Awake!, November 8, 1960
Download: PDF — Awake!, November 8, 1960
father as a Weapon of War and an Instrument of Peace
wansiting a Canal of Marvels
Wie Strange Profession of Begging
PAGE 20
PAGE 27
Why Does God Permit Persecution?
JUNE 8, 1961
THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL
News sources that are able to keep you awake ta the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awoke!” has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is nat bound by politico! ambitions or obligations; it is unhampered by advertisers whose toes must not be trodden on; it is unpreiudiced by traditional creeds. This journal keeps itself free that it moy speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It mointolns integrity to truth.
"Awake!” uses the regular news channels, but is not dependent on them. Its own correspondents are on all continents, in scores of nations. From the four corners of the earth their uncensored, on-the-scenes reports come to you through these columns. This journal's viewpoint is not narrow, but is international. It is read in many nations, in many languages, by persons of all ages. Through its pages many fields of knowledge pass in review—government, commerce, religion, history, geography, science, social conditions, natural wonders—why, its coverage is as broad as the earth and as high as the heavens.
"Awake!” 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 "Awoke!" Keep awake by reading "Awake!"
Publish rd Simultaneously in the United States by the WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY OF NEW YORK, INC.
117 Adams Street Brooklyn 1, New York. U.S.A.
and in England by WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY Watch Tower House, Ttie Ridgeway London N.W. 7, England
N. H. Knorr. President Grant Suiter. Secretary
Printing thia issue: 3,200,000 a copy (Australia, South Africa, 3/2c)
“Awake 1” h piblkhed In the following 23 languages: Semimonthly—Afrikabns, rinyanja, Danish, Dutch. English, Finnish, French. German, Greek, Italian, Japanese Norwegian. Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Tagaloe, Zulu. Monthly Cebu-VW an, Ilocanc, Korean, Malayalam, Polish, Ukrainian.
Yearly subscription rotes for semimonthly editions
America, U.S., 117 Adams St.r Brooklyn 1. N-T-
Australia, 11 Beresford Hit., Stralhfield, N S W. S/-
Canada, 150 Brlrlgelanii Ave.. Toronto 19, Ont. JI England, Watch Tower Tlmise.
The Ridgeway, London N.W. 7 7/-
Hew Zealand, 621 Sew North Rd.. Auckland, S.W. 1 7/-South Africa, Pilvaie Bag, Elandsfonieln. Trt. 70c Monthly editions cost half the above rates. The Bible translation used In "Awake!’* When ether translations are owl the
AS - American Standard Version /LT - An American Translation AV - Authorised Version (1311) XJa - J. X. Darby's version
Remittances for subscriptions should be sent lo the nlhce in your country. Otherwise send your remittance to Lcndun. Notice of expiration h sent at least Iwo issues before subscription expires.
CHANGES OF ADDRESS should reach u thirty days before year moylrtg date. Give us your old and new address (If possible, yoir old address label). Watch Tower, Watch Tower House, The Ridgeway, London N.W. 7, England.
Entered as second-clans matter at Brooklyn, N.Y. Printed in England
Is the New World Translation trt the Holy Scriptures, following symbols will appear bthlnl the citations:
lift? - JaiPes Moffatt's Ter&inn JBo — J. B. Rotherham’s version _?£.£ — Rcn'Lsed Standard Version Yff — Robert Young's version
- Catholic Douoy version E1J — The Emphatic Diaglntt JR - Jewish Publication Soc. Lt8 - Isaac Leaser's version
CONTENTS
Punctuality—A Mark of Thoughtfulness 3
Weather as a Weapon of War and an
Instrument of Peace
Why the Count?
Other People’s Experience
Transiting a Canal of Marvels
Exaggeration
Christian Assemblies: Paris and
Amsterdam
The Strange Profession of Begging
Matter of Principle
Ancient Customs in the
Twentieth Century
End of the Line
“Your Word Is Truth'’
Why Does God Permit Persecution? 27
Watching the World
IPIUNCTTVAILITY
WE ALL, at some time in our life, are likely to have been the victim of another’s tardiness. Such tardiness may have been unavoidable, but more often than not it could have been averted by more planning and foresight. Just as we tend to link tardiness with thoughtlessness, so we link punctuality with thoughtfulness. A lack of thoughtfulness can victimize people of considerable time. A Swiss man, for instance, who kept a careful record of his time calculated that in eighty years he had wasted more than five years waiting for tardy people.
The tardy person indeed victimizes other people, but such a person also victimizes himself; for the one who is habitually late brings disgrace upon himself. In the minds of many persons a habitually tardy person is thoughtless and unreliable and is thus considered undependable in regard to other matters as well. Tardiness robs one of respect, not just for oneself as an individual, but for any organization that such a person represents.
Tardiness is not conducive to good relations and good fellow feeling. Many persons have observed the somewhat pained expression on the faces of those who have been obliged to wait unduly long for a meal or defer their departure because of someone’s lack of punctuality. And what are the feelings of the hostess who has prepared food for a specific time but is unable to serve it because of a tardy person? What are the feelings of the businessman toward those who are late for an appointment? What are the feelings of punctual persons who attend a meeting that does not begin on time?
Punctuality is a mark of thoughtfulness. It requires good planning and foresight. The habitually tardy person sometimes excuses himself by saying that he lacks a sense of time, but is this really so? If it were, he should be ahead of time as often as he is behind time. What he lacks is planning and thoughtfulness, and such can be learned. Another excuse offered for tardiness is, ‘Better late than never,’ but better late than never is not nearly as good as, ‘Better never late.’
Traveling time often has to be considered if one is to be punctual. Allow enough time so that dangerous and nerveexhausting hurry is not necessary. The in-veterately tardy person may regard the catching of a train or plane as a kind of sport in which he gives the train a chance to get away or the airplane a chance to take off without him. But how much safer and how much better to start early so as not to have to hurry on the way!
Because it suggests thoughtfulness, punctuality inspires confidence in a person, and not only in the person but in the organization that he may represent. By being on time you suggest to others that you are a person of your word. When invited to someone’s home for dinner, your punctual arrival suggests to the host or hostess that you are considerate of her and of the other persons that may be present.
