Awake!, November 22, 1969
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FROM THE MOON TO WHERE?
PAGES 3-8
The Joy of Being with Children
PAGE 9
They Treasure Their Spirituality
PAGE 16
NOVEMBER 22.1969
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 interest. "Awake!" 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.
The viewpoint of "Awake!" is not narrow, but is international. "Awake!" has its own correspondents in scores of nations. Its articles are read in many lands, in many languages, by millions of persons.
In every issue "Awake!" presents vital topics on which you should be informed. It features penetrating articles on social conditions and offers sound counsel for meeting the problems of everyday life. Current news from every continent passes in quick review. Attention is focused on activities in the fields of government and commerce about which you should know. Straightforward discussions of religious issues alert you to matters of vital concern. Customs and people in many lands, the marvels of creation, practical sciences and points of human interest are all embraced in its coverage. "Awake!" provides wholesome, instructive reading for every member of the family.
"Awakel" pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden faes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of God's righteous new order in this generation.
Get acquainted with "Awake!" Keep awake by reading "Awake!"
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CONTENTS
From the Moon—to Where? 3
Simplicity of Worship 8
The Joy of Being with Children 9
Life as It Is in Abidjan 13
They Treasure Their Spirituality 16
Deepest Part of the Ocean 19
Don't Throw Away That Garbage 20
Embalming the Dead 22
Eggs for Breakfast 23
Vegetation Controls Erosion 23
Beware the Flyer with the Lyre! 24
Protective Coloration 26
"Your Word Is Truth"
The Bible, a Condensed
Record—Why? 27
Watching the World 29
Volume L
London, England, November 22, 1969
Number 22
"THE moon is only the first milestone on the road to the stars. . . . the doors of heaven are now opening." So stated British author Arthur C. Clarke about man's voyage to the moon.
A headline in the New York Times declared: "Johnson Says Feat Shows 'We Can Do Anything.'" The paper added: "To former President Lyndon B. Johnson, the successful landing on the moon means that America 'can do anything that needs to be done.'"
Thus, after the astronauts' moon walk many now say, in effect: If science can reach the moon, there is nothing that it
cannot accomplish. The whole universe now belongs to man.'
However, some express disenchantment. An office worker in Chicago said: "I think it's a waste of money. There's poverty all over the place, and yet we spend billions of dollars going to the moon." An Atlanta housewife bluntly remarked: "It's all a bunch of foolishness."
Man's walk on the moon is an amazing technological achievement. Of that there can be no doubt. Yet, there are serious questions that must now be asked: Is man really "on the road to the stars"? Are the very "doors of heaven" opening to him? Can men "do anything" they want? And how do such feats of science relate to our everyday life here on earth?
What It Takes
Before you begin planning your first moon vacation, it would be well to see just what such a voyage involves.
For one thing, every such space launch involves a fantastic expenditure of manpower and money. At its peak in 1966, the Apollo moon program involved about 400,-000 people, 120 universities and laboratories, and 20,000 industrial firms. In that year alone, its budget was $5.9 thousand million.
The Saturn rockets and "spaceships" attached to them are enormously complicated. The Apollo-Saturn vehicle that took the astronauts to the moon was 363 feet tall and 33 feet wide.
It weighed 3,200 tons and was made up of more than fifteen million parts!
Before an Apollo vehicle is approved for flight, it must be thoroughly tested and checked. This takes about four months. In the process, about 25,000 pages of procedures are checked over with painstaking care. Equally painstaking is the long and severe training given the astronauts.
All this results in an extremely high cost of operation. It is said that the cost of shipping payloads to the moon now comes to $22,187 per pound. Obviously, such huge expenditures of manpower, time, money and training will not be made just to take you on a moon vacation.
Yet, this gigantic effort involves just going to the earth's closest neighbor, the moon. What is involved in going farther?
Exploring the Solar System
The truth is that in comparison to universal space, man's going to the moon is practically nowhere! This can be seen when we consider the next target for a manned space voyage—the planet Mars. In this regard, a member of an advisory group appointed by the United States government to recommend the nation's space goals for the 1970's said:
"The moon is in our backyard. . . . But anything else is going to be 100 times farther. The next step to a planet is so huge in terms of energy and time that it represents an enormous problem of human endurance, ingenuity, navigation and communications. . . . You have such an enormous gap between the moon and Mars that Mars is just not imaginable."
The moon is an average of about 238,000 miles distant from the earth. Mars comes no closer than about 34,000,000 miles, and is an average of nearly 50,000,000 miles distant. So Mars is from 150 to
200 times as far from the earth as the moon!
Estimates of the time it would take for a manned voyage to that planet vary. U.S. News & World Report said: "Space officials say a mission to land men on Mars would take about three years—a year to get there, a year to touch down on the planet and search for life, and a year to get back to earth." World Book Encyclopedia states: "A trip to Mars and back could take about 17 months." However, with a more powerful rocket, one estimate is that the round trip could be made in about 400 days.
Whichever estimate is correct, it is obvious that somewhere around a year would have to be spent making the trip. And the cost? Estimates range from $50 thousand million to over double that amount.
During such a trip the problems of caring for the astronauts would become staggering. Think of what it would take to store enough food for that time. Then there are the problems of getting rid of human waste, the cramped quarters, and the effect of prolonged weightlessness. All these things, and more, are serious problems even now when astronauts are in space only a few weeks.
It has also been suggested that stations could be established on one planet after another, until the outermost planet of our solar system (the sun and its planets) was reached. But that outermost planet, Pluto, is more than 15,000 times as far away from the earth as the moon! If going to Mars involves such awesome complexities, imagine what it would take for a manned spaceship to reach Pluto.
On the Road to the Stars?
Yet, these colossal problems pale into insignificance when we consider what it would take to go beyond our solar system "to the stars."
