Awake!, May 8, 1985

Awake! — May 8, 1985

Source: jw.org

Contents

Page Two

A Look at the ‘Japanese Miracle’

What Is Behind the ‘Miracle’?

Life in a Big Company

‘Miracle’ at a Price

Do We Know What the Bible Originally Said?

The Fire Menace—Nigeria’s Anguish

Will Being in a Stepfamily Ruin My Life?

My Father Was a Country Doctor

Keeping Small Hands Busy

From Our Readers

Watching the World

Billions Now Dead Will Soon Live Again

“No Empty Pep Talk”

Page Two

Japan’s industrial and economic progress since World War II has been termed “a miracle.” What has contributed to this? What can other nations learn from the Japanese methods? Has this progress exacted a high price? The first four articles in this issue will show you what is behind this miracle, the benefits, and something better

A Look at the ‘Japanese Miracle’ 3

What Is Behind the ‘Miracle’? 4

Life in a Big Company 7

‘Miracle’ at a Price 11

A Look at the ‘Japanese Miracle’

By “Awake!” correspondent in Japan

AN Englishman watches his favorite TV program on a Sony. A Ugandan drives over the dusty road in his Toyota. A store clerk in Indonesia totals up the bill on a Canon. A tourist in Athens takes a picture of the famous Parthenon with a Nikon. In the streets of Brooklyn, a youth wiggles to the thumping beat blasting out from his suitcase-sized portable JVC.

The list can go on and on. These and other once strange-sounding names have practically become household words. They conjure up images of Japanese products that have inundated the world market, so much so that Japanese visitors abroad often complain about the difficulty of finding souvenirs that are not made in Japan.

Just 40 years ago, Japan was struggling to pick itself up from the ruins of World War II. Today it is an economic giant with which the rest of the world must reckon. For example, American steel production has been outstripped by Japan. British motorcycle makers have been left behind by the Japanese. Swiss watches and German cameras have been exposed to the same kind of competition. From automobiles to zippers, a long list of similar Japanese success stories can be recounted. While not immune to the international oil crisis and the recession, Japan, nonetheless, has weathered the storm and emerged as strong as ever. It is no wonder that many have termed it the ‘Japanese miracle.’

Today, visitors to this country of 120 million people are often surprised, even impressed, by the material progress. The people look well dressed, well fed, and prosperous. Most homes, though small, are equipped with color televisions, telephones, air conditioners, and countless laborsaving appliances and electronic gadgets. Major cities are teeming with sparkling, tall, modern buildings and endless streams of well-kept, seemingly brand-new cars.

Progress is not limited to the material sort. Western art, music, and sports have taken the Japanese by storm. The city of Tokyo, for example, boasts eight major symphony orchestras, surpassing even established musical capitals such as Vienna, Paris, and New York. The American game of baseball has now become Japan’s most popular sport, with an estimated 20 million participators in Little League, company, or professional teams throughout the country. Taken as a whole, Japan’s unemployment rate is among the world’s lowest, and its literacy rate is as good as that of any nation.

The paramount question, obviously, is: What is behind the Japanese miracle? The answer is much sought after by leaders in many nations who are eager to put it to use to bolster their sagging productivity and economy. Indeed, it would be most edifying to see what brought about this miracle and what lessons others can learn from it.

What Is Behind the ‘Miracle’?

IN SCHOOLYARDS and at factory gates in Japan, you will usually find a statue of a small boy with a load of wood on his back and a book in his hand. Ninomiya Sontoku is the 19th-century “Peasant Sage of Japan.” Born into a poor farm family, he taught himself how to read and write. After making a success on his family farm, he taught others how to manage their farms and finances, and how to work with others for mutual benefit. He came to be the symbol of success through hard work and cooperation.

Other countries, of course, have their own versions of the poor-boy-made-good heroes. But perhaps none of them can compare with Ninomiya in the influence he has exerted in shaping the Japanese cultural and social values—their unrelenting work ethic, their ability to endure the severest limitations, and their willingness to make the necessary personal sacrifices for the good of the whole. In the spirit of Ninomiya, perhaps more than in anything else, we can perceive just what is behind the present-day Japanese miracle.

Early Molding

Starting at home, each member of the Japanese family has a well-defined place. The younger ones address their older siblings, not by name, but as “older brother” or “older sister.” In response to the question: “Older brother, what do you think about this?” older brother will talk down to the younger ones, using their names and a familiar, less polite, form of “you.” The husband has a variety of terms to choose from when referring to his wife, none of which sound flattering to the Western ear. The wife, on the other hand, refers to her husband respectfully as “my lord.” Thus, from early childhood, one is made to recognize one’s place in the group and is expected to contribute to the welfare of the whole by playing one’s assigned role.

Education in Conformity

This concept is reinforced when one starts in school. Here again, the emphasis is on conformity and group values. Students wear uniforms in school. To cultivate group consciousness, student duties include keeping their classrooms, hallways, and schoolyards clean and orderly. The Japanese school system is well known for its rigid and demanding standards. There are few electives in the curriculum, and all in the class are expected to do their best to keep up. It has often been pointed out that the basic Japanese view of education involves the teacher imparting knowledge and the students taking it in, mostly by rote. Individuality and original thinking are not encouraged.

Nine years of elementary and junior high school education are required. But it is the general consensus of the Japanese that getting into the right high school and the right university will lead to good jobs, security, and success. “In Japan, a large part of your success in life depends on which university you went to,” said a school vice-president. “It’s a passport you have to have, and the race to get it starts early in life.”

That “race” consists of passing the tough entrance examinations to get into the elite high schools, which will, in turn, prepare one for the even tougher exams for getting into the desired universities. These exams are so competitive that in addition to the already long school year—240 days, compared to only 180 days in the United States—more than half of elementary and junior high school students enroll in after-hours cramming schools. Long, hard hours of study and personal sacrifices are nothing unusual even at this early stage.

