!"#2M A Y 2 0 1 1

HUMAN LIFEA PRECIOUS GIFT

!"#2AVERAGE PRINTING 39,913,000PUBLISHED IN 83 LANGUAGES

HUMAN LIFE—A PRECIOUS GIFT

3 You Are “WonderfullyMade”!

4 Appreciate Your SpecialGifts

8 Inner Gifts ThatElevate Us

10 Honey Ants—A Desert Delicacy

12 When a Child Has Cancer

15 A Book You Can TrustPart 7—The SeventhWorld Power

19 Are Your Lips “PreciousVessels”?

20 The Bible’s ViewpointWhy Are Jesus’ TrueFollowers Hated?

22 A Walk Along theSlave Route

25 Was It Designed?The Navigation Systemof the Sea Turtle

26 Young People AskAm I a Failure?

29 Watching the World

30 For Family Review

32 “Will Humans RuinThis Earth?”

WHEN you reflect on the remarkableabilities of various animals, do you

sometimes feel a twinge of envy? Perhaps youwish that you could soar like an albatross,swim like a dolphin, see like an eagle, or runlike a cheetah.

Yes, animals have some amazing abilities.But so do we! Indeed, the human body hasbeen described as the perfect machine. Ofcourse, we are much more than a machine.We have creativity, curiosity, imagination,and ingenuity—qualities that move us to de-vise machines that enable us to do virtuallyanything we set our minds to. We can fly, evenbeyond the speed of sound; navigate above orbelow the surface of vast oceans; gaze some14 billion light-years into space; peer into theliving cell; and design medicines, therapies,and technologies that help us diagnose andtreat diseases.

Even with little or no external assistance,healthy, well-trained humans are capable of

doing astonishing things. At the OlympicGames, for example, gymnasts, high divers,ice-skaters, skiers, and others perform amaz-ing feats with a level of agility, artistry, cre-ativity, and grace that leave audiences en-thralled.

Do you appreciate the special gifts that youhave as a human? Granted, you may not be anOlympic athlete, but you have many gifts forwhich to be thankful. An ancient Bible writ-er expressed his appreciation to God in song:“I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiringway I am wonderfully made.”� (Psalm 139:14)Why not think about that statement as youconsider the articles that follow? They will ex-amine in more detail some of the wonders ofthe human body, as well as other far more im-portant traits that make us truly unique.� Readers interested in the question of creation versus evolu-

tion might like to read the brochures Was Life Created? and TheOrigin of Life—Five Questions Worth Asking. These brochuresmay be obtained from Jehovah’s Witnesses locally or from thepublishers of this magazine.

YOU ARE“WONDERFULLYMADE”!

Our upright stance is very energy efficient, for it demands little muscleaction to sustain the vertical alignment of our body. In fact, we ‘use only 7%more energy standing than when lying down,’ says neuroscience researcherJohn R. Skoyles. He adds that a dog uses about 70 percent more energywhen standing (on all fours) than when lying down.

BUILT TO CONSERVE ENERGY

Awake! May 2011 3

4 Awake! May 2011

THIS JOURNAL IS PUBLISHED for the enlightenment of theentire family. It shows how to cope with today’s problems. It reportsthe news, tells about people in many lands, examines religionand science. But it does more. It probes beneath the surface andpoints to the real meaning behind current events, yet it alwaysstays politically neutral and does not exalt one race above another.Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Creator’spromise of a peaceful and secure new world that is about toreplace the present wicked, lawless system of things.

!"#$ This publication is not for sale. It is provided as part of a worldwideBible educational work supported by voluntary donations. Unless oth-erwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the modern-languageNew World Translation of the Holy Scriptures—With References.

Awake! (ISSN 0005-237X) is published monthly by WatchtowerBible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.; M. H. Larson, President;G. F. Simonis, Secretary-Treasurer; 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, NY11201-2483, and by Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society ofCanada, PO Box 4100, Georgetown, ON L7G 4Y4. PeriodicalsPostage Paid at Brooklyn, N.Y., and at additional mailing offices.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Awake!, 1000 Red MillsRoad, Wallkill, NY 12589-3299. � 2011 Watch Tower Bibleand Tract Society of Pennsylvania. All rights reserved. Printed inCanada.

Vol. 92, No. 5 Monthly ENGLISH

THE human body is outstandingly versa-tile. No animal has the sheer range of abil-

ities that we humans do. One reason for ourversatility is our upright stance, which notonly expands our area of vision but also freesour arms and hands for any number of tasks.Imagine how our activities would be curtailedif we had to walk on all fours!

Another asset is our highly sophisticatedsensory system, which will be the focus ofthis article. The system includes the hands,the ears, the eyes and, of course, our excep-tional brain. Let’s look at these individually.

The Human Hand

Our hands are beautiful instruments ofamazing precision. With them we can threada needle or swing an ax, paint a portrait orplay the piano. Our hands are also highly sen-sitive. Even a brief touch may reveal whethera substance is fur, paper, skin, metal, water, orwood. Yes, our hands are much more thanimplements for grasping and manipulation.They are also a source of knowledge about

our world. And they are a means of convey-ing warmth and affection.

Why is the human hand so adept, so ex-pressive, so sensitive, and so versatile? Thereasons are many. Consider four.

1. Our two hands have a total of more than50 bones, about a quarter of all the bones inthe body. The intricate assembly of the partsof the hand—the bones, the joints, the liga-ments—gives the human hand extraordinaryflexibility.

2. The hand has an opposable thumbmounted on a saddle joint, an ingenious con-figuration of two saddle-shaped surfaces atright angles to each other. This joint, alongwith the associated muscles and other tis-sues, gives the thumb amazing flexibility andstrength.