Other than our sun, the star nearest the earth is called Proxima Centauri. How far is it from our earth? It is more than 100,000,000 (yes, 100 million) times as far away as the moon!
Proxima Centauri is about 25,000,000-000,000 (25 million million) miles from the earth. The most powerful rockets today travel at about 25,000 miles an hour. Even if that rate could be maintained during the entire trip, it would take nearly 115,000 YEARS to reach Proxima Centauri—one way! And that is the star nearest to our solar system.
However, could scientists speed the rocket up? Let us say that it was possible to propel that rocket even at the speed of light, the highest speed known to scientists. That speed is over 186,000 miles A SECOND, compared to the 7 miles a second of today's most powerful rockets. Even at the speed of light, a round trip to Proxima Centauri would take nearly nine years.
But to travel at the speed of light, that rocket would have to be 26,000 times as powerful as the Saturn 5 rocket that took men to the moon!
Yet, Proxima Centauri is a close neighbor as stars go. Our galaxy, called the Milky Way, is said to contain about 100,000,000,000 stars. How far is it from one end of our galaxy to the other? It is so far that if scientists could get a rocket to
travel at the speed of light it would take 100,000 years for a ONE WAY trip across our galaxy!
Remember, though, that the universe is not just our Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is only one of perhaps thousands of millions of galaxies in the universe. So just to begin exploring the universe, man would have to leave his galaxy and travel to the next one. But the distance from our galaxy to one of its closest neighbors, the Andromeda galaxy, is so great that it would take about 2,000,000 years traveling at the speed of light to get there!
No, man is not about to be exploring the universe in your lifetime of 70 to 80 years. The simple truth is that such boasting is sheer nonsense.
What Would You Find?
Even if you could spend a vacation on the moon, or Mars, or some other planet, what would you find?
True, the moon looks quite attractive when it hangs in the clear night sky, reflecting its silvery light. But closer inspection reveals the facts as they are. For one thing, there is no oxygen, no atmosphere as we know it, on the lunar surface. You would have to take along your entire air supply.
Since there is no air, there is no means for sound to travel, for sound is heard by
Man's flight to the moon is practically nowhere in universal space. Closest star is 100 million times as far as the moon
the vibrations of the air striking a person's ears.
On the moon, therefore, all is silent. A meteorite could crash into its surface, bounce and crash again, shatter and spray its stony debris without so much as a whisper. Even humans cannot talk to one another in the normal way, but must use radio for communication, or communicate by sign language.
Lunar temperatures offer another major problem. On the moon's sunlit side things really get hot— 2 4 0\circ Fahrenheit. That is enough to make a man's blood literally boil. On the other side of the moon things really get cold— 2 5 0\circ below zero Fahrenheit. And water freezes at only 3 2\circ above zero Fahrenheit.
But then, there is no water on the moon's surface. This means that you would have to take all your water supply with you. And what about food? You would have to take that too. The moon's cratered landscape contains no vegetation you could use for food.
What of the planets closest to the earth, Mars and Venus? Of them, Scientific American of March 1969 said:
"In the atmospheres of both Mars and Venus the main component is carbon dioxide. . . free oxygen is rare and may be virtually absent; . . . What about water, which is so plentiful on the earth? If the earth were as hot as Venus, the oceans would evaporate, . . . In Mars' atmosphere water vapor is barely detectable."
The other planets in our solar system are even more inhospitable. So aside from being objects for scientific curiosity, the moon and other planets of our solar system are totally unsuited to human life.
Also, any failure in the millions of parts of your spaceship, or in your space suit, could cost your life. Your capsule could also be hit by a meteor. And with voyages outside the protective atmosphere and magnetic field of earth, there is the problem of radiation resulting from flares on
the sun. Some of this radiation is in the form of cosmic rays, which are particularly deadly. There is no way that these solar flares can be predicted. The longer the voyage, the greater the danger of being caught by one.
Wise Use of Resources?
Even if space travel to the planets and stars were practical and safe, is it wise now? Is it wise to spend so much time, energy and money on space projects when on earth society is falling apart?
For instance, if you live in any large city, ask yourself: Did the moon walk help make it possible for you to walk the streets after dark free from the fear of muggers, robbers or rapists?
If you are a poor person, have any of the space ventures helped to provide you with clothing, food, decent housing or education?
If you are ill, did the effort to put men in space give you any medical benefits? Has it helped to prolong life, cure cancer, relieve heart trouble?
The moon project cost the United States 24,000,000,000. That could have built 2,400,000 homes costing10,000 each, which in most countries would be luxurious. Do you think that 2,400,000 poor families are happier with the moon walk, or would they have been happier moving out of their rat- and roach-infested slums into a nice home?
Newsweek of July 7, 1969, commented: "Apollo 11's vaulting mission . . . reminds man how dismally he has failed to put in order other missions—in Vietnam, in the cities, in the ghetto, in the quality of the natural environment, on the campuses and in the ticky-tacky suburbs."
This is why philosopher Lewis Mumford called the space project a "colossal perversion of energy, thought and other precious human resources." He added: "Any square mile of inhabited earth has more significance for man's future than all the planets in our solar system."
He also said: "Space exploration, realistically appraised, is only a sophisticated effort to escape from human realities, promoted by Pyramid Age minds, utilizing our advanced Nuclear Age technology, in order to fulfill their still adolescent—or more correctly infantile—fantasies of exercising absolute power over nature and mankind."
Do Not Be Misled
The efforts of true science are to be commended. Such has resulted in a better understanding of our earth and has helped produce many things that have aided mankind.
But science is also greatly responsible for putting the entire human family in jeopardy because of its inventions. Its guns, planes, tanks, nuclear bombs and other devices have already killed tens of millions of people in our generation. Its chemicals now pollute the air we breathe, the water we drink and the land that grows our food.