The Christian shows his thoughtfulness by being punctual not only for material meals but for spiritual meals, at the Christian congregation. Being on time for public lectures, for instance, shows respect for the speaker, whose carefully prepared introduction sets the theme and scope of the discourse. Above all, being on time for Christian meetings shows respect for the organization that has sponsored- them.
One may not always be able to be on time; sometimes there are unavoidable delays. But these can be kept to a minimum by careful planning and by allowing a margin of safety in regard to travel time. If one is late, an apology is usually in order; such apology is appreciated by those who have been inconvenienced. If a person is unavoidably detained and he knows that he is going to be late, it is thoughtful to telephone the other person at the earliest possible moment. Such a course of action is greatly appreciated and it removes much of that anxiety caused by waiting for a tardy person.
We can show thoughtfulness by being punctual ourselves and by also planning a constructive course of action should we become the victim of someone else’s tardiness. We may not be victimized of five years’ time as was the Swiss who recorded his time, but here is a thought-provoking fact that was uncovered by a University of Wisconsin analysis: The average person spends three years of his lifetime just waiting, whether for tardy people or for some other reason. A Gallup poll that questioned a hundred persons at random reported that every one of them expected to do some waiting during the next few hours, but only one out of eight had any plan for doing something constructive with the time.
Reading and meditation are often possible during waiting periods. Dr. Helen Brandon, a psychological counselor, reported that in one year she spent some 120 hours a month waiting on something or somebody. “During this time,” she said, “I thought of 1000 article ideas, worked on the case histories of more than 100 people, and spent at least one-third of the time relaxing in one way or another.” Some persons faced with waiting periods carry a Bible, another book or a notebook. Some take with them copies of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines and are able to read them during waiting time.
Many persons are tardy because they have never been trained to be punctual. Parents can show thoughtfulness by training their children as to the need for punctuality. Most parents would not think of rearing children without teaching them how to tell time, but do they teach their children the importance of being on time?
Christians, of all people, ought to recommend themselves and the organization they represent by punctuality. “In no way are we giving any cause for stumbling, that our ministry might not be found fault with,” wrote the apostle Paul, “but in every way we recommend ourselves as God's ministers.”—2 Cor. 6:3, 4.
Recommend yourself and what you represent. Be punctual. Your thoughtfulness will be appreciated.
um
ffy When will control finally f be brought about, and hov M'ltlW L- fafr Til 11'■
WEATHER control looms on the horizon as a greater threat to humankind than the hydrogen bomb. Leading climatologist Dr. Hans W. Ahlmann says for that reason that he hopes “man never learns to control the climate of the world.’’ There are far too many opinions and ideas about climate control, he says. “Look at the difference between the ideas of the tourists and the farmer on rain.’’ In fact, already men are warned against “rain stealing.” Some states in America have passed laws claiming ownership of the water in all clouds within their borders to protect themselves from rain thievery. Others warn of weather warfare.
Despite the warnings about the dangers of weather control, scientists state that it is no longer a question of “if” or "when,” but, “Which nation will do it first—the United States or the Soviet Union?” Captain Howard T. Orville, a confirmed believer in weather control, stated: “If an unfriendly nation gets into a position to control the large-scale weather patterns before we can, the results could even be more disastrous than nuclear warfare.”
Echoing similar warnings are men of no less prominence than the United States vice-president Lyndon B. Johnson; Dr. Edward A. Ackerman, deputy executive officer of the Carnegie Institution of Washington; Dr. John Von Neuman, one of the world’s greatest mathematicians; Dr. Henry G. Houghton, chairman of the Department of Meteorology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Dr. Edward Teller, a builder of the hydrogen bomb, and oth-
Lyndon B. Johnson, when a United States senator, stated that “any nation that learned to control the weather would have at its disposal an instrument that could be more potent in controlling the earth than even the hydrogen bomb.” And it is generally agreed that the first nation to “conquer space” will have a decided advantage in this race toward weather and world control.
Reflecting on the Soviet Union’s startling advances in space, Dr. Houghton recently said: “I shudder to think of the consequences of a prior Russian discovery of a feasible method of weather control.” United States Senator Clinton P. Anderson, who said weather control may well be the “ultimate weapon,” gave reason for this dreaded possibility. He said that it would be a way of bringing a nation ‘to its knees,’ by denying it drinking water or by destroying its wheat crop. Weather control would mean a nation could flood cities and scorch farms without inflicting damage to itself, which could not be said if it used thermonuclear blasts. Also realizing the dangers involved in weather control, Dr. Teller told a military committee that the United States could become a second-class power without war if the Russians succeeded in controlling the weather. Perhaps that is why Dr. Ackerman called weather control “tomorrow’s weapon or tomorrow’s disaster.” Both he and Dr.
ers.
Neuman spoke very seriously of the possi-
bility of "weather warfare” and “weather wars.”
Therefore Western militarists are urging that weather control receive top priority. They argue that if Napoleon could have neutralized Russia’s winters the map of Europe would not be what it is today. If the Nazis could have ordered gale storms to batter General Eisenhower’s invasion force off Normandy on June 6, 1944, the whole world might be dominated by Nazism today. Both the Nazis and the Allied armies consulted meteorologists. The Nazis made sure of dry weather before they invaded Poland. And it was under the protection of a fog bank that they squeezed their cruisers'through the English Channel. The Japanese used a cloud bank to conceal their fleet on its way to Pearl Harbor. General Eisenhower was well aware of the weather and oceanographic predictions before he cast the die for D-Day. On the weatherman’s memorandum, General Eisenhower wrote in longhand: “Thanks, and thank the god of war we went when we did! . . . D.E.”
Well aware of the frightful-possibilities of weather as a weapon, world leaders shudder as the race for weather control reaches its climax.
The Weather Weapon Not New
Long before man thought of weather as a weapon, God the Creator used the elements to wipe out a world. Jehovah God, “a manly person of war,” declared to Noah: “In just seven days more I am making it rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe every existing thing that I have made off the surface of the ground.” This he did by exercising perfect control over the weather.-—Ex. 15: 3; Gen. 7:4,17-24.
