Awake!, July 8, 1963
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THE MISSION OP THIS JOURNAL ;
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues at our femes must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. “Awake!’1 has no fetters. If recognizes fads, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ambitions or obligations; it is unhampered by advertisers whose toes must not be trodden on; it is unprejudiced by traditional creeds. This journal keeps itself free that if may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
"Awake!" uses the regular news channels, but is not dependent on them. Jts own correspondents are on all continents, in scores of nations. From the four corners of the earth their uncensored, an-the-scenes reports come to you through these columns. This journaPs 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!11 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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The Bible translation used In “Awake”’ Is the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptyres, 1961 edition. When other translations are used the following symbols will appear behind the citations:
A5 ■ Amer hum Standard Version AT - An American Translation Al’ - Auf-fJOffeed Versloii Da ■ <1. N. Darby's version
Dy - Catholic. Dow vert Ion ED - The Esjpti&tic Diaglaii JP - J&rlsti MflkatlfjR floc.
La - Isaac Leeser's version
Mo - James Moffatt’s version Ro J. B, Rotherham’b version J2.T - Revised SCAridard Version
Yy - R^crt Young’s version
CONTENTS
How Much of Yourself
Do You Give to God?
On What Are You Building?
New Branch Home in Nicaragua
Hong Kong Expands
No Images at the True God
Lightning Bolts and Balls
North of the Arctic Circle
Politicians Under Pressure
The Disease of “the End of the Road’’ 21
Speak Persuasively
“Your Word Is Truth”
Did John the Baptist Doubt?
Archaeological Confirmation
Watching the World
religion as part of each call. It was a low-pressure approach, mainly telling members
IN THE early years of Christianity the people who professed the Christian faith were self-giving in their devotion to the Creator. Their worship and the principles of the Scriptures were very much a part of their daily lives. They were keenly interested in learning about the truths in God’s Word and talking about them to others. They gave themselves to God even to the point of enduring a violent death at the hands of vicious persecutors when that became necessary in order to keep their integrity to God.
Among persons who profess to be Christian today there are very few who give themselves to God as the early Christians did. Few have the same interest in Scriptural truths and in talking to other people about those truths. For most, weekly attendance at a church is the extent of their religious life. When someone approaches them at their homes on Sunday to point out encouraging promises God has made in his written Word, they are not interested.
An American clergyman who encountered this lack of interest in God when visiting members of his church stated: “On the next round of visits, I began to talk what I thought were the main doctrines of our church and asking if they had any questions. Almost every time they would cough, hesitate, smile shyly, try to change the subject and as soon as possible rush me to the door. Soon it became difficult to find members at home.” This disinterest in things pertaining to God was commented on in a report made by West German Dr. Joachim Bodamer. He said: “The Church’s disquieting dilemma is that in her sermons and her preaching she still assumes the prerequisite of a Christian state of consciousness, whereas in actuality she must try to recreate such through her words. . . . One could therefore say that the Church finds itself in a situation similar to that at her beginning, a situation where the foundation must once again be laid through missionary work in order to snatch man away from his imprisonment to the world.”
The tendency of most professed Christians today is to give themselves wholeheartedly to the commercial businesses for which they work and to the pleasures they pursue during off hours, but when it comes to God, they are reluctant to give even a little of themselves to him. Are you in that position? Do you find that the Creator and his purposes for man seldom cross your mind? How often do you stop to give attention to what he has to say in his Word? Do you have time for seeing the latest movies, plays and TV programs but no time for reading the Scriptures? Are you willing to talk to friends and neighbors about the things in newspapers but not about the comforting truths of God’s Word? Are you willing to give God’s interests and commands a place of greater importance in your life than fleshly pleasures and material interests?
Being a Christian requires more of a person than merely making the claim that he is, or being born into a family that professes Christianity. There must be a voluntary giving of himself to God. By his speech he must give open acknowledgment of his faith in the Creator and in Jesus Christ. This he can do in conversations with other people. Regarding this Jesus Christ said: “Everyone, then, that confesses union with me before men, I will also confess union with him before my Father who is in the heavens.” (Matt. 10:32) But what a person says should go beyond the mere expressing of faith. It should build in others a knowledge of the Word of God.
Talking to others about the things God has put in his written Word is certainly a way of giving something to God. It is like offering an acceptable sacrifice to him, but the sacrifice is the fruit of a person’s lips. "Through |Jesus ChristJ let us always offer to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips which make public declaration to his name.” (Heb. 13:15) This is one of the ways the early Christians gave something of themselves to God. They mingled with other people and talked about the good things he was doing and would do in the future. Even when they ■were scattered, following the persecution of Stephen, they gave of themselves to God by continuing to talk about his doings. "Those who had been scattered went through the land declaring the good news of the word.”—Acts 8:4.
The abilities a person has can be used in God’s interests. In his theocratic organization of faithful witnesses, there are many opportunities for Christians to use their natural abilities. They are useful at conventions of his people, in local congregations and in printing establishments of his witnesses. Men who thus use their abilities to further the interests of Jehovah God are giving something of themselves to him.
Time and effort spent in studying the Scriptures to learn about Jehovah and his purposes is time and energy devoted to God. In heartfelt prayers in which a person opens up his heart to the heavenly Father, he is directing his attention to God. By endurance of physical sufferings that come because of his faith, he gives himself to God. When he puts the earing of God’s interests ahead of his own interests, he is giving of himself to God. Thus in many ways a Christian can be self-giving to the Creator and manifest his indebtedness to him. But few professed Christians today have the love for God that this requires.
