January 22

Page Two

Our Battered Earth​—Who Will Rescue It? 3-11

In recent decades man has polluted the air, the water, and the soil. He has wasted the earth’s natural resources and has caused the extinction of hundreds of species of living creatures. Many environmentalists try to halt the battering of the earth, but its rescue can come only from another source.

If I Lost Weight, Anybody Can! 12

He stepped on his bathroom scale and hated what he saw. He lost 60 pounds [30 kg], and he says you can do it too.

Not Even an Iron Lung Could Stop Her Preaching 18

With courage and love of life, she praised Jehovah and taught others to do so.

[Picture Credit Line on page 2]

Cover and above: F4/​Simonetti/​Sipa

Our Battered Earth​—The Assaults Strike Many Areas

IN JUNE of last year, the Earth Summit on the environment was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. To coincide with it, in that same month, India Today published an editorial by its associate editor Raj Chengappa. It was entitled “The Wounded Earth.” Its opening paragraphs painted a graphic picture:

“In 1971 when Edgar Mitchell flew to the moon on board Apollo 14, his first glimpse of earth from space sent him into rhapsody. ‘It looks like a sparkling blue and white jewel . . . Laced with slowly swirling veils of white . . . Like a small pearl in a thick black sea of mystery,’ he radioed back effusively to Houston.

“Twenty-one years later, if Mitchell was to be sent back into space, this time with special spectacles that allowed him to see the invisible gases of the earth’s atmosphere, a vastly different sight would greet him. He would see giant punctures in the protective ozone shields over Antarctica and North America. Instead of a sparkling blue and white jewel he would see a dull, dirty earth filled with dark, swirling clouds of dioxides of carbon and sulphur.

“If Mitchell took out his camera and shot images of forest cover of the earth and compared it with those he took in ’71, he would be stunned by the amount they have shrunk. And if he opened his special telescope to help him examine the filth in the waters of the earth, he would see ribbons of poison criss-crossing the land masses and dark balls of tar lining much of the ocean floor. ‘Houston,’ he would have radioed back, ‘what on earth have we done?’

“Actually, we don’t need to go 36,000 km [22,000 mi] into space to know what we have done. Today, we can drink, breathe, smell and see pollution. Within 100 years, and more so in the past 30, human beings have brought the earth to the brink of disaster. By spewing an excessive amount of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere we are triggering debilitating climatic changes. Gases that our refrigerators and air-conditioners use are now responsible for depleting the protective ozone layer, exposing us to skin cancer and altering the gene structures in smaller animals. Meanwhile, we have degraded vast tracks of land, destroyed forests at suicidal rates, dumped tonnes of poison into rivers indiscriminately and poured toxic chemicals into our seas.

“Now more than anything else the threat to humanity comes from the destruction of the earth’s environment. And it needs a movement of planetary dimensions to arrest the holocaust.”

After enumerating many problems that the nations must concentrate on solving relative to the environment, Raj Chengappa concludes his editorial with these words: “All this must be done without delay. For the threat is no more to your children’s future. It is now. And here.”

So the earth doctors gather around. Conferences are held, cures are offered, but they can’t agree. They argue. ‘It’s not really sick,’ some say. ‘It’s on its deathbed!’ others cry. The rhetoric escalates, the remedies proliferate, the doctors procrastinate, while the patient deteriorates. Nothing is done. They need to make further studies. They write prescriptions that are never filled. Alas, so much of it is just a delaying tactic to allow the polluting to continue and the profits to accumulate. The patient never gets the medicine, his ills increase, the crisis deepens, and the battering of the earth continues.

The earth and the life on it are very complex, intricately interwoven. The millions of interrelated living creatures have been referred to as the web of life. Cut one strand, and the web may start to unravel. Topple one domino, and dozens of others will fall. The cutting down of a tropical rain forest illustrates this.

By photosynthesis the rain forest takes in carbon dioxide from the air and returns oxygen to it. It drinks up huge quantities of rainwater but uses very little in making its food. The great bulk of it is recycled into the atmosphere as water vapor. There it makes new rain clouds for more needed rainfall for the rain forest and the millions of living plants and animals it nourishes beneath its green canopy.

Then the rain forest is cut down. The carbon dioxide remains overhead like a blanket to hold in the sun’s heat. Little oxygen is added to the atmosphere for the benefit of the animals. Little rain is recycled for more rainfall. Instead, any rain that falls rushes off the land into streams, carrying with it the topsoil necessary for the regrowth of plants. Streams and lakes are muddied, fish die. Silt is carried to the oceans and covers tropical reefs, and they die. Millions of plants and animals that once thrived under the green canopy disappear, the heavy rains that once watered the land diminish, and the long slow process of desertification sets in. Remember, the great Sahara Desert of Africa was once green, but now this largest expanse of sand on earth is edging into parts of Europe.

At the Earth Summit, the United States and other affluent countries used pressure to try to get Brazil and other developing countries to stop cutting their rain forests. “The United States argues,” according to a New York Times dispatch, “that forests, especially tropical forests, are being destroyed at an alarming rate in the developing world and that the planet as a whole will be the loser. Forests, it argues, are a global asset that help regulate the climate by absorbing heat-trapping carbon dioxide and are the repository of a major portion of the world’s living species.”

The charge of hypocrisy was quick in coming from the developing nations. According to The New York Times, they “bridle at what they see as an attempt to abridge their sovereignty by countries that long ago cut down their own trees for profit but now want to place the main burden of global forest conservation on countries struggling for economic survival.” A Malaysian diplomat put it bluntly: “We are certainly not holding our forests in custody for those who have destroyed their own forests and now try to claim ours as part of the heritage of mankind.” In the Pacific Northwest, the United States has only 10 percent of its old-growth rain forests left, and they are still being logged, yet it wants Brazil, which still has 90 percent of its Amazon forests, to stop all logging.

Those who preach to others, ‘Don’t destroy your forests,’ even while they destroy their own, are reminiscent of those described at Romans 2:21-23: “Do you, however, the one teaching someone else, not teach yourself? You, the one preaching ‘Do not steal,’ do you steal? You, the one saying ‘Do not commit adultery,’ do you commit adultery? You, the one expressing abhorrence of the idols, do you rob temples? You, who take pride in law, do you by your transgressing of the Law dishonor God?” Or environmentally stated, ‘do you, the one preaching, “Conserve your forests,” cut down your own?’

Closely linked to the destruction of forests are the concerns about global warming. The chemical and thermal dynamics are complex, but concern focuses primarily on one chemical in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide. It is a major factor in the heating of the earth. Researchers of the Byrd Polar Research Center reported last year that “all mid- and low-altitude mountain glaciers are now melting and retreating​—some of them quite rapidly—​and that the ice record contained in these glaciers shows that the last 50 years have been much warmer than any other 50-year period” on record. Too little carbon dioxide could mean colder weather; too much could mean melting polar icecaps and glaciers and flooding of coastal cities.

Concerning carbon dioxide India Today said:

“It may constitute just a fraction of the atmospheric gases: 0.03 per cent of the total. But without carbon dioxide, our planet would be as cold as the moon. By trapping the heat radiating from the earth’s surface, it regulates global temperatures to a life-sustaining 15 degrees celsius. But if its quantity increases, the earth could turn into one giant sauna bath.

“If global weather monitoring stations are anything to go by, the heat is truly on. The ’80s saw six of the seven hottest summers since weather began to be recorded about 150 years ago. The apparent culprit: a 26-per cent rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over the pre-industrial revolution level.”

The source is thought to be the 1.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide spewed out annually by burning fossil fuels. A hoped-for treaty to exercise more control over carbon dioxide emissions was so watered down at the recent Earth Summit that it reportedly “raised the temperatures” of the climatologists there. One of them was so heated up that he said: “We just can’t continue business as normal. It is an indisputable fact that the global bank account of gases has lost its equilibrium. Something has to be done or we’ll soon have millions of environmental refugees.” He was referring to those who would flee from their flooded homelands.

Another burning issue concerns the so-called holes appearing in the ozone layer that protects earth from cancer-causing ultraviolet rays. The chief culprit is the CFC (chlorofluorocarbons). They are used in refrigeration, air-conditioning, and cleaning solvents and as blowing agents in creating plastic foams. In many countries they are still spewed out by aerosol sprays. When they reach the stratosphere, the sun’s ultraviolet rays break them down, and free chlorine is released, each atom of which can destroy at least 100,000 ozone molecules. Holes, regions with drastically reduced ozone levels, are left in the ozone layer, both in Antarctica and in Northern latitudes, which means that more ultraviolet rays reach the earth.

