Awake!, November 8, 1967
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How much of this evolved by itself?
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AWAK!
A Reason to Live
PAGE 5
And the Waters Kept Increasing
PAGE 9
Those Amazing Architects That Make Shells
PAGE17
A Village Under One Roof
PAGE 21
NOVEMBER 8,1967
THE REASON FOR THIS MAGAZINE
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awakel" has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ties; it is unhampered by traditional creeds. This magazine keeps itself free, that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
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CONTENTS
Avoid the Spirit of Retaliation 3
A Reason to Live 5
And the Waters Kept Increasing 9
Tadmor—Storied Oasis in the Desert 13
Those Amazing Architects
That Make Shells 17
Telling Relatives the "Good News" 20
A Village Under One Roof 21
Complex Starfish 23
Gilead Graduation Evokes
Worldwide Interest 25
"Your Word Is Truth"
Are You Obligated to Observe
the Sabbath? 27
Watching the World 29
"It is already the hour for you to awake." —Romans 13:11
Brooklyn, N.Y., November 8, 1967
Volume XLV111
Number 21
AMONG men and nations today the spirit of retaliation is rife. It is not uncommon to hear of one nation saying to another: If you take a certain course of action, we will construe it as an unfriendly act and take appropriate measures
against you.' On the local scene the same spirit is reflected by many protest movements, marked by frequent name-calling and impatient refusal to refer issues to cool-headed discussion. But what about the incidence of this angry spirit in personal lives?
Even in personal relationships, at home, at work and at play, the same return-like-for-like attitude is common. Is it not true that when someone says something disparaging about you, the urge is to snap back? And do not people in the same household often quarrel and refuse to talk? Grievances and grudges are permitted to rankle in the mind, with a resulting bitterness that banishes joy and happiness.
Long ago the Bible foretold that this spirit of retaliation would be accentuated in our time, for the apostle Paul wrote to warn us that "in the last days critical times hard to deal with will be here. For men will be lovers of themselves, . . . not open to any agreement, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, without love of goodness." (2 Tim. 3:1-3) But is this any justification for professed Christians to allow themselves to be infected by the worldly spirit of vengefulness? Surely not.
Indeed, the outstanding feature of true Christianity is the spirit of genuine, principled love that it manifests. Instead of allowing themselves to be dragged down to the level of worldly people, followers of Christ strive to keep always in mind these words of their Leader: "Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those persecuting you." (Matt. 5:44) True, they are imperfect and their flesh is weak, but they cultivate the mental attitude of Christ Jesus, and strive to imitate him in their relationship with others.
In his dying moments Jesus prayed in behalf of his enemies. So also did the first Christian martyr, Stephen. But throughout his earthly ministry the attitude of Jesus was consistent with that prayer. He was always conscious of the long-suffering and kindness of the heavenly Father toward even imperfect, sinful men. He reminded his followers that Jehovah "makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good and makes it rain upon righteous people and unrighteous."—Matt. 5:45; Luke 23: 34; Acts 7:60.
So what about those grudges, those spells of huffiness, those I'm-not-speaking attitudes in which people are tempted to indulge? Is it dangerous to have a part in these? It surely is, for they display a spirit completely at variance with that of our Father in heaven.
"You must accordingly be perfect, as
sible, as far as it depends upon you, be peaceable with all men. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but yield place to the wrath; for it is written: 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay, says Jehovah.' . . . Do not let yourself be conquered by the evil, but keep conquering the evil with the good."—Rom. 12:17-21.
There is a powerful reason for Christians to strive to conquer the evil with the
your heavenly Father is perfect," is the good. Jehovah himself is the One who is
lofty standard that Jesus held up before his followers. (Matt. 5:48) Unreasonable? No; keep in mind that God and Christ know all about our innate weaknesses
ARTICLES IN THE NEXT ISSUE
Is it Wise to Discuss Religion?
Eyes in the Sky.
Is Britain a Christian Country?
People Who Practice Bible Principles.
and do not expect the impossible. Nevertheless, they set this high standard before us to emphasize that there is always room for self-improvement, as we strive to be
good, and all who are really his children should reflect that fine quality in all their activities. To prove ourselves his children we have to copy his loving way.
Thus, when Jesus instructed his followers to love their enemies and pray for their persecutors, he added the reason, namely, "that you may prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens." (Matt
like Jehovah God. Such striving will help to guard us against the worldly spirit. For example, we have only to be but briefly off guard for the spirit of retaliation to gain a foothold in our thinking and practice. That spirit leads to disaster. Israel's General Joab paid with his life for his course of vengefulness, despite his skill as a leader of his nation's armies. (1 Ki. 2:28-34) The Bible relates that the same spirit of retaliation cost Jacob's son Simon the right of the firstborn (after Reuharah's disqualification) because he hostily
your Father who is in the heavens. (Matt.
5:45) Surely that is what you want to do!
In all your relationships with others, therefore, in the family circle, at your secular job, as well as during the hours of relaxation, guard against being provoked into retaliatory action against those who wrong you or appear to have wronged you. And when you are tempted to break out in speech or action that is unchristian, ask yourself the questions: What will such speech or action prove as to my spiritual parentage? How can it identify me as one
ben's disquanication) because he hastily avenged his sister Dinah without first, through his father, seeking Jehovah's direction.—Gen. 49:5-7.
How vital, then, to be on guard against the first, small inroads of this wrong spirit in your life! Lovingly God set down the following counsel for all his servants: "Return evil for evil to no one. . . If pos-
Being kind and forgiving to people who are kind and forgiving to you is no great thing. But, if we "become kind to one another, tenderly compassionate, freely forgiving one another" when wrongs are committed, then we shall have the testimony that we are indeed striving to be like our Father in the heavens.—Eph. 4:32.
