Awake!, July 22, 1960
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Ammon Sense May Save Your Life
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Aazil, Land of Opportunities
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ile’s Long Quake
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JULY 22. 1960
THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital Hsuet of &n times must be unfettered by censorship and rtffish interests. Awa kef” has no fetters, ft recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish f&cts, It Is not bound by political ambitions or obligations; it is unhampered by advertisers whose toes must not be trodden an; it is unprejudiced by traditional creeds. This journal keeps itself free that it may speak free/y to you. Bpi it dans not abuse its freedom, it maintains integrity to truth.
'’Awake)” uses the regular news channels, but Is not dependent on them. fts own correspondents are an ail continents, in scores of nations, from (fie four earners at the earth their unpensored, On~the-scene$ reports come to you through these columns. This journal’s viewpoint is not narrow, but h infernertiarrtri. If is reod in many nations, in many languages, by persons of all ages. Through its pages many fields of knowledge paw in reviewSwenWeM, commerce, religion, history, geography, science, social conditions, natural wonders—why, its coverage is os broad as the earth and os high as the heavens.
” Awake I" pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of a righteous New World.
Get acquainted with 1 ‘Awake 1" Keep awake by reading ‘’Awakel"
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CONTENTS
Why Take Offense?
Finding Peace in This Troubled World
Common Sense May Save Your Life
Clerical Self -Castigations
Brazil, Land of Opportunities
It Actually Happened)
Chile's Long Quake
The Aut wdth Many Uses
Results from Appeal for Freedom
of Worship
La Belle Creole
Lack of Love in Religious Boom
J'Your Word Es Truth"
"You, Therefore, Must Be Perfect"
—in What Way?
Watching the World
DO YOU remember the last time you accidentally cut yourself? No doubt your immediate con-cem was to administer the neces- J sary first aid. Or perhaps, while you were hammering, a misdirected blow caught your finger instead of the nail. Probably you gave tender care to the damaged member.
However, would it be sensible for someone who cuts himself to take the knife and jab it into the wound again and again? Would you think it wise of the one bruised while hammering to pound the rest of his fingers to a pulp? That would be ridiculous. The hurt already inflicted is bad enough. The need is for remedial measures, first aid, a soothing ointment, not further damage.
Y£t, the inflicting of further damage is what one frequently does who becomes easily offended. To take offense is to be displeased, pained, annoyed, wounded, or hurt by the actions of others, whether the offense is real or imagined. Taking offense quickly indicates a lack of control over one’s mental disposition, causing him to yield to selfish acts that can cause damage far more serious and extensive than the hurt of the moment. It may impel one to give way to outbursts of speech and action that can disrupt family life and friendship alike, bringing years of regret and heartache. “It is a foolish person that makes known his vexation in the same day, but the shrewd one is covering over a dishonor. * ’—Prov. 12:16.
Some learn to control this anger, but indulge in another hurtful practice when offended. This is the harboring of grievances or bearing a grudge against the one offending. When unchecked, this resentment can build up into hatred and blind the mind to its consequences. In time it can manifest itself in hurtful gossip, vindictive action, possibly even violence or murder.
Cain was offended when Abel found favor in the eyes of God. Instead of accepting this as a rebuke and correcting his form of worship, Cain became unforgiving, nursed the grievance, built up strong hatred and finally exploded into vengeful action by murdering his brother Abel.—Gen. 4:3-8.
Note, too, the consequences to Haman, high official of ancient Persia. Esther 3:5 tells us: “Now Haman kept seeing that Mordecai was not bowing low and prostrating himself to him, and Haman became filled with rage.” Even though he had riches and had been exalted over the princes of the Persian Empire, his mind was tormented over being offended by Mordecai. While not resorting to an outward act of violence at the moment, he dwelt on the offense and determined to kill Mordecai by exterminating his race in Persia. Not only did this bring him unhappiness, but later he was hanged on the gallows prepared for his offender. By being unforgiving, irreconcilable, the one he injured was himself. “And they proceeded to hang Haman on the stake that he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king's rage itself subsided.”—Esther 7:10.
In addition, taking offense easily and brooding over grievances brings on anxiety that can be harmful to automatic body functions, especially digestion. It can lead to emotional disturbances, which upset internal balances and even produce ulcers. Wonder drugs are helpless against these ills. One’s vital force is consumed by unproductive fretting, health is undermined and life made miserable.
What can be done to avoid taking unnecessary offense? Understanding some of the causes will help. One is pride, the thinking more of ourselves than we ought to. The proud seek to elevate themselves over their fellow man, as did Haman, and resent any action they feel will degrade them in the eyes of others. As a result, they become overly sensitive to criticism and lay themselves open to becoming offended easily. “Pride is before a crash, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.”—Prov. 16:18.
Humility must be cultivated instead of pride; we should see ourselves in true relationship before our Creator and our fellow man. This requires accurate knowledge of God and his purposes. Accurate knowledge reveals that Jehovah is the exalted one and that all are born in sin, imperfection, and therefore tend toward making mistakes. In view of this, we learn not to demand of others what we ourselves cannot produce—perfection. This will help us to appreciate that we all can unintentionally offend others and that many offenses are not planned, but are due to the tendency of error common to fallen flesh.—Ps. 51: 5; Rom. 5:12.
Knowledge of these limitations will aid us in becoming more generous and understanding toward others and puts us on the way to cultivating the quality of love. Love • is unselfish, forgiving and merciful. “It does not keep account of the injury.” It acts as a healing balm when wounds are suffered. It is to personal relationships what medication is to cuts and bruises. It soothes, covers over, minimizes damage and restores. As a bandage covers over a cut, so love will cover over the offenses of others, keeping them small and insignificant when compared to the far more important matter of doing God’s will. “Love covers ovei’ even all transgressions.” —1 Cor. 13:5; Prov. 10:12.