3. Three sets of muscles control the hand.The two most powerful sets—the extensorsand the flexors—are in the forearm and op-erate the fingers by means of tendons. Howbulky and unwieldy the hand would be ifthese muscles were located in it! The third set,much smaller, which does lie within the hand,gives the fingers precision of movement.

4. Your fingers are, in effect, living sensors—the fingertips having about 2,500 recep-tors in just one sixth of a square inch (1 sqcm). Moreover, the receptors are varied, eachkind having its own function, enabling youto feel texture, temperature, wetness, vibra-tion, pressure, and pain. As a result, the hu-man finger is the most sensitive touch sensorknown.

APPRECIATEYOURSPECIAL GIFTS

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� CD also available.� MP3 CD-ROM also available.� Audio recordings also available at www.jw.org.

Would you welcome more information or a free homeBible study? Please send your request to Jehovah’s Witnesses, usingone of the addresses below. For a complete list of addresses, seewww.watchtower.org/address. America, United States of: 25 Columbia Heights,Brooklyn, NY 11201-2483. Australia: PO Box 280, Ingleburn, NSW 1890. Bahamas: POBox N-1247, Nassau, NP. Britain: The Ridgeway, London NW7 1RN. Canada: PO Box 4100,Georgetown, ON L7G 4Y4. Germany: 65617 Selters. Guam: 143 Jehovah St, Barrigada,GU 96913. Guyana: 352-360 Tyrell St, Republic Park Phase 2 EBD. Jamaica: POBox 103, Old Harbour, St. Catherine. Japan: 4-7-1 Nakashinden, Ebina City, Kanagawa-Pref,243-0496. Puerto Rico: PO Box 3980, Guaynabo, PR 00970. South Africa: Private BagX2067, Krugersdorp, 1740. Trinidad and Tobago: Lower Rapsey Street & Laxmi Lane,Curepe.

Awake! May 2011 5

The Human Ear

Although some animals can hear soundfrequencies beyond the range of human hear-ing, the combination of a human’s ears andbrain is a formidable one, say audio experts.Our hearing enables us to determine loud-ness, pitch, and tone and to approximate thedirection and distance of a sound source.The frequency range of a healthy humanear is roughly 20 to 20,000 hertz, or cycles ofsound oscillation per second. The most sen-sitive region is in the 1,000 to 5,000 hertzrange. Moreover, we may be able to detect achange of just one hertz from, say, 440 hertzto 441 hertz.

Indeed, a healthy ear is so sensitive that itcan detect sounds when the vibration, or to-and-fro movement, of the air at the eardrumis less than the diameter of an atom! Accord-ing to a university course on hearing, “the hu-

man hearing system is close to the theoreticalphysical limits of sensitivity. . . . There wouldbe little point in being much more sensitiveto sound, as all we would hear would be a‘hiss,’ ” the result of the random movement ofthe atoms and molecules that make up the air.

Eardrum vibrations are amplified mechan-ically by lever action and are transferred tothe inner ear by means of the ossicles—tinybones known as the hammer, the anvil, andthe stapes. But what if your ears are sud-denly struck by a deafening sound? In thatevent, they have a built-in protective mecha-nism in the form of muscle action that ad-justs the ossicles to reduce the force of thesound. However, the ears are not equipped todeal with prolonged loud noise. Such expo-sure can permanently damage the hearing. Sotake good care of this “wonderfully made” giftfrom your Creator.—Psalm 139:14.

Musclecontrol

Saddlejoint

Intricatebones

Sensitivetouch

What makes ourhands so versatile?

6 Awake! May 2011

Your auditory system also helps you to de-tect a sound source. The secret lies in a num-ber of factors, including the shell-like shape ofthe outer ear, its grooves, the separation ofthe two ears, and some computational bril-liance on the part of your brain. Thus, if theintensity of a sound fades just slightly fromear to ear or if the sound reaches one ear just30 millionths of a second before it reachesthe other, your brain will promptly point youreyes toward the sound source.

Imagine if you had to make all those com-putations consciously! To be sure, you wouldhave to know how to use very advanced math-ematics—and with lightning speed! If an engi-neer were to design a “hearing” system thatcame even remotely close to the one your Cre-ator gave you, he would receive many acco-lades. Yet, how often do you hear people givedue credit to God for his awesome works?—Romans 1:20.

The Human Eye

Some researchers estimate that peoplewho can see well gain approximately 80 per-cent of their information about the worldthrough their eyes. In combination with ourbrain, our eyes enable us to see in full color,to track moving objects and images smoothly,to recognize patterns and shapes, and to seein three dimensions. Furthermore, we can seein varying degrees of light.

The latter involves a number of comple-mentary mechanisms. For example, the pu-pil can expand from 0.06 inch to 0.3 inch(1.5 mm to 8 mm) in diameter, resulting ina possible 30-fold increase in the amount oflight entering the eye. The light then passesthrough the lens, which focuses it onto theretina, concentrating the light energy by a fac-tor of 100,000 times. So never look directly atthe sun with the naked eye!

The retina, in turn, houses two types ofphotoreceptors—cones (approximately 6 mil-lion), which give us color vision and high res-olution, and rods (120-140 million), which

are more than a thousand times as sensitiveas the cones and help us to see in dim light.Indeed, under optimal conditions, a rod candetect a single photon, or elementary particleof light!

Another adaptive mechanism involves ret-inal neurons linked to the cones and rods.These neurons adapt “in seconds and can im-prove night vision by a factor of 10 or more,”says the American Optometric Association.“Neural adaptation is rather like having low-speed and high-speed film simultaneouslyavailable in your camera.”

