Awake!, August 22, 1998
Awake! — August 22, 1998
Source: jw.org
Contents
Page Two
Adrift in a Sea of Advertising
The Art of Persuasion
The Power of Advertising
Bloodless Surgery—Its Benefits Gain Recognition
My Love for the Earth Will Be Satisfied Forever
An Icy Disaster
How Can I Earn Some Money?
Taste—Gift of a Loving Creator
The English Reformation—A Time of Change
Watching the World
From Our Readers
They Protect Sheep From Coyotes
“Refreshing in This Turbulent World”
Page Two
Page Two
Advertising—How Are You Affected? 3-9
Learn how advertising works and how it might influence you.
Bloodless Surgery—Its Benefits Gain Recognition 10
Doctors nearly everywhere are promoting bloodless surgery. Learn the reasons why.
An Icy Disaster 16
North America’s devastating ice storm and how people coped. How vulnerable are we to the elements?
Adrift in a Sea of Advertising
Adrift in a Sea of Advertising
“PAPA, what is the moon supposed to advertise?” This strange question, posed by a child, appeared in a poem written by Carl Sandburg some 50 years ago. In the future, such a question may not seem so strange. According to New Scientist magazine, two advertising executives in London are working on a plan to use reflected sunlight to project advertisements onto the surface of the moon.
Imagine using the moon as a billboard! Think of advertising a commercial message to a worldwide audience, a message that viewers cannot turn off, hang up on, toss in the garbage, or zap with a remote control. The idea may not enthrall you, but to others it would be a dream come true.
While advertising has not yet touched the moon, it has engulfed the earth. Most American magazines and newspapers reserve 60 percent of their pages for ads. The New York Times Sunday edition alone may contain 350 pages of advertisements. Some radio stations devote 40 minutes of every hour to commercials.
Then there is television. According to one estimate, American youngsters sit through three hours of television commercials each week. By the time they graduate from high school, they will have been exposed to 360,000 TV ads. Televisions advertise in airports, hospital waiting rooms, and schools.
Major sporting events are now major advertising events. Racing cars serve as high-speed billboards. Some athletes receive most of their money from advertisers. One top-ranking basketball player earned $3.9 million by playing ball. Advertisers paid him nine times that much to promote their products.
There is no escape. Commercial ads are displayed on walls, buses, and trucks. They adorn the inside of taxis and subways—even the doors of public toilets. Audio messages call to us in supermarkets, stores, elevators—and while we are on hold on the telephone. In some countries so much advertising comes through the mail that many recipients proceed directly from the mailbox to the nearest wastebasket to toss out the junk mail.
According to Insider’s Report, published by McCann-Erickson, a global advertising agency, the estimated amount of money spent on advertising worldwide in 1990 was $275.5 billion. Since then, the figures have soared to $411.6 billion for 1997 and a projected $434.4 billion for 1998. Big money!
The effect of all of this? One analyst put it this way: “Advertising is one of the most powerful socializing forces in the culture. . . . Ads sell more than products. They sell images, values, goals, concepts of who we are and who we should be . . . They shape our attitudes and our attitudes shape our behavior.”
Since you cannot escape advertising, why not find out how it works and how it might influence you?
The Art of Persuasion
The Art of Persuasion
WHAT is the aim of commercial advertising? Businesses say that their advertising provides a public service because it gives us information about their products. The International Advertising Association states: “To be properly informed the Consumer needs advertising. Informed choice is based on information. Advertising—in its broadest sense—is the vital conduit for that information between Producer and Consumer.”
Of course, we all know that such advertising does more than merely inform—its job is to sell. It is not objective or neutral. Successful ads skillfully engage the mind of the consumer and motivate him to buy the product advertised.
Moreover, advertising sells more than products; it sells brands. If you are a large manufacturer of soap, you will not spend millions of advertising dollars to encourage people to buy just any soap. You want them to buy your soap. You want ads that will somehow convince the public that your brand of soap is more desirable than any other.
The Target Audience
To be strategically sound, an ad is usually carefully directed to a certain audience, whether it be children, housewives, businesspeople, or some other group. The message is crafted to appeal to the most important concerns of that audience. Then the ad is run in the media that will most effectively reach them.
Before an ad is designed, a great deal of research goes into finding out about the group of people most likely to buy and use the product being advertised. Advertisers need to know who these people are, how they think and behave, what they desire and dream of. Wrote one professional advertiser: “We make it our business to know exactly whom we’re writing to. Who they are, where they live, what they buy. And why. Knowing all this gives us the ammunition to write persuasive sales messages. Our targets will respond to persuasion; they won’t respond to bluster, our self-interests, or rhetorical arrows shot randomly into the air.”
Elements of Persuasion
In the creation of an ad, careful wording is critical. Puffery, or exaggerated praise, is commonplace. A breakfast cereal is said to be “great,” and a greeting card company claims that people buy its cards when they “want to send the very best.” Though it is not always easy to distinguish between puffery and deliberate deceit, advertisers need to be careful not to make claims that can be disproved by verifiable facts. Some governments have laws that prohibit such dishonesty, and businesses are quick to sue if their interests are threatened by the deceptive ads of rivals.
When one product is almost identical to others, the claims the advertiser can make are limited, so the message often says little or nothing. Many identify their product with a catchy slogan. Some examples: “Just do it” (a brand of running shoes), “Breakfast of champions” (a breakfast cereal), “It’s your money, demand better” (a type of car), and “You’re in good hands” (an insurance company).
Visual messages, whether in a magazine or on television, contain powerful suggestions beyond what is actually said about the product. The way in which a product is presented may convey an idea such as, ‘If you buy this watch, people will respect you’ or ‘This brand of jeans will make you more attractive to the opposite sex’ or ‘This car will make your neighbors drool with envy.’ In one of the best-known and most successful advertising campaigns, a cigarette company links cowboys to its product. The cowboys are portrayed as strong, rugged, take-charge characters. The unspoken message: Smoke our cigarettes, and you will be like these admired men of action.
In addition to clever words and visual imagery, music is important to radio and television commercials. It engages the emotions, enhances the mood of an ad, helps make it memorable, and improves consumer attitudes toward the product.