The job of seeing that the children do what is expected every step along the way falls mainly on the mother, whose role it is to coerce, persuade, admonish, or even threaten her offspring, so that they will keep their noses to the scholastic grindstone. In Japanese, she is affectionately known as kyoiku mama (education mama). She goes to school for parent observation periods, discusses her children’s progress with the teachers, checks their test results and report cards, and even sits in on classes for them when they are sick. All of this is done to ensure that her children will do well in the competitive examinations.

What if a student does not measure up to what is expected? Self-criticism is called for. It may be in the form of a composition or a speech in front of the class. He must confess his failure, the reason for it, and what he intends to do to remedy the situation. Periodically, parents are required to fill out questionnaires on what their children do out of school, their eating habits, their good and bad points, and other private matters about their family life. Such openness is thought to help combat any tendency toward nonconformity. This, in turn, will make it easier for them to cooperate with others in later life.

Such a rigid system obviously has its strengths and its weaknesses. On the plus side, it turns out young people with a high degree of competence in reading, writing, mathematics, and other basic skills. Japan’s “educational system has raised the quality of knowledge for large numbers of the population to levels not attained elsewhere,” says Far Eastern Economic Review, and this “superior quality of their human resources” is largely responsible for the post-World War II economic success. On the other hand, the urge to conform, to do well, and to keep up has created a pressure-cooker atmosphere for the less gifted students. The pent-up frustration has led to suicides and outbursts of violence in schools. These have made ugly news headlines from time to time.

University and Beyond

Ironically, once a student gets into a university, the pressure is off. The most desirable employers—prestigious government agencies and large corporations—usually evaluate the applicants according to what university they were able to get into, rather than how they did in university, as long as they graduate. Once they are recruited, they are looked upon as raw material to be remolded, retrained, and reeducated according to the objectives of the company.

Reeducation, however, is not limited to just the new recruits. Aware of the rapid changes in the technological fields, the major companies spend large sums to provide their employees with continuing education throughout their career. The employees become more useful to the company, and the company manages to stay at the leading edge of advancing technology.

This partly explains why most Japanese work for the same company for life. If they quit, there is scarcely anywhere else to go. New company members are recruited from universities and high schools, not from other companies. Why employ a quitter when there are plenty of fresh job-hunters yearning for lifetime employment? In Japan, it is very unlikely that a person’s lot would improve by changing jobs, no matter how dissatisfied he may be with his present one. Here, life is bitter for the quitter. The accepted pattern is one high school, one university, one company.

For all the success attributed to the Japanese economic system, just what is it like to work and live under it? The big companies and lifetime employment may sound appealing and secure, but is being a cog in this miracle-producing machinery the ultimate in true happiness and contentment? Let us take a look at what life is like in a big company in Japan.

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The school system is known for its demanding standards

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Japanese Information Center

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Schools teach conformity and group values

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Japanese Information Center

Life in a Big Company

LIFELONG employment, continuing education, promotions, bonuses, company housing, recreational facilities—these and many other benefits are the dream of workers around the world. In Japan, they are the day-to-day realities of many of its workers. In fact, they are probably the aspects of the Japanese miracle most talked about and admired by people elsewhere.

There are, however, other aspects that outsiders know little about. For example, just how much of one’s life is controlled or affected by the big companies? To what extent are one’s marriage, homelife, social life, and even religious views affected? What are the sacrifices one must make to fit in? These are things easily overlooked by outsiders because they are overshadowed by the prosperity and success. Yet, to a large extent, are these not the things that ultimately determine whether a person is truly happy, satisfied, and thus successful?

Manners at Work

One consequence of lifetime employment is the sensitive matter of rank or seniority. The men at the top have had long experience with the company. Naturally, they command the respect and cooperation of the younger people under them. The younger or newer employees, in turn, are ranked according to their years of service with the company. This creates a rather formal atmosphere at the workplace, and it is reflected in their speech and manners.

In Japanese there are three styles of speech. Just by listening to a person’s choice of words, you can tell whether he is speaking to his senior, peer, or junior. “To utter his name [alone] when addressing someone of older or of higher rank would be downright rude,” explains a Japanese business executive. Instead, the family, or last, name or the person’s title such as shacho (president) or bucho (manager) is used along with the courteous expression “san” or “sama.”

The bow, which can mean “thank you,” “excuse me,” “I’m sorry,” and many other things, is an indispensable part of office etiquette. So is the expression “hai” (yes) along with a nod of the head. However, this “yes” does not mean “Yes, I agree,” but means “Yes, I understand what you are saying.” It is only a polite gesture to show respect for the speaker.

As a result, most men are like fish out of water once outside the workplace. When they meet another man who does not work at the same firm, conversation becomes awkward until they know his status so that the correct style of speech can be used. Calling cards and tactful questions are used to determine this before a conversation can begin. Informal and casual talk is difficult for them even with their wives and children. They feel at home only in the small circle of their company.

Loyalty to the Group

To bolster the team spirit, most companies furnish their workers with uniforms. Workers also organize themselves into small groups, not to bargain for better working conditions or higher wages, but to discuss how to improve efficiency and production. The managing director of one of Japan’s steel giants, which has not had a strike in 25 years, described their meetings this way: “We have lively discussions, but in the end everyone co-operates.” Individual workers, feeling that they have a voice in the matter, become more inclined to support company policies. “They think for the group and not for themselves,” said the director.

The difference between the Japanese management and that in the United States is illustrated by a Japanese economist this way: “Our system is rather like an electric train, with each car having its own motor, whereas your system is more like a long train drawn by two or three strong locomotives, with no motors in the other cars. You tell your workers to follow. We like people to have their own motivation—and move together.”

To show proper motivation, all employees are expected to work long and hard. Although the government has set the goal that by 1985 all companies should allow two-day weekends, a six-day workweek is still common. Only recently did banks begin the practice of closing one Saturday each month. Strangely, public reaction was cool, and an editorial in Yomiuri Shimbun viewed it as a means to silence “foreign criticism that the Japanese are workaholics.”

