February 22

Can You Lengthen Your Life-Span?

LIFE is precious. Who among the millions enjoying good mental and physical health would want to pick the year, month, day and hour of his death? Certainly no one. When people are doing meaningful work and feel that they are appreciated and loved, they want life to continue. But how can a person secure for himself a long and meaningful life?

Worrying about it certainly will not add even a minute to a person’s life-span. Instead of contributing toward a lengthening of life, undue anxiety only brings unpleasantness and may even shorten it.

Of course, a person may be able to do very little about inherited weaknesses and defects in the functioning of his physical organism. Then, too, an unforeseen occurrence​—accident, flood, earthquake or volcano—​may quickly snuff out his life. Nevertheless, things can be done in order to enjoy a longer life even now. We can avoid taking foolish chances and can see to it that our bodies get needed food and rest. Most importantly, we can choose to be guided by wisdom.

A Bible proverb points to the good effect that applied wisdom can have on the life-span, saying: “It is a tree of life to those taking hold of it, and those keeping fast hold of it are to be called happy.” (Prov. 3:18) Yes, wisdom, the ability to apply knowledge successfully, can save us from untold trouble, including a premature death.

Consider, for example, what the Bible book of Proverbs says about alcohol abuse: “Who has woe? Who has uneasiness? Who has contentions? Who has concern? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has dullness of eyes? Those staying a long time with the wine, those coming in to search out mixed wine. Do not look at wine when it exhibits a red color, when it gives off its sparkle in the cup, when it goes with a slickness. At its end it bites just like a serpent, and it secretes poison just like a viper.”​—Prov. 23:29-32.

As here described, the person who is given to heavy drinking often becomes quarrelsome without cause and may find himself embroiled in fights. To him, wine looks unduly attractive, sparkling. His intemperance in the use of alcoholic beverages has the same effect upon him as the poison of a viper. It can make him physically sick, causing, for instance, cirrhosis of the liver. It can also harm him mentally by producing delirium tremens. Like a serpent’s poison, heavy intake of alcoholic beverages may be death-dealing.

Describing what can happen to a person in a drunken state, the book of Proverbs continues: “Your own eyes will see strange things, and your own heart will speak perverse things. And you will certainly become like one lying down in the heart of the sea [experiencing the confusion of one drowning, finally passing into unconsciousness], even like one lying down at the top of a mast [the rocking of a ship being at its greatest point here, the drunkard’s life is in greatest danger from such things as an accident, a stroke or a brawl]. ‘They have struck me, but I did not become sick; they have smitten me, but I did not know it [says the drunkard, as if talking to himself; his senses are totally dulled to what is happening to him]. When shall I wake up? I shall seek it yet some more [yes, after sleeping off the effects of his overindulgence, he will go right back to his drinking].’”​—Prov. 23:33-35.

Truly the person who avoids alcohol abuse is wise. His wisdom is a “tree of life,” protecting him from all kinds of trouble and, possibly, an untimely death.

Other counsel provided in the book of Proverbs can, if applied, likewise contribute to a lengthening of one’s life. There is encouragement to pay attention to sound counsel, to avoid involvement with lawless elements and to shun sexual immorality. We read: “A wise person will listen and take in more instruction.” (Prov. 1:5) “If sinners try to seduce you, do not consent. If they keep saying: ‘Do go with us. Do let us lie in ambush . . .’ do not go in the way with them.” (Prov. 1:10-15) “Why should you, my son, be in an ecstasy with a strange woman or embrace the bosom of a foreign woman? . . . His own errors will catch the wicked one, and in the ropes of his own sin he will be taken hold of. He will be the one to die because there is no discipline.”​—Prov. 5:20-23.

Clearly, conduct that harmonizes with the Holy Scriptures contributes to a longer and happier life. The benefits of godly conduct, however, are not limited just to the present. The Christian apostle Paul wrote: “Godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come.”​—1 Tim. 4:8.

The kind of life in the future that the Most High has in mind for mankind is described in the Bible as follows: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore.”​—Rev. 21:3, 4.

Therefore, living in harmony with God’s requirements can add years to a person’s life now and put him in line for a grand future. But not all persons today favor living by the Bible. They prefer their own ways. Among these people are persecutors of God’s servants.

There may be times when such persecution threatens a godly person’s life. What then? Should he yield to the demands of the persecutors and thereby escape a premature death? It might seem that compromise in such a case could result in the lengthening of one’s life-span. But that is not the case. Jesus Christ said: “Whoever wants to save his soul [life] will lose it; but whoever loses his soul for the sake of me and the good news will save it.” (Mark 8:35) “He that is fond of his soul destroys it, but he that hates his soul [not holding life as too precious] in this world will safeguard it for everlasting life.”​—John 12:25.

How can the loss of one’s life prematurely at the hands of persecutors result in safeguarding it for an endless life-span?

Because the person who dies in faithfulness to God can rest assured of being raised from the dead with everlasting life in view. On the other hand, the person who compromises may live a few more years on earth, but he has jeopardized his prospect for gaining eternal life. When he loses his approved standing with God, this means that he has exchanged an eternal, happy future for a few short years of life in an ungodly world. What a foolish decision this is!

So, if you are truly interested in lengthening your life-span, make the sound guidelines of the Bible your own and apply them. Do so regardless of what pressure might be brought against you for this. Never lose sight of the fact that, not man, but God alone can give you unending life.

Earthquake Alert! What Should You Do?

DURING the year 1976 alone it is possible that over 686,800 persons lost their lives as a result of earthquake activity world wide. Thousands of others suffered the loss of material possessions, including their homes. Indeed, when these mighty temblors strike​—possessions, life and limb all are imperiled.

Moderate earthquakes register 6.0 to 6.9 on the Richter scale. Major temblors have a Richter rating of 7.0 to 7.9, and giant quakes are those registering 8.0 or greater. Guatemala, the Panama-Colombia border, the Kuriles, Sumatra, New Guinea and Turkey each had a major quake; the Soviet Union had two and China three. Two giant quakes struck the Kermadec Islands in the South Pacific, and one hit Mindanao in the Philippines. And this was not all the earthquake activity world wide during the months of 1976.

Since quakes can be so dangerous and death-dealing, what would you do if you heard a broadcast warning that there would be a destructive earthquake in your locality within the next day or two? But can scientists really predict earthquakes? How seriously, for example, should people living in southern California take the recently publicized warnings that a dangerous bulge has been developing in that area?

Beginnings of Earthquake Prediction

A few earthquakes already have been correctly predicted. One of the first successful forecasts was made by Dr. James H. Whitcomb, a geophysicist at the California Institute of Technology. In December 1973 he predicted that within three months an earthquake would occur east of Riverside, California, and that it would have a magnitude of 5.5 or more on the Richter scale. As predicted, a tremor was recorded on the following January 30, centered about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Riverside. However, it read only 4.1 on the Richter scale.

Later that year, at an informal gathering of geologists in northern California on the evening of November 27, scientists of the Menlo Park laboratory of the United States Geological Survey said that a quake of about magnitude 5 was to be expected on the San Andreas Fault near Hollister, possibly the next day. The very next afternoon, Hollister was shaken by a tremor of Richter rating 5.2.

By far the most striking earthquake forecast till now was reported from China. On February 4, 1975, Haich’eng, in Liaoning Province in northeast China, was hit by a strong earthquake of magnitude 7.3. The city was destroyed, but there was little loss of life because seismologists had foreseen the quake and the people had been alerted to the danger. A general evacuation had been ordered and a million persons in the area left their houses. Barely five and a half hours after the final warning, the destructive shock struck. Though thousands of houses were destroyed, only some 200 persons were killed.

Learning of the timely Chinese warning, people in other areas subject to earthquakes wonder why such forecast service cannot be provided there also. What signs enable seismologists to say that an earthquake is imminent? What kind of instruments do they use? How much would people be willing to disrupt their routine of life in response to earthquake alerts? And what would be the effects of false alarms?

Preliminary Movements of the Crust

For one thing, to predict a quake geologists watch for signs of deformation of the ground’s surface. It is believed that large plates of the earth’s outer crust are slowly moving over its surface. Geological “faults” exist where two plates come in contact. Where one plate juts into another, the ground may be thrust upward. On the other hand, where one plate slides past another, there may be a horizontal displacement of lines crossing the fault.

Such movements amount to only a few inches a year, and so are not obvious. However, they can be detected by accurate surveys made over a period of years. The so-called Palmdale bulge, north of Los Angeles, California, is an area of some 4,500 square miles (12,000 square kilometers) that is being uplifted. It now stands as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) higher than it did fifteen years ago. This suggests that strain is building up that will be relieved eventually by an earthquake.

Farther north along the San Andreas Fault in California, surveys have shown for many years that the ground on the west side is inching north against the ground on the east side. In the neighborhood of the city of Hollister, this movement is effected by a more or less regular succession of small quakes along the fault. Still farther north, where the fault cuts through San Francisco, such activity is lacking. Here it seems that the two sides of the fault have been locked together since the great quake of 1906. If this is true, it leads to the ominous conclusion that when the accumulating strain reaches the limiting strength of the rocks, it will be relieved suddenly in another disastrous quake.