But what if we feel that an offense is committed deliberately and a serious wrong has been done? Jesus outlined the action to take at Matthew 18:15-17. But before doing this it would be wise to examine ourselves and keep in mind our own inclination toward wrongdoing. Perhaps something we said or did provoked the offender, though we may not have "been aware of it. Love will give the other the benefit of the doubt. It will cause us to be “freely forgiving one another just as God also by Christ freely forgave” us. (Eph. 4:32) How sound the course of practical wisdom suggested at Ecclesiastes 7:8, 9: “Better is one who is patient than one who is haughty in spirit. Do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended, for the taking of offense is what rests in the bosom of the stupid ones.”
10, 12) The materialistic existence that many persons have adopted has not brought them peace in this troubled world but has only added to their anxiety.
Others have gone after pleasure, but their restless search for peace via pleasure has only left them mentally and physically exhausted. Still no peace of mind! So some have tried to find peace by means of alcohol and tranquilizers; when their effects have worn off, the individual’s lack of peace only becomes more obvious and more disturbing.
Not surprising that a peace-of-mind religion has developed. This is religiosity in which the main objective is peace of mind. As Will Herberg says in Protestant—Catholic—Jew: “In the last analysis, it is 'peace of
TRUE peace Includes peace of mind. But such peace has been shattered in a world filled with worry, anxiety and fear. These peace destroyers spring from many underlying causes: the cold war in the nuclear-missile age, radiation or Strontium-90 dangers, financial problems, inflation, crime, disease and death. With true peace so elusive in this modern world, many persons have deliberately set their minds to find peace. The results have not been happy.
What is wrong? Men have turned to the wrong source' for the peace that they crave. Some have thought that money would assuage the anxiety in their lives, but money has failed them, just as the Bible says: “A mere lover of silver will not be satisfied with silver, neither any lover of wealth with income. This too is vanity. Sweet is the sleep of the one serving, regardless of whether it is little or much that he eats; but the plenty belonging to the rich one is not permitting him to sleep.” (Eccl. 5: mind’ that most Americans expect of religion. 'Peace of mind’ is today easily the most popular gospel that goes under the name of religion; in one way or another it invades and permeates all other forms of contemporary religiosity. . . . What is desired, and what is promised, is the conquest of insecurity and anxiety, the overcoming of inner conflict, the shedding of guilt and fear, the translation of the self to the painless paradise of ‘normality’ and ‘adjustment’! Religion, in short, is a spiritual anodyne designed to allay the pains and vexations of existence.”
True religion can and does bring peace of mind in this troubled world, but the peace-of-mind religiosity is not true religion. Why? Because it puts the desire of the individual above the will of God. There is nothing wrong with the desire for peace, but the one who would truly find it must recognize that peace is part of “the fruitage of the spirit” of God. (Gal. 5:22) God’s spirit is necessary if one is to have peace.
God gives his spirit to those who are doing his will, who are obeying his divine commandments. Declares the psalmist: “Abundant peace belongs to those loving your law.” Ah, this is the crux of the matter—getting the divine commandments in our heart, living by these laws so that one can always maintain a good conscience toward God.—Ps. 119:165.
Accurate Knowledge of God Needed
So if anyone is going to find peace in this troubled world, he must take in accurate knowledge of the divine will, as the apostle Paul shows: “Be filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual discernment, in order to walk worthily of Jehovah to the end of fully pleasing him as you go on bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the accurate knowledge of God.” (Col. 1: 9, 101 This taking in of accurate knowledge is not simply a psychological device to reduce tensions in life but rather is for the purpose of being guided by the divine will in all of life’s activities. So more than accurate knowledge is needed: one must act upon this accurate knowledge of God. This gives us peace, a good conscience toward God.
No wonder the seekers of peace of mind have failed! They have not taken in the accurate knowledge of God, coming to know the divine will as to man’s duties and obligations, then acting upon this knowledge. They have not heeded the counsel at Romans 12:2: “Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and complete will of God." To have peace in this troubled world, then, one must think right. He must think the way God wants us to think. Concerning this the apostle Paul writes:
“Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are of serious concern, whatever things are righteous, whatever things are chaste, whatever things are lovable, whatever things are well spoken of, whatever virtue there is and whatever praiseworthy thing there is, continue considering these things. The things which you learned as well as accepted and heard and saw in connection with me, practice these; and the God of peace will be with you."—Phil. 4:8,9.
Yes, “practice these” things that God tells us to do; only then will “the God of peace” be with you.
Prayer and Trust in Jehovah
Prayer is a divine provision for the “God of peace” to be with us. By means of prayer we can appeal to Jehovah God, the great Rock, and cast our reasons for anxiety upon him. God’s Word says: “Throw your burden upon Jehovah himself, and he himself will sustain you.” (Ps. 55:22) It would indeed be difficult to have mental peace without this provision of prayer by which we can throw our burden of anxiety upon Jehovah himself. The Christian must be humble enough, then, to realize that he cannot himself carry his burden and direct his steps. Says God's prophet: “I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct bls step.”—Jer. 10:23.
If we have relied on Jehovah God for wisdom and guidance, we need not worry about the outcome; and we can have peace of mind. “Do not be anxious over anything,” says Christ’s apostle, “but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving 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,” (Phil. 4:6, 7) In a world as troubled as this, only the “peace of God,” the peace God gives, can prevent us from suffering the fears and anxieties that were certain to befall mankind in these “last days,” as Jesus Christ himself foretold: “On the earth anguish of nations, not knowing the way out because of the roaring of the sea and its agitation, while men become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming upon the inhabited earth.” (Luke 21:25, 26) We will not be among those persons who “become faint out of fear and expectation of the things coming” upon this nuclear-missile age if we take in accurate knowledge, act upon it, think in harmony with it, throw our burden upon Jehovah and pray for divine guidance and wisdom.