A REASON TO LIVE
A YOUNG woman slipped past East German border guards. Slowly she lowered her body into the icy waters of a canal and swam to West Berlin, towing her infant son behind her in a tub. Her daring effort could easily have cost the mother's life, as well as the life of her child. Yet this fact did not deter her, because she believed that West Berlin offered her a reason to live.
Still West Berlin, where people seemingly have so much to live for, now leads the world in the number of suicides—people giving up on life. According to the World Health Organization, 33.9 West Berliners out of every 100,000 take their lives each year, as compared with 28.4 in East Germany. Evidently some cannot find a sufficient reason to keep on living.
Take, for example, the case of Norma Jean Baker in America, who made fame and fortune her goal in life, as so many people today do. She skyrocketed to stardom in 1946. At the youthful age of nineteen she became a "star," a household word throughout America and much of the world. Fame was hers! Yet, this in itself was not enough to make living worth while for her. While still soaring in her career, she took her own life. She was only thirty-six years old. Her tragic death left people wondering, Why? Perhaps you knew her better as Marilyn Monroe, the
Hollywood beauty idol of millions of persons.
Still others say that it is equal opportunity for all that makes life worth living. Yet in America, often called "the land of opportunity," suicides have reached shocking proportions. In 1965 there were 22,560 known suicides in the United States, and almost all experts insist that the true figure is at least two to three times as great. Anywhere from 500,000 to a million Americans every year reveal by their actions that they are uncomfortably close to suicide.
The most alarming thing about recent suicide figures is the sharp increase in suicidal deaths among young people. Since 1914 suicide has ranked among the ten leading causes of death in America. Among college students suicide is the second leading cause of death. Among youths, aged fifteen to nineteen, suicide is the Number Three cause of death. There are nearly three known adolescent suicides a day, and some experts say the true figure may be 5,000 a year. Dr. Harold Jacobziner of the New York City Department of Health said that in 1957 suicide was responsible for more deaths in children, between the ages of ten and fourteen, than tuberculosis and poliomyelitis put together. Why have these young people taken their lives?
A World Phenomenon
Suicide is a world phenomenon today. Dr. Edwin S. Schneidman, a California psychologist, regards it "basically as a disease—one of epidemic dimensions perhaps, but one that is preventable." The World Health Organization in a report included a survey of recent suicide rates in twenty-one countries. Hungary heads the list, with a yearly average, from 1961 to 1963, of 33.9 suicide deaths per 100,000 population. Finland is second, with 29 per 100,000, and Austria third, with 28.3 per 100,000. The study revealed that world wide four to five times as many men as women commit suicide. In suicides of men, Hungary still topped the list, with a rate of 48.9 per 100,000. The figures for women showed that Japan is highest, with 20.6 per 100,000. Another source asserted that throughout the world more than 10,000 people commit suicide every day, a shocking figure!
These alarming statistics have induced physicians and social scientists to combine their energies in an effort to prevent such mass self-destruction of human life. The big question these scientists are asking is, What is the reason for all this self-murder?
Why Suicides?
For years social psychologists have speculated on this matter, but have never adequately explained these figures. The history of suicide reveals marked variations according to race and period. Among peoples of simple civilization and those with a fixed code of morals suicide is very rare, and is deemed unnatural and reprehensible.
Modern physicians and social scientists are inclined to believe that suicide is the culmination of many different factors, such as ill health, incurable disease, loneliness, rejection, frustration stemming from domestic or financial or employment
situations. Alcohol and drugs often take the edge off the will to survive. Dr. H. L. Friedman, assistant Medical Officer of Health in South Africa, asserted that 50 percent of all suicides are motivated by sex, love and marriage difficulties. Another authority states that about a third of the suicides may be traced "to mental derangement, thus indicating a close connection between suicide and insanity." Dwight D. Eisenhower, former president of the United States, once associated suicide with the welfare state and sin in Sweden. But while Sweden's suicide rate is 18.5 per 100,000 and Denmark's is 21, nearby Norway, with about the same amount of welfare and sin, has a suicide rate of 7.9.
Some people have tried to blame suicides on the weather, on those damp dismal days. But studies show that the sunniest months, namely, May and June, carry the highest suicide rate. So now it is generally believed that suicides have more to do with a damp drizzly outlook in a person's heart than with the outside weather.
Not to be overlooked among the causes of suicide are wicked spirit forces, demons who frequently tell people to kill themselves. Such persons report hearing "voices," as in the case of a forty-year-old San Francisco woman, a secretary, who leaped to her death from a sixteen-story terrace of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel. Her landlady told police that the secretary told her that she had been ordered by "spirit forces" to jump from a high building. How vital it is to reject any suggestion from "voices" from the spirit realm, and to pay attention instead to God's Word the Bible!—Eph. 6:12; Rev. 12:9, 12.
What Studies Show
Studies reveal that a high number of suicide attempts occur in children brought up in unstable, disorganized or broken homes.
Therefore, a suicide or a threat to suicide by a child is viewed as a reflection against the parents and the community in general.
Among college students the pressure from parents and the community on youth, not merely to learn but to excel, often is very great. The sad fact is that such pressures frequently do lead to suicide.
Immorality is a factor. Girls who become pregnant out of wedlock often experience unbearable pressures in parental disappointment and rejection in the community. Add these pressures to a girl's own feeling of shame and it may result in an overwhelming situation for a young body and mind, leading to the "death wish."