Engineers often design cameras, scanners,and computers, along with compatible soft-ware. But the degree of integration and thelevel of sophistication attained are vastly infe-rior to those of our sensory system. Ask your-self, ‘Is it reasonable to attribute our vastly su-perior living sensory system to blind chance,as evolutionists do?’ An ancient servant ofGod named Job knew little about the humanbody compared with what we know today.Even so, he felt impelled to say to God: “Yourown hands have shaped me.”—Job 10:8.

The Human Brain

With astonishing efficiency, the brain de-codes the streams of signals pouring inthrough the nerves from the sense organs.Moreover, it links these signals with detailsstored in its memory. Thus, a certain smellmay immediately trigger the brain to retrievea long-forgotten experience or event. And ifyou see just a small part of something familiar—the tip of your cat’s tail, for example—yourbrain will fill in the missing details so that youknow your cat is nearby.

Of course, your brain was not prepro-grammed with images of cats, just as it wasnot preprogrammed with the smell of a roseor the sound of running water or the feel offur. Your brain learned these associations.The experiences of people who were bornblind but have been given the ability to see,perhaps through surgery, make this evident.

Their brain had to learn to interpret the floodof visual signals now flowing to it. How dosuch people fare?

They soon report the ability to detect col-or, motion, and simple forms. But after that,progress varies. Children, especially the veryyoung, continue to learn quite well. But thatis not the case with adults. Even their abil-ity to recognize faces remains highly im-paired. And, tragically, a common featurewith “cured” adults “is initial euphoria fol-lowed by disappointment and disorientationwith the restored vision, often leading to se-vere depression,” says the Koch Laboratoryat the California Institute of Technology.

These facts help us to appreciate more ful-ly the degree of healing that Jesus Christ per-formed during his ministry on earth. Theblind and the deaf not only had their eyesand ears opened but also began to recognizethe sights and sounds around them. Likewise,the mute spoke normally, which would havebeen especially amazing in the case of thosewho were born with this disability. (Matthew15:30; Mark 8:22-25; Luke 7:21, 22) And wecan be confident that none of the blind whowere healed spiraled into depression. In fact,one healed man courageously defended Je-sus, saying to Jesus’ religious enemies: “Fromof old it has never been heard that anyoneopened the eyes of one born blind. If this manwere not from God, he could do nothing atall.”—John 9:1-38.

In the following article, we will examinesome of our inner qualities, including courageand love. Have you wondered why humansalone have the potential to display such qual-ities? To be sure, the existence of such unique-ly human traits has presented a major obsta-cle to people who wish to prove that we aremerely highly evolved animals.

Your brain interpretssignals streaming infrom the senses andlinks these withdetails stored inyour memory

How does your brain feel, hear, see, andsmell? Scientists are baffled. “There is nohint in your brain as to how you see thewords you are now reading,” said scientistGerald L. Schroeder.

He also wrote: “Revelation of the previ-ously unimagined intricate workings of thebrain has challenged the simplistic theoryof life’s random evolution.” He continued:“Had Darwin known of the wisdom hiddenwithin life, I have confidence that he wouldhave proposed a very different theory.”

YOUR AMAZING BRAIN

8 Awake! May 2011

A 50-YEAR-OLD construction worker waswaiting for his train at a New York City

subway station. Nearby, a young man stum-bled to the edge of the platform and fell ontothe tracks just as a train was coming. Mak-ing a split-second decision, the constructionworker leaped onto the tracks and held theother man down as the train passed safelyover them both.

During the Nazi era, Jehovah’s Witnessesin Europe refused to say “Heil Hitler!” be-cause the German word heil means “salva-tion.” Their deeply held belief was that JesusChrist was their Savior and that “there is nosalvation in anyone else.” (Acts 4:12) For re-fusing to idolize Hitler, many were torn awayfrom their home and sent to concentrationcamps, where they continued to hold to theirChristian principles.

These examples show that a human canput the welfare of another—even a totalstranger—before self and a respect for prin-ciples before personal freedom. Does suchbehavior reflect the notion that humans aresimply highly evolved animals? Or does it

suggest that we are a higher creation? Thinkabout that as you reflect on the followingquestions:˘ Why do we have a conscience, an innersense of right and wrong?˘ Why do we feel awe when we reflect on thewonders of creation?˘ Why do we enjoy music, painting, poetry,and other art forms? After all, they are not es-sential for our survival.˘ Why do people of virtually every culturemanifest a desire to commune with a higherbeing?˘ Why do we ask: ‘Why am I here?’ ‘What isthe purpose of life?’˘ When someone dies, why do we engage invarious ceremonies and rituals?˘ And why is belief in an afterlife virtuallyuniversal? Is our inborn desire to live foreverjust an evolutionary hoax?

Where Answers Can Be Found

The most reasonable answers to thesequestions can be found in the most widely

INNER GIFTSTHAT ELEVATE US We enjoy many beautiful and

pleasurable things that are notessential for life

Awake! May 2011 9

available sacred text in the world—the Bible.Consider what it says about the following:

Human nature. Humankind was created “inGod’s image,” meaning that we have the po-tential to reflect our Creator’s qualities. (Gen-esis 1:27) Thus, the first man was a “son ofGod.”—Luke 3:38.

Our need to love and be loved. “God is love,”says 1 John 4:8. Formed in God’s image, weneed love from the cradle to the grave. If I“do not have love, I am nothing,” wrote theChristian apostle Paul. (1 Corinthians 13:2)He also said: “Become imitators of God, asbeloved children.”—Ephesians 5:1.

Our spiritual need. “Man must live, not onbread alone, but on every utterance comingforth through Jehovah’s mouth.” (Matthew4:4) God’s utterances recorded in the Biblereveal his personality and his purpose for us.We cannot live truly meaningful lives in spir-itual ignorance.