Aiding Others to Find Peace
Something more is yet required for true peace in this troubled world: unselfish giving. This is the divine will, as stated at Acts 20:35: “You must assist those who are weak and must bear in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, when he himself said, ‘There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.’ ” What can you freely give that will make others as well as yourself truly happy? Why, the peace that you yourself enjoy! Share it with others. Do as Ephesians 6:15 counsels and have your “feet shod with the equipment of the good news of peace.” This means going to others to give them the “peace of God” that comes from taking in accurate knowledge of God and of his kingdom.
Yes, give others the knowledge that God’s kingdom is established in the heavens, that soon the kingdom will bring peace to the earth by destroying this wicked system of things, as Daniel foretold: “The God of the heavens shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people; it shall break in pieces and annihilate all these kingdoms, but it shall stand forever.” (Dan. 2:44, AT) Teach others the significance of the Lord’s prayer: “Let your kingdom come. Let your will come to pass, as in heaven, also upon earth.” Help others realize that peace will soon come to this earth permanently by means of God’s kingdom. Show them in the Scriptures the blessings of God’s kingdom rule by Jesus Christ: “Let the mountains carry peace to the people, also the hills, through righteousness. Let him judge the afflicted ones of the people, let him save the sons of the poor one, and let him crush the defrauder. In his days the righteous one will sprout, and the abundance of peace until the moon is no more. And he will have subjects from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.”—Matt. 6:10; Ps. 72:3, 4, 7, 8.
Even now before the Kingdom brings in these righteous, peaceful conditions earthwide, you can have happiness and peace. Put your trust in Jehovah. Pray for his guidance and his spirit. Follow Jesus’ counsel: “Seek continually his kingdom.” Take in,accurate knowledge of God and his kingdom. Act upon it. Live by the will of God. Help others seek continually God’s kingdom. Look forward to the hope of everlasting life in a new world of endless peace. Yes, and already, now, you will enjoy peace in this troubled world.—Luke 12:31.
c
HEN you leave your worries behind for a day of fun at the seashore or at a lake, do not leave your common sense behind too. That would be a sure way of transforming a pleasurable outing into a painful or heartbreaking one. Realize that although water can be a friend that provides fun, relaxation and exercise, it also can be an enemy, a deadly enemy. Every year it takes the lives of a great number of persons because they fail to show enough common sense to respect it.
A little forethought is much better than regrets. What good were regrets or apologies to the father whose seven-year-old daughter drowned when she was catapulted into the water when his boat was rammed by a carelessly driven motorboat? What good are regrets among friends or relatives of a svjimmer that was drowned because he ventured out too far or because he went swimming by himself where there were no lifeguards? Regrets
May Save
tant than staying cool.
Swimming
It has been estimated that about 90 percent of the people who take advantage of swimming facilities in the United States are either poor
swimmers or cannot swim at all, and many other countries no doubt have a similar situation. Obviously such persons would be foolish to venture into water where no lifeguards were present or, at least, persons capable of rescuing them if something were to happen. In fact, anyone who swims alone, including a good swimmer, is inviting trouble.
If the water is cold it is unwise to plunge into it; it creates a shock to the system. Some may contend that it is stimulating, but they are mistaken. Instead of being stimulating, it is exhausting, causing a loss of energy. Enter the water gradually so your body can become adjusted to it. This is especially important for one who has not been swimming for several months.
A swimmer, for the sake of his own go out too far. In the ocean it is often more difficult to swim back than it Is to swim out. So be certain you have the strength and ability to get back frgm any place you think about swimming to. Do not permit your companions to entice you into water that is too deep for you or into going out farther from shore than you should.
over what happened cannot take the place of the common sense that could have prevented an accident.
When sensible suggestions are given for your safety at the seashore, a lake or a swimming pool, give heed to them. Do not take them lightheartedly, forgetting that a day of fun can be changed by folly to a day of tragedy. Wisely maintain a healthy respect for water, never becoming overconfident or indifferent to its danger. No matter how hot a db may be, staying alive is more impor-
safety, should be conscious of his limitations, and not
Suppose you do get into trouble, what should you do? The most important thing is not to panic, but to remain calm. Do not fight the water; you are certain to lose if you do. Instead, relax, allowing yourself to float on your back, remembering that your body cannot sink because of its natural buoyancy. Slow movements of your feet and hands will keep your body level. Even if you were to relax face down without leg or arm movements your body would still float with your head a little below the surface. By exerting a little effort you can raise your head high enough to take in air; then relax as you exhale under water. By doing this you can keep yourself afloat until help arrives.
The poor swimmer who tries to save a drowning person will most likely fail and lose his own life as well. By the time he reaches the person in trouble he may be so tired that he is unable to fight the victim’s frantic struggles, much less bring him back to safety. The magazine Today's Health said: “The would-be hero may be the fool, however, if his actions endanger his own life and the lives of others more capable of assisting.” Common sense will send him for a boat, a life preserver, an inner tube or help from others.
Never go swimming right after a meal. Why? Because it is an easy way to get painful cramps, causing you to drown. This is especially true after eating heavy, greasy foods. Use good sense by waiting for a while after eating, perhaps an hour or more. It is also very unwise to swim when overheated or overtired.
If you intend to do some diving in strange waters, investigate them first, making certain that the water at the place you pick is sufficiently deep. Look for submerged objects such as rocks or timbers. It is better to investigate before you dive than to crack your head open on a jagged rock or break your neck on a shallow bottom.
Skin diving may be a water sport you would like to engage in, fcut before you do be sure you are in good physical condition. Forget it if you have a bad heart, bad lungs or asthma. They can make underwater swimming extremely dangerous. So can a cold or sinus trouble. When you have these troubles common sense says to stay on the surface;
As with surface swimming, skin diving should never be done alone or immediately after a heavy meal. Before you go down be certain that you have a depth gauge, a waterproof watch, a knife, and that your tank is filled with the right air and with enough for a long swim if necessary.