Ordinary surveying methods can tell the seismologist where an earthquake is liable to occur, but they can give only a rough idea as to when it will happen, or how strong it will be. Recently, the laser has been put to use for precise surveying in the Hollister area. With this, movements of “bench marks” on opposite sides of the fault can be measured much more precisely. Consequently, small movements can be detected sooner. This promises to help to sharpen the prediction of the time of quakes.

Seismic Precursors

The most valuable indicators in earthquake prediction at present are based on analysis of seismograph records of small earthquakes or man-made blasts (as in rock quarries). Seismologists long have distinguished two kinds of signals in the transmission of shock waves through the earth’s mantle. One kind is called the P-wave. It travels by compression of the rock in the direction that the wave is moving. The other, called the S-wave, is transmitted by sideways compression, perpendicular to the direction of the wave. P-waves travel faster through the rock than S-waves, and so they appear first on the seismograph.

In 1971 Soviet scientists reported that they had found that the P-waves are slowed down for some time before a large earthquake. The speed is reduced beginning some weeks or months beforehand, but it suddenly returns to normal just hours or a few days before the quake. Going back over their past records, United States scientists verified this observation. In fact, they found that there had been a drop in velocity of P-waves three and a half years before the destructive quake at San Fernando, California, in 1971. This phenomenon was the basis on which the Riverside tremor of 1974 was successfully predicted.

In regions that are seismically active, usually there are frequent small quakes, of magnitude 3 or 4​—so small that they are not noticeable without instruments. It has been found that these minor tremors may stop, resulting in a calm period of some months, and then resume just before a large quake. Hence, by carefully monitoring the records of seismographs installed throughout a region under surveillance, scientists may get an early warning as well as an urgent signal of a destructive earthquake.

Other Warning Signals

Other types of measurement that may be useful in predicting the times and magnitudes of earthquakes are based on laboratory studies of rocks. As a rock is put under more and more stress, it shows signs of strain long before it breaks. The rock seems to begin swelling as tiny cracks form and grow in it. This changes several properties of the rock, which can be measured, not only in the laboratory, but also in the earth’s crust. Among these effects are: (1) an increase in volume of the rock; (2) a change in its electrical resistance; (3) accompanying changes in the local magnetic field; and (4) an increase in permeability to gas or water. All of these suggest possible measurements in the field that may give precursory signals of impending earthquakes.

When the rock swells, it may shift position slightly. A tiltmeter (like a carpenter’s level, only much more sensitive) can be placed in the rock to indicate such a shift. An array of such devices spotted along the San Andreas Fault for some 53 miles (85 kilometers) gave the precursory indications on which the Hollister forecast of November 1974 chiefly was based.

The electrical resistance of rocks in a seismic region can be measured by feeding current into electrodes set in the ground several miles apart and by measuring the voltage on other electrodes. Studies in the U.S.S.R. show that a decrease in resistance may occur gradually over a period of several months before an earthquake. Sometimes the change is reversed shortly before the quake. Similarly, an instrument to measure the earth’s magnetic field to a precision of one part in a hundred thousand may indicate an impending quake by unusual readings. Magnetic changes had been seen before the Hollister tremor.

The increase in porosity of rocks before they rupture seems to fit in with the observation that more radon than normal is found in well water before a quake. Radon is a radioactive gas that is produced by traces of uranium in the rocks. When cracks develop under growing stress, more radon can escape into the ground water. Instruments to detect this emanation are extraordinarily sensitive and can be used to monitor wells throughout a seismic region.

The swelling of rock also seems to explain changes often observed in water level of wells before a quake. All that these observations require is that someone keep watch on the selected wells and report any changes. A team of amateurs in Japan claims to be able to foretell quakes by this method alone.

There have been stories that animals behave strangely just before a quake. It is said that horses become skittish, dogs run away from home, rats leave buildings and chickens will not go to roost. In the wild, squirrels and birds migrate and snakes leave their holes en masse. At zoos, monkeys panic, peacocks scream, swans leave the water, and pandas moan and dance. Such accounts are taken seriously in China and are included with the more “scientific” data in forecasting earthquakes. Some Western scientists now are becoming more inclined to study animal behavior as another possibly useful quake precursor.

Programs for Earthquake Forecasts

All in all, it appears that scientists are approaching the ability to predict earthquakes. However, it is one thing to solve the basic scientific problems involved, and it is quite another to provide earthquake forecasts to all parts of the earth where they may be wanted. Earth scientists point out that the financial support provided in the United States for research on earthquakes has been very small. And actually deploying the needed instruments over large areas will be even more expensive. Also, large staffs of scientists and technicians may be needed to watch the instruments and analyze the records.

However, suppose we have reasonably reliable earthquake predictions. What are we going to do with them? Some have worried that the prediction might throw people into such panic that the resulting damage would be as bad as that caused by the quake itself. While such fear may be exaggerated, what about false alarms? Suppose a large city suspends or curtails its normal industry and commerce for an earthquake alert, but nothing happens after a day or two and the alert is lifted. Imagine the complaints voiced over economic losses!

Some persons might even argue against warning the public about an earthquake. When Dr. Whitcomb told the newspapers that a damaging quake might hit the Los Angeles area within a year, a city councilman talked about bringing a damage suit against him because real-estate values would be depressed by his announcement.

What Would You Do?

How would you react to a credible earthquake prediction? Would you alter your routine of life to increase your chance of survival, in case the prediction proved true? What steps could you take?

You could arrange for your family to sleep in an open space. If you have camping equipment, such as a tent, sleeping bags, portable lights or a stove, you could put them to good use. If you have a car, you might leave it outside the garage, in the driveway or the street. It would be prudent to put some drinking water in containers in a secure place. Also, some canned or packaged food could be placed where it would be accessible if your dwelling collapsed. You would be wise to avoid going near or into large buildings. If you live in an individual house, do you know where the gas and electricity can be turned off, to reduce the risk of fire from broken wires and loosened pipes?

If you live where a disastrous earthquake is not unlikely, some precautions would be worth while, even if a quake struck without warning. You could keep emergency equipment and supplies where they would be accessible if your house collapsed. With your family, you could plan alternate ways of escape from your house or apartment if the usual exits were blocked. You could always keep a flashlight where it is readily available.

As Jesus Christ foretold, destructive earthquakes can be expected to continue, one place after another,” until this present “system of things” comes to its end. (Matt. 24:3, 7) In the meantime, if earthquake forecasting becomes a reality, you would be wise to take such warnings seriously. Even now, if you live in a threatened area, it is prudent to plan what you would do if a large earthquake struck without warning. The Bible says: “Shrewd is the one that has seen the calamity and proceeds to conceal himself.”​—Prov. 22:3.

“There Will Be Great Earthquakes”

THE year was 33 of our Common Era. The place? Jerusalem. One of Jesus Christ’s disciples had just spoken admiringly of the fine buildings in that ancient city’s temple area. But in response Jesus declared: “Do you behold these great buildings? By no means will a stone be left here upon a stone and not be thrown down.”​—Mark 13:1, 2.

With that declaration in mind, Jesus’ apostles Peter, James, John and Andrew later approached Christ on the Mount of Olives. “Tell us,” they asked, “When will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are destined to come to a conclusion?” As Jesus then explained, that “sign” would have a number of features. Citing one of these, Christ said: “There will be earthquakes in one place after another.” Or, as the gospel writer Luke puts it: “There will be great earthquakes.”​—Mark 13:3-8; Luke 21:11.

And So It Occurred

Earthquakes, large and small, did take place prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple by the Romans in 70 C.E. A “great earthquake” took place in the vicinity of Jerusalem on the day of Jesus’ resurrection, when an angel descended from heaven and rolled away the stone that had been in front of Christ’s tomb. (Matt. 28:1, 2) Quite some years later, while the apostle Paul and his associate Silas were imprisoned at Philippi, their prayers and songs of praise to God were answered by means of a “great earthquake.” It opened the prison doors and loosened all the prisoners’ bonds. This occurrence led to the conversion of the jailer and his household to Christianity.​—Acts 16:25-34.

Yet, other earthquakes occurred prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 C.E. Wrote the noted Bible commentator Albert Barnes: “Many of these are mentioned as preceding the destruction of Jerusalem. Tacitus mentions one in the reign of Claudius, at Rome; and says that, in the reign of Nero, the cities of Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colosse, were overthrown; and the celebrated Pompeii was overwhelmed, and almost destroyed by an earthquake, Annales, 15, 22. Others are mentioned as occurring at Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, and Samos.”

Not Just Dead History

Assuredly, then, “great earthquakes” did occur before 70 C.E. But is that all there is to Christ’s prophecy? No indeed. Jesus’ prophetic words about earthquakes have special meaning for people of the twentieth century. This is evident from the nature of the question Jesus was answering. The gospel writer Matthew put the query this way: “Tell us, When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence and of the conclusion of the system of things?”​—Matt. 24:3.

