Awake!, October 22, 1970

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Awake! — October 22, 1970

Source: jw.org

Contents

A Look at the Abortion Problem

Giant Squid, Awesome Creature of the Sea

Circumpolar Current

Taste Treats in the Philippines

Turning Point in a Priestly Career

‘Blessed’ Weapons

The Clock of the Bees

Assemblies Spread Good News in Germany

Our Muscles—Mystery of Creation

Digging for Your Dinner

A Source of Energy

“You Must Not Murder”

Watching the World

The Other Side of the Evolution Theory

To Help You With Your Problems

A Look at the Abortion Problem

A Look at the Abortion Problem

EACH year over thirty million abortions are performed throughout the world. That is about one abortion for every second of each day all year long.

The majority of these abortions are classified as illegal. However, in recent years many countries have passed more permissive abortion laws. In some places there are very few restrictions, meaning that the legal policy is ‘abortion on demand.’ Some authorities predict that most countries will eventually adopt this attitude.

Performing Abortions

What, precisely, is an abortion? An induced abortion (as apart from an accidental miscarriage) is the deliberate removal of a growing embryo or fetus from the mother before it is capable of living outside the womb. An embryo is the development stage during the first two months of pregnancy; it is called a fetus after that.

Most countries still have strict abortion laws, considering it legal for very few reasons, such as when the life of the mother is endangered by continued pregnancy. Abortions for reasons not approved by the law of the land are considered illegal. They may not be performed in approved hospitals. So they are often performed by persons who are not well qualified, under substandard conditions.

How is a “legal” induced abortion performed now? In early pregnancy, it is usually done in one of two ways. One method is referred to as “D and C”​—dilatation and curettage. In this operation the opening of the womb is enlarged with small surgical instruments called dilators until there is an opening large enough to permit entry of an instrument called a curette. With the curette the surgeon scrapes the wall of the womb to dislodge the embryo.

Another method coming into wider use was invented in the Soviet Union. This employs a small suction tube that works much like a vacuum cleaner. It pulls the embryo away from the wall of the womb.

After the third month of pregnancy, an abortion is more difficult, and dangerous. It may require an operation like a cesarean delivery, cutting through the wall of the womb to remove the fetus. Or a saline solution may be injected through the abdomen to kill the fetus and induce labor, which begins in twelve to thirty-six hours. The fetus is then expelled by muscular contractions.

Such operations require trained surgeons, facilities and medication that only well-equipped hospitals can provide. Yet, most abortions are not performed under such conditions, since most are classed as illegal. Some of the methods used in illegal abortions by midwives and amateur abortionists are revolting. They often result in mutilation and death. The book Birth Control states:

“Many of them are sickeningly painful, even gruesome, and most of them are designed simply to introduce infections into the womb, which may kill the embryo​—and the woman as well.”

Epidemic Proportions

The number of abortions in the world has reached epidemic proportions. In some countries there are as many abortions as live births. In others, they actually outnumber live births!

Abortion is “legal” in Japan, Russia and most Eastern European countries. Dr. Leslie Corsa, Jr., of Michigan’s Center for Population Planning stated of those lands: “On reasonably good evidence it appears that the frequency of induced abortions now approaches the frequency of live births.” In Hungary, abortions outnumber births. Note the available figures:

Year Live Births “Legal” Abortions

1960 146,500 162,200

1961 140,400 170,000

1962 130,100 163,700

1963 132,300 173,800

1964 132,100 184,400

1965 133,000 180,300

Latin American countries have strict abortion laws. So does the Roman Catholic Church. Most Latin Americans are Catholics. Yet, of this area U.S. News & World Report says:

“Abortion [illegal] is the most common form of birth control, especially in the big cities . . .

“The Brazilian Family welfare society estimates that 4,000 abortions a day​—about 1.5 million annually—​are performed in Brazil. This works out to one abortion for three live births.

“The ratio is reversed in neighboring Uruguay, where there are three abortions for each live birth. Other South American countries fall in between.”

Abortion is illegal in France, where most persons are Catholic. Yet, it is admitted that there are as many abortions as live births​—about one million a year. Illegal abortion is also widespread in Italy, and in Spain and Portugal authorities call it “the chief method of population control.”

Belgium has about 200,000 live births each year. Physicians there estimate about 100,000 illegal abortions; police officials put the figure at 400,000. West Germany has one million live births a year, and an estimated one to three million illegal abortions.

In the United States illegal abortions number about 1,000,000, compared to somewhat less than 4,000,000 live births. So about 20 percent of all pregnancies end in abortions. Within the past few years, several states have passed new laws making it easier to get a “legal” abortion. New York state’s new law permits an abortion for any reason up to the twenty-fourth week of pregnancy, with no residency requirement.

While not all lands have passed freer abortion laws, the trend is unmistakable. It is toward legalizing ‘abortion on demand.’

Why Abortions?

Why do so many women have abortions? What kind of women are having them?

It is often thought that the great majority having abortions must be unmarried women. However, that is not the case. In nearly every country the majority seeking them are married women. In Denmark, 76 percent are married women; in Chile, 85 percent. In the United States, some say 60 percent or more.

Why so many married women? It is resorted to primarily as a birth-control measure. A married woman seeking an abortion usually has as many children as she wants, often more. She seeks to get rid of an unwanted child. The more secular education a person has had, the greater the tendency to want an abortion.

In the United States there is a rising number of unmarried women seeking abortions. Some say it now equals the number of those who are married. Why has this come about? Dr. John W. Grover of Massachusetts General Hospital says: “Young women are falling in with the sexual revolution and experiment with sex irresponsibility.” Dr. Frank J. Ayd of Baltimore says the increased promiscuity of the young has resulted in an “escalation in illegitimate pregnancies, illegal abortions, and venereal disease.”

Many Catholic women have abortions. Yet, it is contrary to their own church law. In reporting on the National Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion in the United States, Newsweek of April 13, 1970, said:

“Fully a quarter or more of the women seeking help are Catholic, and there are at least two priests in the ranks of the clergymen’s service. When counseling Catholic women, Protestant clergymen ask them to consider carefully the church laws they are planning to break. ‘I was amazed,’ says Parsons [the clergyman who founded the service], ‘at the number of persons who said they used the rhythm method because they wanted to be good Catholics but were willing to violate the teachings when they got pregnant.’”