Why we die. “The wages sin pays is death,but the gift God gives is everlasting life.” (Ro-mans 6:23) Sin is a failure to live up to God’smoral and spiritual standards. God, however,has purposed to remove sin, rehabilitate allwho love and obey him, and grant them ever-lasting life in Paradise on earth.—Psalm 37:10,11, 29; Luke 23:43.

Do you want to experience life to the full,perhaps developing talents that you neverdreamed you could? Do you want to learnmore about your Creator and his wonderfulpurpose for you? If so, then we invite youto examine the Bible, the source of spiritu-al truth. No other endeavor could give yougreater happiness both now and in the future.—Matthew 5:3; John 17:3.

Humans need more than foodand water. They also needguidance from their Creator

“Stimulation and love are the recipes the young brain callsfor,” says scientist Gerald L. Schroeder. How important, then, thatparents heed the Bible injunction, given especially to mothers,for them “to love their children”!—Titus 2:4.

FROM INFANCY WE NEED LOVE

YUMINIYA, our Aboriginal friend, wants to shareone of her desert secrets with us. Leading us into

arid scrub north of Alice Springs in central Austra-lia, she carefully examines the sandy ground. There,underneath the mulga trees, a species of acacia, shespies the tiny creatures that will lead us to a sweet re-ward. They are honey ants.

She digs vigorously, following ant tunnels deep intothe sandy soil. Soon her hole is more than three feet(1 m) deep and wide enough to sit in. “You can digfor honey ants any time of the year, but winter is bestbecause in summer you get too hot,” she calls outfrom the hole. We watch as she studies the exposedtunnels with a trained eye. “You need to know whichone to follow,” she explains.

Yuminiya soon finds the nest. Inside are at least20 honey ants whose swollen abdomens, as large asgrapes, are filled with amber liquid. The little insects

HoneyAntsA Desert Delicacy

10 Awake! May 2011

Awake! May 2011 11

hang from the earthen ceiling, unable to movebecause of their bloated state. Within min-utes, Yuminiya collects over a hundred antsfrom several chambers. “The honey of theseants is one of our sweetest bush foods,” shesays.

Living Honey Pots

Honey ants are one of the most unusual ofthe more than 10,000 known ant species. Un-like bees, which store honey in honeycombs,honey ants store nectar inside the living bod-ies of worker ants called repletes. The ant col-ony draws upon these living “honey pots” dur-ing lean times.

To deposit or withdraw food, an ant willuse its antennas to tap the right code on theantennas of a replete. The replete then opensits mouth to unlock the “honey pot.” A spe-

cial stomach valve, composed of four flaps,controls the flow in or out. Over a lifetime ofseveral months, a replete can apparently bedrained and refilled several times.

Repletes normally live a sedentary but safeexistence underground, where they are pro-tected from drought, heat, and insect pred-ators. In this dark subterranean world, theyguard against bacteria and fungi by smearingtheir bodies with antibiotic fluid from a spe-cial gland.

Where does the “honey” come from? Thefood chain, as it were, begins with the sapand nectar of acacia trees. Next, tiny insectscalled aphids feed on these natural juices.Worker ants then milk the aphids of some oftheir excess sugar, which is called honeydew,or they collect nectar directly from the trees.Finally, the workers feed this collected liquidto the repletes. Of course, since the inactiverepletes have modest nutritional needs, mostof the honeydew ends up in the “honey bank”!

But what about the aphids? Are they thelosers here? Not at all. For one thing, the antsleave them adequate nectar. For another, theants protect the aphids from parasites andpredators. Yes, both ants and aphids are win-ners in this symbiotic partnership called mu-tualism.

“Go to the ant,” says the Bible, “see itsways and become wise. Although it hasno commander, officer or ruler, it preparesits food even in the summer; it has gatheredits food supplies even in the harvest.” (Prov-erbs 6:6-8) How true these words, for ants areindeed cooperative, highly organized, and in-dustrious! And how amazing that these har-dy desert dwellers manage to produce such asweet delicacy in such inhospitable surround-ings!

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12 Awake! May 2011

LEARNING that your child has cancercan be an overwhelming, even terrify-

ing, experience. How often does it occur? Ac-cording to the International Union AgainstCancer, although “childhood cancers repre-sent a small percentage of all cancers, eachyear more than 160,000 children [world-wide] are diagnosed and cancer is the sec-ond most common cause of death, afteraccidents, among children in developedcountries.” For example, “there are an esti-mated 9,000 new cases of childhood cancer

each year” in Brazil, states the National Insti-tute of Cancer.

Childhood cancer strikes “a terrible blowthat afflicts, without exception, all the mem-bers of the family,” says the book

`A margem

do leito—A mae e o cancer infantil (At the Bed-side—The Mother and Child Cancer). The di-agnosis often means surgery, as well as che-motherapy or radiation or both, along withtheir unpleasant side effects. For the par-ents, it brings trauma, giving rise to fear, sad-ness, guilt, anger, and denial. How can par-ents cope with this painful experience?

A major source of comfort is, of course,caring medical professionals. “They can addfacts that may be encouraging, as well as ex-plain and anticipate certain future side ef-fects. This information may make the experi-ence less traumatic,” says a doctor from NewYork who has assisted many cancer patients.Much comfort can also be given by other par-ents of children who have had cancer. Withthat in mind, Awake! interviewed five suchparents who live in Brazil.˘ Ja

´ılton and N

´eia “We learned that our

daughter had acute lymphoblastic leukemiawhen she was two and a half years old.”

How long did the treatment last?

“She underwent chemotherapy for nearlytwo and a half years.”

What side effects did she experience?

“She vomited a lot and lost her hair. Theenamel on her teeth darkened. And on threeoccasions she developed pneumonia.”

How did that make you feel?