During the time of Moses, Jehovah God warred against Pharaoh and his hosts by the use of weather. God caused thunder, hail, fire and darkness to sweep Egypt, and a thick cloud to protect the Israelites from the Egyptian forces. Before having the Israelites cross the Red Sea he caused the east wind to dry the sea bottom so that they crossed over on dry ground. Then he buried the Egyptians in the midst of the Red Sea when they followed after the Israelites. This is weather control.'-—Ex. 9: 18, 23; 10:21-23; 14:19-28.
In Captain Joshua’s day “Jehovah hurled great stones from the heavens” upon the enemies of Israel, and “more got to die who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword.” (Josh. 10:11) In the days of Barak and Deborah, Jehovah caused the elements to help in the fight against Sisera. The inspired account tells us: “From heaven did the stars fight . . . The torrent of Kishon washed them away.” The enemies of Jehovah perished by weather warfare, and that over 3,000 years ago!—Judg. 5: 20.
At the battle of Armageddon Jehovah will again call upon the elements with which to wage war. To his prophet Job Jehovah says: “Have you entered into the storehouses of the snow, or do you see even the storehouses of the hail, which I have kept back for the time of distress, for the day of fight and war?” (Job 38: 22, 23) That day of “fight and war” is Armageddon, in which Jehovah wiJJ annihilate all wicked opposers to his righteous incoming new world. At Ezekiel 13:13, 14 Jehovah tells us in part how he will do that destroying work: “I will also cause a blast of windstorms to burst forth in my rage, and in my anger there will occur a flooding downpour, and in rage there will be hailstones for an extermination. And I wiii tear down the wall that you men have plastered with whitewash and bring it into contact with the earth, and its foundation must be exposed. And she will certainly fall, and you must come to an end in the midst of her; and you will have to know that I am Jehovah.” Yes, antitypical Israel, that is, Christendom, and all the world will come to taste of weather warfare when Jehovah vindicates his name at Armageddon, “the war of the great day of God the Almighty.”—Rev. 16:14, 16.
Controlled Weather for Peaceful Uses
It is good also to know that Jehovah, who controls the weather in a perfect way, will use weather control to the blessing of mankind in the new world, even as he did in his typical theocracy Israel. Through his mouthpiece Moses, Jehovah told the Israelites: “If you continue walking in my statutes and keeping my commandments and you do carry them out, then I shall certainly give your showers of rain at their proper time and the land will indeed give its yield and the tree of the field will give its fruit. And your threshing will certainly reach to your grape gathering, and the grape gathering will reach to the sowing of seed, and you will indeed eat your bread to the full and dwell in security in your land.” (Lev. 26:3-5) What a comfort these words must have been to the new nation of Israel! No crop failures. No droughts, no hailstorms, floods or insect plagues to ruin their crops—if they remained obedient to Jehovah their God. Obedience to God was a prime requisite to national security.
In the closing years of his life Moses was again used by God to emphasize this point, saying: “It must occur that if you will without fail obey my commandments that I am commanding you today so as to love Jehovah your God and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul, then I shall certainly give rain for your land at its appointed time, autumn rain and spring rain, and you will indeed gather your grain and your sweet wine and your oil. And I shall certainly give vegetation in your field for your domestic animals, and you will indeed eat and be satisfied.” (Deut. 11:13-15) So weather control does not rest with man’s knowledge of the elements, but with knowledge of God’s commands and happily obeying them. For Jehovah, who controls the weather, blesses or withholds his blessing accordingly.
For example, the psalmist called for the people to “make melody to our God on the harp, the One who is covering the heavens with clouds, the One preparing rain for the earth.” Yes, the Israelites appreciated that rain was of God. The prophet Zechariah told God’s covenant people to “make your requests of Jehovah for rain in the time of the spring rain, even of Jehovah who is making the storm clouds, and who gives a downpour of rain to them, to each one vegetation in the field.” When the nation became stubborn and rebellious at heart and turned aside from walking in Jehovah’s way, the prophet Jeremiah tells us they did not say in their hearts: “Let us, now, fear Jehovah our God, the One who is giving the downpour and the autumn rain and the spring rain in its season, the One who guards even the prescribed weeks of the harvest for us.” “Your own errors have turned these things away, and your own sins have held back what is good from you people,” said Jeremiah to a people who had turned away from the true God Jehovah.—Ps. 147:7, 8; Zech. 10:1; Jer. 5:24, 25.
Weather in a Modern World
Of course, that was under the typical kingdom of Israel, but what about today? We still live on the same earth, under like clouds, and the same God lives on! But how many nations have sought out his commands and live according to them? Remember, God-controlled weather was conditional—the condition was that the nation remain obedient to Jehovah’s laws and commandments. What earthly nation can boast such obedience today? Therefore, they have turned away from God to meteorologists, weather scientists, for some hope of weather control. But after a long and familiar acquaintance with the weather, man’s attempts to bring it into subjection for the most part continue to be frustrated. Men have built dams, seeded clouds, created lakes, planted forests, diverted rivers, and still there are droughts, cyclones, tornadoes, hurricanes, hailstorms and thunderstorms. Unseasonal weather and famines persist.
It is no small undertaking to try to harness the weather. Earth’s seething sea of air extends 500 to 600 miles into space. The ocean of air around the earth is so huge, Dr. Harry Wexler of the United States Weather Bureau pointed out, that if the air were divided up for observation among all the people on earth, each human would have two million tons of air to keep an eye on. Another report states: “The weight of this great blanket of gas is stupendous, though man is unaware of it because of the equal and countervailing pressure of the air and fluids within his body. The pressure exerted upon him and upon the entire earth is 2,016 pounds per square foot. The whole burden of the atmosphere pressing down upon the earth totals about 5,000,000,000,000,000 tons—the equivalent of a slab of granite 1,000 miles long, 2,000 miles wide and half a mile thick.” Without the atmosphere there would be no wind, no clouds, no rain, no weather. Man actually lives at the bottom of this massive sea that is hundreds of miles deep. And his chances for controlling it are about the same as the chance a fish has to control the oceans in which it lives.