These rays kill phytoplankton and krill, which are at the bottom of the ocean’s food chain. Mutations are caused in the DNA molecules that contain life’s genetic code. Crops are affected. The rays cause eye cataracts and skin cancers in humans. When NASA researchers found high concentrations of chlorine monoxide over northern regions of the United States, Canada, Europe, and Russia, one of the researchers said: “Everybody should be alarmed about this. It’s far worse than we thought.” Lester Brown, president of Worldwatch Institute, reported: “Scientists estimate that accelerated depletion of the ozone layer in the northern hemisphere will cause an additional 200 000 deaths in the US alone from skin cancer during the next 50 years. Worldwide, millions of lives are at risk.”

Biodiversity, the keeping of as many plants and animals as possible functioning in their natural habitats, is another current concern. Discover magazine published an excerpt from biologist Edward O. Wilson’s recent book The Diversity of Life, in which he listed the extinction of thousands of species of birds, fish, and insects, as well as species usually dismissed as unimportant: “Many of the vanished species are mycorrhizal fungi, symbiotic forms that enhance the absorption of nutrients by the root systems of plants. Ecologists have long wondered what would happen to land ecosystems if these fungi were removed, and we will soon find out.”

In that book Wilson also asked and then answered this question about the importance of saving species:

“What difference does it make if some species are extinguished, if even half of all the species on Earth disappear? Let me count the ways. New sources of scientific information will be lost. Vast potential biological wealth will be destroyed. Still undeveloped medicines, crops, pharmaceuticals, timber, fibers, pulp, soil-restoring vegetation, petroleum substitutes, and other products and amenities will never come to light. It is fashionable in some quarters to wave aside the small and obscure, the bugs and weeds, forgetting that an obscure moth from Latin America saved Australia’s pastureland from overgrowth by cactus, that the rosy periwinkle provided the cure for Hodgkin’s disease and childhood lymphocytic leukemia, that the bark of the Pacific yew offers hope for victims of ovarian and breast cancer, that a chemical from the saliva of leeches dissolves blood clots during surgery, and so on down a roster already grown long and illustrious despite the minimal nature of research addressed to it.

“In amnesiac reverie it is also easy to overlook the services that ecosystems provide to humanity. They enrich the soil and create the very air we breathe. Without these amenities the remaining tenure of the human race would be nasty and brief.”

As the saying goes​—made trite by repetition only because it is so beautifully fitting—​the foregoing is only the tip of the iceberg. When will the battering of the earth end? And who will end it? The next article gives the answers.

[Blurb on page 4]

The great Sahara Desert of Africa was once green

[Blurb on page 5]

‘Do you, the one preaching, “Conserve your forests,” cut down your own?’

[Blurb on page 5]

Too little carbon dioxide​—colder weather

Too much of it​—melting glaciers

[Blurb on page 6]

“What difference does it make if some species are extinguished?”

[Blurb on page 6]

Without microorganisms, the tenure of the human race would be short and nasty

[Pictures on page 7]

Amazon rain forest, in all its pristine beauty

More rain forest, after being battered by man

[Credit Lines]

Abril Imagens/​João Ramid

F4/​R. Azoury/​Sipa

[Picture on page 8]

Toxic chemical dump polluting air, water, and soil

[Credit Line]

Feig/​Sipa

Earth’s Rescue Near At Hand

STEPHEN M. WOLF, chairman and chief executive officer of United Airlines, said in an editorial: “Whether one is a conservationist or not, it cannot be denied that the specter hovering over endangered wildlife and wilderness casts a shadow on all the earth​—and ultimately, threatens the existence of all species, including mankind. As it has been said, ‘We did not weave the web of life; we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.’” He spoke correctly.

He also said in the editorial: “We are the cause. And we are the only solution.” In this he was only half correct. We are the cause; we are not the solution. We are not showing any signs of becoming such. Progress is made, but it is meager considering the damage that is continuing earth wide.

Last year Al Gore wrote Earth in the Balance​—Ecology and the Human Spirit. It is a book warning of the growing worldwide environmental crisis, and in it he made this significant statement: “The more deeply I search for the roots of the global environmental crisis, the more I am convinced that it is an outer manifestation of an inner crisis that is, for lack of a better word, spiritual.”

It is indeed a crisis of a spiritual nature. It is a breakdown of the human spirit. It is a willingness to sacrifice the earth’s natural beauty and its resources, the lives of thousands of species of plants and animals, and even the health and the lives of people. Moreover, it is a total disregard for the children and grandchildren who must cope with the ravaged earth that is left behind. It is also an ungrateful and callous disregard for the One who created the earth and designed it as a home for mankind.

Isaiah 45:18 identifies Jehovah as “the Creator of the heavens, He the true God, the Former of the earth and the Maker of it, He the One who firmly established it, who did not create it simply for nothing, who formed it even to be inhabited.” In the beginning he put man on the earth to care for it: “Jehovah God proceeded to take the man and settle him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15) Although created perfect, Adam abandoned perfection to go his own way. He abandoned his duty to ‘care for the earth.’

That failure continues down to our day, and the present ruining of the earth has become crucial. “The true God made mankind upright, but they themselves have sought out many plans.” (Ecclesiastes 7:29) “They have acted ruinously on their own part; they are not his children, the defect is their own. A generation crooked and twisted!” (Deuteronomy 32:5) However, the earth will continue to be inhabited, but not by a crooked and twisted generation. The psalmist said that in God’s due time, only ‘the righteous will possess it.’​—Psalm 37:29.

Jehovah’s Concern for the Earth

When Jehovah completed his creation of the earth, he “saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good.” He wanted it to stay that way. He had planted a beautiful garden in Eden and had put the man Adam there to care for it. The plants that grew there were not for man’s use alone. God said: “To every wild beast of the earth and to every flying creature of the heavens and to everything moving upon the earth in which there is life as a soul I have given all green vegetation for food.”​—Genesis 1:30, 31.

When the Mosaic Law was later given to Israel, it made provision for the care of the land. Every seventh year was to be “a sabbath of complete rest for the land.” What grew of itself during that time was to be unharvested but made available to poor people as well as for their domestic animal and for the wild beast that was in their land.​—Leviticus 25:4-7.

Jehovah’s concern for the preservation of species was shown by his having pairs of living animals taken into the ark at the time of the Flood of Noah’s day. That concern was also evidenced in the Law covenant. For example, the bull that trod out the grain was not to be muzzled. It had the right to eat some of the grain. A bull and an ass were not to be yoked together to plow. That would be unfair to the smaller, weaker animal. A neighbor’s beast of burden was to be helped if it was in distress, even if its owner was one’s enemy and even if it meant doing some work on the Sabbath. (Exodus 23:4, 5; Deuteronomy 22:1, 2, 10; 25:4; Luke 14:5) The eggs or the young could be taken from a bird’s nest, but not the mother bird. It had to be left to continue the species. And Jesus said that even though the sparrow was of little value, ‘not one of them falls to the ground without God knowing it.’​—Matthew 10:29; Deuteronomy 22:6, 7.

The inspired psalmist said: “To Jehovah the heavens belong, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.” (Psalm 115:16) Jesus said at Matthew 5:5: “Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth.” Do you think that this inheritance from Jehovah will be a polluted earth? If you had a beautiful home that you were going to leave to your children, would you allow tenants to remain in it who were damaging the house and grounds? Rather, would you not evict them and make repairs before leaving it to your children?

That is what Jehovah did before he ushered the Israelites into the land that he had promised to them. The Canaanites had by their gross immorality polluted the land, and for that reason Jehovah evicted them. At the same time, he warned the Israelites that if they polluted the land as the Canaanites had done, they also would be evicted. The account is recorded at Leviticus 18:24-28:

“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things [incest, sodomy, bestiality, bloodguilt], because by all these things the nations whom I am sending out from before you have made themselves unclean. Consequently the land is unclean, and I shall bring punishment for its error upon it, and the land will vomit its inhabitants out. And you yourselves must keep my statutes and my judicial decisions, and you must not do any of all these detestable things, whether a native or an alien resident who is residing as an alien in your midst. For all these detestable things the men of the land who were before you have done, so that the land is unclean. Then the land will not vomit you out for your defiling it the same way as it will certainly vomit the nations out who were before you.”