Accordingly, Jesus answered with his future presence also in mind. Since that presence would be associated with “the conclusion of the system of things” existing at that time, his reply also pointed to the distant future. (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43) So, while earthquakes did precede the end of the Jewish system of things back in 70 C.E., a far greater future fulfillment was certain as regards Jesus’ forecast: “There will be great earthquakes.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses have learned through Bible study that Jesus Christ’s presence as heavenly King and the “time of the end” for the present system of things began in 1914 C.E. (Dan. 12:9) But what about the foretold earthquakes?

Interestingly, for a period of 1,059 years (856 to 1914 C.E.), reliable sources list only 24 major earthquakes, with 1,972,952 fatalities. But compare that with the accompanying partial list citing 43 instances of earthquakes, in which 1,579,209 persons died during just the 62 years from 1915 to 1976 C.E. Here, year by year, are the locations of some of the quakes of this period, along with statistics on the fatalities:

The dramatic upsurge in earthquake activity since 1914 helps to prove that we are living in the time of Jesus’ presence. These mighty temblors fulfill his prophecy: “There will be great earthquakes.”

[Box on page 11]

YEAR LOCATION DEATHS

1915 Italy 29,970

1920 China 180,000

1923 Japan 143,000

1927 China 200,000

1932 China 70,000

1933 U.S.A. 115

1935 India (now Pakistan) 60,000

1939 Chile 30,000

1939 Turkey 23,000

1946 Turkey 1,300

1946 Japan 2,000

1948 Japan 5,131

1949 Ecuador 6,000

1950 India 1,500

1953 Turkey 1,200

1953 Greece 424

1954 Algeria 1,657

1956 Afghanistan 2,000

1957 Iran (Northern) 2,500

1957 Iran (Western) 2,000

1960 Chile 5,700

1960 Morocco 12,000

1962 Iran 10,000

1963 Yugoslavia 1,100

1964 Alaska 131

1966 Turkey 2,529

1968 Iran 11,588

1970 Turkey 1,086

1970 Peru 66,794

1971 U.S.A. 65

1972 Iran 5,057

1972 Nicaragua 6,000

1973 Mexico (Western) 52

1973 Mexico (Central) 700

1974 Pakistan 5,200

1975 China 200

1975 Turkey 2,312

1976 Guatemala 23,000

1976 Italy 900

1976 Bali 600

1976 China 655,235

1976 Philippines 3,373

1976 Turkey 3,790

Safety Hints for Home Woodworking

IN THE few minutes that it will take to read this article, thousands of tons of a marvelous building material will have appeared on earth. Though of great strength, generally it is very light in weight. It is economical to buy. It is readily available to almost all peoples of the earth. Its appearance is absolutely beautiful. Yes, earth’s forests continually yield an unending supply of usable wood.

How was such a strong, light, economical, available and beautiful material ever designed? It was the product of our Creator. Wood was indeed designed for man, intended for his use. Can you picture in your mind the beautiful colors and grains of walnut, mahogany, oak or maple? Or, can you smell the scent of freshly cut pine or aromatic cedar? Truly, wood and the ability to work with it are gifts of a loving Creator.

Woodworking in Early Times

Both secular and Bible records mention woodworking early in man’s history. Many saws used in the ancient past have been found. Some were made of stone, others of iron. One of the oldest stone saws was discovered at Ur of the Chaldeans, in Mesopotamia. These early saws were made of obsidian, a volcanic glass, and are only about two inches (5 centimeters) long. It is believed that they were made by the Sumerians, inhabitants of southern Mesopotamia, even before Abraham’s day.

One of the oldest iron saws was found at Nimrud, near Nineveh. In shape it is very similar to saws used today. There may have been many iron saws, but since iron oxidizes rapidly, only a few have survived the ravages of time. Pictures of saws appear on Egyptian monuments, and bronze saws and rasps of ancient Egypt have also been found. They are distinctive in that the teeth point backward, as opposed to saws today in the Western world. Interestingly, many Oriental lands to this day use saws with backward-pointing teeth.

At Exodus 35:33, the Bible tells us that God’s spirit aided Bezalel in his craftsmanship, “in working of wood to make ingenious products of every sort.” It certainly would be interesting to see some of his wood products. And without a question we would also enjoy seeing some of the products made by Jesus of Nazareth, who once was a worker in wood. (Mark 6:3) Although this is not possible, today many museums contain pieces of furniture that are centuries old. Have you seen any of these beautiful products? They add testimony to the fact that woodworking has been very widespread throughout man’s history.

Woodworking is still widespread today. You may be planning to make something out of wood yourself. If so, will you be using hand tools or electric power tools? What principles should you keep in mind in order to do the work safely?

Some Simple Safety Facts

Simple nonelectric hand tools may seem quite safe. However, even such common tools as hand knives, wood chisels, handsaws and hammers can be used in an unsafe way. For example, one young woodworker, while trying to free a wooden handle from a tool, drove the straight claw of his hammer met into the wood. When it still would not split, he picked up another hammer and drove the first hammer farther into the wood by striking it on its face. Results? A loud bang, a sharp pain in his nose and quite a bit of bleeding. By striking the two hammerheads together he had caused a ‘steel explosion,’ and a steel particle struck him in the nose about an inch from his eye as if fired from a gun.

So observe these safety precautions: Steel hammers should never be pounded face to face. Also, wear safety eyeglasses when hammering hardened nails into concrete.

Another young man cut his eye while working in close quarters with a long, thin screwdriver. Hence, care should be exercised to keep your face a safe distance away from the tools with which you are working.

When using sharp cutting tools such as wood chisels or hand knives, one cardinal rule is always to cut away from yourself. It is not easy to remember this rule when a person gets engrossed in cutting a piece of wood, but it can prevent some very serious accidents.

To illustrate: A putty knife may not seem very dangerous. Yet, while using one, a worker nearly lost use of part of his hand permanently. He was applying pressure when the putty knife slipped and slashed his other hand so deeply that tendons were cut. A block of wood can be clamped to a worktable and used as a “stop” to keep the wood from moving when you use chisels or knives. You may also grasp the wood in your hand, but always keep your cutting hand out farthest from your body, cutting only in the direction away from yourself.

When using a metal-cutting hacksaw, it is best to use one having a handle that completely encloses your hand. If the blade breaks, your hand will be more protected than with the open pistol-grip type. In purchasing saws, screwdrivers, pliers, hammers and other tools for home use, it is much better to buy those of good quality. They not only give better service and are less expensive in the long run, but, more importantly, are safer to use.

Safe Use of Electric Tools

Electric woodworking tools are often used. It is very important that careful thought and great care be taken with them, for they can inflict serious wounds.

Perhaps the most common electric tool, aside from drills, is the power handsaw. A good scripture that might be posted in your workshop is the one at Ecclesiastes 10:10. It says: “If an iron tool has become blunt and someone has not whetted its edge, then he will exert his own vital energies. So the using of wisdom to success means advantage.” Especially in the case of a power handsaw, the blade must be kept sharp to run easily and safely. The machine is very dangerous if the blade becomes dull, for instead of cutting the wood fibers, the blade tends to climb on top of them and acts as a wheel, propelling the saw in your direction at a very fast speed.

Clamping a straight edge (a straight narrow board) near the line you want to cut, and then sliding the base of your electric saw along it, will ensure a safe cut, for this will keep the saw from binding. When the saw binds, it comes back at you in what is called a “kickback.” Generally, it is good to keep both hands on the saw. Have the piece you are cutting in a solid, safe position and always maintain good footing. The operator of an electric handsaw should always keep in position so that if the saw kicks back, he can maintain control of it. A key to the safe use of electric hand tools is: Always think ahead about what could happen before it occurs.

Sometimes a larger woodworking machine such as a table saw is used. This fine machine can do great amounts of cutting safely and quickly. It is not the most devastating of large woodworking machines, but it is one with which accidents most commonly occur. Here again, a very important safety step is to keep the blade sharp. The few minutes taken to sharpen it are well worth the time spent. Most areas of the world require that machines of this type have a guard over the blade. This is a great protection.

A basic principle to keep in mind when operating the table saw is to keep a continual watch on where your hands are as you use the machine. Be sure that the floor is kept clean so that you do not slip. The greatest danger in operating table saws comes from “kickbacks.” With that in mind, never place your hands in any position where they will be dragged into the blade in the event that the wood kicks back at you. This means that you must not put your hands on the portion of the saw table that is on the side of the blade away from the operator (the back side of the saw). The saw blade should be kept approximately one quarter of an inch (6 millimeters) above the material that you are cutting. Keeping the blade this low will minimize the chance of your being injured.

The “grain” refers to the fibers in the wood, which may be pictured as long and narrow, and usually lying in the same direction as the length of a board. “Ripping” a board means cutting it in the same direction as the grain or fibers. “Crosscutting” means cutting across the fibers or grain. When ripping (cutting a board lengthways), as you feed the material through the saw your eyes should be down where you can see your hands, the blade (covered by the guard) and the fence. (The fence is the clamping metal straightedge against which you guide the wood through the saw. This is called a ripping fence. Another fence, called a miter gauge, which slides in a groove in the saw table, is used in crosscutting.)

