Awake!, November 8, 1963

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NOVEMBER 8, 1963

THE MISSION OF THIS JOURNAL

News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awake/" 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 toes must not be trodden on; it is 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.

'‘Awake!1’ uses the regular news channels, but is not dependent on them. Its own correspondents are on all continents, in scores of nations. From the four corners of the earth their uncensored, an-the-scenes reports come to you through these columns. This journal’s viewpoint is not narrow, but is international. It is read in many nations, in many languages, by persons of all ages. Through its pages many fields af 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.

‘‘Awoke!’’ pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, ta 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

Reproof—Can You Take It?

A Clear Mind in a Mad World

The March on Washington

Responding to God’s Truth

Nation on Wings

Is This Americanism?

The Amazing Power of Light

Clairvoyant Gunfighter

Stuffed Animals and Dried Bones

‘‘House by the Sea”

Clothe Your Feet Wisely

Ruining His Home

“Your Word Is Truth”

God’s Judgment Periods and Human Destiny

Watching the World

Volumo XLIV London, England, November 8, 1953 Number 21

REPRDDF

The well-known Bible character Jonah is an example of one who experienced a rapid succession of severe reproofs. Could he take it? As you read the account in the Bible book bearing his name you may truly wonder. But, then, you recall that it was Jonah him

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reprimanded for it. How did you feel? Likely, a little disturbed, most of all with yourself, and that is quite natural, for ‘no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward ...” Ah, yes, afterward—that is the important thing. So how did you feel afterward? How do you feel now, for instance? Are you grateful that someone had the kindness and the courage to call your faults to your attention? Have you benefited from the reproof? Have you befriended your reprover more than ever before? Or, do you feel sorry for yourself, belittle the reproof by making excuses for yourself and avoid your reprover? Can you take reproof?—Heb. 12:11.

If you find it difficult to take reproof it would be good for you to reflect seriously on the matter. One who does not readily respond to reproof may find himself being reproved repeatedly, perhaps severely so, and this can be very grievous indeed, both for the one reproved and for his loving reprover.

self who wrote the record of how and why he was so reproved. Yes, at first he too was quite disturbed and engulfed in self-pity, yet afterward—and remember this is what matters—Jonah recaptured the proper perspective and he benefited by the reproof. ‘But,’ you may say, ‘Jonah’s reprimand came from God. He had no reason to object.’ Yes, it does seem that the reaction of some persons to reproof depends on who the reprover is. Whew they are inwardly reproved in their personal reading of the Bible or some publication that they regard as entirely authoritative, everything is just fine. They have no qualms about administering self-discipline in harmony with what is read. But let the very same words of counsel come from the lips of a close acquaintance and things change. There is a begrudging of the reproof, an inward or outward counteraccusation against the reprover, a harboring of animosity and an excusing of oneself.

Is this the way things should be? Are not such persons failing to remember that most of the written counsel available to us on proper conduct and the Christian way of life has been transmitted through the services of imperfect humans? It is true that the Bible is an inspired book, but this cannot be said of other sources of reproof often readily accepted. Not inspiration, but God’s spirit, acquired through prayer and study, is frequently behind acceptable written sources of reproof. But can we not say the same for those closely associated with us, especially if they can point to the Word of God as the authority for the reproof they administer to us?

The Bible abounds with examples showing the folly of adopting a “who are you to be talking?” attitude. The danger of adhering to human thinking and a challenging frame of mind in our dealings with those around us can often minimize the amount of advice we are willing to apply to ourselves. In case of reproof, it can lead to turning a deaf ear to what is being said, because of concentrating on the one who is saying it. Dismiss personalities from your mind when being reproved. If the shoe fits, wear it. You may suffer some discomfort while the shoe of reproof is new, but, remember, “afterward to those who have been trained by it it yields peaceable fruit.”—Heb. 12:11.

Others may not impugn counsel and reproof but may brood over it and fall into a state of dismay and unnecessary loss of self-confidence. This is not taking reproof. In fact, although it may seem to indicate deep sorrow, it can lead to a defeating of the very purpose of reproof. Some develop wha t seems to be an almost perennial state of worry and an inability to dismiss the matter from their minds. The reprover may have had some very loving thoughts and expressions surrounding the reproof, but these are forgotten and lost to mind while the words of counsel are turned over and over in the mind, but not in a constructive way. It is like a person who sits and looks at a problem but does not do anything about it. He looks and looks, but all he sees is the problem, and the chances are that it is growing in his mind. What a waste of time it is! How much more upbuilding it is if one will simply try to see things in their true light, analyze and appraise the situation property and initiate corrective measures at the earliest possible moment.

A defeatist frame of mind is not to be confused with the attitude of King David of Israel, another receiver of severe reproof administered through close acquaintances and subordinates. Was David grieved when reproved? Yes. But he was grieved because he had, indeed, taken his reproof to heart. He was not so much sorry for himself as he was sorry because of himself and the way in which he had offended God.

But what can be done to recover proper thinking when one becomes despondent because of having been reproved? Well, one of the first steps is a heart-to-heart talk with your reprover. So if you are severely disturbed because of reproof and you find that “yet afterward” the disturbance does not leave you, talk to your reprover; to the great Reprover, God, and to your immediate reprover, man. Your trouble is probably no more than a feeling that he no longer cares for you. But he does. God does. You may feel that your reprover misunderstands you, but perhaps you are the one who misunderstands him. The easiest course for him would have been to ignore your mistaken action or words, but he made himself do otherwise because of having your interests at heart. Do not tum away from such a friend.