Israel did, however, pollute the land by committing the same gross immoralities that the Canaanites had committed. True to his word, Jehovah evicted Israel by sending the Babylonians to carry them captive to Babylon. Long before this happened, the warning was given to the Israelites by Jehovah’s prophet Isaiah: “Look! Jehovah is emptying the land and laying it waste, and he has twisted the face of it and scattered its inhabitants. And the very land has been polluted under its inhabitants, for they have bypassed the laws, changed the regulation, broken the indefinitely lasting covenant. That is why the curse itself has eaten up the land, and those inhabiting it are held guilty. That is why the inhabitants of the land have decreased in number, and very few mortal men have remained over.”​—Isaiah 24:1, 5, 6.

Ruin for Those Ruining the Earth

Today we are in a similar position. Books, magazines, newspapers, television, videos, and the media generally reflect a society that is sexually depraved, violently brutal, and politically corrupt. Greedy commercial corporations immorally pollute the environment, even sending products banned as hazardous to health in their own affluent nations to the developing countries where no such safeguards are in effect. Christians are warned to avoid such a course:

“This, therefore, I say and bear witness to in the Lord, that you no longer go on walking just as the nations also walk in the unprofitableness of their minds, while they are in darkness mentally, and alienated from the life that belongs to God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the insensibility of their hearts. Having come to be past all moral sense, they gave themselves over to loose conduct to work uncleanness of every sort with greediness.”​—Ephesians 4:17-19; 2 Timothy 3:1-5.

Both the human spirit and the environment are polluted. The earth has its built-in checks and balances for everything. Because of man’s fall into sin, the human conscience, his own built-in check, has become corrupted, leading on to earth’s pollution. Now, only God can check man. Only God can rescue the earth. We have the assurance that he will do so at Revelation 11:18, where Jehovah God promises “to bring to ruin those ruining the earth.”

If I Lost Weight, Anybody Can!

DO YOU hate your bathroom scale? I did. I remember staring in disgust last year as the dial climbed to yet another new high​—nearly 240 pounds [110 kg]. I thought to myself, ‘I weigh more than the world heavyweight boxing champion and more than a lot of professional American football players. This is worse than ridiculous. This is getting dangerous!’

Perhaps you know someone like me​—a male office worker in early middle age, physically active in youth but now given to spasmodic exercise between extended bouts of newspaper reading. Blood pressure borderline high, serum cholesterol a “little” high, 50 pounds [20 kg] overweight, still believing that the problem is not that serious.

Well, the problem is serious. People just like me are dying of heart attacks every day​—lots of people having heart attacks. I could cite statistics about the dangers of each extra pound, but the problem is not statistics. The problem, to put it bluntly, is widows and orphans. The problem is children, like my two little girls, growing up without their daddy.

Think about it, daddies.

Once I had made up my mind to lose weight, I remembered the excellent information in the May 22, 1989, Awake! series “Is Losing Weight a Losing Battle?”​—especially the “Four Ways to Win” the battle of the bulge. The four ways suggested are: (1) the right food, (2) at the right time, (3) in the right amount, (4) with the right exercise.

Those guidelines work! I lost 60 pounds [30 kg] by following them, and you can lose weight too. In the process, I learned a few things that you may find helpful.

Weight Loss Begins Between the Ears

Most of us who are overweight gained our weight slowly, a few pounds a year, often starting in our 30’s. From time to time, we would diet and lose a few pounds, only to gain them back again with interest. When this happened to me, it resulted in a sort of learned helplessness​—a feeling that nothing would work, so why try?

The way to break this cycle of learned helplessness is to start your diet, not with your waistline, but between the ears, changing the way you think about food. This may call for some brutal honesty, but without it your diet is probably doomed from the start.

In my case, keeping track of everything I ate and drank for a week was an eye-opener. True, I usually ate lightly at mealtimes, but nonstop snacking in the evening undid whatever good had been accomplished by self-control during the day. When I added up the calories of the cheese, nuts, peanut butter, and cookies that went down the hatch after supper, I was astonished. Worse, those snacks were loaded with fat and sugar. For me no diet was going to work unless the evening snacks were eliminated. Sound familiar?

The next painful realization for me was that I would not lose weight and keep it off unless I eliminated all alcoholic beverages from my diet. Not only is alcohol high in calories and easily turned to fat but a glass of wine in the evening is all it takes to weaken my self-control and my resolve not to snack. A glass of wine is not just a glass of wine. For me, it is also six cookies and a bowl of nuts, so to speak! I discovered that herbal teas could be excellent substitutes. Now, even after reaching my target weight, I drink less alcohol than before.

These honest evaluations convinced me of the value of two firm guidelines during the weight-loss period of my diet.

1. Avoid all snacks in the evening.

2. Avoid all alcoholic beverages.

Know Your Diet-Killers!

The French have a saying, En mangeant, l’appetit vient, which means that the more you eat, the hungrier you get. For many of us, this is literally true. We may not feel hungry when we sit down to our favorite meal, but something snaps within as we start to eat, and suddenly we are famished. So we stuff ourselves until all the food is gone or, after four helpings, our aching tummies finally beg for mercy. What happened?

In my case the problem was bread, especially homemade bread. My long-suffering wife, who makes delicious bread, had to give up baking for a time. A man can stand only so much temptation! For you the problem may be chocolate or something else. The point is, know your enemy. Make a list of the foods that make you hungry when you eat them and avoid those foods. There are plenty of other choices. I found that salads and steamed vegetables taste good and fill me up without triggering that craving for more.

Getting Over the Hump

Yo-yo dieting, losing weight only to gain it back, is a sucker’s game that serves no purpose other than enriching the diet hucksters that flourish in most Western developed countries. Having done my share of yo-yo dieting, I was determined that this time it would be different. But how?

Don’t be ashamed to ask for help. Talk to your doctor. Find people who will praise and reward you each week as those pounds come off. This may be a friend who is also dieting, a family member, or the people at a reputable weight-loss clinic. Teamwork and reinforcement will help get you over the hump​—past the point where your weight-loss efforts have broken down before. By this time you will be feeling better, and people will start to compliment you on your appearance. From that point on, the psychological factors work for you instead of against you.

Another key to getting over the hump is to have a diet that is reasonable and does not make you feel starved and deprived. I found that the best dietary advice I could get merely elaborated on the points made in that May 22, 1989, Awake! about the right foods. My weight-loss diet consists of a low-fat cereal or a diet muffin with half a grapefruit for breakfast, a generous salad with low-fat dressing for lunch, and steamed vegetables and lean meats for supper, with no bread or dessert. At 1,200 to 1,500 calories per day, the diet is strict but hardly Draconian. An apple makes a handy mid-day snack, and for those rare occasions when hunger pangs cannot be shooed away, I always use one of my secret weapons, a wonderful dieter’s secret you too should know.

Secret Weapons

What is that secret? It is a substance that is good for you, fills you up almost instantly, contains no calories whatsoever, and is cheap! Water. It is amazing what six to eight glasses of water daily will do to help you make a success of your diet. Once your body learns that a glass of water is your determined response to stomach pangs, they begin to fade away. Water, more than anything else, helped me overcome my lifelong habit of evening snacks.

Another secret weapon for long-term weight control is regular exercise. Of course, everyone has heard that exercise helps in weight loss, so what is the secret? In this case the secret is the tremendous psychological boost you get from feeling better and looking better. That reward more than makes up for the lack of certain foods. It helps to keep you going, not even feeling envious when everyone around you is eating chocolate mousse and you are eating frozen grapes.

Diet and exercise complement each other perfectly. Losing weight does not mean that you have to look sick. Regular exercise will keep a glow on your features and will tone up your muscles. In fact, improved definition in my muscles gave the illusion to others that I was losing weight faster than I really was! I found that I needed a combination of sports that I could enjoy with someone else, like tennis, and exercises that I could do alone at any time, such as weight lifting. Just as the exercise made the diet appear more effective, the diet made the exercise appear more effective by uncovering muscles that had been buried beneath ten years of flab. As my weight went from 240 pounds [110 kg] to 180 [80 kg], I found myself looking forward to going through my paces with some healthy local teenagers to see if they could keep up!