What Effect?

What effect does an abortion have on a woman? Physically, the threat of mutilation, sterility and death is always present.

In the United States there is said to be one death every hour from a bungled abortion. Nationwide, an estimated 45 percent of maternal deaths are due to illegal abortions. In Jamaica it is the leading cause of all deaths in maternity hospitals. In Colombia abortions are the number one cause of death among all women of childbearing age.

In addition to physical effects, there are mental effects. The publication Birth Control says: “There seems to be no question that for many women abortion is a traumatic experience. Regardless of religious background or beliefs, there is something repugnant about the thought of ending, if not a life, at least the promise of life.”

Swiss doctors report that over 50 percent of women having abortions had unfavorable psychological reactions. And Newsweek noted the comment of one woman, typical of many, who said: “Believe me, there is not a man who will ever know the agony and the pain a woman feels when she flushes a fetus down the toilet.” Women have committed suicide because of the feeling of guilt after having an abortion.

Nor are nurses and doctors immune to mental effects. In England, where abortions are easier under a new law, the Daily Mirror of March 9, 1970, noted: “Tory M. P. Norman St. John-Stevas said . . . that nurses all over the country were being more and more revolted by abortion duties. There were cases of babies being heard to cry just before being put into the incinerators.” And the New York Times of May 30, 1970, reported:

“Perhaps the greatest obstacle that abortion patients are likely to encounter is the reluctance of many obstetricians to perform abortions of any sort, let alone abortions on request.

“‘You have to realize,’ said one leading obstetrician . . . ‘that obstetricians by training and practice are geared to bringing new life into the world, not destroying it. For many of us, religious objections notwithstanding, abortions simply go against our grain.’

“The experience that other states have had with liberalized abortion laws indicates that only a minority of qualified physicians are willing to participate.”

Destroying Life?

Is an induced abortion the destroying of life? That is what the doctor quoted above called it.

The magazine Ob. Gyn. News, serving obstetricians and gynecologists, published, on May 15, 1970, the remarks of Dr. Frank J. Ayd of Baltimore regarding unwed mothers. He said:

“If the trend continues and if abortion on demand is permitted and accepted by this group alone [unwed mothers], the medical profession may kill more Americans in utero than all our wars have killed. The curet will be mightier than the sword.”

Thus, many doctors regard an abortion as the killing of life.

Others may insist that it is not really taking life. Yet, from the moment of conception, what will happen to the fertilized cell in the mother’s womb if its growth is not interfered with? It will become a baby and eventually an adult human. That is why Dr. Michael J. Halberstam of Washington, D.C., said of the fetus:

“Its future is unlimited. This fits so well with what we know of molecular biology​—the fact that the fetus received its entire genetic potential of RNA and DNA at conception. . . . There is no doubt that the fetus is ‘alive,’ though in a special way. . . . As a physician I know that it lives and as a human being I am in awe of it.”

Would it be killing to put a baby to death one month after it was born? Would it be killing if the baby was one day old? One minute old? Any person who took the life of these babies could be charged with murder.

But what real difference is there between a baby one minute old and one that is only a minute away from birth? Even if it is one day, or week, or month or more away from birth, it can still be born as a human.

We cannot escape the fact that from the moment of conception, a new human life has begun. No amount of so-called ‘sophisticated’ argument can diminish the truth that it would normally become an adult if permitted to do so.

Further, when a person agrees to an abortion, he or she is saying that one person has more of a right to life than another. But that is what Hitler said, and so murdered 6,000,000 Jews and millions of others. Society condemned him as a mad murderer. Yet, more than 30,000,000 lives are taken each year through abortions!

How Jehovah’s Witnesses View the Matter

Jehovah’s witnesses, as Christians, appreciate that the most important viewpoint is that of the Creator of life. So they are guided by God’s Word on this matter.

When we turn to God’s Word, the Bible, we find that reproduction was one of the main purposes of marriage, though not the only one. But Christians today are not under a divine command to “be fruitful and become many.” Some may even choose to remain unmarried, as Jesus said, “on account of the kingdom of the heavens.”​—Gen. 1:28; Matt. 19:10-12.

Hence, married Christians today may choose to limit their families or have no children at all. They may do this to have greater freedom to serve God, or for reasons related to health or their economic situation. Since the Bible does not directly discuss birth control, each couple has the right to reach their own conclusions about it.​—Gal. 6:5.

However, the Bible does show that life is precious to God. And the practice of induced abortion does not in any way show godly respect for life. According to God’s law given through Moses, the human embryo or lotus was considered a life. (Ex. 21:22, 23) The Bible book of First John, chapter 3 verse 15, says: “You know that no manslayer has everlasting life remaining in him.” Revelation 22:15 declares: “Outside are . . . those who practice spiritism and the fornicators and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone liking and carrying on a lie.”

If a mother’s life is definitely endangered at childbirth, then a choice must be made between the life of the mother and that of the child. Here it is the responsibility of those involved to make the choice. Many, in view of the mother’s importance to the family, choose to have her life saved. However, such occurrences are rare in most nations today because of advanced medical procedures.

Benefiting from God’s Laws

Jehovah’s witnesses see that the way to limit families is not by having abortions, but by exercising care and self-control so as not to increase the size of their families.

Even if they should have an unplanned child, they still work to give it all the love they can. They know that God will help them because they have respected his laws. Psalm 37:25 says: “I have not seen anyone righteous left entirely, nor his offspring looking for bread.” Jesus said much the same in his famous Sermon on the Mount, showing that those who obey God’s laws benefit from His help in caring for their responsibilities.​—Matt. 6:25-33.

Too, single girls who are Christian witnesses of Jehovah benefit from God’s laws in that there is no growing abortion problem among them. Why not? Because unmarried men and women who live by the Bible’s Christian principles and laws do not practice fornication. They do not go along with the immoral trend of today’s youth. They respect the fact that marriage is the place for sexual relations. They safeguard their virginity until then. Thus by keeping God’s laws they benefit in not being troubled by unwanted pregnancies.