The world's changing attitude toward suicide, no doubt, is also a contributing factor to the growing number of such deaths. In many lands suicide is no longer viewed as a crime or a grave sin against God, although it may be regarded as a regrettable deviation from normal behavior. When committed with a seemingly sane mind, it is gradually being looked upon as almost a human right and a civil liberty. In some lands it is considered a strictly personal affair and a family matter. Often grieving families request physicians not to list suicide as the cause of death. In some places, only those cases of self-destruction in which the deceased leaves a note are officially entered as suicides. One case, in which a man stabbed himself, was closed out as accidental death on grounds that he "ran into a sharp weapon."
Many churches of Christendom that once would not allow a suicide victim to be buried in a religious cemetery now view suicides with considerable tolerance.
which has deprived many people of spiritual knowledge, the most potent force in counteracting the tendency to suicide; for it is only a spiritual and inward strength that can enable the individual to stand against the pressures of these wicked days.
A still more potent factor than all others is, no doubt, the decay of religion and of moral conviction during this century,
A Christian's View
Despite the so-called tolerant views toward suicide in Christendom, which views underscore the world's growing lack of morality and lack of faith in God, true Christians cannot condone such acts, for a number of reasons. Such acts show no fear of God, no trust in Him. They are a rejection of God's undeserved kindness. They are a violation of his commandment against murder, Suicide is murder, and it is just as wrong to murder oneself as it is to murder one's fellowman. It is a disregard for the sacredness of life. It is a cowardly act, a fleeing from problems instead of facing them.—Ex. 20:13; Rom. 14:7-9.
Suicide affects the mental health of the survivors. It leaves them with an enormous sense of guilt and shame, not to mention other burdens that may come upon them. It affects the mental health of the community as well. It is as though one has found a murderer in one's community, within one's own family. It certainly is not an act of love, and Christians are to love.—Mark 12:28-31.
Needed: a Reason to Live
As a rule, potential suicide victims do not want to die. More than 70 percent who commit or attempt suicide are or have been under a physician's care. Eight out of ten persons who try to kill themselves and fail are very glad to be alive and probably will not try it again. Only about 5 percent of those who make an attempt eventually commit suicide. When potential suicide victims are asked why they were trying to destroy themselves, they invariably answer that they had "nothing to live for."
They have become disappointed with life, sick of living. They have lost "all taste for life," as the prophet Job said when he was smitten with a loathsome disease. (Job 10:1, The Jerusalem Bible) But Job survived. What potential suicide victims need, then, is what the prophet had that gave him the strength to endure despite his apparently hopeless state. And what was that? The prophet Job had his God to whom to turn. He refused to turn his back on his God Jehovah, and it was this that proved to be his salvation.
So often, when men reach their top positions, gain riches or glory, they find that these have left them empty and hollow inside, because they fail to do what Job did, make God their refuge in life. They fail to fortify their lives spiritually. Societies that are totally materialistic are a bore to live in, because life becomes meaningless without God. Swedish economist Gunnar Myrdal admitted this, when he said: Sweden's 'materialistic paradise can be boring.'
Since man is a creation of God, he finds in the worship of God a reason to live. When this reason soars above all material pursuits, even above one's own family interests, then it is that true happiness is experienced. Young people today need such spiritual incentives as held forth in God's Word the Bible to enable them to grapple with everyday problems and to meet the challenges of life. Without true Christian incentives, such as the hope of everlasting life in a righteous new system of things, free of sickness and death, young people tend to become discouraged and disillusioned with life. True Christian worship supplies sustaining hope.—Titus 1:2; Rev. 21:4; Rom. 15:4.
new regard for life into a decadent civilization, so now the good news about Jehovah's established kingdom, as preached by Jehovah's witnesses, provides an enduring foundation and bulwark in the face of present world despair.
As first-century Christianity brought
When a married German woman found herself very ill after World War II, she took out a bottle of drugs and was determined to end her life with an overdose. However, the doorbell rang. She answered it. The caller, seeing her extreme distress, refused to leave. The householder collapsed and was taken inside. Upon gaining consciousness she confessed what she was about to do. Her caller spoke to her about God and his promised new order. The two women prayed and they thanked God for life. That happened in Berlin almost twenty years ago. Thoughts of God and his purposes restored in the despondent woman a desire to live. Her caller was a minister of Jehovah's witnesses.
Thus the battle against suicide, in the final analysis, is seen to be deeply influenced by one's view of life and morality. A person who knows that he has a duty to perform toward God is bound to go on, be conditions what they may; and he who is convinced that there is forgiveness for the repentant and a better system to come will not despair for long.
For life to be meaningful and rewarding, it must reach into the realm of the spirit, in fact, through prayer into the very presence of God, who is the source of life, and seek to obey him. (Ps. 36:9) That is what Jehovah God meant when he encouraged the ancient nation of Israel to "choose life in order that you may keep alive, you and your offspring." (Deut. 30:19) Choosing life meant choosing to worship and serve the true God Jehovah, which is man's basic and primary reason for living. —Ps. 34:8; Eccl. 12:13.
By "Awake!" correspondent in Alaska
HAD never been in a flood nor thought that I ever would be. But that began to change as I approached Fairbanks, Alaska, via the Alaska Highway, Sunday afternoon, August 13. I was forty-five miles from the city when I heard on the car radio that the Salcha River was threatening to wash out the road ten miles ahead. Steady rains for five days could not be accommodated by the swollen rivers and sodden tundra.
At the Salcha River bridge the road was still passable, but the flow continued to rise as it gushed its way into the larger Tanana River nearby. The Tanana continues northwest past Fairbanks and eventually dumps its contents into the mighty Yukon some 150 miles beyond Fairbanks. Here at the Salcha River, workers had built an eighteen-inch dirt dam at the edge of the road in an attempt to keep the water, already out of its banks and rushing alongside, from spilling onto the road. Within a few hours after I passed, the highway at this point was closed, indicating more serious conditions developing in the Fairbanks area.