The causes of air turbulence are subtle and infinite in number. High above in the ionosphere, we are told, barrages of charged particles or violent bursts of radiation from 'the sun stir up air movements that may have subtle but as yet unknown consequences. The atmosphere catches and consumes by friction some 100,000,000 meteors that fall into earth’s gravitational field each day from outer space. These too may disrupt the otherwise relatively stable balance in the atmosphere. On earth there are all sorts of temperature variations caused from irregular flow patterns of the earth’s surface, such as mountains, valleys, prairie lands, huge forests, plowed fields, lakes, rivers and oceans, and all of these affect the flow of air and thus have a direct bearing on the weather. All of this must be taken into consideration when we speak of weather control to any appreciable degree. It would be much easier and by far more intelligent to learn God’s commands and live according to his ways and let him control the weather. Eventually that is what will be done anyway.
After Armageddon in Jehovah’s new world, the God who controls the weather will in a literal way fulfill the promise: “I will cause the pouring rain to descend in its time. Pouring rains of blessing there will prove to be. And the tree of the field must give its fruitage, and the land itself will give its yield, and they will actually prove to be on their soil in security.” (Ezek. 34:26, 27) Obedience to God will bring weather control, and weather control will bring security and prosperity.
So our earth is due for some drastic weather changes. Not by weather scientists will these changes come, however, but by God, who in Armageddon will use it as a weapon of war to destroy the wicked and in the righteous new world as an instrument of peace for the blessing of humankind obedient to his will.
By “Awaktl” corespondent rn
Panama
HOW many are we? This intriguing question is periodically asked by many governments of the world, and the answer is sought by the simple means of counting noses. But when the census taker calls at a home, he puzzles many householders by asking questions that are not even remotely related to the task of finding out how many people there are. Some of the questions may even appear to be very personal. Although a householder may not see how his ability to read and write or what kind of stove he has in his kitchen is related to a census, the information a census gathers may ultimately result in benefits for him.
Census-taking is not a modern innovation. It was used by rulers many thousands of years ago. In those days a census was principally for the purpose of conscripting manpower for military service or for levying taxes. Today it has been broadened so as to be far more informative.
Census Day in Panama was December 11, 1960. No one left home that day until one of the 8,200 census takers had called. After questioning a person, the census taker gave him a card to show that he had been contacted. To insure good results, the government recruited teachers and students that were in schools of higher learning to make up most of the census takers. On the average, each received five dollars for his work. To make the work easier, all stores remained closed until late in the afternoon. Anyone that could not be home was permitted to register during the week before Census Day.
Results
The tabulation of the census thus far has produced encouraging information for the government. It reveals an increase in Panama’s population in every province with the exception of Taboga Island in Panama Bay, where there was a decrease of forty-four inhabitants during the last ten years. As a whole, Panama has had a population increase since 1950 of 32 percent. It is interesting to note that in two provinces women outnumbered the men by almost 10,000.
On the basis of previous census-takings the government was able to anticipate an average yearly increase of twenty-nine persons to every thousand. It was even able to predict the arrival of the one millionth inhabitant. At the present rate of increase it sees a population for Panama of two million by 1980. It has already begun studying the problems that will arise down to the year 2,000, if the population continues to increase at the present rata. Without a periodic census to determine the rate of increase, this would be difficult to do.
By examining the answers put on the census questionnaire, the government can determine the requirements of public sanitation today and in the future. It can learn what is needed in the way of adequate and safe water supplies, sewage disposal, health centers, what areas need attention in the antimalarial campaign and eradication of pests, and what will be the demand for various vaccines and serums in its war against smallpox, yellow fever and infantile paralysis.
The census can serve as a gauge to measure the effectiveness of the country’s educational program. Because the 1950 census revealed that there were 150,000 Panamanians (not counting native Indians) ten or more years of age who could neither read nor write, education directors were stimulated to work out a plan for educating these people. This resulted in an arrangement whereby Panamanian teachers could be trained in Mexico, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. The need for more educational equipment was seen as well as a redistribution of the schools themselves. The fact that some 50,000 children of school age were without schools made this imperative.
Economy
As with other countries, Panama has benefited economically from census reports. The total evaluation of existing farm animals and agricultural products was set in the 1950 census at 55 million dollars. This was good, but the fact that 58 percent of the workers in the country had a monthly income of less than seventy-five dollars stirred up public opinion' to demand the establishment of a just minimum wage.
That same census brought to the attention of the government, for the first time, the nation’s agricultural resources. This helped greatly in providing a picture of the economic health of the country. In the agricultural census beginning April 16, 1961, the government planned to seek more information than it did in 1950. Besides asking about the number of farm animals and fowl, it planned to inquire about the extent to which farm land is being utilized, the use of irrigation, the use of fertilizers and the use of farm machinery. A deeper probe into the nation’s economy will be made in 1962, when the government will conduct a census of the commercial and industrial activities in Panama.
An analysis of the 1950 census revealed that Panama was losing many benefits from its agriculture through lack of adequate roads and market centers. In three quarters of the farming areas, the farmers had to transport their produce to distant markets on horseback or on foot. They would then have to sell the produce at prices that did not compensate for their efforts. This fact stimulated projects for more roads and highways throughout the agricultural zones. Several national agencies have co-operated with the farmers to remove many of the difficulties revealed by the census.
Another surprising revelation from the 1950 census was the fact that two thirds of the farmers in Panama were squatters. This knowledge caused the government to provide easier means by which the farmers could acquire free title to the land. Thus the census brought benefits to the Panamanian farmers.
Housing
Census reports give a government a clearer picture of the housing needs and problems in a country. By means of the 1950 census officials in Panama learned about the number of rooms in each livingunit in the country, the materials used in constructing them, the sanitary conditions, whether there was electricity and whether the living-unit was rented or owned by the occupants. When it was owned by those living in it, the census inquired as to whether it was paid for or nearly so. All this information proved useful in considerations of the nation’s housing problems.
The 1960 census has broadened this inquiry by seeking information about radios In the homes, refrigerators and the type of stoves the people use. It also inquired about home industries such as the preparing and selling of food, making clothing and so forth.