“At first we panicked. But when we saw herhealth improve, we became confident that shewould be cured. She is now almost nine yearsold.”

What helped you to deal with this traumaticsituation?

“Without a doubt, it was our trust in Jeho-vah God, who ‘comforted us in all our trib-ulation,’ as the Bible states at 2 Corinthi-

When a ChildHas Cancer

“I was overcome by feelings of

hopelessness. I felt as if the ground

beneath my feet had given way.

I began to experience feelings of grief,

as if my little girl were already dead.”

—Ja´ılton, when he discovered that his

daughter had cancer.

ans 1:3, 4. Our Christian brothers and sistersalso gave us marvelous support. They wroteletters of encouragement, they phoned, theyprayed with us and for us, and they evenhelped us financially. Then, when our daugh-ter had to be moved to a hospital in anoth-er state, the Witnesses there provided us withaccommodations and took turns taking us tothe hospital. Words cannot convey our grati-tude for all the support we received.”˘ Luiz and Fabiana “In 1992 we learned thatour daughter had a rare, aggressive form ofovarian cancer. She was 11 years old.”

What was your initial reaction?

“Denial. We could not accept that our girlhad cancer.”

How was she treated medically?

“She had both surgery and chemothera-py, the effects of which drained us all phys-ically and emotionally. Twice our daughterhad pneumonia. The second time she almostdied. She also developed a platelet deficiency,which led to random bleeding from her skinand nose. Medication helped to reduce thisreaction.”

How long did the treatment last?

“It was about six months from the initialbiopsy to the last cycle of chemotherapy.”

How did your daughter feel about her diagno-sis and treatment?

“Initially, she did not know what was hap-pening. The doctor told her she had ‘a lit-tle round ball in her stomach that needed to

Bible Verses ThatComfort

“Don’t worry about tomorrow. It willtake care of itself. You have enough toworry about today.”—Matthew 6:34,Contemporary English Version.

“Blessed be the God and Father of ourLord Jesus Christ, the Father of tendermercies and the God of all comfort, whocomforts us in all our tribulation.”—2 Corinthians 1:3, 4.

“Do not be anxious over anything, butin everything by prayer and supplicationalong with thanksgiving let your petitionsbe made known to God; and the peaceof God that excels all thought will guardyour hearts and your mental powers bymeans of Christ Jesus.”—Philippians 4:6, 7.

“Throw all your anxiety upon [God],because he cares for you.”—1 Peter 5:7.

N´

eia, Sthefany, and Ja´ılton

Luiz, Aline, and Fabiana

Aline and Rosimeri

14 Awake! May 2011

be removed.’ Finally she realized that it wasrather serious. ‘Daddy, do I have cancer?’ sheasked. I struggled to find the right reply.”

How did you feel seeing your daughtersuffer?

“It is not easy to describe the emotionalpain we went through. Imagine, for example,watching your little girl help the nurse find avein for the chemotherapy. During the mostdifficult periods, I would go into the bath-room to cry and pray. One night I felt so dis-traught that I asked Jehovah to let me die in-stead of my little girl.”

What helped you to deal with the situation?

“A major factor was the support we re-ceived from our Christian brothers, someof whom phoned from different parts of thecountry. One dear brother asked me to getmy Bible. Then he warmly read some vers-es from the book of Psalms. Those texts werejust what my wife and I needed to hear, for wewere going through one of the most difficultperiods of our daughter’s treatment.”

˘ Rosimeri “My daughter was four years oldwhen she was diagnosed with a form of leuke-mia.”

What was your first reaction?

“I found it hard to believe. I wept day andnight and begged God for help. My otherdaughter also suffered emotionally when shesaw just how ill her sister was. In fact, I hadto send her to my mother’s house.”

What side effects did your little girl experi-ence?

“Her daily sessions of chemotherapy madeher anemic, so doctors also gave her iron sup-plements and erythropoietin to build up herred blood cell count. Her blood count was asource of constant concern. She also had sei-zures.”

How long did the treatment continue?

“She went through two years and fourmonths of intensive chemotherapy. Dur-ing that time, she lost her hair and put ona lot of weight. Fortunately, her sense of hu-mor helped her cope. After about six years,the doctors said that my daughter no longershowed any signs of the disease.”

What helped you to deal with this very tryingsituation?

“My daughter and I prayed often, and wereflected on Bible examples of faithful ser-vants of God who endured various trials. Wealso took to heart Jesus’ words at Matthew 6:34 that we should not allow anxiety about to-morrow add to our concerns of today. Muchhelp also came from fellow Christians, includ-ing the local Hospital Liaison Committee,and from caring medical staff, who regularlydeal with such situations.”

Has childhood cancer struck someone youknow, perhaps even a child in your family? Ifso, may these interviews help you to under-stand that your grief is normal. As the Biblesays, there is “a time to weep.” (Ecclesiastes3:4) Above all, be assured that the true God,Jehovah, who is called the “Hearer of prayer,”will comfort all those who turn to him with asincere heart.—Psalm 65:2.

A Loving ArrangementHospital Liaison Committees for Jeho-

vah’s Witnesses seek to promote hospitaland patient cooperation. To that end, theyhelp Witness patients find competent doc-tors who respect their desire to heed theBiblical injunction, “abstain from . . . blood.”—Acts 15:20.

WE LIVE in a very special and momen-tous time—that of the appearance of

the seventh world power of Bible history.Moreover, this power is the only one men-tioned in the Bible purely as prophecy, forthe previous six were woven into the Bible’shistorical record. Concerning the seven pow-ers, or “kings,” the Bible foretold: “There areseven kings: five have fallen, one is, the otherhas not yet arrived, but when he does arrivehe must remain a short while.”�—Revelation17:10.

