July 22

Page Two

In most countries of the world, unemployment is still a major problem. Unemployment has been cut back in the United States, but even there it is still high. How does being unemployed affect the breadwinner? Is there anything families can do to lessen its impact? What may help in finding a job? If no jobs are available, what other possibilities are there?

Unemployment​—Still a World Problem 3

How to Cope With Unemployment 4

Finding a Job, or Creating One 8

Unemployment​—Still a World Problem

UNEMPLOYMENT involves more than simply being out of work. “Gradually you lose your self-respect, your sense of identity, and contact with the outside world,” was the reaction of a former teacher. Said another idle worker: “I feel like I am dead inside.” Some who have been laid off have become so desperate that they have threatened to kill job counselors.

The complexity of the problem is becoming more apparent, however, as the number of jobless people increases around the world. “More than 500 million people are out of work or under-employed in the Third World, according to the International Labor Organization,” reported The Toronto Star. “Another 50 million are out of work in Europe and North America,” it added, indicating the scope of the situation. Canada doled out $6.8 billion in unemployment-insurance benefits in a ten-month period, about 72 percent higher than in the same period of the previous year. And Canada’s jobless figure recently rose to 13.5 percent, up from a previous 11.2 percent.

Though the rate of unemployment in the United States has dropped to 8 percent in 1984, some states have suffered rates as high as 14.9 percent.

“For more than 10 million Americans who desperately need and want jobs, recovery is not even in sight,” says labor union president Lane Kirkland in U.S.News & World Report.

Job prospects in Britain are dim too. A report by the Cambridge Economic Group sees unemployment rising to more than four million by the end of the decade.

In eight countries of Europe and in Japan, there are more unemployed than there were last year, notes The Economist of February 18, 1984. This winter the Federal Republic of Germany had its highest unemployment figures in its postwar history.

In Yugoslavia “up to 15 percent of the nation’s workers​—about 900,000 people—​are jobless, with the unemployed ranks still swelling,” says U.S.News & World Report.

One out of five workers in Ivory Coast is out of a job, estimates Time magazine.

The Consequences

Many people do not appreciate the psychological, physical and social consequences to the unemployed and their families, or how bleak work prospects add to the frustrations of those out of work. Being without a job “can have devastating effects on employees and their families,” said one report on unemployment. It explained: “Loss of self respect, insomnia, strained family relations, domestic violence, depression, alcohol abuse and even suicide are well documented reactions to job loss.” Newspaper headlines claim: “Suicide, crime are linked to unemployment.”

Some challenge the “suicide-economy link,” but researchers in the United States point to a 13-percent increase in suicides during a three-month period in the United States when the “corresponding increase in the unemployment rate was 28 per cent.” According to their analysis, “a 1 percentage point increase in the annual unemployment rate leads to 320 additional suicides for men per year.”

The negative psychological effects are serious. “Unemployment is a killer,” said another headline. Its article told of rising cardiovascular disease and an increase in homicides. A medical doctor and journalist, Hugh Drummond, called unemployment “one of the greatest health menaces ever.” A minister stated: “I have buried men who I believe died from unemployment.”

If you are out of a job, can you do anything to cope with the ravages of unemployment? Are there ways to manage until you are hired again? Are there ways to make work or find other work to do? What can be done about your frame of mind, so essential to maintaining balance?

[Chart on page 3]

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

Australia․․․․․ 9.5% Belgium․․․․․․ 14.8%

Canada․․․․․․․ 11.2% France․․․․․․․․ 9.8%

Fed. Rep. of Holland․․․․․․ 17.8%

Germany․․․․․․․ 8.8% Japan․․․․․․․․․ 2.6%

Italy․․․․․․․․ 12.6% Switzerland․․․ 1.0%

Sweden․․․․․․․․ 3.7% U.S.A.․․․․․․․․ 8.0%

U.K.․․․․․․․․․ 12.5%

(Source: The Economist, February 18, 1984)

How to Cope With Unemployment

YOU TWINGE at the cutting words: ‘I’m sorry, we are going to have to lay you off.’ Then a sense of desperation sets in. Fears about the future grip you. Bleak work prospects only add to the already overwhelming feelings of helplessness and frustration. Facing each new day becomes a nightmare. An unrelenting sense of shame hovers like a dark cloud.

For a growing segment of the population, the prospect of facing such a situation is very real. For many others it is already a hard fact. It cuts across all races, ages and economic levels without mercy, affecting increasing numbers who never before thought they would be involuntarily jobless. The consequences can leave lasting marks on individuals and families long after the job problem has been solved. Can anything be done to cope?

Your Frame of Mind

First of all, you need to maintain a positive outlook. If potential employers note your negative disposition, they may mark you as a loser and wrongly conclude that you are unsuitable for employment. So do not overreact or let yourself be overwhelmed. It is not the end of the road. Take comfort from the fact that your joblessness is not unique. Of course, losing your job can be one of life’s most traumatic experiences. But if you are still alive and have some assets, all is not lost.

You can fight fear and anxiety. They cause negative feelings that gnaw away at your self-confidence. Be aware of the pitfall of self-blame. (‘Something must be wrong with me! I’m useless! Why is he working and I’m not?’) Resist the urge to blame others. (‘The boss never did like me!’) Do not view your unemployment as a permanent roadblock, but as one that can be removed even if it will take time.

Some who are unemployed withdraw from family and friends. Don’t be afraid instead to ask for help. Do not hide. If your children are old enough to understand and help, inform them. Seek their cooperation. Talk with others about your feelings, your thoughts and your fears. No one will know what you’re going through unless you talk about it. Welcome the emotional support of people who care about you. An ancient maxim observes: “A true companion is loving all the time, and is a brother that is born for when there is distress.” (Proverbs 17:17) If you are a family member or a friend of someone unemployed, are you proving to be such a “true companion” by being empathetic and supportive? Family and friends can help you to overcome the distressful shock of unemployment.

Practical Suggestions

When bills arrive don’t ignore them and pretend the problem will go away. How would you feel if someone who owed you money was evasive and kept you in the dark as to the reason why he was not paying the debt on time? You reap benefits from applying this good counsel: “Always treat others as you would like them to treat you.” (Matthew 7:12, The New English Bible) Therefore, if you cannot pay your bills, talk to your creditors. If you will only communicate with them, they are often willing to work out an alternate repayment plan until you find a regular job again.

Next, take a realistic look at your situation. Start working out plans to use your assets. And, indeed, you have at least one valuable asset​—job experience. With that you can start looking for another job.

But first check out what the former job owes you. Do you have severance pay coming? Did you have job insurance? Is unemployment assistance available? Are there other government provisions? Make sure you are aware of all of them. Apply for these if you qualify. Don’t be embarrassed to ask for such aid when you truly need it. For example, is it embarrassing to ask for medical attention when you are injured or not well? Besides, it is likely that such funds exist because of taxes that you and others have paid. So view it as an insurance benefit. What other areas are there to work on?

Eliminate unnecessary expenses: Now, jobless or not, take a look around you and see what must be done to lower or even eliminate costs. This might call for an adjustment in your life-style, but you must realistically deal with the emergency. Here are some suggestions. Try to cut down heating or air-conditioning bills if possible. In some homes this may be done simply by changing the thermostat a few degrees. Also, consider alternate fuels that may be cheaper than your present one.

Some people spend up to $400 per year on cigarettes, $500 a year on alcoholic beverages and $1,500 a year on eating in restaurants. There is much they could do about these costs to help make ends meet!

Families might consider how many TV sets they have. Is it necessary to have more than one on at the same time? Or will not one set do for the family? Many even live without one! How many telephones do you have? Will one suffice? How many cars do you have? What about luxury items? The snowmobile? The trailer? Other recreational equipment? These all create expenses for fuel, repairs and insurance. In addition to reducing costs, the sale of these and other surplus items can restore something to your income.

Food Saving: Families can pool together and make purchases of large quantities of basic foods at wholesale prices and then divide the food among themselves. Look for specials at sales. Buy ‘in season’ and freeze, can or preserve the food. Some buy all their fruit, vegetables, meats and poultry direct from a farmer at great savings. Even more can be saved when you pick your own at some farms. This can also make for a healthy outing for the family. Some farmers are willing to let you glean what is left over after the harvest​—at no charge! Check out this possibility.