Consider carefully what your own attitude is toward your Creator. Arc you selfgiving toward him or are you indifferent like most professed Christians in Christendom? Do his Word and his purposes hold a preeminent position in your life or do they come second to personal desires? Follow the good example of the early Christians and the ancient prophets and serve Jehovah with your whole heart. Said David, a man after God’s own heart: "I will laud you, O Jehovah, with all my heart; I will declare all your wonderful works.”—Ps. 9:1.
point Jesus was making by his illustration. He was not instruct-_— ___■ — ing the crowds on how
J J to become builders of
• literal houses or of
For a structure to stand, it must have a solid foundation. On what does your spiritual structure rest?
T 7TSITORS to New York city are aston-V ished by the literally hundreds of skyscrapers that are crowded together within a few square miles on tiny Manhattan island. Why, 116 of them are over 300 feet tall, reaching more than the length of a football field into the air, and twenty rear their heads into the clouds over 600 feet above the street! One would think the little island would sink beneath their weight, and that surely construction should halt before some storm topples them one on top of the other! However, builders push ahead, constructing some hundred new buildings a year. Just since 1955 they have doubled the number of 300-foot-high skyscrapers that grace the New York skyline.
But is this tremendous construction program wise? Do New Yorkers need to fear that these mighty structures will collapse upon them during some storm? Did the builders carefully investigate as to what they were building on before putting up these superstructures? Indeed they did, and as far down as they blasted it was solid rock! Yes, all of Manhattan island rests on a rock foundation. The sturdy foundation beneath these skyscrapers is an assurance that they will stand, even during a time of considerable shaking.
Jesus’ Illustration
In the conclusion of his famous sermon on the mount Jesus Christ illustrated the importance of such a solidrock foundation. But do not miss the
large cities. But, rather, he was illustrating how obedience to his teachings provides the basis for the building of a sturdy spiritual structure. And how can you make sure that your Christian structure does not collapse during a time of stormy shaking? Listen carefully to Jesus’ illustration:
“Therefore everyone that hears these sayings of mine and does them will be likened to a discreet man, who built his house upon the rock-mass. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and lashed against that house, but it did not cave in, for it had been founded upon the rock-mass. Furthermore, everyone hearing these sayings of mine and not doing them will be likened to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and struck against that house and it caved in, and its collapse was great.” —Matt. 7:24-27.
Not an Easy Way
A good builder digs down deep and, if possible, lays his foundation upon the rock-mass; and just as such literal digging is not easy work, so it is not easy to obediently follow the teachings of Jesus. (Luke 6:48) But as Jesus emphasized, such obedience will assure a Christian a permanent, enduring structure. His life of faithful obedience will stabilize him in a course of righteousness from which no amount of shaking will be able to alter him.
On the other hand, the lazy, indifferent builder is due for a shocking disappointment when the storms of opposition batter against his flimsy structure. Built on disobedience, it is certain to collapse. However, despite Jesus' warning illustration, many people today are like the man who built on the sand—they hear, but do not perform. Such persons acknowledge that it would be a wonderful world if everyone practiced what Jesus taught, but they feel that his teachings are impractical, that they are too idealistic. So they reason that salvation could not really depend on obedience to them.
Ah, but it does! Life does depend on following the narrow, cramped way of complete obedience to the will of God! Jesus went to great lengths in the conclusion of his sermon on the mount to make this clear to the people. Just prior to his concluding illustration, he explained: “Not everyone saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ wi'H enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but the one doing the will of my Father who is in the heavens will.*’ Merely professing to be a Christian is not enough. Neither Is it acceptable if one serves God his own way. A person must practice what Jesus preached.—Matt. 7:21.
Jesus gave another illustration toward the end of his sermon to show that the majority would fail to make the necessary effort to gain life. “Go in through the narrow gate, he encouraged; “because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it.”—Matt. 7:13,14.
Few make the effort to follow the narrow path. Instead, they follow the easy way of least resistance. But what about yourself? On what are you building, on the rock-mass or on sand ? Do you only hear what Jesus said, or do you practice his teachings as well?
Exemplary Conduct
In the introduction of his sermon Jesus said that those who win God’s approval are conscious of their spiritual need; they mourn over the wickedness in the world; they hunger and thirst for righteousness; they are merciful, pure in heart, peaceful; but they are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and people lyingly say every sort of wicked thing against them. Jesus called such persons “the light of the world.” Can you identify yourself with this class of people? Or do you only read these beautiful expressions, but fail to live according to them?—Matt. 5:1-16.
While it is true that Jesus set a very high standard of conduct, a Christian cannot rationalize that it is too idealistic. He must strive to meet it, and when he falls short, strive even harder to overcome his weaknesses. Do you ever become angry with others? Then fight to extinguish your wrath, for Jesus warned “that everyone who continues wrathful with his brother will be accountable to the court of justice.” Be quick about settling differences with those that may have something against you. “Make your peace with your brother,” Jesus said, and then you will be in position to offer acceptable sacrifices to God. —Matt. 5:21-26.
You may not have committed adultery, but do you ever keep on looking at a woman so as to have lustful passion for her? If so, root such licentious thoughts and desires from your life, Jesus admonished, or, in time, they will be the death of you. Are you married, but think about getting a divorce? Marital unfaithfulness, adultery, is the only ground for divorce, Jesus explained. So cultivate a spirit of mildness, long-suffering and love. Apply Jesus’ teachings in your homelife, and your relations with your marriage mate will improve so that you will never want a divorce.—Matt. 5:27-32.
Be honest; say what you mean and mean what you say. “Let your word Yes mean Yes, your No, No.” Do not be provoked into retaliatory wrath, “but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other also to him.” Be accommodating: “If someone under authority impresses you into service for a mile, go with him two miles.” Show love, and that even to your enemies. You say that is difficult to do? Certainly it is! But by daily practicing these sayings of Jesus you will be building your Christian structure on a solid foundation, and no trial or temptation will sweep you from the course of righteousness.—Matt. 5:33-48.