A little over 1,900 years ago, when thosewords were written, five of the seven “kings,”or political empires, ‘had fallen.’ They wereEgypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, andGreece. The expression “one is” referredto Rome. But Rome would not last forever.There would be one more empire, but theprophecy stated: “[It] has not yet arrived.”True to Bible prophecy, the seventh ‘king’ didarrive on the world scene! What did this em-pire prove to be? Will it exercise its dominion� Because the empires mentioned in the Bible were usually

ruled by a king, the empires themselves are often referred to as“kings,” “kingdoms,” or both.—Daniel 8:20-22.

indefinitely? If not, how will it exit the worldstage? The Bible leaves us in no doubt.

Reliable Prophecy

The seventh power began to take shapewhen England rose out of obscurity in thenorthwestern corner of the Roman Empire.By the 1760’s, this island nation had becomethe mighty British Empire. Britain contin-ued to grow in wealth and power, and in the19th century, it was the richest and mostpowerful nation on earth. “The British Em-pire,” states one reference work, “was thelargest the world had ever seen.” It “includ-ed 372 million inhabitants and extended over11 million square miles [28 million sq km].”

However, the first world war (1914-1918)moved Britain to embark on a special rela-tionship with the United States, a previouscolony. The result? The British Empire gaveway to the Anglo-American alliance, in manyrespects a dual English-speaking world pow-er that has lasted until the present.—See thebox “A Noteworthy Alliance.”

The prophecy at Revelation 17:10 comple-ments another prophecy found in the book

A BOOK YOU CAN TRUST

Part 7

The Seventh World PowerThis is the final article in a series of seven in consecutive issues of “Awake!” thatdiscuss the seven world powers of Bible history. The objective is to show that theBible is trustworthy and inspired of God and that its message is one of hope foran end to the suffering caused by man’s cruel domination of his fellow man.

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16 Awake! May 2011

of Daniel. Daniel wrote about an “immenseimage” that Babylonian King Nebuchadnez-zar saw in a vision given him by God. (Dan-iel 2:28, 31-43) Daniel revealed to the mon-arch that the sections of the body of theimage represented the succession of politicalempires that began with Babylon, the worldpower at the time. (Egypt and Assyria had al-ready come and gone.) History now confirmsthe following:

The head of gold represented the Babylo-nian Empire.

The breasts and arms of silver depictedMedo-Persia.

The belly and thighs of copper pointed toancient Greece.

The legs of iron pictured the Roman Em-pire.

The feet, an amalgam of iron and clay,symbolize the politically and socially incohe-sive state of affairs during the time of theAnglo-American world power.

According to Revelation 17:10, the seventhworld power “must remain a short while.”How long will that prove to be? How will itdisappear from the world scene? And whatwill happen thereafter? Daniel sheds muchlight on these questions.

A Hope You Can Trust

After describing the aforementioned im-age, Daniel wrote: “A stone was cut out [of amountain] not by hands, and it struck the im-age on its feet of iron and of molded clay andcrushed them.” (Daniel 2:34) What did thisawesome spectacle portend?

Daniel continued: “In the days of those[final] kings the God of heaven will set up akingdom that will never be brought to ruin.And the kingdom itself will not be passed onto any other people. It will crush and put anend to all these [earthly] kingdoms, and it it-self will stand to times indefinite.”� (Daniel2:44, 45) Note these important points:

1. The victorious Kingdom, representedby a large stone, is “set up” by God himself,not by human “hands.” Hence, it is rightlycalled God’s Kingdom.

2. God’s Kingdom “will crush” all humanrulerships, including the seventh world pow-er. Why? All these will refuse to relinquishpower and will face off against God in a finalgreat war at a figurative place called Har–Magedon, or Armageddon. The Bible makesclear that this war involves “the kings of theentire inhabited earth.”—Revelation 16:13,14, 16.� For more information about God’s heavenly Kingdom, see

chapters 8 and 9 of the book What Does the Bible Really Teach?published by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Babylon

Medo-Persia

Greece

Rome

Britain and the United States

3. Unlike transitory human governments,including the seven world powers, God’sKingdom “will never be brought to ruin.”Also, it will rule over the entire earth.—Dan-iel 2:35, 44.

The final destruction of God’s opposerswill be a spectacular fulfillment of the proph-ecy at Genesis 3:15, mentioned in the firstarticle in this series. The Seed of the wom-an, Jesus Christ, would crush the symbolicserpent, Satan, and his seed. (Galatians 3:16)Satan’s seed includes all humans who adopthis wicked ways and who promote humanself-determination as opposed to rule by Godand Christ.—Psalm 2:7-12.

This brings us to a very important ques-tion: When will that final destruction oc-cur? Yes, when will the “stone”—God’sKingdom—remove every trace of human rul-ership? The Bible answers that question byway of a “sign” that would identify the lastdays.—Matthew 24:3.

Recognize “the Sign”!

The sign of the end includes global war,“great earthquakes,” “pestilences,” and ma-jor “food shortages.” (Luke 21:10, 11; Mat-thew 24:7, 8; Mark 13:8) Also marking the“last days” would be a serious moral and spir-itual breakdown in society. (2 Timothy 3:1-5) Have “all these things” occurred? (Mat-thew 24:8) Yes—to the point that many peo-ple fear the future. The newspaper The Globeand Mail stated: “Some of the most respectedthinkers about science and society are issu-ing alarming prognostications about human-ity coming to an end.”

In one very important respect, however,those prognostications are wrong—humani-ty itself will not end. In fact, the interven-tion by God’s Kingdom guarantees it! Whengiving the sign of the end, Jesus Christ stat-ed: “This good news of the kingdom will bepreached in all the inhabited earth for a wit-ness to all the nations; and then the end will

come.” (Matthew 24:14) How has this proph-ecy unfolded?