CLEAR MIND

THE modem world is a strange para d o x. It shows intellectual brilliance in the field of science but madness in its social relations. It develops remarkable machines and drugs for saving lives and at the same time works feverishly to find ways to destroy lives. Its madness is reflected in the daily actions of the people in its many cities where crime, immorality and juvenile delinquency flourish despite the efforts of law-enforcing agencies. To maintain a clear mind that is not corrupted by the mad thinking of this world is not an easy task.

When man stepped into the age of atomic power, his existence became threatened, not because of atomic power, but because of the world’s madness. Instead of wisely using atomic power for the good of mankind, the world insanely has used it to develop such awful weapons of destruction that its own existence is endangered. The misuse of that power by an irrational world is what has turned atomic power into what might be called a Frankenstein monster. A writer in the New York World Telegram of November 2, 1962, made the following comment about the world’s mad thinking in this respect. He said:

“Today the befuddlement seems much worse. I find myself asking questions like ‘Whatever happened to joy in living? Whatever happened to reverence for life? Are we fatally short on these qualities? Was our destiny after all merely selfdestruction?’ I read the pronouncements, but they don’t make sense. Yes, there’s a specious logic. There’s a demonstrable chain of cause and effect, if that’s any comfort. ... Do people really want to live? Or is every affront a fate worse than death? . . . Since 1945 a lot of our specialized knowledge has been about the fine art of destruction. Don’t we like our environment? . . . With all the wealth and knowledge and resources on both sides—or on every side—of the crises, the best we seem able to suggest is death, not life.”

What is wrong with the minds that can devise scientific miracles that benefit mankind and at the same time coldly invent devilish devices of mass destruction? What is wrong with the thinking that can justify the slaughtering of millions upon millions of people as well as the doing of permanent injury by radiation to millions more because heads of government cannot agree ? What is wrong with the thinking of men who advocate striking the first blow with nuclear weapons? Do they imagine that they can use such weapons without doing incalculable damage to their own nations?

The past forty-nine years have been for the world a period of trouble unparalleled in human history. During this time the nations of the world hurled themselves at one another in a mad frenzy of destruction on two occasions. These two world wars

snuffed out the lives of at least 35 million people. As if that madness were not enough, the world is now prepared to obliterate many times that number in a third world war.

Frightful concentration camps made their appearance during this period in Germany, Russia and other countries. The revolting mistreatment given to the hordes of people herded into these camps has become a well-known fact. Only madness can explain the inhuman, sadistic treatment given to these unfortunate people.

Morals

The utter disregard the world has shown for the laws of God that place a high value on human life and require concern for the welfare of others is certain to be reflected in the morals of the people. Is it any wonder, then, that crime is skyrocketing the world over ?

During the past ten years crime has risen—in the United States, for example, 70 percent. It has persistently increased despite improved methods for fighting it. For the past five years it has been growing five times as fast as the population growth. Is it not madness that causes an ever-growing segment of a nation’s population to be involved in thievery, armed robbery, murder, rape, muggings and other forms of violence? Is it not madness when the public will assist a suspected criminal to escape from an arresting officer, as has been done frequently in New York city? There is something wrong with public thinking when people will interfere with the apprehension of a criminal who preys upon them and will throw bottles and bricks at the arresting policemen. What else but twisted thinking could approve disrespect for law and order?

A member of the San Francisco Police Commission observed: “We had a riot in the city hall. A large group of persons—a few of them Communists, most of them not Communists—being opposed to a committee established by the Congress of the United States, instead of proceeding against that committee by lawful means, took possession of our city hall, and there set up such a din of noise and disorder that public business in the hall had to be suspended. . . . They had to be removed by force, and in the process several law-enforcement officers were injured. And when that riot was over, I was amazed to find, and distressed and discouraged to find, that a large part of the citizenry actually ratified and approved what had happened there. What had happened was a violent rebellion against lawfully constituted civil authority in our city hall, the seat of our city government; and many citizens approved of it and disapproved of the police action which was necessitated by the rebellion.”

There is something drastically wrong with public thinking when it approves of mob violence and rebellion against civil authority. There are lawful and peaceful ways for expressing opposition to governmental decisions and actions rather than resorting to mob violence. Public resistance to the efforts ot civil authorities to maintain law and order injures the public themselves. It helps to breed criminals who prey upon them.

Effect on Young

Reflecting the madness of the adult world, children are committing every crime imaginable. Over 40 percent of the major crimes in the United States are committed by children under eighteen years of age. In England 20 percent of the crimes of violence are committed by young men between seventeen and twenty-one. It is not uncommon to hear of children who kill their parents, of others who kill playmates and of still others who senselessly kill or injure the victims of their robberies. What these children are doing is what they see being done in the adult world, either in real life or in motion pictures and television. The world’s mad pursuit of pleasures, sex and materialism is a bad influence on young minds that have no sense of selfrestraint. The rising tide of juvenile delinquency is a somber testimony to this.

The adult world sets a very poor example for the children who are being born into this world. How can it expect them to grow up to respect good standards of morality when it does not respect such standards? Is there not something warped in its thinking when it becomes so sophisticated that it regards immorality as the accepted way of life? How can wife swapping, marital infidelity, sex perversion and fornication be regarded as acceptable conduct? '

Rather than being indicative of a healthy society, the existence of such practices and the increasingly tolerant attitude toward them reveals a very sick society. A doctor for the socially ill in Canada said: “Divorce, suicide, sex deviation and the growing number of people who take tranquilizers add to the depressing picture. Judging by evidence from these sources our society is very sick indeed.” According to Dr. Walter Alvarez in the United States, mental disorders affect more Americans than any other disease. In Britain nearly half the beds in hospitals are occupied by people being treated for mental disorders.