Some families use their own land, or rent plots of ground where available, and raise all their own vegetables and poultry. Canning and freezing will save money when you have more food than you can consume fresh. If you cannot afford to rent ground, ask farmers, friends and relatives if you may use a small plot of ground free of charge. If your age and health do not permit you to use ground in this way, check your local library on what can be grown in window boxes. You may be surprised at what can be done and what it will save you!

Some mothers have found market gardens and supermarkets throwing away good food on Saturday afternoons because managers felt it might spoil over the weekend. These women made arrangements to pick up this good food before it was thrown out. Others buy day-old bread and other baked goods and freeze what is not needed immediately. Or you may be able to save by baking your own. It all helps.

Reduce Clothing Costs: These can be noticeably reduced by making your own clothes and by trading clothing with other families with growing children. If you do buy some items of clothing, wait for sales. Also, try secondhand stores that handle quality clothes. Often people sell their used goods at what are commonly called in some places flea markets or garage sales. Children quickly outgrow their clothes, so good buys are often available. (Garage or yard sales are also good places for picking up some inexpensive toys for the children.) But shop with care! Only buy what you really need. Guard against impulse buying.

Shelter Savings: Some have had to make the sacrifice of giving up homes with high mortgage payments or rents and moving to more affordable apartments, house trailers or rural homes. Others have had to move in with relatives or friends​—if necessary, fixing up portions of the home to accommodate two families. Sometimes this also allowed them to eliminate the cost of operating another automobile. Years ago many families lived this way with great benefit to all. Of course, there will have to be some give and take in such an arrangement. But is there any problem that genuine love cannot conquer? You and the children may discover the joy of living with grandparents in the same home.

Unemployment Offers Opportunities

Although being out of work may be frightening, it can become a blessing in disguise. Proverbs 20:30 says: “Sometimes it takes a painful experience to make us change our ways.”​—Today’s English Version.

Unemployment brings you an opportunity for self-discovery. It gives you time to reevaluate your life and rethink things. It gives you a chance to focus on your untapped skills and explore a variety of employment options you never had time to think about before. Perhaps you may discover that another line of work would be more suitable and even more enjoyable for you.

Unemployment gives you the opportunity to deepen family relationships. All too often people are just too busy or too tired after a day of hard work to get to know their spouse or children as well as they would like to. Now you can do things with and for family members that you may not have had time for in the past, like cooking a meal or building that extra closet shelf. However, you still want a job. The question is how to find it.

[Picture on page 6]

BUDGET PRICE

PICK YOUR OWN

Finding a Job, or Creating One

‘BUT what about another job?’ you ask. You may have to find employment in a different field, and it may pay less. But many have learned to be content with a lower income. You may even find that, with adjustments, you end up earning less yet having more! In this connection, a budget is a must.

Another must is persistence when looking for a job. Discouragement can easily set in after a few disappointments. But remember, though jobs may be scarce, there are still workers who are resigning, retiring, dying or being transferred. So, “pounding the pavement is still one of the best ways to find work,” a newspaper report said. Call and visit factories, offices, employment centers. Read newspaper ads. And notice, “Experts agree between 50 and 80 per cent of all job openings are never advertised.” So check for job opportunities with relatives, friends and neighbors. Let all of them know what you can do and are willing to do. Prepare and leave a work résumé with them and at places where you apply for a job.a Be willing to move if you have to. Areas of available employment change from time to time.

But do not be kept so busy that you have no time to enjoy yourself once in a while. Constantly looking for a job builds harmful tension and stress, while short recreational breaks bring relief.

What if all of that fails? Or what can you do until you secure another job? Many have learned to create work. This is especially successful in the field of services, supplying what others want or need. For example, when one family found that there was no used-clothing store in their town, they opened one! Or what about becoming a “plant manager”? Stores, offices, hotel and airport lobbies, and like places have lots of green plants these days. Supplying and looking after these plants in a number of places can provide a suitable income with work hours often of your own choosing.

For those who cannot leave home, there are opportunities too. Maybe you bake well or prepare delectable ethnic foods that are in demand in your area. Many restaurants will purchase well-made items like these for their use. Or you may have to advertise your products. In most cities there are weekly newspapers or shopping-news publications that offer free ads. Supermarkets often have boards where people can advertise items for sale. One woman who made Polish pastries was surprised at the response to her first free ad: orders amounting to more than $200! There are other things, such as sewing and altering clothing, which can be done at home too. The chart accompanying this article lists some other make-work possibilities that have helped others avoid the pangs of unemployment.

The main thing is to keep busy​—even doing volunteer work if necessary. One advantage to volunteer work is that it shows prospective employers that you are industrious. In addition, it builds your self-confidence because you are occupied helping others.

Keep A Positive Outlook

Some who have applied the foregoing recommendations successfully would not now go back to their former jobs, even if they could. Losing their jobs enabled them to find work in another field that proved far more enjoyable. They are better off financially in many ways and have more time to be with their families.

Do not despair if you are out of work or expect a layoff soon. Face the future with confidence. If you have strong faith in God’s promises found in the Bible, then your joblessness will not be quite as shattering if you remember that he says: “I will by no means leave you nor by any means forsake you” and, “Throw all your anxiety upon him [God], because he cares for you.”​—Hebrews 13:5; 1 Peter 5:7.

Faith in these promises can sustain you. Along with the practical suggestions given here, it will help you cope with unemployment.

[Footnotes]

[Box on page 9]

JOB POSSIBILITIES FOR THE UNEMPLOYED

AT HOME

• Baby-sitting, child care

• Selling homegrown vegetables

• Sewing, altering and repairing clothing

• “Piece work” for manufacturers

• Baking and food preparation

• Quilting, crocheting, knitting, making macrame, pottery; other crafts

• Upholstering

• Bookkeeping, typing

• Telephone answering service

• Hairdressing

• Boarders

• Addressing and filling envelopes for advertisers

• House sitting (when people are on vacation and want their home to be looked after)

• Car washing and waxing (customer can drive car to your home)

• Pet grooming

• Saw, scissors, knife sharpening (library books can show how)

• Lock repair and key making (workshop in garage at your home)

• Ads for much of this work can be placed free or at low cost in weekend shopping news or on supermarket notice boards.

OUTSIDE THE HOME

• Cleaning: stores, offices, new homes after construction, after fires, after people move from apartments, in homes of others (housework)

• Repairs: appliances of all kinds (libraries contain easy-to-follow books on repairs)

• Handyman jobs: siding houses; building cabinets, doors, porches; painting; fencing; roofing

• Farm work: crops, fruit picking

• Woodcutting

• Interior landscaping and plant care: offices, banks, shopping plazas, lobbies

• Property management (sometimes provides free living quarters)

• Insurance, real estate

• Carpet installation, cleaning

• Newspaper routes (adults and children), other delivery services: ads, bills for municipalities

• Moving, storage (dry basement usable)

• Landscaping, tree trimming, lawn care

• School-bus driver

• Photography (at playgrounds, games​—offer results to parents)

• Worm picking for fishermen

• Swap work: car repairs for electrical work, sewing for plumbing, etc.

Jesus of Nazareth​—Who Really Was He?

“TO THIS by no means rhetorical question there are at least as many answers as there are books about him, and of them there is a host.” Thus replied a leading European newspaper to the question, “Who was Jesus of Nazareth?”

Adding to the confusion is the differing representations of Jesus in literature and motion pictures. As one writer pointed out, Jesus has been variously portrayed as a “fierce champion of the oppressed,” a “crucified clown,” a “befuddled mystic,” and a “well-intentioned charlatan.” But who really was he?

How to Find Out

References to Jesus by ancient secular historiansa are numerous enough to prove his existence, but they offer little additional information about him. “It is therefore impossible,” says the Encyclopædia Britannica, “to write a biography of Jesus in the conventional sense of the word.” And, speaking of the Bible accounts of Jesus’ life and teachings, it adds: “Many a modern student has become so preoccupied with conflicting theories about Jesus and the Gospels that he has neglected to study these basic sources by themselves.”

We need not make the same mistake. We have ready access to these “basic sources,” the writers of which were either intimate associates of Jesus or personal associates of those who were. No evidence has ever been unearthed that successfully calls into question the truthfulness of the men who wrote these Gospel accounts about Jesus. Rather, the contrary has been true. As Sir Isaac Newton, the famous scientist, once said: “I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatever.” The 18th-century French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote: “Shall we suppose the evangelic history a mere fiction? . . . On the contrary, the history of Socrates, which nobody presumes to doubt, is not so well attested as that of Jesus Christ.”