Boating
With each year bringing an increase in the number of boat owners and boat users, it is more important now than ever before to use common sense when boating. Boat accidents in the United States during 1958 went up 23 percent over the previous year; injuries went up 30 percent, and fatalities 29 percent. “We had more deaths from water accidents over a single weekend than we did on all the highways in our state,” said the governor of Tennessee. Common sense can prevent most of these accidents.
Operating a boat is not the same as operating an automobile. Because water, unlike a road, is constantly changing and a boat is subject to the vagaries of wave and wind, many experts contend that boating is more difficult than car driving. There is also the matter of brakes. A boat has none, and that requires the pilot to be alert constantly to the danger of collision. It is true that he can reverse the propeller, but it takes time to stop. The best way to avoid an accident is to operate the boat at a speed that is safe for your surroundings and so you have the boat under control. The inexperienced pilot that throws a fastmoving boat into a sharp turn is wholly without good sense. One person who did this was thrown into the water, and his runaway boat crashed into another boat and went on to terrorize swimmers
and water skiers until it was finally stopped by a person who leaped on board from another boat.
Never leave shore in a leaky or poorly constructed boat. To do so would be inviting trouble. Get a suitable craft, and before taking it out check it for life jackets and other safety equipment. It would be common sense to insist that anyone going with you who cannot swim wear one. Although it is difficult to leave some friends behind, that is far better than overloading the boat and endangering the lives of all on board.
Before venturing out on any body of water you should first inquire about local wave and weather conditions as well as the location of submerged objects that might be dangerous to the boat. Since a severe storm can blow up in a matter of a couple of hours on some bodies of water, it is'-vi-tal to know local weather conditions. With that knowledge you will know how far you can go from shore in safety.
Overpowering a boat is not good sense; it makes it hard to control and can cause it to upset or to break up. A lack of good sense is also shown by one who operates his motorboat near swimmers and fishing craft. Keep it out where there is plenty of room and no danger of injuring anyone. If you were to speed 'by a small fishing craft, the wake from your motorboat could swamp it or throw its occupants into the water. You could be held responsible for injuries or loss of property caused by the wake you created when passing.
ASK FOR THE NEXT ISSUE
• In both Christendom and pagandom, ths living often seek communion with the “spirits of the dead?1 Can the dead help In time of need? Read the Bible answer in the next issue.
# Treasures that stagger the imagination are being found in the ocean depths. Read about this new frontier in the article “Harvesting the Oceans/*
0 “Do Children Have Legal Rights?*’ That Ie the thought-provoking title of an article that both parents and children will want to read.
Suppose you were in a canoe or another small boat and it overturned; what would you do? Making a wild, longdistance swim for shore would not be good sense. Chances are you would tire out and never make it. Because most small craft will float when overturned or when filled with water, it is best to stay with the boat. It is easier to spot by rescuers than the bobbing head of a swimmer. Have the passengers get on opposite sides of the boat with their hands clasping one another’s arms across its bottom. They can stay that way for a long time without tiring.
Before ever leaving shore you should, without fail, let someone know where you are going and when you expect to be back. Then if something happens and you do not return when you said you would, a search can be promptly made. Otherwise you may not be found in time to be rescued from a watery grave.
Whether swimming or boating, always respect the water, taking every possible precaution to avoid accidents. Never forget that while it can bring you a great amount of enjoyment, it can also bring death. So use common sense—it may save your life.
Clerical Self-Castigations
SECOND-HATS COUNTRY CLUBS
C The Vancouver newspaper The Province of February 13, 1960, published this Item from Bangor, Maine: "Too many churches today are only second-rate country clubs and nothing more,’ Bishop Gerald Kennedy, of the Los Angeles district of the Methodist Church told an alumni meeting of the Maritime-New England Theological Seminary here recently. . . . ‘I don't wish to be negative but at times when I look at the church in North America I wqpy that it may not be part of the healing but instead, part of the disease,’ he said.”
OVERWORKED BUT UNEMPLOYED
<1 Time magazine, in its issue of October 12, < 1959, said: "From the pulpit of Harvard’s < Memorial Church last week, Dr. Samuel H. 1 Miller, dean of the Harvard Divinity School, * launched into a blistering tirade against Prot- B eat ant clergy who, at the insistence of their g congregations, reduce their office to a ‘mad s dervish dance of unenlightened public activl- 9 ties.’ Said Baptist Miller: ‘One of the tragedies * of our time is that the minister is both over- 1 worked and unemployed; overworked in a 1 t multitude of tasks that do not have the slight- 5 ’ est connection with religion, and unemployed
in the serious concerns and exacting labors of . maintaining a disciplined spiritual life among mature men and women. It is a scandal of modern Protestantism that young men called to the high venture of the Christian way ... are graduated into churches where the magnitude of their vocation is macerated ... by the pressure of the petty practices of so-called parish progress.’ ”
PRESTIGE AND LIMELIGHT
(L "Thousands of Americans,” says staff writer Carl T. Rowan in the Minneapolis Morning Tribune of March 3, 1959, “pick their church on the basis of its prestige—the imposing structure, the large membership, the congregation's social status, the prominence of the minister. The minister who caters to this kind of membership is himself an agent of materialism, one family sociologist asserted. ‘I shouldn't say this to you,’ one prominent east coast pastor said, ‘but sometimes I do get so involved in fund drives, in worries about the cost of a new addition, that I feel guilty about the unmet needs of parishioners. , . . Perhaps too many of us ministers are too concerned about the prestige of our churches. We seem less bothered by the fact that we married three woefully unprepared couples last week than we are by the fact that the minister across the way got his picture in the paper more often than we did.’ ”
PARALYZED
<1 An editorial in the January, 1957, Issue of Theology Today states: "The Gospel, we must never forget, Is ‘good news,’ and it is our responsibility to proclaim the good tidings with a sense of joyful abandon and evangelical optimism. If we cannot do this, we cannot do anything worthwhile. If—theologically— we become so enmeshed in our antinomies 6r paradoxes, that both affirmation and action are paralyzed, we are unfaithful stewards of the heritage bequeathed to us.”