Building on the Kingdom Hope
Jesus next instructed the crowds on how they should pray, thereby fixing their attention on their heavenly Father, Jehovah God. After telling them that they should not pray as the hypocrites do, just to be seen of men, he gave them a model prayer. “You must pray, then, this way,” he said: “Our Father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified. Let your kingdom come. Let your will take place, as In heaven, also upon earth. . . . ”—Matt. 6:1-14.
—
ARTICLES IN THE NEXT ISSUE
• Worship That Pleases God.
• Does Your Child Belong to the State?
• Superhighways in the Sky.
• My Years in Prison in Communist China.
Here Jesus showed that God’s kingdom should be of keen concern to all Christians. It should be a chief subject of their prayers, and, necessarily then, they should devote their lives to serving its interests.
This would result in permanent riches, as Jesus showed when he advised: “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal. Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”—Matt. 6:19-21.
Yes, heavenly treasures, and not material riches, should be the chief pursuit of Christians. “You cannot slave for God and for Riches," 3esus explained. So slave for God, he encouraged. Trust in him, and he will sustain you. “Never be anxious and say, ‘What are we to eat?’ or, ‘What are we to drink?’ or, ‘What are we to put on?’ . . . For your heavenly Father knows you need all these things. Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you.”—Matt. 6:24-34.
Now is the time to examine your Christian structure. Do you pay lip service to the sermon on the mount as the finest talk ever given, and yet fail to practice what Jesus taught? Remember Jesus’ concluding illustration. If your spiritual structure has not been built on obedience to these teachings of Jesus it is certain to collapse. So “become doers of the word, and not hearers only.” Build on the rock-mass, and stand when Jehovah’s storm of Armageddon sweeps away all imitation Christians. —Jas. 1:22.
’'NICARAGUA
By “Awake t” correspondent in Nicaragua
IOULD you believe it that in this twentiethcentury machine age a two-story concretc-[ steel structure would be built from start to finish without the use of machine tools? Impossible, you say. But not so.
In the residential section of southeast Managua, Nicaragua, stands a beautiful, L-shaped structure built completely by hand. This is the new branch building and missionary home of the Watch Tower Society in Nicaragua. The huilding is modern in every detail, yet not a single power tool was used in its entire construction. From beginning to end some twenty-five men worked on it without machine tools. Foundation footings were dug by hand. Wood was planed by hand. Lumber was sawed and holes were drilled all by hand. Even the cement was conveyed to the highest and farthest sections by hand. It was not until the building was completed that the first machine tool was used. The machine was a polisher used to polish the terrazzo floor. This is truly a building in which its builders can take personal pride, for their hands in a most literal way built it.
Construction on this earthquake-resistant home began in February, 1962, and a year later, February 16, 1963, the building was dedicated to the glory of God and to the advancement of his purposes in the earth. Made of reinforced concrete and steel, this branch home is expected to stand for a long, long time.
For the most part Nicaraguans are not wealthy people. How, then, were they able to build such a Lovely building? This home of some ten missionaries was financed and built by unsolicited contributions. Jehovah's witnesses and their companions in Nicaragua freely contributed to its construction. This fact becomes even more impressive when we realize that there are only 524 publishing ministers of Jehovah’s witnesses in all Nicaragua, and no more than about ninety of these will be using the Kingdom Hall facilities located in the building, yet they all willingly gave of themselves and their substance. Therefore, their happiness is great.—Acts 20:35.
Almost everyone is curious to know what a new home or building looks like on the inside. One feels that way about this building especially, because it is not only a religious meeting center, but also an office, a storage room and a home all in one. Even before-you enter the building you are impressed by the large, neat lettering above the spacious double-door entranceway. The letters, in Spanish, say: SalOn pel reino de los tt:st!gos de JehovA, which, in English, is: “Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses.’’ Beyond these double doors is the striking turquoise Kingdom Hall. It is immaculately clean, well ventilated, height and cheery with color. You are immediately impressed with it.
Also on this first floor is a lobby for visitors, an office where the branch servant does his work and a kitchen where the missionaries prepare meals for themselves. Across the patio is a garage used for literature storage.
Upstairs are six bedrooms and a pair of bathrooms. Here is where the Watch Tower Society’s missionaries live. There is excellent cross ventilation in every room. Numerous louvered windows encased in aluminum sashes add, not only to the beauty of the building, but also to the refreshing comfort of those who live there. Even the corridor, painted in a cool green, seems to be alive with a cool flow of air. What a blessing a cool breeze is in a tropical climate!
This lovely, two-story handmade home, dedicated to serve the needs of God-fearing people in Nicaragua, will for some time to come be the center of true worship in that land.
HONG KON
By ‘'Awake]” correspondent in Hong Kong
FOLLOWING their defeat of China in the Opium War in 1841, the British accepted an uninviting, barren island less than a mile off the southeast coast of China as spoils of victory. They gave it the Chinese name Hong Kong, meaning "Fragrant Harbor.” But aside from its excellent harbor the island had little to recommend itself. It was only about the size of Manhattan in New York city, it had little arable land, hardly a level acre and it was cut off from cooling winds. The general view of the tiny colony was well expressed by the chapter heading of a book published at the time—"Hong Kong—Its Position, Prospects, Character and Utter Worthlessness from Every Point of View.”
But despite the dire predictions that pronounced her doom Hong Kong has proved vigorous and tenacious. In 1860 she was strengthened by the addition of Stonecutter’s Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. Then, in 1898, Britain obtained a 99-year lease on the New Territories, the mainland territory between Kowloon and the Sham Chun River, and including 235 surrounding islands. This acquisition of 3653 square miles of land area increased the colony’s area to a little more than that of New York city.