It would therefore be wise to view the previously mentioned descriptions of Jesus in the light of the Bible record. And reasoning as to whether these are Scriptural views of him will help us determine who Jesus of Nazareth really was.

Was Jesus God?

Many Catholics and Protestants say that Jesus was God himself, “very God of very God, . . . of one substance with the Father.” This belief they base on the Nicene Creed, adopted by the minority of bishops who attended the Council of Nicaea in 325 C.E.

But consider: While it is true that Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), he also prayed that his followers might “be one,” saying, “Just as you, Father, are in union with me and I am in union with you, that they also may be in union with us.” (John 17:21) Would this indicate oneness of person or, rather, oneness of purpose?

And while it is true that Jesus said, “He that has seen me has seen the Father also” (John 14:9), it is also true what Paul wrote of Jesus, “He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creatures.” (Colossians 1:15, The New American Bible, Catholic) When someone says that a man’s firstborn son is the “spitting image” of his father, does he mean that he thinks that they are the same person, or only that he thinks they are extremely alike in looks and character?

If Jesus was “very God of very God,” why did he say, “The Father is greater than I”? (John 14:28, NAB) Why did he say to God, “Not my will but yours be done” unless they were two distinct persons with separate wills?​—Luke 22:42, NAB.

Just an Ordinary Man?

Many modernists disagree with the “very God of very God” view of Jesus. A former West German Lutheran minister, for example, said that Jesus was a normal man with good things to say who was later glorified into the Son of God by early Christians. If Jesus were just an ordinary man, how do we account for his documented ability to control the elements, to heal the sick and even to raise the dead? (See Matthew 8:23-27; 9:18-26; Mark 8:22-26.) How do we account for his ability to prophesy things that happened many years after his death, in fact even events that are occurring today? (See Matthew, chapter 24 and Luke, chapter 21.) And if early Christians glorified Jesus into the Son of God at a later time, how can we account for John the Baptizer exclaiming at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry, “I have borne witness that this one is the Son of God”?​—John 1:34; see also Matthew 16:15, 16.

Maybe you feel that the truth about Jesus lies somewhere in between the two views discussed above. Many Unitarians, for example, believe that Jesus was “not the pre-existent Son of God but a mere man . . . , ‘adopted’ by God at his baptism when he received the divine power . . . to enable him to fulfill his mission of redemption.” Theodotus of Byzantium advanced this idea during the last part of the second century C.E.

However, if Jesus was the natural son of Joseph and Mary, why does Luke 3:23 say, “Jesus himself, when he commenced his work, was about thirty years old, being the son, as the opinion was, of Joseph”? And in answer to Mary’s question, “How is this to be, since I am having no intercourse with a man?” why did the angel say, “Holy spirit will come upon you . . . For that reason also what is born will be called holy, God’s Son”?​—Luke 1:34, 35.

If Jesus were God’s adopted son rather than his natural son, why, at his baptism, did not God say, “You are my adopted Son, the beloved,” instead of saying, “You are my Son”?​—Luke 3:22.

Just a Prophet?

Whether Jesus was adopted or not adopted, many people will agree that a close relationship existed between Jesus and God. The Koran’s view, for example, is that Jesus was one of God’s prophets, though not God’s Son nor one who died a sacrificial death. In fact, the Koran claims that “never has Allah begotten a son.”b Believers are even told to “admonish those who say that Allah has begotten a son,” because “a monstrous blasphemy is that which they utter.”

The Koran admits that “before it the Book of Moses was revealed,” calling it “a guide and a blessing to all men,” and adds, “This Book confirms it.” The Koran also claims to be “no invented tale, but a confirmation of previous scriptures.” Now, if the Koran is “a confirmation of previous scriptures,” particularly of the “Book of Moses,” how about the scriptures at Genesis 6:2, 4, which speak about “the sons of the true God” and Exodus 4:22, which says: “This is what Jehovah has said: ‘Israel is my son, my firstborn’”? Why would God himself use the illustration of his having a son if the idea is such “a monstrous blasphemy”?

If Jesus was a true prophet of God and yet not God’s Son, why did he repeatedly speak of God as his Father? He even says of himself at Matthew 11:27: “Neither does anyone fully know the Father but the Son.”

An Impostor?

The Jewish position rejects the idea that Jesus was a prophet of God, saying that, at best, Jesus was a great teacher; at worst, an impostor, but in no case the Messiah of Israel or the Son of God.

If Jesus were an impostor, a fraudulent Messiah, how do we account for his fulfilling scores of prophecies outlined in the Hebrew Scriptures to identify the true Messiah, including many over which he could have had no control?

Who He Really Was

This brings us to the last statement listed above, that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the anointed one of God​—not God himself but his firstborn Son—​sent to earth in perfect human form to serve as God’s prophet, to bear witness to the truth and to give his life as a ransom for mankind. This view, supported by the historical evidence in the Bible, is the one taught by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Far from being a “fierce champion of the oppressed,” a “crucified clown,” “befuddled mystic” or “well-intentioned charlatan,” Jesus was the most balanced individual who has ever lived. He was a man of courage, manliness and strength, yet he was not ashamed to show tenderness; a man who could enjoy a wedding feast, but who always put spiritual interests first; a man who maintained himself in perfection, though he was never demanding, arrogant or overbearing with others.​—Matthew, chapter 23; Mt 11:28-30; John 13:1-16; 2:1-12.

Jesus of Nazareth​—Who Is He Now?

The earthly man Jesus of Nazareth no longer exists. He was put to death in 33 C.E. But a change had taken place at his baptism three and a half years earlier. Anointed with God’s holy spirit, Jesus of Nazareth became Jesus Christ​—the anointed one, the promised Messiah. And as such he was resurrected by God to heavenly life on the third day following his death. So although the man Jesus of Nazareth is dead, Jesus Christ is alive. Thus, as important as it is to know who Jesus of Nazareth was, it is even more important to know who Jesus Christ is.​—Acts 10:37-43.

Alive in heaven, Christ is now the ruler of a heavenly government that will soon rid the earth of wickedness. Imagine the blessings his perfect government will bring! “To peace there will be no end,” promises Isaiah 9:6, 7. “His kingdom” will be established firmly “by means of justice and by means of righteousness.” For how long? “From now on and to time indefinite,” answers the scripture. And what guarantee do we have that this will really happen? “The very zeal of Jehovah of armies will do this.”

Would you like to learn more about the wonderful prospect of living under the rule of this “Prince of Peace” on a paradise earth? If so, feel free to ask Jehovah’s Witnesses for further information so that you, too, can know the real Jesus Christ.

[Footnotes]

[Box/​Picture on page 10]

CHECK THE ONE STATEMENT THAT CORRECTLY DESCRIBES WHO JESUS WAS

___ God himself, “very God of very God, . . . of one substance with the Father”

___ ‘a normal man with good things to say who was later glorified into the Son of God by early Christians’

___ the natural son of Joseph and Mary, “adopted” by God at the time of his baptism

___ one of God’s prophets but not, however, God’s Son nor one who died a sacrificial death

___ at best, a great teacher; at worst, an impostor​—but in no case the Messiah of Israel or the Son of God

___ the Christ, the anointed one of God​—not God himself but his firstborn Son—​sent to earth in perfect human form to serve as God’s prophet, to bear witness to the truth and to give his life as a ransom for mankind

[Chart on page 12]

OUTSTANDING PROPHECIES CONCERNING JESUS AND THEIR FULFILLMENT

Isa. 7:14 Born of a virgin Matt. 1:18-23

Isa. 53:4 Carried our sicknesses Matt. 8:16, 17

A High School Senior Reports on Her Advanced Biology Project

AWAKE! magazine

Dear Brothers:

I would like to thank you for publishing such informative and interesting articles. I am especially referring to the May 22, 1980, articles on “Abortion! The Deadly Invasion,” “Abortion: What the Professionals Say” and “Diary of an Unborn Child.” I would like to relate my experience regarding this material. As an Advanced Biology project, I presented this information orally to the class.

The class and the teacher really listened to the information and were very quiet and still as I presented it. I had read this information, including the “Diary,” many times before presenting it. Well, while reading it I got emotionally involved and I only got halfway through reading the “Diary” when I started crying and had to leave the room. The impact of reading it aloud really upset me.