“PEOPLE-PLEASING PARSONS" '
C Under the above heading Robert J. Hawthorne, First Methodist Church, Tracy, California, writes in The Christian Century of December 16, 1959: “Certain ministers I know who have been exploring their personal problems have discovered a common trait: they are people who are trying to please—or appease, if you will—and among the people they are trying to please are the congregation . . . the district superintendent and the bishop . . . and the community at large. . . . They have gone on to discover that their wish to appease is not unalloyed; they find themselves, in their honest moments, rebellious and authoritarian, Thus they swing from one extreme to the other and make a staggering job of the ministry.”
COULD PACK THEIR BAGS
<1 In Australia cleric Wilkinson-Fox of Lincolnshire Village of Wrangly resigned from the Church of England and said: “I made the decision only after long and careful consideration. Today the Church is so tied up with red tape it is more civil service minded than the Civil Service. Bishops are so busy being administrators of the gigantic organisation they have created they haven’t time to be spiritual leaders of the people. The clergy today are being forced into the position of becoming parasites. Ninety percent would not be missed if they packed their bags and left overnight-" —Sydney Morning Herald, July 17, 1955.
By 'Awoke.!'1 correspondent In Brazil
the gold rush United States, of the 120,000 to be followed
that rivaled days of the They were the vanguard residents now in Brasilia,
A SKYSCRAPER city, mushrooming up from an empty plateau in less than four years! This is brand-new, modem Brasilia. Just after midnight on April 21 it became the capital of the South American colbssus, Brazil, and typified the energetic economic and industrial expansion of this remarkable land.
The new capital caught the imagination of Brazil’s population. Only a few years ago, 60,000 workers began the westward movement
by an estimated 400,000 in the next ten years. Large office buildings sprang up in weeks. Five thousand miles of highway was swiftly laid, connecting Brasilia with other principal cities. Thousands of apartments were readied for the expected influx from the overcrowded coastal areas.
This astonishing achievement is part of the great spurt forward that is transforming Brazil from a predominantly agricultural nation to an increasingly prominent ■industrial one. The population of sixty-six million is expanding rapidly too, at the rate of one million a year, bolstered by nearly 50,000 immigrants who make this land of opportunities their permanent home.
Brazil has untold mineral riches, and the
government is aiding
its people to develop these resources. The new Federal District of Brasilia, located close to the country’s geographical center, is expected to open up a huge area of the interior for development and to serve as a springboard for the economic conquest of the Amazon region. The expansion-minded government is also encouraging immigration by making entry requirements lenient, especially in the field of industry. The need for skilled workers is great in cities such as Sao Paulo. With over three and a half million inhabitants, this industrial center is referred to as the “Chicago of South America” and the “Detroit of Brazil.” Almost daily there is a plea for experienced technicians, both Brazilian and immigrant, in the construction, chemical, electrical, mechanical, agricultural and clerical fields.
A Sprawling Giant
The Brazilian territory embraces many natural characteristics best described by superlatives. It occupies nearly half of the South American continent; only the Soviet Union, China, the United States of America and Canada exceed it in size; its borders touch those of all the other South American countries except Chile and Ecuador; less of Brazil is mountainous or arid than any other major country; some of the largest deposits of high-quality iron ores on earth are found there; the harbor in which Rio de Janeiro is located is one of the largest in the world.
Any description of Brazil would not be complete without mention of its rivers. Can you imagine a river longer than either the Danube, Euphrates, Rhine, Seine or Ganges, yet only the third-longest in the country? The river just described is the Sao Francisco, lying entirely within Brazilian territory and over 1,800 miles long. Several hundred miles longer, though, is the Paraguay-Parana River, but not flowing entirely within Brazil’s borders.
Yet, more than double the Sao Francisco’s length is the amazing Amazon! The Amazon originates near the western edge of the Andes in Central Peru, about a hundred miles from the Pacific Ocean, and flows 3,900 miles across Peru and Brazil to enter the Atlantic Ocean at the equator. Only the Nile in Africa is longer, though the Amazon is largest in volume. It is navigable farther upstream from its mouth than any other great river and allows ocean steamers to reach the jungle port of Manaus, 1,000 miles inland. More than 500 miles upstream there are places where the river is almost 400 feet deep. Tributaries of the Amazon are larger than most major rivers of the world!
Another of Brazil’s natural marvels along its waterways is the two and a half miles of cataracts of Igdassu’s National Park, plunging over 240-foot-high rocky precipices.
Since roads are few in the jungle, the rivers become busy highways for all types of vessels, from small canoes to great ocean-going transports. However, travel in the east and south is quite different, where there are luxurious air-conditioned buses with two-way radio communication speeding along beautifully landscaped dual-lane superhighways. Modern streamlined steel electric trains and excellent, economical air service will take you to all parts of the country.
Climate for Everyone
Brazil has a great variety of climates, since it extends from 5° latitude north of the equator to 34° south of the equator. The tropical] north is generally flat, with but few rolling hills. From north to south through the center of the country is a high plateau with excellent grazing lands, traversed by several ranges of scenic mountains whose peaks reach over 9,000 feet. On the semi-tropical east coast, near Rio de Janeiro, another picturesque mountain range receives the admiration of thousands of tourists yearly who come to participate in the gay carnival activities or bathe in one of Brazil’s famous beaches, which are open the entire year. Even in the northern coastal cities on the equator the temperature is pleasant most of the time due to the delightfully cool ocean breezes.
Most of Brazil has only two seasons, winter and summer. Spring and fall are not known to most Brazilians.
This is perhaps the only country in the world where part of it has winter while the rest of it has summer, and vice versa. However, the main difference between a tropical winter and summer is not the temperature, but rather the heavy rainfall in winter compared to light rainfall in summer. While it does not snow in Brazil, yet the extreme south does experience freezing weather in wintertime.