If you have been overweight for as long as I was, you may have got used to feeling weighed down and worn out every morning when getting up, dragging around all day, and dozing off in the easy chair at night. Carrying 50 or 60 extra pounds [20 or 30 kg] is like going through life with a ball and chain! I literally did not remember how it felt to bounce out of bed in the morning feeling eager to get up, having energy to spare all day long. Now I know.

The War That Never Ends

Reaching your target weight is like winning a protracted battle. But while that first battle may be over, the real war has just begun. Those of us who are middle-aged and have sedentary jobs will always have to watch what we eat if we are to keep off the weight we struggled to lose. The trick is to think of your diet as a lifetime project. It may be modified for weight maintenance instead of weight loss, but it is never really over. If you return to your old eating habits, your weight will return to you.

Upon reaching your target weight, why not celebrate by getting some new clothes? Then consider getting rid of the old clothes. Keeping those old, baggy clothes just in case is like planning for failure. Wear clothes that are not too loose, and they will quickly alert you if unwanted inches begin to return. While your maintenance diet will have more variety than your weight-loss diet, be sure that you make a permanent, lifetime change to low-fat, low-sugar foods. Don’t give up on your regular exercise either. That is a key to feeling good.​—Contributed.

Young People Ask . . .

How Can I Stop Drinking?

“I always felt terrible the next day, both emotionally and spiritually!”​—Bob.

“I was constantly in trouble at home, at school, with friends and the law!”​—Jerome.

BOB and Jerome both paid the price for drinking alcohol too much and too often. Both became addicted to alcohol. And while Bob was finally able to quit drinking altogether, Jerome is still trying to overcome alcoholism.

Alcohol addiction is a growing problem among young people in many parts of the world. Some estimate that in the United States alone, about five million youths have a serious drinking problem. If you are a Christian youth, though, no doubt you have avoided experimenting with alcohol, especially if teenage drinking is against the law in your community. Nevertheless, the following information can serve to strengthen your resolve not to get involved with drinking in the first place​—at least until you are older and better equipped to handle it. But if you are one who has got hooked on alcohol, we hope this information will help you fight this problem. With real effort on your part and the help of Jehovah God, recovery is possible.

Overcoming Denial

The first and most difficult step you must take is to overcome denial. Alcoholics typically refuse to believe that they have any sort of problem with drinking. ‘I can handle it,’ is the pathetic boast of the alcoholic. Consider, for example, the 15-year-old who said: “I’m not a problem drinker. I only have a six-pack of beer an evening.” We are reminded of the Bible’s description of the man who “has acted too smoothly to himself in his own eyes to find out his error so as to hate it.”​—Psalm 36:2.

Yes, denial is deadly. So if you have a problem with drinking, you must admit that painful truth to yourself.a Do not ignore friends, siblings, or parents who tell you that you are drinking too much. They are not your enemies because they tell you the truth. (Compare Galatians 4:16.) Bob (mentioned at the outset) used to drink heavily each weekend. When a friend approached him about it, Bob rejected any notion that he had a drinking problem, and he ended the discussion. But how was alcohol affecting Bob’s life? “I was a nervous wreck if I didn’t drink and was out of control when I did,” confesses Bob. “My family life was torn apart​—as was my relationship with God.”

On another occasion, Bob finally broke down and admitted to his friend that he indeed craved alcohol. Having breached the wall of denial, Bob was able to begin his recovery.

Develop the Determination to Quit

Professor George Vaillant writes that “alcoholism is . . . highly treatable, but . . . will require great responsibility from the patient.” That includes your being determined to quit drinking alcohol. A lack of resolve can mean living​—and dying—​as an alcoholic. What can help? Focusing on the destructiveness of alcoholism can help you to “hate what is bad” and can strengthen your resolve to stop drinking once and for all.​—Psalm 97:10.

You might, for example, give a lot of thought to the high toll alcoholism exacts physically, emotionally, and morally. Granted, a drink may seem to salve your inner pain or feelings of worthlessness for a while. But in the long run, reliance on alcohol simply serves to create more problems; friendships break up, and family relationships become strained. Furthermore, because alcohol lowers your inhibitions, it can easily “take away good motive” and lead you into serious misconduct.​—Hosea 4:11.

Consider, too, what large doses of alcohol can do to your body, gradually poisoning your vital organs. The Bible thus says that overdrinking results in little more than ‘misery, remorse, quarrels, anxiety, and bruises.’ (Proverbs 23:29-30, The New English Bible) Is any temporary pleasure you get worth this price?

It may also help to remind yourself that you do not need alcohol to be happy. Nor do you need an artificial high to have self-respect, good health, loyal friends, and a loving family. Success in these areas of life comes through applying God’s Word. (Psalm 1:1-3) That Word also gives you a hope for a brighter future​—eternal life without emotional or physical pain! (Revelation 21:3, 4) Having such a hope gives you yet another reason to abstain from alcohol.​—Compare 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10.

Get Help

Simply having the desire to recover is usually not enough, though. You will also need the support and help of others. “Two are better than one,” said King Solomon. “For if one of them should fall, the other one can raise his partner up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10) Trusting someone to help you with your problem will not be easy. But a recovering alcoholic named Katy gives this advice: “Learn to trust people, especially your family.” Yes, in most cases your family is in the best position to give you the love and support you need.

True, your family situation may have contributed to your getting involved with drinking in the first place. But if your parents were made aware of your situation, might they not see the need to improve things at home? So why not try approaching your parents, informing them that you have a serious problem? Instead of laying all the blame on them, ask for their help and support. Being open and honest with your folks will help your family to be “harmoniously joined together” just as God’s household is. (Ephesians 4:16) In this way all of you can begin to work together for a successful recovery.

If family support is not available, others can help.b (Proverbs 17:17) Bob was befriended by a Christian elder who met with him every week over a period of several months to monitor his progress. Says Bob: “His interest and care gave me the self-esteem I needed to stop my abusive habit.”​—James 5:13, 14.

Above all, realize that you need the help of Jehovah God. Lean upon him for strength. Yes, with God’s help “the brokenhearted ones” can experience Jehovah’s ‘healing and binding of their painful spots.’​—Psalm 147:3; see also Psalm 145:14.

Find New Friends

A survey in New Zealand reported that friends are a major influence on youths who abuse alcohol. You will therefore find it hard to stop drinking if you hang out with drinkers. For this reason the Bible exhorts: “Do not come to be among heavy drinkers.” (Proverbs 23:20) Develop new, wholesome friendships. Just as it is true that “bad associations spoil useful habits,” good companions are a positive influence.​—1 Corinthians 15:33.

Kim discovered this to be true. “It was awkward,” she admits, “but I had to change my friends . . . I didn’t want to be around alcohol or drugs.” Admittedly, friends who do not drink may seem hard to come by. You will find, though, that exemplary youths among Jehovah’s Witnesses do not engage in illegal drinking. Nor do they rely on alcohol as a source of recreation or escape. They can therefore help​—not hinder—​your efforts to “strip off the old personality with its practices.”​—Colossians 3:9.

You Can Recover!

Living without alcohol will be an ongoing battle for you. At times abstinence may be very difficult. “I still have the compulsion [to drink] really bad,” admitted Ana, “especially when I’m upset, frustrated, depressed or hurt.” It is thus not uncommon for a recovering alcoholic to experience a relapse, leading to overwhelming feelings of guilt. Should that happen, remember that “we all stumble many times.” (James 3:2) Recall, too, that Jehovah is a God of mercy who understands your weaknesses.​—Psalm 103:14.

Nevertheless, be careful not to abuse God’s kindness. Learn from your mistake, and be more determined than ever not to relapse again. By showing such determination, Bob was able to quit drinking. Since then, he has been able to enjoy peaceful relations both with his family and with God. His happy life now includes service as a full-time minister. Happiness and peace of mind will be your lot, too, if you win the battle against alcohol.

[Footnotes]

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Young alcoholics tend to deny they have a problem

Not Even an Iron Lung Could Stop Her Preaching

Sometimes it takes courage just to keep living. This is the story of one who had such courage. Her name was Laurel Nisbet.

BORN in 1912 in Los Angeles, Laurel became a vibrant young woman who loved life and her family. Having a husband and two children to take care of was an easy task for her under normal circumstances, but in 1948 her love of life was tested almost beyond comprehension. She was stricken with the deadly polio virus.