Living up to Bible laws and principles indeed solves the problem of abortion. Jehovah’s witnesses in over 200 lands find this true. But if other people choose to go against God’s laws regarding sexual morality and killing, that is their responsibility. They must answer to God for their actions.

Why are Jehovah’s witnesses so concerned about doing God’s will? Because God is the Creator; furthermore, they love him and respect his law. Also, we are living in the “last days” of the present wicked system of things.​—1 John 2:17.

All the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy shows we are very near the time when God will execute his judgments against this corrupt system of things. Only those who respect God’s laws and serve him will live in his new order of peace and security, with the prospect of eternal life. At that time God’s laws will be respected by all who are living. Then, no more will there be the problem of abortions.

[Picture on page 5]

For many women abortion results in unfavorable mental reactions

Giant Squid, Awesome Creature of the Sea

Giant Squid, Awesome Creature of the Sea

THREE Newfoundlanders​—Daniel, Theophilus, along with twelve-year-old Tom—​were fishing in their little dory when they noticed an unusual object floating nearby. Out of curiosity they hit it with a boat hook. What a shock they received! Suddenly the waters foamed and a giant squid appeared, attacking them with its flailing tentacles, finally wrapping these around their boat and threatening to capsize it.

Quickly young Tom grabbed the hatchet they were using to cut bait and chopped off a tentacle of the monster. To their great relief, it then gave up the fight and slid back into the ocean.

But if it were not for the portion of the tentacle that lay in the bottom of the boat, it is doubtful that the other fishermen at Conception Bay would have believed their terrifying account. The tentacle portion measured nineteen feet long and three and a half inches around.

For centuries people had heard of legendary sea monsters of all descriptions. It may well be that some of these hair-raising accounts were occasioned by sightings of what scientists now refer to as the greatest living cephalopod, the giant squid. Imagine sighting a sea creature about sixty feet long, having eight powerful arms and two longer tentacles attached to a bullet-shaped body. Its eyes are the size of plates. Its parrotlike beak of a mouth is strong enough to cut heavy wire. It is the largest creature on earth without a backbone.

Modern Discovery

Although one can find smaller squids in every ocean, there being over 300 different kinds, the giant species lives at depths of 1,500 to 3,000 feet. No wonder it is seldom seen by man! Although old records tell of sailors’ sighting and even capturing these marine giants, such incidents were usually discounted by scientists until about a century ago. The skepticism was caused to some extent by fanciful stories.

Scientists got their first good look at Archy the Squid, as we might call it, in the 1870’s. For some unknown reason, possibly due to oceanic changes, many surfaced off the coast of Canada. They were sighted and some were captured. Then in November 1873, just a month after the three Newfoundland fishermen were almost drowned by one, a giant squid was caught and carefully examined. It turned out to be a thirty-two-foot specimen.

Giant Arms with Swivel Suckers

Because of its long, snakelike arms, many think that the giant squid is some kind of octopus. But not so. There are many differences. The octopus has a round, baggy body with eight tentacles. The largest may weigh fifty pounds and have an arm spread of about ten feet.

Now picture the giant squid. It is ten times the size of the largest octopus. Its cylindrical body is about fifteen feet long, with, not just eight, but ten of the most awesome arms imaginable. Eight of these arms can reach out as much as twelve feet. In addition it has two tentacles with sucker-studded tips that can stretch out forty to fifty feet!

The arms also have rows of sucker disks raised on short, flexible stalks that allow the suckers to swivel in any direction. And, depending on the species, these suckers may have sharp teeth around their rims or claws that can be sheathed or extended at will. Just fine for catching and holding on to a potential meal with slippery skin!

Jet-powered Speedster

While the octopus crawls along the ocean floor and lives in crevices, Archy the Squid will be found swimming about in the open sea. Using two fins along the sides of his body, he can cruise in leisurely fashion. But when he wants to go places in a hurry, he goes by jet! In some species this jet thrust is sufficient to hurl him out of the water and a hundred feet through the air. How is this possible?

The mantle holds the secret. The mantle is composed of thick skin and muscles that not only protect the vital organs of the squid but also give it its propulsion with jet power. When the muscles in the mantle relax, water enters through a loose edge around the neck and fills up large cavities inside. Then as the mantle contracts, the opening is sealed and the water is forced out under high pressure through a funnellike passage underneath the head. By changing the direction of this “nozzle,” the squid can get instant reverse thrust, moving forward or backward without turning.

If frightened, the unusually large nerves of the squid trigger a spontaneous generation of power that propels it at top speed in moments. These nerve fibers, which are one hundred times the size of man’s, are so sensitive that when the squid is threatened, a nerve impulse flashes to all parts of the mantle simultaneously. Reacting with tremendous force, the muscles contract to create a powerful jetlike thrust.

Other Unusual Equipment

The squid is literally a blue blood of the marine world. Its blood has a bluish color because of a copper compound in it. When it has been depleted of oxygen, it is cycled through the gills by two hearts, pumping it into one gill each. Then a systemic heart serves to pump the fresh blood through the tissues. So, the squid actually has three hearts! The organs of this living jet engine give wonderful testimony to the handiwork of its Creator.

Archy and his mate are each equipped with an ink sac. This releases large amounts of black fluid for camouflage, shooting out a blob approximately squid-size to confuse pursuers. An underwater “smoke screen”!

Also helping the squid to elude attackers are small color cells that give it the ability to change colors. These cells are so efficient that they can closely match the color of their background, even causing a wave of color to flow across the body of the squid as it swims from one background to another.

Giant, indeed, are the eyes of this amazing sea monster. They may grow to fifteen inches in diameter, which is as large as some beach balls. Mr. Squid’s eyes are surprisingly similar to the human eye. Both have eyelids, transparent corneas, outer and inner chambers, retinas, lenses, rod cells yielding black and white images and cone cells for registering color impressions. The structural resemblance is so striking that Dr. N. J. Berrill, a noted biologist, commented: “I think if you asked any zoologist to select the single most startling feature in the whole animal kingdom, the chances are he would say, not the human eye, which by any account is an organ amazing beyond belief, nor the squid-octopus eye, but the fact that these two eyes, man’s and squid’s, are alike in almost every detail.” The 100,000 receptors per square millimeter in the eye of the squid make it possible to see even fine detail.