The teacher told me I had presented some great information, and she said she had a lump in her throat while I was reading it. She made copies of the “Diary” and passed them out to my class. The whole class commended me on a great report, and almost all of the 24 in the class wanted a copy of the “Diary.”

All the rest of the day various students not in my Advanced Biology class told me that they had heard of my report and that it was really good and sad. I was amazed that so many different students had heard about it in only two hours. Well, the teacher made enough copies of the “Diary” to give to her other four biology classes. So five classes, between 20 and 30 students in each class, received copies of it.

During the course of the week, various students reported their experiences with the “Diary.” One boy told me his mother, a nurse, had showed it to her sister, who cried reading it. A girl shared it with her mother and her grandmother, who also became upset. Another girl told me I had “the whole town in an uproar.” Various people at several businesses had somehow obtained copies, and one woman, while working, read it and cried. One woman, who says she believes in abortion, read it and said: “That’s pitiful.” The girl who gave the woman that copy asked me for my whole report so she could share it with that woman.

A week later, students are still commending me on my report. But you brothers deserve the credit for arranging such interesting material in an appealing way. Though the writer of the “Diary” is unknown and many people who have read (and hopefully will read) it don’t know where I obtained the information, at least I have planted seeds for future cultivation.

I am 17 years old and a senior in high school. I have been associated with Jehovah’s Witnesses since age five, and I will have been baptized a year in March. I have always enjoyed the publications, especially the Awake! I hope future issues are as enjoyable and appealing as past ones.

Again, thank you and may Jehovah continue to be with you and may your blessings be abundant.

Christian love,

S. B. [Signed]

[Box on page 15]

Diary of an Unborn Child

OCTOBER 5:

Today my life began. My parents do not know it yet, but it is I already. And I am to be a girl. I shall have blond hair and blue eyes. Just about everything is settled though, even the fact that I shall love flowers.

OCTOBER 19:

Some say that I am not a real person yet, that only my mother exists. But I am a real person, just as a small crumb of bread is yet truly bread. My mother is. And I am.

OCTOBER 23:

My mouth is just beginning to open now. Just think, in a year or so I shall be laughing and later talking. I know what my first word will be: MAMA.

OCTOBER 25:

My heart began to beat today all by itself. From now on it shall gently beat for the rest of my life without ever stopping to rest! And after many years it will tire. It will stop, and then I shall die.

NOVEMBER 2:

I am growing a bit every day. My arms and legs are beginning to take shape. But I have to wait a long time yet before those little legs will raise me to my mother’s arms, before these little arms will be able to gather flowers and embrace my father.

NOVEMBER 12:

Tiny fingers are beginning to form on my hands. Funny how small they are! I’ll be able to stroke my mother’s hair with them.

NOVEMBER 20:

It wasn’t until today that the doctor told mom that I am living here under her heart. Oh, how happy she must be! Are you happy, mom?

NOVEMBER 25:

My mom and dad are probably thinking about a name for me. But they don’t even know that I am a little girl. I want to be called Kathy. I am getting so big already.

DECEMBER 10:

My hair is growing. It is smooth and bright and shiny. I wonder what kind of hair mom has?

DECEMBER 13:

I am just about able to see. It is dark around me. When mom brings me into the world it will be full of sunshine and flowers. But what I want more than anything is to see my mom. How do you look, mom?

DECEMBER 24:

I wonder if mom hears the whispering of my heart? Some children come into the world a little sick. But my heart is strong and healthy. It beats so evenly: tup-tup, tup-tup. You’ll have a healthy little daughter, mom!

DECEMBER 28:

Today my mother killed me.

​—Anonymous

Young People Ask . . .

‘Can I Go to School Without Getting Beat Up?’

‘YOU TAKE your life in your hands when you come to school.’ So complain students and teachers alike. School, according to the authors of School Vandalism, “had traditionally been viewed as a haven from the disorders of everyday life.” But what has happened? “Clearly, things have changed. For many school systems . . . violence and vandalism are issues of major concern.”

In some places you encounter danger just riding to school! One school-bus driver told Awake!: “I do my best to control the kids, but you know how it is. Sometimes the big kids have ‘shakedowns’; that is, they make the little ones give them their money. And what can I do? Years ago someone complained that the bus seats were dangerous, so they replaced them with these high-backed seats. The kids hide behind them and you can’t even see what’s going on.”

The odds are that you have either witnessed or been a victim of school violence. If so, you need no statistics to convince you of the extent of the problem. Says a teenage youth named Mike: “The hardest thing for me is getting out of bed. It’s not that I’m tired, but it’s that I can’t stand the atmosphere I’ll have to step into as soon as I leave my house.”

No Hiding Place

Is there a way you can escape school violence? Quitting school or cutting classes is how some youths avoid it. But this simply trades one set of problems for another. Nor would a new school necessarily be a sanctuary from violence. The authors of School Vandalism point out that “urban and suburban schools experience about the same amount of vandalism.” Even moving to another country might not make much of a difference. Countries such as Great Britain, Japan and Canada all report similar breakdowns in classroom discipline and order.

Many youths therefore feel that the only sensible thing to do is to arm themselves. “I don’t know anybody who doesn’t carry a knife,” claims 15-year-old Steve. “A few have guns.” But is carrying a weapon really practical? Not according to Jesus Christ. When one of his apostles, Peter, resorted to using a weapon, Jesus sternly warned him: “Return your sword to its place, for all those who take the sword will perish by the sword.” (Matthew 26:52) Jesus knew that violence begets violence. A person carrying a weapon is, in effect, inviting trouble. And as the proverb says, “As for the one searching for bad, it will come upon him.”​—Proverbs 11:27.

This does not mean, however, that you are defenseless. Jesus warned his disciples: “Look! I am sending you forth as sheep amidst wolves; therefore prove yourselves cautious as serpents and yet innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16) Likewise today, in a different setting, this defense​—caution—​is needed even more in these “critical times hard to deal with.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5) In many parts of the world, caution is needed not only in school but almost everywhere you go.

“Survival” Tactics

Nevertheless, to dodge danger effectively, you will need more than mere caution.

KNOW AND AVOID DANGER SPOTS:

“The hallways, bathrooms, stairwells, locker rooms and cafeteria​—those are the real trouble spots,” a group of youths explained to Awake! So notorious are some schools’ bathrooms as gathering places for fights, drug usage and profanity that many prefer to suffer discomfort rather than use these facilities. “We wait till we get home to use the bathroom,” these youths further explained. Cafeterias, too, often are the scene of “food fights”​—riotous affairs where students fling their lunches at one another. While it may be possible to traverse safely danger spots like stairwells and hallways by being alert and cautious, what can you do about a place like the cafeteria? Here your next “survival” technique will help.

WATCH YOUR ASSOCIATION:

The Bible’s counsel at 1 Corinthians 15:33 is well known to Christian youths: “Do not be misled. Bad associations spoil useful habits.” Often a youth finds himself smack in the middle of a fight simply because he associates with the wrong crowd.​—See Proverbs 22:24, 25.

Of course, it’s natural to want to be liked and have friends. And guarding your association does not mean giving the cold shoulder to your schoolmates; this could alienate them and make them hostile toward you. A Christian woman named Doris, though, tells how she maintained a delicate balance in dealing with others: “During my high school years I basically kept to myself; I didn’t get involved socially with the kids in school. I let them know that I was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and during lunchtime they could often see me reading my Bible publications. Nevertheless, I tried to be warm, friendly and polite toward the kids in school. I wasn’t aloof. As a result, the kids liked and respected me. And for the most part they didn’t bother me.”

WALK AWAY FROM FIGHTS:

The Bible advises us to avoid “forcing one another to a showdown.” (Galatians 5:26, footnote of 1963 large-print edition of NW) True, after being called names or being provocatively shoved, it’s hard not to strike back. But remember: Violence begets violence. Even if you come off the victor in a violent showdown, your opponent may simply bide his or her time for a rematch. So first try talking your way out of a fight. “An answer, when mild, turns away rage,” says the Bible. (Proverbs 15:1) If talking doesn’t work, walk​—or even run—​away from violent confrontations. As a last resort, you can take whatever reasonable means are necessary to protect yourself.​—Romans 12:18.

