Awake!, July 8, 1962
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How God Will Cure Race Prejudice
PAGE 5
Making a Success of Singleness
PAGE 9
Are You Troubled by Sleeplessness?
PAGE \7
Why Don’t You Learn Another Language?
JULY 8, 1962
THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL
New* sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital Is we* of etr times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests^ "AwakeI'* has no fetters, it recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ambitions or obligations; it is unhampered by advertisers whose toe* must not be trodden on; it 1$ unprejudiced by traditional creeds. This journal keeps itself free that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom* It maintains integrity to truth.
‘’Awoke!” use* 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 mony languages, by persons of all ages. Through its pages many fields of knowledge pass tn review—government, commerce, religion, history, geography, science, social conditions, natural wonders—why, its coverage is as broad os the earth and os 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.
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CONTENTS
Twilight of Honesty
How God Will Cure Race Prejudice
Helping the Blind
Making a Success of Singleness
A “Nicodemus" Becomes a “Jeremiah”
Almost an Atheist
Neanderthal Man
Using Awake! at School
Are You Troubled by Sleeplessness?
A Judge’s Opinion
Why Don’t You Learn Another Language? 21
Seaweed Is Useful
“Your Word Is Truth”
The Earth Endures—How Long?
Watching the World
TWILIGHT
are the
THE endless parade of dishonest acts one reads about in the newspapers or learns of personally strongly indicates that we living in the twilight of honesty. In hearts of very many the bright sun of honesty has already set.
Not long ago 103 business executives were asked: “Can a man move up through the ranks of management solely by honest, decent methods?” Only two replied “Yes.” Others said that "pulling the rug out from under the boss” or using the “knife-in-the-back” technique is just as fast or a faster way to get to the top than by honesty and hard work.
In schools and colleges honesty is well on the way toward becoming obsolete. Cheating has been renamed “The Good Neighbor Policy.” One survey reported that between 40 and 50 percent of all American college students cheated to get their degrees. Leading school administrators in the United States estimate that 90 percent of all students resort to some kind of classroom dishonesty. What is more, many students see nothing wrong in it.
What has caused this twilight of honesty among youths and leading citizens of the community? After dishonest lawyers and some 1,500 New York City doctors were recently implicated in an insurance-claim racket, Dr. Henry I, Fine-berg, executive vice-president of the Medical Society of the State of New York, commented: “When a fine doctor and a fine man allows himself to be used in return for a fraudulent profit of $10 or $20 or even $50, you begin to wonder about the kind of training he received on his way to becoming an MD.” Undoubtedly faulty training and example have a lot to do with honesty’s decline. Student concepts of honesty are often learned from their parents who fix parking tickets, pad expense accounts and dodge income taxes. Some college students feel they owe it to their parents to get good marks one way or another because the parents have sacrificed to put them through school.
Copying bad examples produces similar results in the business world. When employees know that their companies have illegal contracts and are cheating the government or the public, the tendency is for employees to want their share of the loot. Many persons who would not steal from individuals adopt a different policy toward big organizations, corporations or the government who, they feel, “won’t even miss it1’ Some rationalize that the ’‘big guy” took it from the “little guy” anyway.
An employee with years of faithful service needs verbal appreciation as well as his weekly pay. If the appreciation is not forthcoming, many compensate for it by embezzlement, using this means to repay themselves for life’s troubles and problems. Fidelity experts find that employees with grievances are more likely to steal from the boss. When they encounter a financial crisis that they feel they cannot discuss with those usually available at such times, embezzlement may follow and often does.
Other factors in the twilight of honesty are gambling, liquor and inequalities in the law. Dishonesty is further encouraged by many companies that feel that men with the nerve and skill to climb roughshod over their fellow employees are valuable assets. Contributing to the moral darkness is the lack of self-discipline and common preoccupation with wealth and material security to the exclusion of spirituality. Here we come to the root of the matter.
When lack of faith, standards and personal responsibility develops in the heart of man, the vacuum is readily filled by dishonesty. Without trust in God, one trusts only in self or in money for peace of mind and security. Where there is a lack of faith in God there is a lack of love for God, because one does not love what he does not believe in. Where that love of God is absent there is often a corresponding lack of neighbor love. And when one does not love his neighbor he does not find it difficult to steal from him. Without faith or love of God there is no restraint on dishonest acts that are usually justified in one way or another.
Of course, one could inquire into the failure of millions of churchgoers to acquire a practical faith and love. Why have the churches failed to inculcate godly principles and standards in their members? Why is the sun of honesty setting so rapidly in nations that call themselves Christian? The answer is not hard to find. Some theologians believe that Europe and America have definitely entered into a postChristian era. The Bible viewpoint has been replaced by an optimistic social, scientific and technical outlook based on the theme: “We must be practical.”
ARTICLES IN THE NEXT ISSUE
• Why Be Interested in What Others Believe?
• How Safe Are You?
• The Art and Science of Chiropractic. Good Newe from Quebec.
This accent on being “practical” along technical lines is the logical consequence of the unscriptural philosophies spawned by Freud, Marx, Darwin and the so-called “higher critics.” Not content with the practical wisdom of the inspired Word of God, the world’s intellectual lights have led modem man on -a path of his own choosing. Now it turns out to be a dark path, fraught with antisocial conduct, dishonesty, fear, shame and broken lives.
For the minority who still walk in the moral light and bright principles of God’s Word the road is different—not popular, but pleasant. Honesty toward God results in honesty toward self and toward neighbor. Bible study and knowledge of what pleases God produces self-discipline and a sense of personal responsibility that does not waver under adverse circumstances. This is the sort of person Jehovah God is looking for now in the worldwide search from house to house by Jehovah’s witnesses. Out of the twilight of honesty into the bright light of truth are coming men and women from all walks of life. May you be one of them. For all such lovers of honesty God has promised life in his new world of righteousness.—2 Pet. 3:13.