Do not be misled by promises of what science is going to do for mankind in the future. Even if the promises of scientists could be fulfilled, that future would be so far away that you would not live long enough to see it. Actually, the truth is as Professor H. S. Commager of Amherst College stated in Saturday Review:
"At the end of a generation of unparalleled advance in science and technology, mankind found hunger more widespread, violence more ruthless, and life more insecure than at any time in the century."
Indeed, the boasts that through science mankind can now "do anything," that "the doors of heaven are now opening" sound much like those made by the ancient builders of the Tower of Babel who said: "Come on! Let us build ourselves a city and also a tower with its top in the heavens, and
let us make a celebrated name for ourselves." (Gen. 11:4) However, those builders were not working for the good of the common people, but to preserve their power and prestige regardless of the price the common people had to pay. God disapproved their selfish schemes and took action against them.
What the Evidence Shows
Before the moon walk, some scientists were agog at the prospect of analyzing the rocks that would be brought back to earth. But the rocks proved to be a particular disappointment to them in that they contained no sign of life, either past or present.
As more evidence comes in, it all shows that the moon and other planets are lifeless, totally unsuited to human life. The earth, more than ever, stands out as a jewel, it alone being to sustain life.
In July, Michael Collins, the astronaut who stayed with the command ship while his two companions went down to the moon, said:
"I thought about the planet Earth and what a magnificent place to live it is. . . I thought about how nice it would be to get back to planet Earth, and to see blue water for a change instead of this utterly sterile, vacuum world [the moon] that I was going around. . . We're extremely lucky just to have the air to breathe and the ocean to cup in our hands and pour over our heads."
Also, the New York Times of September 16, 1969, remarked in an editorial that "the lifeless desolation of the lunar and Martian surfaces emphasizes more than ever how wonderful it is and how little science understands why it is that earth . . . is so uniquely green, vibrant and overrunning with life."
Science may not understand it, but the humble, God-fearing person does understand it. He believes what Isaiah 45:18 says: "This is what Jehovah has said, the Creator of the heavens, He the true God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited."
Humble persons everywhere give thanks to Jehovah for creating this marvelous earth as a home for man and for giving us the breath of life. They appreciate that while sending men to the moon is a great achievement, it is infinitely greater for the Creator to have put the huge earth "spaceship" into orbit and to have designed it so wonderfully to support such an interesting variety of life, providing air, water and nourishment to sustain it all.
Many scientists would do well to learn a little humility and acknowledge this. They would do well to acknowledge their indebtedness to God from another standpoint too, because had it not been for the precise physical laws of the universe that God set in motion, the scientists would never have been able to put man on the moon.
Far Greater Consideration
There is another powerful reason not to be distracted by science's promises for the future. God's Word clearly reveals that science will definitely not determine the future of man or this planet. Why not? Because that future has already been decided—by Jehovah God.
All the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy shows that it is 'closing time' for this wicked generation. Jehovah has decreed that its time limit has almost run out, that this system of human rule that
has caused so much grief is to be forcibly removed from this earth. (Dan. 2:44) As the Bible says: "The world is passing away and so is its desire, but he that does the will of God remains forever."—1 John 2:17.
Nothing—no moon walk, Mars trip, or anything else—can stop the action that God will take in the near future. "Many are the plans in the heart of a man, but the counsel of Jehovah is what will stand."
—Prov. 19:21.
Persons who truly love life on this earth and want to 'remain forever' on it will make haste in taking in knowledge of the Creator, Jehovah God, since it is He who will determine their future. He will determine who will die at this system's end, and who will survive into a new order of things under God's administration. That new order will be free from today's wars, crime, poverty, unhappiness, and wasting of earth's resources.
When a ship is sinking, the wise thing to do is to work for survival, not to be distracted by the technological marvels of the ship. This system of things is sinking. The wise person will do as God's Word at Zephaniah 2:3 says: "Seek Jehovah, all you meek ones of the earth, who have practiced His own judicial decision. Seek righteousness, seek meekness. Probably you may be concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger."
Then, in God's new order, we will wait upon the Creator of heaven and earth to inform us about his purpose for these other bodies in outer space.
Simplicity of Worship
Today the religions of Christendom put much emphasis on ritual. But not so the early Christians. As one of them tells it: "On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray."—First Apology of Justin Martyr, chap. 67, The Antic-Nicean Fathers*, Vol. 1, p. 186.
WHOEVER wrote that children are made of 'sugar and spice and everything nice' left out a part of the recipe. Children also have at times a cantankerous spirit, a driving curiosity and a bent toward being crafty and mischievous. (Prov. 22:15) But whatever their makeup, we thank God for them, because there can be a deep joy in being with children.
The English authoress Mary Howitt once wrote: "God sends children for another purpose than merely
to keep up the race—to enlarge our hearts; and to make us unselfish and full of kindly sympathies and affections; . . . My soul blesses the great Father, every day, that he has gladdened the earth with little children." No doubt many people are moved daily in the same way to give God thanks for brightening the earth with little children.
There is something immensely rewarding about being with children. There are moments when a "spark" leaps from a father to a son, or from a mother to a daughter, when something special is done together and sealed by memory. For example, there was a house that had a high peaked roof that towered above all the surrounding cottages and looked out over the sea. In this roof, near the top, was a trapdoor that could be reached only by a ladder propped on the attic floor. Children often played in the attic, but none of them ever climbed up to the trapdoor. Such would require parental permission.