Maintain a Clear Mind

A person must have a standard or source of guidance outside of himself in order to maintain mental balance and sane thinking in this mad world. This must be a standard that cannot be influenced by the world’s warped thinking and that does not drift with world conditions.

The best standard a person could have for maintaining a level head in this mad world is found in God’s written Word, the Holy Bible. The degraded and twisted thinking of the world has no effect on it. Its laws and good counsel establish a high level of moral conduct that does not change, even though it clashes with popular practices or with sophisticated thinking. When a person feels the emotional tide around him in the world tugging at him so as to carry him along its way of abandonment, he has God’s Word that holds him firm and helps him to maintain his sense of balance and direction. It is a dependable, guiding light on his path of life. “Your word is a lamp to my foot, and a light to my roadway.”—Ps. 119:105.

While the world becomes confused and frightened at what it sees coming upon it, God’s Word brings peace of mind to the one who trusts in its promises and follows its counsel and instructions. It provides him with a clear view of the future that puts his mind at rest and quiets any anxiety that might arise over what the nations are liable to do with their awful weapons of mass destruction. He is assured by it that God’s purposes for the earth cannot be thwarted by the madness of this world.—Phil. 4:8, 9; Isa. 55:11.

It is not easy to combat the influence of the world’s twisted thinking and of its way of living, but with the help of God’s Word this can be done. By striving for its high standards and by relying on its wisdom rather than on what seems right in your own eyes, you will be able to maintain a clear mind and a clear view of the best way to go despite the distorted thinking of the world. You will be able to look forward with confidence to the glowing future God has purposed for the earth and for mankind upon it.—Ps. 72:1-8.

The March on Washington

OVER a hundred years after the American president Abraham Lincoln issued his Emancipation i Proclamation abolish- ? ing slavery, 175 years

greatest assembly for redress of grievances ever witnessed in American history.

Seventy-four-year-old A. Philip Randolph, the man who first suggested the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, called the giant demonstration “a sacred cause.” He declared it “a full-dress revolution, an inevitable outgrowth of the incompleteness of American history.”

But what was the “revolution” to accomplish? What do the Negroes want? And what did they achieve by the march?

The road to Washington is long and well traveled by generations of crusaders. Some have been more successful than others. On March 3, 1913, Rosalie Jones’ band of suffragettes hiked down Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue. They drew taunts and jeers from the crowds that packed the sidewalks. But the ladies came back again and again until finally they won what they were after—the right to vote.

The bonus march of 1932, however, ended in tragic failure. These were army men, veterans of World War I, who demanded immediate payment of war bonuses, averaging $50 to $100 a man. They too marched down Pennsylvania Avenue. They even camped in some of the government’s vacant buildings. But the bonus bill failed. With tear gas, tanks and fixed bayonets, these war veterans were driven back into despair.

But the 1963 march for “Jobs and

after the adoption of the Constitution of the United States and 173 years after the signing of the Bill of Rights, America, “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” still faces a racial* crisis.

On August 28 an impressive throng of some 200,000 Negro and white Americans, in a march on the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., proclaimed to the nation and the world that they were still waiting for the fulfillment of these promised rights and freedoms. This demonstration was the

Freedom” promised to be different. First of all, it was well planned, superbly organized and perfectly timed. In recent years Negro demonstrations and grievances have become well known to the world. The beatings, riots and photographs of police dogs and fire hoses used against people have caused American prestige to suffer. Especially have the Russian, African and Asian people become acutely shocked by the pictures of brutality. As Dr. Gordon W. Allport, Harvard professor

of psychology, has said; AH over the world, the United States has been “knocked off the pedestal.” The American image as a freedom lover has suffered badly.

The march on Washington, therefore, was viewed with no small measure of apprehension by the nation’s leaders. Every precaution was taken to prevent any outbreak of violence. More than 6,000 police, parade marshals and military police were deployed throughout the city. Some 4,000 fully equipped army troops were kept on alert at two nearby bases. The sale of all alcoholic beverages, including beer and wine, was banned. All street parking was forbidden in the downtown area. Signs read: ‘‘Emergency. No Parking After 12:01 Wednesday, Aug. 28, 1963.”

On that day Washington appeared poised. The downtown streets were almost deserted. The city took on an appearance of a “ghost town.” Many shops were closed. Washingtonians, for the most part, stayed home and waited.

The March

From dawn’s early light ■ Negroes and whites poured into the city from every part of the United States. They came by buses, autos and airplanes. Hundreds walked and a few even roller-skated their way in. The marchers came with plenty of water, sandwiches and low-heeled shoes. They brought raincoats, hats and sunglasses, but left their children home, as they were told. Every now and then a hush fell over a group as ministers offered prayers. “Help us, O Lord,” prayed one clergyman, “that we not disgrace ourselves this day.” Overhead the sky was a deep blue, and below a gentle 84 degrees made the weather ideal for the occasion.

At 11:15 a.m., when the march officially began, the inpouring was tremendous. On and on they came, walking about twenty abreast. The great crush of humanity, some 200,000 strong, did not so much march as they strolled along in quiet, loose-flowing formation, singing freedom songs, waving Bibles and placards. Like a giant lava flow they surged down Independence and Constitution Avenues to gather around the Lincoln Memorial. Suddenly, they broke out in the soft, mournful strains—“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.” Later they switched to “We Shall Overcome.” And still later to “Freedom, Freedom, Freedom!” Nearby were a number of congressmen witnessing this momentous event.

The Theme: Freedom Note!

But there was a hard, impatient warning in their signs, hymns and cheers. The march signs, which waved like windblown reeds, said: “We demand voting rights now!” “We march for first-class citizenship now!” “We march for integrated schools now!” “We seek the freedom in 1963 promised in 1863!”