Natural Resources
The products of Brazilian industry and agriculture affect peoples in most parts of the world. The next time you pause for that fragrant cup of coffee, keep In mind that it was probably grown in Brazil. The raw material for the tires of your car may have come from the Amazon region. Bananas and other delectable tropical fruits you eat could have been grown there.
Brazilian iron ore is used for most of the nation’s automobiles, buses and trucks. The thriving textile industry is fed by an everincreasing amount of Brazilian cotton.
A host of other leading products originate here: rice, cattle, timber, sugar cane, chocolate, com, wine, grapes, nuts, mats, mandioc (cassava) and waxes. Metals and stones are in abundance, such as tin, lead, iron, gold, silver, nickel, zinc and diamonds, aquamarine, topaz, amethyst, etc. Yes, many industries with small beginnings have, in a few years, grown into mammoth enterprises contributing to the nation’s progress and development.
One of Brazil’s natural resources is responsible for its name. This is the plentiful brazilwood. Producing a rich purple dye, it was greatly sought after by European traders of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They referred to this as the “land of the brazils,” from which Brazil gets its name.
Government Policy Progressive
While the government is keenly interested in economic expansion, it is also well aware of the need for education to keep pace with physical growth. It has launched an all-out campaign against illiteracy. Many new schools have been built and special training has been given to an everincreasing number of teachers. Free instruction is available for elementary grades, and advanced education is provided for a small tuition. The government cooperates with and encourages private organizations interested in teaching the people to read and write.
This progressive trend is reflected by Brazil’s constitution. Similar to that of the United States, it guarantees freedom for everybody, stating, “Liberty of conscience and belief is Inviolable, and the exercise of religious cults is guaranteed.”
Democratic Brazil has a president, chosen by free elections, and a cabinet, senate and other judicial processes similar to those of other democratic lands. Originally colonized by Portugal, it gained independence in 1822 and developed into the present democratic nation of world importance.
A Hospitable People
Now you may ask, Just what is a Brazilian? As North Americans are usually descendants of various European nationalities, so Brazilians are also descendants of various nationalities, predominantly Portuguese, African and some Indian. Also, there are Germans, Japanese, Spaniards, Italians and others. Since Brazil grants equality of rights to all its many races and classes, it is not uncommon to see mixed marriages and free association of all its peoples in a friendly spirit of interest.
This free association carries over to the religious field. While statistics show that 93.7 percent of the population are Roman Catholic, yet a vast number are not “practicing Catholics” and attend church only for baptism, marriage, or other special occasions. Many have joined some Protestant religion. Spiritualism also flourishes in Brazil. It is not uncommon for persons to be both Catholic and Spiritist at the same time and to participate in the ceremonies of both.
Probably the fastest-growing religious group in the country is Jehovah’s witnesses. In 1945 there were only 344 active ministers, but now almost 20,000 are regularly visiting the homes of hospitable Brazilians, from the most remote jungle outpost to the very heart of the industrial center of the nation. These progressive Christians are intensely interested in the people and desire to assist them in acquiring an accurate knowledge of God and his purposes.
Brazilians are very friendly and freely engage in conversation while traveling, always willing to aid one who is in need of help. Their language? Not the Spanish usually associated with South America, but Portuguese. You may be surprised to learn that about one half of the continent’s population speak Portuguese, not Spanish, since they live within Brazil’s borders.
The Brazilian is very expressive in the use of his language, though often he uses a gesture in place of a spoken word. If he enjoys something, especially food, he grabs his ear lobe, which means “It is excellent.” When you go to visit him you may clap your hands. This corresponds to knocking on his door. He invites you in, shakes hands and at the same time pats you vigorously on the back with the left hand. If it is near mealtime, he will always invite you to share food with him, even if he has very little. When you get up to leave, he will ask you to stay longer, since “it is still early.” When you do leave and shake hands, he will ask you to forgive him for having said or done anything that may have made your visit unpleasant. Upon entering a group it is customary to shake hands with each one, and again when leaving.
Homes are comfortable and vary greatly in different parts of the country. Along the rivers they are built of wood, straw and bamboo, often on floating logs that rise and fall with the water level in flood season^ In the large cities modem, reinforced concrete apartment buildings are equipped with elevator service, hot and cold water, and other conveniences. Many Brazilian homes are further adorned with beautiful orchids, native flowers and plants, or with caged birds or other pets.
Something to Interest All
For inhabitant and visitor alike, Brazil provides a wide range of things to satisfy the curiosity, interests and needs of all. Whether one seeks entertainment, exploration of natural wonders, delightful climate, employment in agriculture or industry, Brazil has it.
What equipment should the visitor bring along? A snake-bite kit? Arms and ammunition as protection from vicious crocodiles, boa constrictors or headhunting Indians? No, none of that, unless you intend to explore some of the remote sections of the distant jungle. It may seem strange to a foreigner, but the vast majority of Brazilians have never seen headhunters, nor have they seen dangerous snakes or wild animals except in their local zoos. This is because about nine tenths of the population live in the well-developed coastal strip a few hundred miles wide.
But for students of natural beauty there remain huge areas, yes, thousands of square miles of untouched, unexplored regions to excite the interest of explorer, naturalist and hunter. Brazil is truly a land of many opportunities!
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4f "A worshiper in Lannion (France) reached into her handbag for her prayer book. Instead, her fingers closed round a piece of stewing steak. 'Oh my stew!’ she shrieked, and dashed out of church for home. She lifted the lid of her saucepan. Inside was the prayer book done to a turn.’’—The Nation, Rangoon, Burma, January 26,1959.
By "Awake!” correspondent in Chile
AT 6 a.m., Saturday, May 21, almost everyone in Concepcidn, Chile, was sound asleep. It was the morning of the national holiday to celebrate Chile’s onetime naval victory over Peru. The weekend promised to be one of gaiety, festivity and parades.