One clear day the boy's father came by. He glanced up at the trapdoor. "Must be quite a view from up there," he said to
his son. "Why don't we have a look?" The boy felt his heart begin to pound with excitement and there was also a touch of fear as he looked up. But the father quickly tested the ladder. "Up you go," he said. "I'll be right behind you." The father unhooked the latch and the trapdoor slid back. A new and thrilling sight burst upon the boy's dazzled eyes.
The father had been on the roof many times, but he knew that his son was anxious to see the view from up there. There lay the sea, but what a sea! gigantic, apparently limbless, blazing with splintered sunlight. Years later the boy stated, "I remember that moment on the roof with my father as if it had happened yesterday." The father, too, remembered it. That was a special moment they shared together that neither one of them ever forgot.
Such experiences teach us that a relationship with children can be mutually rewarding. Each affects the other. When adults show loving insight, children are made happy. When children are wise in their behavior, parents are made glad. "The father of a righteous one will without fail be joyful," says the inspired proverb.
"The one becoming father to a wise one will also rejoice in him. Your father and your mother will rejoice." (Prov. 23: 24, 25) Thus there is a reciprocal action. "The crown of old men is the grandsons, and the beauty of sons is their fathers." —Prov. 17:6.
The Deeper Joys
A man can achieve literary or artistic fame, but even greater can be the reward of sharing life with your own children. A Christian father of three sons proudly admitted that it was an inner thrill to go to Christian meetings with his sons and see them take an active part. "It gives you a sense of pride," he said.
This same deep joy was also described by a mother who had this to say: "Having had the privilege to aid eight persons to come to a knowledge of God and a dedication of themselves to Him is a rare blessing that has been mine. But not even so great a privilege can compare with the deep joy I experienced when my oldest daughter, who is seventeen, expressed her own desire to dedicate her life to serve Jehovah. It was a thrilling moment I will never forget throughout my lifetime. It made me deeply happy to think that my training and teaching did not fall on deaf ears, but took root in my daughter's heart, pointing her to the way of life."
The Difference Children Make
The moment a baby is born there is the joy of being a new mother and a new father. Holding your own newborn baby in your arms for the first time is an unforgettable thrill. One husband would not pick his daughter up for anything, but he talked to her and poked her gently to see if she would smile. He wore a big grin when her tiny hand clamped around his finger.
Then there is the tiptoeing into the bedroom just to get a glimpse of the precious little bundle that lies asleep, his delicate face turned toward yours. You watch him grow.
Soon those little fingers that first clasped you so tightly and explored your face are snatching prized possessions and are into everything. The plump dimpled knees and wobbly legs suddenly become dirty and bruised from climbing trees and jumping rope. The gurgling sounds that used to say "Mommy" and "Daddy" are now asking for this and that.
One father admitted that his first child altered his whole outlook on life. "As I near home after a hard day's work and my boy comes running toward me with outstretched arms, saying, 'Daddy! Daddy!' well, he makes it all seem worth while." The father added: "Sometimes just to sit around the table and watch the children eat and discuss the happenings of the day is most enjoyable. It is a time when you can talk to them and inquire of their well-being and of their behavior. What a joy it is to know that your discipline has worked out well."
Another father stated: "What pleasure there is in picking children up and squeezing them with loving affection! There's also an inner contentment to know that they miss you, that they love you and desire to be with you. To see children tumbling, laughing happily and playing innocently, completely oblivious to the anxieties of the world is indeed a marvel in itself that I have come to appreciate."
True, the ways of little children can also give cause for anxiety at times. A mother stated that 'it seems you spend your whole life running after your children, picking up litter, repairing the damage and taking sharp objects away from them.' Even the boy Jesus gave his parents anxious moments. But what unspeakable joy was Mary's as she "carefully kept all [the boy's] sayings in her heart."
—Luke 2:41-52.
Learning from Children
American authoress Lydia H. Sigourney said: "We speak of educating our children. Do we know that our children also educate us?" This fact may come as a startling revelation to many adults. It was the man Jesus Christ who placed a high value on children, their simple directness and unfeigned sincerity. He said children have some traits that adults do well to imitate. On one occasion Jesus used a young child to teach his apostles a lesson in humility! "Truly I say to you, Unless you turn around and become as young children, you will by no means enter into the kingdom of the heavens."—Matt. 18: 1-6.
Children should learn self-control from their parents. But a father of three children learned the beauty of self-control from his son. One evening the three children were arguing among themselves. The father counseled them firmly that this was no way for Christians to behave. Not long after that the father and mother were involved in a heated dispute over some trivial matter. The nine-year-old boy interrupted the argument: "You tell us not to quarrel, but you and Mommy are quarreling." There were tears in the boy's eyes. "My son's words went right through me," confessed the father. "He was right. I was preaching something that I myself was not practicing. Now we are careful how we speak to one another, which has made our home a happier place—thanks to our children."
Thinking Young
Older persons owe much to children for keeping them thinking young. A married couple admitted as much, saying: "We find
that going with children keeps us physically and mentally active toward things of interest. The schools take the children to various parks, zoos and museums and other places of interest. If children are impressed, they urge us to go to these places as a family group, which, of course, makes life more stimulating in later years. And, too, as older persons we find ourselves playing ball, jumping rope, rolling on the ground with them, building castles in the sand on beaches, even dancing and singing, things we ordinarily just would not do, if children were not around to prod us."
When children play, they become intensely alive. By means of play they exercise their minds and bodies. Adults who play along with them find that some of that life rubs off—is exhilarating.
Also, when playing with children it is necessary to be the kind of person children like to have around, otherwise they may refuse to play. Children like one who is friendly, interested, jolly but not intrusive, and for that matter, so do adults. Thus playing with children becomes emotionally stimulating for adults.