The speeches by Negro leaders reflected the same note of impatience. The era of “the tranquilizing drug of gradualism” is past, were the shouts. Freedoms are wanted “Now!” Director A. P. Randolph warned that this is “only the first wave. . . . We shall return again and again, to Washington in ever-growing numbers, until total freedom is ours.” Speaker Walter P. Reuther, president of the United Automobile Workers Union, declared: “It is the responsibility of every American to share the impatience of the Negro Americans.” “This rally is not the end,” he shouted, “it’s the beginning.”

The fiery speeches ripped into the inequalities and exposed the hypocrisies of modern American life, but they failed to set the multitude afire. The old crusading zeal did not show itself until Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., founder and president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, cried aloud his dreams: “Now'is the time to make real the promises of democracy.” “There will be neither rest nor tranquillity in America,” he exclaimed, “until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.” When he finished, there were cries: “Make him the next president.”

Religious Support

The program that began with the invocation by Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle of Washington; that featured a prayer by Rabbi Yu Miller, president of the Synagogue Council of America, which represents all branches of Judaism; that offered speeches by Matthew Ahmann, executive director of the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice, Eugene Carson Blake of the National Council of Churches and vice-chairman of the Commission on Race Relations of the National Council of Churches of Christ in America, and Rabbi Joachim Prinz, president of the American Jewish Congress, and a benediction by Dr. Benjamin E, Mays, president, Morehouse College, Atlanta; plus the hymns and Negro spirituals that were sung —this program had all the earmarks and atmosphere of a gigantic interfaith rally.

At least five of the “Big Ten” that headed the demonstration were prominent religious leaders. On the platform were seated thirty-four other ministers and lay representatives of religious groups. An estimated 40,000 church and synagogue members, led by 200 religious leaders, participated in the march. Many of these carried placards that said: “We march together—Catholic, Protestant and Jew—for dignity and brotherhood of all men under God. Now.'” “God of wisdom, God of power, can America deny freedom in this hour?” The revival spirit visibly moved Roy Wilkins, executive secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, to cry aloud to the multitude: “You’ve got religion here today. Don't backslide tomorrow.”

This strange mixture of religion, politics and Hollywood, spiced with promises, hopes, votes and rights, permeated the two-and-a-half-hour program. After a plea from the leaders for everyone to go home peacefully and to "continue the civil rights revolution in every nook and cranny of the land until victory” is won, until “freedom [rings] from every hamlet and every village in the country,” the demonstration ended and the demonstrators went home. Within 90 minutes the 21 special trains were on their way to the four points of the compass and the 1,500 special buses were rolling in ail directions. Washington quickly returned to its former ways.

The Aftermath

The march was over. It was peaceful and orderly, but was it a success? Few would deny that the Negro made his point. Millions, no doubt, were compelled to take a new look at the Negro, his problem and determination. Senator Kenneth B. Keating of New York called the march “an amazing demonstration of the feeling of Negroes and non-Negroes for civil rights legislation.” Senator Hubert H. Humphrey, assistant Senate Leader, told newsmen that the demonstration probably had not changed any votes, but “it’s a good thing for Washington and the nation and the world.” Dr. Ralph J. Bunche, an undersecretary of the United Nations, hailed the march as “a tremendous occasion, and a profoundly historic one.” He stated: “The number of white persons in the crowd [some 20,000] is a splendid thing.”

After the march a group of Negro leaders conferred with President Kennedy for seventy-five minutes. The president said: “The cause of 20,000,000 Negroes has been advanced” by the orderly demonstration. He assured the leadens that he would push for equal job opportunities.

From other parts of the world came reports of support. Izvestia, the Soviet government newspaper, placed the news of the civil rights march on page one. It said: “The men fighting for their human dignity will never turn aside.” The British press gave the march major headlines. And it was the most publicized foreign domestic event in France. Other nations also expressed solidarity with the marchers.

2Vot All Marched

Not to be overlooked is the fact that not all Negroes and whites supported the march. Why not? Some say it is not because they do not believe in civil rights, equal job opportunities and justice for all, for a greater number of them do. Many of these nonsupporters are Christians who maintain Christianity forbids the participating in interfaith movements. The principle cited is: “Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers.” (2 Cor. 6:14) Since the march was obviously an interfaith movement, governed and supported by a number of religions that hold conflicting views, and, by their own admission, have “failed to put their own house in order,” participation with them in their affairs, they say, is repulsive to the Christian, an act of hypocrisy to be shunned.

Secondly, they argue that Christians are under command not to be a part of this world and that the demonstration was in every way, shape and form a child of this world. It had the support of politicians, the backing of the entertainment world and the blessing of worldly religions. The words of Jesus Christ are cited: “My kingdom is no part of this world.” (John 18:36; 17:16) And as a clincher, the disciple James’ words are quoted, which state that “friendship with the world” is enmity with God, “Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world is constituting himself an enemy of God.”—Jas. 4:4.

Thirdly, they object strongly to the twisting of Scripture texts and their meaning to fit the fancies of men. Justice and righteousness, they argue, are truly to flow someday, but not as a result of any man or organization of men, but by the direct intervention and blessing of God Almighty. The psalmist is quoted as support: “Righteousness and peace—they have kissed each other. Trueness itself will sprout out of the very earth, and righteousness itself will look down from the very heavens. Also, Jehovah, for his part, will give what is good.”—Ps. 85:10-12.