But at 6:05 a.m. the earth appeared to roll over on its side, and Concepcion, along with 600 miles of the nation’s coast, was in for a rude awakening. First, there was a gentle shake. Then it became a roar, and the houses rocked like toy boats in a choppy sea and brick fire walls two feet thick crumpled like tissue paper. Front walls, side walls, ceilings and roofs all fell together. Some of these collapsed toward the street, others fell inward on sleeping children and parents. Cities and villages seemed to disintegrate.
In the mountains six long-inactive volcanoes erupted, spewing red-hot lava, smoke and ashes 23,000 feet into the sky. Two new volcanoes were born, two small mountains sank out of sight, new lakes were formed and for 25 miles the earth sank a thousand feet! Eleven persons in one community were swallowed up by molten lava. In another community 113 were buried alive under the landslides that crashed down the Andean slopes.
“The whole world seemed to be shaking and shivering," said one survivor, "Everything danced in a terrible rhythm.” The earth beneath rocked ’n’ rolled so crazily that people found it hard to stand on their feet. Earthquake after earthquake convulsed the land so that in a week’s time over one hundred earth shocks had been registered, four of them of major force. The sixth shock was about equal to the San Francisco quake in 1906.
When the week’s "dance of death" was over, 13 of Chile’s 25 provinces were affected, some 5,700 persons were dead or missing, over 2,200,000 Chileans, a quarter of the country’s population, were homeless, fighting for their lives. The property damage was unofficially estimated at $500,-000,000.
Giant waves set in motion by the quakes rolled at jet-plane speed of 450 miles an hour across the Pacific. The city of Hilo, Hawaii, 6,800 miles away, was mercilessly crushed. In 24 hours Shizukawa, Japan, 10,700 miles away, was struck by 35-foot-high waves that left portions of the city in ruins. In Japan and Okinawa 180 were killed, 850 injured and some 150,000 persons were left homeless. Alaska and New Zealand, Australia and the Philippine Islands all felt the fury of the seismic sea waves.
A Horrifying Experience
At Concepcion, which has been de. stroyed five times in the past by earth, quakes, only the earthquake-proof build. Ings survived the first encounter with nature; the rest collapsed with hardly a struggle. In some places the level of the houses dropped six to ten feet below the street level. The terrible jolt left the province of Conception with 125 dead, most of whom were young folks under thirty years of age.
One father first helped his wife to safety as his small son called to him, “Papa, here I am.” When the father went to look for him, the boy was dead. Another father dug frantically in the dark at the bricks pressing on the chest of his daughter and pulled her out, almost asphyxiated but unscratched. A woman leaped out of bed and ran to the side of her children when she felt the quake. Hardly had she reached them when the thick concrete-and-brick wall of the woolen null crashed down on her bedroom and kitchen, demolishing them completely. Unable to open the jammed doors to escape with her children, she huddled in one corner with them until daylight and rescue came.
People everywhere were rushing into the streets. There were lightning flashes across the darkened sky, and a red glow from the fire that broke out in the chemical laboratory of the three-story girls’ school began to illuminate the desolation all around. Wails of misery, the frantic sobbing of children, the noise of falling buildings, the yelping and whining of dogs, the cries of the wounded and the continued falling of old walls in recurring rumbling tremors all added to the terror of the moment. As if that were not enough, it began to rain on the benumbed groups standing between the piles of bricks in the streets. No one dared to return to the ruins of his house to look for a coat or an umbrella. They just stood dazed in the cold winter drizzle waiting. At daybreak, as far as the eye could see in every direction, there were ruins.
In the hours that followed, the people tried to cope with the simple necessities of life. There was no water, no electricity and no gas. The wounded had to be taken somehow to the hospital; the dead had to be buried. With only the death certificate in hand, some families carried their dead to the cemetery just as they were. Others improvised boxes. There was no money for the fancy trimmings of undertakers, neither was there the necessity of wakes.
That night few persons went into their homes to go to bed. Some slept in automobiles, others on park benches and still others sat in makeshift seats in front of gaping houses with a glowing brazier of coals at their feet. Some sobbed, others prayed. But few persons sought refuge in the churches, perhaps because many of them were irreparably damaged. Practically all the images in the new Roman Catholic cathedral in Concepcion and in at least four other churches were destroyed. The image of San Jose was decapitated when it plunged from its pinnacle to the sidewalk. The huge image of the Virgin Mary on the top of Seminary Hill was also toppled from its pedestal. A huge cement cross fell to the sidewalk, while a cross with two crossbars remained standing. Now the superstitious may wonder, Which type of cross is the right one ?
Sunday's Jolt in Puerto Montt
Some miles south of Concepcion lies the beautiful city of Puerto Montt, a center for tourists and noted for its natural loveliness. On Sunday, May 22, at 2:58 p.m. the earth below the city began to rumble and quake. People ran into the streets. There they waited. Then fifteen minutes later, it began again. There was a loud underground roar, then a jolt that knocked many off their feet. People tried to run, but they could not. They tried to stand, but could not. So on all fours they clawed at mother earth and held tight. When the awful shaking paused, the inhabitants ran for the hills that surround the city. From there they watched the city fall to bits.
Out beyond the bay on the island of Chiloe life seemed at its best. When the first shock was over, people away from home ran for their cars to speed home and care for their families and property. At the coastal town of Pudeto, some of these saw the ocean suddenly draw back from the land, leaving the bottom entirely bare. A car stalled in the middle of the highway, trapping some twelve or fifteen cars. The ocean came back with fury and carried cars and people out to sea. When the ocean brought the vehicles back, they were shapeless masses of steel and chromium, and the people were dead. Other automobiles were caught in the big cracks in the highways opened up by the tremors. People slipped into fissures; others were tossed into them. Some of these holes were seven feet deep.
In the fishing village of La Arena fishermen ran for their boats to seek the safety of the sea, but the sea betrayed them. After the first seismic wave the water receded from the bay, leaving a 40-foot police launch grounded. A few parents lifted their children off the boat, but in the distance they saw an immense black wave covering the entire length of the horizon. At the sight of the wave’s thundering advance, they again hurriedly scrambled aboard the launch, but the sea swallowed up launch and all.