Overtime work, usually without extra pay, is routine. It has been reported that it is not unusual to see workers leaving their offices at 11 p.m. or even at midnight. Yet, this is accepted as a matter of course. A survey of recent high school and university graduates conducted by the Junior Executive Council of Japan found that “79 percent of the respondents work overtime when asked to even if they have to cancel a date,” reports The Japan Times.

Executives and supervisors do not have it any easier. In addition to the long days at the office, they frequently have to spend the evenings, or even weekends, attending meetings or entertaining clients and business associates, often late into the night. This is all done out of loyalty to the company. “I don’t like entertaining,” said a young executive who has a wife and four children, “but it has become an institution.”

Remunerations and Promotions

Extended vacations have never been a Japanese custom. A government report shows that even though most workers are entitled to 15 paid vacation days a year, they actually took only 8.3 days, on the average. The main holidays are at the turn of the year and in August when the custom of visiting ancestral graves is observed. Then there are the company outings that all employees are expected to—and do—attend. They are usually two-day weekend affairs to the mountains, hot springs, or company lodges, with plenty to eat and drink. Workers can unwind, have fun together, and get to know one another better.

A big thing with Japanese workers is the semiannual bonus, given according to the firm’s financial standing. Actually, it is a portion of their salary that the company sets aside. If the company does well, the workers receive the lump sum as a bonus. But if business is not so good, this portion may be scaled down. It is an effective incentive to the workers.

Salaries and promotions are determined largely by the seniority system. It is rare for a newer employee to be promoted ahead of his seniors, no matter how qualified he may be. In the event that this should happen, usually those who were passed over would be given some new titles so there would be no embarrassment or loss of face. This keeps friction to a minimum, and the interest of the group is served.

The situation with women employees is quite different. While about 39 percent of Japan’s work force are women, they are usually paid only about half the amount of a man’s salary. In fact, most companies do not offer promising positions to women even if they have the qualifications, because they are expected to work only until they marry and start a family.

Marriage and Family

The rigorous demands of work—six-day workweek and frequent overtime—leave the working man with little time for his family. Some men leave for work before the children are up and come home after they have gone to bed. They rarely see their children, except perhaps on Sunday. It may be said that the life of a typical company man, or sarariman (salary man) as he is called in Japan, revolves around his work. His home, wife, and family are like a small side business, giving him a place to eat and sleep, and a certain status in the community.

With few exceptions, the wife takes care of everything in the home. This includes not just the day-to-day household chores but also major decisions such as where to live, what to buy, and even the children’s education and discipline. Thus, in a subtle way, even though the men may still talk and act as if they are the heads of their families, most families of the big-company men are really matriarchal arrangements.

The single man also has his problems. His work leaves him little time for socializing other than business entertaining. Outside of the company, he may have few friends. Yet, Japanese society looks down on late marriages. Anyone who is not married by the time he reaches his 30’s may be considered odd. This explains the prevalence of omiai, or arranged marriages, which account for nearly 60 percent of all marriages in Japan even today.

Big companies frequently move their men around the country from one branch to another. This means pulling up stakes and getting used to new neighbors and environments every two or three years. Although each move is usually accompanied by a promotion and a raise in salary, it could create problems for the family with regard to the children’s schooling or the care of aged parents. But such are the joys and the woes of seniority and lifetime employment in the Japanese big companies.

Work and Religion

Group consciousness and the urge to conform play a significant role in molding the religious attitudes of the Japanese. In order to fit in, one must not be too insistent about one’s beliefs but be tolerant, ready to compromise. It has been said, therefore, that the Japanese sense of morality is based not on right or wrong but on being acceptable or unacceptable.

Thus, in the big companies, a worker is expected to share in rituals such as weddings, funerals, and other functions whether these be Buddhist, Shinto, or Christian. Most men have no qualms of conscience over such perfunctory participation. They have learned to live without personal beliefs and convictions, or have made these subservient to the wishes of their company. Consequently, many men are indifferent about religion. It is difficult for them to think about religious or spiritual matters. They may still observe the rituals and customs handed down from generations past, but they really have no religious belief to speak of.

On the other hand, women, especially mothers, who must singlehandedly care for the children’s scholastic, moral, and religious education, naturally are more drawn to religion. But with them, the tendency is toward the other extreme—the more the better. A young mother expressed what might be the typical religious attitude in a news story in Time magazine: “I owe respect to my ancestors and show it through Buddhism. I’m a Japanese, so I do all the little Shinto rituals. And I thought a Christian marriage would be really pretty. It’s a contradiction, but so what?” According to the national census, while the total population of Japan is 120 million, there are 87 million Buddhists and 89 million Shintoists. Obviously many thought nothing of declaring themselves to be followers of more than one religion.

From our brief consideration of life in a Japanese big company, it is clear that there is much more to it than the obvious benefits that are so admired. The fact is that some authorities feel that such benefits are much exaggerated. Instead, they see signs that all is not well in this idealized land of economic and technological giants. What are these signs, and what is the future of the Japanese miracle?

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All are expected to work long and hard

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Japanese Information Center

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Big company functions include weddings

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Japanese Information Center

‘Miracle’ at a Price

WITHOUT a doubt, the Japanese miracle is a unique phenomenon. It is a wonder to see an entire nation build itself up from defeat and ruin to become one of the world’s strongest economic powers, and this in one generation. All of this, as we have seen, has been achieved through rigorous education, hard work, and personal sacrifice, which other nations are unlikely to duplicate.

But what has this miracle brought for the Japanese? Beyond the surface glitter, has it brought them true happiness and contentment? Underneath the prosperity and affluence, there are disturbing signs that Japanese society is losing its traditional values and gradually is becoming embroiled in the problems and ills plaguing other industrialized nations.