Effect of Population Changes
The results of a census can cause changes in maps as well as in a government itself. As concentrations of people increase or shift from one place to another, maps have to be adjusted to show this as well as boundary changes of districts that are consequently made. Where appreciable increases in the population are revealed by a census, the government has to make changes in the number of representatives in its legislative body. The 1960 census in the United States, for example, caused the states of New York and Pennsylvania to lose three seats in the House of Representatives. California gained seats. This was due to a shift in the population that was revealed by the census. When a city receives financial aid from a state or from the central government according to the size of its population, a census can cause marked changes in the amount of aid received. When the 1960 census revealed a drop in the population of New York city, the city officials were greatly disturbed because this revelation could cause a reduction in the aid the city receives from the state.
Although a householder may not appreciate the need for some of the information a census taker may ask him, governments have learned that a census can be most informative in checking on the pulse of a nation. By means of it, officials can determine the weaknesses in the national structure and be informed on the needs of the people. This information helps them to solve problems and institute changes that bring benefits to the people as a whole. These benefits make a periodic census a desirable thing in the growing nations of our modem world, and they supply an answer to the question, Why the count?
Other People's Experience
-g "We can get into more trouble by ignoring the lessons of experience than in almost any other way,’’ says The Royal Bank of Canada Monthly Letter for May, 1957. "If we depended upon our own personal experience for our learning, we should find ourselves with scanty knowledge, thin in some places and utterly lacking elsewhere. The ambitious person says, ’Out of whose book can I take a leaf?’ and he proceeds to make the experience of other people an extension of his own. Some men are never convinced that they know a thing unless they have experienced it. They are rather pitiable in their refusal to listen to anyone but themselves; like an obstinate ship’s captain who has to learn by many wrecks how to avoid the rocks.”
The best way to avoid the rocks of disaster is to steer by the principles of God’s Word the Bible, benefiting, too, from the many experiences of others recorded therein that “were written for our instruction.”—Rom. 15:4.
in
Panama
truly call it a canal of marvels.”
Satisfied with this understandable answer, Johnny, after being dismissed from the table, ran
“Papa,” he asked, “where
LERT, observant six-and-a-half-year-old Johnny shifted the focus of his searching brown eyes from the plate of his native arroz con polio (rice and chicken) to his father, seated across the table from him.
By "Awoke!" correspondent
does the food go after it goes into the tube out of my mouth? [For on a previous occasion his father had assured him that such was the case.] What happens to it? How does it get all the way to my head and fingers and toes?”
Where is the child that has not propounded such questions? Where the adult that has not been engrossed, even in this speeded-up space age, with the envisioning of the ordinary, yet superb, processes involved in answer to them?
So this responsibility-accepting father, instead of dismissing his son with an ‘oh, now-do-not-be-silly—run-a 1 o n g -a n d-p 1 a y ’ remark, interestedly answered: “Son, these large pieces or blocks of food that we eat have to be torn or broken down into little blocks so tiny that they become liquid, and then the blood carries them to all parts of the body to feed them. This change takes place in different parts of the ‘tube’ you just mentioned, and it is also called a canal. No, not the waterway you know about, the Panama Canal, but the digestive or alimentary canal. And since the changes that take place are so great and so wonderfully accomplished, we can along to his play, and the food that he had eaten continued its transit of the digestive tract, commonly referred to as
The Alimentary Canal
This highly specialized canal, together with its accessory organs and glands, old as humankind, yet independent of human ingenuity and uncreated by human skill, not only bears eloquent testimony to a dexterous and economical Creator, but also continues to efficiently fulfill its purpose for man’s benefit. Its amazing processes, both physical and chemical, many of which could be accomplished outside the body under controlled conditions, but over a much longer period of time, have been the object of intelligent observations for many years and to this day remain a wonder in a world where modern laboratory methods have made an even more minute scrutiny possible.
Compared to the fifty-mile stretch of Canal so familiar to Johnny, the twenty-five- to thirty-foot length of this one is quite short. Just as in the Panama Canal, where complete and efficient co-ordination of activity is effected through the control towers, so in this canal all its processes are centrally directed from the master ‘control tower,’ the brain, by means of intricate nerve impulses. And, as in the former Canal mighty lock-gates smoothly operate at the entrance and exit of the lock chambers, so in the latter various valves guard its numerous chambers. Each has its aids to navigation so necessary for successful manipulation; each, its hazards. Unlike the former, which operates for the purpose of safely transporting, intact, mighty ocean liners of precious cargo from one ocean to the other, this laboratory of marvels has as its goal the complete unmasking of the identity of whatever comes into port, selecting and changing what is acceptable to the body into an assimilable form and eliminating what cannot be used. So in this continuous tube extending from the mouth, through the pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines to the anus, a succession of elaborate mechanical and chemical actions convert all kinds of food (proteins, starches, sugars and fats) into simple substances, which can be absorbed as nutrition to the body.
With the motive of quickening just a little the appreciation of what is involved in this remarkable change, rather than attempting a final say on its many reactions, the pleasurable opportunity of transiting this canal of marvels by means of the observations of those who have studied and are constantly analyzing and experimenting with it is most rewarding. Those in the know say that it requires from sixteen to twenty-four hours for the food to travel the full length of the alimentary canal. The entire transit is filled with thrills as one contemplates the wisdom, power and accuracy of the One who established the laws governing the perfect co-ordination of its mechanical and chemical aspects to effect the purpose of the digestive processes.
From Mouth to Stomach
Appetite-teasing aromas from the kitchen, or perhaps the persisting desire to eat, if one is hungry, alert the whole alimentary canal of a normal, healthy person. Muscles are stimulated for action; glands are incited; the whole system is poised for closest co-operation. The mouth “waters” as the salivary glands, three sets of them strategically located, have been spurred to secrete sufficient of their daily output of upward of a quart of sdliva to prepare this ‘port of entry’ for the reception of food—preferably a well-balanced, well-prepared, attractively served meal. And as the “grinders” or teeth tear and grind to bits the food received into this nearly oval-shaped mouth cavity, enzyme-ridden saliva lubricates and moistens it. More than that, one enzyme selectively attacks the starchy portion of the food and starts transforming it into sugar, and another begins work on that to tear it down into a still simpler form.