However, these additions to the colony added few natural resources and little arable land. Nevertheless, the colony continued to grow and prosper. Today, besides the baby born every five minutes, as many as 150,000 newcomers a year immigrate to the little colony. From a mere 4,500 persons in 1841, Hong Kong has become a hustling trade and industrial center of 3,500,000 inhabitants that has made the world sit up and take notice. Last year tourists at the rate of 20,000 a month flocked to take a look for themselves.
Refugees Swell Population
From its beginning the tiny British colony has been a haven for those fleeing from trying times on the Chinese mainland. The first wave of refugees came with the Tai Ping Rebellion in 1850, and ever since, Hong Kong’s population has been governed by conditions on the mainland. When Japan invaded China prior to the second world war, 600,000 refugees poured into the colony within two years. Thus when the Japanese attacked in December of 1941, Hong Kong was crowded with 1,600,000 inhabitants.
By the end of the war in 1945, however, the population had been reduced to less than 600,000 and the colony was in ruins. But when a postwar struggle for power on the mainland ensued, the refugees again began to stream into Hong Kong. When the Communists gained the upper hand in 1949, the stream became a torrent, and within a year the colony’s population had swelled to 2,360,000. Finally, restrictions had to be placed on immigrants, but they managed to sneak in anyway. Just last year there were more than 140,000 illegal entries.
Where to Put Everybody
The monumental problem facing Hong Kong’s authorities has been where to put its three million new inhabitants since the war. Most of the land is considered unsuitable for habitation, it either being too swampy, in forests, badly eroded, or too hilly. Broken ranges of hills intersect the colony, with some two dozen peaks reaching from 1,000 to 3,140 feet into the air. As a result, 80 percent of the population are jammed into about thirty-si^ square miles—less than one-tenth of the colony’s total land area—to make it one of the most dangerously overcrowded places in the world. From 1,800 to 2,800 persons are crammed onto every acre of its urban sections.
A large portion of this urban area has been obtained by pushing the hills into the harbor. Not only has this provided level land where the hills once were, but thousands of acres of land have been added where there once was sea. The size and shape of the Kowloon Peninsula have been altered by a series of land-fill projects that began in 1867. Up until the time of the Japanese invasion in 1941 a total of 1,425 acres, or more than two square miles of land, had been added in this way. Across the harbor on Hong Kong Island, the commercial city of Victoria and the flanking eastern and western suburbs have also been built on man-made land.
Since the war, these projects have gone ahead with ever-increasing intensity as the demand for habitable land has become more acute. Already about $60,000,000 has been spent on this work. On the northeastern shore of Kowloon Bay a whole range of hills has been leveled and dumped into the sea to provide a 514-acre site for the new industrial city of Kwun Tong. Its population is expected to reach 300,000 soon. Adjacent to this site is the runway of the new Kai Tak airport, which stretches more than a mile into the bay. This 800-foot-wide airstrip was also built out into the sea. And just eight miles northwest in the New Territories, about seventy acres have been added to build the new industrial town of Tsuen Wan. When completed, it will accommodate some 175,000 people.
Aside from Tsuen Wan, the principal land-fill operations have been restricted to Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Bay. This is where the bulk of the population lives, and where housing is a major problem. It has been tackled, however, by erecting multistory resettlement estates. These generally consist of six- or seven-story H-shaped buildings with single rooms, each room accommodating a family. Already more than 500,000 people have been lodged in these quarters, and further buildings will accommodate as many more in the next few years. Recently large twentystory buildings designed for families of moderate incomes have also been constructed. But, despite the good progress, there are still more than 300,000 persons that do not have adequate housing. They sleep on the sidewalks, in hillside shanties or on rooftops.
The Problem of Water
As critical as the housing problem is, it is rivaled by the problem of providing the vast population with water. Even at the founding of the colony in 1841 freshwater was scarce, and by 1859 the water level of the few wells had sunk so low it was necessary to build a reservoir. Hong Kong’s average yearly rainfall of about eighty-five inches occurs mostly during the months from April to September, and it must be held and preserved if there is to be water during the dry winter months. Therefore, as the need arose for more water, additional reservoirs were constructed. By the time of the Japanese occupation during the war there were thirteen, having a storage capacity of 6,000,000,000 gallons.
With the postwar increase of population there was the need for more water, so after careful consideration a site for the mammoth Tai Lam Chung reservoir was selected in the western part of the New Territories. The project called for the construction of a gigantic 2,300-foot-long and 200-foot-high concrete dam that would hold back a reservoir containing 4,500,000,000 gallons of water. It took eight years to complete, but even before it was finished in 1960 the colony needed more water than it could supply. Just recently the critical water shortage necessitated limiting the running water to just a few hours a day.
So even before the Tai Lam Chung reservoir was completed, construction was begun on a yet larger reservoir on the island of Lantau. This project involved the sealing off of a large valley with an earth dam 2,300 feet long and with a maximum height of 180 feet. This Shek Pik dam, which is scheduled for completion this year, will back up a lake with a storage capacity of 5,400,000,000 gallons, a third of the colony’s total water storage. The water will be transported by undersea pipelines to Hong Kong.
But even this Lantau water will not keep up with Hong Kong’s thirst, so with future needs in mind the government plans to reclaim land from the sea for the storage of freshwater. There are many inlets and coves in the Hong Kong labyrinth that could be enclosed by a dam. The seawater would be pumped out to provide a basin for an immense freshwater lake that would be fed by streams from the surrounding hills.
However, such a mammoth undertaking is not just in the realm of speculation. Already construction is under way in connection with sealing off Plover Cove, a 2,750-acre inlet in Tolo Harbor. The building of this mile-and-a-quarter dam is a gigantic project of world interest. When complete, the dam will extend thirty-five feet above the water and seventy feet below, and the reservoir will be able to hold 30,000,000,000 gallons of water, more than doubling the present storage capacity of the colony’s reservoirs.