World Watch magazine observes: “The most finely wrought ads are masterpieces—combining stunning imagery, bracing speed, and compelling language to touch our innermost fears and fancies. Prime-time television commercials in the industrial countries pack more suggestion into a minute than anything previously devised.”
Appeals to Logic and Emotion
Ads are carefully crafted to appeal to the specific desires and values of the target audience. Perhaps an ad will appeal to the need to have fun, the hunger for security, or a yearning to be accepted by others. Maybe the ad will direct itself to a desire to impress others, to be clean, or to stand out as different. Some ads promote their products by appealing to our fears. For example, one mouthwash company warned of the perils of bad breath: “Even your best friend won’t tell you” and, “Often a bridesmaid, never a bride.”
It is sometimes easy to look at an ad and analyze the nature of its appeal. Some ads are directed primarily to the conscious, reasoning, logical part of our minds. They present straightforward information about a product. An example is a sign that informs you that fish is now selling at half price. Another approach is to present a persuasive argument. This type of ad might reason that the half-price fish will not only save you money but delight your palate and provide superb nourishment for you and your family.
Other ads are designed to appeal to our emotional side. Mood commercials, for example, make their appeal by attaching pleasant imagery to the product. Producers of cosmetics, cigarettes, and liquor rely heavily on this approach. Other commercials use repetition. This hard-sell approach is based on the hope that if people hear a message enough times, they will believe it and buy the product, even if they hate the ad itself! This is why we often see ads recommending the same product over and over and over again. Nonprescription-drug companies commonly use this approach.
Command ads likewise appeal to our emotions. These ads directly tell us to do something: “Drink this!” “Buy now!” Command ads are thought to work best for products that the audience already knows and likes. A great many ads fall into yet another category. These are imitation, or testimonial, ads. These ads present famous or appealing people using or recommending the product the advertiser wants us to buy. This appeal is based on the idea that we want to be like people we admire. The cigarette-smoking cowboy is an example of this type of ad.
Stopping Power
Have you noticed that you can become so used to an ever-present smell or noise that you hardly notice it? The same happens with advertising.
According to Business Week magazine, the typical American is exposed to about 3,000 commercial messages each day. How do people react? They tune out, either literally or mentally. At best, most people give advertisements only partial attention.
To overcome viewer apathy, advertisements must grab our attention. Television commercials feature stunning visual effects. They strive to be entertaining, dramatic, funny, puzzling, or emotional. They feature celebrities and lovable cartoon characters. Many use sentiment to hold our attention, perhaps by focusing on cats, puppies, or babies.
Once the advertiser has captured our attention, he must hold our interest long enough to make us aware of the product being offered. Successful ads do not merely entertain; they try to persuade us to buy.
That, in brief, is how advertising works. Now we will look at its power.
[Blurb on page 6]
The typical American is exposed to about 3,000 commercial messages each day
[Box on page 5]
Zappers, Zippers, and Grazers
The television remote control is a weapon against advertisements. Many zap, or silence, an ad by pushing the mute button. Others record programs on videotapes and when playing them back zip through the ads by pressing the fast-forward button. Still others graze, which means they wander from channel to channel to avoid the ads. Skilled grazers know just about how long a commercial break will last, and they will return to the program they are watching when the ads are finished.
Advertisers attempt to zap-proof their ads by developing ads that have stopping power—those that immediately capture the interest of the viewer and hold it. The snare of creating flashy ads is that people may remember the ad but not the product being advertised.
[Box on page 6]
Subliminal Advertising
In the late 1950’s, James Vicary claimed to have conducted a study in a New Jersey, U.S.A., movie theater in which the words “Drink Coca-Cola” and “Eat Popcorn” were flashed on the screen during the movie. The messages appeared for only a fraction of a second, too briefly to make an impression on the conscious mind. Yet, according to Vicary, they resulted in an increase in the sale of Coca-Cola and popcorn. This claim led to widespread belief that advertisers could motivate people to buy things by projecting “unseen” messages. After reportedly signing contracts for $4.5 million with America’s largest advertisers, Mr. Vicary vanished without a trace. The advertisers had been the victims of a scam.
Subsequent study debunked Vicary’s claims. Said one longtime advertising executive: “Subliminal advertising doesn’t work. If it did, we would have used it.”
[Picture on page 7]
Commercials are designed to capture our attention
The Power of Advertising
The Power of Advertising
A LONG time ago, a commercial television break would be introduced with the words, “And now, a few words from our sponsor.” Sponsors are companies that pay to have their products advertised. While the “few words from our sponsor” have become a deluge, sponsors still financially support the news and entertainment media—television, magazines, newspapers, and radio. Consequently, sponsors try to wield power over what appears in the media and what does not.
To illustrate: In 1993 a company that manufactures a German luxury car wrote to 30 magazines dictating that ads featuring their car should be presented “only in a proper editorial environment.” The letter explained that the magazine issues containing their ads should not feature any material critical of their car, German products, or Germany itself. Of course, it is not surprising that this company, which spends $15 million on magazine advertising, would expect “a proper editorial environment.”
It is also not surprising when magazines that advertise new bridal dresses do not accept ads for used bridal dresses or when newspapers that list real estate brokers do not tell you how to buy a house without one. Likewise, it should not surprise us when media that advertise cigarettes or lotteries do not criticize smoking or gambling.
Consumer Culture
The power of advertising, therefore, goes beyond the selling of goods. It promotes a consumer life-style, a global culture that centers on material things.
Is there anything wrong with that? It depends on whom you ask. Advertisers reason that people love to buy and possess things; advertising serves their interests. Moreover, they say, advertising creates jobs, sponsors sports and the arts, helps provide affordable media, encourages competition, improves products, keeps prices low, and enables people to make informed buying choices.
Others claim that advertising makes people restless and dissatisfied with what they have, nurturing and creating endless desires. Researcher Alan During writes: “Advertisements, like our age, are mercurial, hedonistic, image-laden, and fashion-driven; they glorify the individual, idealize consumption as the route to personal fulfillment, and affirm technological progress as the motive force of destiny.”
Its Power Over You
Does commercial advertising help shape what we are and what we want? Probably. However, whether that influence is great or small depends on other influences.
If we are guided by Bible principles and values, we will recognize that there is nothing wrong with possessing material things. After all, God blessed Abraham, Job, Solomon, and others with enormous wealth.