A Question of Size

Many wonder how large these giant squids really grow. The largest one examined was found in Lyall Bay, New Zealand, and measured fifty-seven feet long. But only twelve different species of these giants have been classified, and it is possible that other larger ones may exist. In fact, some evidence suggests this.

For example, sperm whales live almost exclusively on squids, from the smaller species to the giants. Many of these huge whales weighing fifty tons have deep cuts from encounters with the giant squid. Often their skin is pocked with circular scars measuring from two and a half to four inches across. These were apparently inflicted by the suckers on the squid’s tentacles during wild undersea battles, as these scars are approximately the size of the sucker disks on a fifty-foot squid.

But if sucker size is proportionate to the size of the squid, then the oceans may contain some truly enormous giants. Why? Because some of these scars measure eighteen inches in diameter! By comparison, a squid with eighteen-inch suckers would be about two hundred feet long. The existence of such gigantic squids has never been confirmed, and it is true that these large scars may have been the result of the suckers stretching the supple skin of the whale. However, a travel writer of the nineteenth century claimed to have seen a squid tentacle that was as thick as a man’s body and with suckers the size of a saucer.

No doubt, in time much more will be learned about the giant squid and the mysteries that surround this dynamic and awesome creature of the sea.

[Picture on page 9]

The giant squid is equipped with ten of the most awesome arms and tentacles imaginable

Circumpolar Current

Circumpolar Current

One of the major ocean currents of the world is that which encircles the Antarctic Continent called the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. It has a breadth ranging from several hundred to 1,000 kilometers and is being compared in volume flow to the Gulf Stream and the Kuroshio Current. Studies disclose that the current transports an estimated 270,000,000 cubic meters of water per second, twice the previously estimated amount and nearly three times that of the Gulf Stream.

Taste Treats in the Philippines

Taste Treats in the Philippines

By “Awake!” correspondent in the Philippines

MANILA, a city international in composition and taste, is a place where you can get about any kind of foreign dish you can imagine. The population here is a composite of many races, a product of diverse cultures. To the Indonesian-Malay stock has been added a generous helping of Chinese, Spanish and American strains, as well as of other races. As a result, we are Orientals having American nicknames, Spanish family names, and speaking Tagalog, English and some Spanish, not to mention the more than eighty local dialects.

With this blend of background and culture, it is only to be expected that eating tastes would be varied. From the Chinese, for example, we have escabeche or sweet-and-sour fish; from the Spanish, beef mechado or sautéed beef; our milagang manok or boiled chicken is reminiscent of French pot-au-feu; and we just relish hot dogs and hamburgers.

Though many of these foreign dishes have been comfortably naturalized, the simple, native dishes still retain their attraction. One of these, adobo, almost ranks as our national dish. What is it? It is a combination of chicken and pork slices highly spiced with peppercorns and cloves of garlic crushed slightly to bring out the bouquet. Native vinegar is also added. When first introduced to this dish, you may feel that the pungent smell is too much of a barrier. But it just could surprise your taste buds.

From the north of the country comes papait or pinapaitan. It really tastes better than it might sound to the uninitiated when he reads our recipe: Take a goat, feed it lots of tamarind leaves to cleanse its stomach, slaughter it and then singe it over a hot fire until the surface turns black. Scrape and clean the skin. Chop skin into pieces together with lean parts of the meat, squeeze the bile, season with spices and serve with basi, a fiery native liquor made from fermented sugarcane juice.

Down south you will find that kinilaw has an honored place on the table. It is raw fish chopped into the desired cube size and washed in vinegar two or three times. Onion, ginger, native pepper pods and shredded garlic are then added. Lemon juice and vinegar are poured into the mixture. Coconut milk may be added, too, as well as salt.

A symbol of Philippine hospitality is the lechon or whole roasted suckling pig. Whatever the reason for a community meal, the party is not considered complete without the whole roast pig gracing the center of the festive board on its green banana leaves.

For ingenuity and resourcefulness, the housewife from Central Luzon is noteworthy. She can prepare dishes to gladden a man’s heart while still fitting his budget. There is, for example, the lowly camote or sweet potato. The roots are used in the same manner as the potato. The leaves, too, are used as a vegetable or made into salad. They are often cooked with fish or other meat. Then, with sliced tomatoes, onions, boiled eggs and vinegar the camote is transformed into a delicious meal.

The banana is another favorite. When ripe it makes excellent dessert. Otherwise, it may be hard-boiled, fried, barbecued, sweetened or cooked with coconut milk.

As to methods of cooking, we have a great variety. Many claim that the dishes cooked in earthen pots taste better. In Iloilo, they go a step farther. To cook chicken binakol, a green bamboo tube is used. After all the ingredients are stuffed inside, the open end is sealed with lemon grass, and these containers are placed over live coals diagonally, with the stuffed end up, to prevent the stock from running out.

Where there is an abundance of dry hay, as in Bulacan, the cook will impale chicken pieces on pointed bamboo stakes, much as though to make barbecued kabobs. But instead, she sticks the blunt ends into the ground and then covers them with a pail or a large can. Dry hay is then piled on top and all around the pail and set alight. In ten minutes it is cooked brown.

It is an interesting experience to get acquainted with the foods of other peoples, and it is even more delightful to get to know the people themselves. Are there people of other nationalities in your community? Why not put forth the effort to meet them.

Turning Point in a Priestly Career

Turning Point in a Priestly Career

As told to “Awake!” correspondent in Venezuela

AFTER spending two years in the Legion of Mary and seven years in a seminary preparing for the priesthood, I was faced with a vital decision. Would I continue the remaining three years to become a full-fledged Roman Catholic priest, or would I give it all up? Circumstances had developed to the point where I must make a clear decision. What would it be?

