse and not long before the start of the Passover season. Many fix 4 B.C.E. as the date of Herod’s death, citing as proof the lunar eclipse on the night of March 12/13 in that year. Due to this reckoning, some modern chronologers place Jesus’ birth in 5 B.C.E.

However, W. E. Filmer, writing in The Journal of Theological Studies, October 1966, shows the weakness of this reckoning. He points out that eclipses also took place on both January 9 and December 29 of the year 1 B.C.E. and that either of these could fit the requirements of an eclipse not long before Passover. Also he shows that the eclipse of January 9, 1 B.C.E., which was total, would better fit the circumstances than the one in 4 B.C.E., a partial eclipse. Summing up the matter, he says: “Thus, so far as the evidence of lunar eclipse goes, Herod may have died in either of the years 4 or 1 B.C.E., or even in A.D. 1.” And either of these latter two dates would harmonize with the date of Jesus’ birth as calculated according to the Bible’s count of time, namely, the autumn of 2 B.C.E.

Thus it is obvious that eclipses of the moon of themselves are by no means sure pointers to the accuracy of dates in a relative system of chronology.

ASTRONOMICAL “DIARIES”

Not all the texts historians use to date events and periods of ancient history are based on eclipses, however. Astronomical “diaries” have been found. These diaries give the position (in relation to certain stars and constellations) of the moon at its first and its last visibility on a specific day in Babylon, along with positions of certain planets at these same times. For example, one such entry states that “the moon was one cubit in front of the rear foot of the lion.” Modern chronologers point out that such a combination of astronomical positions would not be duplicated in thousands of years. These diaries also contain references to the reigns of certain kings and seem to coincide with Ptolemy’s canon.

Strong and incontrovertible though such evidence may appear to be, there are factors that greatly impair its strength. First, the observations made in Babylon may have contained errors. Babylon’s astronomers were more concerned about celestial phenomena occurring close to the horizon, at the rising or the setting of the sun or the moon. However, as viewed from Babylon, the horizon is often obscured by sandstorms, as Professor Neugebauer points out. He mentions that Ptolemy himself complained about “the lack of reliable planetary observations [from ancient Babylon]. He [Ptolemy] remarks that the old observations were made with little competence, because they were concerned with appearances and disappearances and with stationary points, phenomena which by their very nature are difficult to observe.”—The Exact Sciences in Antiquity, page 98.

Another factor reducing the strength of testimony from extant astronomical diaries is the date of their writing. The majority of those now known were, in fact, written, not in the time of the Neo-Babylonian or Persian empires, but in the Seleucid period, about 364-312 B.C.E. True, they contain data relating to much earlier periods, and it is assumed that they were copies of earlier documents. However, the accuracy of such copying and the possibility of additions or adjustments certainly reduces the value of this evidence. Actually there is a serious lack of contemporary astronomical texts by which historians might establish the full chronology of the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods.

Then, too, as in the case of Ptolemy, even if the astronomical data in the available texts, as now interpreted and understood, is accurate, this does not prove that the historical data accompanying the astronomical information is accurate. Just as Ptolemy used the reigns of certain kings (as he understood them) simply as a framework in which to place his astronomical data, so too the writers or copyists of the Seleucid period may have simply inserted in their astronomical texts what was “popular” chronology in their time. That “popular” chronology may well have contained errors.

To illustrate, an ancient astronomer of the second century B.C.E. might state that a certain celestial event took place in the year that, according to our calendar, would be 465 B.C.E. And his statement may prove to be correct when accurate computations are made to verify it. But he may also state that the year in which the celestial event took place was the ‘twenty-first year of Xerxes’ and be entirely wrong. Simply stated, accuracy in astronomy does not prove accuracy in history.

A DEPENDABLE COUNT OF TIME

On the other hand, the dependability of the Bible’s time references is vouchsafed to us by the very characteristics of the Bible itself: its candor and honesty; the fact that everywhere we are made conscious of time as we peruse the various Bible books; the measurement of time by days, by seven-day weeks, by months and by years—a system of counting that is to be noted from the very outset of the Bible’s writing; the prophesied periods of time, so many of which we know to have been fulfilled exactly on time. All of this unites to assure us that the guiding power behind the numerous Bible writers was the One of whom it may be truly said that he is “the One telling from the beginning the finale, and from long ago the things that have not been done.”—Isa. 46:10.

Did not the Bible long in advance foretell the seventy years during which Judea would lie desolate and her inhabitants would languish in Babylonian exile? In due time, the decree of Cyrus the Persian conqueror offered the faithful worshipers of Jehovah release and reinstatement in their own land. They were back in Jerusalem exactly on time.—Jer. 25:11, 12; Dan. 9:2.

The reader who will take the time to read the Bible passages at 1 Kings 6:1 and at Luke 3:1, 2 cannot but be impressed by the meticulous manner of referring to important historical dates. Sufficient data is offered so that the student may pin down the exact time of the event. The Bible writers themselves credit the factualness of their information to the Divine Author who merely used them as writing instruments. Surely, then, we can look to this same Source for accurate chronological data—data that is much more dependable than the speculations and conjectures of human historians!

Be on Time!

2009-07-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

“TARDINESS is a chronic problem among chief executive officers,” reports USA Today. “They arrive late for six in 10 meetings,” it adds, citing a survey of 2,700 chief executive officers.

In the business world, tardiness is considered more than just a display of bad manners. A study of 81,000 job applicants concluded: “Lost hours through tardiness and unauthorized absences are a major source of lost revenue.” Of course, it is not only in the business world that tardiness creates problems. A survey of secondary-school principals revealed that “students’ tardiness was the primary and most frequently recurring discipline problem.”

Our Creator intended for us to be time conscious. He put “the two great luminaries”—the sun and the moon—in place to help us measure time. (Genesis 1:14-16) Nowadays, modern timepieces allow us to measure our time in minutes and seconds. In spite of technology, though, many of us still have problems being on time—for work, school, or other important appointments.

Is the problem necessarily a lack of time? Granted, the demands of work and family can be overwhelming. Nevertheless, a working mother named Wanda Rosseland says: “I stopped whining about not having enough time when I realized that we all have 24 hours a day. I’ve thought about it and decided that in our modern world, it’s not that we have so little time, but that we have so many disruptions and distractions.”

Consider also Renee, a mother of five who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She recalls: “When my children were small, getting them ready for school and Christian meetings was a challenge. Still, I had no problem being on time. But now that they’re all grown, I’ve developed the bad habit of being late.” Do you also have this bad habit? If so, it is possible to change! Here are some things you can do.

● THINK OF THE CONSEQUENCES. Chronic lateness may seem like a little thing. But consider the Bible’s words: “Dead flies are what cause the oil of the ointment maker to stink, to bubble forth. So a little foolishness does to one who is precious for wisdom and glory.” (Ecclesiastes 10:1) Yes, just “a little foolishness” in the form of a lack of consideration for others can tarnish your reputation with a teacher or an employer.

While taking some courses at a local college, a woman named Marie noticed that some of her classmates “were quite casual about time,” often arriving late for class. “But it wasn’t long before they had to change,” she recalls. “Two of the professors were sticklers for time. So if any students were just a few minutes late, they were marked absent. And so many absences made a failing grade.”

Chronic lateness can also tarnish your reputation with friends and peers. A middle-aged man named Joseph recalls a fellow Christian he knew decades ago. Although this man was respected for his abilities as a teacher, he had an embarrassing flaw. “He was always late,” recalls Joseph. “I mean late for everything! And he never seemed to be concerned about it. People joked about his lateness.” Have people begun to refer to you as the person who is always late? If so, they could easily overlook your good qualities.

● CONSIDER OTHERS. Tardiness is rude and distracting to others. And it can give the impression that you have a superior attitude. Explaining why so many business executives tend to be tardy for meetings, one businessman admitted: “Most of us are just arrogant.” In contrast, Christians treat others as superior to themselves. (Philippians 2:3) They also apply the Golden Rule and treat others as they like to be treated. (Matthew 7:12) Does it not irritate you when you have to wait for others? Then don’t make others wait for you.

● LEARN TIME-MANAGEMENT SKILLS. Do you procrastinate and rush around at the last minute? Do you overschedule yourself, trying to do too many things in too short a period of time? The principle at Ecclesiastes 3:1 can prove helpful: “For everything there is an appointed time.” Having “an appointed time” for things allows you to do them in an orderly manner.

First, list all the things you need to do. Next, follow the principle at Philippians 1:10: “Make sure of the more important things.” Yes, prioritize. What absolutely has to be done? What are some things that can safely be put off for later? Finally, figure out how much time you need to get things done and when you can do them. Be realistic, and avoid scheduling too much in too little time.

A woman named Dorothy credits her parents with teaching her to be punctual. She relates: “If we had to be at a Christian meeting by 7:30 p.m., my mom started getting us ready an hour and 45 minutes before it. We had to allow time for eating supper, washing the dishes, dressing, and driving to the meeting place. It just became a normal part of our lives to be on time.” Sometimes it helps to factor in time for the unexpected. Dorothy recalls: “Recently I had to pick up a few people for a meeting. On the way I had a flat tire. I had it fixed and was still on time to pick them up. You see, I always allow time for car trouble or heavy traffic.”