On the other hand, if we apply Scriptural principles, we will avoid the discontent of those who search for fulfillment and happiness in a never-ending quest for material things. The Bible’s message is not “Shop till you drop.” Rather, it tells us:
Trust in God. “Give orders to those who are rich in the present system of things not to be high-minded, and to rest their hope, not on uncertain riches, but on God, who furnishes us all things richly for our enjoyment.”—1 Timothy 6:17.
Be content. “We have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things.”—1 Timothy 6:7, 8.
Be modest. “I desire the women to adorn themselves in well-arranged dress, with modesty and soundness of mind, not with styles of hair braiding and gold or pearls or very expensive garb, but in the way that befits women professing to reverence God, namely, through good works.”—1 Timothy 2:9, 10.
Know that godly wisdom is superior to wealth. “Happy is the man that has found wisdom, and the man that gets discernment, for having it as gain is better than having silver as gain and having it as produce than gold itself. It is more precious than corals, and all other delights of yours cannot be made equal to it. Length of days is in its right hand; in its left hand there are riches and glory. Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its roadways are peace. It is a tree of life to those taking hold of it, and those keeping fast hold of it are to be called happy.”—Proverbs 3:13-18.
Practice giving. “There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.”—Acts 20:35.
One could argue that this series of articles is in itself a kind of advertisement, one that “sells” the idea that spiritual values should not be pushed aside by material values. No doubt you would agree with that conclusion.
[Box on page 9]
Advertising God’s Kingdom
What is one of the best ways to reach people with a persuasive message? The book Advertising: Principles and Practice says: “In an ideal world every manufacturer would be able to talk one-on-one with every consumer about the product or service being offered for sale.” True Christians have voluntarily been publicizing God’s Kingdom in this way for nearly 2,000 years. (Matthew 24:14; Acts 20:20) Why do not more businesses use this method of reaching people? The book explains: “It is very expensive. Calls made by salespeople can cost well in excess of $150 per call.” Christians, of course, “advertise” God’s Kingdom on a voluntary basis. It is a part of their worship.
[Pictures on page 8]
The Bible’s message is not “Shop till you drop”
Bloodless Surgery—Its Benefits Gain Recognition
Bloodless Surgery—Its Benefits Gain Recognition
IN 1996 the Royal College of Surgeons of England published a booklet called the Code of Practice for the Surgical Management of Jehovah’s Witnesses. In that booklet the surgeons note: “The dangers of blood transfusion make it desirable to consider alternative measures whenever possible.”
AHA NEWS, published by the American Hospital Association, also reported on why the benefits of bloodless surgery have gained recognition. “What started as religious belief is evolving into medical preference and advanced technology,” the weekly periodical observed. “Bloodless medicine and surgery, motivated in part by the doctrines of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, is moving far beyond the needs of a spiritual society into operating rooms nationwide.”
Why many doctors are promoting bloodless surgery was a subject featured in the 1997 fall edition of a supplement of Time magazine. “Fear of AIDS is only one reason,” the article said. The article reported particularly on the work being done at Englewood Hospital’s New Jersey Institute for the Advancement of Bloodless Medicine and Surgery, in Englewood, New Jersey.
Time observed: “The institute is the leader among more than 50 in the U.S. that now practice bloodless surgery. Without using any donor blood at all, they offer a wide range of surgical procedures that would ordinarily include transfusions, along with techniques that dramatically reduce, or virtually eliminate, blood loss.”
Effective and Safe
The introduction of the Time article featured the experience of Henry Jackson, who suffered massive internal hemorrhaging that drained 90 percent of his blood and dropped his hemoglobin level to a life-threatening 1.7 grams per deciliter. Jackson was taken to the Englewood Hospital from another New Jersey hospital, which would not provide him treatment without using blood transfusions.
At the Englewood facility, under the care of Dr. Aryeh Shander, Jackson was given “high-potency formulations of iron supplements and vitamins, plus ‘industrial doses’ of a blood building drug, synthetic erythropoietin, that stimulates the bone marrow to produce red blood cells. Finally, intravenous fluids were administered to goad what little circulation he had left.”
Time reported that a few days later, “the first hospital called to ask whether Jackson was dead. With undisguised satisfaction, Shander told them, ‘He’s not only not dead, but he’s well and ready for discharge, and he’ll soon be about his usual business.’”
In a television interview on November 28, 1997, Dr. Edwin Deitch, medical director for the bloodless program at University Hospital, Newark, New Jersey, explained how research into bloodless surgery developed: “Jehovah’s Witnesses . . . went to a lot of effort to try to find people who would operate without blood. Some of the results of those studies found that they did better than was expected, [than] people who got blood.”
Dr. Deitch added: “Blood can turn down the immune system and cause problems with postoperative infection; it can increase the risk of someone having recurring cancer, so blood, although it was good in certain circumstances, turns out to have a bad side.” Of bloodless surgery, Dr. Deitch concluded: “It clearly improves patient outcome with less complications, and [it] costs less. And, therefore, it really is a winner in all circumstances.”
Thus, as Time said, “more and more patients are clamoring for safer and more effective options than transfusions.” The magazine also reported: “According to some estimates, 25% of U.S. transfusions are unnecessary. There are also indications that patients cannot tolerate levels of hemoglobin as high as previously thought and that young people especially have a built-in reserve of blood. . . . [Shander] is convinced that withholding blood is a viable and preferable choice for most patients.”
Though contracting disease through blood transfusions is a major danger, there are others. “Banked blood, after it’s cooled and stored, doesn’t have the capability of fresh blood to transport oxygen,” Dr. Shander explained. “We’re just beginning to understand what it is we do when we give a transfusion.”
“The Gold Standard”
“Finally,” Time concluded, “there is the cost: at around $500 for each transfusion, plus administrative add-ons, the total bill comes to between $1 billion and $2 billion annually, more than enough incentive to consider alternatives.” The staggering cost of blood transfusions now seems to be a major reason why bloodless surgery has become so popular.
Sharon Vernon, the director of the Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at St. Vincent Charity Hospital, Cleveland, Ohio, said about the treatment of patients without using blood: “It’s growing because physicians are recognizing that bloodless medicine is the gold standard in a cost-cutting environment. Our experience has been that even insurance companies that don’t normally network with us, send people to us, because it saves them money.”