The problems that faced postwar Hong Kong indeed appeared insurmountable, and, while it is true that these to a large extent still remain, it is a marvel how Hong Kong has tackled them to become one of the thriving commercial centers of the present day.
Ho Images of the True God
• In his article "The Terminology of Old Testament Religion and Its Significance," G, Ernest Wright comments on the commandment given the Israelites not to make an image to represent the true God, Jehovah. (Ex. 20:4) The writer says concerning archaeologists: “We can nowhere place our hands on a figure of Yahweh [Jehovahl. . . . Canaanite cities possess quite a series of copper and bronze male figurines of a god, usually identified by archaeologists with Baal. When we come to Israelite strata, however, the series gives out. ... In the city of Megiddo, for example, a tremendous amount of debris was moved from the first five town levels (all Israelite) and not a single example has been found as far as the writer is aware.”—Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. I, October, 1942, p. 413.
Nearly 200,000 thunderstorms rage around the earth every day, releasing over 300,000 lightning bolts every hour. Our earth greatly benefits from this lightning, even though not all parts of the globe receive an equal share of lightning. In Kampala, Uganda, thunder is heard more than 200 days each year, whereas in certain parts of California thunderstorms are so rare that when one occurred during World War II, some persons scurried for their cellars, thinking they were being bombed.
How do you react to lightning? Do you thrill to its explosive display of power? Lightning is as much of a paradox as people’s reactions to it, for, though it can be dangerous, it is most impressive and useful. What is lightning? How does it come about?
Our globe is a mammoth electrical storehouse, the earth having an abundance of electrons or a negative electric charge. The atmosphere, on the other hand, is positively charged, particularly the ionosphere. The electric difference is said to amount to 300,000 volts. Since the air that surrounds this earth is not a perfect insulator, electrons are constantly escaping from the earth into the air surrounding it. Each projecting point, such as a tree or building, is silently discharging electricity upward in the form of ions—invisible air molecules that carry minute amounts of electricity.
So much electricity escapes from the earth that our planet would lose much of its charge in a short time if it were not replenished. How is this charge restored?
From Cloud to Earth
In a way not yet completely understood by man, the thunderstorm acts like a huge dynamo, producing fantastic amounts of electricity. Within the thundercloud itself electric charges are separated; the top usually takes on a positive charge, the bottom, a massive negative » A charge. So strong is this V* negative charge at the hase of the thundercloud that the electric difference between it and the earth reaches 100,000,000 volts, or about one million times the voltage of the electricity in your home!
Under such extraordinary electric pressure, a phenomenon now takes place. Streams of ions surge forth from the cloudbase toward the ground in what are called cloud “streamers.” These downward traveling streamers are said to be the pioneers of the lightning flash. Their downward trip is not a smooth one, as they must blaze a trail. They do this in a successive number of steps, each from 30 to 300 feet in length. After each step there is a minute pause, as if the trailblazing cloud streamers were exhausted and needed time to recuperate.
Not only are streamers sent down from the clouds, but on the earth a positive charge builds up in the ground; these ground charges crowd into the area of approach of the cloud streamers. When the ground charge becomes great, streamers surge upward from the earth from elevated areas such as trees and church steeples. When the ground streamer meets the cloud streamer—lightning! There is a brilliant flash, as the cloud-to-earth.. path is completed. Upon contact, a deluge of electrons plunges earthward. What appears to be a single flash, however, is not often the case; for the flash is a composite event usually consisting of separate strokes, most frequently three.
Not always does the discharge from the earth’s surface take place violently in the form of a lightning bolt, but it may give rise to what is known as St. Elmo’s fire. This is the glow or fire that dances on trees and poles when thunderstorm clouds are about, caused by the low-flying negatively charged base of the cloud, which attracts a flow of positive electricity toward it from the earth. By such leakage, clouds dissipate their electrical tensions; otherwise bolts of lightning would occur more often than they do.
Safety Precautions
Since ground streamers rise from protruding structures, good sense tells one to keep away from elevated positions and projecting objects (or holding projecting objects such as umbrellas) during electrical storms.
Before the existence of ground streamers was realized, it was widely believed that prayer and the ringing of bells would keep lightning from striking church steeples. Old church bells may still be inscribed with the Latin words Fulgura Frango (I break up the lightning flashes). There was one measurable result of the bell ringing: many of the ringers were electrocuted while pulling the ropes. One writer of
the eighteenth century records the death of over a hundred bell ringers in a period of thirty-three years, during which time almost 400 church steeples were hit by lightning bolts. When some churches came to be used as arsenals for gunpowder and artillery, the combination of steeple and powder magazine had disastrous consequences. A bolt in 1769 set- off the vaults under the church of St. Nazaire in Brescia, Italy; the explosion destroyed a sixth of the city and killed about 3,000 persons. In 1856 a lightning bolt hit the church of St. Jean on the island of Rhodes, and the stores of gunpowder blew up, killing at least 4,000 persons.
Knowing how lightning behaves, one can take sensible precautions that may save one’s life. Each year lightning kills about 500 persons in the United States alone; statistics show that nine out of ten persons struck by lightning were outdoors at the time. Many lives are lost by persons seeking shelter under isolated trees—about the most dangerous way to seek shelter. It is also dangerous to stand near wire fences. Out-of-doors the safest places are deep valleys or the foot of steep cliffs; depressions are safer than hilltops. It is also dangerous to be on a bicycle, tractor or other open metal conveyance during a thunderstorm. If you are out in the open and you have an auto nearby, head for the car; if it is entirely metal-enclosed it is one of the safest places to be during an electrical storm.
Perhaps you like to swim. Then remember: Avoid being in the water during a thunderstorm. The old fable that lightning does not hit water is not true. A swimmer who is near water that , has been struck by lightning could easily be paralyzed or electrocuted. Swimmers should get out of the water during storms and stay off beaches. If you are in a small boat, immediately head for shore. Large metal boats, however, do provide protection, much as an automobile does, the metal frame conducting current around the occupants.