The Chena River, another tributary of the Tanana originating east of Fairbanks and flowing through the city, crept menacingly higher Sunday night as the rains continued. By Monday morning we heard radio reports that the downriver town of Nenana was being evacuated, as the Nenana River, another Tanana tributary, had
reached a depth of 15.2 feet that morning and was still rising. Flood stage for the area is 12.4 feet.
Local radio reports said that Island Homes subdivision of Fairbanks was being evacuated because water was a foot or two deep in the streets and basements were filled up, as the Chena River continued to overflow its banks. A few other low-lying areas near the city were already being evacuated by boat and helicopter. One family of seven sat huddled on their roof in the rain as they watched their three-month-old calf drown. It was tied in the yard of their suburban home just a few feet away, but the family could not reach it without risking their lives. However, the majority of Fairbanksans still had no idea of how devastating this flood was to be.
Preparations Made for Evacuation
By noon on Monday a companion and I decided to stay close by the phone of the presiding minister of one of the two Fairbanks congregations of Jehovah's witnesses. Soon a call came from a newly interested person who lived close to the river. His basement was filling up rapidly, and he needed a pickup truck to remove his belongings. We responded without delay and, after wading in the hip-deep icy floodwaters for several hours, had all his belongings loaded on the truck. But when the waters flooded the engine we had to call for a tow from a larger truck. Water was just reaching the main floor level of the abandoned house when our help arrived.
Upon our returning to the overseer's home in Hamilton Acres subdivision at four o'clock in the afternoon, the floodwaters were a half block away and creeping closer. It was decided that his wife and children should head for a friend's home in the country, safe above the flooding rivers. She hastily packed a change of dry clothing for each family member and scooped up an armful of bedding and left in the family auto. Four of us remained to secure the house and belongings to the extent possible.
We faced up to the grim reality that the waters could keep coming until the house was actually flooded. We decided to do what we could and to leave without delay. We raised everything we could up off the floor at least two feet. This included beds, books, desk and dresser drawers and food items. Later we were glad we did, because the twenty-five inches of water that finally covered the main floor would have done much more damage had we not taken these precautions.
It was 10 p.m. when we vacated the house. For several hours the four-unit apartment buildings next door, on lower ground than we were, had been evacuated and the basement apartments filled with four feet of water. It bubbled and churned past us through the neighboring yard and on down the street in a swift river two feet deep. I inched the car through the torrent for higher ground while the other three of our group headed for the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses on a rubber raft. It was one block in the other direction and a stalled car at the intersection was half covered with water. At the height of the flood the car was completely covered and rescue boats passed over it with ease. At the Kingdom Hall, Witnesses
worked vigorously to carry clothing and a few other items up to the main floor from the basement apartment while water lapped at the basement windows.
We met again at 11 p.m. on high ground, where I had waited in the car, monitoring the radio reports. Bulletins said the water was then fifteen feet and was to crest at sixteen feet in one hour. A glimmer of hope! On the basis of this information we decided to return to the Kingdom Hall and fight the tide by building a dike around the building and thereby save it from flooding. We never made it!
As we hurried to protect the Kingdom Hall we stopped to leave our extra vehicles in the yard of one of the Witnesses, where we thought they would be safe. She warned that this area lay in the old Chena River bed that had been diverted several years ago to provide more housing property. As we stood in the driveway the trickle of water at our feet began to swell before our eyes. "We'll get the family out!" one of the group said. By the time they got out and cut the dog loose, the animal was already treading water.
Evacuation Belatedly Ordered
The presiding minister spoke anxiously of one of the Witnesses back in the Hamilton Acres area that we had just left. "We have to get her and the children out!" The two of us jumped into his large dump truck and headed for her home. In the low places there was already two feet of rapidly rising water. She had just heard the belated order on the radio to evacuate the area when we arrived.
Another family had already taken refuge in her home, since they had been flooded out earlier in the day. Both families took to their autos, proceeding over the route we had just traveled, with us following in the truck. Now there was three feet of water covering the road and a long line of flooded autos blocking the way.
Other cars already were tipped helter-skelter in the ditch on both sides of the road by the swift current of this new "river." The guest family had made it through a few minutes earlier, but it was evident that the Witness and her children could not make it in the family car. Abandoning the car on a high spot, hopeful that it would be safe from the raging waters, she and the children clambered aboard the dump truck. We made it safely to high ground and on to another Witness' home in the country and prepared for what proved to be about two weeks of communal living with some twenty to thirty other evacuees.
In the early hours of the next morning, a Witness on the edge of town was lying down after a night of vigil, only to be awakened by a neighbor standing in the bedroom calling her to get out. The neighborhood group did the best they could to find the highest ground in the area and to get organized, to wait out the flood. With the use of a boat, quite a group gathered together, including some with babies. It finally became apparent that at least the women and children would have to be evacuated. A neighbor with a three-week-old baby was picked off a garage roof by a helicopter. With the help of men wading in waist-deep water, the Witness was taken by boat to a field where she and her month-old baby were picked up by helicopter.
Finally the river crested at 10 a.m. Tuesday, 18.82 feet, some ten hours later than predicted and six feet above flood stage. Almost all phone service was out, with many families separated and having no way of finding out if the others were safe. Radio stations broadcast personal messages telling who was safe, in the hope friends or relatives would hear. There was fear of typhoid fever. Fortunately, no outbreak of disease materialized. Evacuation continued all day Tuesday, with scores of residents and Civil Defense workers using flat-bottom riverboats and anything else that would float to remove persons stranded on roofs and second floors. Many insisted on remaining in the taller buildings because they were "high and dry."