Clearly, bloodless surgery is rapidly gaining recognition in the medical community, and that for a number of reasons.
[Box on page 11]
Recent Court Decisions
Two court decisions handed down in the state of Illinois, U.S.A., in November and December of 1997 were significant. In the first, Mary Jones, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, was awarded $150,000 in damages because she had been transfused in 1993 with two units of blood despite her clear objection to this form of treatment. This is the largest sum ever collected by a Witness for emotional harm suffered as the result of an unwanted blood transfusion.
The second case involved the then pregnant Witness Darlene Brown, who was forcibly transfused for the sake of her 34-week fetus. On December 31, 1997, the Illinois Appellate Court explained its decision by saying that “a blood transfusion is an invasive medical procedure that interrupts a competent adult’s bodily integrity.” The Appellate Court summarized its ruling by saying that “under the law of this State, . . . we cannot impose a legal obligation upon a pregnant woman to consent to an invasive medical procedure.”
On February 9, 1998, the Tokyo High Court reversed the ruling of a lower court, which had ruled that a doctor was justified in giving Misae Takeda a blood transfusion during a surgery in 1992. The High Court declared that “the patient’s right to choose treatment should be respected. It was illegal to administer a blood transfusion.” Misae Takeda was awarded damages of 550,000 yen ($4,200).
My Love for the Earth Will Be Satisfied Forever
My Love for the Earth Will Be Satisfied Forever
As told by Dorothy Connelly
When I was a little girl, I was told that I would go to hell because I am an Aborigine. Years later, in 1936, I heard a recording of a Bible lecture that turned the hose on hell and lit a flame in my heart. That flame is now brighter than ever. Before I explain why, let me tell you something about myself.
I WAS born about the year 1911. I say “about” because in those days Aborigines never bothered with dates and birth certificates. My parents were hard-working, God-fearing people. We lived in the small town of Springsure, near the rugged, beautiful Carnarvon Range in central Queensland, Australia.
My father was reared in the Roman Catholic faith by a white family. Yet, my Aboriginal parents instilled in me their native customs and love of the earth. We hunted kangaroos, emus, turtles, and snakes and caught fish and witchetty grubs (large edible caterpillars). But I would never eat emu. In our family, to me alone it was forbidden because it was my personal totem. According to Aboriginal tradition, or “Dreamtime,” each member of the tribe has his or her own totem, and the ban on that item was enforced by family and tribe.
Although totemism is rooted in superstition, the enforcing of this taboo was a reminder of the sacredness of life. Aborigines did not kill for fun. I remember shriveling under the heat of Father’s anger when he caught me dismembering live grasshoppers when I was a little girl. “That’s terrible!” he exclaimed. “Don’t you know God hates cruelty? How would you like it if someone did that to you?”
We had many superstitions. For example, if a willie wagtail (a tiny bird) played by our camp, it meant bad news; or if an owl sat on a nearby stump in the daytime, we believed it meant that someone was going to die. Certain dreams were also seen as omens. For example, muddy water in a dream meant someone in the family was sick. But if the water was oozing with mud, then supposedly someone had died. True, we were Catholic, but this did not dispel all our tribal superstitions.
My family also retained our Aboriginal language. Now, though, it is one of the many that are teetering on extinction. Still, I am able to use it occasionally when talking to others about the Bible. Mostly, though, I use either English or the local pidgin.
Valuable Early Training
When I was about ten years old, our family lived on a cattle station, or ranch, about 20 miles [about 30 kilometers] from Springsure. Each day I would walk the mile or two to the station house to attend to my domestic duties. A billy (small can) of milk and a loaf of bread were my day’s pay. Our family lived in bark humpies, traditional Aboriginal dwellings. When it rained, we would sleep in nearby caves for the night. Did I view this simple way of life as a hardship? No. It had been the Aboriginal way of life for centuries, and we accepted it.
Actually, I’m glad that life was not dished up to me on a silver platter, as it were, and that I had loving parents who disciplined me, made me work hard, and taught me how to live off the land. In 1934, shortly after we moved to a reservation near Woorabinda, Queensland, I left home for the first time and went west to work on cattle and sheep stations as a housemaid and general hand. Work eventually took me east, just outside the coastal city of Rockhampton. There I met my late husband, Martin Connelly, the son of an Irishman. We were married in 1939.
Learning Bible Truth
I always felt a deep respect for the Bible. When I was a youth, the mistress of the cattle station would gather us children together—Aboriginal and white—and tell us stories about Jesus. Once, she explained the meaning of Jesus’ words: ‘Forbid not the little children to come unto me.’ (Matthew 19:14, King James Version) For the first time since I had been told I was damned to hell, I saw a ray of hope for me.
Later I heard the recorded discourse, mentioned at the outset, about hell not being hot. Although that started me thinking, I had no further contact with Jehovah’s Witnesses until 1949. We were then living in Emerald, about 150 miles [about 250 kilometers] west of Rockhampton. Our caller, R. Bennett Brickell,a spoke with us about the Bible. Afterward, our home became Ben’s home whenever he was in our area. We all, including Martin and our four children, felt a deep respect for him. Martin took no interest in the Bible’s message, although he was always kind and hospitable to the Witnesses and especially to Ben.
Ben gave me many Bible study aids, but there was a major problem—I could not read. Thus, Ben patiently read the Bible and Bible-based literature to the children and me, explaining what he read as he went along. What a refreshing contrast he was to the clergy who, once religious formalities were dispensed with, never spared so much as five minutes to teach us how to read! Ben showed us from the Bible that Satan and his demons are the authors of the many superstitions that have fettered humankind, including my own people. How I grew to appreciate Jesus’ words: “The truth will set you free”!—John 8:32.
I was thrilled to learn of God’s purpose to have an earthly paradise for those who obey him. Above all, I came to yearn for the resurrection of the dead; Mother had died in 1939, and Father in 1951. I often look forward to the day when I can embrace them and welcome them back to the earth they so cherished. And what a thrill it will be to teach them about Jehovah God and his Kingdom!