It was not that I had lost my love for God. I was still very keenly interested in religious questions. It was not that I was a failure at my studies. Rather, I had made excellent progress. With others in the upper classes of the seminary I would have my turn reading Mass and directing music.

When home on vacations I was chosen at times to substitute for the subdeacon in our local parish. This involved reading a portion of one of the Epistles, passing the bread and wine from the table to the hands of the deacon, and changing the missal, or book of order of prayers at Mass for every day of the year. My acquaintances were proud to see a young man from their midst stepping up to the altar and serving as subdeacon. On one occasion when I thus served it happened to be the inauguration of a small chapel that had just been built. I was really progressing toward my goal of becoming a priest.

Early Interest in Religion

I had always been religiously inclined, as I recall. My family was nominally of the Roman Catholic religion, but were not very religious. Nevertheless, I would go daily to church, where I had the privilege of studying catechism with a group of youngsters. As time went on I decided to enroll in the Legion of Mary, an organization that functions within the church. With this organization I worked at giving lessons to other young people on the Virgin Mary, the purpose being to spread the worship of Mary.

Two years thus passed, during which time I became thoroughly familiar with the doctrines of the Legion. Then the local priest approached me about entering a seminary. “Would you not like to become a priest?” he would ask. “Have you thought of entering a seminary? Wouldn’t you like to become a follower of Christ?”

Of course I liked the idea of one day being a priest, but I could not give him an immediate answer. There were matters to be considered. For example, there was the fee of $550 a year for room and board, as well as books for the first year that would mean an additional expenditure of some $155. Where was the money to come from? Besides, my parents were not at all in favor of my entering the priesthood.

The priest was insistent. He offered help in the form of a scholarship, so that the greater part of the expense would be paid for me. Also parental opposition was handled by a Scripture text often quoted by the priests: “There is no man who hath left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who shall not receive an hundred times as much, now in this time.” (Mark 10:29, 30, Catholic Douay Version) After considering the matter for a year, I determined to accept, and arrangements were made for me to enter the seminary.

Seminary Education

It seemed that now my fondest hopes would be realized. Was it not to be expected that seminary life would bring me closer to God, answer all my eager questions about life and the future? But with the passage of time came disillusionment. I was not getting what I had hoped for. Besides, some of the boys had intolerable habits, practices that were a source of concern to me.

Each day followed a pattern. On arising at 6 a.m., the first thing we did was to make the sign of the cross, repeat the “Holy Mary,” and then off to Mass. Meditation period would follow, this including usually consideration of Vatican Council II. We would then review our classroom studies. After breakfast an hour and a half would be employed cleaning the hall and watering the plants. Meals were taken in silence, since we had to listen to selected readings.

But the daily five hours of classroom study proved to me to be unsatisfying. There was little help with the understanding of God’s will. Most classes could have been taken in any other school​—Latin, Spanish, art, music, philosophy, biology, history. Only four hours a week were devoted to the teaching of the church’s ecclesiastical doctrine.

True, the Bible was used for the reading of the Gospels and Epistles during Mass. But there was no explanation, no application of its lessons on morality to stem the bad practices of some of the boys.

My sister, one of Jehovah’s witnesses, used to write often and explain things about the Bible, but I seldom received her letters. They were intercepted by the head priest. During vacations my sister would try to explain things to me from the Bible, but I treated her efforts lightly. Besides, her explanations were at variance with church teaching.

The Bible Speaks

In seminary institutions it is common to have a half hour each day set aside for “spiritual” reading, that is, in any book that narrates the life of a “saint.” One particular evening I had no such book on hand, so I had to fall back on my pocket edition of the Nácar-Colunga Version of the Bible. Not knowing where to start, I opened the Bible at random and began reading at Exodus chapter 19. All went well until I reached Ex chapter 20, verses four and five.

What a surprise to find in the Word of God a text condemning the making and worshiping of images! I could hardly believe my eyes! I had always viewed the Bible as sacred. I closed the Bible and pondered. “How is it possible?” I thought to myself. “Have they been deceiving me all this time?” My next thought​—“I should not be thinking this way about our church’s teaching, for I could be consigned to hellfire.”

Again I opened the Bible to finish out my half hour of reading, and this time it fell open at Isaiah chapter 40. By the end of the time allotted I had reached Isaiah 42:8, where it says: “I am, Jehovah is my name, I give my glory to no other, neither to idols the honor that is due me.” Once more I realized with a jolt that the Bible was speaking to me directly and emphasizing that God is not pleased with the worship of images. How confused I felt! Could it be that my religion was on the wrong track? Just then the bell signaled that it was time for bed.

Searching for Help

A sleepless night followed. Next morning I went straight to the bishop. I asked him to explain Exodus 20:4. His reply was that it was part of the Mosaic Law, which was abolished by Christ. Then I pointed out that the Ten Commandments, which are part of that law, are taught to Christians in their catechisms. “How can you explain that one part was abolished and not the other? I inquired. He suggested that one part was left for the benefit of Christians. “It cannot be possible,” I insisted, “because if Christ came to abolish the law, it must be the whole law.” He sent me to the spiritual director whose job it is to help with the spiritual problems of the boys.

His efforts to satisfy my questions were based on mysteries and philosophy. Realizing very soon that I could never get the truth here, I decided to leave the seminary. Many were the arguments presented to convince me to stay: “You ought to stay so as not to harm your companions. You know you are in one of the upper classes and they take notice of that.” This and much more. But I was firm in my determination. “You may go,” he said at last, “but you can take nothing with you from here, and you must wait three days.” Later I found out that the time was used to arrange an outing for the boys, so they would not be around at the time of my departure.

Finding the Truth

I left without a single thing, not even what was my own property, confused and disconcerted. When my sister learned what had taken place, she gave me the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life and advised me to read it carefully, comparing its pages with the Bible. Soon a Bible study was being conducted regularly with me, I insisting that it be held three or four times a week. Two months later I symbolized my dedication to Jehovah God, and this by baptism in water.