Surveying the Damage
Several days of waiting followed as the water receded very slowly. Each area was affected differently, depending on distance from the river and the swiftness of the current. The extent of the water's clammy grip reached from 14,000 flooded basements to entire homes completely submerged or washed downriver. A fine muddy slit was deposited up to an inch deep in homes, shops, autos—everything the water touched. Fuel oil tanks of several hundred gallons capacity were popped up out of the ground. Others had their contents displaced by the floodwaters, covering many areas with a film of oil.
Early estimates were that 95 percent of the city was reached by the water and that more than $153 million of damage was done. The city was declared a disaster area, with Alaska's governor declaring that it was worse, in some respects, than the 1964 Alaska earthquake, in that almost all homes and businesses in the city were damaged. Of the 45,000 living here, 15,000 were evacuated either to higher ground or to other Alaskan cities. The University of Alaska campus housed 7,000, and large groups inhabited other schools and large buildings. Some observed that, after seeing this, they would never doubt that forty days of rain flooded the earth in Noah's time!-Gen. 7:17.
Great loss was also suffered by other communities near Fairbanks. All in the flooded area are working diligently to get things dried out and repaired before the big winter freeze-up sets in, with temperatures 40 to 50 degrees (F.) below zero.
Much more damage is expected to show up by the spring of 1968 as a result of winter conditions.
Many Made No Preparations to Flee
Some questions have been asked by the newspapers. Why was it that the abnormal rainfall for several days was threatening the populace and at least a day before the flood the water level was predicted to go above flood stage—yet no official warnings were issued by any governmental agency that residents might have to evacuate? As a result, thousands fled with only what they were wearing and with what they could snatch up in their flight, in some cases only a family pet. Houses, belongings, autos, all had to be left behind because the water was suddenly upon them.
Equally embarrassing for the evacuates to consider is why so many never anticipated that the water might reach them. Why did they not at least make a few preparations for a hasty departure—in case the unexpected should reach them? Some even rode about in their autos passively viewing others fighting the waters already creeping into their homes, only to be caught later themselves without warning and without any advance preparations. Perhaps lives and property could have been spared had they faced the situation more realistically.
How Jehovah's Witnesses Were Affected
Jehovah's witnesses in the area suffered no loss of lives, in spite of much property damage to their homes and cars. All were safe and well cared for during the ordeal, many in the homes of their Christian brothers who lived in safer areas. One of the local presiding ministers related what a strange sensation it was for them to return to the Kingdom Hall by rubber raft
a couple days after the flood. They paddled through the doors and circled the interior of the hall in the raft, with the floor twenty-eight inches below. Only a few inches of the back of the seats poked up through the muddy brown water.
Some of the households and groups where Witnesses were sheltered included non-Witnesses who were impressed by the cheerful assistance and loving unity they saw displayed in spite of the disaster. This caused some to show greater appreciation for spiritual views of the Witnesses. One contractor offered to help repair the Kingdom Hall in appreciation for the kindness showed to him. He said: "This experience with you folks sets a fellow to thinking. Hereafter if anyone speaks improperly of Jehovah's witnesses, he'll have me to contend with."
As soon as the floodwaters began to recede, Jehovah's witnesses instituted relief measures. Clothing, household items and funds poured in from Witnesses in other Alaskan cities and the lower United States, from as far away as Illinois and Nevada, in loving expression for their Fairbanks brothers. One overseer from another city was visiting in Fairbanks at the time of the flood. When transportation was available, he quickly returned home and purchased hundreds of dollars' worth of pumps and cleaning equipment to get a head start on the cleanup. Back to Fairbanks he came to oversee the arduous task of pumping and cleaning homes of the Witnesses and their associates. A crew of twenty-two others came from as far as 600 miles away to help. One Witness told non-Witnesses in the house where she had been sheltered that a group had worked a couple of days in her home and she was about to move back. With much surprise, they asked who this group was that went about so early providing such services. She explained that they were her Christian brothers and that they had come long distances to help out.
The questioners stood in speechless disbelief. Similar experiences were repeated many times over.
Another person who witnessed Christianity in action was one who had not received the Witnesses hospitably in the past. In spite of this, the work crew gave him assistance with some of his heavier cleaning tasks. He was most appreciative and expressed it openly.
While observing many Witnesses who are ministerial servants helping clean her home, one Witness remarked: "This is surely a modern application of the idea of foot washing!"—John 13:12-16.
Drying out, cleaning and rebuilding now moves ahead at a fast pace in a race against winter's cold. A positive, forward-looking spirit prevails among the majority of Fairbanksans, but especially among Jehovah's people. They go ahead with their rebuilding cheerfully, not grieving over their material losses, because they realize they are "to rest their hope, not on uncertain riches, but on God, who furnishes us all things richly for our enjoyment." (1 Tim. 6:17) In fact, they feel that they are richer, because their faith has been strengthened by the loving care of their Christian brothers.
HAVE you ever heard of it? If not, you may have heard of Palmyra, its later name; and probably you have heard of wise King Solomon, of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, of Sapor king of Persia, and Queen Zenobia. Yes, all those prominent persons of history are linked with that ancient city of Tadmor in the heart of the Syrian Desert. So, now, would you like to pinpoint it on the map and learn more about it?
The ranges of the Anti-Lebanon mountains radiate from Mount Hermon in a northeasterly direction into the desert. About 140 miles northeast of Damascus, or where the easternmost range drops off into the plain is the location of Tadmor. Ancient? Yes, for the royal archives of the kingdom of Mari, dug up near the Euphrates River some 150 miles due east, contain references to Tadmor. These cuneiform records date back to about 2000 B.C.E., before Hammurabi of Babylon subjugated Mari and destroyed its capital.
Since Tadmor stood almost halfway between Damascus to the south and the Euphrates to the north, it is quite possible that Abraham knew of this thriving commercial center at the time when he journeyed south to the land about which Jehovah had spoken to him.