An Illiterate Preacher
As my Bible knowledge grew, I wanted to share it. I talked with relatives and friends, but then I wanted to branch out. So when Ben next came to Emerald, I bundled up the children, and we all went with him preaching. He demonstrated simple presentations to me and taught me to rely on Jehovah through prayer. My delivery, I must admit, was not very polished, but it was from my heart.
First, I told the householders that I could not read; and second, I invited them to read the Bible passages that I pointed out to them. I had memorized these passages. I’d get some surprised looks in this predominantly white township, but people were rarely rude. In time, I learned to read. How this boosted my confidence and my spirituality!
My First Convention
In March 1951, having dedicated my life to Jehovah, I came to the next two milestones in my life: water baptism and my first convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses. But that meant traveling to the big city of Sydney—a daunting prospect for a country girl. What is more, I didn’t have funds for the train fare. So, what could I do?
I decided to gamble to get money for my fare. ‘I’m doing this for Jehovah,’ I reasoned, ‘so surely he will help me win.’ By the end of a few rounds of cards, I felt that he had helped me, for I had enough to cover the entire round-trip fare.
Ben knew of my plans to go to Sydney, so the next time he visited, he asked me if I had sufficient funds. “Why, yes!” I replied. “I got the train fare by gambling for it.” Well, he turned the color of a tomato, and I knew straightaway that I had said something wrong. So in quick defense, I added: “What’s wrong with you? I never stole it!”
When Ben regained his composure, he kindly explained why Christians don’t gamble and added, reassuringly: “But it’s not your fault. I did not tell you.”
Made to Feel Welcome
That four-day convention, March 22-25, 1951, was my first contact with so many Witnesses. Having known only Ben and a handful of others, I was unsure of the reception I would receive. So you can imagine how thrilled I was to be warmly welcomed by my future spiritual brothers and sisters, who showed not a hint of prejudice. I felt truly at home and at ease.
That convention is still vivid in my memory, especially because I was among the 160 baptized in Botany Bay. Apparently, I was one of the first Australian Aborigines to become one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. My picture appeared in the Sunday newspaper and also in a newsreel shown at movie theaters.
The Only Witness in Town
A month after I returned from Sydney, our family moved to Mount Isa, a mining town in northwest Queensland. For six years we lived in a shed as caretakers of a large block of land just outside town. We built the walls of our shed out of the timber we cut from nearby bush. We made the roof from old bitumen drums that we slit down the side and flattened out. Martin got a job with the railways, but his drinking eventually ruined his health. Then, I became the sole support of our family. He died in 1971.
To begin with, I was the only Witness in Mount Isa. Ben would visit every six months or so, since Mount Isa was part of his vast witnessing territory. If he happened to be in town at the time of the Memorial of the death of Jesus Christ—a very special occasion for Ben, since he had the hope of heavenly life—he would celebrate it with my family, at times out under a tree.
Usually Ben did not stay long, so the children and I did most of our witnessing on our own. True, we were alone; but Jehovah’s spirit empowered us, and so did his loving organization. Faithful traveling overseers and their wives battled sweltering heat, flies, dust, and spine-jarring roads to come to Mount Isa to encourage us, even though for years our group was very small. Also, Witnesses from the newly formed neighboring congregation in Darwin, over 800 miles [over 1,200 kilometers] away, would occasionally visit.
A Congregation Formed
In December 1953 a congregation was formed in Mount Isa. Ben was appointed overseer, and my daughter Ann and I were the only others who then shared in the ministry. But soon other Witnesses moved into town. Our territory also began to produce a growing crop of disciples, including, in time, a number of Aboriginal people.
The congregation continued to grow, and soon it became evident that we needed a Kingdom Hall in which to hold our meetings. In May 1960, after a lot of hard work, we finished building our own new hall. During the next 15 years, it was enlarged twice. But by the mid-1970’s, we had some 120 sharing in the public ministry, and the hall was again too small. So a fine, 250-seat Kingdom Hall was built, and it was dedicated in 1981. Because of its overflow capacity, the building has also been used for larger gatherings called circuit assemblies.
Growth Among Aborigines
Thrilling to me was the formation in 1996 of an Aboriginal and Islander group that is associated with the Mount Isa Congregation. Islanders are Aborigines who come from islands near the Australian mainland. The prime objective of this group is to give a better witness to Aborigines, some of whom tend to feel less at ease with white people.
Scattered around Australia are about 20 other such groups of Aborigines. Additionally, congregations of Aboriginal people have been formed in Adelaide, Cairns, Ipswich, Perth, and Townsville. About 500 people—including some of my own family—attend these groups and congregations. Almost 10 percent of Aboriginal publishers are pioneers, or full-time ministers!
I became diabetic in 1975, and over the years this illness, which afflicts so many Aborigines, has taken its toll. Reading has become increasingly difficult. Yet, Jehovah continues to sustain me and give me joy.
I am grateful for the courageous ministers who have served my family and me. Their indomitable zeal, their love, and the spiritual treasures they bore on bicycles as they traversed the dusty, lonely roads and tracks of outback Queensland made possible our learning Bible truth. Now I await confidently the time when my love for the earth will be satisfied forever.
[Footnote]
Ben Brickell’s remarkable life story appeared in The Watchtower of September 1, 1972, pages 533-6.
[Map/Picture on page 15]
(For fully formatted text, see publication)
Perth
Darwin
Cairns
Townsville
Mount Isa
Rockhampton
Emerald
Springsure
Woorabinda
Ipswich
Sydney
Adelaide
Dorothy today
[Picture on page 13]
Practice session with Ben in the mid-1950’s
An Icy Disaster
An Icy Disaster
“THE worst natural disaster in the nation’s history.” That is what The Toronto Star called this January’s ice storm that ravaged the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick. In the United States, President Bill Clinton declared Maine and New Hampshire as well as sections of Vermont and upstate New York disaster areas.
Some 35 deaths were attributed to the storm, which involved up to five days of freezing rain. Such rain usually lasts for only a few hours, but on this occasion a warm upper layer of air remained stationary over a cold air mass. So when the rain hit a surface, it instantly froze. This built up layers of ice two and three inches thick. Under the weight of the ice, many trees, power lines, utility poles, and transmission towers collapsed, often with frightening consequences.