To a great extent, many of these problems are by-products of the system itself. For example, experts have noted a sharp rise in cases of depression and suicide among men in their 40’s and 50’s in management positions. The Daily Yomiuri quoted author Von Woronoff as saying: “Polls reveal many Japanese are unhappy with their jobs and would quit if they had the chance.” But they feel trapped by the seniority-based pay and promotion system. This is one reason why lifetime employment is no longer the ultimate dream among the younger generation. “For people in their 20’s and 30’s, loyalty to the company is zero,” said a Tokyo management consultant.

Similarly, absence of the father from the home, discontent of the mother with her demanding role, and the grinding pressure at school have aggravated the rising tide of juvenile delinquency in Japan, which recently has become a national issue. These factors are also responsible for the escalating divorce rate, which has doubled in the last ten years.

The economic success has also provided the Japanese with more money and more leisure time to spend it. This has fostered the new wave of me-ism, which runs contrary to the self-sacrificing work ethic and the group spirit that have been their secret of success. Observers are concerned that this trend, which gives no sign of abating, eventually could spell the demise of the miracle.

Regardless of whether this will take place or not, one thing is certain. We are living in a time of unprecedented global problems—political, military, economic, environmental, social, religious, and so on. Can an economic miracle in one nation, even if it were to last, solve all these problems? Hardly. What is needed is a miracle on a worldwide scale.

Japan’s 96,000 witnesses of Jehovah are telling people about just such a miracle—God’s Messianic Kingdom. (Matthew 24:14) Under that Kingdom, what was said of Jehovah God by the psalmist will take place: “You are opening your hand and satisfying the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:16) Jehovah’s Witnesses in your area will be happy to share the “good news” with you so that you may live and enjoy the Kingdom blessings soon to come.

Do We Know What the Bible Originally Said?

NOWADAYS people often sigh under the weight of news reports not only because of their content but also because of their abundance. Scarcely anyone is able fully to comprehend and digest all of them. And because of their inability to check for accuracy, some people have become quite skeptical of what they hear and see. But, by and large, news reports are read and accepted at face value. People work with them and pattern their lives accordingly.

When it comes to the Bible, however, many people feel justified in remaining skeptical. Frequently they ask: “Why should I pattern my life according to the Bible? How can I be sure that its ‘news accounts,’ reportedly from God, are actually from him? And, if so, how do I know they have reached us—after all these centuries—without change?”

A book that can bring about permanent changes in an individual’s personality—as many people feel the Bible should—needs to be investigated carefully as to its reliability. The Bible itself encourages such an investigation. A Bible writer expressed it this way: “Beloved ones, do not believe every inspired expression, but test the inspired expressions to see whether they originate with God, because many false prophets have gone forth into the world.”—1 John 4:1.

A person must make such an investigation, however, in all honesty and sincerity. He must be willing to accept truthful findings even though they may completely contradict previously held views and opinions. But can one actually make such a search that will establish the accuracy of the Bible?

Bible Accuracy Verified

Although the Bible is a very old book, it is noteworthy that many ancient Bible manuscripts verify it. There are literally thousands of these ancient manuscripts in libraries and private collections throughout the world. They prove that today’s Bible has withstood the ravages of time and has been accurately copied and transmitted down to our day.

This can be checked out. For instance, the long-existing Institute for New Testament Textual Studies in Germany has made about 95 percent of its approximately 5,300 handwritten copies of the Christian Greek Scriptures available for scientific study, either on microfilm or in picture form. Thus the interested visitor, whether layman or scientific expert, can be shown, under expert guidance, just how exact the transmission of the Bible text down to our 20th century has been. The interval between the time the Christian Greek Scriptures were originally written and the writing of the oldest extant papyrus manuscripts is very short, not more than 25 years.

The Bible thus has a far greater claim for the reliability of its transmission than other writings of ancient times. In his book Das Buch der Bücher (The Book of Books), page 3, Karl Ringshausen writes:

“Julius Caesar wrote his Commentaries on the Gallic War in the year 52 before Christ. The oldest extant copies, however, written by a later hand, are from the ninth century after Christ. The Greek philosopher Plato lived from 427 to 347 before Christ; the oldest copy we have of his philosophical works is dated 895 after Christ. Almost a thousand years and more generally lie between the first writing, the original writing of ancient books, and their oldest extant copies.”

And concerning the number of extant copies from that era, the book The Bible From the Beginning states: “Altogether classical MSS. are but a handful compared with Biblical. No ancient book is so well attested as the Bible.”

The Bible Versus Modern Writings

How does the Bible compare to more modern writings? Interestingly, uncertainties over the actual contents of original texts exist even with respect to works in more recent times of authors now deceased. There are so-called critical editions, or work editions, of the works of such German writers as Goethe, Schiller, Hölderlin, and many others. These are attempts to reconstruct the original text scientifically. The experts often differ as to which version bears the marks of being the author’s original words.

Even politics are oftentimes involved. After Mao Tse-tung died, people waited long for the fifth volume of his collected works. China experts were of the opinion that this delay was due to the inner political instability of the country’s leadership, which could not agree on the words that should finally be accepted as being products of Mao’s pen. When the fifth volume finally did appear, many experts expressed doubts as to its authenticity.

Why the Bible Is So Different

How different the Bible is from these works of men written much more recently! Though older, its textual accuracy puts it in a class by itself. How did this come about? How was it possible to transmit the Bible over a much longer period of time and yet with such accuracy that we can be certain of the authenticity of its present form?

First, most of those who copied, or assisted in copying, the Bible had great respect for it and its Divine Author. The Masoretes (a group of Jewish Bible scholars who lived between the sixth and tenth centuries C.E.) are known to have painstakingly counted every individual letter of the Bible text so as to avoid making any mistake or even omitting a single letter from the Holy Writings. This reliable method may have been used even long before their time to avoid making mistakes in copying the Bible. It was possibly in reference to this habit of copyists that Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount: “Sooner would heaven and earth pass away than for one smallest letter or one particle of a letter to pass away from the Law by any means and not all things take place.”—Matthew 5:18.