The seismic waves that snuffed out so many lives worked their way up the coast. In Mehuin, while the rest of the inhabitants ran terrified to the hills, one fisherman insisted that his wife and three children remain in their home. “Let the will of God be done!” he shouted. “If we are to die, let him take us'.” Just then the house lost its first floor, and the sea swept away his wife and three children. The fisherman was the only one to survive.
Not only did the sea betray the seamen, but the woodlands betrayed the woodsmen. One of the sixty landslides took a bite two kilometers wide out of a wooded hill and buried the ninety inhabitants of the village of Tranquil with all their houses, chickens and hopes.
Terror increased. Panic broke loose in town after town. Curfews were set and the police guarded against looters. Everywhere cries went up, “God is punishing us!” Members of the Pentecostal religion shut themselves up in their churches and waited for everyone else to be destroyed. When they came out of their churches, they found the same people still wandering about the streets, only, perhaps, somewhat more frightened.
A lOftOO-Mile Disaster
This was no one-nation disaster; it reached out 10,000 miles. The sea that was set in motion by the earthquake raced seismic waves across the Pacific. The waves were harmless until something got in their way. Almost four and a half hours before the first seismic wave struck Hilo, Hawaii, seismic-wave-warning sirens screamed an alert. Radio and television stations flashed bulletins to evacuate low coastal areas. Within the hour that the wave was to strike, the sirens in Hilo screamed five times giving five warnings. Still some people refused to budge from their homes.
Shortly after midnight there were reports of unusual water oscillations. Then at 1:05 a.m. the first of four big waves that hit Hawaii within an hour swept in. Waves that ranged from 15 to 35 feet high swept through 200 acres of Hilo, destroying 500 buildings and homes. The force of the waves picked up whole buildings and tossed them across a street. It cut poles, uprooted trees and bent parking meters, When it was over, 67 persons were dead or missing and over 200 injured. The property damage was estimated at about $60,000,000—the costliest disaster in Hawaii’s peacetime history.
Why so many dead and injured? Simply because the people did not heed the warnings. Police Chief Anthony Paul said the deaths and injuries were due to the people’s false sense of security. Some of them actually went down to the waterfront to watch the waves roll in and to catch stranded fish. Others climbed poles to get a bird’s-eye view of the approaching disaster. Still others went to bed. Some who lived in upstairs apartments thought themselves immune from disaster. Most of these were rudely awakened by the terrifying force of the waves, but many of them never lived to tell the story.
The seismic waves rushed on toward Japan and the Philippine Islands. Five cabled warnings went out to Japan, that the "sea wave has spread across the Pacific." But for some reason no warning was given to thousands of rice farmers and fishermen who live along the shores of the Japanese islands. The first warning that these received was a wave that rolled in on them; fortunately, it was not the biggest.
Why Earthquakes?
Many priests and clergy and a number of their parishioners charge the quakes to the wrath of God. "God is punishing us!” they say. But how can these explain the destruction of churches, their patron saints, images, the property of priests and nuns, the death of infants, children and animals? Are they all wicked? In many cases the godless in their earthquakeproof shelters were the only ones to go scot-free of destruction. Are they a favored lot? Is God’s hand shortened? It is the height of foolishness to charge a loving God with such disasters. His worthy name is blasphemed by such senseless charges.
There are various causes for earthquakes, but God is not one of them. The Standard Reference Work, Volume III, says: "Sometimes an extensive crack forms in certain rock strata, and the rock on one side of the crack settles; or else the roof of an extensive subterranean cavity falls in. Other shocks originate in disturbances arising from an outburst of volcanic lava. . . . The nature of an earthquake shock may be illustrated by giving a table a sharp, quick, light tap with a hammer. A marble lying on the table will bound to a height of several inches, although the surface of the table cannot have vibrated, itself, more than one-ten-thousandth part of that distance. In this way a slight tremor or jar of the earth is quite sufficient to fling people out of bed, throw dishes out of a pantry, or bring stone walls tumbling down.” Most earthquakes happen in the upper ten miles of the surface of the earth, but some do extend to 400 miles below. There is no part of the earth’s surface entirely free from earthquakes, only some are more severe than others.
We can be grateful to God that his missionaries and name people have survived these quakes without loss of life and serious injury. May we always use the good sense he gives to act wisely at such times and be of comfort to persons who need comforting. No doubt, in the new world of God’s making men will be taught how to protect themselves from such disasters. Jehovah promises no ruin in all his holy mountainlike organization, "because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea,’’—Isa. 11:9.
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By *'Awnk*tl correspondenf in Trinidad
HEN a housewife sprinkles a freshly baked cake with a generous layer of shredded coconut, she probably gives little thought as to where this tasty dressing came from. It is unlikely that she will associate it with the bar of soap with which she washed her face that , morning or with the margarine she may have used on the toast she made for the family or with the shortening that may have been used in making their pancakes. But these seemingly unrelated products, so common in homes throughout the world, may come from the same source—the remarkable nut that grows on graceful palm trees, sometimes one hundred feet above the ground.
C In the beautiful tropical islands of Trinidad and Tobago these unusual nuts, are harvested from carefully cultivated palm trees. A single tree may produce one hundred fully-grown nuts in the apace of one year. Some of the coconuts are picked in what is called “the water stage.” This is when the nut is green and contains about a quart of delicious water that makes a refreshing drink. Because of Its popularity, vendors with donkey carts or pickup trucks that are piled high with green coconuts are a familiar sight in this pari of the world. When a vendor sells one of these green nuts, he makes a hole in it by a skillful swing of his heavy knife. The customer then drains the coconut of its tasty water and goes away smacking his lips. A popular alcoholic beverage In the West Indies is a mixture of chilled coconut water and gin.
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