In Quebec, hundreds of huge steel transmission towers toppled as if they were made of tinfoil. One anxious commuter related: “I saw a [tower] in front of me twist like it was plastic. It twisted in two, then became a ball, and crumbled. The lines were all over the highway. After the first one fell, three others behind it collapsed.”
Ice accumulation brought down more than 74,000 miles [more than 120,000 kilometers] of power lines, enough to encircle the earth three times! In Canada, three to four million people were without power and heat, some for three weeks and longer.
In Maine, where Governor Angus King declared a state of emergency, over 200,000 were without power. “This is the biggest disaster of this kind that has ever hit this state,” the governor said. New York Governor George Pataki proclaimed: “You have entire cities with zero power.”
Along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, some 30,000 wooden utility poles were destroyed during the storm. After 17 hours of freezing rain, Jim Kelly, who lives near that river in northern New York, wrote: “We can’t see out the windows anymore. It’s not just frost or vapor but solid ice. Noises are coming from every side of the house.”
Kelly explained: “In the distance you can hear what sounds like gunfire. Bang! Silence. Bang! Silence. Bang, bang!” Later, he learned that the sounds had come from trees breaking and from the snapping of telephone poles.
Ironically, the landscape took on a dazzling beauty, even as devastation was wreaked upon it. Fears were expressed that Ontario may have lost 20 million maple trees, impacting the maple syrup industry. One grower lamented: “The trees are just spikes heading towards the sky.”
“A Beautiful War Zone”
The above was a Toronto Star headline describing Montreal, Canada’s second-largest city. “The streets here look like bombs hit them!” one resident exclaimed. An early estimate of damage in the Montreal area alone was put at more than $500 million.
A resident of Belleville, Ontario, said: “It looks like a nuclear war has passed. There’s a white dust on everything, it’s eerie.” He called it “an eerie beauty.”
The week following the storm, when hundreds of thousands were still without power and the cold was severe, the police began evacuating people to shelters. “Do we ask them or do we order them?” an officer asked.
“They have to get out,” the one in charge replied. “But be diplomatic about it.” He added: “You’d think we were in wartime.”
Near Calamities
With loss of power in much of Montreal, traffic lights failed and the subway system was closed. By the last day of the storm, four of the five transmission stations serving the city had failed or collapsed. With what possible consequences?
“We found ourselves in the afternoon with the perspective of a total blackout in Montreal—without water,” explained Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard. “There were two hours of water left because the two plants were stopped.” With people using candles and the prospect of no water at all, the possibility of a calamity was great.
Another calamity was averted about two weeks later when a crowd of 1,889 were assembled on January 24 for a circuit assembly at the Montreal Assembly Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Overnight, ten inches [more than 20 centimeters] of wet snow had blanketed Montreal, and during the morning assembly program, damage was detected in the walls and ceilings. The afternoon program was canceled, and an appeal was made for those in attendance to go home, change their clothes, and return to the site to work.
Within an hour 300 volunteers equipped with shovels, picks, and other equipment began to clear the huge 77,000-square-foot [7,100-square-meter] roof. After the surface snow was removed, it was discovered that in places the ice was more than two feet [more than 60 centimeters] thick! Chain saws were used to cut the ice into square pieces, and these were dragged to the edge of the roof and dropped off. Some 1,600 tons of snow and ice was removed! Inspection later revealed that as a result, the ceilings popped back into place and the cracks in the walls closed. The program resumed safely on Sunday morning.
They Helped One Another
True, some people in the area sought to profit from the misery of others during the time of rain and cold, but as in the first century, many showed “extraordinary human kindness.” (Acts 28:2) The Daily Sentinel of Rome, New York, told of Jehovah’s Witnesses who headed out to help people: “The men met at the Kingdom Hall in Watertown to get organized and from there were assigned to various members’ houses. But they wound up helping their neighbors up and down the street too.”
The article said that these relief efforts were coordinated for people “across the region in Adams, Potsdam, Malone, Ogdensburg, Plattsburgh, Massena, Gouverneur, and Ellenburg.” Some volunteers provided heat to homes for a few hours by wiring up generators to run furnaces. Unhappily, temperatures had dropped to below zero in many areas following the storm.
On one occasion the police saw Witnesses visiting homes and mistook them for thieves. When the Witnesses explained what they were doing, one of the policemen said that following the storm, his father, who lives in Montreal, had been helped by Jehovah’s Witnesses, even though his father is not a Witness himself. The son expressed his appreciation for the help given.
Especially hard hit by the storm were some 100 towns south of Montreal in an area called the “triangle of darkness.” Ten days after the storm, these towns were still without power. In fact, many people were without power for over a month! Arrangements were made by the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses near Toronto for special visits to provide help to ones in this area. Supplies including lamp oil, batteries, and flashlights were trucked to a designated distribution center, and from there they were dispensed to those in need.
Arrangements were also made for Christian elders to determine the needs of those living in these areas. One group of elders visited 11 congregations within a week, holding many encouraging meetings. After these gatherings, where spiritual encouragement was provided, no one wanted to return home. People just stayed and stayed, talking and comparing stories, basking in the fellowship. In fact, regular meeting attendance was at an all-time peak in the weeks following the storm.
Many who had a source of heat, such as a wood stove or a generator to provide electricity, welcomed those who had no heat into their homes. Some Witnesses had as many as 20 people staying with them. Also many outside the area that had lost electricity provided accommodations. For example, Witnesses in Sept-Îles, a city some 500 miles [some 800 kilometers] from the “triangle of darkness,” offered to accommodate 85 families.
Witnesses in distant rural areas, such as Rimouski, cut and shipped firewood. Some took the time to write scriptures on the logs they sent. One Witness shared his gift of wood with a non-Witness neighbor, who received a log with Psalm 55:16 written on it: “Jehovah himself will save me.” Log in hand, he looked up and said: “Thank you, Jehovah.”
What Lessons From It All?
Many were shocked by the fragility of electrical power and by their dependence upon it. “I’ll tell you, when we build a new home,” one man said, “there’s going to be a wood stove, there’s going to be a generator . . . , and there’s going to be a gas stove.”
Nearly six weeks after the storm, a commentator reflected: “It was a lot of ice, a lot of darkness, a lot of time to think, which is much easier to do with the television off.” Then, he noted: “We’ve been surprised by our vulnerability to the elements.”