Treasured Intimacies
Children have feelings about things. Knowing how to handle these feelings with tact and firmness can make the difference between a battlefield and a happy bond. A mother tells of her daughter's feeling sad because she received fewer gifts than her brother. The mother took the girl in her arms and assured her that she loved her just as much, but that is the way things worked out, that next time things may be the other way around. The child was satisfied with the explanation. She embraced her mother and off she went with a smile. All she needed was an assurance that there was no break in their loving relationship. The mother cherished her daughter's concern.
A father tells of the day it rained when the family was to go on a picnic. His son cried. The father took him aside and explained, "Daddy didn't make it rain, did he? In life Daddy doesn't always get his way either, but we have to learn to take things as they come." Just that quickly the boy was over his sadness. All he needed was an assurance of his father's care.
"When I was sick in bed," said a mother, "it thrilled me to see my eight-year-old Sharon come to me and ask if I needed anything. She made tea and brought it to the bedside. She washed the dishes and cared for the house. Her ladylike deportment made me beam with pride."
Unforgettable Moments
No doubt only Christian parents understand the secret thrill of the heart when a son or a daughter displays interest in God. "Why do you want to go with mother when we talk to others about the Bible?" a three-year-old girl was asked. "Because I want to serve Jehovah," she said. "Her reply may not seem like much to others, but it thrilled us. We could see that she had already developed some appreciation for God," said the mother.
And a Christian father said with delight: "One evening when I was about to say the bedtime prayer, my boy said, 'Daddy, you don't have to pray for me today. I'm going to pray to Jehovah myself.' You have no idea how wonderful that made me feel. My son wants to talk to Jehovah, I thought thrillingly to myself. You have no way of knowing whether you are getting through to children until they explode with something like that."
Discipline Helps to Maintain the Joy
Because of human imperfection, "foolishness is tied up with the heart" of a child, Proverbs 22:15 says. So there is the
other side of children. They learn quite promptly that emotional blackmail can be a profitable business. An infant knows whether he can manipulate his parents or not. If he can, he will. The key word with children is discipline. They need to know there is someone stronger and wiser in the family. When discipline is being administered, the situation is not joyous. But deep down inside children are pleased when parents are firm with them and have the good judgment and the strength to protect them against their folly and lack of experience.
However, children are constantly testing, to see how much they can get away with, and how far parents will let them go. They secretly hope that their parents will not let them go too far. The parent who tries to curry the favor of his child by giving him everything he asks for and letting him do as he pleases loses out. Someday when in trouble, the child will say, "Why did you let me do it? What kind of parents are you anyway?" The parents are blamed for not disciplining in righteousness. But where loving discipline is administered, the outcome is usually a happy one.—Heb. 12:11.
There is a saying, "You don't miss water until the well runs dry." How true that is with children. When they are gone, the house becomes quiet and there is less laughter. Little do children realize the warm attachment they have awakened in their parents. Even though parents expect their children to grow up and live lives of their own, they are never quite prepared to face the emptiness when children leave. The void is filled to some extent, however, when children return home now and then to seek advice or when they come to visit Mom and Dad. Children, for your parents' sake do not forget to do this, for they enjoy being with you.
ELEPHANTS and ivory! Mount Kilimanjaro! Jungle fever! Gold! Lions! "Dr. Livingstone, I presume."
These are but a few thoughts that perhaps crowd the mind when the African continent is discussed. But times have changed since Stanley trekked through the jungle in search of Livingstone.
By "Awake!" correspondent in Ivory Coast
Why not come and learn for yourself the situation in Africa. Come to a gleaming white city in West Africa, full of trees and flowers, to Abidjan, capital of Ivory Coast. It
sprawls invitingly across blue lagoons at the sea's edge. For best results you should be up at sunrise.
If you creep out from under the mosquito netting, leaving it billowing white above the bed, and go to the window, you will find the air still cool and light. The sun is a flaming ball in a haze of gold. A gentle breeze lifts the tree leaves and wafts in the fresh scent of woodsmoke as our neighbors prepare breakfast in their courtyard. We, too, will have breakfast—crusty French bread and black coffee. By all means coffee, for this is Ivory Coast's chief export. That and cocoa, pineapples and bananas combine to keep the country's economy going.
To the Market
Breakfast over, let us head for the market for our fresh fruits and vegetables. Since it is not far, and it is not yet too hot, we will walk. We pass the mosque with its onion-shaped domes and crowds of Moslems sitting around on the pavement with their wares heaped around them. Clad in their long white robes and little fez caps, they are reciting prayers together or reading to each other extracts from the Koran in Arabic. The population here is 23 percent Moslem, 13 percent nominal Christian and 61 percent animist.
Here is the market where buyers and salesmen come. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, we plunge inside where pungent odors prevail. We pass sandals, snake skins, bales of cloth, earthenware jugs, big
calabashes, toothbrushes and dried lizards. We finally reach the lemon table. After much wiggling of eyebrows and haggling over the cost, we obtain lemons at a bargain price. The woman even gives us two extra as a "cadeau" (gift). French is the official language, but there are more than 60 different native tongues—a veritable Babel.
Passing the section where they sell smoked bats and large, forest snails all alive—oh, we come to the fruit section. As we survey the colorful abundance of fresh fruits we cannot but think of Paradise and its abundance of fruit-bearing trees.
A warning note though. All these purchases we will have to steep first in a solution of bleach and then in water so as to destroy the parasites that lurk on skins and among leaves. These parasites, together with the diseases of yellow fever and malaria, used to be the cause of a high mortality rate. Today, however, straingent hygienic measures, daily or weekly malaria tablets and yellow fever vaccines have worked wonders.
But still we must carefully bleach each lettuce leaf!
Street Scenes
As we wend our way home we note many women back already and busily pounding foo-foo for the noon meal. This is made by crushing boiled plantain and manloc root with a wooden pestle and mortar until a smooth, porridgelike consistency is reached. The women wield that huge, clublike pestle in a very efficient manner. So perhaps it is good for husbands that they are still much respected here.