In those early times this oasis with its stately palms must have been a welcome and refreshing sight to desert travelers.
There would be the protective wall of a typical caravansary; also the most vital commodity to travelers—water for themselves and their animals. At times it would be a place of bustling activity as long camel trains arrived or prepared to depart.
Rebuilt by Solomon
Almost a thousand years later King Solomon considered this oasis city vital to his kingdom's welfare on two counts: as a garrison city for defense of the northern frontier, and as a vital link in the chain of caravan towns radiating from this spot. Through this city of palms passed the commercial riches of the ancient world, Oriental goods from India, Persia and Lower Mesopotamia as well as products of Mediterranean lands, arriving through Tyre and Damascus. So the Bible record says that Solomon "rebuilt Tadmor in the wilderness and all the storage cities that he had built in Hamath."—2 Chron. 8:4.
During the next thousand years the pages of history are silent about Tadmor. Not until early in the first century C.E. does it again figure prominently. That it was then the objective of a plundering expedition by Roman forces under Mark Antony indicates that it had become a prosperous place. At this time it was called Palmyra, capital of a commercial state in which was featured a partnership of Syrian merchant princes and Bedouin tribesmen.
Swift Climb to Prominence
The city's swift climb to prominence began when Syria formed an outpost province of the Roman Empire, a buffer state between the then rival powers of Rome and renascent Persia. In this era Palmyra was visited by such emperors as Hadrian, Severus and Valerian. Hadrian added to its architectural magnificence and made so many rich benefactions that a grateful citizenry changed the name of their capital to Adrianopolis for a time. Severus gave one of its leading sons the rank of Roman senator. Valerian, in turn, raised this same man's son, Odaenathus, to the rank of consul of Rome.
Meantime King Sapor of Persia determined to challenge Roman supremacy and assert his sovereignty over all the former provinces of Persia, including Mesopotamia and Syria. With a formidable army he marched westward, captured the Roman garrison towns of Nisibis and Carrhae (Haran), and proceeded to ravage northern Syria and Cilicia. Emperor Valerian came in person to lead his forces against this attack, but was defeated and captured by the Persians. Elated by such success, Sapor's host plundered Antioch and other cities of Syria as well as Tarsus in Cilicia and the capital of Cappadocia. The Romans rallied and inflicted a defeat on the Persians at Pompeiiopolis, so that Sapor decided to withdraw from the field while still his hosts could retain some of the immense booty they had collected.
Before this setback, Odaenathus of Palmyra considered it timely to send costly gifts and a message of peace to the Persian monarch. King Sapor haughtily commanded that the presents be thrown into the Euphrates and demanded that Odaenathus appear before him in the role of captive suppliant. For answer the Palmyrenes assembled an army of desert nomads and the remnants of the Roman forces and took to harrying the now retreating Persians. Against the hit-and-run tactics of the desert warriors, Sapor's forces, campaign-weary and laden with plunder, had little defense and were forced into flight.
In due time the news reached Rome, not only about their emperor's becoming a prisoner, but also about the championing of their cause by Odaenathus of Palmyra. Though never able to effect the release of their emperor, they did decide to honor Odaenathus. With the approval of Valerian's son, Gallienus, they granted Odaenathus the rank of Augustus.
Queen Zenobia's Reign
About the year 267 C.E., at the height of his career, Odaenathus and his heir were assassinated, supposedly by a vengeful nephew. His wife, Zenobia, took over his position during the minority of her remaining sons. Beautiful, highly ambitious, capable as an administrator, accustomed to campaigning with her late husband, she managed to command the respect and support of her subjects—no mean feat among the restless Bedouin. She could speak several languages, including Egyptian. Indeed, it has been said that her mother was Egyptian.
Her chief adviser was Longinus, a Syrian who had been schooled in Greek, and later to be noted as a philosopher. He was decidedly anti-Roman in his sentiments. Thus, when Emperor Gallienus dispatched a Roman army against the Persians, Zenobia and her counselor decided to switch sides and aid the Persians against Rome. Surprised and defeated by swift-moving desert bowmen, the Romans withdrew, while Zenobia consolidated her power in Syria and Mesopotamia.
A rebel general having about this time seized the rulership of the Roman province of Egypt, Zenobia took advantage of the occasion to march into Egypt at the head of her army, crush the rebel and take possession of the country. In effect, her kingdom now stretched from the river Nile
to the river Euphrates. Interestingly, too, at this point of her career she came to represent the "king of the south" spoken about in the Bible prophecy of Daniel, for her kingdom dominated that ancient king-dom that lay to the south of Daniel's own homeland, Egypt.—Dan. 11:25. 26.*
Palmyra grew in size and importance. Zenobia strengthened and embellished it to such an extent that it ranked with the larger cities of the Roman world. Plunder from several campaigns together with the lucrative taxing of desert trade contributed to fill her coffers. Splendid buildings, temples, gardens, pillars, monuments, filled the enclosure within walls that are said to have been ten to thirteen miles in circumference.
The Temple of the Sun was the outstanding structure. Built of masonry that, in the setting sun, glowed with a yellowish-golden hue, its outer court was more than a mile around. The shrine itself stood atop a massive platform reached by a flight of broad stone steps. The entrance, sixteen feet wide, had jambs and lintel of single, huge stone blocks. Colonnades, formed of rows of Corinthian pillars, fifty to sixty feet high, some 1,500 of them, lined the principal avenue. Everywhere there were statues and busts of heroes and wealthy benefactors. Palmyra, in this heyday of its glory, had forgotten its former state of ruination. On the edge of the desert it now sparkled like a jewel.