● GET SUGGESTIONS FROM OTHERS. The Bible says at Proverbs 27:17: “By iron, iron itself is sharpened. So one man sharpens the face of another.” In harmony with that principle, talk to others whose circumstances are similar to yours—but who manage to be on time for things. Often they will have a number of useful suggestions.

Renee, quoted earlier, is determined to change her tardy behavior. She says: “I have recently resolved to do better. Although it hasn’t been easy, I am making some progress.” So can you. With the right mind-set and with effort, you can learn to be on time!

How Can Prayer Help Me?

2009-07-24T04:53:00.000-07:00

“It was prayer that helped me get my life back on track.”—Brad.

MANY young people are praying—perhaps even more than you think. A Gallup Youth Survey of 13- to 17-year-olds in the United States revealed that 56 percent of them say a prayer before dinner. A survey of young adults indicated that 62 percent of them pray every day.

Even so, for many youths prayer is just an empty ritual or a mere routine. Few youths have what the Bible calls “accurate knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:9, 10) As a result, God does not play a big role in their lives. One survey asked teenagers if they had ever turned to God for help in making an important decision. A girl answered: “I always turn to God in prayer to guide me to choose the right paths in life.” Still, she admitted: “I can’t remember any one decision right now.” Little wonder, then, that many youths lack confidence that prayer has any power or that it will work for them!

Nevertheless, like Brad, quoted at the outset, thousands of youths have personally experienced the power of prayer. So can you! A previous article showed why we can be confident that God will hear our prayers. Now the question is, How can prayer help you? First, let’s examine how God answers our prayers.

How God Answers Prayers

In Bible times some men of faith did have direct—even miraculous—answers to their prayers. When King Hezekiah, for example, learned that he had a terminal illness, he supplicated God for deliverance. God responded: “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Here I am healing you.” (2 Kings 20:1-6) Other God-fearing men and women similarly experienced God’s intervention.—1 Samuel 1:1-20; Daniel 10:2-12; Acts 4:24-31; 10:1-7.

However, divine intervention was hardly the norm, even in Bible times. For the most part, God answered the prayers of his servants, not by miraculous intervention, but by helping them to “be filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual comprehension.” (Colossians 1:9, 10) Yes, God helped by strengthening his people spiritually and morally—giving them the wisdom and knowledge to make wise decisions. When Christians were in a difficult situation, God did not necessarily remove the trial. Rather, he provided them with “the power beyond what is normal” so that they could endure it!—2 Corinthians 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:17.

Likewise today, an answer to your prayer will probably not involve something dramatic. But as he did in the past, God can give you his holy spirit and strengthen you to handle whatever situations you face. (Galatians 5:22, 23) To illustrate, let’s look at four specific ways in which prayer can help you.

Help in Making Decisions

Karen was dating a young man with seemingly high spiritual goals. “He would always tell me that he wanted to become an elder in the congregation,” she says. This all sounded good. But “he also talked a lot about the business he was starting and all the things he would be able to buy me. I began to have doubts about his sincerity.” Karen prayed about it. “I begged Jehovah to open my eyes and show me what I needed to know about him.”

Sometimes the very act of praying is beneficial, as it can help you to stop and think matters through from Jehovah’s perspective. But Karen also needed practical advice. Would she receive a miraculous answer? Well, consider a Bible account regarding King David. When he learned that his trusted friend Ahithophel was advising his traitorous son Absalom, David prayed: “Turn, please, the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness, O Jehovah!” (2 Samuel 15:31) But David also acted in harmony with his prayer. He entrusted his friend Hushai with this mission: “You must then frustrate the counsel of Ahithophel for me.” (2 Samuel 15:34) In a similar way, Karen took action in harmony with her prayer by talking with a mature Christian elder who knew her boyfriend. He confirmed her fears: Her boyfriend had made little spiritual advancement.

Karen says: “That situation opened my eyes wide to the power of prayer.” Sad to say, her former boyfriend pursued riches and stopped serving God. “If I had married him,” says Karen, “I might be coming to Christian meetings alone.” Prayer helped Karen to make a good decision.

Help in Controlling Your Emotions

“All his spirit is what a stupid one lets out,” says the Bible at Proverbs 29:11, “but he that is wise keeps it calm to the last.” The problem is that many people today live under intense emotional pressure and often lose control—sometimes with disastrous results. Young Brian recalls: “I was having problems with a workmate. One day he pulled out a knife.” What would you have done? Brian prayed. He says: “Jehovah helped me to stay calm, and I talked my workmate out of it. He dropped the knife and walked away.” Controlling his emotions helped Brian to avoid giving in to anger, and this likely saved his life.

You may not often find yourself at the point of a knife. But there will be many situations in your life where you will need to control your emotions. Prayer can help you to remain calm.

Help With Worry

Barbara recalls “going through a trialsome time” some years ago. She says: “My job, family, friends—nothing seemed to be working out. I didn’t know what to do.” Barbara instinctively prayed for help. But there was a problem. “I didn’t know what to ask Jehovah for,” she says. “Finally, I asked for peace of mind. I asked every night that he would help me not to worry about everything.”

How did that prayer help her? She says: “A few days later, I realized that although my problems hadn’t disappeared, I wasn’t so occupied or concerned with them anymore.” The Bible promises: “Let your petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that excels all thought will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 4:6, 7.

Help in Drawing Closer to God

Consider the experience of a youth named Paul. “I had just moved in with some relatives,” he says. “One night I found myself in massive depression. I had recently graduated from high school, and I missed all my friends. Tears came to my eyes that night as I remembered the great times we had enjoyed together.” What could Paul do? For the first time, he prayed fervently. He says: “I opened my heart and asked Jehovah for strength and peace of mind.”

What resulted? Paul recalls: “The next morning, I woke up feeling more relieved than I ever have in my life. I went from an agonizing frame of mind to having ‘the peace of God that excels all thought.’” Now that his heart was calm, Paul could look at things from a less emotional point of view. And he soon realized that the ‘good old days’ hadn’t been so good after all. (Ecclesiastes 7:10) In fact, the “friends” that he so sorely missed had not really been a good influence on him.

Above all, Paul got to experience Jehovah’s care in a personal way. He felt the truth of the words of James 4:8: “Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you.” For Paul this was a major turning point. He was moved to put Jehovah ahead of everything else in his life and to dedicate his life to him.

Talk to God!

These positive experiences provide assurance that prayer can help you. Of course, that is so only if you are serious about getting to know God, cultivating a friendship with him. Unfortunately, many youths put off doing so. Carissa was raised in a Christian home. But she admits: “I think that only in the last few years have I fully grasped the incredible significance of our unique relationship with Jehovah.” Brad, mentioned at the outset, was raised as a Christian but fell away from true worship for a number of years. “It wasn’t until I realized what I’d lost,” he says, “that I turned to Jehovah. I now know how cold and empty life can be without that relationship.”

However, do not wait for a crisis to strike before you draw close to God. Begin talking to him now—regularly! (Luke 11:9-13) “Before him pour out your heart.” (Psalm 62:8) You will soon find that prayer can really help you!

Kidnapping—A Global Business

2009-07-24T04:51:00.000-07:00

DURING the past decade, a remarkable surge in kidnappings has taken place worldwide. One report says that between 1968 and 1982, nearly a thousand hostages were taken in 73 countries. But in the late 1990’s, an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people were kidnapped each year.

Kidnapping is a crime that seems to be in fashion among criminals from Russia to the Philippines, with kidnappers ready to grab at anything that moves. On one occasion a baby barely one day old was kidnapped. In Guatemala an 84-year-old woman in a wheelchair was abducted and held captive for two months. In Rio de Janeiro, street thugs are snatching people right off the street, sometimes demanding as little as $100 in ransom.

Not even animals seem to be safe. Years ago some brazen criminals in Thailand kidnapped a six-ton working elephant and demanded a $1,500 ransom. Criminal gangs in Mexico are said to encourage their young members to practice on pets and domestic animals to get adequate experience before they go for the real thing.

In the past, kidnappers targeted principally the rich, but times have changed. A report from Reuters states: “Kidnapping has become a daily occurrence in Guatemala, where people fondly remember the good old days when leftist rebels targetted only a handful of wealthy businessmen. Now rich and poor, young and old, are fair game for kidnap bands.”

High-profile cases are generally given extensive media attention, but by far the majority of kidnappings are settled without publicity. In fact, for a number of reasons, countries “have little incentive to broadcast a kidnapping problem.”

Recovery Is Possible

2009-07-24T04:50:00.001-07:00

“We are faced with a choice: Quit drinking and recover, or continue drinking and die.”—A recovering alcoholic.

IMAGINE suddenly waking up one night to discover that your house is on fire. Moments later help arrives, and eventually the fire is extinguished. Could you just go back inside and pretend that nothing happened? Obviously not. The house is devastated, and reconstruction will be needed before normal life can resume.

A similar challenge faces the alcoholic when he begins to recover. His life has been ravaged by alcohol, perhaps for many years. Now he is abstinent. The “fire” is out, but major reconstruction in attitudes, life-style, and behavior will be essential if the alcoholic is to remain abstinent. The following suggestions can help the alcoholic to attain permanent sobriety.