Bible students reflect on the Creator’s promise to restore earth to a global paradise after removing this system of things, even as he removed such a world once before. (Matthew 24:37-39; 2 Peter 2:5) Pointing to his potential arsenal, God inquires: “Have you entered into the storehouses of the snow, or do you see even the storehouses of the hail [including freezing rain], which I have kept back for the time of distress, for the day of fight and war?”—Job 38:22, 23.
[Picture on page 17]
Transmission towers crumbled like tinfoil
[Picture on page 18]
Potential disaster was averted when volunteers removed snow and ice from the roof of the Assembly Hall
[Picture on page 18]
Firewood for storm victims
How Can I Earn Some Money?
Young People Ask . . .
How Can I Earn Some Money?
“I want a job that makes good money.”—Tanya.
MANY youths share Tanya’s sentiments. “I want money to buy a car and to be able to go out and buy clothes,” says a youth named Sergio. “I don’t want to be dependent on my parents for everything.” Young Laurie-Ann has a similar reason for working. “I’m a girl, and I like to shop,” she says.
Little wonder, then, that according to the magazine U.S.News & World Report, “3 out of 4 [U.S.] high-school juniors and seniors now troop off to work after school and on weekends.” To some extent, this reflects the unbalanced “love of money” that is so prevalent in today’s materialistic world. (1 Timothy 6:10) However, not all income-seeking youths are succumbing to materialism.
“Money is for a protection,” says the Bible. (Ecclesiastes 7:12) And there may be a number of legitimate reasons why as a Christian youth you may want to earn some money.a Young Avian, for example, explains why he works two days a week: “It allows me to support myself as a regular pioneer [full-time evangelizer].”
There may be similar reasons why you may desire to obtain a part-time job. Perhaps you have the goal of attending a Christian convention. Or maybe you need some more clothing that would be appropriate to wear at congregation meetings. In any event, these things require money. True, Jesus promised that God would provide for those ‘seeking first God’s Kingdom.’ (Matthew 6:33) But this does not rule out your taking some initiative in this regard. (Compare Acts 18:1-3.) What, then, are some practical steps you might take if you need to earn some money?
Getting Started
Assuming that your parents agree to your taking on some work, your first task might be to approach neighbors, teachers, and relatives and let them know that you’re looking for work. If you’re shy about asking them directly, you might simply ask them what they did for work when they were teens. They may give you some useful ideas. The more people who know that you are looking for work, the more leads and referrals you are likely to get.
Next, try newspaper want ads and information boards in stores, your school, and other public areas. “That’s how I got my job,” says a youth named Dave. “I looked in the paper, faxed them a résumé, and called them up.” Did you realize, though, that many jobs are not advertised? According to Seventeen magazine, some estimate that “as many as three out of ten jobs don’t exist until the right person comes along.” Perhaps you can convince an employer that he needs to find a job for you!
But how? ‘I have no experience,’ you may think. Well, think again. Have you ever taken care of a younger sibling when your parents were away or baby-sat for others? This shows that you are responsible. Have you helped your dad fix the car? That shows that you may have mechanical aptitude. Do you know how to type or use a computer? Or did you get good marks for some innovative project? These are good selling points for prospective employers.
Don’t overlook your hobbies and interests either. For instance, if you play a musical instrument, see if there is a position open at a music store. You are obviously interested in the store’s products and would surely be in a good position to answer a customer’s questions.
Applying for a Job
Suppose you have made an appointment for a job interview. Give attention to your dress and grooming, as your appearance makes a statement. It can say “responsible, neat, organized”—or just the opposite. The Bible is practical when it encourages Christian women “to adorn themselves in well-arranged dress, with modesty and soundness of mind.” (1 Timothy 2:9) That also applies to men. Never wear faddish or sloppy clothes to a job interview, no matter what kind of work the job involves.
Your attitude and manners also say a lot about you. Practice the Golden Rule: Treat others as you want to be treated. (Matthew 7:12) Be on time for your appointment. Be enthusiastic and alert. Use good manners. Without boasting or exaggerating, explain why you feel you are qualified for the position. Be specific.
Some experts recommend that you bring (or send ahead of time) a neat, well-organized résumé. It should include your name, address, telephone number, employment objective, education (including any special classes you may have taken), previous job experience (including both paid work and volunteer work), special skills, personal interests and hobbies (these may shed light on your capabilities), and a note that references are available upon request. You might also prepare a separate sheet listing the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of some individuals who could recommend you for the job. Make sure, of course, that you ask their permission in advance. These could include former employers, a teacher, a school counselor, an older friend—anyone who can testify to your skills, abilities, or personality traits.
Working for Yourself
What if despite your best efforts you cannot find a job? This is common in many lands. But don’t despair. Starting your own business could very well be the answer. The advantages? You may be able to set your own schedule and work as much or as little as you wish. Of course, being self-employed requires that you be self-motivated, disciplined, and willing to take the initiative.
But what kind of business could you start? Think about your neighborhood. Is there a need for goods or services that no one else is providing? For example, suppose you love animals. You could offer to bathe or trim your neighbors’ pets for a fee. Or maybe you play a musical instrument. Could you perhaps teach others to play? Or maybe it is a matter of doing work that others often disdain, such as washing windows or cleaning. A Christian is not embarrassed to work with his hands. (Ephesians 4:28) You might even try learning a new skill. Check libraries for how-to books, or ask a friend to teach you. Young Joshua, for example, took a class in calligraphy. Then he started a small business designing invitations for weddings and parties.—See the box “Jobs You Can Create.”
A word of caution: Don’t rush into any enterprise before studying all the costs and factors involved. (Luke 14:28-30) First, talk it over with your parents. Also, talk to others who have run similar businesses. Will you be required to pay taxes? Will you need to obtain licenses or permits? Check with local authorities for details.—Romans 13:1-7.
Keep Your Balance!
Of course, there is the danger of taking on more than you can handle. Laurie-Ann said of some employed youths: “They don’t do a lot of homework, and they’re too tired to pay attention in class.” True, in some parts of the world, youths have no choice but to work long hours to help their families survive. But if you are not in that situation, why go overboard in this regard? According to most experts, working more than 20 hours a week while attending school is excessive and counterproductive. Some suggest devoting no more than eight to ten hours a week to work.