And, finally, the pledge that climaxed the freedom march, which says: I pledge “my heart and my mind and my body, unequivocally and without regard to personal sacrifice, to the achievement of social peace through social justice.” They view such a pledge as being in direct conflict to the greatest of all commandments, as stated by Jesus Christ, namely: “You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.” (Matt. 22:37) How could one, therefore, exclusively dedicated to God conscientiously take the pledge?

So, while some may feel it their duty to demonstrate in behalf of civil rights, others, for conscientious reasons, abstain. Not that they believe or uphold "gradualism” or “segregation,” but, rather, they believe that these rights and freedoms can and will ultimately come to mankind in all their reality only by means of the kingdom of God, for the Great Jehovah will open his hand and satisfy “the desire of every living thing.” (Ps. 145:16; Matt. 6:9, 10) Who can deny this? Meanwhile, what? Faith in the One who caused these words to be written: “The desire of those fearing him he will perform, end their My for help he will hear, and he will save them.”—Ps. 145:19.

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TRUTH AVERTS SUICIDES

A woman witness of Jehovah in Michigan reported this experience: "Another Witness and I made a call on a lady who was very despondent, so much so that she was threatening suicide. The only reason why she let us in was that she has a niece who is one of Jehovah's witnesses. She realized how her niece has been helped to overcome many problems by studying the Bible.

"When we found her, she was in such a condition that she did not have enough spark in her to comb her hair. Even the simple household duties seemed like mountains to her. Her minister made matters worse by telling her that she was only imagining this condition. As a result she was trying to drown out her problems by using alcoholic beverages. She felt nothing could help her, but she let me come back anyway. The first topic we discussed from the Bible was, Who is responsible for the trouble in the world? She learned what God’s Word says about Satan the Devil. She learned how it is possible to make one’s mind over and put on a ‘new personality,’ She wanted to drink in the ‘water of life.’—Rev. 22:17.

“She then started talking to others about the Bible, because she appreciated so much how God’s truth had helped her. Some would say, ‘Who are you to talk about the Bible? Look at your condition.’’ She would answer, ‘It is the sick that need a physician; Jehovah’s witnesses are helping me to do better.’ Shortly after she started to study the Bible, she was able to help a man who was very depressed. He told her that he was carrying a gun in his car, waiting for the right time to use it on himself. Right away she told him that she had felt the same way, but Jehovah’s witnesses had helped her. He is now studying with one of the Witnesses. As for the lady who had been so despondent, she is now a very happy person. Instead of using alcoholic beverages to try to make her happy, she is imbibing the 'water of life,’ God’s truths.”

A SEARCH FOR TRUTH

In Japan a man who had been sick for a long time was told by doctors that there was nothing they could do for him. Friends advised him to join the “PL" (Perfect Liberty) organization, assuring him that this would

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cure his troubles. But he could not find satisfaction there. When he asked one of the teachers who God is, he was told that the person who dares to ask such a question thinks too deeply. From then on he stopped going to that organization.

Next he turned to Tenrikyo (Teachings concerning the Wisdom of the Heavens). He had to pay 15,000 yen ($42) as an entry fee. Every day he studied its lessons and learned how to do its ceremonial dance. Though he lived at headquarters, he could not get a satisfactory answer to the question, Who Is the true God?

Leaving that organization, he next joined one of Christendom’s churches. He thought the Bible a wonderful book compared with other religious books, and he was convinced it was from God. It was not long, however, before he began to find contradictions in the church. The question concerning the true God was not made clear. He kept going to the church, though not fully satisfied.

One Sunday morning he happened to be at home. It was then that one of Jehovah's witnesses called on him. This Witness explained fully about the true God, Jehovah, and his purposes. The man asked for all the literature published by the Society. He went to the Kingdom Hall to obtain this literature. Since then he has not missed meetings.

His wife, who had been so obedient and gone to whatever organization he had chosen, was at this time unaccountably opposed. One day she left him. However, he wrote her a letter, telling her that he had found the truth and wanted to serve the true God. Later he was informed that his wife had attempted to commit suicide. He rushed to the hospital and begged her to come home with him. Then she told him that she would go home only on condition that he would not make her join his religion.

One day some of the women Witnesses came to his home, and, as a meeting was to be held that night at the Kingdom Hall, these women kindly encouraged his wife to attend. She did. Ever since that time all his family have been attending the meetings. Now all of them are dedicated to the true God, Jehovah; and not only has the husband found answers to his questions, but he recently became the pre-siding minister of a local congregation.

posts with a system of safe, rapid travel. Instead of being linked by narrow ribbons of concrete or rails of steel, Colombia’s states are bound into a republic by effective airways.

Early Beginnings

Of such importance has been aviation that Colombia can date the beginning of her modern progress from the day she tried on her

THE Roman Empire thundered her way into history on the hoofbeats of her mighty legions; so she earned the title “nation on horseback.” In modern times the United States has been labeled the “nation on wheels,” and anyone who has traveled her multilaned freeways or crowded city streets will understand why. The British Empire, on the other hand, became powerful because she “ruled the waves.” In still other parts of the world, such as the South American republic of Colombia, natural barriers have forced man to take to the air.

Much of the earth’s surface can be compared to the smooth surface of a plum, where transportation is a relatively simple matter of laying down a highway or a railroad; but Colombia resembles more the wrinkled prune. With three rugged ranges of the Andes mountains thrusting their way past the clouds, and with steaming, almost impenetrable jungle to be dealt with, the building of railroads and highways in many sections is almost impossible. Aviation became the logical solution, binding together the nation’s farthest outfirst pair of wings. Nearly a decade before Charles Lindbergh awoke the imagination of the world to the possibilities of commercial aviation, Colombia formed the Western Hemisphere’s first airline. The year was 1919. The first plane was a far cry from the shining aluminum air giants of today. It was just a singleengined German Junkers, so underpowered that, with its water-cooled motor boiling over from the effort, it was barely able to climb over the mountains on its route. However, improvements in equipment and service followed in the course of the years. To the people long accustomed to travel by burro, canoe, riverboat and horseback, the coming of aviation was indeed a blessing. Not long ago, for example, a businessman on the coast who wanted to travel to Bogota, the mountain-locked capital city of the country, had a most trying journey. The one-way grind by riverboat plus several short rail links lasted about ten days. Today the same trip takes a mere two hours by air, at a fraction of the cost.