After suffering flulike symptoms for some days, she eventually became unable to move. Her husband took her to the county hospital. There she was among many who had contracted polio. Fear engulfed her as overcrowded conditions necessitated that she lie on the floor in the hallway and wait for an iron lung. Every breath was an enormous effort. When an iron lung was finally available, she was relieved to be placed in it. Now she could catch that precious breath of life nearly taken from her!

Iron lungs were invented to help people whose chest muscles have been paralyzed by polio. Originally it was thought that this would be a temporary measure while a patient’s muscles recovered, enabling him to breathe on his own. But to Laurel’s surprise and to the horror of the world, these iron breathing machines became the permanent homes of many victims. Laurel survived flat on her back for 37 years inside the confines of one. She holds the world record for the longest surviving polio patient in an iron lung.

Was this her only claim to fame? Absolutely not. Laurel was a young woman in her 30’s when she was placed in the lung. She had two children to raise and a husband to care for. At first she was sad beyond despair. Then, after about a day of self-pity, she decided to make the best of her situation. Eventually, her husband brought her home, and she began to rebuild her life. She learned to manage her home, right from the iron lung.

Now, you must picture what this was like. Only her head protruded from the respirator. A plastic collar and a metal bar, which held the collar tight to her collarbone, were used to keep the cylinder airtight. A bellows below the tank changed the air pressure inside the tank. About 15 times a minute, the bellows, acting as a pump, withdrew air from the tank. This caused the patient’s chest to rise as air entered through the nose or mouth. When the bellows contracted and air was forced back into the tank, pressure was exerted on the chest, and the patient exhaled. So you can see why the collar had to be airtight since changes of air pressure made the iron lung work effectively. Laurel could move her head, but that was all. She was totally paralyzed from the neck down. She viewed her world from a mirror mounted above her respirator that reflected another mirror placed across the room on the opposite wall. This made it possible for her to see her front door and anyone who approached it.

Enter Jehovah’s Witnesses

One day she had a visitor, Del Kuring, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She marched right into Laurel’s living room and began to teach her the wonderful truths of the Bible. Laurel had respect for God’s Word and listened with an open mind and an open heart. A Bible study was started, which led to her dedication to God in 1965 as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Now she had even more to live for. One day she would walk again on the earth and enjoy the Paradise that God intended mankind to have! What joy she felt, too, as her daughter Kay embraced her new faith.

You may ask, ‘What about her baptism?’ Well, there couldn’t be one. Having no ability to breathe on her own, immersion in water was impossible. She was never able to go to a Kingdom Hall. She never attended an assembly. She never saw her daughter get baptized. But she accomplished more in her service to Jehovah than many Christians who are not handicapped.

You see, Laurel was a preacher of the good news. During her 37 year confinement, she was able to help some 17 people come to an accurate knowledge of the Bible. How did she do it? Of course, she could not go from door to door as most Witnesses have the privilege of doing. But she could witness to her many attendants. I had the privilege of being such a one.

I was a nursing-school student in 1972 and started to work for her as an attendant. Laurel and I had time at the end of my shift to talk and get to know each other. One day she said: “Now, I would like you to read to me.” As I agreed, she instructed me to pick up a little blue book entitled The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life. I asked her where to start, and she simply said, “Start at chapter 1.” Thus a Bible study was started, and I too became a dedicated Witness of Jehovah.

Laurel’s respirator was visible through the large picture window at the front of her house. She lived on a busy street, so anyone in the town of La Crescenta who passed by could see the respirator. This created a lot of sympathy and curiosity in passersby, and strangers would frequently stop in to meet her. She was always delighted to meet people and developed many friendships this way, and she would witness to these people. Her bold witnessing for Jehovah and her hope for the future impressed people and gave a good witness for Jehovah’s name.

Laurel slept very little. It was difficult to become tired like the rest of us, since she could not move. The noise and constant movement of the bellows under the respirator kept her awake. What did she do with these hours? She talked to her heavenly Father, communicating to the fullest in heartfelt prayer. I’m sure she prayed for strength and endurance, but more often than not, she would pray for her Christian brothers and sisters. She had great compassion for others and thanked Jehovah daily for her blessings.

When a traveling representative of Jehovah’s Witnesses came to her area, he would always visit Laurel. Many of these men would say that after being with Laurel, they were the ones that had been upbuilt! That was her way. She was always positive and joyful and looked for every opportunity to witness for the truth.

She had many harrowing experiences, too numerous to tell. Once she had to have an emergency appendectomy, and the van came from the county hospital to pick her up. Because her appendix had burst, she was quickly rolled into the van and rushed to the hospital, where the doctor had to perform this surgery without anesthetic. You see in the 1950’s, they did not know how to give general anesthetic to an iron-lung patient.

Many Surgeries but No Blood

She endured cancer, major surgeries, and chronic skin disorders. It was very frustrating for her when she needed to scratch and couldn’t and had to have her attendant do it for her. Even though her muscles were paralyzed, she had feeling over her entire body. This served her well, as it kept her from getting bedsores. She was very conscientious about her skin care. It took four of us to turn her and give her a complete bath once a week. This ordeal was trying for Laurel, but she managed it like everything else in her life.

These times with her were fun and pleasurable in spite of the difficulty of the task. As we would turn the collar up around her neck to last another week, making this contraption as airtight as possible, she would grit her teeth and say: “Oh, the Devil’s own invention!” Yes, Laurel knew where to put the blame for such a terrible condition. It began with Satan, who induced the first humans to turn their backs on Jehovah, bringing sin, sickness, and death to mankind.

Laurel may have been paralyzed physically but obviously not spiritually. She used each opportunity to teach people about her hope of Paradise. Even near the end of her life, when she was facing emergency surgery, she was able to take a stand for righteousness. It was 1985, and Laurel was 72 years old. As her surgery approached, her doctor came in to tell her that they could not do the surgery without blood. Her daughter Kay explained her mother’s wishes to abstain from blood because by this time Laurel was so weak she could hardly talk. She had tubes down her throat and could barely whisper. Her whole body was poisoned from a bowel obstruction, and she looked almost dead.

But the doctor said that he needed to hear this stand on blood from Laurel. We whispered in her ear: “Laurel, you need to tell the doctor yourself about the blood.” All of a sudden, to my astonishment, her eyes opened wide, her voice got loud, and she spoke to the doctor about her stand on blood. She cited scriptures, explaining that Jehovah’s Witnesses feel that to accept a blood transfusion would be a sin against God. I’ll never forget what she said next. “Doctor, if you save my life and I wake up and find that you have violated my body, I’ll wish I was dead, and you would have worked for nothing.” At this, the doctor was not only convinced of her stand but amazed at her strength and agreed to abide by her wishes.

Laurel underwent a four-hour-long operation with some success. After the surgery, the doctors removed her from the lung for the first time in 37 years and placed her on a hospital bed. They attached her to a modern respirator using her tracheostomy. This had been her worst fear. Now, because the modern respirator was attached to the tracheostomy tube in her throat, she was unable to speak. She was panic-stricken as she felt that she was not getting enough air. She died three days later, on August 17, 1985, from complications related to the surgery.

I remember her final words to me, probably the last words she spoke, just before she was put under anesthetic. She said: “Chris, don’t ever leave me.” Now as I look forward to the end of this old system of things and the coming resurrection, I dream of the day when I can hug my friend Laurel Nisbet and say: “I’m here. I never left you.”​—As told by Christine Tabery.

“Doctors Rethink Blood Transfusions”

“Program Designed to Help Jehovah’s Witnesses Has Advantages for Everyone”

Under these headings in the Rocky Mountain News, medical writer Kris Newcomer reports: “More than 100 Denver doctors have banded together to accommodate the Jehovah’s Witnesses church, which considers blood a sacred substance not to be donated or transfused during surgery and other medical procedures.” Dr. Greg Van Stiegmann of the Bloodless Medicine and Surgery Program at University Hospital in Denver, Colorado, United States, said: “What has happened is we have organized faculty people willing to restructure the way they do things.”

Van Stiegmann said that while the program will cater to Jehovah’s Witnesses, they are not the only ones turning down blood. There is a growing number of people who would be better off if they did not receive blood. “We try as hard as possible not to transfuse anybody. . . . There’s very good data emerging from multiple studies that suggest your ultimate prognosis in first-time-go-around surgery for cancer is much better if you have not been transfused either before or after your operation,” said Van Stiegmann.