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LIKE the great influenza epidemic of 1918, the worldwide incidence of race prejudice is best described as “pandemic,” that is, affecting all peoples. No continent has escaped the crippling effects of this great social illness that has defied all human cures. The black man, the Asiatic, the Indian, the Jew—these are some of the victims of this plague whose virus of hate can be traced back at least as far as the ancient Egyptians, who looked down their noses at. the nomads of Canaan and Syria, calling them “sand dwellers.”
For compelling reasons we are witnessing the greatest all-out attack on race bias that the world has ever seen. Everywhere “prescriptions” are flowing from the pens of politicians, ministers, diplomats, journalists, patriots and many others. Fear that unabated race prejudice may drive the Afro-Asian peoples into the Communist camp has spurred Western democracies to work harder than ever toward the goal of freedom and equality for all. The terrible possibility of regional or global race wars prompts many to call for social justice. Economists decry the senseless waste of manpower occasioned by racial discrimination, and a cure for this ailment would go a long way toward easing the crucial shortage of doctors, scientists and engineers. Poverty, slums, crime and delinquency are some of the other evils spawned by discrimination. And yet, despite court decisions, laws, boycotts, sermons, “freedom rides” and similar antidotes, prejudice and bias leave our generation feverish with racial tension. With so many sound reasons for ending this condition, why have all human remedies failed?
PREJUDICE
The answer
is clear: Race prejudice is a spiritual and moral disease. Its healing depends directly upon man’s relationship to God. When this relationship is wholesome, man is able to love his neighbor properly. As soon as man is at odds with God, there is a lack of neighborliness that will not stop at prejudice or even murder. The case of Cain and Abel is an illustration. (Gen. 4:3-8) As for modern man’s lack of love for God, it was foretold in the Bible at 2 Timothy 3:1, 4. Into the human hearts void of love for God and neighbor have come deep-seated fears, and in this climate race prejudice flourishes. There are fear of competition in employment, fear of lowered land values and notions that God and science both teach race supremacy. As the ancient Egyptians feared the growing number of captive Israelites, so modern oppressors fear being overpowered by those they oppress. (Ex. 1:7-14) It was God, incidentally, who brought Egyptian oppression to an end.
Last November, the American Anthropological Association, by vote of 192 to 0, passed a resolution repudiating statements that Negroes are biologically and in innate mental ability inferior to whites. They affirmed that all races possess the abilities needed to participate fully in the democratic way of life and in modern technologteal civilization. It is scientifically certain that within each race the range of individual intelligence is from idiot to genius. Professor D. J. Ingle, head of the department of psychology of the University of Chicago, recently stated that “differences among individuals within a race are far greater than any possible average difference between races.” Accordingly, there could be no justifiable prejudice against any racial group on scientific grounds. But does the Bible agree that all races have equal rights?
Zealots for the cause of race supremacy point to Noah's curse of Ham’s son Canaan: “Cursed be Canaan. Let him become the lowest slave to his brothers.” (Gen. 9:25) Nowhere does Noah mention a turning of anyone’s skin black as part of that curse. The descendants of Canaan were not Negroid, In fact, the darkskinned Ethiopians and Egyptians sprang from Ham’s other sons Cush and Mizraim, respectively. The accursed Canaanites came into slavery to their brothers when the descendants of Shem, the Israelites, conquered the Promised Land and put the inhabitants in bondage. (Josh. 9:23) The Canaanites were still fulfilling the prophetic curse during King Solomon’s rule, but in no way did this involve a divine curse against the black race.—1 Ki. 9:20, 21.
Neither the Hebrew nor the Christian Greek Scriptures teach race supremacy or Justify racial bias. Prejudging, or prejudice, is directly contrary to God’s Word, which says: “When anyone is replying to a matter before he hears it, that is foolishness on his. part and a humiliation.” (Prov. 18:13) Jehovah’s law declared: “You must not treat the lowly with partiality, and you must not prefer the person of a great one. With justice you should judge your associate. The alien resident who resides as an alien with you should become to you like a native of yours; and you must love him as yourself.” ‘There should prove to be one law and one judicial decision for you and for the alien resident who is residing as an alien with you.”—Lev. 19:15, 34; Num. 15:16.
Christianity also emphasized this quality of fairness and neighbor love. Peter, a converted Jew, said in the presence of Cornelius, an Italian: “For a certainty I perceive that God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10:34, 35) Prejudice is not acceptable to God nor are those who deliberately practice it. Men may ignore God’s righteous laws and principles. The prevalence of wrongdoing may convince many that God does not care what happens on this globe. In this they err. When wrongdoing first began, God passed judgment against it and promised deliverance for the human race. The execution of that judgment has a direct bearing on God’s remedy for race prejudice.
God’s Cure
Hate for man was first demonstrated by the spirit creature who became Satan the Devil. He was also the first creature to hate Jehovah God. Plotting to capitalize on the disastrous consequences that were certain to follow man’s disobedience, Satan led the first human pair into rebellion against God. Later, he induced angelic sons of God to take their stand against Jehovah. On earth, history has seen a procession of selfish governments that put their own considerations above the laws of God. The original rebellion has brought thousands of years of sin, war, hate and death. But such will not continue forever.