Speaking of cost, it is of interest to note that the air fares in Colombia are among the lowest in the world. Knowing how much aviation is doing for the country, the government is anxious to keep air fares low, within the reach of the majority. Fortunately this is not done at the expense of safety. The nation has had its share of accidents, but, on the average, its record is an enviable one. Avianca, the government-controlled airline, has repeatedly been presented safety awards by international aviation groups. Interested in seeing Colombia someday? You will find your travel expenses low here.

However, it would be impossible to set a dollars and cents value on the good that has come to the Colombian people on wings. Isolated outposts, rural villages and even large cities of nearly a half million population that previously were walled off from the world by natural barriers now conduct trade with the four corners of the earth by air. Were it not for aviation, would these cities have grown? Could they have produced and contributed to the welfare of the nation as a whole? Government officials think not.

Light Planes

Mention the word “airplane’* and the average person draws a mental picture of that four-engined giant found on the travel folder, or the majestic jet that adorns the airline billboard. But progress in Colombia is more a story of light aircraft than it is of the heavy commercial giants. You may be surprised at the jobs they can do.

A few years ago the cotton crop in Colombia was very small, limited to a fraction of what the nation needed, and that by a seemingly tremendous obstacle: insects and diseases that invade the crop periodically. Research has shown that almost five hundred varieties of insects find cotton irresistible as a steady diet. So it is easily seen that the difference between profit and loss in cotton farming is a matter of insect control. That means crop dusting. But by hand it was a slow and costly process. For that reason for many years the country was forced to supplement its cotton supply by purchasing from other nations.

Why not put her wings to work? Small planes, flying twelve to eighteen inches above the crop at seventy miles an hour were able to do in three hours what previously required days or weeks! Production from an acre of land shot up from a half ton of cotton to three tons. Whole new sections of the country sprang into life. The textile mills began to hum a new tune, and the treasury showed decided improvement. Thousands of men found employment in various phases of the expanding industry. New life was injected into the struggling economy of the nation. All these benefits came on the wings of a few dozen planes!

Varied Uses

If it worked with cotton, why not with cattle? On the eastern llanos, or plains, the problem of transportation was a serious one even though the land is flat. Getting the cattle to market was no small task; it frequently required from four to eight weeks on the trail, during which time a healthy steer would lose about four pounds of weight a day. A herd of one hundred head of cattle could lose more than two thousand dollars’ worth of weight on the way!

Today the steers cover the distance in two or three hours instead of eight weeks, and they arrive at cattle centers in top condition because of riding in style in DC-3 aircraft Everyone is contented. The seller gets top prices. The buyer gets much better meat. And the Colombian people, who consume some two million head of cattle a year, have the “fatted calf” delivered to them on the versatile wings of their air fleet

In yet another region of the country a different problem needed solving. One of Colombia’s principal railroads, el ferroca-ril del AtlAntico, was being built along the Magdalena River, which drains the land between two ranges of the Andes in central Colombia. Engineers had to travel to and from the construction site, samples of concrete pourings had to be speedily tested for strength, and sick or injured workers needed immediate medical attention. All these jobs, serious obstacles twenty years ago, were cared for in a routine fashion by light planes that landed on short sections of the future roadbed. The completion of this railroad was another giant step forward for the nation, and it was greatly helped by small planes.

Colombian coffee is famous the world over for its full, rich flavor, and is understandably the nation’s major export. Some years ago the coffee would begin its journey to your breakfast table on the back of a sure-footed burro. But bandits soon found it a profitable business to gain control of the mule trails in some parts of the coffee-producing land, making a handsome, if dishonest, living hijacking the coffee shipments. The coffee growers solved their difficulty by flying out the sacks of precious beans in light planes. As a result the bandits were forced to move on to other parts for lack of business.

These few instances that have been mentioned are just a beginning. There are still large areas of this beautiful country undeveloped, even unexplored. Beneath the lush green foliage of the endless jungles lie untapped resources of gas and oil. Buried in her towering mountains are vast deposits of minerals. You can be sure that aviation will play a part in the location and development of these valuable natural resources, for they are almost always located in places inaccessible to other means of transportation.

Has aviation been a help to all Colombian people, or just the wealthy? Ask the family living on the eastern plains who receive their mail in four hours instead of eight weeks. Has aviation been appreciated in Colombia? Listen to the parents of a little girl in Choco, near Panama, whose life was saved by the doctor who could arrive in two hours instead of two weeks. It would be difficult to imagine where this country would, be without its versatile wings.

Other countries may be better developed; many are richer. But, undoubtedly, none owe more of their progress to aviation than Colombia. Literally true is the saying, “Colombia ha pasada de la mula al avion” (“Colombia has passed from the mule to the airplane.”) Her states, long isolated from one another, her lonely cities and towns, long unproductive and poor, are bound together by the invisible yet powerful bands of her airways, giving her just claim to the title “nation on wings.”

Is This Americanism?

Said a “Citizen of the Year”: “If I have anyone to thank for what I do today, in the area of Americanism, it is my dad. He would be known today as a ‘superpatriot.’