Even when indoors it is wise to take a few precautions during electrical storms. Lightning could be brought into a home through electric or telephone wires, so it is best to avoid touching large metal objects. If telephone wires in your community are on overhead exposed poles rather than in underground cables, it is a good idea not to use the telephone during an electrical storm, unless absolutely necessary. It is also a good idea to postpone taking a bath until after the storm.
Not only is it wise to take certain precautions during lightning storms, but also much property damage can be avoided by installing lightning rods. The view that lightning rods are dangerous because they attract lightning is the exact reverse of the truth. It is by this very influence that the rod affords the desired protection. Since the rod projects from a building, its ground streamer reaches higher and so is the first to meet up with any descending cloud streamer. Immediately a circuit is formed whereby the cloud discharge travels to the point of the rod, down through the conductor into the ground without damage to the building. Only properly installed rods provide protection.
Cloud-to-Cloud Liffiitniny
We are accustomed to think of lightning as going from cloud to earth, but most flashes occur inside the cloud itself or between clouds and so are not readily seen. Cloud-to-cloud lightning may be either horizontal or vertical, within clouds from front to back, or from upper clouds to lower clouds. In England only one out of every six lightning discharges is believed to reach the ground. In South Africa, where clouds generally fly higher, only one oul of every ten flashes goes from cloud to earth.
Cloud-to-cloud lightning is also greater in magnitude than cloud-to-earth strokes. Whereas the stroke that reaches the earth is about a mile long, those between clouds are usually much longer. One was photographed that covered the distance of thirty miles!
The brilliant flash of lightning is believed to be similar to the light of neon signs. Just as a neon sign may take on different colors, so lightning sometimes is white, at other times yellow or even pink, depending on the impurities in the air.
Streak lightning is perhaps the most common shape. This kind of lightning looks much like a river system—like water pouring in from many tributaries, all emptying into the main river that flows directly to the sea.
A close relative of streak lightning is forked lightning. This is streak lightning that separates and enters the earth at two different locations.
An interesting shape seldom observed is ribbon lightning. Since the lightning path is essentially a channel of air, if there is a strong wind, this channel will be blown with it. Then if a number of lightning strokes follow each other in rapid succession, each will be a little farther away from the preceding one, giving the whole an appearance of a ribbon.
Heat lightning occurs when a thunderstorm is on the horizon, close enough for the light to be seen, but too far for the thunder to be heard. Closely related to heat lightning is sheet lightning. This can be observed when lightning strikes within the cloud, which in turn, diffuses the light, giving the effect of the whole cloud being luminous, thunder sometimes being heard.
What about thunder? As the bolt of lightning cuts its channel through the air the temperature rises in much less than a second to about 27,000 degrees Fahrenheit, causing the air to expand with violent force, so creating very powerful sound waves that we hear as thunder. The rumble of thunder is caused by the number of separate strokes and echoes from nearby hills or mountains.
Thunder provides a convenient means for determining the distance of lightning. Sound travels about 1,090 feet per second, so by counting the time between flash and thunder, you can determine the approximate distance between you and the strike.
The Mysterious Lightning Ball
Of all the features of lightning, perhaps the lightning ball is the most mysterious. Known also to scientists by its German name, kugelblitz, it has often been relegated to the realm of folklore. But many and varied are the reports of people who claim to have seen the lightning ball—usually described as a luminous sphere, from six to eighteen inches in diameter and of almost any color, often bluish. It is described as floating through the air, gliding along a fence, entering a window, popping out of an oven or diving down a chimney into a fireplace, culminating its journey by disappearing, sometimes with a loud explosion.
Though many theories have been offered to explain the lightning ball, scientists have not yet been able to reproduce it in the laboratory.
Witnesses report that the fireball often leaves evidence of its heat. One report from Russia, In 1960, tells of the tip of an airplane propeller being partly melted by a lightning ball, at an altitude of 10,000 feet. In Germany one came down the chimney of a house, moved across the floor and out the door. A man in the London area reported that a luminous ball about the size of a large orange popped out of the sky, entered the room, scorching the window frame on the way in; then it dived into a small barrel filled with about four gallons of watSr. Suddenly the water boiled, he said, “for some minutes."1
Though lightning balls may sometimes be confused with St. Elmo’s fire, they are a distinct phenomenon. A color photograph of a pulsating ball of lightning was published in the Scientific American of March, 1963. “A brief survey of reported events,” said that journal, "quickly convinces the skeptic that enough reputable observers have seen and possibly even photographed ball lightning to have no doubt that the phenomenon is real, although it is rare and as yet unexplained.”
Despite a number of unknown factors about lightning, man does know that it plays a vital role in a twofold way: (1) It supplies enough negative charge to the earth to balance the earth’s loss of charge to the atmosphere; (2) it supplies the earth with an estimated 100,000,000 tons of nitrogen compounds yearly, thus helping greatly to fertilize the soil. The lightning-nitrogen cycle is just one of many cycles that the wise Creator set in motion, that this planet might be man’s ideal home, for “the earth he has given to the sons of men.”—Ps. 115:16.
Jehovah himself has become king! . . .
His lightnings lighted up the productive land. - Ps. 97.U, 4.
BELOW the Antarctic Circle lies a vast continent about twice the size of Australia, but it is a wasteland where neither man nor land animal makes his home. How different it is north of the Arctic Circle! Here is an area where there are forests and trees, an abundance of animal life, and where the Eskimos, the Lapps, the Samoyeds and other nomadic peoples have lived for hundreds, and, probably, thousands of years. Today the permanent residents of this land of the midnight sun number into the hundreds of thousands, the majority of whom are Russians and Scandinavians.