In over 230 lands, Jehovah’s Witness-es are proclaiming the Kingdom of God.Indeed, the title of their primary journal isThe Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s King-dom—Jehovah being God’s personal name.(Psalm 83:18) The Witnesses’ program of Bi-ble education is helping countless individu-als and families to replace harmful lifestyleswith clean and peaceful conduct that con-forms to God’s standards. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) As a result, millions of people world-wide are confident that they will gain God’sprotection when his Kingdom intervenes inmankind’s affairs.

Indeed, they will see with their own eyesthe fulfillment of Christ’s model prayer,sometimes called the Lord’s Prayer, whichstates, in part: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will

At a joint press conference withPrime Minister David Cameron of theUnited Kingdom, President BarackObama of the United States affirmedin July 2010: “We can never say itenough. The United States and theUnited Kingdom enjoy a truly specialrelationship. We celebrate a com-mon heritage. We cherish commonvalues. . . . Above all, our alliancethrives because it advances ourcommon interests. . . . When theUnited States and the United King-dom stand together, our people—andpeople around the world—are moresecure and they are more prosper-ous. In short, the United States hasno closer ally and no stronger partnerthan Great Britain.”

A NOTEWORTHY ALLIANCE

18 Awake! May 2011

be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Mat-thew 6:10, King James Version) Have youwondered what life on earth will be like whenall humans love and obey God? The follow-ing Bible passages may help you to under-stand why the expression “good news” is fit-ting.

When God’s Will Is Done on Earth . . .

˘ There will be genuine peace, not just the

absence of war. “Jehovah . . . is making warsto cease to the extremity of the earth. Thebow he breaks apart and does cut the spearin pieces; the wagons he burns in the fire.”(Psalm 46:8, 9) “The meek ones themselveswill possess the earth, and they will indeedfind their exquisite delight in the abundanceof peace.”—Psalm 37:11.

˘ All will have an abundance of food.

“There will come to be plenty of grain on theearth; on the top of the mountains there willbe an overflow.”—Psalm 72:16.

˘ Perfect health will prevail. “No residentwill say: ‘I am sick.’ ”—Isaiah 33:24.

˘ Everyone will have a comfortable home.

“They will certainly build houses and haveoccupancy; and they will certainly plant vine-yards and eat their fruitage. They will notbuild and someone else have occupancy;they will not plant and someone else do theeating.”—Isaiah 65:21, 22.

˘ All forms of suffering will end. “The tentof God is with mankind, . . . and he will wipeout every tear from their eyes, and death willbe no more, neither will mourning nor outcrynor pain be anymore. The former things havepassed away.”—Revelation 21:3, 4.

Do those promises appeal to you? If so, Je-hovah’s Witnesses encourage you to look fur-ther into the Bible. Indeed, by doing so youwill see even more evidence that man’s crueldomination of his fellow man is about to end.You will also see that the Bible is deservingof your full trust, that it truly is inspired byGod.—2 Timothy 3:16.�� To learn more about the Bible, feel free to contact Jeho-

vah’s Witnesses locally, write to the appropriate address listedon page 5, or visit our Web site www.watchtower.org.

The Bible promises that genuine peace willprevail under the rule of God’s Kingdom

˘ “There exists gold, also an abundance of corals;but the lips of knowledge are precious vessels,”wrote King Solomon of old. (Proverbs 20:15) Goldhas always been highly valued, and in Solomon’sday, corals too were prized. Yet, our lips can beeven more precious than these. How? Not becauseof their physical appearance, but because of thethoughts they express.

Precious lips radiate goodness, kindness, andlove. And as “lips of knowledge,” they speak thetruth about God as recorded in the Bible. Yes, thisancient book is filled with wisdom and truth aboutour Creator, as well as excellent advice for life.—John 17:17.

Sadly, many people misuse their lips by sayingthings about God that are untrue. For example,some blame him for the injustice and suffering inthe world, much of which is mankind’s own doing.In this regard, Proverbs 19:3 states: “Some peopleruin themselves by their own stupid actions andthen blame the Lord.”—Today’s English Version.

Others cheapen the value of their lips throughinsincere speech, hurtful gossip, or even slander.Using powerful imagery, Proverbs 26:23 reads:“As a silver glazing overlaid upon a fragment ofearthenware are fervent lips along with a badheart.” Like “silver glazing” that conceals theunderlying earthenware, “fervent lips,” which con-vey strong feelings and even sincerity, may in factconceal “a bad heart.”—Proverbs 26:24-26.

Of course, such badness is not hidden from God.He sees what we really are! Accordingly, JesusChrist said: “Cleanse first the inside of the cup andof the dish, that the outside of it also may becomeclean.” (Matthew 23:26) How true! Moreover, inter-nal cleanness, or purity, along with a heart filledwith spiritual truth, will be reflected in our words.The result? Our lips will be “precious vessels,”especially in the eyes of God.

ARE YOUR LIPS

“PRECIOUS VESSELS”?

The lips of the wise are“precious vessels”

20 Awake! May 2011

JESUS spoke those words just a few days be-fore he was brutally killed. On the night

before his death, he said to his faithful apos-tles: “If they have persecuted me, they willpersecute you also.” (John 15:20, 21) But whywould people hate those who obey Jesus andtry to be like him? After all, he expended him-self in behalf of others, comforting the poorand giving hope to the downtrodden.

The Bible reveals specific reasons for thathatred. When we examine these, we see whypeople today who follow Christ face much ofthe same opposition that he did.