Now it may hurt your pride to walk or run away from a fight. Ray, for example, recalls the time he refused to fight a boy much smaller than he was. “They called me all kinds of names like ‘chicken.’ And even my own brother made fun of me. But my dad commended me for doing the right thing.” Refusing to give in to violent impulses not only is the right thing to do but can also spare you physical harm. Reminds Solomon: “A live dog is better off than a dead lion.”​—Ecclesiastes 9:4.

TALK TO YOUR PARENTS:

The author of The Loneliness of Children observes that youths “seldom report their school terrors to their parents, for fear the parents will think them cowardly or chide them for not standing up to the bullies.” Do not make this mistake! Your parents are no doubt deeply concerned for your welfare and can often help you handle a bad situation.

Laura was the victim of molestation by boys in her school and was afraid to do anything about it. Finally, though, she found the courage to tell her father, who saw to it that the boys let her alone. While perhaps a bit embarrassed that her father intervened in this way, she admits, “I guess I should have told my father in the first place.”

The Best Protection

While the suggestions given here may prove helpful, some exposure to violence today is unavoidable. But if you have cultivated a real friendship with God, you will have no reason to be overwhelmed by fear. “Jehovah is the stronghold of my life,” said the psalmist. “Of whom shall I be in dread?”​—Psalm 27:1.

A young Christian girl named Faye demonstrated such faith. Some fellow students hated her for openly sharing her religious convictions. So on the last day of school, three girls cornered her in the bathroom and began calling her names (Miss Goodie-Goodie). One girl then grabbed her hair and put a knife to her throat. Frightened? Yes. But Faye had a friendship with God, to whom she now began praying out loud! This confounded her attackers. And when they heard the sound of footsteps, they quickly left. “I am convinced that Jehovah helped me and that we can depend upon him in time of distress,” was Faye’s reaction.

True, God does not guarantee that his servants will necessarily be spared from physical harm. But he can give you the courage to face even violent confrontations. Why not make Jehovah your stronghold?

[Blurb on page 18]

“Incidents of students beating up teachers, disrupting classes and ceremonies and defacing school property in recent years have shocked Japanese society.”​—Asahi Evening News

[Picture on page 17]

Preparing to meet violence with violence is dangerous and impractical

“I Started Out a Warbird but Ended Up a Dove”

THE droning sound was all too familiar. Soaring through the blue sky above was a B-17 airplane, a relic of World War II, just like the one I used to pilot. Its mission now, however, was a far cry from dropping bombs. The payload was fire-retardant chemicals to preserve the forest. Still, the sight and sound of that old “flying fortress” stirred my heart, bringing back a flood of memories of my warbird days​—some good, some bad.

Ever since I can remember, I had a keen desire to fly. As children growing up in northeastern Wisconsin in the 1930’s, my brother Robert and I would spend hours making models of airplanes from balsa wood and tissue. Come Saturday, we couldn’t wait until our chores were done so we could bicycle out to the county airport and watch the old biplanes take off and land.

The desire to fly lingered into adulthood. So when World War II started, I enlisted in November 1942 in the Army Air Corps. Now I could serve my country and also realize my life’s goal​—to fly.

On August 4, 1944, I received my coveted wings as a second lieutenant. Ten days later I married Mary Ann. Since it was wartime, our honeymoon was cut short. We spent it on the return bus to the air base.

I was ordered to Sebring, Florida, to learn to fly the famed B-17. This plane bristled with gun turrets​—from its back, belly, nose, chin and tail—​13 machine guns in all​—and could carry three tons of bombs. No wonder it was nicknamed the Flying Fortress!

In the early spring of 1945 I was assigned to the 8th Air Force, given a brand-new B-17 and scheduled for combat service in England. I proudly named my ship Mary Ann II. I loved that plane so dearly that my wife would jokingly accuse me of bigamy.

Yet something gnawed at me, a Roman Catholic, as I thought about bombing cities filled with Roman Catholics. ‘The Catholic priest who lives on the base,’ I said to myself, ‘can help.’

“If I drop a bomb on a city in southern Germany and a thousand people are killed,” I asked the chaplain, “how many would be Catholic?”

“About 95 percent,” he answered.

“So what right do I have to take the lives of 950 people who are of the same religion as we are?”

The priest replied: “We are fighting a just war.”

“What makes a war just?” I asked.

“You are defending your country,” he said.

“We are invading Italy and Germany,” I said, puzzled. “Wouldn’t they believe they were fighting the just war because they were the ones defending their homeland?”

“No,” he answered. “We are fighting the just war.”

That answer left me even more puzzled. I then asked the chaplain: “Why did the pope, the Italian bishops and priests bless the Italian troops to fight against us, and why are German priests now doing the same to their troops?” Patting me gently on the shoulder, he replied: “You must have faith, my son. The responsibility is not on our shoulders.”

I was sick at heart. The little remaining faith I had in the Roman Catholic Church was ebbing fast. But I was soon out of my dilemma. Just a week before I was to take off for England, Germany surrendered and Mary Ann (the B-17, not my wife) was returned to the government. I took up a new line of work in a retail lumberyard, eventually becoming part owner. By this time our son had been born, and we settled down as a family.

In 1947 Al Ellquist entered our lives. He was a full-time pioneer minister of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Wisconsin. When some in my wife’s family began to study the Bible with Al, Mary Ann joined in.

I didn’t like it one bit. The Bible was a foreign book to me. The priest never encouraged me to read the Bible, and I resented that my wife was trying to bring a new religion into our home. I became jealous of both the Witnesses and their God, Jehovah. I had always felt that the husband was Number One in the home, and if the wife wanted to know anything, even about the Bible, she should come to her husband for information.

Sensing my hostility, Al encouraged Mary Ann to get a Roman Catholic Bible for me. Then he suggested that she ask me noncontroversial questions such as: “How many animals of each kind did Noah take into the ark?” “What did man and beast eat in the garden of Eden?” I didn’t know the answers, but it surely whetted my appetite for more Bible information.

Next, my wife tried this approach: “Ray, I wonder if you would help me with these new things that I am learning from the Bible. You are so much more logical than I am. You wouldn’t want me to believe something if it isn’t true, would you?”

I had absolutely no basis for proving whether something was true or false. And when she began asking me where she could find scriptures about purgatory and limbo in my Catholic Bible, I realized I needed help. I telephoned the priest, asking him for the Bible passages that would prove the things we believed as Catholics. The priest confessed that these teachings were not found directly in the Bible but, rather, evolved from early Roman Catholic Church theology.

That answer didn’t satisfy me, nor could it withstand the bombardment of my wife’s Bible questions. Frustrated, I ordered Mary Ann to stop her Bible study with the Witnesses.

However, Al suggested that before she canceled her Bible lessons, she should try to get me to agree to read the Bible with her for a month. If, after the month was up, I didn’t understand what I was reading, Al would study the Bible with me.

I like challenges and I wasn’t going to back out of this one. Surely I could read this world-famous book and understand it. So, together, Mary Ann and I started reading from Genesis through to the Bible’s fifth book, Deuteronomy.

Thirty days were up and Mary Ann asked, “Do you understand what you read?” I gave the same type of answer that the Ethiopian gave to the Christian evangelizer Philip: No. I needed guidance. (Acts 8:30, 31) Therefore, being a man of my word, I agreed to have a Bible study with Al​—but with an ulterior motive. I was going to shoot him down and show Mary Ann how wrong Al and those Witnesses were.

Prior to Al’s weekly visit, I would sit up into the wee hours of the morning thinking of ways to stump him. I couldn’t do it. When I threw a challenging question to Al, he would shift into this answering pattern: First, he would commend me for being a deep thinker. Next, he would say: “I know you do not wish to hear what I think. Let’s see what the Bible says on this matter.” In just a few minutes Al, in a kind, loving and convincing way, would shatter my hours of hard work by getting me to reason on the Bible.

After about nine months of losing all these battles, I surrendered and buckled down to serious Bible study. I progressed rapidly and Mary Ann and I got baptized on November 19, 1950.

When my mother found out about this, she cried out to her priest, “They’re leaving the Church!” and pleaded with him to “save” me and my brother Robert, who was also beginning to show interest. A meeting was arranged with the priest, with my mother and my brother, our wives and me at my parents’ home.

“You have committed a mortal sin by leaving the religion of your parents,” the priest charged. I asked: “In what religion was the Virgin Mary raised?” “Jewish,” he replied. “Did Mary die in the Jewish faith, or did she die a Christian?” I asked. “She was a Christian,” came his answer. “So, then, did Mary commit a mortal sin, too, by leaving the religion of her parents?”