As you pass the wood through the saw, it is important not only to watch your hands and the blade, but to keep your eyes mainly along the ripping fence. By watching that the wood does not creep away from the fence, you will protect yourself against kickback. Some have the practice of doing “freehand” cutting. In this case, the operator uses neither the ripping fence nor the crosscut fence for support, but rests the wood on the table and guides it into the blade with only his hands holding it. Never allow yourself to succumb to the temptation of doing this. Kickbacks very often occur with this kind of cutting. Rather than attempting a freehand cut on a table saw, you should use a band saw or an electric jigsaw to make the cut. The few seconds saved by the freehand cut are not worth the time lost and the injury suffered should an accident occur. Also, do not use the crosscut fence and the ripping fence at the same time, as wood can bind between them. You should use either one or the other, but material should not be cut on a table saw without using a fence to stabilize it.

In the event that you must make a small cut that requires removal of the table saw’s guard, what should you do? Use a wooden push stick so that your hand does not have to come close to the blade.

Another good thought on safety: Do not operate high-speed power equipment if you are very fatigued. Most accidents happen late in the day when workers are tired. Never yield to the temptation of hurrying with your machinery.

Then, too, do not attempt to cut badly warped or twisted boards on a table saw, since they almost invariably bind and kick back. They should first be straightened on a jointer. It is a very good practice never to stand with your face directly in line with the turning saw blade. If a knot comes flying out of the wood, it may be hurled at you at over 100 miles (160 kilometers) an hour! Stand slightly to the right or to the left of the saw blade’s thrust. And it is a very good idea to wear safety glasses.

Other Helpful Safety Hints

Here are some other thoughts on homeshop safety. When using power hand drills, make sure that you are not standing in water, unless you are wearing rubber gloves and leak-proof rubber boots; otherwise you could be electrocuted if there is a short in the wiring. In operating a drill press, clamp down the material being drilled, or clamp down a stop block for protection. This will keep the press from pulling the piece out of your hand and hitting you with it. Never use an electric grinding wheel without wearing a face shield or safety glasses. More than one worker has suffered permanent eye damage when a small piece of metal flew up and entered his eye. Also, the wheel could break and fly into your face.

Usually, women do not operate power woodworking equipment at home. But occasionally women use electric power tools themselves, and when they do they too should observe these safety rules.

Fathers should give their sons good instruction on safe use of hand and electric tools. School instruction classes also are very good, as is home study through various fine books on safe woodworking.

It is important for a person who enjoys working with wood to develop good habits in using his tools. Someday his thoughts may wander for a moment while he is working. Then, without thinking, his good habit will take over and automatically he will make the safe movement, never putting his hand in the wrong position. So get safe work habits clearly in mind. Always make yourself follow them and they will afford you the pleasure of safe home woodworking.

The prospect of making things of wood, both now and in the future, is a pleasant one. But let us make sure that we observe the safety precautions in connection with such work. Actually, safe practices are associated with proper reverence of God. If we lack sufficient knowledge about what we are doing, and we are careless, we are not showing appreciation for the life God has given us. How vital, then, that we do our woodworking in the best and safest manner! This shows respect for God, the Creator, and it will be for our own good.

Human Language​—A Unique Gift

By “Awake!” correspondent in Ivory Coast

A TRANSLATING machine once took the English expression “out of sight, out of mind” and rendered it in another language as “invisible idiot”! Did that mean that the machine had snapped a gear? No. It was making a very pardonable mistake. And it was also highlighting one of the many factors that make human language unique among known methods of communication​—its complexity.

To the machine, “out of sight” was, in a certain sense, to be invisible. To be “out of [your] mind” was to be mad or an idiot, and yet “out of sight, out of mind” does not mean “invisible idiot”! It is this sort of thing that gives inventors of translating machines headaches.

Of course, it is not only complexity that makes human speech unique. There are many other factors involved​—so many that some scientists maintain that, instead of labeling man homo sapiens (“man with wisdom”), it would be more appropriate to label him homo loquens (“man who talks”).

But someone may protest: “Have they forgotten all the recent research in animal communication systems? Man speaks, yes. But so do animals, in their own fashion. Dolphins whistle, bees dance, birds have distinctive call notes and some can even imitate human speech. And what about the monkeys that have recently learned some ‘sign’ language? Although their way of communicating might not work in quite the same way as man’s, surely the purpose and results are the same, are they not?”

Well, yes and no. Yes, they do communicate; and no, as a rule the purpose and results are not the same. Much research has gone into this question. The different call sounds made by creatures as varied as gibbons, geese and dolphins have been catalogued​—in some cases even worked into a sort of vocabulary. Gibbons apparently have nine calls or so and dolphins more. Dolphins even appear to have different “dialects,” according to where they live.

Yet, there are several vital differences between man’s speech and that of the animals​—even beyond the obvious fact that human language is immeasurably more complex. One difference is . . .

The Intention to Communicate

When they use their own call signs, do animals or birds consciously intend to communicate with one another as humans do? Or is the sound merely an instinctive reaction to their momentary situation? Konrad Z. Lorenz, a world-renowned authority on animal behavior, claims that they do not intentionally communicate, although they often appear to.

Should a jackdaw, for example, be alarmed while feeding, it will fly up into the air uttering a warning “Kia, kia” cry, and any fellow jackdaw hearing that cry will fly up automatically also. The perfect coordination of the warning cry and the reaction of the other birds creates the impression that they are talking and understanding a language of their own. But not so, explains Lorenz in his book King Solomon’s Ring:

“The animal, in all these sounds and movements expressing its emotions, has in no way the conscious intention of influencing a fellow-member of its species. This is proved by the fact that even geese or jackdaws reared and kept singly make all these signals as soon as the corresponding mood overtakes them.”​—P. 77.

When a man uses the voice signals that he has learned, he intends to convey something to his hearers (unless, of course, he is singing in the bath!) and he will stop if he notices that no one is listening. The jackdaw, however, does not care if another is listening. It merely emits the sound as an instinctive reflex action, just as a man will yawn when tired. This highlights another difference with man’s speech . . .

Mobility of the Signal

Most animal signals are not what linguists (students of language) call “mobile,” or separable from the situation that prompts the signal. The gibbon, for example, uses its danger call only when danger actually exists.

Animal signals are also fixed in the sense that the animal does not, in general, listen to the sound it makes and then try to modify it into another sound. Certain birds, it is true, are able to mimic sounds that are not in their inborn “vocabulary.” They can learn to copy sounds made by other birds, or even those made by man, like the parrot that says, “Pretty Polly!”

However, Lorenz insists that birds rarely manage to associate consciously even one of the word sounds that they had learned with a certain action, and then never to any practical purpose. One old gray parrot called Geier, who had quite a large “human” vocabulary (including saying “Auf wiedersehen!” in a deep benevolent voice whenever anyone got up to leave), never did learn to say “food” when he was hungry and “drink” when he was thirsty.

This lack of “mobility” is even more noticeable with the bees’ dance. This is a sort of sign language akin to semaphore flagging, and men have even succeeded in using it to communicate with the insects. The explorer bee indicates distance to the flowers by the speed of his dance (thus showing the effort required), and direction by its axis in relation to the sun.

However, this is all that can be transmitted. Each sign, the “meaning” of which is fixed, cannot be separated and used in other ways for little chats about “How’s the weather over there?” or “Seen any beautiful flowers lately?” Thus we come to another difference of human speech . . .

Makeup of Language

The big deficiency of animal codes is that they lack the creative capacity that enables humans to produce and understand sentences that they have never heard before, and that may never have even been uttered before. This is due to the way human language is made up.

Speech has what is called a double structure. By that we mean that human utterances can be broken down into smaller units: first, into units of meaning or single words, and, secondly, into sound units, called phonemes. Phonemes can be used to construct other words having nothing to do with the original one.

Suppose, for example, that an animal had a call sign for meat. Now that call, whatever it was, would mean meat and nothing else. But the English word meat not only can be used to signify the flesh of an animal, but also can be separated into three distinct sound units or phonemes: m, e and t. Those three phonemes can then be used to make all sorts of other words: teem and me, as well as eat, tea, meaty, and so on.

Thus fewer than fifty sound units in English have been combined to make up over half a million word units, and new words are being formed all the time. The words, in turn, can be combined to form an infinite number of sentences. This brings us to another facet of language composition the idea of grammar.

Grammar is the makeup of language in another sense: the network of relationships between individual words and the rules governing those relationships. Knowing or sensing the rules lets us make these different combinations and produce understandable sentences, despite our maybe never having heard any exactly like them before. And just think of the complexity!

Even a simple sentence, for example, will consist of at least one subject-predicate relationship. In the sentence from the children’s story, “This little pig went to market,” the subject or one talked about is “This little pig.” What is said about him, namely, that he “went to market,” is the predicate. Animal codes do not link thoughts in this fashion.

In contrast with animals, not only can humans grasp this and all the other grammatical relationships of word groups, but we can also vary them to express different points of view. For example, we can affirm that the little pig went to market, but we can also deny it, simply by making what is called a negative “transformation”: “This little pig did not go to market.” We can change it from past to present: “This little pig is going to market.” Or we can make it a question: “Did this little pig go to market?” One simple sentence is thus the basis for a great many others that we do not have to learn individually. But making such transformations also requires another ability . . .

Objectivity

To make the transformations required by everyday life, the speaker must be able to keep his distance, so to speak, from the message, not relating each element only to himself. This is called “objectivity.” Instead of being able to say only “I put the blue box on the red box,” for example, the objective communicator is able to say “The blue box is on the red box.”

Hence, when things go wrong with the human brain, the ability to make objective transformations often fails. Due to this, some schizophrenics, for example, have difficulty in making the negative transformation. Given the sentence “He will eat apples,” and being asked to make it negative by adding not, they will often produce “He will eat pears,” or oranges or some other fruit, instead of “He will not eat apples.”

Although certain chimpanzees have been trained to use simplified sign (not spoken) systems that men have invented for them after hundreds of hours of training, they still have very limited ability to make such objective transformations. They cannot go beyond the objectivity of about a two-year-old child. But remember that what little control human babies have at that age develops without any specialized training at all! And their ability to use all the progressively more complex language procedures in just a few more years leaves the chimps far, far behind.

Source of Language

Noam Chomsky, a prominent linguist, has suggested that this unique language ability must, to a certain extent, be innate or “built in” from birth. How else, he asks, are we to explain the rapidity and complexity of language development in small children with as yet undeveloped powers? Adults who try learning a new language can appreciate the enormity of their accomplishment.

Says the Encyclopœdia Britannica:

“It is, therefore, clear that all normal humans bring into the world an innate faculty for language acquisition, language use, and grammar construction. . . . The human child is very soon able to construct new, grammatically acceptable sentences from material he has already heard; unlike the parrot in human society, he is not limited to the mere repetition of whole utterances.”​—1976 ed., Macropædia, Vol. 10, p. 650.

Animals do not have this “built-in” sense for language acquisition. Even the highly trained chimpanzees of recent fame have used only simple sign systems devised by humans, while their own natural communications are generally mere reflex signals, largely single calls and gestures. And such primates, though claimed by evolutionists to be “members of the animal kingdom nearest to man genetically,” actually “have proved highly resistant to the acquisition of [vocal] speech.”​—Ibid., p. 649.

If human vocal language does not find its roots in the animal kingdom, then how did it get started? Was it through the grunts, groans and wheezes of some primitive evolutionary man in an effort to communicate with others of his kind? “We might then expect to find such a language in use among primitive and backward groups with a low standard of civilization,” wrote Columbia University language professor Mario Pei. But “such is emphatically not the case. The opposite is rather true. The tongues of primitive groups are, as a rule, complex in structure, while the languages of the more civilized groups appear to be more complex and involved the farther we go back into their history.”​—Voices of Man, p. 21.

Language more complex as we go back in time? That certainly does not sound evolutionary, does it? This point has been observed by honest linguists. For example, John Lyons, when introducing the article “The Biology of Communication in Man and Animals” by J. C. Marshall in the book New Horizons in Linguistics, wrote:

“Marshall gives a summary of the available evidence and draws the conclusion that the evolutionary hypothesis, as it relates to language, far from being confirmed by recent research, is without empirical [observational] foundation.”​—1970, p. 229.

In fact, Lyons continues: “Language is radically different from all known forms of animal communication, and ‘in spite of the vast accumulation of knowledge, scholars are still unable to propose a biological theory of language’ (p. 241).” Similarly, Professor Pei notes that “it is small wonder that linguists, as apart from philosophers, have renounced the topic of language’s origin, to the point where the Société de Linguistique of Paris banned this subject as a topic for papers.”​—Voices of Man, p. 22.

Why is the subject of language origins so frustrating to linguists? Is it not because all the solid evidence points in a direction that they do not want to go​—away from evolutionary theory? Thus Pei says: “This part of the problem, it seems, is insoluble. . . . If [language] arose by ‘nature,’ what do we mean by ‘nature’? Blind chance? An intelligent Supreme Being?”​—Ibid.

Will your answer to that question also be shackled by evolutionary bias? Or will you accept language for what it is​—a marvelous and unique gift from the Supreme Being, whose name alone is Jehovah?

‘East Is East and West Is West’

By “Awake!” correspondent in Taiwan

WHEN a friend extends his hand toward you with the palm down and motions downward with his fingers or his whole hand, what does it mean? This depends on whether he is an Oriental or an Occidental. To the Oriental it unmistakably means “Come here!” But to the Westerner it likely means “Stay there!” or, perhaps, “Get down!” There are many little things that make East and West different.

Western manners generally dictate that a person should keep his mouth closed when chewing and avoid making undue noise. A new missionary in Japan found that this did not please her host, a doctor with whom she was studying the Bible. When remaining for a lunch of noodles after completing the study, she tried to eat quietly and to use the chopsticks skillfully. Finally, in disgust, the doctor remarked, “You cannot even make a noise when you eat noodles, can you?” The surprised missionary explained that, while they were tasty, she found it hard to eat quietly but was trying. He then pointed out that she should be making a noise​—the more she would slurp the better, for it would show that she was enjoying the noodles! It took some effort to adjust her thinking, but eventually this missionary learned to slurp her soup and noodles quite well. But five years later she came up against another problem. On a visit to the country of her relatives, she shocked them with her slurping. Again she became aware of the fact that there is a difference between East and West.

Similarly, burping or belching after a meal to show satisfaction is usually frowned upon in the West. But, in Taiwan and other Oriental lands, such things are excellent compliments on the quality and quantity of the food.

There is even a marked difference in the way tools are used. The Oriental carpenter pulls the plane, while the Western carpenter pushes it. For the Westerner the cutting stroke of a handsaw is the pushing stroke, but for the Oriental it is the pulling stroke. Correspondingly, the saws differ. The Western saw is heavier and longer than the Oriental one and is wide near the handle. The Eastern saw is wider at the far end and usually has two sets of teeth, fine on one edge and coarser on the other. In view of the finished product, though, both tools have their merits and serve equally well to get the job done.

“Ladies first” is a common expression in the West. An Oriental waitress who is not too accustomed to serving foreigners, however, may suddenly stop serving the man first and embarrassedly excuse herself as she moves things to the female customer’s place first. Yes, in the Orient the man comes first in almost all things. He is the first to enter a door or a vehicle. In earlier days, a wife would not walk alongside her husband but would walk a step or two behind him. While this has disappeared almost completely now, it is still customary for the man to precede the woman.

These examples illustrate why it has been said that ‘East is East and West is West and never the twain will meet.’ But adjustments can be made that can make people with varying customs feel right at home with one another. This has been the experience of Jehovah’s Witnesses serving as missionaries in foreign fields. They have come to realize the importance of not insisting on holding on to the customs of their native lands but appreciating those of other peoples. They strive to imitate the example of the apostle Paul, who said of himself: “Though I am free from all persons, I have made myself the slave to all, that I may gain the most persons. And so to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain Jews . . . I have become all things to people of all sorts, that I might by all means save some. But I do all things for the sake of the good news, that I may become a sharer of it with others.” (1 Cor. 9:19-23) In so doing, these missionaries have also found that adjusting to varying customs can add interest and color to one’s life and promote a wholesome spirit of friendship and understanding.

Wealth Failed to Make Me Happy

ALTHOUGH you probably don’t know me personally, it is possible that you have been a guest in my parents’ home. That is, if you are part of those audiences that have visited here by television. The home has been used in filming movies and TV programs, including one that recently won several Emmy Awards.

The film companies usually pay between $1,500 and $2,500 a day rental. The house, constructed around the turn of the century, and located in southern California, contains approximately fifty rooms. To build it today would likely cost between one and two million dollars.

It certainly is a showpiece of elegance in every sense of the word​—filled with priceless antiques and Oriental rugs, many rooms beautifully paneled with mahogany, some overlaid with pure gold. It has a seventy-five-foot-long formal ballroom, an inside swimming pool and many bedrooms. Outside are the formal gardens and a private tennis court.

A Favored Early Life

From my childhood to manhood my parents were always very generous with me; I had more materially than I really needed. They bought me beautiful automobiles and paid for an extensive education, including a complete law-school education. They were equally generous with my younger brother. He owned twenty automobiles before he was old enough to drive!

My father worked very hard in his earlier years to provide for us what he considered “the finer things of life.” He taught me all about investments, wishing that I would become a millionaire. So that was my goal, and there was no doubt in my mind that I would eventually reach it.

We were a very close family and did many things together. Often we would spend weekends on one of our family yachts. But my parents were also interested in my receiving religious training. So I was sent to the Lutheran church on Sundays.

With all this material wealth surrounding me, you may think that I must have been very happy. Actually, just the opposite was true.

Sources of Unhappiness

One thing that bothered me was that many of my friends admired me for what I had materially, and some sought my association merely for that reason. Although I enjoyed the recognition that came with being a rich man’s son, I never became interested in the “social world.” I hated the snobbishness of so many of these people.

Having a terrible inferiority complex, I had trouble relating to people. To help to overcome this, I became very interested in physical activity. Later I competed successfully in wrestling and other sports. Eventually I entered physique contests and was used as a model for art classes. I enjoyed all the recognition that I was receiving.

In time my inferiority complex came to be replaced by conceit and arrogance. Girls I regarded merely as objects to be used for my own selfish pleasure and this companionship involved immoral living.

Disillusioned with the world, I lost all trust in people outside my own family. I felt that I needed something that I was not receiving, although I didn’t know what it was. More and more I realized how great the gulf was between “pleasure” and “happiness.” People might think how “lucky” I was, and how they would gladly “trade shoes with me,” but I couldn’t imagine anyone’s being more unhappy than I was.

As a result, for a time my mind became preoccupied by thoughts of suicide. In a remote room of the mansion I would cry and pray to God to help me to find what I needed most. I had a good education, good physical health and offers for high-paying jobs. I had the “keys” to open many doors materially, but the one “key” that I lacked was the “key to happiness.”

Religion an Answer?’

I had given up on organized religion as the means for finding happiness, since I could see through their hypocrisy. For years it had been apparent to me that the churches had been keeping people in ignorance so as to take from them what they could materially. I also felt that many things the churches were doing were contrary to the Bible. For example, once I attended a nude wedding that was presided over by a nude minister! I thought to myself, “This man is a bigger hypocrite than even I am.”

Nevertheless, I had great interest in the Bible and often read it privately. One day a young boy came to my home with the Watchtower and Awake! magazines. I accepted them, and later he sent back two women to talk with me. I invited them in with the intention of exposing their foolish beliefs. Instead, we had an enjoyable discussion. At the close of it, they asked if they could send a young man about my age to visit me, a proposal that I welcomed.

On the evening of our appointment the young man arrived and was directed to wait for me in the upstairs library. I had studied books against Jehovah’s Witnesses and felt that I was well prepared to expose his religion. However, after speaking to him for about thirty minutes, I was amazed at how much he knew about the Bible. He spoke with authority and yet with unusual humility and concern for me. Although not having the formal education that I had, he explained the superior educational program that he was enjoying through his religion. This impressed me very much, and my respect for Jehovah’s Witnesses grew.

He quickly confirmed my own thought that the Bible was indeed divinely inspired, and later helped me to understand many Scriptural teachings. Due to my previous training in the Lutheran Church, I believed that the Bible taught a Trinity​—that Almighty God consisted of three persons in one God. I also believed that humans had an immortal soul. Every week for about three months the young man and I discussed all the scriptures from the Bible that I felt supported these teachings.

After a careful comparison I was convinced that I had been a victim of false teaching in my former church. Another point that I had difficulty in accepting was that a Christian’s responsibility is to remain politically neutral. (John 17:16; 18:36) I felt that citizens of a country should defend their flag to the point of being willing to die for it. But in this respect I had actually been a hypocrite, since I personally had no desire to be involved in the military and was willing to do whatever I could to avoid it.

Indecision, Then Change

Although I studied the Bible for some time and could see how reasonable its teachings were, I hesitated to do anything about it. To do so would require giving up my immoral life. So, a battle was going on inside me.

Meanwhile I met a beautiful girl with whom I fell in love. Unlike me, she was shy and considerate and she was very good to me. On the other hand, I treated her poorly and told her I would marry her only if she wouldn’t object to my other female interests. In spite of that, we got married and went to Europe on our honeymoon.

My wife was from a very religious family and we continuously had discussions dealing with what I had been learning. She began to see that my interest in the Bible was not just a casual one, since I was absorbed in studying it several hours a day. I slowly started making changes, trying to live a morally clean life and endeavoring to control my temper. You might naturally expect that these changes would bring the approval of my wife and family. But just the opposite was the case.

As my interest in Jehovah’s Witnesses grew, my wife for the first time expressed sorrow at having married me. Even my own family sided with her, and it seemed that we were heading for a broken marriage. My father told me that if I did this to my wife​—meaning if I became one of Jehovah’s Witnesses—​he would cut me off without a cent.

I was determined, however, to hold on to the Biblical wisdom I was gaining, which was the most valuable possession I had ever acquired. For once in my life, I was beginning to become truly happy. Over and over I would read Proverbs 3:13-15, which states: “Happy is the man that has found wisdom, and the man that gets discernment, for having it as gain is better than having silver as gain and having it as produce than gold itself. It is more precious than corals, and all other delights of yours cannot be made equal to it.”

Realizing True Happiness

In time my wife decided to study the Bible with me, and she began to accept and apply the things she was learning. Happily, we both were baptized as Jehovah’s Witnesses on November 21, 1970, thus symbolizing our dedication to Jehovah God. My wife soon entered the full-time witnessing work. About a year later I decided to do the same, rather than begin full-time work in a law office.

Since my parents were opposed to my decision, I decided that it would be better to leave the mansion and move into a small apartment. With such a drastic change in our way of life, we had to lower our personal standard of living. I sold my auto collection, and we bought one economical car and a bicycle.

Time often softens even the greatest disappointments. Eventually my family could see that my wife and I were truly happy and our Witness friends seemed to be decent, moral people concerned with helping others. It was evident that, being stable people, Jehovah’s Witnesses do not suffer from alcoholism, which is common among the rich.

After some time my parents both agreed to study the Bible with me, and occasionally, when I have the privilege of performing a wedding or delivering a public Bible talk, they even come to a Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Also, I have been able to conduct Bible studies with a number of maids who have worked in their home. The eighty-nine-year-old caretaker of the estate now regularly attends Christian meetings. This makes me very happy, since he has been like a grandfather to me.

Both my wife and I have learned to be content with little materially, just as we now could be content with an abundance, since we have found the “key to happiness.” “Doors” now are opened to us that never were before. We have peace of mind and friends who love us as if we were members of their own family. But most importantly, we are content knowing that we have a good relationship with our Creator.​—Contributed.

[Blurb on page 22]

“The one ‘key’ that I lacked was the ‘key to happiness.’”

[Blurb on page 23]

“It seemed that we were heading for a broken marriage.”

Wealth and Happiness

● Commonly, people think that if they accumulate wealth they will be happy. But time and again this has proved to be a fallacy. A Hollywood actress recently explained:

“I’ve had my taste of wealth and all the material things. They don’t mean a thing. There’s a psychiatrist that goes with every swimming pool out here, not to mention divorces and children who hate their parents.”​—New York Sunday News, Nov. 28, 1976.

Wealth alone will never bring happiness. Something else is required. Long ago a wise man identified this as “godly devotion along with self-sufficiency.” The man noted further, his words being recorded in the Bible:

“For we have brought nothing into the world, and neither can we carry anything out. So, having sustenance and covering, we shall be content with these things. However, those who are determined to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and many senseless and hurtful desires, which plunge men into destruction and ruin. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of injurious things, and by reaching out for this love some have been led astray from the faith and have stabbed themselves all over with many pains.”​—1 Tim. 6:6-10.

Our Feathered Friends

By “Awake!” correspondent in South Africa

Birds sometimes pick unusual places in which to live. One such place is situated on the famous South African Reef near Johannesburg. It is only a few miles from the country’s main international airport, with jet planes thundering overhead. It lies in a busy, industrial area and is almost surrounded by factories. It is the grounds of the Watch Tower Society’s office, printing factory and Bethel home for volunteer workers in South Africa.

Indeed, this area hardly sounds like a suitable place for a birds, does it? But on these grounds there are no cats, no boys with slings, no men with guns. And there are several features that birds enjoy​—a lawn, plenty of shrubs and flowers and a beautiful fishpond with lilies. Moreover, tall poplars and a row of high, sturdy acacia trees provide fine roosting and nesting places for the local feathered population.

By Way of Introduction

Let me introduce you to some of our colorful, winged friends. Meet Willie, the weaverbird​—a handsome little fellow! His head, chest and underparts are a bright yellow and his mantle is yellowish green streaked with brown, On his face, Willie wears a striking black mask. In fact, officially he is known as the masked weaver, a type of finch. And what a cheerful character! He sings his gay, sizzling song almost all day long.

Then we have our bokmakieries, a type of shrike. But they are very different from the common shrike or butcher-bird. Both Mr. and Mrs. have a light-yellow chest and underparts, with brownish-green back and wings. They wear a smart, black “bow tie” around the neck. From their throats come the most melodious notes and varied calls. For that matter, the bokmakieries are famous for their vocal duets. He sings a little phrase and she comes back with a different one. Their very tuneful songs can make early morning rising a little easier.

Pigeons and doves are very plentiful in South Africa. Their gentle cooing is a typical and delightful feature of the countryside. We at Bethel enjoy their presence too. Especially charming are the laughing doves, with their dainty appearance and soft call “cooroocoo-co-coo-coo.” Very soothing indeed!

Also much appreciated by the Bethel family are the Cape wagtails with their smart black-and-white pattern of plumage. We enjoy their cheerful whistle and sweet canary-like song. They are friendly little birds and have been with us for many years. Of course, those aggressive little house sparrows are here as well and add their excited twittering to the early morning bird chorus.