Another common scene is that of beggars in the square lined up in rows. They are little more than bundles of old rags on the pavement who waggle at passersby twisted limbs, malformed legs, extremities eaten away, and wail blessings at them. Most of them are not native Ivorians, but professionals from abroad who have come to share in the local prosperity.
There is poverty and disease here as in most large cities. Efforts are afoot to tackle these problems, but even the growing number of well-equipped hospitals is far
from adequate. Children frequently seen on the streets have bodies covered with sores or suffer from eye ailments. Of the country's population of about four million, almost two million are under fifteen.
Visit to the Banco
As we leave the house after dinner, heat rises oppressively from the pavement and sunshine shimmers off the white buildings blindingly. It is like this here almost continuously during the hot season.
In a friend's car we speed over the lagoon by the old bridge, over sparkling waters that reflect faithfully the vivid blue of the cloudless sky. We are on our way to the Banco, the town's local park, where roads have been cut deep into the forest so that people can venture in. No need to worry, for there are no lions. However, there are snakes. Out of the 3,000 kinds of snakes here, only about 600 are poisonous, and, of these, only a very few are fatal to man.
Here we are entering the forest, an equatorial rain forest. Once inside the forest, the change is dramatic. Suddenly no more glare of the sun, no more heat beating at you from all sides. All is cool and green and dim. Huge bamboo shoots spring
up on either side and interface above our heads. At a pool, where the stream has been dammed up for swimming, the tall mahogany trees crowd to the water's edge, reflected on its surface as green shadows. It is sort of scary to the uninitiated.
Superstitious people here were persuaded that there were forest gods who were vicious and cruel. The Baoulés, for example, one of the ethnic groups in Ivory Coast, did not believe that death was ever natural.
One who had died was without doubt poisoned by another, or was being punished by the gods, whose anger had been incurred. Not too long ago the Baoulés were afraid to look too long at the moon, for the demon drummer, Konan Djeti, who supposedly lives there, was feared to beat a death song for those too curious.
The Senoufo, one of the tribal groups from the north, believe that the bush is inhabited by little sprites, the "badegale,"
small grotesque genies, who haunt the villagers and are supposed to have their feet attached back to front. Such beliefs still have a strong hold on the ignorant. In
of drums as instrumental groups play on each corner and the music shops boom out the latest on the African hit parade. But down near the water's edge it is quiet and peaceful.
Solving Problems
To the visitor it might seem that Abidjan is halfway to paradise. There is life and color and beauty, but there is also sickness and poverty, illiteracy and other problems. Of course, Abidjan is not all of
Astrology--Can It Help You?
A Day Without the Police.
Look What's on Phonograph Records.
—In the next issue.
certain parts of Abidjan you will still find street-sellers whose wares are charms and amulets of every type for protection against the spirits.
Whether one is a botanist or an amateur "green thumb," this place has much to offer. Plants of all kinds invite your examination. High, high above are the tops of tall trees, laced with vines and lianas, often fringed with fungi of various types. And through the greenery above, the sun comes glimmering, from a little patch of blue, down to the dark undergrowth, tingeing all with gold and spearing the water with light. Rotting plants and fresh green foliage combine their odors. Near the forest floor are sea-green shadows, here and there relieved by the colors of insects and flowers illuminated by shafts of sunlight.
On our way home, the night air is filled with the delicious smells of fried plantain and yam as the people sit on the pavement next to their braziers and cook them on the spot. One can hear the rhythmic beat
the Ivory Coast. Nor is Ivory Coast all of Africa, but its problems and its beauties are typical. The nations of Africa all have problems. Although having an insufficiency of
trained workers, they are seeking to solve these problems.
The Ivory Coast has a stable government. However, in Africa, as in other parts of the world, stability is only relative. At the present this land has a vigorous economy and is blessed with a host of natural resources just waiting to be tapped. But man 'cannot live on bread alone,' that is, on the material fruits of the ground. No, he has need of spiritual things too, a knowledge of the words of Jehovah, the Most High God. (Matt. 4:4) Will Ivorians gain this surer sustenance?
The answer is to be found in the ministry of Jehovah's Christian witnesses in the Ivory Coast and adjacent lands. Conscientiously, they travel throughout the territory, in towns, villages and rural areas, bearing the message of God's kingdom—a kingdom under which all problems will be positively solved, under which lovers of righteousness will enjoy an abundance of peace as well as of the fruiture of the earth.
THE neighbors shook their heads in disbelief! They could not understand why the young witness of Jehovah who was graduating from high school had rejected a college scholarship. When they learned that he did this because he wanted to be a full-time preacher and teacher of the Bible, they whispered, "Oh, how foolish and impractical!" Yes, and this is the way many react when they hear of an adult Witness refusing an offer to get ahead in the business world or of one in a time-consuming position of importance relinquishing it in order to have time to pursue spiritual matters.
Why do Jehovah's witnesses put spirituality ahead of everything that this world has to offer? Because spirituality enables them to lead God-pleasing lives now and fortifies their hope of surviving God's destruction of this wicked system of things in the near future. They know that to
build their lives around this doomed old order would be like starting to paint the smoke stack of a sinking ship. Cultivating and treasuring one's spirituality is the most sensible and practical thing that one can do in the short time left. —Zeph. 2:2, 3.
Bethel Service
A Spiritual Treasure
An excellent example showing how deeply Jehovah's witnesses treasure their spirituality is the Brooklyn Bethel family. It is made up of over one thousand Witnesses who have volunteered to live and work at
the Watch Tower Society's headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. Each member of the Bethel family is provided a room, meals, a modest clothing allowance and $14 a month for personal expenses. The buildings in which they live are referred to as
"Bethel," which means "house of God." This is a fitting name, for the preaching work that Jehovah's witnesses in all the earth are doing, directing attention to Jehovah God and his Word the Bible, is directed from there. As might well be expected, the activity and life at Bethel are conducive to spirituality.