Immediately I headed back to the seminary, my bag filled with copies of a particular issue of Awake! magazine containing “An Open Letter to Sincere Catholics.” The priest tried to prevent my entry, but his purpose was foiled because the boys kept coming out to greet me. I witnessed to them and left many copies of the magazine. The results? Twenty-two of the boys decided to leave. Six of them agreed to having a course of study in the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. In fact, one of them attended the latest district assembly of Jehovah’s witnesses in Caracas.

Now people are surprised when I call at their doors, not as a student priest of the Catholic Church, but as one of Jehovah’s privileged witnesses. How happy I am that Jehovah spoke to me by his Word and directed me to his organization!

‘Blessed’ Weapons

‘Blessed’ Weapons

● During the Middle Ages a man’s armor and weapons were ‘blessed’ by a priest before he took the vows of knighthood; so says The World Book Encyclopedia, Volume One, page 682. How unlike Christ, who said: “All those who take the sword will perish by the sword.”​—Matt. 26:52.

The Clock of the Bees

The Clock of the Bees

ABOUT sixty-five years ago Swiss physiologist Auguste Forel was breakfasting with his family on his garden terrace. Some bees discovered the honey and marmalade on their table. Each morning afterward the bees came to nibble at these at the same hour and in increasing numbers. Breakfast on the terrace finally became impossible and the family moved indoors.

The next morning Forel looked out the window and was surprised to see that the bees had returned to the terrace table at the usual time. But nothing was on the table to attract them! Forel then conducted some experiments that confirmed the fact that “the bees remembered the hours at which they had usually found sweets.”

Later, another scientist observed that bees worked on fields of buckwheat in the morning hours during which the buckwheat flowers secreted nectar. But the bees did not visit the fields in the afternoon. Yet the next morning they returned at the same time. Obviously, the bees learned the time when these blossoms were secreting nectar and came when the pickings were good. The scientist called this remarkable ability of the bees “time sense.”

Research workers have worked since 1929 at trying to learn how the busy bee is able to measure time. In the 1950’s the Zoological Institute of Munich in Germany established by an experiment that bees tell time by an internal clock that is governed by their own organism.

Under conditions of constant light and temperature bees were trained in Paris, France, to find sugar water in a dish at about 8:15 p.m. Then one night, after feeding, the bees were flown to New York city and housed under the same conditions. Because of the five-hour time difference, when it is 8:15 p.m. in Paris it is 3:15 p.m. in New York. So, would the bees come out to feed at 8:15 p.m. New York time? If they did, it would indicate that the bees have a sense of time determined by something outside their bodies. Or would the bees come out to feed at 3:15 p.m. New York time? If so, it would be strong evidence that the bees have an internal clock that maintains a twenty-four-hour rhythm and that operates independently of the environment. The bees came out to feed at about 3:15 p.m. Bees indeed have an internal clock.

Another experiment was conducted later, but this time in a natural environment. The results demonstrated that the timekeeping of the bees is also influenced by the change from night to day, which varies during the year.

Does their clock serve some purpose? Natural History magazine answers: “Even if some plants, such as buckwheat, secrete nectar only in the morning, there are certainly others that secrete nectar during the noon hour or in the afternoon. True: bees could certainly collect nectar without their time sense. But with it, their daily activities become easier and more rational and, as we know, everything in the bee colony is organized rationally.

“The collector bees, which have been exploiting one source of nectar for hours, do not at once desert it when it becomes temporarily exhausted. They make good use of the rest period and retire to a quiet corner of the hive. . . . Only when the hour approaches at which ‘their’ flowers secrete nectar, do they resume their collecting. It would be a waste of honey and energy if they had to fly out for reconnaissance every twenty minutes or so to ensure their arrival at the very time the source would flow again.

“Even so, the bees’ time sense might still be dispensed with, were it not that the sense is absolutely necessary for the bees’ orientation in space​—for which they use the sun as a compass. The solar compass . . . can function only if the time of day is taken into consideration. And, finally, when the collector bee returns to the hive from a nectar reconnaissance, the direction and the distance of the source is communicated to other workers by means of a dance. For the correct execution and comprehension of this dance, a time sense that works exactly is also an absolute requirement.”

The lowly bee’s ability to measure time is, of course, governed by instinct. And this ability bears witness that it was designed by an intelligent creator and did not come into existence by some blind force such as evolution. The Bible proclaims that Jehovah God is the Creator of all things and that he is doing “wonderful things without number.” Surely, the clock of the bees is among these.​—Job 9:10.

Assemblies Spread Good News in Germany

Assemblies Spread Good News in Germany

By “Awake!” correspondent in West Germany

THE 1970 “Men of Goodwill” District Assemblies have done much to spread good news to all sections of West Germany’s population. This, in part, resulted from the choice of strategic locations​—thirteen cities in all. Those planning to attend could choose the most convenient city, confident in the knowledge that the identical program would be presented at all locations.

There were large cities such as Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Stuttgart. There were small ones amid scenic surroundings, such as Offenburg in the Black Forest and Neumünster in fertile north Germany. One could choose to go to a large industrial center such as Essen, Mannheim or Wolfsburg, the “Volkswagen city,” or to a harbor city such as Hamburg or Friedrichshafen on the north shore of Lake Constance. Münster, too, the site of the historic Peace of Westphalia’s signing that ended the Thirty Years’ War, as well as Straubing in Catholic Lower Bavaria, could be chosen. And lastly, Kassel, where leading statesmen of East and West Germany recently failed to reach agreement, was another convention city.

Tens of thousands of homes in these thirteen cities were visited by conventioners, visits that in most instances accomplished three things​—invited householders to open their homes to visiting Witnesses, invited citizens to attend the public lecture on the subject “Saving the Human Race—​in the Kingdom Way” and extended to each one who would hear the message of great joy found in the Holy Bible.

Great Increases Noted

Noticeable to the people of the convention cities was the growth, the prosperity, of the Witness organization. For example, back in 1948 the second postwar national assembly of the Witnesses was held in Kassel, with some 20,000 delegates attending. But this year Kassel was only one of thirteen assembly cities, which had a combined attendance of well over 100,000. The 7,800 persons who attended the Kassel assembly thus represented only eight of the total of 78 circuits (groups of congregations) of Jehovah’s witnesses in West Germany and West Berlin. So only a small number of those present this year were also present in 1948 when a field marred by 56 gaping bomb craters was transformed into a beautiful assembly site.