The soft, pulpy mass of food, now ready to be swallowed, does not simply drop by gravitational pull into the stomach. Swallowing is accomplished by a combination of movements of the tongue, cheeks and muscles ctf the approximately five-inch-long, somewhat cone-shaped throat cavity behind the mouth, nose and larynx called the pharynx. Let a Textbook of Anatomy and Physiology describe this so seemingly insignificant process: “The muscles draw the pharynx upward and dilate it to receive the food; then they relax, the pharynx sinks and the other muscles, contracting upon the food, it is pressed downward and onward into the esophagus,” or gullet, into the next ‘chamber’ in the canal. Continuing its four- to eight-second journey down this nine- or ten-inch-long comparatively straight tube that penetrates the diaphragm and terminates in the upper end of the stomach, the food mass is moved along by peristalsis, a gentle wavelike motion resulting from dilation of the outer and inner layer of muscles, respectively, of its walls. Clearing the gullet, the traveling food passes through the cardiac orifice, the ringlike sphincter muscle ‘lock-gate’ closes and it is now
In the Stomach
It is said that perhaps this is as little understood by the majority of its owners as any organ of the digestive tract. In the article “Mysterious Stomach—Always in Trouble” in Life magazine for November 7, 1958, the writer interestingly said that the stomach is “a curious combination of the reliable and the unpredictable. ... To the layman the stomach is an accident-prone, allergy-ridden, acid-haunted troublemaker, and it is blamed for almost everything that goes wrong inside the owner’s body. It appears to be subject to a variety of unpleasant malfunctions and sensations: food poisoning, nausea, gastritis, ulcers, over-eating, heartburn and just plain indigestion. . . . But most doctors disagree with this lay view. Far from being an uneasy and unreliable source of anguish, they say, the stomach is really exceptionally tough, trustworthy and hard-working. It rarely causes serious trouble, and then only if grossly abused. It will accept without complaint virtually anything that is passed along to it that is not actually poisonous.”
In simplest terms the stomach is a “sac-like dilation” of the alimentary tract, and is situated principally behind the lower ribs, its blind, rounded end to the left of the heart, and its opposite smaller end under the liver. Being so subject to change, it practically defies accurate measurement; for when it is empty, it may resemble a “deflated balloon” measuring from twelve to sixteen inches from top to bottom as it "limply hangs from the esophagus.” When digesting food, it assumes a shape “roughly resembling an outsized kidney bean and measures only eight inches from top to bottom.” Versatile, its capacity varies from one to three quarts of food and liquid for the average eater to six quarts for the habitual overeater.
Target for scrutiny that it is by doctors, recipient of unjust accusations that it is by the average individual, the stomach is, nevertheless, a very dependable part of one’s anatomy. At least three times a day it at once adapts itself to receive rather large quantities of food and retain it, and later dispense it in small amounts after it has been worked over. And what fascinating changes do take place in it! Why its very structure lends itself to the task it is to perform! As soon as food enters it the writhing of its walls’ three layers of muscles (one oblique, one round and one long), in response to the command from the central nervous system, begins to mash food to a thin, grayish mush called chyme. The innermost layer of its thick, resilient wall is a very soft mucous membrane of many creases and folds, richly supplied with blood vessels and nerve fibers, and honeycombed by tiny shallow pits into which glands, some 35 million of them, open, pouring out their enzymes through five million ducts. It is here that the very toughest piece of meat meets its “Waterloo” as the secreted pepsin completely dismantles its individuality; it is here that sweet milk sours as secreted renin changes its liquid form into soft, smooth curds. Yes, it is here that proteins in general begin to be unmasked—to subside from being too choosy about their form—as they are broken down by three stages: acid metaproteins, proteoses, and peptones. Since all this is accomplished only in an acid base, these glands also supply the acid, hydrochloric by name, and so corrosive that "it would blister your palm in an instant—an acid powerful enough to cause a second degree bum.” Yet the stomach itself is spared being digested by a protective, resistant mucous lining.
As for the starches, it is debatable as to whether the action of the saliva continues here in this turbulent "chamber” or whether further action is suspended from the time it leaves the mouth until it has left this part of the canal. With the exception of their being liberated from other foodstuffs, and the slight action of a third enzyme called gastric lipase upon the emulsified fats like cream, the fats of the meal retain their identity until the next portion of the channel is being navigated. Thus, after about four hours of constant churning and kneading in this chemically infiltrated compartment, the now-macerated food is ready to pass through the pyloric "lock-gate,” in small portions and at regular intervals into
The Intestines
Extending from the lower end of the stomach to the large intestine, the twenty-to twenty-five-foot convoluted tube, the small intestine, fills the greater part of the abdominal cavity. In it more digestion takes place than in any other organ of the alimentary canal, and absorption into the blood is negotiated. Its inner mucous lining is studded with some twenty million glands that secrete intestinal enzymes or “aids” for each particular kind of food, elements that act as activators to the pancreatic enzymes or as dividers of food elements, such as proteins, into the final form for absorption into the blood. About four or five inches below the stomach, ducts from the pancreas and liver open into the small intestine, pouring out their enzymes for the completion of the chemical breakdown of proteins into amino acids; of starches and compound sugars into simple sugars; and of fats into fatty acids and glycerin. The amino acids, simple sugars and fatty acids are the forms in which the food taken into the mouth some eight or nine hours earlier can be absorbed into the blood.
Throughout its entire length this tube is coated or lined with submucous and mucous membrane arranged in circular folds, which never disappear even when the intestine is distended. These prevent the food from passing through too quickly as it is being thoroughly exposed to digestive juices. Covered with millions of minute, fingerlike projections called villi, this lining, velvetlike in appearance, presents an absorptive surface of well over a hundred square feet.