This endeavor by copyists to maintain the purity and accuracy of the Bible text explains why the Dead Sea Scrolls of the first and second centuries B.C.E., containing among other things the entire book of Isaiah, match almost exactly the text we have at present.

Second, the majority of these scholars and copyists were only interested in what was involved—transmitting the sacred text—not in getting any credit for themselves. In fact, these men often sacrificed personal honor, possessions, health, and even life itself, to make sure that the manuscripts were correctly copied or were placed in the hands of scholars who would use them to help preserve the Bible text.

Konstantin von Tischendorf, for example, was willing to risk the dangers of the wilderness and of a trip through the desert, in the mid-19th century, in order to secure one of the 4th century’s most reliable Bible manuscripts. He had previously discovered it in a wastepaper basket in the monastery of St. Catherine at Mount Sinai.

Third, many of the individuals who were so intensely interested in transmitting the Bible text accurately had great love for God’s Word. Like a writer of the Psalms, they took delight in God’s Word and rejoiced in making the Bible text available to others.—Psalm 1:1, 2.

Fourth, and most important, it should not be forgotten that the Divine Author of the Bible inspired the original writing of the Holy Scriptures. He gave the men who worked on the Bible the decisive help they needed to write down things that have aroused in man his deepest emotions and have helped in “setting things straight” for him. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17) It is logical that he would oversee a faithful transmittal of his Word down to our present day.

Would you like to know more about these men that God used to write down these trustworthy things? An article about the men who wrote the Bible will appear in a subsequent issue of Awake!

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Portion of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Leviticus 11:42, where the Hebrew letter Waw is enlarged to make it stand out as the middle letter of the Pentateuch.

Portion of the Aleppo Codex at Psalm 80:14 (English, verse 13), showing where the Hebrew letter ʽAʹyin is suspended to indicate it is the middle letter of the Psalms.

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This ability to determine where the middle letter was to be found shows that the Masoretes had counted the letters of the entire text of the five books written by Moses and of the Psalms. It reflects the extreme care taken by copyists to transmit the Bible accurately.

The Fire Menace—Nigeria’s Anguish

By “Awake!” correspondent in Nigeria

NO ONE knows exactly how it happened. A young man named Sunday and his two friends often slept in the small chemist’s shop where they worked. Around midnight, however, they were not asleep. Perhaps they were reading or just talking when their room was suddenly plunged into darkness. Residents of Lagos, Nigeria, however, are accustomed to frequent power failures. So Sunday probably felt his way to the place where the matches and candles were kept and lit a candle. No doubt the warmth of the evening lulled him and his friends to sleep. And as they slept, the candle burned lower . . .

One can only imagine the terror they must have felt when they were rudely awakened by the heat and smoke of a raging fire. The youths screamed for help and tried frantically to open the door—but too late. They perished in the flames and fumes of exploding chemicals.

TRAGEDIES such as this are all too common in Nigeria. A child plays with a match, a man falls asleep holding a cigarette, a cloth pad is left near the flames of a stove—and suddenly the friendly fire has become a killer. Indeed, a recent spate of fires has destroyed large markets in many parts of the country. Large office buildings have been burned to the ground, homes have gone up in flames, and lives have been lost.

The nation’s anguish overflowed on Monday, January 24, 1983, as the NECOM (Nigerian External Communications) House became engulfed in flames. This 37-storey building housed highly computerized and expensive equipment—the heart of Nigeria’s telecommunications system. This attractively designed building, the tallest in West Africa, and called Nigeria’s pride, now blazed and smoked in the harmattana haze.

Joe worked in this building and recalls: “Soon after the fire broke out around 9:30 A.M., panic-stricken workers jumped from the fifth floor to lie broken on the road. One died. Other workers were trapped on the roof as the fire engulfed one floor after the other. Thousands of helpless onlookers wept and screamed. Many prayed aloud, kneeling and throwing up their arms in distress. Fire fighters, their equipment inadequate for such a tall building, could do nothing. The trapped workers called for help, despairing until four Nigerian Air Force helicopters carried them to safety.”

“Enough is enough,” Nigerians said. They started demanding preventive measures against fires in public buildings and asked for better fire-fighting equipment. While this would certainly help, it would hardly eliminate some basic reasons for the problem.

Behind the Fire Menace

Why, then, are fires so common in this country? For one thing, there are unsafe living conditions. Most families in Nigerian cities live in crowded tenement buildings. They cook on oil stoves along passageways cluttered with combustible materials. Frequent electrical power cuts compel the use of candles and lamps with open flames. Occupants of a room often connect too many appliances to too few electrical outlets. This overload can cause electric wires to overheat and start a fire.

Nigerian markets are also likely candidates for a fire. These sprawling and crowded complexes of wooden sheds and stores are filled with materials that burn easily. Similarly, public offices are not only crowded and cluttered with combustible materials but also lack adequate fire-fighting equipment. These conditions are fire hazards. But there is another possible element: arson!

Some of the public offices that have burned down have housed information pertinent to ongoing investigations of fraud. Some therefore argue that these fires were started by people who wanted to destroy damaging evidence. The suspicion of arson also arose out of the spate of market fires that provided an opportunity for large-scale looting. A New Nigerian newspaper editorial spoke of the “remarkable pattern of conflagration, looting and mob action” during market fires and said: “All indications point to the fact that these market fires were set by highly organised gangs of criminals.”

The fire menace is thus very real. But is there anything Nigerians can do to lessen the menace? Yes, and some of the suggestions in the box (page 16) may prove practical in your part of the world too.