“In Lincoln Park in Chicago they used to have parades on Sunday mornings and dad used to take the children to see them. , . . The American flag was passing by, the hats were off and arms across the chest, when dad looked over to the man next to him, who hadn’t taken off his hat. My dad nearly knocked the man to the ground with a blow across the chest with his forearm as he demanded, ‘Take off your hat. That is the flag of our country.’ The man didn’t have to take his hat off. Dad had knocked it off. You can imagine what an inspiration in Americanism this was to a kid 8 or 9 years old.”—The Congressional Record, September 13, 1962.

Abeam of light lasting only one-thousandth of a second is able to bum a hole in a thin sheet of tempered steel. It can even vaporize a hole in a diamond, the hardest substance known. This incredible feat has been done repeatedly in recent laboratory experiments.

Light is not usually regarded as being capable of drilling holes in superhard substances. Its gentle rays from the sun, a room light or a flashlight give no suggestion of its fantastic power. Even when a magnifying glass causes sunlight to burn paper, a person is not led to the conclusion that light can burn a hole in a diamond. Yet, a device that is a little larger than a flashlight can concentrate light to such an extent that a brief flash can produce temperatures of many thousands of degrees.

The fact that light is radiant energy should help a person to realize that concentrated light has power. It is part of a continuous range of phenomena called electromagnetic radiation. Included in this range or spectrum are the various types of radiant energy used for radar, TV and radio communications.

Each type of electromagnetic radiation is made up of waves. One complete wave at a given frequency is called a photon and it varies in length according to the type of energy being given off.

The wavelengths of the different types of electromagnetic radiation range from the astoundingly long waves of radiation recently discovered in outer space that are as much as 18,600,000 miles long to very short gamma rays that are .005 angstroms long. An angstrom is a unit of length that is one ten-millionths of a millimeter on the metric scale of measurement. It is used for measuring infinitesimally short l electromagnetic waves. Light is

Fwl N near this end of the spectrum L rA where the waves of energy are so short that they must be measured in angstrom units. It is only a small 'segment of the whole electromagnetic spec-tnW

Coherent\Light

The pow!h\of light is not generally evident, due to tnbsfact that ordinary light is not coherent. Its waves are not in step or in phase with the crests of parallel waves passing a given point at the same time. Instead, they radiate at random, interfering with one another. There is also a mixture of waves having different lengths. These are the many colors that go to make ordinary white light.

When only one wavelength or color of light is amplified and caused to move in parallel waves, the astonishing energy of light can be displayed in such spectacular ways as burning holes in steel, sapphires and diamonds. Such light can be spoken of as coherent light. Its waves travel in the same direction and are all the same length,

with their crests passing a given point at the same time.

Unlike a beam of incoherent light that rapidly spreads out as it travels from its source, a beam of coherent light moves as a compact beam with very little spread. When a twelve-inch beam of it was shot through a telescope to the moon in 1962, the spread of the beam was only about two-thirds of an inch for each mile it traveled. After covering about 238,000 miles, it was only two miles in diameter when it struck the moon. If it were possible to send an incoherent beam of light from a searchlight that far, the beam would be about 25,000 miles wide when it reached the moon’s surface.

The intensity of a beam of coherent light is so great that its brightness exceeds that of the sun by a million times. Serious eye damage was accidentally experienced by a researcher when he was struck by a pencil-thin beam of it while one mile from its source. A flash of such light in a twelve-inch beam, lasting only one-thousandth of a second, could be seen with the naked eye 20 million miles away.

How Made Coherent

It was in 1960 that the American researcher Dr. Theodore H. Maiman produced the first beam of coherent light. The heart of his device was a pink, synthetic ruby rod about the length of your little finger. When a strong light was directed into the ruby, an intense beam of coherent red light flashed out one end of it.

The device that produced this unusual beam of light is called a laser. For proper pronunciation of this name substitute a “z” for the “s.” It sounds like “blazer.” The name stands for fight amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

The operation of a laser is based upon a principle discovered by Dr. Charles Townes in 1954. He found that when high-energy atoms are hit by microwaves of the same frequencies, the microwaves would be significantly reinforced or amplified by the energy given off by the excited atoms. He called his device a maser, which stands for microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. The medium he used was ammonia gas, because it is rich in high-energy atoms. In 1958 Dr. Townes and Dr. Arthur Schawlow proposed that a maser for optical wavelengths could be designed. This Dr. Maiman successfully did when he produced his ruby laser.

In a ruby laser, each end of the rod is polished and silvered so that the light waves stimulated in the rod will be reflected from the ends. One end is silvered heavily and the other only lightly. Encircling the ruby rod are the coils of an electronic flashtube. An intense flash of light from the tube raises some of the atoms in the ruby to an excited state. As an atom drops down from this state it emits a wave or photon of electromagnetic energy. This wave falls in phase with the wave that caused it to be released and strengthens it. As these waves travel through the ruby they excite other atoms that, in turn, give off waves that fall in phase with the other waves and strengthen them still more. When the waves of radiant energy reach the end of the rod, the mirrored end reflects them back through the rod, where they excite the atoms again. Reaching the other end, they are reflected again by that mirrored end. Finally, this process proceeds to the point where the light is so greatly amplified that it bursts through the slightly silvered end of the rod as a beam of intense coherent light of one color and with every wave in phase. The process takes only a fraction of a second.

Types of Lasers

The intense research that has been done on coherent light has resulted in a variety of lasers, producing coherent light in different wavelengths. Gases, liquids, plastic and various crystals are being used successfully.