The article continued: “The change in modern medicine’s perspective is welcome news to the estimated 10,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Colorado. The Old Testament book of Genesis contains the passage: ‘flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat,’ which to Witnesses means no blood should be ingested by any means, including transfusion.”

The Barcelona Olympics​—What Price Glory?

By Awake! correspondent from Spain

ON JULY 25, 1992, a lone archer, framed by the glare of a spotlight, drew his bow. His fire-tipped arrow soared straight and true into the night sky. As it began its descent, the arrow skimmed over a giant torch perched above the vast stadium. The Olympic flame ignited. The Barcelona Olympics had begun.

Eleven thousand athletes from 172 countries had come to compete for 1,691 Olympic medals. In keeping with the Olympic motto, the participants strove to be “faster, higher, stronger,” than ever before​—and some succeeded. An estimated 3,500,000,000 television viewers shared the triumphs and disappointments.

Although the athletes’ hour in the limelight is short-lived, an Olympic triumph holds promise of glory and riches. The Barcelona Olympics were no exception. Some famous competitors were already earning millions of dollars by endorsing sportswear, running shoes, sunglasses, and even electronic equipment.

Dedication ​—The Key to Olympic Glory

Although many athletes​—especially gymnasts and divers—​perform their feats with apparent ease, years of arduous training lie behind such finesse. Some have been in training since they were five years old. And sports must take absolute precedence if an athlete would savor success.

Spanish swimmer Martín López Zubero, who won the 200-meter backstroke, said​—with perhaps a little exaggeration: “I have spent a third of my existence in the water.” His training schedule begins at five o’clock in the morning, and he estimates that he has swum 5,000 miles [8,000 km] in just over a year.

Training means suffering, not just denial. Jackie Joyner-Kersee, heptathlon gold medalist in Seoul and Barcelona, explains: “Competition is glamorous. Training is not. . . . Ask any athlete: we all hurt at all times. I’m asking my body to go through seven different tasks. To ask it not to ache would be too much.” Gymnasts especially have to be masters of endurance. They must keep up their twice-daily training schedule regardless of the pain of sprained wrists or ankles, pulled muscles and ligaments, and even stress fractures. But in the final analysis, that sort of dedication produces the winners and the spectacle.

Olympic Glitter and Gold

No doubt about it, the Olympic spectacle can be impressive. It provides thrilling moments for the crowd and is a showplace for remarkable athletic achievements. Barcelona was no exception.

Belarus gymnast Vitali Scherbo won a record-breaking six gold medals out of a possible eight in the men’s gymnastics. Chinese gymnast Xiaosahuang Li performed an incredible triple somersault in the floor exercise. Carl Lewis made Olympic history by winning the long jump for the third consecutive time. On the other hand, the Japanese silver medalist in the women’s marathon, Yuko Arimori, drew an ovation for her courtesy. Despite her exhaustion, she circled the stadium bowing in Japanese style to the crowd and then to the winner.

The commercial possibilities of the Olympics have not been lost on multinational companies. They pay enormous sums to bask in Olympic glory by sponsoring the games themselves or national Olympic teams.

The Pharmaceutical Road to Glory

Relentless training and natural ability​—important as they are—​are not the only keys to Olympic success. Not a few athletes depend on drugs to give them a competitive edge. The drugs may be anabolic steroids or human growth hormones to build muscles (especially popular for weight lifting and field events); beta blockers to slow the heartbeat (to improve results in archery and shooting); or erythropoietin to stimulate red blood cell production (useful for cycling and long-distance running).

Although athletes are aware of the risks, the pressure to use prohibited drugs is enormous. German athlete Gaby Bussmann, a teammate of Birgit Dressel, who died in 1987 as a result of consuming 20 different drugs, explains: “There are some disciplines where it is difficult to qualify for the Olympics without drugs.”

The athletes’ coaches are usually party to the doping; they may even be the ones who recommend it. Former East German coach Winfried Heinicke admits: “I told them if you want to go to the Olympics, you’ll have to do this [take drugs].” Evidently, a considerable number of competitors value victory more than honesty​—even more than their health. A recent survey of top athletes revealed that 52 percent would use a hypothetical wonder drug guaranteed to convert them into winners even if it killed them after five glorious years at the top.

British sprinter Jason Livingston was sent home from Barcelona in disgrace after he tested positive for an anabolic steroid. Harry Reynolds of the United States, world-record holder in the 400 meters, never ran in the games. A flunked antidoping test in 1990 led to a two-year suspension, which cost him not only a possible Olympic medal but also a million dollars in lost sponsorship opportunities.

Most drug users, however, are not caught. Despite nearly 2,000 antidoping tests during the Barcelona games, dishonest athletes could still avoid detection by switching to drugs that do not show up in urine tests. “Greed for victory and money has revealed a murky world where it becomes difficult to distinguish ethics from dishonesty,” commented the Spanish newspaper El País.

Of course, many medal winners succeeded, not because of drugs, but simply because of years of self-sacrifice. Are the sacrifices worthwhile?

A Lasting Glory

Gail Devers, surprise winner in the women’s 100-meter dash, was exultant after her victory. “If anybody believes that dreams come true, it’s me,” she said. Less than two years before, she could hardly walk, and there was talk of amputating both feet because of complications in her treatment for Graves’ disease. Pablo Morales, who came out of swimming retirement only a year earlier to win a gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly, concurred. “It was my time at last, a dream come true,” he said.

Inevitably, most athletes will never become champions. True, some feel that “the important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part.” But other athletes, who counted on being champions, returned home with their dreams in tatters. Weight-lifter Ibragim Samadov had set his heart on a gold medal​—but he was only third in his event. “With a gold medal, I could have given direction to my life, studied for a career, helped my family. Now I don’t know what to do,” he sighed. And even winners face a traumatic time when their performance begins to decline.

Former Soviet tennis player Anna Dmitrieva said: “The [Soviet] sports establishment didn’t care about people. They just thought: ‘You go away and we’ll find 10 more like you.’” Likewise, Henry Carr, double gold medalist in Tokyo in 1964, admitted: “Even when one becomes the best, it’s a deception. Why? Because it’s not lasting, nor really satisfying. Stars are soon replaced and generally forgotten.”

Fleeting Olympic glory cannot compare with the reward of life everlasting, which God promises to those who serve him. This reward demands spiritual rather than athletic training. Thus, Paul wrote to Timothy: “Bodily training [literally, “training as gymnast”] is beneficial for a little; but godly devotion is beneficial for all things, as it holds promise of the life now and that which is to come.”​—1 Timothy 4:8.

The Olympic Games champion the benefits of bodily training​—which are temporary at best. They show the world what athletes can do through dedication and self-denial. These qualities are also needed to win the Christian race. This race, unlike any Olympic event, will bring lasting benefits to all who complete the course. Christians, therefore, do well in imitating, not the athletes, but Jesus Christ, by ‘finishing their training’ and ‘running their race with endurance.’​—1 Peter 5:10; Hebrews 12:1.

[Pictures on page 23]

Divers competing in the Olympics. Barcelona in the background

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Photos: Sipa Sport

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Competing on the parallel bars

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Photo: Sipa Sport

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In the 100-meter final, the runner on the extreme right won the gold

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Photo: Sipa Sport

Does Your Child Want a Pet?

CHILDREN in all parts of the world are attracted by pets. And what a variety they have to choose from! Thirteen-year-old Tabitha, for example, keeps a guinea pig as her pet. Five-year-old Naomi has a white mouse. And 15-year-old Bobby-John’s current joy is a joey​—a young female kangaroo. “She has her own basket and curls up in it as she would in her mother’s pouch,” Bobby-John explains. “She doesn’t like to be picked up very much, but she is so cute.”

Many adults are also very fond of pets. And the taming and use of animals as pets goes back to ancient times. The Egyptians, for example, tamed cats and baboons. Then there was the Roman emperor who had an unusual pet​—a lion named Scimitar. So fond was he of his feline pet that it sat at the dinner table with him and slept at the foot of his bed at night. The Romans also trained dogs and apes. A popular entertainment was to see apes riding on dogs’ backs or driving chariots.

When properly trained and guided by their parents, children can learn to care well for their pets. They can be given the responsibility to feed and look after them. Having pets can also be very instructive for children. As noted in The New Encyclopædia Britannica, “keeping pets offers the opportunity to teach children the close dependence of privilege on responsibility and also something about sex. The process of mating is soon noticed, followed by such matters as gestation periods and the varied problems involved in the birth and care of young.”