Opposers May Act in Ignorance

Jesus said to his followers: “The hour iscoming when everyone that kills you willimagine he has rendered a sacred service toGod. But they will do these things becausethey have not come to know either the Fatheror me.” (John 16:2, 3) To be sure, many per-secutors professed to serve the same God Je-sus served, but they were influenced by falsereligious beliefs and traditions. Yes, they had“a zeal for God; but not according to accurateknowledge.” (Romans 10:2) One such oppos-er was Saul of Tarsus, who later became theChristian apostle Paul.

Saul belonged to a group known as thePharisees, a politically powerful and influen-tial Jewish sect that opposed Christianity. “Iwas a blasphemer and a persecutor and aninsolent man,” Saul later acknowledged. Healso said: “I was ignorant and acted with a

lack of faith.” (1 Timothy 1:12, 13) However,once he learned the truth about God and HisSon, he immediately changed his ways.

The same has happened to many formerpersecutors today. What is more, some ofthese, like Saul, have become objects of per-secution themselves. Nevertheless, they havenot returned evil for evil but have followed Je-sus’ exhortation: “Continue to love your ene-mies and to pray for those persecuting you.”(Matthew 5:44) Jehovah’s Witnesses strive toapply those words, hopeful that at least someopposers will have a change of heart, as Sauldid.

Some Opposers Are Envious

Many who opposed Jesus did so out ofenvy. Indeed, Roman governor Pontius Pilate“was aware that because of envy the chiefpriests had handed [Jesus] over” to be im-paled. (Mark 15:9, 10) Why were the Jewishreligious leaders envious of Christ? One fac-tor was his popularity with the common peo-ple, whom the former looked down on. “Theworld has gone after him,” the Pharisees com-plained. (John 12:19) Likewise, when peo-ple later responded positively to the minis-try of Christ’s followers, religious opposersonce again became “filled with jealousy”and lashed out at the Christian evangelizers.—Acts 13:45, 50.

Other enemies resented the good conductof God’s servants. To fellow Christians, theapostle Peter said: “Because you do not con-

THEBIBLE’SVIEWPOINT

Why Are Jesus’ TrueFollowers Hated?

“People will deliver you up to tribulation and will kill you, and you

will be objects of hatred by all the nations on account of my name.”

—MATTHEW 24:9.

Awake! May 2011 21

tinue running with them [the wicked] in thiscourse to the same low sink of debauchery,they are puzzled and go on speaking abusive-ly of you.” (1 Peter 4:4) The same negativeattitude can be seen today. Of course, trueChristians, while avoiding bad conduct, donot display a self-righteous, superior attitude.That, in fact, would be unchristian, for all hu-mans are sinners and in need of God’s mercy.—Romans 3:23.

Hated for Being “No Part of the World”

“Do not be loving either the world or thethings in the world,” the Bible says. (1 John 2:15) Towhich world was the apostle John refer-ring? The world of mankind estranged fromGod and in submission to Satan. He is “thegod of this world.”—2 Corinthians 4:4, TheNew Testament in Modern English; 1 John 5:19.

Sadly, some who love the world and its badways oppose those who try to live by Bibleteachings. Hence, Jesus said to his apostles:“If you were part of the world, the worldwould be fond of what is its own. Now be-cause you are no part of the world, but I havechosen you out of the world, on this accountthe world hates you.”—John 15:19.

How sad that people hate Jehovah’s ser-vants for not embracing a world that is rid-

dled with corruption, injustice, and violenceand that is ruled by Satan! Many sincere peo-ple want to make the world a better place,but they are no match for its unseen ruler.Only Jehovah God can get rid of Satan—andhe will, by utterly destroying him, as if by fire!—Revelation 20:10, 14.

That wonderful prospect is a key elementin the precious “good news of the kingdom”proclaimed worldwide by Jehovah’s Witness-es. (Matthew 24:14) Yes, the Witnesses areconvinced that only God’s Kingdom, his gov-ernment by Christ, will bring lasting peaceand happiness to the earth. (Matthew 6:9,10) Hence, they will continue to proclaimthat Kingdom, viewing God’s approval as farmore important than that of men.

HAVE YOU WONDERED?

˘ Why did Saul of Tarsus oppose Christ’sfollowers?—1 Timothy 1:12, 13.

˘ Some of Jesus’ enemies were motivatedby what bad attitude?—Mark 15:9, 10.

˘ How do true Christians view the world?—1 John 2:15.

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In 1945, Jehovah’s Witnesses experienced mob violence in Quebec, Canada,for preaching the good news of God’s Kingdom

22 Awake! May 2011

FROM the 17th to the 19th century, the cityof Ouidah served as a major slave-trading

post in West Africa. Located in what is nowthe Republic of Benin, Ouidah witnessed theexport of more than a million slaves. Often,Africans supplied fellow Africans as humancargo in exchange for such items as alcohol,cloth, bracelets, knives, swords, and especial-ly guns, which were in high demand becauseof intertribal warfare.

Between the 16th and the 19th centuries,an estimated 12 million Africans wereshipped across the Atlantic to satisfy the de-mand for slave labor in the plantations andmines of the New World. About 85 percentof the slaves, says the book American Slav-ery—1619-1877, “went to Brazil and the variousCaribbean colonies of the British, French,Spanish, and Dutch.”An estimated 6 percent

went to the colonies that would later becomepart of the United States.�

At the start of their journey, many of theslaves—chained, beaten, and branded—walkedthe two-and-a-half-mile (4 km) route that nowgoes from the Ouidah Museum of History,a reconstructed fortress, to what is calledthe Door of No Return, which stands on thebeach. The door marks the end of the SlaveRoute. It is more symbolic than literal, for theslaves did not all depart from the same spot.Why did slavery become so popular?

A Long, Ugly History

In very early times, African rulers sold warcaptives to Arab traders. Later, Europeanpowers entered the slave trade, especially af-ter establishing colonies in the Americas. