February 8

The Wisdom of Admitting a Mistake

WHO does not make mistakes? No human is infallible. Old and young, learned and unlearned, rich and poor, men and women, one and all are imperfect, and so make mistakes.

Human experience bears out the truth of the words of the inspired penman, the Christian disciple James, “We all make many mistakes.” (Jas. 3:2, Revised Standard Version) And as King Solomon said in his prayer at the dedication of Jehovah’s temple: “There is no man that does not sin.” Is it proper to say, then, that a sin is a mistake? Yes, for the word rendered “sin” in our Bibles literally means a mistake, a missing of the mark.​—1 Ki. 8:46.

Since, due to inherited weakness, we all keep making mistakes and so fall short of the mark of perfection, why does it seem so difficult to admit making a mistake? For one thing, we may be trying so hard not to make a certain mistake that when we do, we dislike admitting it even to ourselves.

Doubtless in many cases the reason is pride. Admitting a mistake reflects on things we may take pride in, such as our knowledge, our skill or our carefulness. We want to have a good appearance in the eyes of others. Seeking to “save face” is not limited to Orientals.

Without doubt a very telling reason why it is difficult at times to admit making a mistake is the blame, censure or punishment that may come because of having made a mistake, as when one causes a serious accident. Thus, late in August 1972, a “human error” caused what were called “massive commuter tie-ups,” putting all four main tracks of the Penn Central railroad leading into New York city out of commission, and that for hours. “Someone pulled the wrong switch or pushed the wrong button,” and officials were determined to find out who made the mistake, who was really to blame. The guilty one was not anxious to speak up and admit the mistake.​—New York Times, August 30, 1972.

Because of the shame that goes with making a mistake the tendency is to pin the blame on others, a thing our very first parents, Adam and Eve, tried to do. (Gen. 3:11-13) Similarly, Aaron, the brother of the prophet Moses, blamed the people for his mistake in making the golden calf, even as centuries later Israel’s first king, Saul, blamed the people for his mistaken act of disobedience. (Ex. 32:19-24; 1 Sam. 15:9-26) If we recognize why it was that they acted so unwisely, it can help us to avoid the same pitfall.

In contrast to such bad examples we have very good ones where faithful servants of Jehovah God freely admitted their mistakes, the record of which bears testimony to the honesty and candor of the writers of the Bible. Moses recorded his mistake of losing his temper on one occasion, resulting in his being denied entry into the Promised Land. (Num. 20:7-13) There was also Job, who, while insisting on his integrity, had made the mistake of being more concerned with his own vindication than that of God. Admitting it freely, he said: “I talked, but I was not understanding . . . I make a retraction, and I do repent in dust and ashes.”​—Job 42:3-6.

The patriarch Judah, the son of Jacob, admitted his mistake in regard to his daughter-in-law Tamar, saying: “She is more righteous than I am.” (Gen. 38:15-26) Then there was also King David. When confronted with the mistake he made in sinning against Uriah, he did not seek to find excuses, but said to the prophet Nathan, “I have sinned.” (2 Sam. 12:13) And, to give another example, there was the apostle Peter. When he saw the reproving look of Jesus right after he had denied his Master three times, “he went outside and wept bitterly.”​—Matt. 26:75.

Of course, admitting we made a mistake is the right, honest and decent thing to do. But it is more than that. It is also the course of wisdom. For one thing, admitting to having made a mistake is a lesson in humility. This, on the one hand, protects us from the snare of pride, which is ever ready to entrap us. And, on the other hand, the humbling experience of admitting we made a mistake may well serve to make us more careful so that we will be less likely to make that same mistake again. Wisely we are warned: “He that is covering over his transgressions will not succeed [with God], but he that is confessing and leaving them will be shown mercy”​—by God and by God’s servants. Yes, the very confessing of our errors will aid us to leave them.​—Prov. 28:13.

Admitting to making a mistake is the course of wisdom in that it builds in us strength and self-respect. Failure to do so is cowardly, and serves to weaken us morally, making it likely that we will continue to make the same mistake.

Further, admitting a mistake is the course of wisdom because it makes for better relations with others. When we refuse to admit we have made a mistake, we outrage the judgment of others; and they will conclude that we are either too proud, or dishonest, or too stupid to recognize that we made a mistake​—all of which may well cause a barrier to come between us and those around us. Then, again, if we are willing to admit we made a mistake we will find ourselves more ready to sympathize with others when they make mistakes.

Most important of all, admitting a mistake will keep our relations with our Creator in good condition. Thus King David, by repeatedly and quickly admitting his mistakes, retained good relations with his God. King Saul, however, was reluctant to admit his sins; he preferred giving excuses, and was rejected.

Yes, in addition to the fact that to admit having made a mistake is the honest thing to do, it is also the course of wisdom. It helps to keep us humble. It also helps us to keep our self-respect and makes for better relations with others.

What Accounts for Variations of Race?

RACE​—today the very word brings to many minds the prejudices displayed in some way in almost every part of the world. Understandably, lack of knowledge is the seeming source of so much prejudice. People ask, ‘What accounts for the variations in race?’

Answering this question requires, first of all, that we find out what the term “race” means. Numerous definitions have been suggested, usually varying from one another only in small points. Generally speaking, however, a “race” is a group of persons descended from a common ancestor and who bear certain physical similarities, such as the color of their skin or their stature.

Strictly speaking, there is only one human race! Virtually all anthropologists agree on this point. Thus, in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Third Statement on Race, twenty-two experts say: “Mankind is one . . . all men belong to the same species, Homo sapiens. . . . all men are probably derived from the same common stock.”

But, if that is true, why all the variations in human body size, color, shape and abilities? For one thing, men branching off from this “common stock” were so made genetically as to allow for great variation. Understanding how human genes work helps one to appreciate this.

Genes are the tiny particles that determine what traits a person will inherit. For each trait, it is believed, individuals ordinarily inherit two genes, one from the mother and one from the father. Of these two genes, the “dominant” will overpower the “recessive” one and determine the particular trait the individual will have.

Suppose, for instance, one parent has a gene for black hair and the other parent has a gene for blond. If the offspring has black hair, it is apparent that the gene for dark hair was the dominant one.

As the human family grew from its original mother and father there would be a great deal of mixing. Girls with genes for curly black hair, to cite an example, would meet and marry boys with genes for straight blond hair. This, of course, would be true of other characteristics also, such as skin color, shape of the mouth, nose and ears.

However, as groups of people isolated themselves from the larger part of mankind by geographical, linguistic and other barriers, marriage mates were necessarily selected from a smaller sphere. Variation was limited to the restricted “pool” of genes immediately available. Thereafter, in that restricted area, certain features such as straight hair or dark skin appeared regularly. In time, these traits distinguished that group or “race” of people from others. For this reason people today in Scandinavia ordinarily have fair skin, while those isolated from them, as in India, are darker.

Of course, there are limits to this variation. Races may vary in size, as from a Pygmy of less than five feet to a Watusi of some seven feet, but human genes never allow for a one-foot-high man or a twelve-foot-high one. Proving, however, that all men are really part of a common race is the fact that even individuals at “extremes” in stature or color can intermarry with other members of the human family and produce offspring. Therefore, the differences in men are not of great magnitude. Quite the opposite, as noted by anthropologist Ashley Montagu:

“All competent students who have considered the subject believe that by far the greatest number of genes are held by mankind in common, and that there are probably not more than 10 per cent of the total that are held apart. Since scientists believe that mankind drew its genes originally from the same gene pool, this great likeness is not surprising.

“As soon as we get beneath the skin, the likeness on a physical basis would suggest that the number of gene differences existing between even the most ‘extreme’ ‘races’ of man is much less than 10 per cent.”

Have Races Evolved to Fit Their Environment?

But, since all men come from a “common stock,” why is it that men of different races seem so well fitted to their environment? Did the Eskimo, for instance, acquire adaptation to a cold climate by evolutionary process? Or, at the opposite extreme, did evolution prepare only people with dark skin to live in the warm tropical climates?

Some scientists make this claim. But is it really true? In the past some speculated that characteristics acquired by a parent were passed on to the offspring. The error of this now-abandoned theory is readily evident. For example, if two light-skinned parents develop deeply tanned bodies, their offspring are not born with dark bodies, are they? No. Rather, their children must be exposed to sunlight to darken in the same way. The genes of the parents were not altered to pass on dark skin.

Nevertheless, scientists today do believe that changes in racial characteristics have resulted from gene mutations, that is, sudden alterations in genes. These alterations, it is believed, are then transmitted to offspring. But observed mutations have resulted largely in harmful changes, not in improvements. Furthermore, there is great uncertainty as to how these assumed mutations took place. Columbia University’s L. C. Dunn acknowledges:

“How [certain bodily changes] happened in history is not known; nor is it known exactly how mutations occur today, in spite of the extensive biological research on this question during the last 30 years.”

Well, if not by genetics, how do we explain why the races seem so well adapted to their environments?

More than Genes Responsible for Races

Such adjustments are largely cultural. Cultural or environmental influences are extremely persuasive. In fact, even before a child is born the emotional state of its mother, greatly determined by her own environment, begins to affect the child’s mind and body. Then, from the moment the child is born, it is immersed in a manner of life made up of local sights, sounds, smells and climate, as well as “peculiar ways” of doing things.

For instance, Eskimos have developed special bulky clothing, also housing that protects them from sub-zero temperature. Moreover, with time has come an invaluable familiarity with Arctic geography and the ways of animals that provide the Eskimo many of life’s necessities.

But, is not the Eskimo protected from cold by an inherited higher metabolism? No. While the Eskimo metabolism is sometimes one third higher than that of strangers who come into their cold surroundings, it is not inherited, but is dietetic in nature. Taken off their usual high-protein meat diet, the Eskimo metabolic rate drops within days.

Regarding this and other seemingly “inborn” adaptations, evolutionists J. F. Downs and H. K. Bleibtreu state in Human Variation (1969):

“We can see that the Eskimos have developed many cultural devices for dealing with cold . . . His narrow nose, and that of certain neighboring peoples in Siberia, has been called an adaptation that helps him avoid taking large quantities of cold air into his lungs. The fact that some people live in equally cold climates without this trait suggests that its adaptive importance is only presumptive. Similarly, the broad nose often found in Africa, Australia, and New Guinea is said to be a device which cools air; but much of Australia is very cold at night and the highlands of New Guinea are never excessively hot. In Africa, once we look past the stereotypes, we find a variety of nose widths . . . Generally speaking, biological adaptations to cold then are not well understood and seem, where they do exist, to be short-lived physiological adjustments​—not genetic alterations evolved through natural selection.”​—Pages 201-203.

But what about skin color? Has this not resulted from evolution so that the black man, for instance, is better adapted for the tropics? Note the answer of London medical biologist Alex Comfort:

“We may suppose that skin-colour is or was adaptive, but the fact remains that, save for those white individuals who burn without tanning, no race seems to be at a marked advantage or disadvantage today by reason of colour in their encounters with heat or sunlight. The only exception is in the slightly higher resistance to skin cancer seen in dark-skinned peoples over the parts of the body exposed to sun. Apart from this and the fact that they do not suffer from sunburn, Negroes do not have any very great advantage in standing up to heat compared with adapted white men.”

However, white-skinned people, newly arrived in the tropics, often do have problems because of the unusual ways of life and a variety of diseases there. The natives, on the other hand, thoroughly adapted to this way of life, can thrive.

God’s Purpose and the Races of Men

Surely, Jehovah, man’s Maker, knows of man’s marvelous genetic and cultural potential. He originally purposed for men to branch out and fill the earth. When men, contrary to his expressed decree, sought to concentrate around the tower of Babel, God confused their languages and they were spread over the earth anyway.​—Gen. 9:1, 2; 11:1-9.

Therefore, as men scattered out and, in certain cases, were isolated from one another, differences due to genetics appeared. But man’s capacity to be educated to his surroundings, his cultural adaptability, enabled him to settle virtually anywhere on this earth.

Also, in God’s grand providence, wherever these “races” of men went, they would in time learn of God’s purpose for man. As the apostle Paul summarizes:

“[God] made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth, and he decreed the appointed times and the set limits of the dwelling of men, for them to seek God.”​—Acts 17:26, 27.

Today, men who “seek God” in some 208 lands and islands of the sea are being taught his purpose by Jehovah’s witnesses. Have you not heard of their genuine Christian international brotherhood? And of their lack of racial discrimination? Let them show you how to be among the “great crowd, that no one could count, out of every race and tribe and people and language . . . [crying loudly:] ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the lamb.’”​—Rev. 7:9, Byington translation.

What It Is Like to Be a Nurse

As told to an “Awake!” staff writer

I WAS born in Jamaica in the West Indies, and began my nursing career there in the late 1940’s when I was still a teen-ager. So for twenty-four years I have been nursing, both in Jamaica and in the United States.

I have cared for thousands of patients afflicted with practically every disease and ailment imaginable. I have worked in the operating room, tended torn and mangled accident victims, comforted the dying, and performed scores of other nurse’s tasks. I have many times known the sadness and frustration, as well as the elation and joys, common to nursing.

Often I have been asked: “Why did you choose this profession? I could never be a nurse.” Or one may hear it said: “You have to be a born nurse.” But is this so?

A Difficult Job

As with other jobs, considerable education and training are required to be a good nurse. It also takes courage, and a real desire to help fellow humans. Keeping physically fit, too, is important, due to one’s being exposed to communicable diseases. But a good nurse will especially have sympathy for patients, and give of herself to furnish their needs.

However, it is much easier to say this than to do it. For a nurse may, days on end, week in and week out, care for suffering or even dying persons. This can harden her, causing her to become indifferent toward the needs of patients. But that does not have to happen. There are nurses who are deeply moved by the plight of their patients.

I can remember, for example, a young patient that I had a few years ago at the Carson Peck Memorial Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. She was a sweet person, only about thirty-six years old. Three years or so before, she had a cancerous breast removed, and now she had another cancer operation. Looking at her, you would never know that she was sick. But her body was filled with cancer.

I really felt sympathy for her, for she had such a will to live. I do not think she ever accepted the fact that she was going to die. However, she survived only about five weeks after her second operation. It was so pathetic when her husband and mother would come to visit, for they knew her condition. It really hurts me to watch a patient slowly die, and to see the deep grief of the relatives.

What is particularly sad is when patients feel they are going to live, and are planning for something in the future, but you know that all the evidences show they are going to die. You try to hide your feelings​—you have to at times. Once in a while I just have to get out of the room.

Not only are such cases sad, but some are frustrating as well. I remember a patient, about fifty years old, at St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in Brooklyn. Two weeks before, he suffered a severe heart attack. But now he was really getting along well. He was such a fine man; he never complained, and was always cooperative. Everyone on the floor liked him.

This particular morning I shaved him, gave him his bath, and he was sitting up in bed eating. He looked so good. The doctor came in, examined him, and told him that he was doing fine. But then, all of a sudden, he called for me. I immediately went over and asked him, “What’s wrong?” All he could whisper was, “Miss B​——​——.” Then he fell back, unconscious.

This all happened without any warning. Within seconds the emergency oxygen equipment was applied to revive him. But it was useless; he was dead. I had worked so hard nursing him, and was sure he was going to recover. I really felt the loss. And then right afterward his wife came in, and I had to try to comfort her. Nursing can be like that; some of it is not easy to take.

Satisfaction and Joys

But, on the other hand, nursing can give real satisfaction; it affords an opportunity to help people, to give them a little comfort. Why does one take up this profession? It should be to help people, to make them feel a little more comfortable in their illness or dying state. That is the way I have always felt.

Nursing also affords moments of real excitement and joy, especially when a patient is saved from almost certain death. I can remember a case soon after I began nursing in Jamaica. I was working in the hospital in Montego Bay when a local tailor was seriously hurt. Apparently a door had slammed, driving deep into his chest a long sewing needle that he kept in his shirt.

When he was brought to the hospital he was gasping for breath. X rays were quickly taken. They revealed that the needle point was actually touching his heart, but it did not go through. Immediately the operation was begun. An incision was made over the heart, and I could actually see the exposed heart. The needle was taken out, and the man lived! It really thrilled me to be part of that operating team that saved his life! Since then I have had this joy a number of times.

On another occasion I was working in the operating room of that same hospital. Two boys, both about ten years old, had been on their way to school when a truck hit them, squeezing them against an earthen bank. The chest cavity of one of the boys was split apart, exposing his heart and lungs; the leg of the other child was seriously damaged.

I was waiting in the operating room when the ambulance crew delivered them. As soon as they arrived, I began cutting their clothes from the wounds. It was frightening, actually to see that one boy’s exposed heart pulsating! I did not see how he could possibly live. But quickly the doctors began an hours-long operation. They cleaned out the chest cavity, sewed up the inside ruptures, packed the cavity with antibiotics, and closed the massive wound. For months I nursed that boy. And he recovered completely!

Patients’ Gratitude

It is certainly an encouragement when patients who have been nursed back to health say: “You saved my life. Thank you so much!” Over the years a number have told me that. This helps to make nursing, despite its difficulties, seem worth while.

Many former patients still keep in touch with me. One Jewish lady, for example, never fails to write when she goes on vacation. She was really a difficult patient. In two weeks she had eighteen nurses! Nobody stayed with her but me. I find that you can be firm, but kind, with patients, and they usually respond.

I really have sympathy for my patients. That is why I like bedside nursing; I can expend myself more to make people feel that living is really worth while. Of course, not everyone expresses gratitude, but I know that people appreciate consideration and kindness, especially when they are sick.

My mother once told me that, when she was riding a bus in Jamaica, she overheard two women discussing a nurse. They were saying how kind she was to them while they were in the hospital and what she did for them. And then one of them mentioned the nurse’s name​—my name. My mother was so surprised she turned around and said: “That’s my daughter!”

My Decision to Be a Nurse

How I became interested in nursing is rather unusual. While I was on vacation in Montego Bay I went with a friend to the hospital to visit a girl recovering from an appendix operation. It was a beautiful place, with a view overlooking the bay. I told the girl that if I should ever be operated on I would like to come to this hospital and have the same bed she was on.

Well, that was on a Sunday. And the following Saturday I was there as an emergency case. And I got the same bed, in the same room, and I was operated on by the same doctor for the same thing, removal of my appendix.

It was while I was lying there recovering that the thought first came to me that being a nurse would be an interesting profession. I thought to myself, “I am surely ignorant about my physical body, my anatomy.” I wanted to know more about how the body worked, so I decided to become a nurse.

Nurse’s Training

Right after I graduated from secondary school I applied for nurse’s training. We had a choice of places to go for training, so I selected that beautiful hospital in Montego Bay, and I was accepted there.

Our training consisted chiefly of on-the-job nursing. We started working in the hospital wards the first week we arrived. We were called probationers. To distinguish us from the regular nurses who wore all white, we wore a blue uniform with a white apron and black stockings.

We had to be on the job in the hospital at 6 a.m. and we worked until 6 p.m.​—with some time off during the day. In the evenings we studied nursing. But except for two or three hours of class instruction, our days were devoted to actual nursing.

Experienced nurses taught us to give patients baths, enemas and injections, to change dressings, to take blood pressure, and so forth; and then under their watchful eye we did these procedures ourselves. We even learned to do things that only doctors are permitted to do in the United States. For example, if a person cut open his arm or leg, we would not call a doctor to care for this, but would sew up the wound ourselves. Only if it was a head wound, or was very serious, would a doctor be needed.

Today, however, girls in nurse’s training in some places study nursing mostly from books; they learn the theory, but often get very little practice. Some graduate nurses I have seen did not even know how to give an injection. One college-trained nurse, although able to recite the details of eight varieties of enemas, admitted that she had never actually given a single one!

Trials and Pressures

There is a big difference between reading about nursing from a book, and actually doing it. I will never forget, in about my second week of training, that a nurse told me to put back the dentures in a woman who had just died. I thought that I would die. I started to cry. But the nurse made me do it.

Watching our first postmortem, or autopsy, was also horrifying. We were all sick that night. I could not eat or sleep. The picture of those internal organs being held up by the doctor for us to identify was too vivid in my mind! But I had wanted to learn about anatomy and, I must say, I did.

For my second year of training I was transferred to the general public hospital in Kingston, the capital. There I worked in a ward for patients with tropical diseases, caring mostly for typhoid patients. The third and final year of our training passed quickly. Now, whether we were recognized as professional nurses depended on passing the final exams. In one test we had to sit before a panel of doctors and answer any questions they might ask. Also, as a practical test I had to check urine for its sugar content, with doctors watching me do it! I was so nervous, my hands were shaking, but I passed. I was now a professional or registered nurse.

Training to Be a Midwife

However, before going to work as a registered nurse, I took a six-month course in midwifery at Kingston’s Victoria Jubilee Hospital. We had to deliver at least forty babies and pass a stiff exam before qualifying as a licensed midwife.

I will never forget my first delivery. It was terrible! I thought that I was going to deliver a live set of twins, but they were macerated. They came out in my hands​—dead. I was frightened to death!

In our training we were taught to deal with all kinds of abnormal births. For example, instead of coming out head first, as is normal, a baby will at times emerge feet first, hand first or at some other angle. We learned how to deliver these babies, and I have since delivered many of them successfully, without complications. Also, the umbilical cord sometimes gets wrapped around the baby’s neck, and we were taught what to do when this occurs.

However, in particular we learned how to maneuver the child in the process of delivery, so that the mother is not torn during birth. It is the standard practice among many doctors to slit the mother, deliver the baby, and sew up the incision. They do this operation, called an episiotomy, because it is easier. But a trained midwife can, in almost all cases, deliver a baby without doing this cutting to enlarge the mother’s opening. In the hundreds of babies I have delivered, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of episiotomies I have needed to do.

For several years I nursed in Jamaica, serving as a midwife, training student nurses, and doing other hospital work. Then in 1958 I came to New York.

Lack of Caution and Care

Up until three years ago, when I began doing clinic work, I did bedside nursing in Brooklyn hospitals. True, anyone can make a mistake, but at times I have been appalled by the lack of caution and care exercised by both doctors and nurses. I know of a number of instances where patients that were operated on have had instruments or towels left inside them.

There was, for example, a patient in Brooklyn for whom I cared about five or six years ago. On returning home from the hospital after an abdominal operation she complained of severe pains. Her husband got angry with her, telling her that she was all right, but she kept complaining. So they brought her back to the hospital and took X rays. Inside her were the doctor’s forceps!

Certain doctors, it seems to me, are really careless or negligent. For example, they are supposed to run a number of tests on a patient before an operation, including an EKG to test the heart, X rays, and so forth. But I know of instances when they have failed to do this, with serious consequences.

One patient that I nursed at a Brooklyn hospital had fallen and broken her elbow. That is all. They took her to the operating room to set it. After administering anesthesia she went into a cardiac arrest​—her heart began to fail—​they had to do open-heart surgery right then and there. She died, after several days, without ever regaining consciousness. But if the tests had been run, they would have known her heart condition and could have taken precautions.

Things like that happen more often than one may realize. I know because I have seen them happen, and so have friends of mine who work in hospitals here in New York. It is sad to say, but many of the nurses and doctors nowadays just do not seem to be interested in the patient’s welfare. Rather, they are interested mainly in the money they can make​—their salary.

Quite a number of times, when I have relieved nurses, I have had to call their attention to the way they have left a patient. The patient was not comfortable; the nurse had not changed his bed, gotten him up for a little exercise, given him a bath, and so forth. All they had done was wipe his face with a damp cloth. And that is not the way to nurse!

In recent years it has made me sick to my stomach to see the negligence of nurses, which I am convinced has led to the death of patients who otherwise might have lived. I have observed patients in discomfort ring and ring their bell. But the nurses just sit at their desk and do not answer. All they seem to be interested in is their smoking and personal comfort.

Of course, I know this is not true in all hospitals. Not all nurses or doctors are this way. In fact, I feel that most of them are not. But there is definitely a trend toward self-interest rather than patient-interest, and I have heard other doctors and nurses also express dismay over this.

Abortion and Blood Transfusions

I believe that the wholesale killing of unborn babies in New York hospitals is just another example of the deterioration going on today. What is happening is so disgusting that some city hospitals are having trouble getting nurses to work in their abortion clinics.

The recent New York abortion law permits an abortion up to twenty-four weeks after conception, by which time the fetus is easily recognizable as a human creature with distinctive parts. Some aborted fetuses have even lived! But nurses have been told to let others die. A registered nurse wrote something very interesting about this matter in a nursing magazine. She said:

“Moral considerations aside, at present an unborn child is considered by law a person: he is given rights to inheritance, court suit for prenatal damages . . . Thus, a woman has no more right to kill her unborn child than she has to batter, abuse, or kill him after birth.”​—American Journal of Nursing, December 1970.

In the clinic where I work, dozens of girls a week come in for abortions. Some have had two abortions within just a few months! I think the doctors are chiefly to blame, for they could refuse these girls. But it is a booming business, and I think that doctors are interested mainly in the money. Personally I will have nothing to do with abortions; not even the paper work in connection with them. My conscience will not allow it.

I take a similar position in connection with blood transfusions. I have seen patients sicken with hepatitis from the blood they receive. Some never recover. Also, some patients are killed by circulatory overload and other adverse reactions to transfusions. So, rather than being lifesaving, I know that transfusions can be death-dealing. Some doctors I know of are beginning to use blood less and less. I really do believe that it will contribute to one’s health, both spiritually and physically, to obey God’s command to ‘abstain from blood.’​—Acts 15:28, 29.

What Nursing Helped Me to Appreciate

I have learned a lot from nursing. For one thing, it has helped me to appreciate how marvelously designed the physical body is. It is indeed the handiwork of a Grand Creator. It was soon after I began my nursing career that something happened that really made me think about this.

I was working one night in the operating room in Jamaica when a little girl was rushed in by her frightened parents. She had swallowed an English halfpenny that stuck in her larynx. X rays revealed that mucus was forming around the coin, and since it could not be extracted through her mouth, an immediate operation was necessary. But just as we were about to begin, the power went out. So while I held a flashlight the doctor went ahead with that very delicate operation.

As I watched, I could not help but marvel. I can remember thinking at the time, ‘Look at those fingers. They are so skilled! Really, shouldn’t we be God-fearing?’ Because of the doctor’s God-given fingers that little girl was saved.

But often nothing that either doctors or nurses can do can keep a patient from dying. I have known many times that helpless feeling when death would claim another victim. Often I wondered, ‘Why do humans have to suffer and die? Is it really God’s purpose that people die like this?’

I am so happy that I was moved to seek an answer, and that I was helped to appreciate God’s grand purpose to establish a new system of things, wherein “death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.” (Rev. 21:3, 4) As a nurse, I especially look forward to the fulfillment of that promise.

People Who Are Becoming Jehovah’s Witnesses

IN FIVE years, more than 680,000 persons have been baptized by Jehovah’s witnesses. Last year alone over 163,000 were baptized, 15,512 at just the “Divine Rulership” Assemblies in the United States. Who are these people that are becoming Jehovah’s witnesses?

✔ Included are elderly persons. At the Santa Rosa, California, assembly a ninety-six-year-old man was baptized. He had on many occasions taken the Watchtower and Awake! magazines from the Witnesses. Then, two years ago, when a Witness offered to study the Bible with him, he accepted. Soon he became convinced that he had finally found the true religion.

✔ Also becoming Jehovah’s witnesses are former nuns. One of them served as a nun for seventeen years. In a letter to her pastor, dated May 1972, she explained: “This is to inform you that I want to be removed from the files of the Catholic Church. This may come as a shock to you . . . I know how you rejoiced with me when I entered Visitation seventeen years ago, when I thought being a Nun was the truly Christian way to live the truths of the Bible. Lonely and frustrated as I often felt, your annual visits were always a joy and encouragement to me . . .

“You know, so many of the Sisters have been disillusioned as we tried to update our sacred, favorite customs and traditions. No wonder so many are leaving the Convents when we found out the silly reasons for so many of the age-long celebrations!”

She then described to her pastor how one of Jehovah’s witnesses challenged her to examine her beliefs through a Bible study, observing: “I almost laughed because I knew I had all the answers. But to my surprise, what he showed me in black and white made me go to Catholic friends and Priests and Nuns to help me prove him wrong. . . . I was so shook up that I wrote, terminating my study, with no intention even to see one of Jehovah’s witnesses again.

“I discussed it with Catholic friends and family, who, by the way, were either not going to Church, were high on drugs or were living immoral lives. Each told me to ‘go home and just keep the faith.’ One even said: ‘I don’t care what the Bible says, in fact​—to hell with the damn Bible!’ I was so grieved that I said, ‘If that’s what your religion does to you, I don’t want any part of it!’ So humbly, I went back to my friend to admit that he had the truth taught in the Bible.

“Then I began to attend the meetings . . . I even joined their ministry school where I learned to discuss logically and prove all things true Biblically. I found great Christian friendship and practical brotherly love . . .

“I hope that you will allow yourself to be witnessed to by one of these thinking, loving believers of Jehovah’s Organization who are really living the teachings of the Bible.”

On August 5, 1972, at the Queens, New York city, “Divine Rulership” District Assembly this former nun was baptized and became one of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses.

✔ Others, who have lived extremely immoral lives, have made radical changes in their lives after learning the truth about God’s purposes. One young girl was placed in a Catholic school and home when her mother became incapacitated. Then at the age of eighteen she left and became a go-go dancer.

When sitting at the bar one day, she was told that a man would pay $20 to have sex relations with her. She had never done this before, but she consented. From that time, prostitution became her means of making a living.

Later she agreed to live with a man much older than herself. Two children resulted. Then in February of 1972 one of Jehovah’s witnesses called and arrangements were made for a Bible study. Shortly she began making remarkable changes to bring her life into harmony with God’s moral standards. In June she and the man with whom she had been living were married. In August at the Toledo, Ohio, “Divine Rulership” Assembly she was baptized.

✔ Quite a number of former drug users have also become Jehovah’s witnesses, including ones who had gained prominence as rock ’n’ roll musicians. One group, called “the Villagers,” appeared on nationwide television. After the group broke up, several of its members began studying the Bible, changed their way of life and became Jehovah’s witnesses. Some of these were baptized at the Columbia, South Carolina, “Divine Rulership” Assembly last summer.

✔ Some months back three members of a rock ’n’ roll band in Sonora, California, called the “Yowls” walked into a Kingdom Hall. They had long hair, beards, saggy clothing and were under the influence of drugs. One of them writes regarding the experience:

“Our first visit to a Kingdom Hall convinced us that this was a place where love was not just a word to use. There was real friendship shown and God’s Word was relied on. We agreed to have a Bible study, and shortly were keenly interested in sharing in the field ministry. However, we soon realized that our appearance was not correct or appropriate for ministers. So within just two weeks we cut our hair, shaved our beards and made a complete wardrobe change. My new course cost me my mother, who used to accompany me on ‘trips’ with drugs. But in her place I have many new ‘relatives’ to share my newfound joy.

“I’m happy to have been baptized with my wife at the ‘Divine Rulership’ Assembly in Pleasanton, California. One other member of our former band was baptized in Oakland, two more will be baptized at the coming assembly in Sonora, California, and twelve others are either studying or attending the Kingdom Hall.”

✔ In Southern California two young persons became engaged in a discussion of religion. They decided to phone Jehovah’s witnesses for help, and the Witnesses responded to their call. A discussion regarding God’s purpose to establish a righteous new system of things followed. The youths were thrilled by the things they heard. (2 Pet. 3:13) Soon they started attending congregation meetings of Jehovah’s witnesses. One of them said of his appearance at that time: “I had shoulder-length hair, a beard and overalls. I was, of course, involved in drugs.”

That was in the early part of 1972. Changes quickly followed, both in appearance and in conduct. Four months later the young man and his wife not only attended the “Divine Rulership” Assembly in Inglewood, California, but brought along four other young persons as well. He and his wife were baptized at that assembly!

✔ Often it is persons who are dissatisfied with this system of things who become Jehovah’s witnesses. A young Dayton, Ohio, man felt that he could no longer put up with today’s social injustices. Finally he wrote a letter to the president of the United States stating that if his demands were not met, three major cities would be destroyed. However, instead of having success in his demands, he received a visit from the FBI and was extensively questioned.

The young man began to realize that he could not change this unjust system. Then he started to study the Bible with Jehovah’s witnesses. As he studied, he was impressed with the way the Bible described today’s conditions, and yet showed the certain prospects of better conditions under the rule of God’s kingdom. Contented with this hope, he was baptized at the “Divine Rulership” Assembly in Toledo, Ohio, this past summer.

Really it is people of all kinds​—young and old, rich and poor, and from all walks of life—​who are becoming Jehovah’s witnesses. Many have made marvelous changes, bringing their thinking and course of life into harmony with God’s righteous standards.​—1 Cor. 6:9-11; 1 Pet. 4:1-3.

Marvelous Torchbearers of Land and Sea

BY “AWAKE!” CORRESPONDENT IN THE BRITISH ISLES

IS IT not a humbling thought that, long before intelligent man discovered how to make artificial light, multitudes of unthinking creatures on land and in the sea possessed their own tiny but efficient “lanterns”?

Reflect a moment on a few of such creatures that dwell in the perpetual darkness found in ocean deeps. Imagine yourself down there at a depth of, say, 5,000 feet, peering out of the porthole of a bathysphere. What is this tiny light approaching? As it nears you, no doubt to investigate the light from your porthole, you perceive that it is an odd-looking fish. Doing what? Why​—fishing! Its fishing rod is twice as long as it is, and dangles out of its mouth. That light? A light organ at the tip of its rod. This creature is known as the angler fish. Another angler fish at about the same depth has its “lure”​—a light organ—​inside its mouth immediately behind its teeth.

Then there is the lantern fish, so called because​—like a passenger ship showing its lighted portholes at night—​it has rows of light along each side. Other hunters of the deep have headlights that enable them to cast a beam of light several feet in front of them.

A Mystifying Phenomenon

How, though, can we describe this mysterious phenomenon by which marine creatures (and other living things) can make their own light? Technically, it is called bioluminescence, which is the ability of living organisms to emit light without heat. This is accomplished through the interaction of a chemical known as luciferin and the enzyme luciferase.

Have you ever heard of the “burning seas”? Odd as this term may seem, it refers to several “bays of fire” in and close to Puerto Rico’s “Bahía Fosforescente” (Phosphorescent Bay). The “fire” is caused by untold numbers of tiny creatures called dinoflagellates, which create the illusion of a burning sea by emitting sparks of chemical light. According to the National Geographic Society, this is one of the few places in the world where this phenomenon is found.

One may wonder how it is that such multitudes of these tiny creatures are able to congregate so closely together, despite the scattering influence of tides and winds. The answer lies in the fact that these sheltered bays have very moderate tides, while the sea links with the Caribbean are narrow. Hence, the calm conditions in these bays, together with their vitamin-rich waters, encourage expansion in the numbers of these microorganisms. So, we have these “bays of fire”​—that glow in the dark—​made possible by tiny creatures that possess their own lighting systems.

Lanterns of Land Creatures

Land creatures, too, have their own tiny lanterns, in some instances a kind of luminosity. Among these are earthworms, centipedes, glowworms and various insects. The glowworms include the remarkable New Zealand glowworms, the larvae of a small fly. Normally they live on the roofs of damp caves, where they weave webs from which are suspended slender threads beaded with sticky mucus. Then, when all is ready, these glowworms turn on their lights, in ones or twos to start, then in unison, operating like a lighthouse​—on-off-on-off. For what purpose? To avoid starvation. Insects fly in to investigate the flickering light, get entangled in glowworms’ fishing lines​—and are eaten.

Referring to these glowworms, Life Nature Library writes: “A starry universe underground is created on the ceiling above a subterranean river in New Zealand’s Waitomo Caves by the glow of thousands of luminous larvae which trail silken threads down like fishing lines. Insects attracted by the light of the larvae stick on the threads and are then reeled in. The larvae grow into true fireflies.”

The light that these torchbearers give off is said to be without parallel for its coolness, radiating only one part in 80,000 as much heat as that given off by a candle flame of equal brightness. Truly a “cold” light.

Fireflies are possibly the most fascinating of all torchbearers. On warm summer nights, in many areas, they manifest themselves in a fashion that delights the human eye. But who can explain their uncanny ability to operate their flashing mechanisms ultimately in unison? One wonders if, perhaps, they use some kind of code or signal that, unheard and unseen by man, enables them to act thus in chorus. Science has attempted to supply answers, but without satisfying success!

Among other insects that are luminous are the springtails and beetles that may belong either to the click beetle group or the firefly group. Nor must we overlook the so-called railroad worm, related to the firefly group. It has a row of yellow-green lights on each side of its body, as well as​—appropriately—​a red light on its head!

Luminous Toadstools

Even certain plants have their own tiny lanterns. Notable among these is a species of luminous toadstools, some of which are found on rotting logs in Asian forests. Looking quite ordinary in daylight, at night they emit a mysterious yet beautiful glow, with colors ranging from blue green to yellow orange. So bright is this light that it is said to be as strong as a small night-light.

People who have walked in a forest at night following a heavy shower may well have been puzzled by seeing both live and dead wood giving off a luminous glow. These lights, too, come from fungi growing on timber.

Many Torchbearers in the Seas

Yet, if we could but glimpse a few of the untold multitudes of fascinating torchbearers that dwell in the seas and oceans, we would note that this mysterious built-in ability to emit some degree of light is not confined to any one order of sea creatures but is found in an amazing variety of moving, and unmoving, living things.

How vast, too, is the range in size, each able to give off some degree of light! On occasion, seagoing travelers have noted with excited wonderment tiny sea creatures swarming in glorious profusion, shining and sparkling like millions of little lanterns, lighting the sea to a considerable depth. Among such creatures are some so tiny as to be invisible to the naked eye when not emitting light.