Parents have used pets to show their children the right viewpoint toward all living things​—never being cruel or causing the pet to suffer, for example, and never allowing it to go hungry or stay dirty. Here, too, is a practical way to show children the wisdom and masterly skill of the animals’ Creator, who made each one “according to its kind.”​—Genesis 1:24.

But children often tire of responsibility or are forgetful. Only too often a youngster’s enthusiasm for a pet quickly evaporates. This week’s interest can easily become next week’s boredom. So, parents, if you are considering giving your child the responsibility of having a pet, remember that it is you, the adult, who must bear the final responsibility.

Proper Hygiene Necessary

Good hygiene is important for the pets, but it is equally important​—perhaps more so—​for your children. Pets’ cages and kennels should be kept clean, and some pets need regular grooming and bathing. How much close physical contact humans should have with animals also needs to be considered. Remember that for many animals their tongue is also their washcloth, which they use for all parts of their body. And while they are equipped to handle the germs that they ingest, children are not. Do not encourage your child to kiss an animal.

Pets should also have their own feeding dishes and should not be allowed to lick plates used by humans. This is a quite serious matter, for animals and birds have many diseases that can be transmitted to humans if sensible precautions are not taken. And many pets bite. It is true that some of these ailments are quite mild and may often pass unnoticed or may be attributed to some source other than the pet. But some respiratory diseases and skin rashes are commonly caught from pets. Other diseases are much more serious and can prove fatal. “Domestic cats infect some 3,300 expectant mothers a year with toxoplasmosis, resulting in a 15 percent fetal death rate,” says U.S.News & World Report.

Teach Children That Pets Are Not Humans

As children’s affection for a pet deepens, care needs to be taken that they do not go overboard and begin to treat their pet as a fellow human or as having human qualities or levels of understanding. This would cause unnecessary trauma when the pet grows old and dies or perhaps is killed in an accident.

Of course, this is not something that only children have to be taught. Some adults also need to be careful in this regard. In some cases the pet is fondled and treated as if it were a baby or a small child. Children may be quick to emulate things they have observed some adults doing, lavishing affection on their pets.

So we need to keep a balanced view of pets and teach our children likewise. Help them to see that pets and all of God’s animate creation are here for man’s pleasure and use. But we must be careful never to elevate the animals and birds above the role that God intended them to have. It was not God’s purpose for animals to live forever. Their limited life span is not due to the sin of Adam and Eve and the subsequent inheritance of sin and death, as is the case with humans.​—Romans 5:12; 2 Peter 2:12.

When pets are kept in their proper place, they are a delightful gift from God for man’s enjoyment. And not just for children. Many lonely, sick, and elderly people have derived benefit as well as pleasure from their affectionate pets. “Researchers say that, in some situations, pets​—or, as some prefer, ‘companion animals’—​can improve their owners’ heart function, speed recovery after a heart attack, ease anxiety and lower blood pressure,” notes the journal AARP News Bulletin.

To Have a Pet or Not?

What will you do, then, if your child asks for a pet? You must decide, keeping in mind all advantages and disadvantages. Factors such as the area where you live, the expense of proper care and feeding of the pet, the age of your child, and the time needed to supervise the proper care of the animal will need to be considered carefully.

But if you do decide that it would be beneficial for your child to have a pet, keep the foregoing advice in mind. Then, with a pet in the family, why not enjoy it to the full? Care for it well, and teach your child to do the same. Kept in their place, pets are not only useful and enjoyable companions but also delightful evidence of intriguing variety, the endless initiative of a thoughtful Creator.

Watching the World

Volcano Cools the Planet

When the Philippine volcano Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991, scientists predicted that our planet would be slightly cooler as a result. They were right, as it turned out. The volcano belched forth some 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide gas into the stratosphere. The gas formed a vast cloud composed of tiny droplets of sulfuric acid and was spread around the globe by high, swift air currents in a matter of weeks. The droplets scatter and block some of the sun’s rays, resulting in cooler temperatures on the ground below. According to Science News, parts of the Northern Hemisphere have, since the eruption, seen a drop of about two degrees Fahrenheit in the average temperature. However, this effect is temporary and should not be viewed as an antidote to global warming. One climate expert predicts that this volcanically induced cooling trend will wear off by 1994.

Asia’s Organ Trade

“Supply and demand is the law of the land,” says Asiaweek magazine on the subject of the trade in human organs. In Hong Kong some 600 people were awaiting kidney transplants in the spring of 1992, but only 50 of them were expected to receive one by the end of the year. Many, therefore, travel to other countries, such as India where some 6,000 kidney transplants are performed annually in a 20-million-dollar-a-year business. Often the poor or those who have suffered some financial misfortune are willing to sell one kidney, since it is usually possible to survive with only one. But Asiaweek notes that the organ trade is plagued by corruption. Some donors have been cheated out of their money by corrupt middlemen. One man reportedly checked into a hospital with a minor stomach problem and ended up minus one kidney​—it had been removed without his consent!

Slaughter of the Innocents

At least 1,383 children in the United States were killed by abuse or neglect in 1991, reports The Washington Post. This conservative estimate, supplied by the National Committee for Prevention of Child Abuse, amounts to an appalling four abuse-related deaths of children each day, a 50-percent increase over the past six years. The causes for the increase are varied. Some specialists blame worsening economic conditions​—with lost jobs, low incomes, and hopelessness—​for driving people to vent their frustrations on these helpless victims. The Post notes that while several well-publicized cases have involved baby-sitters who abused the children in their charge, “the specialists know that the real story behind the numbers usually lies closer to home, with mom and dad, the ones who are supposed to love the babies the most.”

Overpopulation​—Why?

Why is overpopulation so prevalent in poorer countries? In Visão magazine, Paulo Nogueira Neto, former secretary of the environment in Brazil, puts the answer powerfully: “There is a story told in Brazil. Asked why he has nine children, a man says, ‘Because three die when they are little; three migrate to São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, or Brasília, and three stay here to take care of us when we get old.’ A child is the social security of the poor population.” Neto adds, ominously: “It is easy to observe all over the world: Where there is poverty there is demographic explosion. And if it continues, the planet will be doomed. In a world with finite resources, we cannot have infinite development, unless it be spiritual, moral, or scientific.”

Jesus on Video

Various organizations in Christendom are going to nearly desperate lengths in their efforts to lure young people into acquiring some knowledge of the Bible. For instance, the American Bible Society has produced a video version of the account at Mark 5:1-20 about Jesus’ healing a demon-possessed man. The Miami Herald of Florida reports that the style is that of a music video, with scenes edited into fast-moving snippets. One version is set to rap music, another to chants. Jesus is portrayed in T-shirt and jacket as he engages in hand-to-hand combat on a fire escape with a demon-possessed man who drools and wears a baseball cap. Another music video, called Resurrection Rap, reportedly shows Jesus as the leader of a street gang!

Deadly Waters

When war is over, what is to be done with all the unused ammunition? According to the German newspaper Hannoversche Allgemeine, after World War II, the Allies came up with a simple, if shortsighted, answer: Dump it into the sea. The paper reports that between 700,000 and 1,500,000 tons of ammunition from the Third Reich were dumped on the seabed, later to be joined by some Allied ammunition. Dumping sites were chosen​—but not very precisely recorded—​in the North Sea, the Baltic, and the Skagerrak. While some of this dangerous garbage was salvaged in the 1950’s, about 500,000 tons of it is thought to remain. Now concern is growing over the hazards created by this undersea refuse. Government divers are examining some of the sites and trying to assess how much ammunition is there and how dangerous it is. Some of the explosives are still in working order, and some are leaking dangerous toxins, such as lead azide, mercury, and TNT, into the water.

Trampoline Injuries

Backyard trampolines are becoming more popular, but they are potentially dangerous, reports The Toronto Star of Canada. While some perceive them as toys, a two-year study by Statistics Canada found that 324 serious trampoline injuries were reported across the country. “Children of all ages are at risk and the injuries suffered tend to be more severe than most other childhood injuries,” according to Arlene Huhn of the Sports Medicine Council of Alberta. Most accidents happen as people get on or off the trampoline or when they try to do flips, adds Huhn. Experts recommend that owners place the trampoline in an open area, that participants have footwear with a good grip, and that they exercise caution when getting on or off. Only one person at a time should use a trampoline. Proper supervision is important.