1. Know the Enemy

The Bible states that fleshly desires “carry on a conflict against the soul.” (1 Peter 2:11) The Greek word rendered “carry on a conflict” literally means “doing military service,” and it carries the thought of destructive warfare.—Compare Romans 7:23-25.

Just as any good soldier takes the time to study his enemy’s tactics, the alcoholic must educate himself regarding the nature of alcoholism and how it destroys the alcoholic and those close to him.—Hebrews 5:14.

2. Change Drinking and Thinking

“Sobriety means getting rid of the bottle and the baby,” says one physician. In other words, much more than the drinking must change; the inner man must change as well.

The Bible wisely admonishes: “Be transformed by making your mind over.” (Romans 12:2) “Strip off the old personality with its practices.” (Colossians 3:9) If the actions change but the personality remains, the alcoholic will simply move on to another harmful dependency—or get the old one back.

3. Get an Understanding Confidant

A Bible proverb says: “One isolating himself will seek his own selfish longing; against all practical wisdom he will break forth.” (Proverbs 18:1) Even with sobriety, the alcoholic is susceptible to rationalization. Therefore, he needs an understanding but firm confidant (often called a sponsor). It is advantageous when the confidant is himself a recovering alcoholic who has been successful in meeting the challenges of sobriety. (Compare Proverbs 27:17.) Such a confidant should respect the alcoholic’s religious convictions and must be self-sacrificing and available to give ongoing support.—Proverbs 17:17.

4. Be Patient

Recovery is gradual. It takes time for the alcoholic to reconstruct his life. There may be financial strain, tensions on the job, chaos at home. Becoming alcohol free does not mean becoming problem free. The recovering alcoholic at first may feel anxieties as he faces life without a chemical ‘problem solver.’ When such anxieties seem insurmountable, the recovering alcoholic should remember the comforting words of the psalmist: “Throw your burden upon Jehovah himself, and he himself will sustain you. Never will he allow the righteous one to totter.”—Psalm 55:22.

5. Acquire Healthy Associates

The alcoholic should honestly ask himself: ‘Do my associates support my sobriety or do they continually talk about the “good old days,” making me feel that I’m missing out?’ Proverbs 18:24 says: “There exist companions disposed to break one another to pieces, but there exists a friend sticking closer than a brother.” It takes perception to see who are true friends and who are potentially damaging associates.

6. Avoid Overconfidence

“I feel great—I don’t even have the desire to drink anymore!” The alcoholic who makes this statement is overestimating his progress and underestimating his alcoholism. The exhilaration of initial recovery, called a pink cloud, is temporary. “Strive for a balanced perspective,” recommends the book Willpower’s Not Enough. “Without it you’ll be setting yourself up for a fall, and it’s a long way down from a cloud.”—Compare Proverbs 16:18.

7. Beware of Substitute Addictions

Many stop drinking, but then they develop eating disorders or become workaholics, compulsive gamblers, and so forth. ‘What’s the harm? At least I’m not drinking,’ the alcoholic in recovery may reason. True, some physical outlets may be healthy. But when any substance or activity is used to anesthetize your feelings, this only leads to a false, temporary sense of security.

8. Adjust to New Family Roles

Many alcoholics sabotage their recovery when things start going well! Why? Simply because sobriety is new territory. The alcoholic may feel a pull toward the familiar life-style. Additionally, when the alcoholic becomes sober, he rocks the family boat. Therefore, each family member must change his or her role. “The entire script for the family performance must be discarded and a new one created in its place,” notes the booklet Recovery for the Whole Family. For good reason, recovery has been called a family affair.—Compare 1 Corinthians 12:26.

9. Be on Guard Against Relapse

Overconfidence, unhealthy associations, substitute compulsions, and increasing isolation may be stepping-stones to relapse. Maintain open communication with a confidant about any such tendencies.

One recovering alcoholic says: “All alcoholics quit drinking. Some of us are fortunate to quit while we are still alive.”

There are many treatment centers, hospitals, and recovery programs that can provide such information. Awake! does not endorse any particular treatment. Those desirous of living by Bible principles would want to be careful not to become involved in activities that would compromise Scriptural principles. A person who is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses will find helpful guidelines in The Watchtower, May 1, 1983, pages 8-11

If Medication Is Absolutely Necessary

Any medicine containing alcohol can reawaken craving and set one up for a relapse.

Dr. James W. Smith writes: “It is not unusual for an alcoholic patient to relapse after years of sobriety as a result of self-medication with a cough syrup which contained alcohol.” The alcoholic is vulnerable to all sedatives. If sedative medication is absolutely necessary, the alcoholic should . . .

1. consult a pharmacist to determine the potential hazards.

2. notify a confidant, and if possible, call him before each dose is taken.

3. keep a record of every dose taken.

4. discontinue medication as soon as possible.

5. dispose of unused medication when legitimate use is ended.

RELIGIOUS VALUES WANE

2009-07-24T04:49:00.000-07:00

For three years, residents of Takarazuka, Japan, have blocked the building of a Buddhist temple, saying that the chanting of sutras and funeral ceremonies will upset the peace of their neighborhood. Since learning that the previous temple was to be relocated about a half mile [800 m] nearer to them, the residents have been insisting that temples should be built in more “suitable places” that are remote from residential areas, such as mountainous regions, reports the Mainichi Daily News. The temple’s priest, Tetsuhide Sato, laments: “The good old days are gone when people gathered at temples in adoration.”

Satellite Television—Is It for You?

2009-07-24T04:47:00.000-07:00

Three out of every eight TV sets in the world are in the United States, so it is no surprise that satellite TV caught on there first. Americans love their 175 million TVs. Watching TV is their favorite leisure-time occupation. But TV addiction is not just an American problem.

Although France has only 19 million TV sets, watching TV is also the favorite leisure-time activity of the French, by an even wider margin than in the United States. In Canada, where 97.3 percent of all households own a TV, it is watched an average of 23.7 hours per week. In Japan virtually every household has a color TV. And in West Germany the favorite leisure-time activity is also watching TV.

Growing in popularity among TV viewers is satellite TV. But what is satellite TV, and what effect does it have on TV viewers?

THE scene of rural North America is changing. Winding dirt lanes still lead to aging white frame houses, but in the backyard now often stands a large dish-shaped antenna, gaping at the sky like some visitor from the 21st century. And where are the children who used to play in the country lane? Inside watching satellite TV.

The age of the dish is upon us. By early 1987 an estimated 1,600,000 satellite TV systems had been sold in the United States alone, and another 175,000 were operating in Canada. Most of these installations are in the countryside, away from regular TV signals or cable service. But satellite TV is spreading in urban areas as well.

Explosive Growth—Why?

Some 250,000 satellite TV systems were sold in the United States in 1986, at costs ranging from under $1,000 to over $5,000. In most industries that would be considered spectacular, but 1986 was actually an off year. The banner year for satellite dishes was 1985, when 625,000 systems were sold, about four out of every ten in the United States today. If you know someone with a dish, chances are it is less than two years old.

There are two basic reasons for the recent explosive growth in the home satellite TV industry—price and choice. The price of a complete system is now under $2,500, which, although not cheap, can often be financed by the dealer. But why would anybody want to spend five or ten times as much on a TV antenna as he spent on his TV? To get all those channels—over a hundred of them. The choice of programs offered via satellites far exceeds what is available on conventional TV or even on cable.

As of early 1987, there were on satellite TV 8 channels devoted to movies, 12 to sports, 10 to religion, 14 to arts and education, 6 to news and public affairs. Additionally, there were 9 channels with shop-at-home services, one weather channel, and 12 channels broadcasting in foreign languages. The National Technological University even offers courses by satellite, more than 300 of them! Radio services carried by satellites include readings for the blind and just about every type of music imaginable.

On the other hand, there are four so-called adult channels devoted to pornographic material, and other channels carry movies that people with Bible-influenced consciences find objectionable. “Innocent viewers who may have thought that seeing motion pictures and concerts at home would simply open up a pleasant new vista are discovering that, in some cases, they’re getting more than they bargained for—or want,” notes the television editor of a Los Angeles newspaper.

Free Ride Ending

1986 will be remembered as a turning point in the history of satellite TV. On January 15, 1986, the first big movie channel scrambled its signals electronically. Cable companies who retransmitted the movie by arrangement were able to decode it, but home dish owners received only a screenful of wavy lines. The free ride was ending. By 1987, 36 more channels had followed suit—including the major movie channels and readings for the blind. Ironically, only one of the pornographic channels had scrambled.

After scrambling became a fact of life, home dish owners were given the opportunity to purchase or lease machines that would decode their signals from space. The most popular such device costs about as much as a color TV and will unscramble 15 of the 37 “dark” channels. The catch is that the device only works as long as a monthly subscription fee is paid for each channel. These fees can add up. In fact, if a dish owner wishes to unscramble all his channels, it could cost as much as $1,000 per year in fees! And this does not include the purchase or rental of the various descramblers needed. Dish owners are hoping that competition and multichannel descrambling packages will bring these costs down, but clearly, the good old days are over for them. The price of satellite TV is going up—and the choices are going down.