But larger sea animals, such as jellyfish, comb jellies, crustaceans, worms, brittle stars, mollusks, the giant squid, and so on, also emit light. Then, apart from these free-swimming creatures, there are also the sea pens (a kind of polyp) and the luminous hydroids (also polyp-like) that are attached to rocks and piles.

Some deep-sea fish, as we have noted, carry torches on their bellies and sides. Among some​—the squid and the shrimp, for instance—​definite luminous organs of considerable complexity are visible, containing groups of photogenic cells as well as lenses, reflectors and screens, all working harmoniously together to transform each luminous organ into a beautiful lantern. Whether these light organs are located on the head, along the sides or bellies, in groups or rows (like pearl buttons) or singly, the fish are apparently able to flash them on and off at will.

Not a Different Light

You may wonder: Is this mysterious luminosity or light that so many kinds of living things emit different from other kinds of light? Apparently not, according to Professor E. Newton Harvey, who writes: “It’s colours may be reddish, yellow, green or blue, and its spectrum a continuous short band in these various regions of visible light. No infrared, ultraviolet, or penetrating radiations are produced.”

And how efficient is this light! Man, despite all his ingenuity and twentieth-century wizardry in many spheres of scientific activity, cannot even approach the efficiency of the light emitted by these torchbearers. How so? Because the light or luminosity of these living things is said to be a “cold” light, meaning that while they can create light within their own bodies at will, they can do so without losing more than an infinitesimally tiny fraction of their own body heat. They utilize the needed energy to produce light with such efficiency that almost none of it is converted into heat.

Why So Equipped?

But, for what purposes have some forty different orders of animal life (in the broadest sense), as well as two groups of plants (fungi and bacteria), been fitted with such a fascinating array of lights of varying, scintillating colors? After much research, scientists still cannot be too sure. However, they believe that a main reason is to illuminate their way.

In support of this theory scientists cite the remarkable firefly fish of the Banda Islands in Indonesia. Under each eye this fish has a pocket packed with luminous bacteria. These shine forth so brilliantly that together they look like the twin headlights of a car. When the fish wants to it switches each headlight off by pulling a black fold, like an eyelid, over each pocket. However, it does not seem reasonable to suppose that the emission of light among some marine life, especially the deep-sea fishes, is necessary to light up their way in dark depths where the sunlight never penetrates.

Possibly, also, these creatures use their light when mating, as a signal to the opposite sex, particularly as males and females of each species on land and in the sea are said to have a characteristic flash that helps them to find those of the opposite sex. Indeed, it is thought that some torchbearers use their lanterns only during mating season.

The fireworms of Bermuda may be cited to support this theory. Most of their lives they spend on the seabed. Then, during certain months and after a full moon, mysteriously triggered by some instinct, they rise in swarms to the surface of the sea and put on a brilliant display of flashing lights. Then they mate. But not at any odd time! No, indeed! The act of swarming and mating has to be carried out about fifty-five minutes after sunset!

Also, deep-sea fish apparently use the glowing lights in or close to their mouths, or those dangling in front of them, to attract smaller creatures for food. Possibly, also, these and other deep-sea torchbearers use their light to frighten or warn off predacious animals that fancy them for dinner!

But, really, there are many things about the light of these living creatures that man has yet to learn. The secrets of their “cold” light are still not fully understood, nor can man produce it as efficiently. Truly, the light of these marvelous living torchbearers of land and sea is evidence of a Wonderful Creator.

‘Not Really a Special Case’

UNDER the title, “Vascular Surgery in Jehovah’s Witnesses,” the Journal of the American Medical Association of August 10, 1970, published an interesting article. It was prepared by a team of Houston, Texas, surgeons and which team included heart surgeon Dr. Denton A. Cooley.

The report told of the results of twenty operations for vascular congenital or acquired disease. Among other things it stated: “Patients who belong to the religious sect of Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse to undergo any surgical procedure requiring blood transfusion, because it is forbidden by their literal interpretation of Bible passages such as Acts 1[5]:20, 29, which charges those believing in God ‘to abstain from . . . blood.’ The development of a [modern] technique . . . has allowed such patients to undergo open heart surgery without challenging their religious convictions; and since 1964, open heart operations in Jehovah’s Witnesses have been extensively reported. Relatively little information exists, however, on other procedures carried out in members of this faith. . . . In this paper we detail our experience with Jehovah’s Witnesses who underwent vascular procedures without blood.”

“Results in this series of Jehovah’s Witnesses undergoing major vascular surgery compare favorably with results in other patients who received similar operations . . . Replacement of immediate blood loss with 5 percent dextrose in lactated Ringer’s solution and administration of the same fluid during the early postoperative periods was enough to keep the circulation stable. Lactated Ringer’s solution is preferable.”

The patients ranged in age from seventeen months to seventy-six years. Of the twenty operated on, eighteen recovered and returned home after an average hospital stay of one week. One patient, seventy-four years of age, died from complications that set in the third day after the operation, and one fifty-two years old died afterward in a subsequent open-heart operation. But “no complications could be attributed to the nonrestored blood loss after the vascular procedure.”

“Since it is our policy,” the authors went on to say, “to avoid the use of blood transfusions whenever possible in all operations, the patient who is a Jehovah’s Witness does not really represent a special case; and we can comply with his demands without undue concern. We have found that blood transfusion is not a necessary accompaniment to vascular surgery, but indeed has certain disadvantages such as the risk of hepatitis.”

When You Are a Guest in Japan

BY “AWAKE!” CORRESPONDENT IN JAPAN

AS AN honorable visitor waking up to your first morning in Japan, you have the opportunity to get a glimpse of a country that probably has fascinated you for years. What will you discover?

In the lobby of your hotel there will be someone who can speak a little English, but be sure to speak slowly and make very clear what you want. It is said that when one foreigner in Tokyo said he wanted a bus to get somewhere, the hotel manager ordered a large coach.

Due to the tremendous differences between Japanese and English, many Japanese find English conversation very difficult even after years of diligent study. So after experiencing a few language problems, you may decide that a Japanese phrase book would be a good investment.

Are you ready to venture out? Your day may go something like this.

Hey, Taxi!

To get to the shopping area of Tokyo’s famed Ginza you decide to go by taxi. But you find that the taxis will not stop in spite of your frantic gestures and your finally resorting to stepping into the path of oncoming taxis, which merely swerve around you. Yet the taxis stop for the Japanese. Why? Is it because of prejudice against foreigners? No, the taxis have set places to pick up fares, so it would be advisable if you quietly went and stood in line with the local people.

Tokyo taxi drivers live up in every way to the standards set by their counterparts in Paris, London and New York. If you like to live dangerously you will find much to admire in their constant changing from lane to lane without signaling, apparently with complete disregard for other traffic. However, as everyone appears to drive the same way, you will have to acknowledge that Japanese drivers evidently know what to expect. Your estimation of Japanese taxi drivers will soar as you realize that they take you directly to your destination by the fastest route and, joy of joys, they do not expect a tip! The driver takes good care of any visitor in his country.

East or West?

Although you arrive at the shops by 9 a.m. you find that they are all closed. You may hastily assume that the Japanese do not work as hard as you thought. So as you wait for the shops to open you take in your surroundings.

Instead of seeing pine trees and ornamental gardens, you observe skyscrapers, office blocks and department stores. You expected to see attractive young girls in the very feminine kimono, but this too, much to your disappointment, has given way to midis, minis and hot pants. If it were not for the Japanese lettering on the street signs and the hearing of a foreign language, you would feel there is little difference between East and West.

Your feet have brought you to some back street and now you are amazed. The Japanese whom you thought to be sleeping are working hard, washing down the back entrances to their shops and scrubbing out rubbish bins.

To buy a phrase book, you go to the foreign bookstore. Here you will find books in many languages on every conceivable subject. The Japanese show their appreciation for these, not so much by their buying an occasional book, but by the hours they spend in the shop reading. The Japanese like to read and learn, and where could one satisfy this desire better than in a bookshop? Now, equipped with your phrase book, you feel better able to face the world and visit your Japanese acquaintances.

An Unforgettable Trip!

You set out to visit the real old Japan. In reality this is easier said than done. Getting to the main station entails a ride on a local train. You find yourself waiting on a platform with hundreds of others. Just before a train pulls in, white-gloved railway workers position themselves at certain points along the platform. In seconds you find out why.

The train doors open and you are carried bodily along with hundreds of others onto the train. Who are the white-gloved railwaymen? They are paid pushers. Their job is to push as many people as they can onto the train. As you pull in at the main station you feel gratitude toward the white-gloved man who pushed you so hard, because you now have plenty of time to make your connection for your country destination.

From the train you are thrilled to see Mount Fuji, snow-capped against a clear blue sky. Soon you are at your destination. From the minute you put foot onto the platform you get the distinct feeling that people are staring at you, and they are! You are now in a place where foreigners rarely go.

Your next challenge is to find your friend’s house. This is very difficult. The address system is different from anything you have ever known. Many foreigners wonder why it is so difficult outside big cities to find an address in Japan. But it actually is just as difficult for many Japanese people.

Streets have no names, nor are lot numbers consecutive. Lot numbers were given in order of application or registration. Mustering up all your courage, gesturing and using your phrase book, you ask someone the way. After ascertaining your country, length of stay in Japan, age, whether you are married or single, the person will begin to handle your problem. It is more than likely that he will start telephoning his friends, tell them all about you, and then decide with them what would be the best way to help you. The Japanese person is not being long-winded; his interest shows his desire to help and befriend you.