A tube with mirrored ends and containing a mixture of helium and neon gases is being used to produce a beam of coherent light in the infrared region of the spectrum. Its light is a continuous beam, whereas the solid-state lasers, such as the ruby, for the most part, give off brief pulses of light. Much less energy is required to activate or pump the gas laser. Instead of using light waves from a flashtube, energy is applied to the neon atoms by collisions with excited helium atoms, which are brought to a state of excitement by a radio frequency exciter attached to the glass tube containing the gases. The light waves given off by the neon gas are amplified as they bounce back and forth between the mirrored ends of the tube. The excited helium atoms keep recharging the neon atoms, causing a continuous beam of coherent light.

The first solid-state laser that was made to operate continuously was a trumpetshaped crystal, only one inch long. The trumpet end was a synthetic sapphire grown together with a synthetic ruby. Light from a mercury lamp was focused on the trumpet-shaped end. The sapphire funneled it into the ruby, concentrating it sixfold. The result was greatly increased efficiency in activating the atoms of the ruby to a high energy state. The use of many other types of artificially grown crystals promise further improvements.

Crystals known as semiconductors are said to be from twenty-five to a hundred times as efficient as the ruby and gas lasers. They also open up the possibility of imposing a signal on a laser beam so that the beam can be used for communications. The input energy is an electric current rather than from an intense light source.

Communications

By being able to send communications on beams of light, man will be able to solve the mounting problem of overcrowded telephone cables. In 1962 transatlantic telephone cables and radio circuits carried about 4 million international phone calls. These calls, it is estimated, will increase to about 100 million by 1980. One laser light beam is theoretically capable of carrying this fantastic number of calls simultaneously, whereas present transatlantic cables are limited to a hundred calls at a time.

Like telephone cables, the radio spectrum is also crowded. Here too laser light beams can help. One beam could theoretically carry as much information as all radio communication channels in existence. This immense carrying capacity is due to the very short wavelength of light, which causes it to have a high frequency or high number of oscillations per second. That part of the electromagnetic spectrum between 4,000 and 7,000 angstrom units, the region of visible light, could carry about 80 million television channels.

With its tremendous capacity for carrying information, laser beams would prove to be of incalculable value as communication links between points on the earth and between the earth and satellites or space probes. They have the desirable feature of not being subject to static because they stay faithfully on one frequency. A big disadvantage, however, is the inability of light beams to penetrate clouds and fog. To overcome this problem, metal or glass tubes would have to be laid across countries, continents and oceans, through which laser beams could travel unimpeded. Mirrors would have to be used to bend them around cornel’s and over hills.

Before light beams can be used for communication, researchers must first devise a satisfactory way of imposing a signal on the beam. In the case of radio, a smooth, unvarying radio beam, called a carrier wave, is used. By varying this radio beam, such as in its strength, it can be made to carry a person’s voice. A radio receiver picks up the broadcast and detects these variations and causes a loudspeaker to vibrate accordingly, reproducing the person’s voice. In the same manner a light beam can be used as a carrier wave of a signal by causing it to vary in its intensity. Different methods are being devised to do this, but they are only in an experimental stage.

In a recent laboratory test a television signal was impressed upon the infrared beam of a gas laser. A sensitive lightdetecting device at the other end of the beam responded to the beam’s slight variations in intensity. From it an electrical signal was sent to a television set where the picture was reproduced with good quality.

The fact that electricity can be passed through semiconductor crystals makes it possible to impose a signal on a laser beam. By modulating or varying the electrical current, a signal can be sent into the crystal, causing it to vary the intensity of a laser beam passing through it or originating from it. But much research must yet be done before lasers can be introduced into modern systems of communications.

One of the reasons why a laser beam can be made to produce tremendously high temperatures is that it can be focused by lenses to a very small point, smaller than the edge of a surgeon’s scalpel. By using a lens with a focal length of one centimeter a beam can be focused to a spot only one-hundredth of a centimeter in diameter, delivering power at a density of 100 million watts per square centimeter.

Possible Uses

Lasers can be made into superaccurate measuring devices, used as scalpels in delicate surgery, designed to measure the distance of objects, fashioned into weapons, employed as welders, and so on. The relative of the laser, the microwave maser, can be used as a clock with a variation of only one second in three million years. The possible uses for lasers and masers are truly astonishing.

These remarkable devices have opened up a new field of research that is just beginning to be scratched. It is a vast field with almost limitless possibilities. Contemplating this with regard to the laser, or optical maser, Dr. Arthur L. Schawlow, one of the developers of the maser, wrote: “With the advent of the optical maser, man’s control of light has reached an entirely new level. Indeed, one of the most exciting prospects for workers in this field is that this new order of control will open up uses for light that are as yet undreamed of.”

The latent power of light, if wisely used, can be of real service to mankind. In addition to the benefits already envisioned, it can open a door to new knowledge about the creative works of the One who gave light its tremendous power.

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< In his biography of America’s famed Wild West gunfighter, Wild Bill Hickok, J. W. Buel, who knew Hickok fairly well, wrote: “The very few intimate friends Bill had were well acquainted with his peculiar belief in spiritualism. He claimed to be clairvoyant, especially when danger threatened, and the many narrow escapes he had gave some evidence of the reality of his spiritual sight. . . . Wild Bill asseverated that in all his fights he was surrounded by spirits, who kept him cool and collected while they made fools of hie enemies.”—Life and Marvelous Adventures of Wild Bill.

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By "Awake I” correspondent in Argentina

4£TyTHY do you want to go there? You’ll W just see a lot of old stuffed animals and dried bones!” "I went there as a child, and I can still see that huge dinosaur in the entrance. I wonder if it is still there.” “Really, you should not miss it-^a must on every tourist’s visit to Argentina.” “The best museum in South America.” “One of the best natural history museums in the world.”

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