In the Bible you will find many promises of a new world of righteousness. (Isa. 65:17; 2 Pet. 3:13) It is God’s purpose to clear the heavens and earth of loveless creatures who hate God and neighbor, God has revealed his purpose to set up a government over mankind to rule the earth In righteousness. Jesus told us to pray for that government In what Is commonly called “the Lord’s prayer.” Its benefits will be of the most practical kind.—Matt. 6: 9, 10.
For example, race prejudice will disappear under its sway because Christ the King will reign “by means of justice and by means of righteousness.” (Isa. 9:7) Oppressed ones will find release under his just rule, because the Bible says: “He will deliver the poor one crying for help, also the afflicted one and whoever has no helper. He will feel sorry for the lowly one and the poor one, and the souls of the poor ones he will save. From oppression and from violence he will redeem their soul.” —Pa. 72:12-14.
But how will this cure be applied? Not by a process of “gradualism” that waits for men to let God’s will be done. Jehovah’s name and reputation are at stake on this earth and throughout the universe. Therefore he will take all necessary steps to enforce righteousness in his due time. That time will comd to pass shortly at the war of the great day of God the Almighty, which is called “Armageddon.” That war will give a stunning defeat to Satan and his entire organization, invisible and visible. (Rev. 16:14, 16; Heb. 2:14) Opposing nations will be crushed by the superior forces under Christ Jesus. (Dan. 2:44) This system of things based on hate, greed and wicked works will be broken up. (1 John 3:8) In doing so, God will prove to be, not a Specialist who treats one ailment, but the Physician capable of wiping out tears from all eyes by removing hurt, sorrow and the death that came through Adam’s sin. Read about it in your Bible at Revelation 21:1-5. This is the good news that Jesus commanded true Christians to tell all the nations before God’s time to act. This proclamation swiftly draws to its end—Matt 24:14.
Jehovah God foretold through the prophet Isaiah that the taking of this Bible instruction to the comers of the earth would result in a marvelous transformation of the national and racial groups. (Isa. 2:2-4) Today we see many people of all nations turning to Jehovah and studying his laws in the Bible. Among them the putting of Bible principles to work has cured the hate that breeds race prejudice. All over the world men and women of every race are beating their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Love has conquered national and racial rivalry, eliminating it from among these God-fearing people.
This was demonstrated at a tremendous international convention of Jehovah’s witnesses from 123 nations when they assembled in New York city in 1958. There 194,418 adopted a Resolution which stated: “That because of our common descent from Noah, who was the tenth in line of descent from the first man Adam, all the many nations, tribes and peoples of this modern day should recognize that we are one human family, one human race, for whom Jehovah God has made one common provision through his Son Jesus Christ for our everlasting life and happiness in His approaching new world; . . . That down to the end, as far as within us lies, God’s will shall be fulfilled in us as regards the preaching of his established Kingdom and the gathering of all other sheep into the fold of his Right Shepherd, Jesus Christ, to enjoy salvation with us, so that we may be accounted worthy of being ushered into God’s everlasting new world after Armageddon, there to worship him unitedly as one family of his creatures without racial distinctions and national boundaries and divisions under one government, His kingdom by Christ, and to do his will forever and ever.” (1 John 2:17) The delegates later distributed over 70,000,000 copies of their resolve in many languages.
Integration?
While busy about the Kingdom proclamation and fellowshiping with their Christian brothers of all races, Jehovah’s people do not ask or expect to be accepted by this world. The arrow pointing the proper direction is facing the other way: “I heard another voice out of heaven say: 'Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues. For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind.’ ” (Rev. 18:4, 5) Christians do not take the law into their own hands and oppose human governments or their social policies. Nor do Jehovah’s integrated people take offense at the insults that may come to them because of their faith or race. They remember that the Bible instructs: “Keep on blessing those who persecute; be blessing and do not be cursing. Return evil for evil to no one. Provide fine things in the sight of all men. If possible, as far as it depends upon you, be peaceable with all men. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but yield place to the wrath; for it is written: ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says Jehovah.’ ”—Rom. 12:14,17-19.
The present desperate measures of fearful nations to stop the plague of race prejudice will prove to be too little and too late. Even if their motives were right, their method is wrong. Love for God and neighbor is the one remedy for this great social disease. By teaching this love to nearly a million people who have already responded, God has instituted the one effective cure. Armageddon will remove the body of faithless ones who prefer to ignore God’s cure.
To the oppressed Negro, Jew, Asian, Indian, Puerto Rican and all others feeling the sting of race bias, Jehovah’s witnesses say, in the words of Isaiah: “Come, you people, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, . . . and he will instruct us about his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” (Isa. 2:3) Accept this invitation and you will find that already Jehovah God has set race matters straight respecting many peoples. The cure speaks for itself.
'cWping the
<L Melvin J. Maas, chairman of the President’s Committee on the Employment of the Physically Handicapped, does considerable traveling, although blind. He gives a suggestion on helping the blind: "Like other physically handicapped persons who get around, I find that the biggest hazard is the well-meaning but thoughtless person who is determined to help me. It seems to be a natural inclination to grab a blind person by the arm and shove him along. But if I’m shoved out in front of a sighted person, it means I come to the curb first, or
I am pushed into revolving doors ahead of him. However, if he lets me take his arm, then I’m a half step behind him and can tell by the feel of his arm anything he’s about to do, such as turning or going downstairs.”—The Saturday Evening Post
A REN’T you A married yet?” “What are you waiting for?” “Do you want to be an old ma i d?” These questions are asked of many a young woman, sometimes teasingly, often by one who is concerned for her future.
They reflect the attitude many have toward singleness.
If you are among the millions of women who are single, you have probably been confronted with similar questions. How do you feel about your singleness? Are you quite happy and content, or are you growing more anxious as you visualize the future alone? For those who live in lands where women outnumber the men, there is a definite problem, particularly for those who want to marry but do not seem to be able to find a mate.