Learning to Do It Their Way

You arrive at your friend’s house and are greeted by familiar faces, but language problems remain acute. Before entering the house you have to remove your shoes, and everyone laughs because your feet are too big for the slippers provided. The Japanese custom of bowing will fascinate you, but you will soon be doing the same quite unconsciously, and your hosts will note this with approval.

One room you are shown into is a tatami (grass-mat) room. Tatami is expensive, and to lengthen its days the Japanese do not wear slippers in this room. You sit on a cushion, which you move around the little foot-high table in order to make room for others. The lady of the house hastens to move the cushion back to its original position. You learn a little more of old Japan when you are told that to have the cushion across the point where the tatami mats meet could mean death. A story is told of how, in days of old, the Samurai warriors would plunge their swords up between the mats and kill anyone sitting there. Whether this be fact or fiction, you remember that you are only a visitor, and respect for your hostess requires you to sit where she wants.

While you are here you will try all sorts of food and perhaps will remember most of all your first attempt at eating raw fish. Have you ever tried dipping a slice of raw fish into a sauce while using chopsticks? If not, then there is an interesting experience in store for you. After dropping it a few times and making a mess on the table you eventually get it into your mouth. You keep on chewing and trying to swallow, but it will not go down. If you stop thinking about the fact that the fish is raw you will find your new food very palatable. One thing is certain, when you get back home, you will be delighted to tell all your friends what you ate and how.

The real fun food is noodles. The long thin noodles are served in soup. Your host teaches you to have your mouth very near the bowl’s edge, and while you scoop up a pile of noodles with the chopsticks he recommends that you suck hard. In this way you can also take in a little of the soup at the same time. You are told that the flavor is enhanced if you slurp, and you show that you are enjoying the taste of the noodles if you eat them in this manner. In observing this custom you will notice your friends relax a little, but no doubt they will laugh too as you continue to make rather a lot of mistakes in your use of chopsticks.

When it is time to sleep, you are shown into a big room where bedrolls have been laid out on the tatami. In this country home all the family share the same room, and here they will find a place for their honorable visitor too. The final laugh of the day comes as your hosts notice your long legs and big feet sticking out away past the bottom of the bedroll. This does not prevent sleep though, and soon the house is silent.

There Is No Need to Panic

On the train taking you back to Tokyo a wave of fear grips you as masked people board the train. Two of them come and sit opposite you. You are confused at their orderliness and quietness, but as they remove their masks and blow their noses you realize that the “bandits” are simply victims of the common cold. The mask? It is said that it prevents their colds from getting worse, and you appreciate their consideration in not passing on their colds to others.

Upon your alighting from the train, shouting fills the air. Are you about to become involved in a demonstration? Your pounding heartbeat lessens as your eye falls upon a group of judo trainees running barefoot. As they run, one of the group shouts out something and the group shouts back in reply. This helps them to maintain the rhythm of the run. All the time they are running they are shouting and seem to be thoroughly enjoying it. It is probable that one or two will call out an English greeting to you, much to the consternation of their leader.

Shopping can be quite difficult for those who do not know the language, especially if you want something you cannot see. In Japanese there are several ways of saying the same thing, so when you ask a shopkeeper for something he will usually check to be sure that he has understood you by asking in another way. Many foreigners panic at this stage, but the shopkeeper wants only to help, so it is best for you to repeat slowly what you want, and everything will be taken care of. Souvenir shopping is comparatively easy, as everything is on display.

An Entertaining Evening

On your last evening you may decide to go to see Kabuki, the old traditional plays of Japan. The whole program actually lasts about eight hours. The way Kabuki actors speak is far different from ordinary speech, besides which they do not talk phrase-book Japanese. Do not be discouraged because you do not understand. Neither do the Japanese. Your program will give you the whole story in English and you will be able to follow.

An interesting diversion is provided by the stagehands dressed in black. They also have black veils over their faces. Throughout the play they dart on and off the stage changing sets and handing props to the actors when they are needed. The Japanese will tell you that the audience is not supposed to see them and consequently do not. You are expected not to see them either.

Yet another diversion is heckling from the audience. This actually is encouragement to the players. However, it would be better if you did not try to join in. Your efforts could be misunderstood and you could be asked to leave for being disorderly. Although you may only watch four hours of the program, you will not forget the evening spent in Japan’s past.

Sayonara, Japan!

How did you feel when you became the honorable visitor? You could not deny that everyone was both kind and hospitable. Japan is indeed a country of strange contrasts; old and new stand side by side, both with much to offer in interest. Such a visit broadens your mind. You come to realize that your way is not the only way of doing things, and you had fun learning.

A “Way” of Life

PROBABLY most of your friends and associates would claim to have a religion or religious views. But what does their religion amount to? Under inspiration the apostle Paul said concerning our day that many would have ‘a form of godly devotion but prove false to its power.’​—2 Tim. 3:5.

In the book The Person in Psychology, Gordon W. Allport commented: “For many people, religion is a dull habit, or a tribal investment to be used for ceremony, for family convenience, or for personal comfort. It is something to use but not to live. It may be used to improve one’s status, to bolster one’s self-confidence. It may be used as a defense against reality, and as a divine sanction for one’s own formula for living. Such a sentiment assures me that God sees things my way. In theological terms, the extrinsically religious person turns to God, but does not turn away from self. This type of religion is a shield for self-centeredness.”​—Page 131.

In contrast, those in the first century who became followers of Jesus were spoken of as belonging to “The Way.” (Acts 19:9, 23) They adhered to a way or manner of life that centered around faith in God and Christ. If you are interested in knowing how religion can be for you a satisfying way of life that pleases God, Jehovah’s witnesses would be most happy to assist you.

Wool​—That Useful Fiber

By “Awake! correspondent in Ireland

“GOOD morning, may I help you?

“Do you wish to buy some material? Certainly. We have a very large selection. Which kind would you like?

“We have silk, a beautiful, soft material, but a little expensive. Or perhaps you prefer linen. It is cool and hard wearing, but good linen can be quite costly too. Cotton is a neat, cool and inexpensive fabric; and we can also offer you all sorts of man-made fibers, such as nylon, Orlon, Dacron, and so forth. These synthetics are economical, easily washed and quite versatile in their uses. Or what about wool? Ah, yes, wool! It too is a very versatile material, and there is a wide variety of cloths made of wool.

“You didn’t realize that different cloths were made of wool? Oh, I assure you a great variety of them are. Very satisfactory they are too. Look at this length of beautiful worsted suiting. This is made from the wool of the very best of the merino sheep. At the other end of the scale is the wool carpet. That was made from a much coarser type of wool, produced from crossbred sheep. In between we get materials such as this length of tweed​—not as fine as the worsted, of course, but very satisfactory for making warm clothes for our northern latitudes.

“You wish to have a suit made for the spring? Well, may I recommend that you look through some lengths of tweed material? Our Irish spring weather usually demands a warm suit, and a tweed one will certainly serve you well. Excuse me a moment while I fetch some lengths of Irish tweed for you to see.

“Irish tweeds used to be woven in the home on handlooms. Now, however, they are no longer made in homes​—except perhaps as a hobby. There are, though, a large number of mills in Ireland that still use nothing but handlooms, so that the product can be labeled ‘handwoven.’

“No, Irish tweed is not made entirely from Irish wool. It used to be. Irish sheep produce a rather coarse wool that is excellent for our tweeds. But now demand has grown so much that wool of a similar quality has to be imported. Additionally, even spun yarns ready for weaving are brought in from the mills of Yorkshire, England. This gives greater variety to our woolen products.

Buying the Material

“Anyway, let’s get down to business. What particular weight did you have in mind?

“Oh, certainly, cloths are usually made and sold by a specific weight. For example, in Ireland a sixteen-ounce cloth would be a cloth of which a section one yard in length and fifty-four inches in width​—the usual width of a bale of cloth—​would weigh sixteen ounces. In tweed we call this medium weight. A nine-ounce cloth would weigh nine ounces for every yard of its length​—this would be a light weight. Heavy weight would be a cloth weighing between twenty-four and thirty ounces per running yard.

“I would suggest in your case a medium-weight cloth, around sixteen ounces. For late spring and early autumn, a length of light-weight (nine to ten ounces) fine-weave tweed will make up a nice suit or dress. The heavy tweeds are used more for winter overcoats and the like. There is a very good choice of materials in each weight.

“It’s important that you check the label carefully when you select your cloth. There are a number of things you need to look for.

“What sort of things? Well, first of all, if you are buying a material that is made of wool, check to see if it is 100 percent wool. Do you see this length, for example? It is a very pleasant color, isn’t it? Notice, though, that the label does not say that it is 100 percent pure wool. Undoubtedly there is some cotton or man-made fiber woven in with the wool in this tweed. Now, these fibers are fine in their own field and when they are mixed with wool they can make the cloth somewhat lower in cost; but cloths containing mixtures have disadvantages. Due to static electricity, for example, a garment made from them is likely to pick up bits of fluff from all over the place, and it will not have the resilience of an all-wool garment either.

“Many persons prefer to buy handwoven cloth, but let me tell you a little secret of the trade. In actual fact, handwoven cloth has no advantage at all over cloth that comes from the power loom! Does that surprise you? Yet it is true. In fact, if the handloom weaver has been inexperienced, he might have beaten the weft (or woof) into the cloth in an uneven manner. (You remember, the warp consists of the long threads in a cloth, and the weft is the thread that is interlaced across with a shuttle.) A properly maintained power loom cannot give uneven cloth. In weft-patterned material, such as a check, or plaid, evenness in the weft is vital for maintaining a regular pattern.

“How would you test the quality? If you buy a length of cloth marked ‘handwoven,’ make sure that it has no uneven places, where the check looks narrower or broader than its neighbors.