In taking up Bethel service the various members of this large family left behind many offers that the world would view as tempting in order to concentrate their efforts and talents on spiritual interests. For example, consider a young man who specialized in science when he was in high school. He was offered $10,000 worth of assistance to take up biochemistry in college. He had to decide what to do. He said: "I realized that there could be no middle ground. Either I would devote myself entirely to science or serve Jehovah God whole-souled."
Later he talked with some friends who spoke most enthusiastically about Bethel. What they discussed helped him to appreciate that this would be the place where he could give the most of himself in the service of God. He has spent eight happy years doing this very thing, and Jehovah God has richly blessed him for it.
A talented young lady who has a fine singing voice also serves at Bethel. Her father offered her a college education or to pay whatever it would take for her to succeed in music. Also, he told her that if she went into the full-time preaching work she was not to expect one cent from him. Her voice teacher said that she should use her "God-given talent or gift" of music. However, this Witness chose to go preaching full time, and she applied for Bethel service.
When she became a member of the Bethel family she was assigned to be a housekeeper. How did this work contribute to her spirituality? She knew that her making the beds and keeping clean the rooms that she was assigned would greatly contribute to the well-being of the ministers who lived in them. Her work let them go to their duties with no need to be concerned over these matters, and they could give their full attention to other work such as printing and binding Bible literature. Now she herself is helping to process subscriptions for the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. She said: "I feel that Bethel is the best place this side of Armageddon and that it does more for you than being in any other field of activity."
Another young man was offered the opportunity of going to college. His father offered to pay his tuition for six years and purchase all the textbooks he would need during that time. The young man could study whatever subject he wished, and
his father promised him that he would not even need to work part time to defray the expenses. When his father made this offer, the young man was spending his vacation in the full-time preaching work as one of Jehovah's witnesses. After one week of deliberation, he decided that, instead of going to college, he would work toward becoming a regular full-time preacher, with the goal of eventually going to Bethel.
Today this young minister is at Bethel enjoying the privilege of embossing the titles on the covers of the various Bible-study aids published by the Watch Tower Society. Here are his thoughts: "I am glad that I made the decisions I made because I am happier here; I have peace of mind; I enjoy good associations and my spirituality has increased tremendously."
One member of the Bethel family says that she had it in her heart to come to Bethel since she was twelve years old. In fact, she spent part of her summer vacation each year in the full-time preaching work since she was seven years old. Even though she was among the top ten of her graduating class and was offered a college scholarship, she pursued full-time preaching and today is happily serving where she had set her heart.
Leaving Behind the Things of the World
There are members of the Bethel family who once held responsible positions in the world. One such was a diesel engineer who worked with a large commercial salmon ship that brought in 200 tons a day. When he held this position he was receiving a very fine salary. Let him tell his story:
"At that time I was not baptized nor too interested in the Bible's truth that mother had tried to instill in me when I was younger. However, I attended an assembly and heard the Watch Tower Society's president, J. F. Rutherford, lecture on full-time service. I decided right then and there that this is what I ought to be doing, and I was baptized at this assembly.
When someone jokingly invited me to join him in the full-time preaching work, I answered, Yes. So I quit my job and went preaching.
"After two months, I visited a friend who spoke about Bethel service. We talked together from 9:30 p.m. to 4:00 the next morning. He mentioned the machinery at the factory there, and I thought to myself that I would rather run machinery for Jehovah than on the outside. Before I went to bed that morning, I mailed my letter applying for Bethel service. Four months later I was called in." After thirty years of Bethel service, he said: "Bethel grows more valuable every year. It is a treasure that increases." Today he is serving as the factory manager.
Another worker at Bethel is serving as the overseer of the purchasing department in the printing plant. Once he held a responsible position as metallurgical engineer in a steel corporation. After he found the truth of God's Word, he and his wife had in mind full-time service as a couple. Does he regret coming to Bethel and leaving behind what the world had to offer him? He answers:
"Bethel is the zenith of service privileges for anybody. My wife and I want to remain here and we can think of no better place to be when we finish our earthly course." Their remaining in full-time service together for over twenty-six years demonstrates their appreciation.
Other Bethel family members have given up fine businesses they once had set up. Some have left behind fine homes to come to Bethel. They know that all that this world has to offer is just temporary, because it is "passing away." They are well aware of the fact that valuable things will be of no benefit on God's day of fury at Armageddon. Since righteousness "will
deliver from death," they wisely seek to cultivate it. (1 John 2:15-17; Prov. 11:4) For them, Bethel service is the ideal way to do this.
Ambition Replaced by Spirituality
Among those in the Bethel family are ones who once had ambitions to advance in some field. However, upon learning God's purposes, they set aside these ambitions to do his will. For example, a young Chinese Witness works in an office at Bethel. Once he was studying to become a medical doctor and was going to school for that. In his second year of study he learned the Bible's message of truth and began to study it. Ten months later he was baptized. He gave up his ambition to be a doctor and six months after his baptism he went into the full-time preaching work. He declares that he does not feel he could serve Jehovah in any other capacity as fully as he is now serving at Bethel.
Also there are two young men in the Bethel family who once had the burning ambition to become concert pianists. They spent many hours practicing their instrument so as to perfect their art, yet when they learned the message of truth contained in the Bible, they set aside that ambition. They gave up working for the opportunities of playing with symphony orchestras and traveling to various cities to give recitals in order to make a name for themselves. Now, instead of seeking fame in this system of things, they humbly work to magnify God's name, Jehovah. They rejoice in the privileges of work assigned to them at Bethel.