The 1960 census reveals that in the United States alone there were at that time 2,660,187 more women than men. They outnumbered men in almost every age-group, with the largest difference being from sixty-five years and over, where it reached a peak of 1,553,386. The only age-group that showed a surplus of men over women was eighteen years and under.
This may seem to paint a bleak picture for those fearful of remaining single. Although it presents a problem, it does not mean that they are forever barred from a happy and fulfilled life. One’s mental approach to the situation is vitally important. Each woman has a choice. Either she can make her life miserable by indulging in self-pity and being always on the defensive about her single state, or she can appreciate the advantages there are to singleness and make a success of it.
There are many who have never had the opportunity to marry, if for no other reason than the figures already cited. Others have physical handicaps or problems oi health that make marriage almost impossible. Still others have the exclusive care of parents or relatives, which may make it inadvisable to marry at present. Whatever their reasons for singleness, the lives of these women are by no means over. They possess, for one thing, the asset of time. We all have it to spend in varying degrees, but for a single person there is often more free time either to waste or to use wisely.
Some have used the time at their disposal to further their education; even some widows have done this when singleness again became their lot. This has, in turn, opened up the way for the pursuit of careers and professions. Many have taken up nursing, because they find pleasure in caring for others. Other women have devoted themselves to missionary activity as Bible teachers, finding in it fulfillment of a similar desire, but on the loftier spiritual level. They are making a success of their singleness.
Those who have dependents under their care need not feel that they have been saddled with a thankless burden. There is happiness in doing things for others, and we can benefit from the association if we only appreciate the opportunity. So often older persons are cruelly ignored and shabbily treated, when there is so much that can be learned by those who want to benefit from their long years of experience. Such persons of advanced years are often very frank and outspoken and can be depended on for an honest and objective opinion. After parents have died, many rebuke themselves for not having spent more time with them. But why wait until then to think about it? Our interest now can certainly enhance the declining years of those loved ones, bringing happiness to them and enriching our lives as well.
Of course, a woman who is single does not have children of her own to enjoy. Yet this need not prevent her from spending time with the children of friends and relatives, And what a refreshing experience that can be! Children can reacquaint us with things we so often take for granted. You have only to take a youngster on a trip to the zoo, on a picnic or to the park to experience this. With their small hands guiding and leading the way, you may see many of the beauties of nature for the first time. You listen anew to the'sounds of the birds. You answer their unending questions and thrill to their zest and joy in the world opening up to them. Their honesty, unquestioning faith and laughter bring new joy to your life. Do you feel sorry when it comes time to return them to their parents and bemoan the fact that you do not have them for long? Well, neither do their parents. They too must eventually give them up to others. So while you have them with you enjoy their company, and your life will be the richer for it.
If an occasional visit is not enough, you can arrange to have children around at least five or six hours daily and many at a time. How? By becoming a teacher. Many find this to be a very gratifying profession. They enjoy watching these small minds grow and expand and they find pleasure in the part they play in shaping and molding lives for the future. It is such teachers that are remembered by their students with warm affection.
When it comes to recreation, single persons, like others, can add to their happiness or undermine it. If they saturate their minds with illicit love stories from books, magazines, movies or TV, they are stimulating wrong thinking and wrong desires, but if they spend their leisure time with upbuilding literature and developing skills in pastimes that exercise not only, their muscles but their thinking ability as well, real satisfaction will result. In this each woman must be honest with herself. She knows what will build her up and what will tend to cause deterioration. For her own well-being, she is wise to pursue a course governed by the high standards of the Bible and reap the happiness that goes with it.
It is obvious that singleness does not need to mean loneliness, does it? There Is so much that can be done to fill those empty hours. But first there must be a realization that happiness comes, not merely from another person or from possessions, but it starts within ourselves. It is our own approach to life’s problems that will determine the success or failure with which we meet.
Some Are Waiting
Among those living in lands where they may choose their own mates and who have the opportunity to marry, there are those who have not yet married because they are waiting for “Mr. Right” to come along. Are you one of these? Do you scrutinize every single man you meet as you extend your hand, and then do you withdraw your charm as you dismiss him because of some superficial flaw, such as his height, his weight, his manner of speech or the size of his wallet? Are your judgments based only on appearances? Are they colored by inflexible ideas as to what you want in a mate, with no room for adjustment? There 14 nothing wrong with setting standards for yourself, hut are you more concerned with what you will get than with what you will give? You may not be the "Miss Right” for the men you meet.
Men generally set high standards for themselves. They seek certain qualities in a woman, and these are usually on a level deeper than physical beauty. They notice if she is kind, considerate, intelligent, feminine, sympathetic, moderate in dress and makeup, and if she possesses a sense of humor. These are things that appeal to men. If a woman is domineering, bossy, too aggressive or too fussy (which, incidentally, is one of the definitions of an “old maid”), she can drive men far from her, and her chances of being alone are that much greater. Unfortunately, some are so anxious to attract a mate that it dominates their every conversation. A few young women, and some teen-agers in particular, actually drive away the very ones they seek to attract, because they are just plain boy-crazy. Cultivation of self-control and poise is the answer to their problem.
If none of these unbecoming types describe your personality, you are to be commended. But if there is need for improvement, help is all around you. You have but to look to find it. Quiet observation is an excellent teacher. Perhaps you have a happily married girl friend. Have you noticed how eager she is to please her husband, how she builds him up with her compliments and shows him deep respect by never embarrassing him in public? Have you observed how deftly she directs the love and attention of her children to her husband rather than only to herself; her actions thus cementing the family together? She has learned that in giving she reaps the greater reward, and these qualities never go unnoticed.