That question and others concerning the human soul, Trinity and hellfire drew a blank from the priest. From then on my mother, brother and his wife progressed in their Bible study and eventually got baptized by the Witnesses. My mother died faithful to Jehovah seven years ago.

My wife soon felt that she should serve as a full-time evangelizer, and in January 1956, when our son was seven and settled in school, Mary Ann began serving as a full-time minister. But I was tied down to the lumberyard business. I had to supply the physical needs of my family, I reasoned. Actually, I wanted a larger home on a lakefront, so I could own a plane with floats and skis and start my own little paradise. Remember, I still loved flying.

So I spent ten hours a day at the lumberyard dealing with customers and their problems and came home beat. My wife, on the other hand, would come home from pioneering, bubbling over with enthusiasm​—refreshed by the progress of her Bible student or the interest she had found.

My conscience started beating me. I realized that I could preach full time and still provide for my family. I also realized that the lumber business was throttling my spirituality. I ended up setting June 1, 1957, as a target date to start my full-time service as a minister of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

I got busy readjusting my life. I sold my stock in the lumber business. I sold our house and bought a mobile home. But it would never hold our belongings! We soon learned, however, that we could live with a lot less than we thought!

My father died in 1962, and after four years in the full-time ministry in southwestern Minnesota, we returned to Wisconsin to help my mother. To support my family I started a small janitorial business. My first job? The office of the lumber company where I had been vice-president! Was that a humbling experience!

The year 1969 found our son married and my mother well taken care of. Mary Ann and I widened out in our ministry. We became traveling representatives of the Watchtower Society. I started out in my first assignment as circuit overseer​—North Dakota Circuit Number One. My brother and his wife, Robert and Lee, entered the circuit work too.

We are now in our seventh assignment and figure we have met about 10,350 brothers and sisters. How many of them would we have known if we had refused this privilege of service?

As I look back now, I can see that any anxiety I had about providing for our needs was completely unfounded. Mary Ann and I feel like King David when he said at Psalm 37:25: “A young man I used to be, I have also grown old, and yet I have not seen anyone righteous left entirely, nor his offspring looking for bread.”​—As told by Raymond Hurst.

[Blurb on page 20]

Something gnawed at me, a Roman Catholic, as I thought about bombing cities filled with Roman Catholics

[Blurb on page 20]

I was sick at heart. The little remaining faith I had in the Roman Catholic Church was ebbing fast

[Blurb on page 21]

I ordered Mary Ann to stop her Bible study with Jehovah’s Witnesses

[Blurb on page 21]

I started studying to prove them wrong, but after losing all the battles, I surrendered and buckled down to serious Bible study

What You Hear May Hurt You

“DOCTORS today claim that noise is responsible for one out of three neuroses. . . . Excessive street noise (as well as in the home) is the cause of 80% of headaches and 52% of memory problems. . . . The ‘341st suicide of the Eiffel Tower’ was a victim of a nervous breakdown provoked by the radio of his neighbors.” So reports Perspectives de La Presse of Montreal, Canada.

Here are some other findings that may startle you.

Hearing: A study of 70 persons in their 20’s who work in discotheques reveals that one third of them suffer from high-frequency hearing loss. Normally, less than 1 percent of people in their age group suffer such losses. Another test shows that about 30 out of 40 firemen who have been on the force for ten years or more have significantly impaired hearing. The sirens do it. A conservative estimate is that 16 million Americans already have suffered hearing loss due to noise, and millions more are on their way.

Study and Work: One thousand second to sixth graders in a school near an elevated train were observed for six years. Children in classrooms nearest the tracks showed a marked decline in reading ability. When engineers worked to reduce the noise level and the school put up acoustic ceilings, the reading problem disappeared. In an office experiment, a reduction in noise resulted in 29 percent fewer typing errors and 9 percent greater productivity.

Blood Pressure: A doctor in Berlin asked workers in a noisy bottling factory to work one week wearing earmuffs and one week without them. The result? Workers without ear protection showed an increase in blood pressure. According to the doctor, “exposure to chronic noise levels can not only cause high blood pressure but also heart damage.”

Sleep: Even if the noise is not loud enough to wake you up, it may still rob you of needed rest. Studies of brain waves show that noise disrupts one’s sleep and dream pattern and leaves one in a sort of ‘suspended animation.’

The Unborn: In a three-year study of 225,000 births in an area around the busy Los Angeles International Airport, it was found that the birth-defect rate was much higher than among those born in the rest of the county. Defects included cleft palates, harelips, spinal defects and absence of a brain, and some babies had more than ten fingers or toes. Similarly, a high rate of stillbirths was reported in the vicinity of London’s Heathrow Airport, and many underweight babies have been born around Osaka Airport in Japan. Is that all merely coincidental?

Besides the serious physical effects, noise seems to make people less kind or willing to help, more prone to have family problems, and more irritable and nervous.

What Can You Do About It?

A common mistake that many people make is feeling that they can get used to the noise. The problem is that it is usually too late when one becomes aware of any harm done. “You may forgive the noise,” says a noted New York ear specialist, “but your system won’t forgive you.”

For protection, you need to be aware of both the intensity of the noise and the length of time you are exposed to it. The louder the noise the less time it takes for damage to result. Noise level is measured in decibels, and studies show that eight hours a day of 75-decibel noise, the equivalent of noise at a busy street intersection, is about all that one can take without lasting harmful results.

In many areas, government standards for work environments allow an average of eight hours a day of 90-decibel noise, at which level you have to shout to be heard at arm’s length. If you work in such a place and it appears unlikely that things will improve, you might consider protecting your ears with earmuffs or plugs.

After working all day in a noisy place, do you get relief when you come home? While there is little you can do to lessen noise outside your home, you can take steps to keep much of it out. Caulking any seams, cracks, vents and holes, weather-stripping around doors and windows, and installing double-pane windows will help to bring noise down to an acceptable level. Using an air conditioner may allow you to keep the windows shut in the summer when street noise is at its peak, but even an average air conditioner makes its own contribution of 50 decibels or more. Carpeting, upholstered furniture, adequate draperies and wall covering or decorations will help to absorb the noise that does get in.

Most noise at home, however, comes from within, and a little thought and thoughtfulness can go a long way in containing it. The kitchen, for example, with its appliances and clean-scrubbed reflective surfaces, is usually the noisiest place in a home. Washable carpets, acoustic ceiling and fabric wall covering help bring down the decibels.

As for appliances, many products on the market now are noise rated. Check and compare when you shop.

Television and stereo sets are potential noise makers. Bear in mind that what in your ears is sweet music, in other ears may be just noise​—unwanted sound. The obvious answer is to turn down the volume control. It will also help to confine the sound to your own quarters if your loudspeakers are placed on cork or neoprene pads and away from walls adjoining your neighbors.

Not to be overlooked is people noise​—loud talking, yelling of and at the children, door slamming, and so forth. Thoughtfulness is the key in this area.

What you do to reduce noise will not only safeguard your health but also show your appreciation for the marvelous gift of hearing from the Creator.

“The hearing ear and the seeing eye​—Jehovah himself has made even both of them.”​—Proverbs 20:12.

[Chart on page 24]

COMPARATIVE LEVEL OF NOISE SOURCES

Noise levels are measured in decibels. An increase of three decibels, which doubles the sound, is the smallest change perceptible by the human ear. Figures shown are averages.

Source Decibels

Jet taking off 150

Pneumatic riveter 130

Thunder 120

Discotheque or rock band 115

Motorcycle revving 110

Electric blender 95

Vacuum cleaner 85

Automobile 70

Ordinary conversation 60

“Quiet” room 40

Recording studio 30

Whisper 20

Threshold of hearing 0

Your Friend the Dictionary

DO YOU have difficulty understanding some of the words you read? Have you had to apply in writing for a job and felt that the wording of your letter was inadequate and your spelling suspect? Would you like to express yourself more clearly and convincingly? In short, would you like to improve your vocabulary? If so, what you need is a good dictionary.

Before looking at the services a dictionary provides, let’s consider the kinds available. Basically, there are three: compact, historical and general purpose.