“I, like most dish owners, have no access to cable TV,” wrote a Louisiana man. “I wish I did: then I would not have had to pay so much for my satellite receiver! Cable subscribers have only to pay a small security deposit for their converter to receive cable TV, and then pay extra for additional services. I had to buy a satellite receiver and soon will have to buy a descrambler that will most likely be outdated by the time I receive it. Then I’ll have to junk it to get a new descrambler.”

Indeed, scrambling is probably the main cause of the drop in sales of satellite systems in 1986. Why spend all that money on a dish without knowing what it will cost to use it a year from now or what you will be able to see? The satellite TV hardware producers are praising the new fee-based descramblers as a sort of peace treaty between dish owners and programmers or channel owners, but that praise has a hollow sound.

The fact is, black-box descramblers are in the works that can illegally bypass the monthly fee. Thus, the January 1987 issue of STV magazine, a U.S. journal earmarked for satellite TV watchers, notes: “We [dish owners] will be demoted to the status of thieves and pirates, terms we worked so hard to eliminate.”

Is It Worth It?

Perhaps you live in a rural area and cannot get clear TV reception or cable service. Maybe you are offended by what you believe are mindless programs offered on network TV and yearn for a wider choice. But before you invest in a home satellite TV system, you might wish to consider its hidden costs and its uncertain future.

You may have considered these matters. And you may be prepared to spend well over a thousand dollars on a satellite dish and related equipment. You have braced yourself to pay monthly fees for unscrambled channels you wish to see. You are also willing to erect the dish—generally from eight to ten feet (2.4 to 3 m) in diameter—in your yard. You further understand that, no matter what satellite system you buy, it’s eventually going to need service. In addition, you are prepared to deal with damage from wind, ice, and even lightning. You understand the dangers of immoral programming on satellites and have purchased a device to lock out the bad channels.

However, there is another vital consideration. Ask yourself, ‘Do I really have the time to view additional programs, or will they steal time from wiser pursuits, such as reading upbuilding literature, acquiring useful skills, and helping people in need?’

Twenty-five years ago, Robert M. Hutchins, a well-known U.S. educator, observed: “In my lifetime, the working week has been cut by a third and the working life has been shortened at both ends by the prohibition of child labor, the prolongation of education, and the provisions for retirement. But the time thus set free has been transferred, with almost mathematical exactitude, to the television set. . . . We can’t say that we are making intelligent use of the free time we have now.”

In 1963 when Mr. Hutchins wrote those words, the very first synchronous communications satellite, Syncom 2, had just been launched. The following year, Syncom 3 would transmit for the first time from a geostationary orbit an international TV signal. This was from the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics to the United States. These satellites were the ancestors of the scores of very sophisticated instruments currently in geostationary orbits 22,300 miles (35,900 km) overhead. The technological advances since 1963 have been impressive, but are we using our spare time any more wisely?

Our TVs have more channels, but are we using them—or are they using us? Who really is in control?

How Satellite TV Works

A satellite TV program begins like any other TV program—in a television studio. This studio is equipped with a large dish that can send the studio signal to a satellite overhead. This is the uplink.

The satellite receiving the signal is located in a very special area of the sky called the Clarke belt, about 22,300 miles above the equator. You likely know that the farther a satellite is from the earth, the longer it takes to go around its orbit. Satellites only a few hundred miles up can orbit the earth in 90 minutes or so, but a satellite located 22,300 miles up takes 24 hours to go around the earth. Since the earth itself rotates every 24 hours, the satellite appears to hang motionless in space. Such an orbit is said to be geostationary, or synchronous. It is as if the satellite were at the top of a relay tower 22,300 miles high, except that there is no tower.

The satellite’s job is to relay the TV signal back to earth. The relayed (downlink) signal is at a slightly lower frequency and is much less powerful than the uplink. In fact, most satellites transmit with only about 5 to 12 watts of power per channel—much less than an ordinary light bulb would use. Yet this weak signal is spread out—in most cases—over the entire continental United States.

How can such a faint signal ever be detected below? By means of a special dish called a parabolic antenna, designed to focus all the signals falling onto it, concentrating them at a single point much the same way a magnifying glass intensifies the sun’s rays. Really, this device is a backyard adaptation of the sophisticated radio telescopes that scientists use to examine distant galaxies. The signal is gathered by a small device called a feed horn. From here the signal is further amplified, and the frequency is lowered so that it can be sent by wires to the TV.

Technology—How It Affects Us

2009-07-24T04:46:00.000-07:00

IN Goethe’s fairy tale The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, made popular by Paul Dukas’ music and Walt Disney’s movie Fantasia, the apprentice hit upon the idea of putting to use his master’s uncanny power to lighten his own work. He set a broomstick to work to carry water for him. Not knowing how to control it, he soon found that the obedient but mindless slave carried so much water into the house that a flood resulted. The story, of course, had a happy ending—the master came to the rescue.

Like the apprentice’s broomstick, technology is basically a powerful tool. It can be put to use to make our work easier, more efficient, and perhaps even more enjoyable. But when it is not properly controlled or when it is misused, it, too, can become a force with disastrous, even fatal, consequences.

A prime example of this is the automobile. There is no question that the automobile has brought many advantages and benefits to society in general. Yet, who can deny the harmful side effects, such as air and noise pollution, and deaths and injuries due to accidents and careless driving? This technological innovation is at best a mixed blessing.

But the effect of technology goes much further than that. So pervasive has technology become in our modern world that it is changing not only the way we work and live but also our values, our view of ourselves and of society as a whole. The question arises: Have we used technology wisely to our own blessing, or has technology dominated our way of life to our hurt?

Without doubt, in one way or another most people living today have benefited from the advancement of science and technology. In developed and developing nations alike, technology has brought numerous material advantages in nearly every aspect of life. First and foremost, the use of machines, fertilizers, pesticides, and improved seeds has increased the food supply and nutrition for much of the world’s population. Advancements in medical science have resulted in better health and a longer life span for many. The automobile and the airplane, along with developments in electronics, computers, and satellites, have made it possible for people to travel and to communicate with others around the world with relative ease. On a more personal level, technology has eliminated much of the drudgery and labor both at work and at home.

Although some people in the technologically advanced countries are fond of talking about the ‘good old days,’ few are ready to give up the vast number of time- and labor-saving devices that they have come to take for granted or have grown accustomed to in their daily lives. Technology has indeed become a useful slave, making it possible, as one observer put it, for ordinary people today to live “as kings of an earlier time never could.”

The picture, however, is not altogether a bright one. “Although the massive infusion of technology into society during the past few decades has brought immense benefits,” wrote Colin Norman, a researcher with the Worldwatch Institute, “there is mounting evidence that some technological developments may aggravate, rather than solve, many pressing social and environmental problems.”

Consider, first of all, technology’s impact on the environment. Calling it a “quiet crisis,” former Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall described the situation in the United States:

“This nation leads the world in wealth and power, but also leads in the degradation of the human habitat. We have the most automobiles and the worst junkyards. We are the most mobile people on earth and we endure the worst congestion. We produce the most energy and have the foulest air. Our factories pour out more products and our rivers carry the heaviest loads of pollution. We have the most goods to sell and the most unsightly signs to advertise their worth.”

Thus officials and the public are beginning to take note of the heavy price we are paying for the rapid technological growth that we endorse so willingly. Governments, however, could prevent further damage to the environment simply by taking action against the polluters, if they would. But industries and businesses do provide employment for the people, prosperity for the communities, and revenues for the governments. Especially is this true in the developing nations. Thus, it is argued, the material benefits created by technology outweigh the price to be paid in clean air, water, and land.

Another defense for technology is that sooner or later it will come up with the solutions to take care of the problems. The truth of the matter is that the technological know-how already exists to stop or even reverse much of the damage done. But to do the job will cost money, and cost a great deal. For example, just to clean up the 786 toxic-waste dump sites designated by the U.S. government as hazardous would require setting up a fund of $7.5 billion to $10 billion—a sum no one is quite prepared to pay.

Technology’s impact on work and employment has been a much debated topic right from the beginning. The fear has always been that new machines would put people out of work. Early in the Industrial Revolution, textile workers in Nottingham, England, felt so threatened that, led by a Ned Ludd, they destroyed hundreds of the newly introduced machines in the notorious Luddite riots of 1811-12.

The success of the Industrial Revolution makes all such actions seem ludicrous today. Yet, the introduction of computerized automation and robots in offices and factories is rekindling fears in certain quarters. Some, however, dismiss such fears by pointing out that computer technology generates its own jobs—high-tech jobs such as computer operators, designers, programmers, and so on—that will absorb the displaced workers after retraining. But others, brandishing high worldwide unemployment statistics, argue that high tech has not lived up to its promises in this respect.

Recent research at Stanford University finds that “not only will technical innovations displace workers, but the industry itself will employ comparatively few people.” The researchers point out that people are often impressed when they hear about the many new jobs opened up by the computer industry. But in reality, this is only a small fraction of the overall job market. For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that about 600,000 high-tech jobs were created in the United States from 1972 to 1982. Yet, these made up only about 5 percent of the total job growth in that period. In other words, on an average, only one person in 20 in the job market was absorbed by the high-tech industries.