“Another thing: feel the firmness of the material. You can do this by gently pulling the material diagonally​—that is, diagonally to the way the warp and weft threads run. Notice, this cloth does not pull too much, but a looser cloth will feel rather spongy. Now I’m not saying you should not buy the looser cloth. You might like the color and design of a looser material, but just remember it will not be as durable as the more closely woven tweed. Loose-woven tweeds have a habit of catching on door handles and other projections and of ‘fluffing up’ or ‘rubbing’ where the sleeves come into contact with the rest of the garment, or where you sit down. So if durability is your prime concern, look for a firmer cloth.

“Oh, yes, the color. Well, as you can see, this fabric comes in a variety of colors. Do you have a preference? I’m sure you do. Just remember, though, that not all colors last equally well. For example, if your favorite color is a bright pink or a bright green, it may, after some use, fade a little. Something else to be careful of too. If you buy a ready-made garment, one that has been on display in a shop window, make sure that it has not faded in the sunlight there!

Tips on Care of Garments

“Here is a hint on caring for wool garments. Wool cloths, when hanging in an unheated room, tend to gather up moisture​—in fact, they can gather up to 18 percent moisture if hung in an unheated damp atmosphere. This is very good for the cloth. By this means the fabric recovers its texture and the garment resumes its shape. Just remember to hang it in a warm place for an hour or two before wearing it, to dispel the moisture.

“Yes, I agree. Wool garments are very practical in our cool climate. And attractive all-wool clothes do look smart so much longer. Cotton and linen fabrics tend to crease easily. Even if they are treated with a crease-resistant process, these processes are never 100 percent sure. But a woolen cloth will not crease so easily, and any creases that do appear will tend to disappear when the garment is hung up for a while.

“True, this can be a drawback in garments such as trousers and skirts where you want creases to stay. They have to be pressed frequently to keep looking smart. So nowadays many of such garments are made of a mixture of wool and a man-made fiber, and in these permanent creases can be made. This is a decided advantage of a mixture.

“Wool does have a tendency to shrink. That is indeed a disadvantage, and knitted garments are particularly prone to this; so are loosely woven tweeds. It would be a real nuisance if you were ever caught out in a prolonged downpour, and your overcoat shrunk, wouldn’t it? But most good manufacturers put their cloths through a shrinking process during production; this preshrinking prevents further shrinking during use. That is something to ask about when you make a purchase.

“As a matter of fact, this tendency of wool to shrink is put to good use by some manufacturers. They use deliberately shrunk and felted wool in the production of melton-type overcoats.

“Did you know that tweeds are used for other things besides clothes? Yes, many people use them for making curtains or covering furniture. They look very attractive, too, when the curtains and furnishings are made of matching shades of some of the brighter colors.

“Yes, that is quite true, these colors do have that tendency to fade, as I mentioned before. A loosely woven tweed, too, will have similar disadvantages in a furniture cover as it would have in a suit. Although curtains usually just hang in one position and so would last longer, furniture coverings get some really hard wear. A cover made of one of the more durable moquettes would last longer than one made of a loosely woven tweed. On the other hand, you could have attractive and quite durable covers made from a fine woven tweed.

“Oh, so you have decided on this fabric, have you? That is fine. I’ll be happy to wrap it.

“Not at all. It is a real pleasure to be of service to you.”

Cold Cubs?

● When the temperature in the Arctic is in the range of -60° F., how can a polar bear keep her newborn cubs warm? With instinctive wisdom she delivers and suckles her cubs in a den burrowed in the snow, which does a fine job as an insulator. In the den the cubs, born deaf, blind and helpless, are protected from the freezing temperatures and fierce winds of the Arctic winter.

“Your Word Is Truth”

Hebrew Poetry

TO ARRIVE at the truth regarding any part of God’s Word, it is very helpful to appreciate each inspired penman’s style of writing. This is certainly true of the Bible’s Hebrew poetry.

It is fitting that parts of the Bible should be written in poetic style. Why? Poetry not only appeals to the intellect but stirs the emotions. It is also set down with a certain symmetry of form that makes it easier to grasp and memorize. Poetry appeals to both eye and ear. But there are often problems in appreciating its meaning.

Some expressions in the Bible are obviously to be taken, not literally, but as figures of speech. It is evident that the earth does not rest on literal “socket pedestals” nor do its rivers actually “clap their hands.” (Job 38:4-6; Ps. 98:8) Nevertheless, very clear truths are being stated when such expressions are used: the earth is immovably set by changeless laws, and rivers do produce handlike waves that noisily slap at their banks. While this variation in style from ordinary prose is usually obvious and therefore understood, other points about Hebrew poetry may not be.

For instance, how are Lamech’s poetic words at Genesis 4:23 to be interpreted?

“A man I have killed for wounding me,

Yes, a young man for giving me a blow.”

Did Lamech kill two persons, a ‘man’ and a ‘young man’? Up until about two centuries ago, commentators said so. However, since then a more accurate understanding of Hebrew poetry has been revived.

It is different from certain classical and modern poetry in which rhyme is often an important element. Rather, Hebrew poetry is distinguished by what is called parallelism. What this means can best be understood by examples.

Parallelism’s most common form is called synonymous parallelism in which the second line repeats the thought in a portion of the first line, but in different words. Psalm 24:1 is an example:

“To Jehovah belong the earth and that which fills it,

The productive land and those dwelling in it.”

The phrase “To Jehovah belong” is essential to both lines. However, the terms “the earth” and “the productive land” are poetic synonyms, as are “that which fills it” and “those dwelling in it.”

This same poetic form is used in the verse quoting Lamech. He apparently killed only one person; the second line of his poetic statement echoes the first, repeating and somewhat expanding it, yes, enlarging a single idea by using different words.

The Bible also has antithetic parallelism, that is, where each line expresses an opposite thought. Psalm 37:9 illustrates this:

“For evildoers themselves will be cut off,

But those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth.”

Then there is synthetic parallelism. In this the second portion neither echoes the same thought as the first nor gives a contrast. Rather, it adds a new thought. Psalm 19:7 is an example:

“The law of Jehovah is perfect,

bringing back the soul.

The reminder of Jehovah is trustworthy,

making the inexperienced one wise.”

Notice that the second part of each sentence completes the thought; the whole verse, therefore, is a synthesis, that is, the result of bringing elements together. Only with the second half-lines, such as “bringing back the soul” and “making the inexperienced one wise,” does the reader learn how the ‘law is perfect’ and how the “reminder of Jehovah is trustworthy.” In such a series of synthetic parallels, this division between the first and second part serves as a rhythmic break. There is thus, along with the progression of thought, the preservation of a certain verse structure, a parallel of form. It is for this reason sometimes called formal or constructive parallelism.

Of course, this is not to say that Hebrew poetry is by any means now perfectly understood. It is not. Various attempts, for instance, have been made to discover its exact meter, the laws regulating the number of stanzas in a verse and syllables in each line. Some have gone so far as to alter the Hebrew text to try to make it fit their own preconceived notions of Hebrew poetic style. But all such efforts at trying to find a system of meter have been largely unsuccessful. Why?

Perhaps because there may be no system of meter to discover. While the above-discussed parallel poetic structure allows for great freeness of thought and wide expression, such cannot be said for meter, which tends to be restrictive. As a former professor of Hebrew at the University of Glasgow observed: “It is not fitting that divinely inspired thoughts should be too closely fettered by human art. They must be free; or at least the form in which they are presented must be such as not to press in upon and mar their divine proportions.”

Additionally, there are those areas in the Hebrew Bible where the difference between prose and poetry is not clearly evident. Some sections may contain prose that is almost poetical in wording. While the penman may not have purposely cast his material as poetry​—as in the Psalms—​he may have, nevertheless, freely used figures of speech or wordplay and even parallelism to drive home his point. In such cases, whether these verses are printed in modern translations as poetry or not may somewhat depend on the translators’ own definition of poetry.

Since knowledge of Hebrew poetry is imperfect, a word of caution when reading seemingly poetic parallelisms is in order. We need not arbitrarily think that because two lines seem to be a parallelism they are always that and no more. The context or another part of the Bible may explain the terms differently. Thus a prophecy concerning Messiah (who proved to be Jesus) at Zechariah 9:9 (New English Bible) says:

“Rejoice, rejoice, daughter of Zion,

shout aloud, daughter of Jerusalem;

for see, your king is coming to you,

his cause won, his victory gained,

humble and mounted on an ass,

on a foal, the young of a she-ass.”

On superficial reading, the words “an ass” and “a foal, the young of a she-ass,” may appear to be no more than parallel expressions referring, really, to only one animal. True, the “ass” and the “foal, the young,” are one animal. However, in the fulfillment, according to Matthew’s account (Mt 21:1-5), Jesus dispatched disciples to “find an ass tied, and a colt with her.” “Untie them and bring them to me,” he said. The Bible thus interprets Zechariah’s prophecy to mean two animals, namely, both the “ass” or “foal, the young,” and its mother, the “she-ass.” Jesus did not ride the “she-ass.”

With a better understanding of the basic poetic style of God’s Word of truth we are led to appreciate its literary beauty. More importantly, we are aided to find its real meaning.2

Watching the World

Decline of “Christian Century”

◆ Christian Century, a prominent Protestant journal, is struggling to survive. Rising production and mailing costs are blamed. However, domestic circulation in just five years has dropped from about 37,000 to a low 30,000. A new editor plans economy moves and appeals for contributions.

Pope Looks to UN

◆ Pope Paul VI declared in mid-December that “peace is possible.” In a message focusing attention on human efforts, he spoke of the need for strong international peacekeeping agencies: “These institutions, and first among them the United Nations, have been established. . . . A positive and worldwide hope recognizes them as instruments of international order, of solidarity and of brotherhood among the peoples. In these institutions peace finds its own home and its own workshop.” But suppose these ‘peace institutions’ do not work? According to the pope: “If their inefficiency were to cause fatal disillusionment in the minds of men, peace would thereby be defeated, and with it the progress of civilization.”

Nicaraguan Earthquake

◆ A major earthquake devastated Managua, capital of the central American republic of Nicaragua, in late December. A major portion of the city was completely demolished by the quake, which measured 6.25 on the Richter scale, equivalent in energy to about fifty atom bombs. The exact death toll is indefinite, estimates ranging from five to ten thousand and more. A six-second quake devastated Managua in 1931, and major tremors took place there in the nineteenth century. ‘Why did the people rebuild the city in a known quake zone?’ asks the New York Times. It adds: “Of course, the same question has to be asked of people who live in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo and many other great cities where similar danger signals abound. . . . Such recurrent tragedies can only be avoided if the lessons of history and of science are taken seriously rather than ignored.”

Food Conditions World Wide

◆ American food costs continue to rise. For instance, at wholesale level, number two hard wheat is now $2.61 per bushel, up over 60 percent from $1.62 a year ago; eggs are up 40 percent. Meat prices have risen 17.8 percent in the last year in France. Meanwhile Asia faces famine. Parts of the continent are already famished. The South China Morning News reports on Afghanistan: “The country has just been through the worst famine in its history, only partially reported to the outside world. No one will probably ever know just what happened, because of primitive communications inside the country. But the suffering has been enormous according to eye-witness accounts, with large numbers of people forced to leave their villages and some dying on the roadsides.” The report concludes: “To talk of peace in the area with the prospect that tens of thousands may starve by spring is nothing short of ridiculous.”

More Bloodless Surgery

◆ Leading U.S. surgeons are turning away from the use of blood transfusions. Houston surgeon D. Cooley has performed 110 heart operations on Jehovah’s witnesses without blood. He claims that 30 percent of all his open-heart surgery is without donor blood transfusions, though he also observes: “the fact is evident now that most major surgery can be done without transfusion.” J. H. Kay of Los Angeles says that 45 to 50 percent of his patients no longer receive donor blood during heart surgery. He cites as advantages: no risk of serum hepatitis, less bleeding after the operation, and shorter hospital stays. S. Dudrick of the University of Pennsylvania advocates building up the patient’s blood before and after surgery rather than by using transfusions. He says: “We don’t throw around a bottle of blood willy-nilly anymore.”

Modern Cannibalism

◆ Some of a group of sixteen plane-crash survivors in the Andes admit they cannibalistically ate parts of the bodies of twenty-nine persons who were killed in the crash. The group endured 69 days in temperatures as low as nine degrees below zero. One survivor, a member of a Uruguayan rugby team, compared the cannibalism to “a heart transplant.” Two New York Roman Catholic theologians have since called the comparison “not unreasonable,” observing that the survivors “acted justifiably.”

Smoking Women

◆ Women seem to be catching up to men as “sudden death risks.” According to Brooklyn pathologist D. M. Spain, about thirteen years ago men under fifty-one years of age were twelve times as vulnerable to heart attacks as women; the figure is now only five. Some have blamed stress. He says, “My particular study, however, has zeroed in on smoking.” Other adverse effects of smoking are pointed to by a British study showing that only one cigarette per day adversely affects fetal development in pregnancy. This study reveals that among smoking mothers there is a 30-percent increase in deaths of newborn infants, lower birth weights, doubled risk of congenital heart defects, and a persistent lag in later development.

Riot Results

◆ Between 1965 and 1968 in five of the American cities hit by racial riots there were 123 deaths, about 14,000 arrests and some 171 million dollars’ worth of damage. Soon Federal and local agencies poured over 250 million dollars into the same areas for reconstruction. With what results? U.S. News & World Report says: “A stranger driving through Newark [New Jersey] might think the city’s bloody race riot happened only last week instead of more than five years ago. . . . Today the Twelfth Street scene [in Detroit, Michigan] looks depressingly like it did six years before,” at the time of the riot. Washington, D.C., has budgeted 137 million dollars for reconstruction; most of this has gone into the downtown business district. A city council representative in Watts (Los Angeles) laments: “Nothing really has been done. In seven years nothing . . . nothing for the people.”

What Were You Saying?

◆ The average Englishman speaks 76 words per minute, according to a British professor studying the subject. And English women? His data reveals that they speak an average of 105 words per minute.

Sterner Seat-Belt Laws

◆ More stringent seat-belt laws are appearing throughout the motorized world. Australia now has a law making seat-belt use mandatory; casualties have been reduced. New Zealand and parts of the U.S. have followed this example. It is estimated that about one third of the lap belts and less than 4 percent of the shoulder belts in U.S. cars are used. New American cars have buzzers and flashing lights that signal when a car is driven with unbuckled belts. In Sweden, analysis of almost 30,000 accidents revealed no fatal injuries even up to 60 miles per hour when occupants wore both lap and shoulder belts.

Americans “Massively Addicted”

◆ Evidence mounts that Americans are, as Wisconsin Senator G. Nelson says, “massively addicted to taking drugs whether we need them or not.” Possibly one million Americans are hooked on barbiturates alone as a result of doctor-prescribed pills. This is said to lead to some two thousand deaths annually, loss of limbs due to gangrene, and a tendency to violence. As to doctors, the Wall Street Journal says “the medical profession [is] one of the most drug-prone groups in America.” From 1 to 5 percent of the profession are thought to be addicted to barbiturates or amphetamines. The rate for the general public (including heroin) is .3 percent. Availability of drugs for doctors is considered one of the main reasons for the high rate.

Teen-Age Girls and Sex

◆ An American survey of over 4,000 unmarried teen-age girls indicates that 46 percent engaged in sexual intercourse. Eleven percent of the farm girls had had such sexual experience, though the figure rises rapidly once they move into the city. Washington state reports that more than one third of its legal abortions are for teen-agers.

“Have We Gone Mad?”

◆ British historian Arnold Toynbee has spoken out once more against nationalism and in favor of world government. He observes: “Since the end of World War II nationalism has doubled the number of local sovereign independent states and has halved their average size. . . . Mankind’s strategic and hygienic problems are global and they are pressing; they cannot be solved by the governments of local states. They call for the establishment of a global authority endowed with overriding power. Mankind’s survival demands political unity, yet mankind’s present mood is increasingly divisive. Have we gone mad?”

Hitchhiking Crimes

◆ Hitchhiking is connected with many crimes in the U.S. Minneapolis has about eight serious hitchhiking incidents in a year; Los Angeles about three per day. Women appear to be one fourth of the hitchhiking population now; as a result, more sex crimes are involved. A police captain in Maryland says female hitchhikers “practically invite rape.” In 1971 in Los Angeles 22 percent of all rapes and 4.7 percent of all robberies were connected with hitchhiking. Neither offending drivers nor riders fit one pattern of dress or behavior.

Lunar Litter

◆ The Apollo moon series left about a half billion dollars’ worth of “junk” behind on the lunar surface. On just one mission, for instance, space men abandoned a “moon buggy” worth two million dollars; hand tools and carrier, $45,000; two portable life-support systems, at $300,000 each; antenna, $125,000; and parts of a lunar lander, worth $50 million dollars. To make room for rock and soil samples, each astronaut disposed of a $4,000 pair of boots. Sleeping hammocks were $4,000. Each television camera disposed of cost $90,000, and movie cameras, $50,000.

Infested Hair

◆ In London, the chief medical officer of the Education Ministry reports that nearly a quarter of a million British youngsters have lice in their hair. He says: “With long hair now popular among both sexes and the habit of boys and girls walking along with arms entwined around each other’s necks, spread of infestation is to be expected.”

Peru’s Anchovy Crisis

◆ The Peruvian government is again allowing limited anchovy fishing. A mysterious warm current caused the fish to disappear last April. Anchovies are a prime source of fish meal and fish oil, annually a $400-million industry in Peru, the world’s major exporter of fish products. The government has been forced to allow fishing to fill foreign contracts already signed for some 400,000 metric tons of fish meal.

Jewish Population

◆ The Los Angeles Times reports that the number of Orthodox Jews in the city dropped from an estimated 49,250 in 1960 to 29,200 in 1970.

Common Market Expands

◆ Three more nations officially came into the European Economic Community or Common Market at the start of the year. Britain, Ireland and Denmark joined the original six members: France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

“I Found Lots of Information”

That was an eight-year-old’s comment about the use of the Watch Tower Publications Index. She had an essay to write on ‘Why Plant a Tree?’ Using the Index, she located information in issues of Awake! that helped her to win first prize in the essay contest.

Now the 1972 Watch Tower Publications Index is ready. Find answers when you want them. Send only 10 cents.

Please send me the 1972 Watch Tower Publications Index, for which I am enclosing 10c.

Do You Like to Be With Morally Upright People?

All around the world, in 208 lands, there is a society of morally upright persons. A regular study of the Bible, using the Watchtower magazine as an aid, has helped to strengthen them morally. You are invited to attend this weekly study at the Kingdom Hall in your vicinity.

You can also subscribe for The Watchtower for one year. Send just $1.50. You will receive 24 issues, a copy every two weeks.

Please send me by mail a one-year subscription for The Watchtower, for which I enclose $1.50. I am also to receive as a free gift the three booklets God’s Way Is Love, “This Good News of the Kingdom” and Divine Rulership​—the Only Hope of All Mankind.