Yes, there are within the ranks of this unique family of dedicated ministers individuals who either were or aspired to become artists, chemists, scientists, military officers, models, beauticians, and so forth. They could have gone far in their chosen fields, but here they are at Bethel devoting all their time and talents to Jehovah and serving in his organization.
How glad Jehovah's heart must be to see such unselfish devotion to his cause!
By treasuring their spirituality and by channeling their talents to serve Jehovah, these folks aspire to gain everlasting life in his approaching new order. There they will have the supreme joy of using whatever gifts they may have to the glory of God and to the delight of their fellow servants. Truly a most worthy ambition!
Life at Bethel Builds Spirituality
Bethel affords its members the best possible opportunities to make full use of their time in Jehovah's work. This is seen in the number of hours that they work at their assigned duties. The regular Bethel workweek is forty-six hours and fifty minutes. This totals over 187 hours a month. It does not include the many other hours they spend in the preaching work.
Members of the Bethel family lovingly use their free time to travel to homes and study the Bible with families, widows, teen-agers, orphans, older folks, yes, anyone who is interested in pleasing God. They find that teaching God's Word to others is a satisfying and joyful work. The change of pace is beneficial. In what better way could they safeguard the spirituality that they treasure so highly?
The program at Bethel is also designed to keep the members thereof in the best spiritual health. Each morning the family spends about twenty minutes considering a text from the Bible. How upbuilding this is! In addition, the family assembles Monday evenings for an hour Bible study using the Watchtower magazine, followed by
the Theocratic Ministry School, which is a course in public speaking and Bible research. This daily and weekly program supplies the Bethel family with the needed dynamic spiritual energy. Each year they spend over 200 hours in study together. This equals over fifty four-hour study sessions! This does not include the time they may spend in private study or at meetings with the local congregation.
Right from the time that one enters Bethel attention is given to his spirituality. He is enrolled in the Primary School, which is a six-month course during which the student is required to read through the entire Bible. Various portions are studied in detail. In addition, they listen to timely Bible lectures. Truly, this intensive course starts the new Bethel family member off on the right foot for life in this "house of God."
It would take many more pages to tell of all the benefits of living at Bethel. The members of this happy family have left the things of the world behind and are seeking first the kingdom of God. There is so much that one receives from life at Bethel, things that cannot be measured in dollars and cents, if he first of all is willing to give of himself wholeheartedly in Jehovah's service. The inner joy and peace that are his are worth far more than all the gold in the world. What unbounded happiness comes from the satisfaction of serving God and fulfilling the purpose for our being on earth!
Spirituality is the real treasure that brings happiness today and leads to eternal life. How very wise to safeguard and treasure it now, no matter what the cost may be!
Deepest Part of the Ocean
The Mariana Trench, some 200 miles southwest of Guam, contains the deepest known point of all the oceans. The ocean floor there is 36,198 feet below the surface.
FACED with the rising food prices at your neighborhood market, have you ever wished you could grow in your own backyard the fresh fruits and vegetables your family needs? Or, have you thrilled at the sight of a beautiful array of colorful flowers, luxuriant grass and artistic shrubs, and wished you could grow these in your own garden?
Such experiences have discouraged many a would-be gardener. He simply resigns himself to the idea that he just does not have the proverbial "green thumb." But even if you are one of those who are enjoying moderate success at gardening, perhaps you feel that you could still do much better. Perhaps you feel that you are at a standstill. Your efforts year after year have brought little improvement.
Perhaps you have tried something along this line, and, filled with high hopes, have gone to work digging, planting, hoeing and watering with a will. And then—disappointment! The few plants that did come up were scrawny and straggly.
One solution to such problems is simple, inexpensive, close to hand. The secret lies in utilizing many things that you are now throwing away as useless—garbage from your kitchen, grass cuttings from your lawn, hedge trimmings, weeds, leaves. All of these are garden assets that can bring rich returns, both in dollars as well as in beauty. Properly composted, these materials can be converted into rich fertilizer that can put into your soil all the elements that your plants need to make them healthy, productive and beautiful.
So, as long as one has a small plot of land available, it is worth while to stop when it comes time to dispose of garbage and ask, Would any of this material be useful as fertilizer? Most of your garbage can become fertilizer through the process known as "composting."
Composting
This refers to a variety of methods by which vegetable matter is decomposed and reduced to a dark, rich humus.
The logic of the process is obvious. You are simply returning to the soil what has been taken out of it. You are imitating the natural arrangement of things, whereby bacteria and fungi begin to break down and decompose all dead matter, eventually returning it to the soil. This continuous cycle is what makes it possible for land to go on producing year after year without losing fertility.
But would it not be far easier to go to the store and buy a bag of chemical fertilizer? Yes, it would be, but that procedure lacks certain definite advantages. Would you not like to save the cost of the store-bought fertilizer? Then, too, with natural organic fertilizer you never need to worry about applying too much and "burning" your plants. Besides, you have to keep adding chemical fertilizer each year, whereas organic fertilizer will build up the quality of your soil. And many persons are convinced that flavor and food value are improved by using natural fertilizer.
Composting is neither difficult nor complicated. There are such a number of methods that it is altogether likely one of them suit your particular need. For example, there is the method of making compost in plastic bags. Out of heavy plastic simply cut and sew four bags, each slightly larger than a pillowcase. Begin filling one of them with damp garbage (large pieces of rind should be chopped up), grass clippings, old flower arrangements, some loose soil, and, if available, a little manure. Then tie the bag tightly with a cord and leave it to decompose, preferably in the sun. Every day or so the bag should be rolled over. Then, repeat with the next bag. By the time the fourth bag is full, the contents of the first should be ready for use.
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