If technology’s ability to provide new jobs is disappointing, some feel that its failure to elevate the nature of work as anticipated is still more so. Most people envision a degree of sophistication with high-tech jobs. But one labor expert observed that while some such jobs are “spirit-enlarging and mind-challenging,” most are “incredibly mind-stunting, mind-dulling.” Rather than doing away with drudgery, most jobs in the high-tech industry are repetitive, highly supervised, and require little technical skill. Unlike the traditional jobs they replaced, many of them also pay below-average wages.

Of all the things that technology is said to have done, it is perhaps what it has done to us as humans that is of most concern. One common complaint is that mass-production techniques and computerized automation tend to decrease the value of worker individuality, judgment, and experience. This view is expressed by Karen Nussbaum, director of a workers’ association, who argues that for the sake of efficiency “the jobs become monitored and increasingly specialized—meaning that workers do smaller and smaller fractions of the larger task. People are used as extensions of machines. This is dehumanizing.”

What results is a feeling of alienation, or lack of a sense of purpose and accomplishment. Most people find it difficult to develop any real interest in their jobs when they work, day in and day out, in large institutions, doing repetitive piecework. Seldom do they see the end product of their labor, nor do they share in the profit, except in their paychecks. This, in the opinion of Murray Turoff, a professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, will produce “a generation of employees who feel no loyalty to the company and who are, in general, apathetic.”

Even those who do not work in a technological environment are not freed from its influences. In many areas, technology has become so pervasive in people’s daily life—appliances, transportation, entertainment, and so on—that many probably would find it difficult to survive in a less technologically developed society. In fact, Jacques Ellul, in his book La Technique, observed that “modern man’s state of mind is completely dominated by technical values and his goals are represented only by such progress and happiness as is to be achieved through techniques.” In the view of Professor Clark, quoted earlier, as we “rush to embrace technology, we have adopted a very temporal system: A hedonistic society that ignores the future.”

Much has been said about the threat of total destruction facing mankind today. But there is no denying that much of this has been brought about by the technological development that has produced the fearsome weapons of war—from the crossbow to the laser space-weapon. The height of such development, no doubt, was that in just three years, from June 1942 to July 1945, scientists and technicians were able to develop the first atom bomb.

But what has this unprecedented technological feat accomplished? It started and fueled the spiraling arms race, which has created the situation ironically labeled MAD—Mutual Assured Destruction. Perhaps of even greater concern is the fact that more and more nations are gaining the technology to build nuclear devices.

“It is obvious that something has gone wrong during the past few decades,” observed renowned scientist and environmentalist René Dubos. “Increased control over nature is not providing safety and peace of mind; economic prosperity is not making people healthier or happier; technological innovations create problems of their own, which continually necessitate the development of new counter-technologies.” He added: “The feeling prevails that scientists have not yet learned how to direct their attention to the distressing aspects of the modern world that have their origin in scientific technology.”

Thus, unlike the story about the sorcerer’s apprentice, in real life we cannot count on the “master”—scientists and technologists—to come to our rescue. In this case, they also are floundering in the sea of problems created by the shortsighted misuse of technology. Clearly, what is most urgently needed is not more technology but an agency, a government, a superpower that can do away with all the divisive elements in order to come to man’s rescue.

The Bible speaks about such a government: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms [in existence today], and it itself will stand to times indefinite.” (Daniel 2:44) That Kingdom is none other than God’s Messianic Kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ.

Under the peaceful rule of God’s Kingdom, what modern technology can only hope to achieve will be realized. Deserts and parched ground will become productive. There will be worthwhile and interesting work for all to do. The blind, lame, deaf, and mute will be rid of their afflictions. And even death itself will be conquered.—See Isaiah 35:1, 5-7; 65:21-23.

Staying Young While Growing Older

2009-07-24T04:44:00.000-07:00

DESPITE his 94 years, the man with the sparkling eyes sitting across from me looked surprisingly young and fresh. Just the right person, I thought, to read and evaluate my manuscript before I present it for publication. It was an article entitled “Staying Young While Growing Older.” But first of all I wanted to know what Wilhelm Hillmann’s secret for staying “young” was. I asked my question and waited.

“The secret of staying young?” he repeated my question, thinking about it. “Well, it’s nice that you would ask an ‘old eagle’ like me.”

I wondered about the expression “old eagle.” Later I would understand.

“First of all, I think, to stay young you need a goal in life. I already had mine as a teenager.” He paused and smiled as he said: “I didn’t realize then that my goals would change, that I wouldn’t find my real one for over 60 years. But in my teens I was fascinated with sailing ships. My goal, I decided then, was to build them when I grew up. After completing school, I worked as an apprentice on the docks in the north German port of Bremerhaven. Then in 1905 a dream came true. I was permitted to take my first sea trip—not on just any ship—but on the Preussen, the most famous sailing ship of that time and the largest five-masted ship ever built.”

He pushed a picture across the table for me to see. It was of the Preussen, and was very impressive.

“We were to haul saltpeter from Chile,” he continued. “It was a 68-day journey around Cape Horn. What an experience for a 19-year-old! I remember the storms—why, the wind and the hail beat our faces almost to a pulp! And it was no easy job fighting to keep the sails under control. Once when I was working at my utmost high up among the sails, a sailor nearby shouted to me through the wind: ‘Only God can help us now.’ I answered: ‘And he will.’ Even as a youth, I never once doubted man’s dependence upon God.”

A Change in Goals

I wanted to know if my elderly friend had really grown up to build ships.

“Well, I was advised against it,” he said, “and rightly so, because at the beginning of the 20th century sailing ships were already on their way out. And I had no interest in building steamships. But what about combining my love for the sea with flying? The land planes we had at that time could not make it across the Atlantic to America. So what we needed, I thought, were flying boats, or, as they are sometimes called, seaplanes. I had a new goal.

“October 10, 1913, was a big day in my life. Clutching my pilot’s license tightly, I now had what later would make me eligible to become an ‘old eagle.”’

That term again—I was afraid it would need explanation, and I asked for it.

“Well, in 1934 a flying association called ‘Old Eagles’ was formed,” he explained. “Any pilot who had gotten his license before the beginning of World War I could join. I had made it by less than a year.

“Meanwhile an Englishman—later knighted as Sir Thomas Sopwith—had built a single-hull flying boat. So I went to England, learned to fly seaplanes there and then returned home as Germany’s very first flying-boat pilot. Now I could begin building my own.

“Soon the German government became interested in buying one of Sopwith’s flying boats, but it was to be done secretly. So a private citizen, Captain von Pustau, ordered the plane and sent me to England to watch over its construction.

“When the plane was finished, one of Captain von Pustau’s ‘friends’—actually a government inspector in disguise—came to accept delivery. I was asked to take him on a trial flight. After we were airborne, he directed me to fly over Portsmouth. Now this was normally forbidden, because Portsmouth was an important naval port. But he was determined. I gave in.

“The next morning von Pustau rushed into my hotel, almost incoherent: ‘Hillmann, get packed—your flight over Portsmouth—they’re going to arrest us for espionage!’ He crammed my hand full of pound notes and disappeared. I wondered, what now?

‘The police restricted me to my hotel. Several days passed. I began planning to slip away secretly at night The plane was ours; it had been paid for. And at my speed—it could fly 110 kilometers an hour—they’d never catch me.

“Meanwhile, my former flight instructor in England—we had become good friends—intervened in my behalf and got the matter settled. I left for Germany immediately. Not yet 30, I could now get on with the business of living the full life I hoped still lay ahead. And then—WAR!”

Flying During and After the War

“As a fighter pilot during the 1914-1918 war, I learned its horrors firsthand. One experience made a lasting impression. In an air battle the famous French ace Védrines shot me down. As soon as he saw that my plane was disabled, however, he flew away, rather than coming in for the kill. I made a crash landing and lay unconscious beneath the wreckage. The French troops, nearby in their foxholes, made no attempt to prevent my friends from rescuing me.

“How grateful I was to God to still be alive! But the consideration Védrines and the French troops had shown impressed me, too. Why were we trying to kill one another? War seemed so unnatural. I decided that from then on I would do all I could to promote German-French friendship.

“This became still another goal, after the one of building seaplanes. Years later I was rewarded for what I did in this new endeavor by being made an honorary citizen of Paris. Yet, even this was not the goal that would later change my life—that was still to come.”

Time was slipping by and my manuscript had gotten no farther than the table between us. But who could blame me for letting myself get sidetracked? “Did your war experiences make you want to stop flying?” I asked.

“No, you can’t keep an ‘old eagle’ grounded. In fact, every year I go to southern France, where I still enjoy the thrill of glider flying”

“At 94 years of age?” I exclaimed.

“You asked what kept me young,” he responded. “I have always tried to live for the future and not fret about the past. This has helped keep me young. Besides, we all have our close calls in life in one way or another. Like the one I had in 1926—and all because of a parachute.”

I laid down a picture of him in an old airplane, reminiscent of long-past days. And I listened.

“It was a foggy January morning and I had gone to renew my pilot’s license. The weather report said the ceiling was at 180 meters. But at 360 meters I was still surrounded by heavy fog. Suddenly my plane began to act up; I was losing control.