Snake Invasion

Some 30 years ago, a plague hit the Micronesian island of Guam and wiped out most of its species of forest birds. The plague was not a virus or a pesticide but a snake​—the brown tree snake. Possibly imported from New Guinea to the island by U.S. military traffic, the snake multiplied prodigiously on Guam. There are now as many as 30,000 of the slightly venomous reptiles per square mile [12,000 per sq km] in some areas. They reportedly festoon fences and electrical wires, invade homes, pop unexpectedly out of drainpipes, and attack pets and even babies. Now environmentalists in Hawaii are concerned that the snakes will make a similar onslaught there. Hawaii has no native snakes, but it does have many species of exotic and rare birds that would be quite vulnerable to such predators. So far, several brown tree snakes have been found at Hawaii’s airports​—apparently stowaways on airplanes arriving from Guam.

Venice Fights Seaweed

Venice, the beautiful city that rises from a lagoon in northern Italy, faces an unusual pollution problem​—seaweed. Thanks to an overabundance of nutrients in the water, the lagoon produces a staggering 500,000 tons of seaweed a year! What is to be done with it? In the world’s first such experiment, which the magazine Le Scienze calls an “authentic success,” the seaweed is turned into paper. Using some of the 40,000 to 60,000 tons of seaweed that are harvested from the lagoon each year, scientists have produced paper in a process that is even gentler on the environment than recycling. The paper is similar, and in some ways superior to, paper made from cellulose. And its color? A pale, speckled green​—naturally!

Sweet Charity?

The magazine Consumer Reports recently singled out a cancer charity that mailed out letters asking people to gather donations from friends and neighbors and send it in. The report notes that deciphering the small print on the back of the letter turns up some interesting facts. For instance, while the charity raised nearly $2.5 million in the previous year, less than one penny out of each dollar actually went to fund cancer research. “The rest paid a professional fund-raiser, defrayed fund-raising costs, administered the fund, settled lawsuits arising from previous misleading solicitations, and paid for ‘public education,’” the magazine states. It cites an example of the public education in question​—extremely bland and general advice on cancer prevention, such as, “Keep your workplace free of cancer hazards.”

Languages and the Brain

According to Franco Fabbro, a researcher at Trieste University in Italy, each language that we know, or know partially, is located in a distinct area of the brain. How did he reach this conclusion? A number of multilingual individuals who had suffered brain damage and were no longer able to express themselves correctly in their own language began to speak fluently in a foreign language that they had thought they knew only superficially. This suggests, says the magazine L’Espresso, “that the mother tongue interferes with the others, limiting their expression.”

From Our Readers

Grandparents The “Young People Ask . . .” articles in the July 8 and July 22, 1992, issues dealt with having grandparents move in. My grandmother moved in with us after her husband died. She took care of me and my five siblings while Mom and Dad worked; we became very close. Now that Grandma can no longer care for herself, I have the privilege of giving back a little of what she gave me. It hasn’t been easy, since I have a family to take care of, and I am not too well. But I feel good about caring for her. Yes, many positive things can happen when a grandparent moves in!

B. M., United States

Rearing Children Thank you for the articles on “Rearing Children in an Immoral World.” (June 22, 1992) You warned of deceitful ones who slip into the congregation, claiming to be Christian. Last year our young daughter was drugged and raped by such a young man. He was studying the Bible with a member of our congregation. Although the courts convicted him, the toll on our family has been devastating. We hope all Christian parents will study these timely articles with their children, cautioning them not to be too trusting of those who appear to have an interest in the Bible.

K. V., United States

This magazine made me realize how much effort our parents have to put forth to raise us in the fear of God. I personally benefited from the article “Help Them Choose a Mate Wisely.” I am only 16 and am not interested in marriage now. However, I am sure this practical counsel will be useful to me in the future.

N. G., Italy

Death-Metal Music Many thanks for the article “Death Metal​—What’s the Message?” (July 8, 1992) Both heavy-metal and rap music are very popular in my school. Anyone who does not like this sort of music is made fun of. The article made it easier for me to say no as well as to explain why I do not like this music. Thanks a lot.

M. F., Germany

Public Speaking Just a few comments on the article “You Can Speak Before an Audience!” (July 22, 1992) I was always shy. In school I could rarely talk in front of the class, and I finally quit school because of my fears. But when I became a Christian, I joined the Theocratic Ministry School and had to speak before an audience. It was not easy, but with prayer and a will to overcome my problem, I gradually improved. I still feel timid, but I have even spoken before large audiences at conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses!

A. H., Brazil

Improve Your Memory Just before reading the article “How to Improve Your Memory” (July 22, 1992), I discovered that I had once again forgotten to buy something while out shopping. The article pointed out a number of aids in training one’s memory, such as forming a mental image. The example of picturing a cow brushing her teeth when one needs to purchase milk and toothpaste was particularly amusing. In the future, I will use these methods and hopefully do away with my shopping list.

E. B., Germany

From Our Readers Thank you very much for the feature “From Our Readers.” Far from being a medley of statements chosen to support your point of view, it is a collection of touching human experiences. The readiness with which you publish readers’ criticism and, on occasion, the editor’s corrections is a clear proof of your humility.

C. Q., Italy

Argentina’s Unique Glacier

“YOU must go and see it.” “It is one of the wonders of the world.” We had been sent to Buenos Aires to help build new facilities for the Watch Tower Society’s branch, but it was encouragement like this that prompted my husband and me to take a trip to Glaciers National Park in the south of Argentina to see a unique glacier called Perito Moreno.

Eventually, we arrived at the Andes, its foothills covered with trees. The road ran along the Rico arm of Lake Argentino. Soon we reached the end of a peninsula where the waterway bends into the lake. Halfway across the channel loomed Perito Moreno​—a wall of ice over two and a half miles [4 km] wide and more than 160 feet [50 m] high. What a breathtaking sight!

This river of ice, Perito Moreno, may advance as much as 15 feet [4 m] a day or 1,500 feet [450 m] a year! We could not resist taking photographs as the sun sparkled on the blue crystals. Why blue? Because of the weight of the snow, no air is left in the grains of ice, so the glacier takes on a transparent bluish color. Something else that caught our attention was the unusual sounds. We could hear the rumbling of 75 square miles [195 sq km] of glacier moving slowly down the valley and the cracking sound of large chunks of ice breaking free from the face of the glacier. These hit the water with a sound like thunder.

Every few years the advance of Perito Moreno blocks the natural drainage of the Rico arm into Lake Argentino. On the one side, the impounded waters rise from 65 to 110 feet [20 to 35 m] above their natural level. Eventually, the pressure of the water overcomes the ice, and Perito Moreno produces a dramatic spectacle as the water bursts through.

The calm waters of the lake are turned into a raging sea. This lasts for hours. “Enormous ice fragments larger than a 15-story building break loose from the glacier’s walls and fall with a deafening clatter,” explained the television documentary La Guerra Del Hielo. “Everybody shouts and jumps, accompanying this incredible evidence of nature’s powers.”

How happy we were that our friends had urged us to come and see Perito Moreno!​—Contributed.

“The World’s Best General Interest Magazine”

THAT is how a letter last year to the Nigeria branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses described Awake! The writer explained:

“I work with Eko magazine, a city publication of Newswatch, Nigeria’s most widely read international magazine. I have been a subscriber to Awake! since 1985, though not a Witness. The other day while we were at the production of the next edition of Eko, I left the Awake! I was reading [April 22, 1991] on the table to attend to a minor task.

“One of my colleagues picked it up for a quick browse, but she spent the time reading the entire series of articles on divorce. Another person got the magazine from her, and yet another, and yet another. One of them, a practicing Orthodox Christian, told me that she used to ignore Awake! and never thought you could feature ‘such interesting, amazingly educational articles,’ and she immediately asked me how to go about subscribing. Another asked me to make my magazines available to him whenever I receive them.

“Indeed, I have no wish to become a Witness, yet I have never regretted my decision to subscribe to Awake! Thank you, and congratulations on the world’s best general interest magazine.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses are an international organization of over four million Bible students who are devoted to helping people learn more about God’s purposes.

If you would like to have further information or a free home Bible study, please write to Watchtower, 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York 11201, or to the appropriate address listed on page 5.