A glance at the map will reveal that these people live on islands or at the top of the continents of Europe, Asia, and North America. Notice how this land area almost completely encloses the Arctic Ocean. The two main entrances into this ocean are through the narrow Bering Strait between Alaska and Siberia, and, on the Atlantic side, through the Greenland Sea between the islands of Spitsbergen and Greenland.
Actually it was not until about the end of the nineteenth century that it was known for sure that the top of the globe was entirely covered by water, this constituting a mighty ocean larger in area than the United States of America and well over two miles deep. Why the dearth of information? Because this ocean is hidden beneath a massive ice pack that varies in thickness from about nine feet in the summer to thirteen feet in winter. This shifting polar ice is worn like a cap slightly over one ear; on the Pacific side it reaches down some 1,200 miles from the Pole during the summer, but, because of the warming fingers of the Gulf Stream, it extends down only about half that distance on the Atlantic side.
Race to the Pole
At the turn of the century ambitious and adventurous men pitted their perseverance and courage against this ice pack in a race to be the first to reach the very top of the globe—the geographic North Pole. Since the closest land area-to the North Pole is over 400 miles away, one can appreciate the long and dangerous journey necessary to reach the coveted goal. Temperatures can plunge to fifty and more degrees (Fahrenheit) below zero. Gale force winds can spring up and open a channel of water in the ice, making a long detour necessary. The ice is uneven and pressure ridges rise like mountains, some of them fifty feet into the air. Over this shifting ice-covered, two-mile-deep ocean hundreds of miles from land, progress is not easy.
Early explorers found the going difficult. In the summer of 1893 the famous Norwegian explorer Fredtjof Nansen set sail from Norway in the specially designed ship, the Fram. His strategy was to drive into the ice pack off the New Siberian Islands and allow the ocean current to carry him toward the North Pole. The Fram was so constructed that, instead of crushing it, the pressure of the ice lifted the ship up on an even keel above the water, and there it rode for the duration of the drift. As Nansen anticipated, the Fram drifted northwest, eventually reaching a record latitude of less than 300 miles from the Pole. On August 13, 1896, after nearly three years of drifting, it finally broke out of the ice off the north coast of Spitsbergen.
In the meantime, on March 14, 1895, Nansen and a companion daringly left the ship and struck out over the ice pack for the Pole. Although coming closer than any humans before them, they were forced to turn back 242 miles short of their goal. After a long, perilous journey they were able to make it back to Franz Josef Land, and eventual safety.
After the drift of the Fram, Clements Markham, president of the British Royal Geographical Society, expressed the view of many explorers when he said: “Since Nansen’s discovery that the Pole is an ice-covered sea there is no longer any special object to be attained in going there.’’ But, nonetheless, intense rivalry flared as the international contest to reach the Pole was fanned by the public press. With the prospect of becoming an international hero, explorers pressed on in their race for the Pole.
The Goal Achieved
In March of 1900 Lieutenant Cagni of the Italian navy left from Franz Josef Land with ten companions in a well-planned quest for the prize, and although he fell 220 miles short, he surpassed Nansen’s record. Cagni’s record withstood two assaults by the ambitious American explorer Robert E. Peary, in 1900 and 1902. But Peary was not to be denied. In the spring of 1906 he and his party fought sixty-below-zero temperatures, a half gale and heavy drift to eclipse Cagni’s record. This, however, did not satisfy Peary. His whole life had been devoted to polar expeditions with the end in view of reaching the Pole. So in February of 1909, at the age of fifty-three, he and his company set out from Cape Columbia on the northern end of Ellesmere Island for a final and all-out attempt.
Again low temperatures and violent winds were encountered and days were spent waiting for the ice to close over the broad black expanses of water that were opened up. By April 1 they had advanced 280 miles from Cape Columbia, and only 133 miles of ice-covered ocean separated them from their goal. At this point the last of the trailblazing parties turned back and Peary and five companions, four of whom were Eskimos, pressed on. On April 6 this party became the first to set foot on the North Pole.
Polar Travel Today
Less than five years ago another trip was made to the North Pole, but on this occasion the men enjoyed pleasant living quarters with temperatures never dropping to an uncomfortable level. Such were the conditions inside the nuclear submarine Nautilus, which, in the summer of 1958, ducked under the ice pack on the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean and five days later emerged on the Atlantic side. This historic trip marked the first time a ship passed directly over the North Pole, at which point the water depth was measured at 13,410 feet, over two and a half miles!
The following year the nuclear submarine Skate not only reached the North Pole, but with a strengthened sail was able to break the ice, much like a whale does with its back. This allowed the ship to surface and the men to get out and walk around the same place Peary had visited just fifty years before. Observed the ship’s captain on one such surfacing: “It is not every day a skipper can walk away from his ship and contemplate it from a distance while it is a hundred miles from land, in water more than a mile deep.”
The advent of the nuclear submarine more than ever increases the value of the North Pole as an important military position. But it also opens up prospects of underwater shipping lanes that would cut by one-third the distances from Hawaii and the Pacific northwest to the ports of northern Europe; distances from Japan and the eastern shores of Asia would be cut even more. Some visualize atomic cargo fleets making regular trips through the recently charted depths of the Arctic deep. This also raises the question as to the prospects of surface shipping routes above the Arctic Circle, Can the northern shores of Europe, Asia and North America be used as shipping lanes, thus cutting by thousands of miles the distance between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans?
Trade Routes
This question has been one of intense interest for the past several hundred years, and perhaps was even given consideration thousands of years ago. It is suggested that the ancient Greeks may have investigated the prospects of a northern sea route to the Orient, Although such extensive travel of the ancients may be contrary to popular opinion, the authority Vilhjalmur Stefansson noted that, with regard to the travels of men in pre-Christian eras, “today’s scholars are beginning to realize that the safest guess about ancient man is a guess that he knew more than we suppose offhand. The risky guess is to suppose he knew only what we can prove.”