Reporters noticed the large numbers of youthful delegates who attentively listened to the program and helped with whatever work needed to be done. In its issue of July 17, 1970, the Straubinger Tageblatt (Straubinger Daily Paper) had this to say: “The large number of young Jehovah’s witnesses is especially outstanding. There is hardly a religious group in our cultural society that would be able to cause young people to sacrifice their free time for the propagating of their teaching and to readily agree to camping cots and air mattresses merely to be able to listen to the words of a preacher. In reply to the question, why they do this, a young man of 20 said: ‘Because we are interested in our faith​—and besides, we were trained to do so.’”

The combined attendance at the public lecture of the program amounted to 110,506​—considerably more than the somewhat over 90,000 active Witnesses in West Germany and West Berlin.

Dramas with Practical Impact

Something else that operated to spread the good news in Germany was the excellent dramas with practical impact. For example, the highlight Saturday evening was a drama entitled “Who Needs Your Help?” Youths in the audience learned how they really need the help of parents and men of responsibility in the congregation. Parents witnessed a practical demonstration of how they need to have heart-to-heart talks about morals with their sons and daughters. Visitors saw how Christian principles should be operating in all Christian households.

A fifteen-year-old student at Wolfsburg, who has been baptized for one year now, said: “I want to verify that everything is just as shown in the demonstration. I can personally testify to the fact that immoral acts really do occur in school and in the locker room. They are committed in a disgusting manner.”

In Hamburg the father of an eleven-year-old son said: “When I consider their conduct and the way the youth of today talk, I know that it was good to discuss this subject with parents and children for their own protection.” And a father of four sons said, in Straubing: “I am thankful that we as parents were shown what we should tell our children and how we can do it.”

The other drama presented on the program, entitled “Love Is a Perfect Bond of Union,” came in for a great deal of publicity. In Offenburg representatives of the television network came to advance practice sessions to take pictures. One of the scenes was filmed and broadcast before the drama appeared on stage Friday evening. That stimulated many local people to come and see the live production at the assembly site. In Berlin the opera house provided costumes for the drama without charge, and the Witness actors were allowed to choose those that best fitted their parts.

A camera team at Essen, after taking pictures of the drama, which depicted the courageous devotion of Queen Esther to the cause of God’s people, were so impressed that they remarked: “This was the best nonprofessional acting we have ever seen.” Certainly, the tears in the eyes of many who saw the drama were a true expression of the effect this instruction had upon their hearts.

Observers Deeply Impressed

Many were the officials and others who were brought into contact with Jehovah’s witnesses in connection with these assemblies. With what effect? Did something of the message and conduct of Jehovah’s people in assembly rub off on them? Their own expressions tell the story eloquently.

The head of the building commission in Straubing, after inspecting the various installations at the assembly site, told his colleagues: “That is an organization without compare and one with unity. Go and see for yourselves. And above all, take note of the words on the stage.” He referred to the assembly theme​—“Men of Goodwill” District Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

When asked by a Witness how he would explain the fine orderly functioning of the organization, an official of the Essen police department declared: “It must be God’s spirit that makes this possible.”

At Mannheim, where cafeteria and sanitation facilities had to be provided for German, English and Greek delegates, the head of the health department observed, after inspection: “Nothing can go wrong at this convention; this is not merely a routine affair but rather the right spirit is at work here.”

The head of the night watch at the exhibition halls at Stuttgart exclaimed: “Look at this! There were 7,000 persons in this hall and only this little pile of garbage!”​—eight cups and six candy wrappers. The officials were all the more impressed since after a gathering of 5,000 non-Witnesses at the same site an entire truckload of litter had to be disposed of.

The administration of the exhibition grounds in Friedrichshafen waived stipulations generally included in the contract because, as the official stated: “Jehovah’s witnesses are quiet and patient people. We only make up this type of contract with Jehovah’s witnesses, but with no other organization.”

For the same reason the director of the chamber of commerce in Düsseldorf assisted in obtaining newspaper coverage of the assembly and thus advertising the public lecture. The newspapers devoted a total of seven yards of column space to the assembly.

The convention organization and the instruction presented at the assemblies also impressed those of the teaching profession. In Straubing the principal of a high school requested information about the assembly even before it began. He was impressed by the material to be presented concerning education and religious instruction of the children. On the first day of the assembly students came to pick up programs. They also asked numerous questions. Why? They had been assigned to write essays about the assembly.

Also impressed was a friendly lady in Friedrichshafen who provided accommodations for ten persons. She was asked what caused her to take in two families. Her reply was: “What I observed about Jehovah’s witnesses is that you are happy people. You must also lead happy married and family lives because we always see you with the entire family. This is certainly only possible because of your faith.”

Opposition Boomerangs

Despite the rich spiritual blessings and the good news that these assemblies spread throughout Germany, there were those who opposed them. For example, in Essen the Lutheran Church distributed a leaflet entitled “Should we take them into our homes?” It warned church members not to provide accommodations for convention visitors. What was the reaction? Did this hinder the work of finding rooms for the delegates? No, but it did bring some unwelcome publicity to the publishers of the leaflet.

In its issue of July 22, 1970, the West-deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (West German General Newspaper) carried the caption: “Church Leaders Speak of Anti-Church Attitude: Many Lutherans ‘Helpless’ When Confronted by ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses.’” The article went on to say: “In the text from the Stuttgarter main office (which published the leaflet) the doubt was raised whether Protestants in Essen ‘felt capable’ and were prepared ‘as believing Christians to face their guests.‘”

Following a press conference many newspapers published information stating the position of Jehovah’s witnesses. On July 23 Channel One of the German television network presented an interview that a reporter had had with a church leader who shared in the publication of the leaflet. This clergyman had to answer the reporter’s question: “Is this not showing lack of Christian love of neighbor, or do you believe that your brothers and sisters are so unsure in their faith?” And millions of television viewers heard the clergyman’s answer to the reporter’s further question about his church belonging to ‘Babylon the Great’ mentioned in the book of Revelation: “Yes, that is correct, they [the Witnesses] maintain this because the church is said to have allowed itself to be drawn into uniting with and cooperating with the secular power and thereby to have betrayed the Gospel.”