You do not have to have a husband to cultivate these traits. You can develop them by practicing pn those with whom you live. You can show deep respect and kindness to your father and other older men. Consideration and sympathy shown to brothers often improve relations with them. But if a girl has a condescending attitude toward her younger brothers she may find that she treats other young men the same way, and this will damage even the most promising friendship. Men of all ages notice and respond to women with pleasing personalities.
Developing these qualities is, of course, no guarantee that you will find a mate, but can anyone truthfully say that the time was wasted? Certainly not! It is the Christian thing to do. So doing, you can learn to be happy and enjoy your single state while you have it, and your chances of being happy when you do marry will be that much greater. If the right person should fail to come along, you need have no fear of being alone. If you display a warmth toward others, an inner beauty, and clothe this with a genuine interest in those whom you meet, people will be drawn to you and will want to include you among their closest friends.
Single by Choice
Some have no obligations to restrict them; they have had opportunities to marry, yet are single through preference. They have nothing against marriage. To the contrary, they deeply respect and admire the happy couples surrounding them, but they choose to follow the course of singleness.
Many of these are women who are occupied with careers and have found no need in their full and content lives to settle down within a family arrangement, although they endeavor to incorporate in their own lives the good qualities they see in their happily married friends.
Rather than pursue careers in fashion, journalism and medicine, there are many who have dedicated themselves exclusively to religious work because of their great love for God and for those who long to learn of him. They are willing to forego the privileges of marriage, at least for the present, to devote themselves to this important work. What blessings are theirs for giving of themselves so freely! As the inspired apostle Paul said on this matter: The one who marries does well, but the one who, with a view to serving God more fully, stays single does better.—1 Cor. 7:38.
For these who have chosen their singleness the many problems that exist for most single women are almost nil. They already have a positive attitude, but, understandably, they appreciate most the company of those who show respect for their way of life rather than forever expressing concern over the fact that they are still single.
A Requirement for All
It makes no difference whether singleness is self-imposed or forced on one by circumstances; there is one attribute all single women can display and, in so doing, win not only the respect and admiration of others, but, more importantly, maintain their own self-respect and a proper relationship with God. What is it? Self-control!
The world in general seems to think that fornication and loose conduct are the normal thing, but that is not the view taken by Christian women. They avoid situations where there is -temptation to immorality. They stay out of the company of those who are loose in their way of life, and they avoid close associations with men who already have mates. It is evident from the lives of women who are exercising discipline in their lives, without frustrations resulting, that self-control can be one of the key factors in mental and emotional health. To accomplish this, some have had to discipline themselves, and severely so at times, but there are no regrets when the overall picture is viewed. The resultant peace of mind and contentment are well worth the effort. Those who have followed this course have not only been single, but they have made a success of it.
Can you make a success of your singleness ? Can you enjoy life even if you spend it alone? Do you appreciate the opportunities offered by your singleness? If you marry, will you still be content? The answer to each of these questions can be Yes, It depends on you.
n "nitodemui" Becomei a "Jeremiah"
• The Bible tells that Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, for he was ashamed to admit his interest in what Jesus had to say. It also tells that at one time Jeremiah tried to keep silent but found he simply had to speak and tell God’s message. The 1962 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses tells of a native in British Honduras who resembled Nicodemus and Jeremiah in these respects.—John 3:1, 2; Jer. 20:9.
He was very much opposed to the work of the Witnesses, even though the other members of his family were associating with them. Then a chance reading of a certain article in The Watchtower so aroused his interest that he asked a Witness minister to study the Bible with him, but privately, so that nobody would know about it. However, it was not long before he came to this Witness asking for help regarding a subject he had been discussing with others. "You know,” said he, “I cannot keep it quiet any longer, I just have to talk this.” He is now a dedicated Witness and conducting four Bible studies with others.
house to face the choice of marrying pregnant girls or going to jail. One resigned from the race for presidency of his senior class when at his trial he was
HGREW up in the southern United States in the “Bible belt." The menfolk there fished and hunted and trapped and raised a little corn and some potatoes. Intoxicating drink was illegal, but the law lived a long way off and rode horseback; so it was fashionable in those parts to own a still and make your own “moonshine.”
Those were days of no radios and few newspapers and magazines, so the Bible, with little competition, was read or misread a lot. Most people went to church; there were few other places to go. And it could be exciting. Sometimes there was snake handling. On occasion a stubby copperhead even slithered loose from the pulpit, and a horrified stampede for windows and doors broke loose. We would not miss it for the world.
In spite of the religion, morals were loose, and that is the way the men liked their women—that is, unless those women were their own. In our community every fifth family included an unwed mother at some time, and we lived next door to a case of wife swapping.
When the Tennessee Valley Authority project moved in, our river clans had to move out, and it was this that brought me within reach of high school. Here I found food for ambition: sports, education and opportunities to vie for honors; but things were not much different. Three boys won distinction by being plucked out of class by the sheriff and hauled off to the court-freed because it appeared that the girl had seduced him.
Life as a Newsman
My secular work began when I took up work on the county weekly. Eventually I advanced to a roving reporter and circulation promoter for a tri-state daily. I used to win subscribers among the farmers who could not read by proving to them that our newspaper for twenty cents a week was cheaper to start fires with than kerosene.
I covered coalfield feuds and backwoods gang killings. It paid to get in with one faction or another, and there were times when I was riding with one bunch dodging both a sheriff’s posse and an avenging gang. Whenever I could I ducked out to a telephone and called in a real headliner.