Movements of two kinds are observed in this “chamber”: (1) peristaltic, or the “quick succession of waves of contraction and inhibition passing slowly along” and which serves to keep the food moving onward through the canal; and (2) pendular segmentation consisting of “local constrictions of the intestinal wall” which occur “rhythmically at points where masses of food lie.” The purpose of these latter movements is vividly described as “to divide the string of food into a number of equal segments. Within a few seconds each of these is halved and the corresponding halves of adjoining segments unite. ... In this way every particle of food is brought into intimate contact” with the folds of the walls and is mixed thoroughly with the digestive juices.
At this stage in the twenty-four-foot journey, absorption of most of the meal has taken place and the remaining sudsy froth passes into the large intestine by means of the ileocecal valve. Here, although no digestive enzymes are secreted, limited digestion continues in the remaining unabsorbed food already mixed with digestive fluids, and absorption terminates. The undigested and indigestible parts of the food, now so much freer of liquid than when they left the small intestine, are evacuated from the body as waste products.
Hazards, to Recognize and to Avoid
This canal has its hazards too. Briefly to be mentioned are (1) bacteria—always present to a greater or less extent—that may find their way into the system. Ordinarily they are destroyed by the hydrochloric acid in the stomach. In a remarkable way any escaping ones are usually routed by chemicals in the digestive process farther on. If not, then a doctor may have to be consulted. (2) Exhaustion, which can slow down the processes to such an extent that not sufficient “aids” or enzymes are secreted to stop fermentation, which may cause much discomfort by pressure due to gas. (3) Emotional stress, particularly anger, which may cause the stomach to boil combatively in its oversupply of acid; fear, perhaps causing it to lie still or become nauseated; and overanxiety, which so frequently results in loss of appetite with consequent lack of zest for food necessary to trigger digestive processes. (4) Overeating, which overtaxes the entire system, as it violates the principle of moderation in all things.
COMING IN THE NEXT ISSUE
• Why Ba a Christian?
* Beauty and Cosmetics.
• The Valiant Fire Fighters.
• Travel by Air.
* Defeating Death in the High Alps.
Filled with gratitude to the Maker of such a fascinating mechanism, and for food to put into it; possessed of self-control with gladness and joy of heart; and moved by love for the prospect of using the benefits accrued from it to the glory of the great Creator who made us in such a ‘fearinspiring’ way, one will be helped to overcome many of the hazards common to this canal of marvels and will be anxious to safeguard its amazing processes. '
Exaggeration
This is "a day of wild superlatives and exaggerated ecstasy,” says Charles W. Ferguson in Say It with Words. ‘Tn the nomenclature of business we face daily habitual exaggeration that must have its effect on our own speech and writing; and it calls attention not only to itself (though with less and less effect), but also to the values of restraint and moderation in writing and the need of accurate simplicity if we are to be convincing. Instances of gross but commonplace exaggeration are too conspicuous today to need more than a passing reference. ... A film or a television program is the biggest, the best, the most dramatic, the most hilarious, the most exciting thing that has appeared. And when it is not, it is colossal or supercolossal. . . . All of which means that we have used up the superlatives of the language and left no reserve. ... It is the extreme, that we would be well advised in our writing and speaking to avoid, thinking perhaps'of the fellow who stood up in prayer meeting and said he had shed barrels and barrels of tears over his habit of telling tall stories.”
ARIS—a city with a reputation among tourists for art, finery and sex. But it is possible to come to Paris for reasons more noble than worldly pleasures. Particularly will this be so for the thousands of Christian witnesses of Jehovah who will be in Paris from August 1 to 6 for their principal French-language convention this year.
They will not be coming for a lark or a spree, nor even just for tourism. Paris has a thriving congregation of clean-living Christian witnesses, and it will be to get to know these and the thousands of other French-speaking brothers that Paris will attract many Witnesses from abroad this year.
Paris proper is divided into twenty administrative districts, and within these there is at present a congregation of 705 Witnesses organized into nine units. However, Greater Paris has some forty congregations in all, with 3,068 active ministers as of December, 1960. All these are busily preparing to provide or to find rooming accommodations for their Christian brothers who will be coming to attend this assembly.
The assembly will be held at the Parc des Princes, a sports stadium and an ideal convention spot. It is an open-air stadium capable of seating some 40,000 people. It is situated on the extreme western limits of Paris, in an airy residential section near the famous park called the Bois de Boulogne. The Metro and several bus lines come within a stone’s throw of the stadium. Car drivers will have no trouble reaching it, since it is located near the fastmoving boulevards ex-t&rieurs and within a short distance from the quais, the riverside boulevards that follow the river Seine.
Unlike the London Underground, in the
Paris Metro you pay a standard fare regardless of the distance traveled. You can buy either individual tickets or little booklets (called carnets') of ten tickets, which work out cheaper. It is also advantageous to buy carnets of tickets on the buses but, except on very short runs, bus travel is dearer than the Metro because you pay according to the distance you travel.
A word about French money for the benefit of those who have not been to France within the past year or so. Back in 1955 the dollar was worth 350 French francs. Today one NF (new franc) is worth approximately 20 U.S. cents, 1/6 sterling, 10 Belgian francs, nine tenths of a Swiss franc and 12 Spanish pesetas. At present both old and new francs are circulating and both are legal tender, so visitors will have to remember that the above equivalents apply to 1 NF or to 100 old francs.
The big attraction, of course, will be the convention program itself. Naturally, the main language for this assembly will be French. But many of the visiting speakers who speak in other languages will use interpreters. Sessions will also be held in Spanish and Polish.
Doubtless those coming from abroad and from the French provinces will be interested in seeing the Watch Tower Society’s new French branch office and printery.
They are located at 81, rue du Point-du-Jour, Boulogne-Billancourt, about a fifteen-minute walk from the Parc des Princes and ten from the nearest Metro station, Porte de Saint Cloud.
Students of Bible history will find much to interest them in the Louvre, one of the richest museums in the world. The Louvre is open every day except Tuesdays, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. But few pastimes are so fatiguing as aimlessly wandering through large museums looking at everything in general and nothing in particular. Know what you want to see before you start out. Paris has much to offer that is constructive and educational, in contrast with its more seamy side, which a Christian would be happier to avoid.