Helpful suggestions on coping with a fire were made in the September 8, 1980, issue of Awake! Two workers in the NECOM House, Joe and Bose, got to use the advice given there. Joe, who worked on the ninth floor, recalls: “When a junior officer reported to me that the building was on fire, I opened my door and saw people rushing down the stairs in confusion. Now thinking of escape, I recalled what I had read in Awake! I remembered that I should try to keep calm and not panic, that I should not use the elevators but should rather make use of the fire escape, because elevators can easily become firetraps. Also, I had already acquainted myself with the layout of the stairs and exits. I took the fire escape, but when I got to the sixth floor, the smoke cut off any further descent. Remembering that there was a ramp for motor cars that ran through the back of the building, I took this route and made my escape.”

Bose had a similar experience: “When I discovered smoke billowing up the stairway to the 14th floor where my office was located, I alerted my co-workers and, leaving our possessions behind, we began looking for a way out of the building. People were rushing down the stairs and milling about in a state of panic. Since I already knew the layout of the exits, I shouted to the others, ‘Let us take this way!’ Thus many of us were able to make it to the ground floor.”

Fortunately, only two people died in the fire, mainly because the building had many exits and the fire was, at first, restricted to just one wing. The casualties, however, resulted from the victims’ not knowing what to do.

Do not make the same mistake. Fires will no doubt continue to cause anguish in Nigeria, as they do in many parts of the world. But the menace of fire can be greatly reduced if you take reasonable steps to protect yourself and your family.

[Footnotes]

A “harmattan” is a dry winter wind that blows in from the Sahara Desert toward Africa’s west coast.

[Box/Pictures on page 16]

Preventing Fires and Coping With Them

Cluttered rooms and passageways are fire hazards. Keep papers, books, and clothing neatly in their places. Get rid of unnecessary furniture. Use electrical equipment with care, not overloading the outlets. If a pressing iron is used, see that it is placed on a steel base and kept unplugged when it is not in use. Candles are inherently dangerous, but if they must be used, be sure to stand them on a fire-resistant base away from curtains and other objects that can burn. Be sure, too, to extinguish them before going to sleep.

Smoking is not only a health hazard but also a serious fire hazard. So DO NOT SMOKE! “Remember,” says the Bible, “how a mere spark may set a vast forest in flames.” (James 3:5, Weymouth) Also, keep matches, petrol, and other flammable materials out of the reach of children. Explain to them just how dangerous a fire can be.

If a fire breaks out in spite of all these precautions, advance preparation could save your life. It may be practical to have family fire drills. Plan escape routes (and alternates) from every room in your house. In addition, impress upon your family that if fire breaks out, they should immediately get out of the burning building. Trying to salvage a few material possessions can be fatal. Stay calm and concentrate on finding a way out. Once you are outside, you can summon help.

Will Being in a Stepfamily Ruin My Life?

Young People Ask . . .

Will Being in a Stepfamily Ruin My Life?

ONE out of every six children under 18 in the United States is a stepchild, say some experts. If present rates of divorce and remarriage continue, as many as half of today’s children could be in a stepfamily sometime in their lives. So there is a good chance that you or one of your friends lives in a stepfamily. If so, then you know that the pressures of adjusting can be tough.

However, American president Abraham Lincoln said of his stepmother: “All I am, all I ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” So some stepchildren do thrive in such a family. Successfully meeting the special pressures peculiar to the stepfamily depends a lot on having the right attitude.

Value of Right Attitude

Often how you view a situation can make the difference between being miserable and being joyful. “All the days of the afflicted one are bad; but the one that is good at heart has a feast constantly,” states Proverbs 15:15. In other words, a person who is “afflicted” with unpleasant circumstances views each day as bad because of his attitude. Yet, under the same circumstances, one with a cheerful disposition can view each day as a banquet!

“As a youngster,” wrote author Elizabeth Einstein in her book The Stepfamily, “what caused me problems was not the fact of my being a stepchild; it was how I viewed my status, how I felt about being a stepchild, and how I thought others felt about me.” She continues: “While I nurtured my anger at having to grow up in what I perceived as a second-best family, I kept myself from appreciating my good fortune at gaining a stepfather who provided us with a stable family life.” Granted, developing the right attitude is easier said than done. But is a stepfamily necessarily “second-best”? Consider the information in the box on page 19.

So living in a stepfamily does not automatically bring misery. Your chance of thriving in a stable stepfamily is quite good. Yet, since 44 percent of these families fail within the first five years, what can you do to help make yours succeed?

Learn to Compromise

When 15-year-old Jamie lived alone with her mother, she had her own room and wore expensive clothes. When her mother remarried and she found herself in a family with four children, things changed. Both living space and finances were quite limited. “Now I don’t even have my own room anymore,” she lamented. “I have to share everything.” But you may have to relinquish more than your own room. Your position as the oldest or the only child may now be changed. Perhaps the responsibilities you carried in the home are now taken over by a “new man.” Or it may be that you and your mother were like sisters, even sleeping in the same room, but now you get moved out by your stepdad.

Christian reasonableness is the key. “Let your reasonableness become known to all men,” recommends the Bible. (Philippians 4:5) The original word used meant “yielding” and conveyed the spirit of one who did not insist on all his lawful rights. So, try to be yielding. If you have to share a room with a stepbrother or a stepsister, realize that each of you must be considerate of the other and that one’s possessions. (Matthew 7:12) Be glad that now there is another capable adult to help carry the load of household responsibilities.

Coping With Unequal Treatment

After admitting that her stepfather shows love, one young girl added: “But there is a difference. He expects more, disciplines more, has less understanding towards us . . . than he does of his own children at the same age. This is a sore spot with us.” Many stepchildren—and, in some instances, biological children—complain of unequal treatment. However, the Bible recommends: “Do not hurry yourself in your spirit to become offended, for the taking of offense is what rests in the bosom of the stupid ones.” (Ecclesiastes 7:9) To avoid nurturing resentment, you need insight to consider the reasons why.—Proverbs 19:11.