During those years I was growing up baffled by society and bitter with myself. I hobnobbed with politicians, lawyers, criminals, hypocrites, schoolteachers, bootleggers, bankers, prostitutes and everybody else with whom the newspaper world brought me in contact. Society ran on double standards, and I lived by the “code.” Most people lived by the “code” and never questioned it; it was all they knew. To me it was disgraceful living, but I did not know where else to turn.
The Way of Politics
There was, for example, the time when a chum and I were hitchhiking to town.
We were broke and needed money. It was election day, and we ran into a vote buyer. When he offered us a bogus poll-tax receipt and two dollars apiece to vote his way, we thought it was a whale of a joke, collected our money and went to town to have fun.
But a few days afterward an old neighbor mentioned the wholesale graft that went on during elections. He said pointedly: “People who sell their vote sell their honor."
Even though he did not suspect that I was guilty, my conscience stung. “What about people who buy votes?”
“They’re just as bad," he declared.
“Did you vote?” I inquired.
He shook his thin gray beard sadly. “Both sides wanted to buy my vote. People who buy and sell votes cannot be trusted. There was nobody left to vote for.”
My aunt did not sell her.vote, but she voted, as she explained, “for the lesser of the two evils." Why did people have to feel that way?
The year I came of legal voting age a Baptist preacher in one end of the county made a democrat out of God, while a Baptist preacher in the other end made him a republican. When they had a killing over the election, God took to heaven the man who was slow on the trigger, and the man with the fast trigger finger went to hell— at least, that was the impression I got from the preacher. However, the man who got killed—his party lost. That put God on the murderer’s side, I figured, since God always wins—that is, if there is a God. All the evidence I saw seemed to say that he was nothing more than a figment of selfcentered human expediency.
But I longed for things to be right. “Why can’t there be some kind of government that men can’t corrupt?” I asked one of my pals.
“What do you want,” he retorted, “a theocracy?”
Back to School
I began to wander if I had rushed into the world to work too early In life, while perhaps the answer lay In higher education. A small university kindly offered me a scholarship, I did not balk at working before semesters nine hours a day, for twenty cents an hour, with pick and shovel digging up a gummy clay hillside. But something inside me curdled at the atmosphere in which worshipful eulogies were rendered to the man in whose memory the college was named, Abraham Lincoln. Finally one day I asked one of the school officials: “Are Negroes eligible here?" “No,” was his irritated reply. But why, I reasoned, if God made the colored folks and Lincoln emancipated them, did this school named in his memory refuse to educate them? It was just one more of those disillusionments that raised doubts.
In and out of Church
About this time I decided to try religion. I had gone to Sunday school and attended the Baptist, Methodist and Holiness meetings in our community, but never joined. Now, with serious intent, I went through a revival at our local Methodist church. A neighbor lady, a pillar in the church and chairman of the Epworth League, invited me to join, and then in a few weeks she invited me out of the League.
“You know I saw you playing cards last Saturday,” she explained. The menfolk gambled with cards; that made cards wicked.
We were merely playing “setback," I explained, adding: “You know, your husband and you and I play Chinese checkers together. What’s the difference whether we play for fun with cards or with marbles on a board?”
But I was guilty of a second misdemeanor. “I saw you and those boys taking a drink of whiskey, too.”
“That would eliminate Jesus Christ from serving on your Epworth League,” I retorted. “He even made wine at a wedding feast.”
But she threw me off guard by saving the “worst” for last, “From what I hear” —I can still hear her horrified tone— “you’ve been reading that no-hell literature.”
That was news to me. She was referring to the literature of Jehovah’s witnesses. I remembered that my folks did have some of it, but I had not read it.
Other church members, feeling that I had been bounced a little hard, tried to reconcile me, but I came back with what I considered simple questions, such as, “Who is Jesus? Was he a man? Then who is God?" Their vague and confused answers only added to my conviction. Atheism seemed to be the only thing that made sense.
The trouble was that I had begun my investigation of religion with the belief that a preacher and a church house and the Bible and God belong together like peas in a pod. In utter disgust I threw religion overboard, along with politics and society.
A Different Kind of Religion
Later, in spite of warnings against it, I picked UP some of the Watch Tower pamphlets and read them. The truth is that for a while I could not see the difference between this and the other brands of religion. But gradually it dawned on me, gleefully and maliciously, that it was lumping all the world’s religions together as worshiping the same god—but not the God of the Bible. ‘The god of this world, Satan the Devil, has blinded the minds of the whole world to the glorious gospel about the true God and his Christ/ it explained. (2 Cor. 4:4) That made sense. This explained why life seemed to be such a sham and the world a hoax. Here at last were people who had the answer.
But while I was intent on downgrading other people’s religion, the Witnesses were occupied with the “good news,” that God had established his kingdom in the heavens and that the wicked world was tolerated only while men of goodwill were being given the opportunity to hear the truth and come out for the Kingdom.
It took a year of avid study to convince me that this was not a mirage, that it was honest and true. It took longer than a year for me to muster enough moral courage to take my stand. The Witnesses themselves viewed me with mixed emotions. The fruitage of the spirit was foreign to me, but gradually things began to change.
I began to spend my time walking through the rurals of our county telling the people what I believed. Because I stuck to my faith I found myself in prison, was beaten and mobbed, but I was saved from atheism!—Contributed.
A/aandeHka.1 Man
• "In 1856 a grave was opened in Dtisseldorf, and from it was taken the skeleton of a man who, according to the geological circumstances of the find, must have lived in remotest prehistory. Today we call this skeleton the Neanderthal man. At the time, however, Professor Mayer, of Bonn, declared that the bones belonged to a Cossack killed in 1814. Wagner, of GBttingen, maintained that the skeleton was that of an old Hollander; and Pruner-Bey, of Paris, that of an old Celt. The great pathologist Virchow ... said that the skeleton was that of a gouty old man.” —Goda, Graves, and Scholars, by C. W. Ceram.