The compact, or pocket, dictionary being small is obviously limited in what it offers. At the other extreme is the historical, or exhaustive, dictionary. Its specialty is the history of words, where they come from and how and when they acquired their present meanings. It is more for the word specialist or writer. Probably the most practical dictionary for you is one that is a compromise​—the general-purpose type, variously called desk, concise, or collegiate. Here are just some of the features that make it so useful.

Definitions

Perhaps its most valuable aid is word definition. A word used out of place will raise eyebrows and cause embarrassment. But as a writer of proverbs said, “What a joy it is to find just the right word for the right occasion!” (Proverbs 15:23, Today’s English Version) So when you are not sure of the precise meaning, consult the dictionary before using that word. Many words have more than one meaning. For example, the word “discipline” can mean training, punishment, behavior according to established rules, control exercised within an organization, or it can refer to a branch of learning. With the dictionary you will be able to determine which meaning applies in the sentence before you.

Some dictionaries give specimen phrases to illustrate the typical use of a word. For example, one illustrates the uses of the word “control” with these phrases: control a country, control one’s emotions, control a fire, frontier control, control panel, under control, out of control.

Pronunciation

It is difficult for a dictionary to provide the pronunciation of a word with accuracy because this can vary from region to region. Who is to say which is right? The dictionary may give important variations, but usually it will give the pronunciation that is generally accepted.

As the letters of an alphabet cannot represent all the sounds used in spoken language​—there are at least 47 such sounds in English—​dictionary compilers have to devise ways of explaining how to pronounce words. Among the various systems is one that respells the words to match the sound as closely as possible and supplements this with diacritical (distinguishing) marks. Whatever system your dictionary uses to distinguish sounds, it will provide an explanatory table.

The dictionary will also show what syllables take the stress. By way of example, it will show that preferably one would say distribute, not distribute; formidable, not formidable; dispute, not dispute; comparable, not comparable.

Spelling

In English the pronunciation of a word is often no guide to its spelling. Thus, the verb “proceed” has two e’s, whereas the noun “procedure” has only one, even though the sound is unchanged. Also, the “i before e except after c” rule has its exceptions: “Siege” obeys the rule, “seize” does not. Do you write “guage” when you mean “gauge”? Confusing? Let your friend the dictionary help. If it is at your elbow, so that you can reach it without getting out of your chair, you are much more likely to use it.

Derivations

A fascinating feature of a dictionary is etymology, the roots, or origins, from which words are derived. Of what value is that knowledge, you may ask? Introducing its forebears brings a word to life. English is particularly rich in this respect, for it has borrowed from a multitude of languages, such as Latin, Greek and Anglo-Saxon. By using a dictionary you can become familiar with words or parts of words most frequently drawn from those languages. As you remember them, your vocabulary will grow.

Latin has made a great contribution to the English language. To take one example: We have many words arising from jacere, to throw. Consider the basic meaning of these verbs: project​—throw forward; inject​—throw in; eject​—throw out; subject​—throw under; reject​—throw back; deject​—throw down; object​—throw against; and interject​—throw between. So by knowing the root, jacere, and a few everyday prefixes, many words become instantly recognizable.

Many English words have come directly from Greek. Philanthropist​—from philos, friend, and anthropos, man—​a friend of mankind. Photograph​—from phos, light, and graphein, to write—​literally, to write with light. Cacophony​—from kakos, bad, and phōnē, sound—​harsh, discordant sound.

Thus, by becoming familiar with the derivations of words, it is possible to identify others. Having in mind the Greek words italicized above, can you work out the basic meanings of “phonograph” and “anthropology”? But watch for traps! Whereas ante means before, anti means against; hypo is under, hyper, over, to mention only two.

Restrictive Labels

Your dictionary also tells you of restrictions in the use of a word. If the word is marked “informal,” “colloquial” or “slang,” it should not be used in formal communication, unless deliberately used for special effect. Such words may be more acceptable in conversation or in a personal letter. Much would depend on the parties concerned. So these labels signal caution. For instance, in Britain the word “nick” is slang for prison and for stealing, in the United States for defrauding someone, and in Australia, followed by “off,” for a rapid departure. The dictionary warns that these uses are not for formal speech or writing.

A “derogatory” label warns that the word could offend. And words labeled “obscene” or “vulgar” should, of course, be avoided entirely.

The English language is constantly changing. This is apparent to readers of the Bible when they compare the King James Version, or Authorized Version, with a modern-language translation. The word “let,” for example, has a meaning today that is totally opposite to its meaning 350 years ago. (2 Thessalonians 2:7, 8) Take also the word “gay.” While it used to mean “merry,” “bright” and “lively,” it is almost exclusively used nowadays to refer to a homosexual. So it is good to have and consult an up-to-date dictionary for the current definition and pronunciation of words.

Rewards and Enjoyment

Finally, let us apply the above information and see how the dictionary helps with the word “propitiatory,” which appears in this text from the Bible: “Jesus Christ . . . is a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 2:1, 2) We find that the word means to appease or make well disposed, to make atonement. The English word comes from the Latin propitiare, to render favorable. We learn also that it is pronounced with the stress on the second syllable and that the first “t” is pronounced “sh” as in ship. Quite a lot of information in one short entry!

It is not likely that you will remember all these things about every word you look up in the dictionary, nor should you try. Some words are not commonly used. But commit to memory those you feel you can and should use. Select choice words that will help you to communicate better, not the showy ones. As your vocabulary improves you will find that, though you will always need your friend the dictionary, you will become less dependent on it. Your reading will become even more enjoyable and your speech will markedly improve. How rewarding​—for as the Bible so rightly says: “Like apples of gold in a silver setting is a word that is aptly spoken”!​—Proverbs 25:11, The Jerusalem Bible.

From Our Readers

Missing Children

Your issue on “My Child Is Missing!” (April 22, 1984) was great. I have four children of my own, and this article helped to make them even more fully aware of how and why they should be on guard of people, even those they know.

D. H., Washington

Flying Blind

As a pilot, I was interested in reading “Flying ‘Blind’​—How Do They Do It?” (March 22, 1984) This article was very well done in accurate terminology, while understandable to the nonpilot readers to whom it was obviously directed, except that the diagram on page 26 mislabeled the Glide-path and Localizer beams and transmitters. The Glide-path transmitter (labeled Localizer transmitter) and the Localizer transmitter (labeled Glide-path transmitter) are shown in good scale as to their longitudinal positions relative to the runway. However, the Glide-path transmitter is not located in the pavement on the runway center line as shown, but to one side. The Localizer transmitter, though, (which you have labeled Glide-path transmitter) must be on the runway center line to serve its purpose.

R. S., Maine

We acknowledge our errors, caused by relying on an incorrect published source. The Glide-path beam and Glide-path transmitter and Localizer beam and Localizer transmitter were cross-labeled. Further, the Glide-path transmitter should have been shown off to the side of the runway. The pilot from Maine is correct, and, no doubt, other pilots among our readers have also taken note of this error. Corrections have been sent for insertion in foreign-language editions. Thank you for calling this to our attention.​—ED.

Acid Rain

I was particularly interested in your article “Killer From the Sky!” (November 22, 1983) until I got to the last paragraph, which implied that the “Grand Creator” was going to clean up the “garbage dump” the human race is turning this once beautiful planet into. You don’t let the garbage stack up in your own homes waiting for your Grand Creator to carry it out for you​—why treat the outdoors any differently? Only by working “through us” can the Grand Creator of all life cleanse us of our own pollution. You do your readers and the planet we live on​—our very own “Mother Earth”—​a disservice by implying otherwise.

C. Z., Colorado

We fully agree that all of us, from large industrial concerns down to individuals, have the responsibility to keep our environment clean and to lessen pollution, which our article also made quite clear. But considering the woefully inadequate efforts being put forth to keep the environment clean and the little likelihood of earth-wide success in this regard from a human standpoint, it is really an encouragement to our readers to know that the all-powerful Creator will see to it that the earth is completely cleansed of polluters and will be populated by God-fearing people who will cooperate with the Creator in keeping the earth a beautiful paradise for all time in the future. Providing our readers with this information is a real service to them.​—ED.

Watching the World

Atomic Tinder

● The combined nuclear arsenal of the United States and the Soviet Union is equivalent to 10,000 megatons of TNT (one megaton equals a million tons), says the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. That is equivalent to 4,200 pounds of TNT for every man, woman and child alive today. If this amount of TNT were distributed in powder form, each person’s share would occupy 41 cubic feet. Interestingly, in 1960 the nuclear arsenal of these two superpowers equaled 30,000 megatons of TNT​—far greater than today. More precise missiles with smaller warheads have cut down the excess “kill power.”