A stepparent simply is not going to feel the same way toward a stepchild as he does toward his natural one, not so much due to the blood tie with his natural child, but because of the shared experience in living. Even in a biological family a parent may love one child more than another. (Genesis 37:3) However, there is an important distinction between equal and fair. People have individual personalities and differing needs. So rather than being overly concerned as to whether you are treated equally, try to see if your stepparent is striving to meet your needs. If you feel that these are not being met, then calmly discuss the matter with your stepparent.

At times you may have a legitimate “cause for complaint,” but can you overlook such in Christian love? (Colossians 3:13) Occasionally, your stepbrothers or stepsisters can be a source of contention. In the Bible the man Jephthah was unjustly treated by his half brothers. They even forced him out of the home. Yet, even such unjust treatment did not ruin his life. He became a man with sterling qualities, and later his half brothers had to humble themselves and beg for his help! Jephthah was too big to hold a grudge but truly ‘conquered evil with good.’ You can do the same. Never forget that all the children in your new family, not just you, may be wrestling with some emotional issue, and this must be worked out before the new situation is acceptable.—Romans 12:21; Judges 11:1-9.

Patience Pays Off!

“Better is the end afterward of a matter than its beginning. Better is one who is patient than one who is haughty in spirit.” (Ecclesiastes 7:8) This is especially true of a stepfamily! Normally several years are needed for trust to develop to the point where family members feel at ease with one another and for diverse habits and values to blend into a workable routine. Be patient! Do not expect to experience ‘instant love’ or that an ‘instant family’ will result.

When Thomas’ mother remarried, he was uneasy, to say the least. His mother had four children, including three teenagers, and the man she married had three daughters—two were teenagers. “We had fights, arguments, disruptions, terrible emotional strains,” wrote Thomas. What brought eventual success? “By applying Bible principles, things were resolved; not always immediately, but with time and the application of the fruits of God’s spirit, situations were eventually smoothed over.” (Galatians 5:22, 23) Yes, many stepfamilies have found that a commitment to Bible principles is what brings eventual success.a

Many are the benefits from a successful stepfamily. Your field of experience is deepened and enriched by the blending of different life-styles. By squarely facing the challenges of adjustment and working these out, you develop skills that are invaluable in today’s demanding world. You learn to accept that some things are not going to be the way you want them to be. “I know I can adjust to a million more situations because of what I’ve gone through,” says Mandy, a teenage stepdaughter. “I’m more flexible than I used to be. I’m more understanding of other people’s problems now, and I think I’m a better friend.” Living in a stepfamily certainly did not ruin her life—and neither need such ruin yours!

[Footnotes]

See “Building a Successful Stepfamily” in the October 15, 1984, Watchtower.

[Box on page 19]

How Does a Stepfamily Compare?

“Children living with stepfathers do just as well, or just as poorly, on all the many behavioral characteristics studied as children living with natural fathers.” This is the conclusion reached by researchers Paul Bohannan and Rosemary Erickson in a study of 190 families, of which 106 had stepfathers. They found that none of the pressures associated with a stepfamily “seems to affect the children’s mental health or their chances for a satisfactory social adjustment.”

A study to determine how much stress was felt by teenagers in a stepfamily revealed “that in nine of the eleven categories depicting areas of stress in stepfamily living, the subjects reported more ‘not stressful’ responses than ‘stressful.’” (Italics ours.) This study of 103 teenagers in stepfamilies was reported in Family Relations (July 1983). The areas of stress considered were divided into loyalty, discipline, unrealistic expectations, sexual issues, and others. The study concluded: “This may indicate that even in areas of concern there are stepfamilies who are dealing with issues in a relatively unstressful manner.” This was especially true of those who had lived in a stepfamily for longer than two years.

[Picture on page 20]

Here is your new sister!

My Father Was a Country Doctor

“MY FATHER was a country doctor.” With those words a lot is being said for a group of professional men of the early 20th century. They were a breed to themselves. Many of them were dedicated to their profession, tireless, and unusually kind to their patients. Country doctors were an asset to their community and especially to the poor and the sick that they treated.

They seemed to have a sixth sense in diagnosing ailments; perhaps it was their wide experience with so many ills. This they did without modern technology. It is not that they were an uneducated group or untrained in their field. My father was first educated as a schoolteacher and later went on to Starling Medical School in Columbus, Ohio, which later became part of Ohio State University.

Let me tell you what it was like to be a doctor at that time—without antibiotics and miracle drugs. In fact, most of the time they carried the pills and potions with them in a little black bag. Or, if in their office, they could give you a green tonic, a white salve, or a black salve, according to the case. The remedies were sold to Daddy by the “drug drummer” on one of his frequent visits to my father’s office. So the country doctor was somewhat schooled in pharmacy, and seldom did the patient have to go to an often distant drugstore to fill a prescription.

In the beginning Dad traveled by horse and buggy. Later he owned a Model T Ford, which had to be started by cranking. I can remember the cold mornings and how he cranked the Ford—which really did not want to start! As a rule my father was a mild man, but this effort could bring out words that should have instantly warmed the engine sufficiently for immediate starting!

But sooner or later the old Ford would start, and Dad would be off to visit the sick. Even in the wee hours of the morning the phone would ring, and he would get out of a warm bed to go off in the night to try to help the sick. Yes, in those days the doctors came to you, even though you might have been well enough to go to them!

And their bedside manner! When the country doctor would walk into the patient’s room he would breathe confidence, he would be tender, truly concerned. He might comfort a young woman who, scared and in pain, was giving birth to her first child. Or he would put his cold hand on your forehead when you were burning up with fever. You were sick, and he had come to offer his personal attention, which was like a balm to your pain. Then he would reach down into his little black bag, fiddle around with its contents, bring out a pill, and tell you to take it and that he would be back when you needed him.

The country doctor’s knowledge was well rounded. Not only could he set a broken bone or assist mothers to bring their babies into the world, but at times he had to fight infectious diseases. In the small town where we lived in West Virginia, there once was an epidemic of typhoid fever, which was not uncommon in those days. Dad nursed more than a few back to health. In fact, later we were told that his name was on record as outstanding for having never lost a patient to typhoid fever!