Really, the leaflet campaign proved to be a boomerang, while the resulting publicity proved to be valuable in advertising extensively the assembly and its public lecture of the final day.

Baptism Noted with Interest

Another feature of the convention that rouses interest and draws attention to the message of the Witnesses is the baptism. A total of 2,070 persons were baptized at the thirteen assemblies in Germany.

One man who was baptized in symbol of his dedication to God at Stuttgart had attended a Jesuit monastery school for nine years. There he learned much about dogma and philosophy, but now he has learned to understand God’s will after studying the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life for only three months with Jehovah’s witnesses.

A married couple baptized at Straubing had resisted the truth of the Bible for many years. The husband had studied for seven years in a seminary for priests and was active in church administration. A copy of the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life, sent to him through the mail, brought about a great change. Despite opposition from close relatives they cleansed their home of objects of false religion and eventually dedicated their lives to Jehovah God.

In Friedrichshafen two Turks were baptized. One of them said that after being a Moslem for forty years he was only now becoming acquainted with the Koran. He was surprised how much was written in the Koran about Christ.

Beneficial Aftereffects

The “Men of Goodwill” District Assemblies of Jehovah’s witnesses in Germany are sure to produce much fine fruit. Can people see the happiness of Jehovah’s people? Can officials in various areas of government see their good conduct and cleanliness? Can men who have to deal with the public as well as with Jehovah’s witnesses fail to be deeply impressed? Is it not likely that some among them will reflect on what they have seen and heard and conclude that the good news of the Kingdom has something to do with it?

Jehovah’s people in Germany, for their part, are happy over many things. Prominent among them is the fact that the joyous assemblies in which they shared this year are sure to work for the advancement of the good news.

[Picture on page 17]

Delegates at Offenburg. At thirteen assemblies the public talk was heard by 110,506 persons

Our Muscles—Mystery of Creation

Our Muscles​—Mystery of Creation

OUR muscles, which we use in so many ways and for ever so many purposes, we usually just take for granted​—that is, until we do something that makes them ache. But what do you know about how they function?

For years there have been researchers who have been intrigued by the mystery of muscle action. They have studied the muscles in the hope of understanding just what takes place when the muscles go to work. Muscle action has presented a real challenge to these men.

A leading scientist in the field, the Hungarian chemist Szent-Györgyi, stated some twenty-five years ago: “The problem of muscular contraction is still unsolved.” Fourteen years later another investigator stated: “We still cannot answer the fundamental question: ‘How does the molecular machinery of the muscle convert the chemical energy stored by metabolism into mechanical work?’” And recently Professor Ville of Harvard University stated in his book Biology: “Physiologists and biochemists have been attempting for many years to solve the problem of how a muscle can exert a pull, but the actual chemical and physical events that occur in muscle contraction are still a matter of conjecture rather than established fact.” But many interesting things have been learned along the way.

Muscle Characteristics

Muscles are among the things that set man and the animals apart from most plants in that they impart the ability to move. And not only do muscles enable us to get about on our feet and do many things with our hands, but many of the vital functions of our bodies depend largely upon our muscles. Breathing, the circulation of the blood, digestion, excretion and reproduction, all are dependent on our muscles, of which there are from five to six hundred or more.

Muscles account for 40 to 50 percent of the body’s weight. They consist of about 75 percent water, 20 percent protein, 2 percent fat, as well as various kinds of minerals or salts. Individual muscles vary in length from about an eighth of an inch, in the inner ear, to eighteen or more inches, in the legs. Perhaps the tiniest muscles are those that cause our hair to stand on end when we are frightened or that give us goose pimples when we shiver from the cold.

A popular science publication once stated that “one of the greatest secrets of nature is the mystery of the muscles.” Some muscles can lift a thousand times their own weight; some can exert a tension of forty pounds per square inch of their cross section. The muscle of a clam can keep a viselike grip for hours without apparently consuming any energy. The muscles of our hearts and our lungs work from the cradle to the grave without stopping. In Methuselah’s case that was for 969 years! (Gen. 5:27) Some of our muscles can contract and relax in a fraction of a second. The muscles of certain insects are able to move or vibrate at fantastic rates​—from 55 times a second in the case of some beetles, to as many as 1,046 times a second in the case of the midge, a tiny fly.

Three Kinds of Muscles

There are three kinds of muscles in our bodies: (1) Voluntary muscles, which include the skeletal and facial muscles; (2) involuntary muscles, which are found among the muscles in the blood vessels, intestines, stomach, bladder and uterus, and (3) heart muscle.

Voluntary muscles are also termed “striated” or striped muscles, because under a microscope they show alternating light and dark stripes or ridges running crosswise. Most of these muscles are long and narrow, as in the arms and legs; but others are sheetlike, as those of the abdomen and the back. Voluntary muscles are endowed with a rich nerve and blood supply so that they can accomplish their purpose. Some, such as respiratory muscles, might be said to be both voluntary and involuntary. We use them voluntarily when we take a deep breath, but most of the time, and especially when we are asleep, they work without any volition on our part.

By way of contrast, involuntary muscles are termed “smooth,” for they are without these striped ridges. With the aid of the electron microscope a striking and purposeful difference has been discovered between the structure of the voluntary and the involuntary or smooth muscles. In smooth muscles the filaments that do the actual work of contracting are arrayed in parallel, overlapping one another, and at an angle of as much as 10 percent to the long axis of the muscle cell. This oblique arrangement of the filaments in smooth muscles may give them as much as ten times the strength that they would otherwise have and so enables them to sustain forceful contractions over long periods of time. On the other hand, the way the filaments lie in voluntary or striped muscles, in series or end to end, permits them to move with greater velocity or speed. And the amount of contraction can be far greater than in smooth muscle. This is just what these voluntary muscles need to do to serve man well. They surely give evidence of a wise Designer.

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