“Now in those days not all planes had parachutes. But fortunately this one did. Upon jumping from the plane the parachute would be triggered open by a 25-meter-long cord, one end of which was fastened to the parachute and the other end to the plane. I remember praying to God, asking: ‘Should I jump or not?’

“As if in answer, an idea flashed through my mind. I sent the plane into a steep dive and pulled it out at 150 meters. As it jerked up, I heard a loud cracking noise. Ice had formed on the wings and was now breaking off. This had caused the trouble. I landed safely. Just at that moment an airport official walked past, looked at the plane and shouted: ‘Who the devil forgot to tie the parachute cord to the plane?’ Now if I had jumped, this ‘old eagle’ would have been a ‘dead duck’ for sure!”

It was gratifying to me to see that he had not permitted old age to rob him of his sense of humor.

In a Concentration Camp—Almost

“During the Nazi regime I was chief engineer at Weser-Flug, an airplane factory in Bremen. Although in charge of over 5,000 workers, I refused to join the Nazi party. I could not go along with Hitler’s policies. This almost got me into serious trouble.

“In 1939 Weser-Flug sent me to Berlin to oversee the construction of a second factory. It was to be on the site of Tempelhof airport, the airport that was later to become world famous in the 1948-49 Berlin Airlift. The Nazi foremen assigned to work under my direction wanted to build a large platform adjoining one of the central buildings, where Hitler could deliver his talks when in Berlin. Seeing no need for this, I struck it from the plans. ‘We don’t need a stage to build airplanes,’ I told them.

“For this and other ‘misdemeanors’ I soon ended up in court. But my superior at Weser-Flug came to my rescue, telling Göring: ‘Take Hillmann and you can forget about Tempelhof.’ So I was released and was able to build the airport to completion, more or less the way it can still be seen today.”

The End—and Yet the Beginning

“The war was over. I was 59 years old, without work, unable to build either ships or airplanes. Youth, with all its goals and dreams, had come and gone—and all so quickly! But the thought of not working was unacceptable. I needed to feel that I could still be a useful member of society.

“For nine difficult postwar years I searched before finding a suitable job in a city quite some distance away. Already 68, I kept the job until I turned 81. At that time my career ended. But something far grander was due to begin, a goal I could never have even imagined possible before this. You see, it was . . .”

He was interrupted by his wife’s entering the room. “Wouldn’t you like a cup of tea?” she asked. I thanked her for the refreshments she placed before me. Taking advantage of the break, I shoved my manuscript across the table to Wilhelm and I began to engage his wife in small talk. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him pick up the typewritten papers and adjust his glasses. This is what he read under the title of my article,

“STAYING YOUNG WHILE GROWING OLDER”

WHILE visiting friends, I turned to their son and asked: “Werner, how old are you—13?” A slightly indignant Werner was not slow in answering: “No! I’m already going on 14!”

Young people can hardy wait to grow older, and some of them will go to great lengths to make you think they are older than they really are—maybe by dressing as older people do, by carefully cultivating a beard or mustache, or just by putting on an air of adult sophistication. Nothing deflates the budding ego of a would-be adult more quickly than by treating him as of his own age; nothing flatters him as much as by treating him as the adult he is trying so hard to be.

But youth is fleeting. As health fails and circumstances force him to slow down, that would-be adult all too soon turns into a would-be youth. How you long for those “good old days”! Remember when you could still read without glasses? could eat without struggling with slipping dentures? were never plagued with an aching back or fallen arches? And when you could remember things without having to write them down, instead of, as is now the case, forgetting to read what you’ve written down to remember?

And who besides an older person can really know the sorrows that old age often brings? What teenager can possibly know the grief of losing a marriage mate of several decades, or the loneliness that comes with the loss of this devoted companionship? Or feel the insecurity that comes with failing eyesight, faulty hearing and feebleness? Or know what it means to struggle to make both ends meet on a small pension? Or know the empty feeling of wondering: “Will I be alive next spring to hear the robins sing again?”

Yet, as problematic as old age can be, it does have its advantages. Years of experience have bettered your discernment and insight into the problems that people have. Think of the knowledge you have accumulated. You have become wiser, are probably better balanced, and almost surely you have a deeper appreciation of life.

How wonderful it would be if it were possible to enjoy the best of both worlds—the physical vigor of youth along with the wisdom and other benefits of age! And to a limited extent you can, for even though you may be unable to lengthen your life, at least you may be able to lengthen your youth. But how?

Growing old is not just a matter of the body; it is also a matter of the mind, a matter of attitudes. Expect to live long, desire to stay young, and your chances of doing both will increase. It has been said that a person starts growing old the day he begins to worry about it.

Think Young and Think Happy

This obviously rules out rocking away your last years of life on the front porch, oblivious to what is going on in the world. Keep up-to-date. Do not limit your association to friends your own age, with whom discussions may tend to get bogged down in the latest obituary columns. Associate with young people, too. Listen to what they have to say. Learn about their problems. They will appreciate your interest and you will gain their respect. Besides, some of their youthful enthusiasm, cheerfulness and optimism is bound to rub off.

The unpleasant aspects of old age will not be improved by a disposition that has forgotten how to smile. Find joy in small things. Experience the same delight you felt when as a little child you watched a kitten chase its tail. Let your face light up with the same glow it had when, as a young person, you were surprised with a gift.

Replace thoughts about “dying with dignity” with the more positive ones of “living with a purpose.” Remember, a happy and contented spirit can go far in reactivating an unhappy and discontented body. In the seas of life “cheerfulness,” as a 100-year-old expressed it, “is our life preserver.”

Keep Physically Active

Physical activity engaged in regularly, although in moderation, is essential. This strengthens the heart and lungs, keeps you trim and prevents muscles from sagging. Whatever your preference (some type of sport or simply taking long walks), you will be aided in staying physically active.

Exercise is particularly important if you have reached retirement age. Retirement should not mean inactivity. Keep busy, working at something that interests you. Do not slow down any more than is reasonable and necessary. Be like the man who, when told he should start slowing down, replied, with a tinge of defiance in his voice: “No way. As long as I can keep on moving, they’ll never be able to bury me!”

Keep Mentally Active

Even as the body deteriorates when not used, so also does the mind. Enrich your life by increasing your knowledge. Learn things you had no time or opportunity to learn earlier—a handicraft, a foreign language or how to play a musical instrument. Did you know, for example, that almost two million Americans over the age of 55 have returned to school, many of them now studying at colleges and universities?

In fact, a university solely for students of retirement age was opened in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1975. The initial enrollment of 600 students had climbed to over 2,000 by 1979. A German scientific magazine commenting on this said that university officials had found that, “contrary to the popular notion that old people are unable to learn, it had been established that in general their receptiveness and powers of learning were quite normal.”

Watch Eating and Drinking Habits

Studies of the Ecuadorian village of Vilcabamba, one of three regions in the world known for the longevity of its inhabitants, reveal that the people there eat sparingly. They subsist on a low-calorie diet rich in complex carbohydrates, such as those found in fruits, vegetables and grains, but low in sugars and fats. To supplement nutritive needs, many persons find vitamins helpful. Research seems to indicate that vitamin E is especially effective in slowing down the aging process.

Unlike smoking, which is detrimental to health even when done in moderation, alcoholic beverages are generally harmful only when indulged in to excess. As regards drinking, one would do well to heed the appropriate and logical advice once offered by a young African, who said: “Remember, if you drink less, you will live longer. And if you live longer, you will be able to drink more.”

Remain as Independent as Possible

Do not let younger people, even if well meaning, set you back to the days of childhood by being overly protective and condescending in their dealings with you. If you can still live alone, do so. If you can still care for your home, do so. If you can still do your own cooking, do so. If you can still mow your own lawn and wash your own car, do so.

If, on the other hand, you have become feeble in either body or mind and need help, accept help when offered, doing so graciously and with gratitude. Let people help you according to need, not according to age. In this way you will maintain self-respect and will have no reason to feel guilty about unduly imposing upon others.

Do Not live in the Past

Treasured memories are fine, but keeping too many physical ties with the past, like old letters and pictures, or spending too much time reminiscing, can make you despondent. Rather than living in the past, try to come to grips with the present, while at the same time making plans for the future. Decide what you would like to do tomorrow or next week, and daily you will have something for which to live.

Memories from the past can be transplanted into the present. For example, instead of being like the widow who says: “I haven’t done any baking since Charlie died,” surprise neighbors or friends by baking them a cake. Tell them: “I thought you might like it. Charlie always did. In fact, chocolate cake was his favorite.” By making others happy, you will make yourself happy. Suddenly, that treasured memory has taken on new dimensions.

Accept the Obvious

Make allowances for the fact that you are not as young as you used to be. But, then, who is? Do not feel you must keep up with others half your age. There is no reason to “prove” you are still young when it is quite obvious that you are not. Grow older gracefully, with no apologies.

Never cease being grateful for the opportunity you have had to grow old. Millions of young persons, whose lives have been snuffed out prematurely, never had that chance. Do not be like the young man who, when getting up in the morning, complains that he must; be like the old man who rejoices that he still can.