The quest for a sea route to the Orient was renewed with passionate fervor by Europeans who were interested in obtaining the fabulous riches of China, which Marco Polo said so much about on his return in 1295 from extensive travels there. The overland route to China by camels was too long and hazardous. In 1497-98 the pioneer voyage by Vasco da Gama down the coast of Africa and around the Cape of Good Hope opened up a southeast passage, but, like the overland route, it was long and treacherous. The same was true of the southwest passage around the southern tip of South America, pioneered by the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan in 1519-23, So attention was turned northward.
Christopher Columbus thought China could be reached by sailing north, and from his time onward many explorers searched above the Arctic Circle for a passageway to the Pacific Ocean, In time the entire route from the Atlantic to the Pacific along both the Eurasian and the North American coast was navigated, but the ice-clogged sea and heavy weather prevented the accomplishing of this on one voyage. It was not until 1878 that the Swedish explorer NJLE. Nordenskjflld made the first passage across the northern waters from the Barents Sea to the Pacific. In his narrative regarding the voyage he said that it was made “without the slightest damage to the vessel and under circumstances which show that the same thing can be done again in most, perhaps in all, years in the course of a few weeks.”
Today the Soviet Union makes extensive use of this northeast passage even though it is icebound nine months of the year and is hazardous because of fog and heavy weather during the open months. It is estimated by one authority that in 1954 between one and two million tons of freight were shipped over this northern sea route, and in that same year passenger service was also inaugurated along it.
By the mid-nineteenth century the entire -northwest passage along the northern coast of Alaska and Canada had been navigated, with various routes among the northern islands being investigated. But still no ship had sailed the entire passage in one direction until the Norwegian Roald Amundsen accomplished the feat, reaching the Pacific Ocean in 1906 after a long trip that originated in his native Norway. Although this passage is shorter and is said to be easier to navigate than the northeast passage, it has not been utilized as extensively.
Northern Inhabitants
Whereas such men as Nordenskjold, Nansen, Peary and Amundsen spent much of their lives north of the Arctic Circle in a quest for fame and a search for a northern seaway, this is not true of the Eskimos, the Lapps, the Samoyeds and many others who today make their home there. The ancestors of many of these peoples evldantly lived around the top of the globe even before the Christian Era.
Ethnologists generally assume that the Eskimos sometime In the distant past crossed the narrow Bering Strait to settle as the sole native occupants all along the top of North America as far east as Greenland. A legend of the Eskimos gives evidence as to the actual origin of their race. The Arctic explorer Peter Freuchen said that “the Eskimos have, in their old. tales, traditions of a flood.” This legend, counterparts of which are found among most ancient peoples, supports the Bible record which shows that the races had their origin with the few survivors of the Noachi-an Flood some 4,332 years ago.—Genesis, chaps. 6-8.
It is suggested that, after their immigration into North America, the Eskimos became involved in vicious conflicts with the Indians, also immigrants from Asia, and, as a result, were forced right out to the Arctic coasts. This has been offered as an explanation for their extremely northern habitat. In any case, there are many blood-chilling stories of the massacres when these enemies met. Even as late as the present century the Eskimos retained such a dreadful fear that the cry of “Indians!” in an isolated Greenland settlement could throw the inhabitants into a panic.
The Eskimos, who now number Less than 50,000, are said to be the only true arctic peoples. On the other hand, northern natives of Europe and Asia—the Lapps, the Samoyeds, the Yakuty, the Chukchi and the Koryaki—are offshoots of southern peoples with whom they keep in relatively close contact and from whom they do not differ racially and culturally. The Lapps, who now number only about 33,000, inhabit northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and part of Russia east to the White Sea. This area of about 150,000 square miles is called Lapland. The Samoyeds and Yakuty live in north central Siberia, and the Chukchi and Koryaki live east of them toward the Bering Strait. Although these main groups of natives inhabiting the Arctic number less than 150,000, they by no means make up the majority of people now living above the Arctic Circle.
Above the Arctic Circle
Perhaps a question is raised in the minds of some as to whether there is a difference between the area referred to as the Arctic and the area north of the Arctic Circle. Yes, authorities draw a distinction, because in the Western Hemisphere there are typical arctic areas, such as the barren north' of Canada and the glacier-covered southern part of Greenland, and these are below the Arctic Circle. Whereas in sections of Lapland well above the Arctic Circle there is a temperate climate where barley and garden vegetables are grown, and where the warm Gulf Stream keeps northern harbors ice-free the year around.
The Arctic Circle marks the latitude at which one encounters the strange phenomenon of the midnight sun. On the circle itself, located some 1,633 miles from the North Pole, there is one day a year when the sun does not set all night, and, likewise, in the winter, one day when it does not rise. As one moves northward the number of days of light and of darkness increase till at the North Pole there are roughly six months of continuous light and six months of polar night.
In recent years thousands of Scandinavians have moved to the land of the midnight sun because of the iron-mining industry. As a result, the Swedish town of Kiruna, located nearly 100 miles above the Arctic Circle, has swelled from only 312 residents in 1900 to some 27,000 today. Here the sun never sets from May 31 until July 14. Other towns have also experienced population increases. For example, the city of Murmansk located in Russian Lapland. Although it is almost 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, it now has a population of more than 225,000.
The hundreds of thousands of travelers who visit north of the Arctic Circle each year certainly are impressed. They stand awe-stricken as they view the mighty snowcapped mountains and the beautiful waterfalls.
When coming in close contact with nature man finds himself very small and helpless. This is a wholesome lesson, and it is one that is impressively taught by the regions north of the Arctic Circle.
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