Use up too much of your time, energy, and alertness on after-school work, and your health, grades, and especially spirituality can begin to slip. Yes, it is not only adults who have been choked by “the deceptive power of riches and the desires for the rest of the things.” (Mark 4:19) So keep your balance. Solomon warned against excessive work, saying: “Better is a handful of rest than a double handful of hard work and striving after the wind.”—Ecclesiastes 4:6.
Yes, making money may be necessary. And if your motives for doing so are wholesome and godly, such as young Avian’s, mentioned earlier, you can be sure that Jehovah will bless your efforts. Make sure, though, that you never get so tied up with work that you forget “the more important things,” namely, spiritual interests. (Philippians 1:10) Although money may be “a protection,” it is your relationship with God that will make you truly successful.—Ecclesiastes 7:12; Psalm 91:14.
[Footnote]
The “Young People Ask . . . ” articles appearing in the November 22, 1990; December 8, 1990; and September 22, 1997, issues of Awake! weigh the pros and cons of after-school jobs.
[Box on page 22]
Jobs You Can Create
• Washing windows
• Selling or delivering newspapers
• Shoveling snow
• Gardening or doing lawn work
• Baby-sitting
• Feeding, walking, or bathing pets
• Shining shoes
• Mending or ironing clothes
• Growing produce and selling it
• Raising chickens or selling eggs
• Doing typing or word processing
• Running errands
• Making deliveries
• Teaching music or other subjects
[Picture on page 21]
Excessive work can cause your grades to drop
Taste—Gift of a Loving Creator
Taste—Gift of a Loving Creator
“IN THE realm of the [five] senses,” said Linda Bartoshuk, a leading taste researcher, “taste is queen.” Tasting is a delightful experience that protects us by helping us to distinguish what is acceptable from what is harmful.
The marvel of taste allows us to enjoy the sweetness of a fresh orange, the refreshing coolness of mint ice cream, the bracing bitter flavor of a morning cup of coffee, and the subtle seasoning of a chef’s secret sauce. Taste is so powerful that personality traits have been associated with it.
Perhaps you have identified some people as being sweet. On the other hand, you may have said someone else was a sourpuss. A person who harbors enmity toward another may be said to be bitter. The Bible, for example, speaks of “men bitter of soul,” and it also refers to “bitter speech.”—Judges 18:25; Psalm 64:3; 2 Samuel 17:8.
Taste and World History
Taste was a major factor in the voyages of discovery in the 15th and 16th centuries. About 500 years ago, Vasco da Gama sailed around the tip of Africa to India and back to Portugal, returning with a cargo of spices. For the next three centuries, European nations were plunged into conflict, as France, Great Britain, Holland, Portugal, and Spain competed for control of spice sources.
‘Why,’ you may wonder, ‘would nations fight and die over spices?’ To satisfy taste! Yes, the taste of Europeans for spices was that powerful. To this day modern industry, commerce, and science all cater to taste.
Just what is taste? And how does it work in concert with our other senses?
The Role of the Tongue
A key player in our sense of taste is the tongue. Most of our taste buds are located there, although some are found in other parts of the mouth and in the esophagus. Take a close look at your tongue in the mirror. Notice the numerous small projections that give your tongue a velvety feel. These are called papillae. Tiny taste buds cluster within the papillae on the tongue’s surface. “Each bud contains 100 or so taste cells,” says Science magazine, “which, when excited, trigger a nerve cell that carries the signal to the brain.”
The number of taste buds may vary greatly from person to person and thus affect taste. The human tongue may have as many as 10,000 taste buds or as few as 500. Inglis Miller, who studied the anatomy of taste buds, observed: “People who have more taste buds taste more; people with fewer taste buds taste less.”
How Taste Works
Taste is a highly complex sense. Strictly speaking, it is a matter of chemistry. Dissolved chemical components from food in our mouth stimulate taste receptors that project through the pores in our tongue. The receptor cells react and stimulate nerve cells (neurons) to send signals from the taste bud to the brain.
Amazingly, one taste bud can trigger many different neurons, and one neuron may receive messages from several taste buds. No one knows exactly how the taste receptors and their complicated system sort it all out. The Encyclopedia Americana says: “The sensations perceived in the brain evidently result from a complex coding of the electrical impulses transmitted by the receptor cells.”
Other senses are also involved in the sensation that we identify with taste. The New Book of Popular Science noted: “Sometimes one hardly knows whether one is tasting or smelling a substance.” For instance, we may pass a bakery shop and breathe in the aroma of freshly baked bread. Our mouth begins to water. And then if we enter the shop and see the bread and perhaps touch its crust, our senses are excited even more. We are anxious to take that first bite!
What, then, is this sense of taste? The magazine Omni explains: “What the layperson describes as taste is actually a tangled synthesis of a number of sensations: odor, taste, touch, texture, sight, chemical irritation (the burn of chili pepper, the cool of mint), and temperature.”
On the other hand, as the article continues, “taste . . . is quite simple. We differentiate four (and only four) taste qualities: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.” Although it has been popular to map the tongue into taste-sensitive areas, it is now believed that a single taste bud anywhere on the tongue can detect several or all of these four taste qualities.
Yet, there is still much that is unknown about the chemistry of taste. For example, it is not understood why adding a few drops of sour lemon juice will enhance the salty taste of food. And it is of interest that the taste qualities sweet, sour, and salty set off electrical signals in the taste cells, but bitter apparently causes these cells to produce a chemical message.
Acquiring a Taste
Likely, you have acquired a taste for things that you did not enjoy at first. This may be true of such items as olives, blue cheese, turnips, hot spices, and bitters. From early times “bitter greens,” such as endive and chicory, have added special flavor to meals and salads. But your taste needs to be educated to enjoy bitterness.—Exodus 12:8.
Studies suggest that acquiring a taste for a food has much to do with the circumstances under which you encounter the food. For example, one woman had never tasted bologna. Even the sight and smell of it were obnoxious to her because her mother had such an aversion to bologna. But one day when she was in her 20’s, this woman was very hungry and found nothing to eat except bologna. So she ate some and was amazed that she really liked the taste!
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