And He Could Pull Teeth Too!

Yes, and he could pull teeth, too, and this for a fee of 50 cents. Perhaps he was overpaid when you take into consideration how it must have hurt in comparison to modern extractions of teeth. One cold, wintry night a man came to our house and begged Daddy to come and pull his father’s aching tooth. The road to his house was too bad even for a horse and buggy, so Dad rode horseback to the man’s house, which was six miles (10 km) up a dirt road. This he did for 50 cents!

Then came the Spanish influenza in 1918-19. My father was busy literally day and night. People were desperate for a doctor’s help. Sometimes if a house was at the end of a lane, after making that call, he would be stopped at almost every house on his way back to the main road. In our own family, four of us had the flu, and finally Dad was so worn out that he came down with it too. But thanks to him, we all survived.

The Country Doctor—Well Paid

And the pay for all of this? In a sense, Dad was well paid. He received great satisfaction from helping others. He was well liked, and many a baby was named after him. In fact, some even named their babies after his little daughters that he sometimes took along with him.

As to money, well, Dad got along on what would seem like a small salary today. Most country doctors somehow had enough energy to care for a big garden and keep a cow and chickens to help out. At harvesttime, their payment from patients was often in the form of apples, potatoes, sausage, hams, and whatever else the farmers grew or raised. If a patient had some misfortune, such as a crop failure, well, Daddy could and did wait for his money. And more than once he gave a patient some money to help him along in time of sickness when he could not work.

One day Dad came back from a call and told us children to come out to the buggy to see something. He opened a box, and out popped a puppy—his pay for a house call. No dog could have been more loved than Bruno, who became part of the family.

At our home in Elm Grove, West Virginia, my father’s office, with its supply of medicine, was part of the house. No matter who came to the office at mealtime, they would be invited to eat with us at our table. Dad was very hospitable, and no one ever left our home hungry. Sometimes if they lived far away and it was snowing, they could even spend the night with us.

The Great Cure

It was a wintry night in 1929. While Dad was returning from a house call, his car was struck by a bus. After two weeks in the hospital, he died; he was 57 years old. Many were those who came to pay their respects to the country doctor whom they still owed for his visits. No matter, we never suffered because of Dad’s kindness to others. In fact, when kindness is shown to me, I feel that it is a reward for having a father who was a country doctor.

Now, all of this is not to underestimate the modern doctor and the marvelous things he can do. Just recently a little friend of mine, only ten years old, had brain surgery. The operation lasted six and one-half hours—without the use of transfused blood. My father, in his wildest dreams, could never have helped this boy with the knowledge and experience available to him.

But even the modern doctor has his limitations. He too sees misery and death. The country doctor as well as the modern practitioner each belong to an era. But the blessed time will come when the Great Physician will bring in a lasting cure, and “no resident will say: ‘I am sick.’” (Isaiah 33:24) I have every reason to believe that my father, the country doctor, will be there and be given the opportunity to rejoice in the everlasting health of all humanity.—Contributed.

[Blurb on page 22]

In those days the doctors came to you, even though you might have been well enough to go to them!

[Blurb on page 23]

Dad opened a box, and out popped a puppy—his pay for a house call

Keeping Small Hands Busy

EYES saddened by disappointment stare out the window. ‘It’s raining again,’ Kim and Leslie sigh in unison. The children run to their mother and ask: ‘Mom, what can we do today?’

After an automobile accident little Nicki was confined to bed for two weeks. “It was hard on her,” recalls her mother wistfully. “For a while there was nothing for her to do and she really got depressed.”

Christy, aged ten, saw other youngsters at school every day. But when she returned home, there weren’t that many around to play with. “My folks said I had to learn to entertain myself.”

Fathers and mothers everywhere wonder how they can keep the small hands in their family busy with wholesome activity. Perhaps one of the many solutions to this problem could be an inexpensive, easy-to-learn art form using bread dough.

‘I’ve never heard of bread-dough art before,’ you may say. ‘What is it, anyway?’ Bread dough is a claylike substance that can be used to create all manner of household decorations. The dough can be prepared in two different ways. In one method, flour, salt, and water are mixed and then baked in an oven, producing Baker’s Clay. The other method is a no-bake variety that uses bread and glue as its ingredients. Since both kinds of dough look and smell good, your children may be tempted to taste them. But please remember to instruct your children: DO NOT EAT THE DOUGH!

So You’re Not a Michelangelo? That’s Okay!

Now if the aspiring artist in your family can’t wait to get into those mud pies or is a natural at working with clay, then he or she is, without a doubt, a prime candidate for this delightful craft. But what about that child who would rather bury his nose in a book or the one who would prefer being out-of-doors playing ball? Could he, too, find satisfaction in working with bread dough? Well . . .

Jason and Jesse are brothers. While Jesse thrills over anything having to do with art, Jason could do without it. What was the outcome when both were asked to spend a little time working with this unique art form? They thoroughly enjoyed themselves! In fact, said their father: “That’s all they talked about for a whole week!”

But is working this clay really so simple that anyone can enjoy it? Yes, it is. Ethie Williamson, author of the book Baker’s Clay, explains: “The most inexperienced amateur or the smallest child knows instinctively how to handle the clay.” Molli Nickell, another expert on bread-dough art and author of This Is Baker’s Clay, agrees: “No other craft medium is so versatile or requires less knowledge and so few tools.” Therefore, fathers and mothers, why not make it a family affair? Are you willing to try it? Then we will consider the bread-and-glue method.

From Bread to Dough

On Mixing: Not many books on the subject describe the mess you are about to get into, so you might as well take a deep breath. Take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and knead the whole wad in the palm of your hand. If you imagine that it’s going to be sticky you are oh, so right. But cheer up! In about ten minutes it will form a nice, neat little white ball somewhat smaller than your fist and any residue on your hands should peel off or wash away.

…

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Awake!, May 8, 1985