Despite all appearances, however, Queen Zenobia's reign and dynasty were near their end. Conditions at Rome, weak administration and preoccupation with invasions from the north, had provided the opportunity for Palmyra's expansion and glory. But now Aurelian was emperor, and until his legions had repulsed and disciplined the barbarians of the north he could afford to wink his eye at the pretensions of the "Queen of the East," as Zenobia was styled.
At last, in 271 C.E., Aurelian, now representing the "king of the north" of Daniel's prophecy, was free to undertake the punitive expedition. He dispatched some of his forces direct to Egypt, and led his main army eastward through Asia Minor.
City after city capitulated before the advance of the battle-hardened Romans. Zenobia, meantime, counted upon support from her Persian ally. True, her army was constrained to fall back upon her desert capital and there submit to a siege; but a strong city, with its population united under a popular queen, would surely be able to cope with an army far removed from its home base! Contrary to expectation, however, the provinces of Cilicia, Cappadocia and Syria gave strong support to the Roman legions.
Day by day the Palmyrenes looked hopefully to the east for some sign of approaching relief. Their hopes were disappointed. Just at this time the Persians were engaged in fierce internecine struggles. King Sapor had just died and a number of would-be heirs were competing for the throne. So Zenobia scanned the horizon in vain. Not even then believing the end was near, she and her son made a break from the beleaguered city on swift camels and sped eastward for help. But Roman cavalry overtook the party before they could gain safety on the other side of the Euphrates.
Emperor Aurelian soon made it clear that capitulation of the desert capital was the price of his distinguished captive's life. The "Kingdom of the East" was no more. Aurelian dealt magnanimously with the inhabitants, collected an immense quantity of plunder, and departed for Rome, where Queen Zenobia would eventually grace his triumphal entry as a footsore captive.
Revolt Against Rome Leads to Ruin
His army had already crossed the Bosporus when news reached Aurelian that the Palmyrenes had massacred the Roman garrison he had left behind. Immediately he ordered his soldiers to retrace their steps, and this time visited an appalling vengeance upon the population. Those who escaped the merciless slaughter were led off into slavery. The proud city was sacked and ruined beyond repair. Once again the bustling metropolis was reduced to its former status—Tadmor in the wilderness.
The prophecy voiced by God's servant Daniel was fulfilled. The "king of the north," represented by Aurelian, had stirred up its power and come against the "king of the south," represented by Queen Zenobia, and the latter with all of her kingdom was not able to stand. Was it chance that, at the critical juncture, Zenobia was met by a warrior emperor and deprived of a powerful ally? No, for the God of true prophecy had foretold the outcome.
Even to this day the population of Palmyra warrants no more than the status of village. Nevertheless, to the visitor approaching from the desert or from the rocky defiles to the south, there is an element of surprise to come suddenly upon these stately ruins amid a veritable wilderness. One can note the mighty columns, many still standing erect, though their number is thinned out. Still, one can mark the lines of ancient streets, the bases of temples and, not far off, the burial towers in various stages of decay.
To this place, then, came Solomon's builders and his warriors to strengthen the northern frontier of a glorious kingdom. Here, too, came Persian monarchs and Roman emperors, each ambitious to extend his sway. Here, unwittingly, Emperor Aurelian and Queen Zenobia enacted their roles as "king of the north" and "king of the south" and fulfilled a prophecy uttered by the prophet of Jehovah more than eight hundred years earlier.
And now, even mighty Rome has long since faded out and
given place to modern world powers, which, like Zenobia's Kingdom of the East, are numbered as to their duration by the sure fulfillment of the prophecies written down in the Bible.—Dan. 2:44.
THEY are such lowly, uncomely creatures-apparently mere blobs of soft flesh that are without harmonious form. Many of them, in fact, besides being boneless, are headless, blind and lacking commonly recognized organs.
These are mollusks—a major group of animals that include more than 100,000 living species. You would not think them capable of building anything. Yet, most mollusks are amazing architects that make shells that are often of fantastically colorful and shapely design.
You are undoubtedly acquainted with some of them. The lowly garden snail, for example. He belongs to the largest of the five common classes of mollusks, known as Gastropoda. The shells made by these mollusks are of only one piece, sometimes being called univalves, meaning one valve. They usually are twisted or coiled around a core, often forming breathtakingly beautiful spirals. This gorgeous, often porcelainlike covering serves as the home for the animal inside. Actually, it is his outer skeleton, to which he is securely attached.
These "snails" live in the sea, on land
and in fresh water. When you visit the seashore, most shells you see are the legacy they have left behind. How numerous they often are, and of so many varieties! Is it not remarkable that the skeletons of these lowly creatures should be among the most time-resistant of materials and, at the same time, be shaped into such exquisite and colorful forms? No wonder thousands of collectors prize them as jewels. In 1963 one collector paid $2,000 for a specimen of the rare glory-of-the-seas shell.
The other big class of mollusk is the clams, or bivalves, known as Pelecypoda. None of these shell-encased creatures live on land, and most of them inhabit the sea rather than fresh waters. They include the mussel and succulent oyster and scallop. But also included is the giant clam, Tridacna gigas, of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, whose shell may reach four feet across and weigh over 500 pounds. It is the largest of the shell-covered mollusks. However, the giant squid and octopus, which belong to another class of mollusk, grow even larger, the squid reaching over forty feet in length. Most mollusks, however, encase their uncomely bodies within an attractive home.
There truly is great variety and fascination in the behavior of these living shells. Some creep, jump, swim and burrow. Others are permanently anchored to rocks. A few live inside other marine creatures, and still others play host to small fish and tiny crabs. But how do all these lowly creatures make their perfectly designed shells? How do they begin life?
Manufacturing the Shell
Some of the young emerge from the egg as miniature replicas of their parents and immediately commence a life of crawling and feeling. To begin with, they have only a nubbin of a shell, called the nucleus, but it is often quite different in texture and sculpture from the shell that develops from this time on.