"Widen Out"
This convention will provide a marvelous opportunity to “widen out,” as Paul recommended the Corinthians to do. (2 Cor. 6:13) There has been no central gathering of Witnesses in France since 1955, and since then their number has grown from a monthly average of 8,512 to a new peak of 15,681 in December, 1960. So many thousands will be seeing one another for the first time. Then there will be thousands of French-speaking brothers in attendance from Belgium and Switzerland, and some from Canada and other la'nds. All these will have no trouble in getting acquainted, since they all speak the same language. But they are all determined to “widen out” by getting to know one another and by getting acquainted with the many non-French-speaking brothers that will be present.
A splendid opportunity for coming to know the local brothers, their food and their customs, will be provided to those from abroad who will be staying in private homes. Another fine way to “widen out" will be to have some share in the preaching work during the assembly. The French-speaking Witnesses will be happy to take along their brothers from other lands so that they can get the flavor of the field ministry here. Those willing to “widen out” in this way should meet at the field service department on the assembly grounds.
Are you prepared to widen out your heart to take in the many blessings of this six-day convention? We here in Paris can already hear many thousands of you answering with a resounding Oui!
Amsterdam Awaits Your Coming
Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, has come to enjoy a reputation as one of the crossroads of the world. The busy, well-equipped harbor is fed from the North Sea by the North Sea Canal, while trading boats from various European countries pour in through the Rhine Canal from the south. An important link with the sea is the railroad connecting Amsterdam and the great port of Rotterdam. At least sixty round trips a day between these two cities are possible by rail. This is well supplemented by a brand-new superhighway just opened. Twenty aircraft companies fly planes in from seventy countries on five continents. The Schiphol airport is- only twenty minutes from the heart of Amsterdam,
During the last days of July thousands of Jehovah’s witnesses will be converging on this city by means of these travel arteries, among them about 2,000 from the Flemish section in Belgium and a considerable number from other European countries. They will be pleased by the friendly ways of this “Venice of the North,” so called because of the numerous canals and islands and the more than 500 bridges needed to keep traffic rolling.
These thousands of Jehovah’s witnesses will be arriving, not because Amsterdam excels as a tourist attraction, but chiefly because Amsterdam provides many facilities for conventions, and from August 1 to 6 these Christian travelers will be using one of these facilities for an international convention.
The Olympic Stadium, where the convention will be held, can accommodate more than 40,000 people, all seated, although during sports events, when many spectators stand, as many as 60,000 persons have packed into the stadium. Since the stadium staff will be on vacation during August, there was some question about letting Jehovah’s witnesses have the stadium. But because of their favorable reputation for caring for property, the stadium management decided to entrust the stadium into their care under the supervision of one or two persons of the regular staff.
Locating the stadium will not be difficult. If traveling by car, the simplest thing to do is to ask a policeman as soon as you enter the city. If you arrive by train, Jehovah’s witnesses will be on hand to meet and direct you to wherever you are going. A taxi ride from the train station to the stadium costs about $1.00. Travel by streetcar is much cheaper. Just take a streetcar marked “1” or “24” and it will take you directly to Olympic Stadium.
If you arrive by air, you can take the airport bus to the terminal in the city. Here brothers will be on hand to direct you to the stadium or to your rooming address. Should you ever get lost or be in doubt, just telephone 736200. If you arrive before July 31, call 135908. There will always be someone at the other end of the line ready to speak to you in Dutch, English or German.
In Amsterdam there are many persons who are able to speak English, French or German. There will be a special section in the field service department for those from outside the Netherlands. Dutch publishers who speak English, French or German will come to this section and will take any of the visitors along in the field ministry if they so desire.
Climate, Points of Interest
The climate in the Netherlands is strongly influenced by the sea. A good raincoat and some woolens are no excessive luxury.
You will want to visit the Watch Tower Society’s branch home while here. It is located in the beautiful park section of the city, about a fifteen- or twenty-minute walk from the stadium. Visitors are always welcomed by the Bethel family.
After the assembly, if time permits, there is much you might want to see in Amsterdam and vicinity. A way of seeing the city in general is by taking a boat ride through the many canals or by just taking an old-fashioned walk through the ancient central part of the city with its points of interest. The Tourist Information Office usually provides one with a route for such a walk. And, too, every bookstore sells guides that are cheap but very informative. The Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk museum are both worth seeing, and they are not far from the stadium. The Bible museum will also be of interest; it has a scale model of the tabernacle constructed by the Israelites in the wilderness at God’s command. The events of principal interest, however, will be at Olympic Stadium August 1 to 6.
Jehovah’s witnesses here keenly await your arrival. We expect to be built up by your presence in our midst and hope that we can do the same for you.
The Strange Profession of
HAT is your reaction to the sight of a tattered and maimed beggar on a city street? Does sympathy for him move you to drop a few coins in his cup? Does passing him by without giving something embarrass you or give you a feeling of guilt? If that is your reaction, you need to learn a few facts about the 1 strange profession of begging.
Like most people, you probably conclude from a beggar’s appearance, not from personal knowledge about him, that he is in dire need of financial help. But appearances can be deceiving. With few exceptions, great need is not what prompts beggars to beg. Modem society provides assistance for the hungry, homeless and destitute through "poor laws” and social agencies. This makes begging by paupers unnecessary.
Begging is a profession that brings to the skilled beggar a comfortable livelihood without his having to work. This is possibly the greatest attraction that begging has for those who engage in it. Commenting on this point, Harlan Gilmore, in his book The Beggar, stated: “One of the compensations which begging offers is that qf financial security. . . . The person who has struggled along for years at a socially approved occupation, perhaps subsisting on a few dollars a week, is more than thrilled at the five, ten, or twenty dollars a day which he may gain by begging. Old age and physical misfortune no longer haunt him, for he knows that these are the stock in trade of the beggar. The older he gets, the more readily people will give to him. He can expect his income to increase rather than vanish in his declining years. He may revive his youthful dreams of building up a fortune and retiring, and he may succeed in doing so, , . . Many beggars are not primarily interested in financial returns. They love begging because it affords them leisure. They can secure a livelihood with the least possible effort and in the least possible time.”
…