Poor Willie!

Yet do these feathered friends actually make nests and bring up families here? Yes, they do. But first hear the rather sad story of Willie the weaver. Interestingly, the male of this species builds the nest. And it is quite a nest! Using tough grass, he ties two or three overhanging twigs or shoots together, and then weaves a round, compact structure with the opening underneath. To enter it, the little birds have to do some aerial acrobatics in order to land at the entrance upside down!

Now, with the nest completed, comes the crucial moment. Mrs. Weaver-to-be is invited to make an inspection. According to an expert on bird life in South Africa, the main reason that a female masked weaver rejects a nest is that she is not ready to lay eggs. If she accepts, before long there will be eggs and, later, babies to be fed. What an interesting sight is a colony of these round grass nests! There they are swaying gently in the breeze, with busy parents flying in and out.

Willie, however, was a pioneer, trying to start a new colony. It was fascinating to watch him build his first nest. Then came the great moment of inspection. What a shame! After a brief visit, his lady friend just flew away. Poor Willie! Following the usual behavior pattern of the species, he dismantled the whole nest, piece by piece. For the next day or two he was very quiet. But optimism prevailed and he tried again. Another failure!

No less than seven times in his first season, Willie built nest after nest. Each time a female came to inspect his beakwork, Willie was just a bundle of nerves! While the lady made her checkup in a cool businesslike manner, he would fly from branch to branch or perch with wings fluttering, not knowing how to contain himself.

During his second season Willie already has made more unsuccessful attempts. As yet, there is no weaverbird colony. Poor Willie must think that females are difficult creatures! Nevertheless, he provides considerable entertainment for the members of the Bethel staff who live near his planned nesting site.

In contrast, many of our feathered friends have successfully reared their families in the Bethel grounds. The bokmakieries have furtively made nests and fed their babies in a thick hedge near the fishpond. Now and then we see young doves in the garden. They look so gentle and tame, flying away only when one comes very near. The sparrows usually make their untidy nests in the crossbars of the electric poles in the front, unaffected by the noisy traffic passing below. It is quite a sight to observe them feeding their fledglings on the front lawn. With a pampered air, the young ones flutter their wings helplessly, waiting for Papa and Mamma to pop tidbits into their beaks.

Lately, the Bethel staff has increased considerably. A large extension to the building is being constructed to keep pace with the expansion of the Kingdom-preaching work. With the regular members and volunteer builders, the Bethel family now numbers about 180. We all look upon Bethel as an oasis of peace, security and happiness in the midst of a world wracked with fears and dangers. Apparently, the birds like these environs too. We are happy to have them with us. Our feathered friends give us a little foreglimpse of that day, now so near, when God will bless mankind with peace as well as complete harmony with birds and beasts.

What Is the Bible’s View?

Did Men Once Live for Hundreds of Years?

TO MANY, the idea that men once lived for several centuries sounds like fiction. They do not take it any more seriously than “The Sumerian King List,” which reads in part: “When kingship was lowered from heaven, kingship was (first) in Eridu. (In) Eridu, A-lulim (became) king and ruled 28,800 years. Alalgar ruled 36,000 years. Two kings (thus) ruled it for 64,800 years.”

While not giving such fantastic figures, the Bible does indicate that there was a time when men lived far longer than today. For example, we read of Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Jared, Methuselah and Noah living to be each more than 900 years old. (Gen. 5:5, 8, 11, 14, 20, 27; 9:29) Was this really the case?

A person might reason, ‘How could men of ancient times have lived for centuries when very few today live to be even as much as a hundred years of age? It is impossible.’ In this connection, it may be noted that no one can say just at which point the human life-span comes to its ultimate limit. The Encyclopædia Britannica (1976 edition, Macropædia, Vol. 10, p. 911) states: “The exact duration of human life is unknown, although there is presumably a maximum life-span for the human race established in the genetic material. At first thought, this statement seems irrational. Surely no human being can live 1,000 years. Even though all may agree that the likelihood of an individual living 1,000 years is infinitesimal, there is no scientific proof that this statement is or is not true.”

Accordingly, from a scientific standpoint, no absolute evidence can be presented to prove or to disprove what the Bible says about the long life-span of certain men in ancient times. The Biblical statements, therefore, stand on their own merit. Does the context in which they appear show that they are indeed factual?

Some persons have concluded that the years listed in the Bible for these men must have been shorter, perhaps only a month in length. But this does not agree with the context in which the Bible mentions the age at which men such as Kenan and Mahalalel died. We read: “Kenan lived on for seventy years. Then he became father to Mahalalel. And after his fathering Mahalalel Kenan continued to live eight hundred and forty years. Meanwhile he became father to sons and daughters. So all the days of Kenan amounted to nine hundred and ten years and he died. And Mahalalel lived on for sixty-five years. Then he became father to Jared.” (Gen. 5:12-15) If we were to replace the word “years” with “months,” this would mean that both Kenan and Mahalalel became fathers before they were six years old. This certainly is unreasonable.

That the years were, not thirty-day months, but probably twelve thirty-day months is evident from what the Bible says about the Flood. The deluge started “in the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month.” (Gen. 7:11) The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat five months later, “in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month.” (Gen. 8:4) According to Genesis 7:24, this was after “the waters continued overwhelming the earth a hundred and fifty days.” Since five months equaled “a hundred and fifty days,” one month would be thirty days long. Furthermore, the Bible specifically mentions the “tenth month” and thereafter one forty-day time period and two seven-day time periods. (Gen. 8:5, 6, 10, 12) Then, “in the six hundred and first year [of Noah’s life], in the first month, on the first day of the month, it came about that the waters had drained from off the earth. . . . And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth had dried off.” (Gen. 8:13, 14) Obviously there is no basis for claiming that from the 600th year of Noah’s life to his 601st year was only about one month. No, a full lunar year of twelve months and ten days was involved.

That men once lived for hundreds of years is in full harmony with the context of the entire Bible. From the Holy Scriptures we learn that the first man Adam was created perfect. He had set before him the prospect of an endless life-span. The beautiful garden home in which he was placed contained everything needed for human life to be sustained indefinitely. In the first book of the Bible, we read: “Jehovah God made to grow out of the ground every tree desirable to one’s sight and good for food and also the tree of life in the middle of the garden.” (Gen. 2:9) That “tree of life” represented God’s guarantee of continued life to those entitled to partake of it. When the first man Adam disobeyed God’s law, he forfeited his right to eat of this tree and, therefore, was expelled from his delightful paradise home.​—Gen. 3:22-24.

At the same time Adam, through his disobedience, ruined his perfection and this shortened his life-span and that of his descendants.​—Rom. 5:12.

In the perfect state, Adam’s body had the potential of being sustained forever and that would also have been true of other sinless humans. So, since man was created to enjoy an endless life-span, it logically follows that Adam and his early descendants must have lived far longer than their later descendants who were farther removed from perfection.

This is exactly what the Bible shows to have been the case. After the great flood of Noah’s day that occurred over sixteen centuries from the time of Adam’s creation, human life expectancy dropped sharply. Among those born after the Flood, life expectancy continued to decline more gradually. This can be seen by considering the following chart.a

Some 300 years after Abraham’s death the average human life-span had dropped some more, so that Moses could say: “In themselves the days of our years are seventy years; and if because of special mightiness they are eighty years.” (Ps. 90:10) These words regarding average life-expectancy still apply today.

Hence, according to the Bible, men once did live for centuries. This is of more than passing interest. It testifies to the fact that God’s original purpose for man was that he might enjoy an endless life-span. This purpose will yet be realized when Jehovah God fulfills his word to bring into existence an earth free from sickness, pain and death.​—Rev. 21:3, 4.

[Chart on page 28]

Name Age & Death

Adam 930

Seth 912

Enosh 905

Kenan 910

Mahalalel 895

Jared 962

Methuselah 969

Lamech 777

Noah 950

Shem 600

Arpachshad 438

Shelah 433

Eber 464

Peleg 239

Reu 239

Serug 230

Nahor 148

Terah 205

Abraham 175

[Footnotes]

Watching the World

Is Forced Voting Democratic?

◆ In discussing recent local government elections, the New Nigerian newspaper noted editorially that a society’s degree of democracy is often measured by the extent to which the right to vote is guaranteed. But what if “citizens are coerced into exercising this right”? Says the New Nigerian: “[That] society’s claim to democracy is laid bare.

“This is why all the hairsplitting in some quarters about the refusal of members of the Jehovah[’s] Witness[es] to vote . . . seems uncalled for,” declares the editorial. “We believe that the Jehovah[’s] Witnesses have not committed any crime. So long as an individual or a group of individuals . . . pay their taxes, do not engage in any unlawful activity and do not disturb peace and order, democracy demands that they are left in peace and given state protection​—even if such an individual or group chooses not to vote.”

“Underestimation” of Flu Toll

◆ A recent book, Epidemic and Peace: 1918, reveals some new and startling information about the Spanish influenza. The author notes that the usual fatality figure is given as 21 million. However, he says that this is “probably a gross underestimation,” for that many could well have died on the Indian subcontinent alone. His research indicates that the October 1918 death rate there was “without parallel in the history of disease.”