Others, such as baby oysters, escape from the egg as free-swimming larvae, possessing hairlike growths designed for navigation. To begin life an oyster is about needle-point in size, and within about twenty-four hours it starts to form a rudimentary shell. Some two weeks later the oyster finally locates a suitable object and attaches itself to it. There it stays for life.
The shell is slowly secreted by a remarkable organ possessed by all mollusks, called the mantle. It is a covering of skin, which may be a mere pad or fold, or it may cover the animal more completely. Special glands in this organ secrete a limestone substance, which is made from the animal's food supply. This quickly hardens into shell material, whether underwater or in the air. And what a variety of shapes into which the shell is molded! It may look like an ear, an egg, a screw, a butterfly, a paw of a lion, a turban, the wing of a bird, and so on.
And, too, as the shell is deposited, color is somehow incorporated into it in an endless array of patterns and shades. All the colors of the rainbow are included in the various shells. Some may be striped, others spotted, still others may look like sunrays or a checkerboard. This also is accomplished by secretions from glands of the mantle, which always create the proper color pattern for its own species.
All of this is baffling to man. The method by which the mollusk lays in the color, and how such a great variety of colors is produced by various species, is not yet understood by man. Truly, it is a marvel how this lowly creature controls, not only the marvelous design of the shell, but also the colorful and beautiful patterns by which it often is decorated!
The Miracle of Shell Growth
One shell expert, Dr. A. Gordon Melvin, wrote recently: "The way in which shells develop, or are 'put together' by nature through growth, is a continuing mystery. Although many collectors have reflected on it, and a few have studied it, at best all we have are fleeting glimpses of the truth."
The mollusk follows laws of construction from which man himself can learn. Concluding a report on his studies of shells with the use of X rays, Dr. Hilary B. Moore observed: "For efficient design as well as beauty, I think the mollusk shell is unexcelled. . . . In building his houses and furnishings, man is learning to choose simple, efficient designs. Shells show us how Nature was doing this long before the first man appeared on earth."
What is particularly remarkable and fascinating is how the shell reproduces with mathematical precision its own exquisite spiral form. It does not deviate from the pre-designed pattern. Growth is governed by law and order. The shell of the chambered nautilus, for example, is so perfect that each new coil is exactly three times the width of the coil preceding it.
The spiral of other shells may increase at a much slower or faster rate, yet each holds to its own basic pattern. The endless combinations of this dynamic spiral are responsible for the tremendous diversity in the tens of thousands of shell forms.
Who or what is responsible for this diverse and yet orderly growth? Commenting in this connection, Dr. Melvin noted: "As the sea-shell grows it has a force of life behind it, projecting it into growth and maintaining it in time from its beginning until it reaches normal size. . . The beginning point of the spiral stands for the life force."
Obviously, this marvelous life force does not originate with the lowly mollusk, or with creatures even more lowly. Certainly the mollusk did not figure out the exquisite, mathematically precise patterns and colorful designs for its shell. But long ago the inspired Bible psalmist pointed to the One who did, when he wrote: "How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. . . . As for this sea so great and wide, there there are moving things without number, living creatures, small as well as great." Yes, it is Jehovah God who created the lowly mollusk, incorporating in it the ability to make such a variety of exquisite jewels for man's pleasure.—Ps. 104:24, 25.
Uses and Accessibility
Shells have long been used for ornamental purposes. They can be made into beautiful necklaces and other pieces of jewelry. The pearly inner layer of certain shells, called mother-of-pearl, is used to make buttons, knife handles, buckles, penholders and numerous other items. In the Philippine Islands there is a large and unusually thin bivalve shell, which is very flat and transparent enough to read a newspaper through. It is called the windowpane shell,
due to its use for windows in houses. To some extent it is still employed for this purpose.
But perhaps the most fascinating, and once widespread, use of shells is as a medium of exchange. At some early date shell money was introduced in America, Asia, Africa and Australia. Thus, shell money was necessarily adopted by early European settlers in order to deal with the American Indians. Currency consisting of shells ground down to standard form and size was used as late as 1882 to carry on trade in the Solomon Islands. And shell money is still employed in some Pacific and Indian islands.
Some shells are so numerous that a few years ago those gathered in just the United States amounted to about a million tons a year! Before the automobile came into common usage, it was estimated that some 3,000 miles of roads in certain Atlantic seaboard states were surfaced with oyster shells. On the other hand, others, such as the famous glory-of-the-sea shell, are so rare that only a few dozen specimens have been found. Why is this?
The answer is intimately connected with the habits of mollusks. Many species inhabit the sandy and rocky shores and are often exposed at low tide. Others live in shallow water just below the low tide line. And yet others are found only in deep waters, perhaps hundreds of feet down. After storms some beaches are at times literally stacked high with shells, but with shells that inhabit the shore or shallow waters. Seldom are deepwater shells thrown up. These are the rare varieties.
However, some of the more common shells are just as beautiful to behold. So when you have the opportunity, you may enjoy a rewarding experience by visiting the seashore. There you may find some rare beauties shaped by those amazing architects who make shells.
Telling Relatives the "Good News"
NDREW, a disciple of John the Baptist, was thrilled when John introduced him to Jesus Christ, "the Lamb of God!" Andrew quickly "found his own brother, Simon [Peter], and said to him: 'We have found the Messiah.'" (John 1:35-42) Ever since, zealous disciples of Christ have been telling their relatives the good news. One modern-day disciple explains:
"About six years ago I visited my mother in Texas after not having seen her in two years. When I arrived and unpacked we began to talk about my new faith. I had become one of Jehovah's witnesses since I had last seen her. We talked 'way into the night. The next day I was also able to speak with my brothers and sisters about the Bible promises.
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