–The End–

From time to time as Wilhelm read he chuckled and smiled, and nodded his head at certain points. I took these reactions as good signs, but, like most writers, felt some apprehension as to his verdict.

“The article is good—informative and helpful. There is one more point.”

His New Goal—Staying Young Forever

“While I was still working out of town, I worked there until I was 81,” Wilhelm Hillmann explained, “my wife began a systematic study of the Bible. On weekends I would travel home to be with her. Once I was home a whole week and was able to join in on the study she had with Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was quite interesting. Later, after I quit work, I regularly participated.

“During the studies I learned that God’s original purpose for man was that he live forever and never grow old. It was a thrill to learn that God’s kingdom will soon carry out this original purpose. Bible prophecies, like the one at Revelation 21:4, will then be fulfilled: ‘And he [God] will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.’

“Among the ‘former things’ that are due to pass away, I learned, is old age with all its problems and difficulties. Hope began to grow as I was told I could live to see Job 33:25 fulfilled—on myself and others: ‘Let his flesh become fresher than in youth; let him return to the days of his youthful vigor.’

“Little by little, the Bible, which until then I had considered interesting but purely historical, became a book of faith. Finally, well into my 80’s, I was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“When I meet some of my friends from earlier times, they tell me I don’t seem to be getting any older. And I tell them they just may be right, and then I explain why.”

Pushing his Bible across the table, he pointed to Isaiah 40:30, 31 and had me read: “Boys will both tire out and grow weary, and young men themselves will without fail stumble, but those who are hoping in Jehovah will regain power. They will mount up with wings like eagles.”

“No one should think himself too old to learn about Jehovah and to hope in him,” he said. “Take it from an ‘old eagle’! It’s the hope of knowing that in God’s new system we can for all eternity grow older and yet for all eternity remain young.”

Is Handcrafting for You?

2009-07-24T04:42:00.000-07:00

“WHEN I lived in Latvia many years ago, I had a friend who could shear a sheep, spin the wool, weave it into cloth and use it to make her own clothes.” As Madge spoke, her face glowed with appreciation for the resourcefulness and ingenuity of her friend.

In the past, handcrafts of many kinds were a way of life for most people. Many things that were used or worn had to be produced by hand as a matter of necessity. But that is not true today.

Why, then, do we see such a resurgence of interest in handcrafts? The sameness of mass-produced articles causes some people to prize handmade items that bear the marks of a craftsman’s skill. Others are looking back to what they feel are the “good old days” and trying to recapture the spirit of quieter, more settled, times. Many persons find in handcrafting an activity that gives much personal satisfaction—something one does not often achieve in an industrialized society.

The Role of Handcrafts in Education

Some education authorities take the teaching of handcrafts very seriously. Why? They see such classes as an opportunity to help a student, not merely to learn how to make certain objects, but to develop as a person. The final product of a handcraft lesson is viewed as secondary to the development of initiative, resourcefulness, flexibility, adaptability and creativity, as well as tolerance, understanding and cooperation in group activities.

The therapeutic value of handcrafts is also recognized by those helping the mentally ill. Such work gives a sense of accomplishment and can help a person relate to other people in the sense of sharing with and assisting them. This provides a feeling of being needed.

Is It for Me?

Does handcrafting interest you? If so, what kind? To decide whether handcrafting could be a worthwhile pursuit, you must evaluate your own situation. The time element must be considered. Would it be a distraction from more important things?

On the positive side, the benefits are many. Handcrafting can bring a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of being productive in the use of one’s hands. Many need such an outlet, since their everyday work may be routine, not giving opportunity to express creative ability. Handcrafting can be of value also in providing items that are both practical and decorative for family and friends. A handcrafted gift tailored to the personality or needs of the receiver can reflect much love and concern on the part of the giver. Since it is a form of recreation, handcrafting can also serve for refreshment of body and mind, which is needed by all. Many prefer using some time in constructive crafts instead of sitting passively in front of a television set.

In determining what kind of handcraft would be suitable for you, give attention to your personal circumstances. For example, if you live in a small flat, it would be foolish to choose tanning skins and hides as your craft. This requires large drums and tubs, as well as copious amounts of running water. If you select something that makes a mess, give consideration to the person who does the housekeeping.

It is ideal, of course, for a whole family to be involved together. Apart from benefits to children, engaging in activities of this kind strengthens bonds between individual family members.

The economics of handcrafting also must be analyzed. By using items around the home, there are many kinds of handcrafts that can be pursued without much expense. Patchwork is in this category. Where specialized equipment is required, several interested friends might choose to get together and share such things as looms, spinning wheels, pottery wheels, and so forth. Some crafts, such as macrame, require no more tools than one’s own fingers. As for instruction books, most libraries have a good selection about handcrafts.

Some Popular Crafts

Here are a few details about some popular crafts that you may find interesting:

POTTERY is an age-old favorite. Much can be done at home even without a wheel by methods such as pinching, the use of coils for shaping the product, the use of flat slabs, or even casting in a mold made from plaster. Of as much interest as the making of pottery is the glazing of it. In fact, many prefer glazing to pottery making itself. Glazes are composed of powdered chemicals and minerals colored by metallic oxides. A seemingly endless variety of finishes can be achieved.

BATIK is a method of dyeing cloth by using wax to resist the dye and produce a pattern. This affords much latitude for experimentation, and enjoyment often comes from surprise at the end result. TYE-DYEING is batik’s cousin. The variation in dye pattern is achieved, as the name suggests, by tying the cloth in various ways.

MACRAME is a fascinating craft. With it a wide variety of useful and decorative articles can be made from any type of string or twine by using just two basic knots. They can be mastered in a couple of hours, and from then on you are limited only by your imagination. Macrame can be “dressed up” very inexpensively by adding “beads” made from pieces of potato, carrot, and so forth, cut into basic shapes and dried very slowly in a warm oven. When completely dried, they can be painted.

SPINNING has regained much popularity during recent years. A spinning wheel ready to assemble can be purchased inexpensively. Handcraft stores make fleece available. Country graziers and shearing demonstrations at schools are other sources of fleece. If one is not interested in doing one’s own dyeing, a variety of colored fleeces can be obtained. However, dyeing in itself is another interesting project, and much information is available on using natural vegetable dyes, onion skins, walnut shells, and so forth. Spinning, of course, is not limited to fleeces, but can include many fibers. One individual spun some yarn even from the hair of a Pekingese dog at the request of the dog’s owner!

Indeed, there are handcrafts for all ages, tastes and abilities. Further examples are jewelry-making, leatherwork, weaving, lacemaking, etching, making bark pictures, making designs with nails and threads, tatting, needlework, knitting, crocheting, carving, tole painting (folk art), stained-glass work, basket weaving and netmaking.

A Word of Caution

With a handcraft that captures the imagination and fulfills an individual’s need for creativity, it is easy to go overboard and “let the tail wag the dog.” One can become so absorbed that more important things are neglected. Also, if a person’s schedule is already overcrowded, adding a handcraft would only impose a burden and the whole purpose would be lost.

It is a good idea, too, to be sure of oneself before investing money in an expensive range of equipment and supplies. Many kits are available that enable people to try out a handcraft before stocking up on items that may never be used if the craft is not pursued. Speaking with others who already pursue a craft may be helpful. They may let you try your hand with their equipment and supplies. Doing so will help you to avoid the frustration of making unnecessary mistakes.

Is handcrafting for you? That is for you to decide. Keep in mind, though, that developing such a skill can heighten your own pleasure in life and also benefit others.

You Can Get Real Joy Out of Life

2009-07-24T04:41:00.000-07:00

EVERYONE wants to get enjoyment out of life. People often try to fulfill that desire by various forms of recreation during leisure hours. There is no denying that recreation can bring benefits both mentally and physically.

However, higher wages and more available leisure time during recent years have led many to an interesting conclusion. They have learned by experience that ‘living the good life’ neither solves problems nor brings lasting happiness.

How, then, can people get real joy out of life? It will be profitable to consider an experiment made by King Solomon, who carefully investigated the reasons why most people have failed to achieve true happiness. Under inspiration of God, Solomon wrote down his experiences and conclusions in the book of Ecclesiastes. As to seeking happiness by pursuing pleasures, he writes:

“I explored with my heart by cheering my flesh even with wine, while I was leading my heart with wisdom, even to lay hold on folly until I could see what good there was to the sons of mankind in what they did under the heavens for the number of the days of their life. I engaged in greater works. I built houses for myself; I planted vineyards for myself. I made gardens and parks for myself, and I planted in them fruit trees of all sorts. I made pools of water for myself, to irrigate with them the forest, springing up with trees. I acquired menservants and maidservants, and I came to have sons of the household. Also, livestock, cattle and flocks in great quantity I came to have, more so than all those who happened to be before me in Jerusalem. I accumulated also silver and gold for myself, and property peculiar to kings and the jurisdictional districts. I made male singers and female singers for myself and the exquisite delights of the sons of mankind, a lady, even ladies. And I became greater and increased more than anyone that happened to be before me in Jerusalem. Moreover, my own wisdom remained mine. And anything that my eyes asked for I did not keep away from them. I did not hold back my heart from any sort of rejoicing, for my heart was joyful because of all my hard work, and this came to be my portion from all my hard work.”—Eccl. 2:3-10.

The Bible writer carefully investigated the euphoric feeling that comes from drinking alcoholic beverages and which also is sought today through drug abuse. He amassed great wealth and surrounded himself with paradisaic beauty. He explored every type of leisurely enjoyment, including the best of musical entertainment and the delights of “a lady, even ladies.”

Pointing to the thoroughness of his investigation, Solomon writes: “And I, even I, turned to see wisdom and madness and folly; for what can the earthling man do who comes in after the king? The thing that people have already done.” (Eccl. 2:12) The point is this: Solomon’s investigation was thorough, since as king he had available sufficient time and resources. With far fewer resources than the king, “what can the earthling man do who comes in after” him? An ordinary person could cover only some of the same ground, doing what people have already done. To the person who firmly believes that he can find genuine happiness through pleasure-seeking, the king can answer: ‘I’ve already been there. It doesn’t work.’

It is important to note that Solomon did not say that all pursuit of pleasure is a waste of time. On the contrary, he acknowledged gaining a measure of enjoyment from what he did (“my heart was joyful because of all my hard work, and this came to be my portion from all my hard work”). But what was his verdict as to finding lasting happiness in the pleasures of wine, riches, entertainment and similar things? He answers straightforwardly: “And I, even I, turned toward all the works of mine that my hands had done and toward the hard work that I had worked hard to accomplish, and, look! everything was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing of advantage under the sun.”—Eccl. 2:11.

This observation should not be viewed as negative, pessimistic. Instead, it is realistic and can aid individuals to avoid wasting many years of life pursuing happiness in ways that do not lead to it. On the other hand, the same Bible writer gives fine positive admonition on how to get real joy out of life. Among the things that he recommends is getting work and leisure into correct proportion.

Work Hard, but “See Good”

After describing overemphasis on pleasure as “vanity and a striving after wind,” the wise Bible writer goes on to say: “With a man there is nothing better than that he should eat and indeed drink and cause his soul to see good because of his hard work. This too I have seen, even I, that this is from the hand of the true God. For who eats and who drinks better than I do?” (Eccl. 2:11, 24, 25) Certainly the Bible commends hard work. “The stupid one is folding his hands [in refusal to work] and is eating his own flesh.” (Eccl. 4:5) But there is a need for balancing hard work with ‘seeing good,’ enjoying the fruits of one’s labor. “Better is a handful of rest,” says the inspired penman, “than a double handful of hard work and striving after the wind.”—Eccl. 4:6.

Likely you are acquainted with persons who work long hours of overtime each week or perhaps hold down two jobs. While this may be necessary in cases of special need, or to meet emergency expenses, many who spend nearly all their waking hours at work need not do so. Wherever possible, the Bible encourages incorporating “a handful of rest” into your daily routine. Take time regularly to enjoy eating, drinking and engaging in pleasant communication with loved ones. This is expressed beautifully in the following words:

“Go, eat your food with rejoicing and drink your wine with a good heart, because already the true God has found pleasure in your works. On every occasion let your garments prove to be white, and let oil not be lacking upon your head. See life with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life that He has given you under the sun, all the days of your vanity, for that is your portion in life and in your hard work with which you are working hard under the sun.”—Eccl. 9:7-9.

Closely related is another important lesson from the book of Ecclesiastes.

Do Not Lose Sight of the Present

Ability to meditate on the past and to contemplate the future is a God-given gift to mankind. Making the future all the more appetizing is the Scriptural assurance of a new order of ‘new heavens and a new earth where righteousness is to dwell.’ (2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1-5) It is fine to look forward to such blessings.

Perhaps you have noticed, though, that frequently people dwell upon the past and the future, to the neglect of the present. Habitual reminiscing about ‘the good old days’ only accentuates a person’s dissatisfaction with the way things are right now. The Bible warns against this, saying: “Do not say: ‘Why has it happened that the former days proved to be better than these?’ for it is not due to wisdom that you have asked about this.” (Eccl. 7:10) It is equally unwise to center all one’s hopes for happiness on the future.

Getting real joy out of life calls for a realistic appraisal of the present. Solomon puts it this way: “Better is the seeing by the eyes than the walking about of the soul. This too is vanity and a striving after the wind.” (Eccl. 6:9) Even wealthy people who have all that they desire in a material way recognize within themselves soulful desires that wealth cannot satisfy. Unfulfilled desires ‘walk about,’ so to speak, by driving people continually to seek changed circumstances. Though an occasional change from a person’s regular routine can be of benefit, some go to extremes by constantly changing their places of residence and employment, continually bounding from one thing to another in a vain quest for happiness. Much better, according to the Scriptures, is “the seeing by the eyes.” The truly wise course is for an individual to be content with and to enjoy what he can look at right now, that is, what he has at present. In this regard it will be profitable to consider the observations of two individuals who reflected on how to gain joy out of life.

“It’s the Present That Belongs to Us Now”

McCall’s magazine (May 1978) published the experience of a woman who, after her children had grown up and gone on their own, abandoned suburban life for a remote fishing village. She writes:

“Nothing in our society teaches us how to live now; everything in our society circumvents it. When we reach school, our parents and our teachers are already saying, What next? Get ready! We enter college and the pressure increases: What next? We become conditioned early to thinking ahead, and apply it everywhere; it has become a habit of thought. We look ahead to arriving somewhere—anywhere, it scarcely matters. We anticipate the wonderful day when we find the magic ‘other’ with whom life will be so much richer, and then to next year’s vacation, or to what we will do when the children are grown, or to retirement. We are always in suspension, and when the future arrives that is to magically heal and change us, it turns out to be no different from today.

“It is possible—it has to be possible—for us to cultivate a different kind of life, to live with more joy and awareness, with heightened consciousness, so that we deepen each moment and fill it with content. We pass over moments lightly, our eyes on tomorrow, but it’s the present that belongs to us now and is trembling with possibilities, not the future, which hasn’t arrived yet. It is only when we enter a moment and live it with attention that we become truly alive.”

“Success Is a Journey”

Forty-five minutes of meditation led to a similar conclusion on the part of Dr. Wayne W. Dyer. In his book Pulling Your Own Strings, Dyer writes:

“One of the biggest turning points in my life came many years ago when I happened to spend forty-five minutes supervising a study hall as a substitute teacher. On the back bulletin board of that room were written the words, ‘Success is a journey, not a destination.’

“I studied those words for the full forty-five minutes, letting them sink into my very soul. Up until that day, I had, in fact, viewed life as a series of destinations and events. Graduations, diplomas, degrees, marriages, childbirths, promotions and other similar events were all destinations, and I was going from stop to stop.

“I vowed right there in that room that I was going to stop evaluating happiness on the basis of arriving at destinations and instead see the whole of my life as a continuing journey, each moment of which was there for me to enjoy. That key study-hall assignment gave this teacher one of life’s most important lessons: Don’t evaluate your life in terms of achievements, trivial or monumental, along the way. If you do, you will be destined to the frustration of always seeking out other destinations, never allowing yourself actually to be fulfilled. Whatever you achieve, you will immediately have to plan your next achievement so that you will have a new gauge of how successful and happy you are.

“Instead, wake up and appreciate everything you encounter along your path. Enjoy the flowers that are there for your pleasure. Tune in to the sunrise, the little children, the laughter, the rain and the birds. Drink it all in, rather than waiting to get to some always-future point where it will be all right for you to relax. Indeed, success—even life itself—is nothing more than moments to enjoy, one at a time. When you understand this principle, you will stop evaluating your happiness on the basis of achievements, and instead look upon the whole trip of life as something to be happy about. Or to sum it up, there is no way to happiness, because happiness is the way.”

The Importance of “Godly Devotion”

Determination not to lose sight of present blessings will surely make your life happier. But to get the very best out of life requires something more. How so?

The apostle Paul describes it, saying: “To be sure, it is a means of great gain, this godly devotion along with self-sufficiency.” (1 Tim. 6:6) The requisite quality is “godly devotion,” which refers to a way of life that exhibits reverence for the Creator. It is manifest in acting in a godly way toward one’s fellowman. The person desiring to live with godly devotion must take time to study the Holy Bible carefully, which will enable him to learn the type of conduct which God approves.

Learning and conforming one’s life to the will of God is truly a means of great gain. Such a course leads to future life in a new order where “death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.”—Rev. 21:4.

As for the present, living by Bible principles results in favor from God and the best of relationships with fellow humans. When a person displays the compassion, kindness, humility, patience and generosity that mark the Christian “new personality,” people reciprocate and the lives of all involved become happier.—Luke 6:38; Col. 3:10-14.

Real happiness is not attainable merely through pursuit of pleasures. The Bible encourages mingling hard work with “a handful of rest” each day for enjoying the fruits of one’s labors. Additionally, the Scriptures stress the importance of learning accurately about God and living by Bible principles.

“The conclusion of the matter,” observes Solomon, “everything having been heard, is: Fear the true God and keep his commandments. For this is the whole obligation of man.” (Eccl. 12:13) Will you meet that obligation by patterning your life according to Biblical guidelines? If you do you will have peace of mind with contentment. It is the only way to get real, lasting joy out of life.