“Psychics” Flop

◆ Results of predictions by 10 prominent American “psychics” were recently compared with results of those by 10 Harvard nonpsychic undergraduates made at the same time. University of Minnesota Sociologist Gary Alan Fine reports that there was apparently no difference in the predicting ability of the two groups. In fact, the Harvard men did slightly better.

That professional fortune-tellers can hit well wide of the mark is also indicated in the predictions by the noted “psychic” Jean Dixon for 1976: “The Republican nominee [for president] will be Ronald Reagan . . . Another nut will try to assassinate President Ford; he will resign, and Nelson Rockefeller will fill out his term.”

Dutch Job Idea

◆ With 60 percent of youths who finished school last summer still out of work, the Dutch government decided to act decisively. “Duojobs” were created. Two youths are hired for each job opening. “How they divide up the work is left to them and the employer,” says a Social Affairs Ministry official. Half of the wages and half of the unemployment coverage goes to each youth.

“Christians” and the Nazis

◆ The “Why” of Nazi-era sadism, often called the Holocaust, has caught growing attention from scholars and clergymen recently.

• Historian Michael D. Ryan of Drew University in New Jersey says that “no one can lay claim to the good points of Christianity without facing the Holocaust.”

• Ryan’s colleague in the newly formed National Center for Holocaust Studies, Franklin Littell of Temple University, adds that “6 million Jews were killed by baptized Christians in the heart of Christendom. There would not have been a Third Reich if Protestants and Catholics had not betrayed their baptism.”

• Boston Unitarian minister Carl Scovel, who lectures on the subject, says that his research indicates that the Protestant churches “made a super amount of compromises” with the Nazis. Among much evidence of Catholic compromise, aside from the July 1933 concordat with Hitler, is the fact that “the present Pope was the head of the passport division of the Vatican, which handed out visas and permits right and left to known Nazis after the war, getting them to South America.” Scovel marveled: “It was just amazing.”

• On the other hand, Scovel reported that “the group that suffered the most were the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They were amazing. They were adamant. . . . They didn’t make compromises​—an impressive group.”

Fish on High

◆ Two recent fossil finds indicate that water once covered the earth quite differently from the way it does now.

• In the middle of Montana, at 6,000 feet (1,828 meters) above sea level, researchers have found skeletons of 64 species of sharks! The report in the Denver Post says that it is believed “there was rapid sedimentation in the ancient sea, quickly burying dead fish before they could be broken up. Some of the sharks are so well preserved that the remains of shrimp can be found in their stomachs.”

•The fossil skeleton of an ancient whale, said to be about 24 feet (7.3 meters) long, also was found about 1,600 feet (487 meters) up in the Santa Monica Mountains of California.

Worldly Goods

◆ A major Italian magazine, L’Europeo, asserted recently that the Vatican and its religious orders own at least one fourth of the property in Rome. Vatican observers are said to have acknowledged that the report “appeared within reason.” L’Europeo also said that some of the Vatican’s real estate in the financially beleaguered city had been sold at huge profits without paying Italian taxes.

Birds on a Binge

◆ Hundreds of drunken birds plagued motorists in southern Sweden early this winter, diving at windshields and sitting on the roads. The waxtails had indulged in the year’s abundant supply of their favorite food, rowanberries, which were fermenting on the plants. “The waxtail is usually a shy bird during the late spring mating season,” said a Swedish bird watcher, “but undergoes a Jekyll and Hyde transformation in the winter migrations.” He notes that when a group of the now “extremely sociable” birds spy a good crop of rowanberries, “they’ll not leave until they’ve finished the lot.”

“Practice” Marriage Harmful

Does living together before the wedding assure success in later marriage? Apparently not, according to an associate professor of sociology at Ohio State University. Before her recent study, she had thought that such “trial marriages” might be helpful. But interviews with 100 couples convinced her that living together may actually be harmful to later marriage. She said that “living together creates a whole new set of problems that they wouldn’t have had if they had gotten married in the first place.” On the other hand, she noted, couples who do not live together before marriage are “a bit happier, and their marriages are more successful.”

Saving the Acropolis

Monuments in the famous 2,500-year-old Acropolis of Athens “have been subjected to the attacks of armies, vandals and trophy-hunters, in peace and in war,” says Greece​—A Monthly Record. “They survived. But those dangers were nothing compared to the innocent but uncontrolled ravages of the last 40 years.” Priceless marble figures are eroding, according to experts, due to rain mixed with modern atmospheric pollution. Erosion of the base rock, and millions of visitors, also are taking their toll. Among other measures, the government has decided to replace some of the marble figures with fiber-glass casts and put the originals in the Acropolis Museum.

Hardly a Saint

◆ Vatican research on possible beatification of Spain’s 15th-century Queen Isabella is now complete. “Beatification” declares that a person is blessed in heaven and may lead to sainthood. “There is evidence that she was a woman of intense piety,” according to a Vatican source. How did she display her piety? One way was by her establishing “the Spanish Inquisition which persecuted Jews and heretics,” notes the United Press International report.

Crossed Purposes

◆ The American Cancer Society’s newsletter recently contained an ad promoting a tennis tournament sponsored by a cigarette company. A woman with a tennis racket in one hand and a cigarette in the other was featured. “It’s like having Alcoholics Anonymous running a bar,” complained the former chairman of a Florida Stop Smoking Clinic.

‘Churches Spread Revolution’

◆ “The churches have spread more revolution on this continent [Africa] than Che Guevara, Lenin and Mao Tse-tung,” said a Zambian politician recently. Upon hearing about this comment, a Spanish priest in Rwanda responded: “Why not? We’ve been in the business much longer.” The report on this from the New York Times notes that “two of the four major black nationalist leaders in Rhodesia, Bishop Abel Muzorewa and the Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole, are Methodist ministers.”

Meanwhile, in a number of South American countries Church-State relations are in trouble. Clergymen have been arrested and government officials excommunicated. The clergy “have no intention of letting up on [their] social involvement,” according to Vicente Faustion Zazpe, archbishop of Sante Fe, Argentina.

Giant Dam Completed

◆ The recently finished Tarbela Dam across Pakistan’s mighty Indus River is now one of the world’s largest. It is about 470 feet (143 meters) high, almost two miles (3.2 kilometers) wide and contains 186 million cubic yards (142 million cubic meters) of earthfill. Citing hopes for the dam, a Pakistani engineer said: ‘We’ve always said that the monsoon​—good one year, bad another year—​was beyond our control. But now, for the first time, we can control nature here, and that could change the face of Pakistan.”

South Seas and Betel Nuts

◆ The U.N. trust territories of Palau and Yap are islands administered by the United States. But a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on sales and the shipping of betel nuts has aroused some ire among the natives. Islanders have little regard for the FDA contention that betel nuts may produce oral cancer, according to a Palau official, because American “cigaret manufacturers continue to ship their deadly commodities over the state lines.”

Paying the Victims

◆ What amount of money will compensate rape victims for what they have gone through? Great Britain’s Criminal Injuries Compensation Board recently set it at 1,000 pounds ($1,650) if there were “no significant physical injuries and average psychological reaction.” A broken nose might bring a victim 200 pounds ($330); a fractured jaw, 570 pounds ($942); and a lost eye, 5,000 pounds ($8,250). Since the Board was set up in 1964, it has paid out over 31 million pounds ($51 million) in claims.

Religion in Cuba

◆ “Our only hope now is to keep religion alive,” a Havana Roman Catholic priest recently told National Geographic magazine. “Church attendance is down to about one percent of the population.”

Meanwhile three kinds of voodoo worship are said to be doing well. Due to government restrictions on the number allowed to join, thousands are reportedly waiting to be initiated into the groups. The most numerous cult, writes a Chicago Sun-Times reporter who spent a month in Cuba, “are the Santeros, who mixed Catholicism with the cults” of African slaves. “They matched Catholic saints with African gods.”

Back to Basics

◆ Do the expensive educational theories introduced in U.S. schools during recent years really help students? A three-year federal study just completed indicates that they do not. In fact, it notes that among the 30,000 students studied, those taught with less emphasis on the modern techniques “showed the greatest improvement” on standard reading and mathematics tests. The innovators fear that federal funding for their pet theories may be hindered by the report’s findings.

Could the Serpent Really Speak to Eve?

The voice Eve heard seemed to come from the mouth of the serpent. How could that be? How could an animal speak with human language?

Find the answer beginning on page 55 of the hardbound book God’s “Eternal Purpose” Now Triumphing for Man’s Good. Receive this publication, postpaid, along with the 192-page book Holy Spirit​—The Force Behind the Coming New Order!, by sending just 50 cents (U.S.).

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How Long Was Man Meant to Live?

For ages humans have wondered about this. And to many persons it has not seemed reasonable that God meant for humans to enjoy this beautiful earth for only seventy or eighty years or less.

What is God’s purpose for human life on earth? What does his Word the Bible teach about this?

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