FOR SCHOOL TALKS
A schoolgirl, one of Jehovah’s witnesses, related this experience at the United Worshipers District Assembly at Amsterdam, the Netherlands: “One speaks with many boys and girls in school and it often happens that they start talking about religion. Sometimes it may be a Catholic child saying: ‘Oh bah, to evening church service again.’ Then I usually say: 'Don’t you like that? I always like to go to religious meetings.’ And then I teil them about the meetings of Jehovah's witnesses. Sometimes there are children who become interested and then I invite them to attend the meetings. They go and ask questions about all kinds of things concerning the New World society.
“All the teachers know that I a'tn one of Jehovah’s witnesses, since I do not celebrate the Queen’s birthday, Christmas, and so forth. During my first year at school 1 had to tell them every time why I did not and then I witnessed to them. For the talks we have to -give at school once a week I always get the best marks. Now, do not think that I am very proud of myself, for the good marks again are things I owe to Jehovah. I always get nice and interesting articles about/ animals from Awake! and, thanks to the theocratic ministry school, I am never as nervous as the other boys and girls.”
SPANISH AND HISTORY CLASSES
At the Houston, Texas, United Worshipers District Assembly a young witness of Jehovah gave this experience: “My Spanish teacher told the class that we could bring more Information about the Latin-American countries and the Latin customs. I remembered that the latest Awake! had a topic concerning one of the Latin countries. Next day I took the Awake! to the Spanish teacher. I showed her the topic and she took the magazine. Several days later I asked her how she liked the magazine, and she told me it was very interesting, and later she told the students about what she had read. Every time the Awafce/ had a topic having to do with Latin America, I took it to her. She was very pleased with them and accepted about seven different issues, She said that this information would be worth extra credit to me. This showed me we can always use every chance we get to place magazines.
“In my world history class I used material from issues of the Awake! that told of world conditions and the reasons for them. My history teacher was much impressed by the explanation of how these things were foretold. And the part of the Awake! ‘Watching the World1 was very helpful in school. And so it is my great joy that I am able to present literature to my fellow students and to teachers in order that they may learn of Jehovah."
INFORMATION FOR ESSAYS
A young student in the state of Washington writes: “I would like to tell you how much I appreciate your articles in the Watchtower and Awake! magazines on worldly holidays. I am a freshman in junior high school. The advanced composition students were‘asked to write an essay, story or poem on Thanksgiving Day. So I went straight to the Watch Tower Publications Index to find information for my essay. I used the November 22, 1958, Awake! magazine with the article 'Thanksgiving Yesterday and Today.’ After turning in our compositions, we found that a few were going to be read or used in the Thanksgiving Assembly at school. I was chosen to read my essay to the entire school. There are between GOG and 700 students at our school, and I was surprised to see many parents present.
"Usually at the Thanksgiving Assembly a minister comes and preaches for 45 minutes, but this time the teachers thought that if some of the students talked seriously about Thanksgiving, the rest might give it more thought. At the beginning of the Assembly the audience was really noisy and rude. When I started to read my essay, especially the second part, you could have heard a pin drop! I was surprised at the applause and how attentive everyone was, because most of the children do not believe in God. By remarks made afterward I could tell that, although in some points my essay was sharp, it was well received. I feel that the theocratic ministry school has helped me to learn how to speak and to be poised in front of an audience. So I really want to thank you for the wonderful publications, because they are valuable to both young and old.”
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frequent difficuTi^l^g sleeping. Sleeplessness is widespread problem that it physicians.
Doctors generally prefer to use the term insomnia for prolonged failure to obtain enough sleep necessary to maintain health and well-being. It may take the form of inability to fall asleep upon retiring, frequent awakenings in the course of the night or awakening before enough hours of sleep have been obtained.
One of the first things a person troubled by regular sleeplessness should do is to check to make certain that it is not caused by some physical disease. When physical disease can be ruled out, it is often found that one may have the wrong attitude toward sleep, or that there is some emotional disturbance such as worry.
Some persons worry considerably if they have a sleepless night, failing to realize that occasional sleeplessness is not unusual. In the analysis of close to 7,000 nights of sleep, Dr. Nathaniel Kleitman concluded that the average good sleeper has a difficult time sleeping about one night in ten. Yet one bad night in ten can set some persons to worrying, building up anxiety, which, in turn, brings on more sleeplessness.
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Because of the fear of losing sleep, some persons try too hard to go to sleep; they try to force sleep. This defeats one’s objective, since it increases muscle tension and feeds back nervous impulses that keep the brain awake. Trying too hard to go to sleep does not work, because going to sleep is not done all at once, but rathet little by little.
Human sleep is now believed by some authorities to be made up of about seven sleeps, separated by periods of shallow slumber or wakefulness. Most persons are said to awaken or half awaken during at least one of these periods; such awakening is not to be confused with insomnia. But insomnia can occur when a person becomes alarmed about this momentary wakefulness and thus has trouble tapering off into sleep again. Insomnia is often said to be an attitude about one’s sleep.
What appears to be insomnia to some persons may be exaggeration. When one thinks he is awake during the night, he may be partly asleep; in the morning he may think that he has spent a great deal of the night awake. Actually one can expeer tnw seesawing back and forth between wakefulness and sleep several times through the night. But the loss of sleep is rarely as bad as it seems. If a person feels a sense of well-being and is able to exert his natural faculties the next day, then he needs no treatment for insomnia. When you experience one of these momentary periods of semiwakefulness, keep thinking that in a few moments deep sleep will come; you will be asleep that much sooner.