Torture Epidemic

● More than a third of the world’s governments have used or condoned the practice of torture thus far in the 1980’s, according to a 263-page report released by Amnesty International of London. Described by Time magazine as “the most comprehensive report on the subject to date,” it documents “gruesome” and “grotesque practices.” Nevertheless, the report maintains that government secrecy and intimidation often make corroboration of torture claims difficult. While the international framework for abolishing these inhumane practices exists, concludes Amnesty, “what is lacking is the political will of governments to stop torturing people.”

Clergy Insult

● John Butcher, a British government junior minister, recently caused a stir among the clergy by suggesting that they should give up politics for Lent. He reasoned that it would allow politically minded clerics “to concentrate on their major tasks of saving souls and filling churches.” A quick retort from the Bishop of Coventry made clear the position of the Church of England: “Politics is too important to be left to politicians. There are great issues on which the church should speak.” Later Butcher added that clerics should give up politics ‘not only for Lent but for always.’ A government spokesman says that Butcher ‘insulted the clergy.’

“Commercial Sideshow”

● The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles are being financed entirely by corporate sponsors without government aid. “The official sponsors and suppliers,” says The Wall Street Journal, “have paid $140 million in cash and goods for rights to boast of their Olympic connections and have budgeted more than $500 million for ads using Olympic themes.” While sponsorship and other commercial tie-ins are not new, the $140 million supersedes the previous record of $9 million paid to the organizers of the 1980 Winter Games at Lake Placid, New York. The intense competition between companies to secure advertising rights has become a “commercial sideshow” that is “dwarfing the athletes’ drive for the gold,” says the report.

Hard on Brains

● The evidence of brain damage in amateur and professional boxers is “beyond doubt,” states the British Medical Association. Doctors using X-ray scanning techniques can detect brain damage even before boxers show signs of slurred speech, staggering movements or loss of memory. The association’s report says that damage from repeated blows on the head is cumulative and normally irreversible and suggests that boxers should be required to sign a consent form similar to that given to patients prior to major brain surgery. Though this fresh research is likely to inspire efforts to ban the sport, others feel, as one editor of The Times of London put it, that “if people wish to damage their brains it is not the business of the state to intervene.”

The Shrinking Jewish Population

● The American Jewish population​—now fewer than 6 million—​is probably shrinking, reports The Wall Street Journal. “I’d say there’s been a decline of between 250,000 and 450,000 in the last 15 years or so,” concludes Marshall Sklare, director of Brandeis University’s Center for Modern Jewish Studies. The reason? American Jews aren’t bearing enough children to replace themselves. Additionally, one quarter of these Jews marry outside their faith. Relatively few children from such marriages embrace Judaism. To combat this trend, many Jewish groups encourage more childbearing. Also, Reform Jews are seeking converts. But, observes Jewish spokesman Gershon Cohen, “babies aren’t generated by sermons.” Furthermore, most Orthodox Jews discourage proselytizing.

Japan’s Appetite for Ivory

● From 50,000 to as many as 100,000 elephants were killed last year to satisfy Japan’s growing demand for ivory. The imports weighed in at 479 tons, twice as much as in the previous year. But “only a tiny portion of Japanese imports come from elephants that are killed legally,” reports The Guardian of London. Japan’s growing appetite for ivory is directly linked to the “explosive growth of ivory poaching and smuggling centred on Sudan,” says the report. Wildlife experts described the figures as devastating.

Cancer Prevention

● A recent survey by the National Cancer Institute found that half of Americans think “there’s not much a person can do to prevent cancer.” But, contrary to widespread opinion, it is a person’s life-style that causes most cancers. Smoking is responsible for 30 percent of the nation’s cancer; diet, 35 percent; excessive sunshine, 3 percent; and heavy alcohol consumption, 3 percent. Among the institute’s recommendations to prevent cancer are the following: Don’t use tobacco in any form. If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation. Eat foods low in fat. Include fresh fruits, vegetables and whole-grained cereals in your daily diet. Avoid unnecessary X rays. Use recommended safety devices on the job, such as respirators, masks and protective clothing. Avoid too much sunlight, particularly between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Many Widows

● The IBGE, a federal organ in Brazil that deals with statistics, recently reported that there are over four times as many widows there as widowers. Jessé Montello, president of the IBGE, attributed this difference to the greater longevity of women, according to the newspaper O Globo. Women have an average life span of 77 years as compared to only 72 years for men.

Killing for Eyeglasses

● “If you sit beside an open window on the trolley, they’ll run past and snatch them right off your face,” said 20-year-old Freddie McKee. Eighteen-year-old Richard Johnson adds, “My buddy Anthony got shot for his.” The craze is over Cazals, a brand of heavy, dark plastic eyeglasses from West Germany. Retailing at about $75 to $200, they have become a status symbol in many American cities. At least four youngsters​—three in Philadelphia and one in New York City—​have died in fights over them. “It’s insanity,” says an East Coast distributor.

“Worse, Not Better”

● The number of American priests is at an all-time low, reports The New York Times. Additionally, seminary enrollment has dropped from 47,500 to 12,000 in 20 years. Why? “Priests and nuns are not encouraging young people to enter religious life,” observes Dr. Frank Butler, coordinator of a recent Catholic conference in Chicago dealing with the problem. Besides, the image of the priest has lost much of its luster, says the report. Further, it says many young Catholics value material comfort and sexual freedom over a life of rigorous commitment and celibacy. “We’re not in some temporary down cycle,” concludes clergyman Richard McBrien from the University of Notre Dame. “Things are getting worse, not better.”

Paperwork Jungle

● Each year the United States government pays out $149.8 billion in interest on its $1.6 trillion federal debt. It also raises about $200 billion for its annual deficit spending. How does the government do it? The Bureau of Public Debt handles the job. It employs 2,400 people. Among its annual expenses, $17 million is for promoting the sale of savings bonds and payroll-deduction plans, $17.3 million is for communication (mostly phone bills), and $12.7 million is for postage. The agency deals with 44,000 financial institutions that issue and redeem savings bonds and notes. These institutions pocket $44.8 million in commissions alone. Though the total cost of running the bureau is $196 million annually, one bureaucrat called the sum “really insignificant.”

Drug Use

● An annual survey reveals that the number of daily marijuana smokers among high school seniors has dropped by nearly 50 percent over the past five years. Other drops were noted in the use of Quaaludes, barbiturates and LSD. The drop in daily marijuana use is “extremely welcome news,” says the National Institute of Drug Abuse, but there is still a problem. The number of people needing emergency treatment for heroin and cocaine reactions increased from 1980 to 1983. The survey shows that 69 percent of teenagers use alcohol, which number is slightly lower than in previous years. About 21 percent use cigarettes every day, and this percentage has not declined in the last four years.

Roaming Killers

● There has been a striking increase, U.S. law-enforcement officials say, of killers who roam from city to city, picking their victims, mostly women and children, from the strangers they meet. Called “serial murderers,” they repeatedly kill without apparent motive. As most are highly intelligent, leave few clues and travel on to another location, few are apprehended. Over 4,000 unidentified bodies are found abandoned each year, authorities say, at least half of them under 18 years of age. Many victims are never found. “We’ve got people out there now killing 20 and 30 people and more,” said Robert O. Heck, a Justice Department specialist on the problem, “and some of them just . . . torture their victims in terrible ways and mutilate them before they kill them.” This past October, two men confessed to killing more than 200 persons while traveling through the countryside during the past eight years. Heck estimates that at least 35 of such killers are presently roaming throughout the country. As sex is the most dominant factor in serial murders, officials tend to place the blame on changing sexual attitudes, movies that foster sexual violence and exposure to violent pornography.

Iceland’s First

● The first armed robbery ever reported in Iceland’s history occurred this year. Two messengers en route to the bank with a store’s receipts of $70,000 (U.S.) were accosted by a man with a shotgun. Since armed robbery had been unknown in Iceland, says The New York Times report, they at first ignored his demands for the cash. The gunman’s warning blast at a car parked nearby convinced them, however, and they turned over the money.

Was There Room For All the Animals In Noah’s Ark?

“Impossible,” many say. But do they really know how large the ark was? Do they realize the carrying capacity of a vessel that size?

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