Emotional Problems and
Unbalanced Living
Many doctors nowadays believe that, in most instances, insomnia is caused by emotional disturbances. In this regard Dr. Leonard Gilman, M. D., writes in his book Insomnia and Its Relation to Dreams: “Most of the popular articles on the subject of insomnia follow the same superficial approach, never getting at the central problem. The fact is that insomnia is an internal condition, stemming from fears, anxieties and even guilt feelings within the individual, and having little or nothing to do with external factors.”
Many persons tend to take their problems to bed and thus find it difficult to sleep. But one’s bed is not the place to solve problems, the place to take worries, the place to ponder and study lessons that should have been done during the day, the place for being anxious over the next day. The true Christian is in position to benefit from the excellent counsel given by Jesus Christ: “Never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Sufficient for each day is its own evil.”—Matt. 6:34.
If one has a problem that may cause sleeplessness, then he should go about solving it by applying Bible principles to his life. If there is little that one can do about a matter, then, if he is a Christian, he will heed the divine counsel: “Throw all your anxiety upon [God], because he cares fn you.”—1 Pet 5:7.
By treating persons in a Christian way we avoid many causes of sleeplessness. An overcritical attitude toward others may result in loss of sleep. If one is hasty about his speech and in anger says unkind things during the day, he may lie awake at night worrying about what was said. Going to bed angry will keep one awake, God’s Word counsels: “Let the sun not set with you in a provoked state.” (Eph. 4:26) If we are slow to anger, if we are kind, if we are long-suffering and forgiving, we will avoid many causes of sleeplessness and, above all, be doing the divine will.
Living beyond our means will also bring sleep-assaulting worries. Some persons go heavily in debt via the installment plan Then they worry about how they will manage the next payment. Here again the solution is to live by God’s Word, which advises Christians to be "content with the present things,” to put a ceiling on material wants, to put the emphasis on spiritual things.—Heb. 13:5; ITim. 6:8; Matt. 6:33.
Other Causes of Sleeplessness
Another very common cause of occasional sleeplessness is too much mental or physical stimulation just before bedtime. Overstimulating the brain to a late hour, whether by television or by conversation, can keep one from sleeping. Vigorous exercise just before bedtime may also be too stimulating, So by cutting off strong stimulation well before bedtime, one has a better opportunity to go to sleep easily.
Eating too heavy a meal just before bedtime is something else that may keep one from sleeping well. Heavy use of salt is believed by some nutritionists to cause sleeplessness. Some persons cannot go to sleep readily because they take beverages such as tea, coffee, cola drinks and cocoa shortly before bedtime. Such beverages contain caffeine or caffeinellke substances that may keep them awake.
Unfamiliar noises are also likely to cause temporary sleeplessness, until one becomes accustomed to them. So some persons use earplugs to overcome these disturbances.
Aids to Sleep
It is surprising how many sleeping aids are on the market. There are sleep masks, vibrators of various sizes, recordings of soothing music and even an electronic device that simulates the sound of falling rain, said to be the most sleep-inducing of all sounds. Whatever the aid, one thing should be apparent: Certain aids may work well for some persons, but for others they may be of no help at all.
A few aids that work for some persons are these: A little exercise such as a walk in the fresh air for a half hour just before bedtime. Taking a warm bath before bedtime. Then there is reading in bed till drowsiness overcomes one. A well-needed vacation or a change from the routine may help some find their normal sleeping pattern. In his book You Must Relax, Dr. Jacobsen suggests relaxing one’s muscles progressively. First, progress from relaxing one muscle to relaxing others; the idea is wider relaxing throughout the muscles. Second, progressively relax each muscle more and more; the idea is deeper relaxing.
Sleeping pills are one of the most commonly used aids. In the United States alone, according to a report in Chemical Week, about $58,000,000 a year is spent on such pills. Although doctors do not entirely disapprove of such pills and frequently give prescriptions for them, most doctors advise taking the pills for as short a time as possible. Some doctors suggest using them only when sleep does not come. With persons who have a fear of not sleeping, the mere possession of a sleeping pill may remove the fear that really keeps them awake. Pills are to be viewed as temporary crutches, not something to lean upon regularly. They treat only symptoms; they may not get at the central problem. The pills sold without prescriptions usually contain some antihistamine drug, which produces drowsiness as a side effect. The barbiturates and many new type nonbarbiturate pills are sold in most countries on a prescription basis only.
Suggesting caution in the use of sleeping pills is what happened recently in Europe. A prescription drug called thalidomide appeared to be one of the best sleeping pills ever devised. It was sold in West Germany and in Britain; and though it appeared to be harmless, it turned out to have riisas-trous effects upon pregnant women; More than 2,000 babies have been or will be born with useless stublike arms. Said the British medical journal The Lancet: “It is disturbing that such an apparently innocuous drug as thalidomide with no known toxic dose may disturb the growth of limb buds and other tissues at a certain phase of development.”
Wine, Herbs, Calcium, Honey
Wine and malt drinks such as beer and ale have long been used as aids to promote sleep. As a sleeping aid for elderly persons, some doctors recommend a little wine, rather than drugs. Beer is more sleepinducing for some persons because of its content of hops, an herb noted for its soporific effect. However, the use of any alcoholic beverage as a sleep aid brings a word of caution from Dr. Giorgio Lolli, M. D., who, in his book Social Drinking, points out that some persons tend to take more than they need for sleeping and so defeat their purpose. He says:
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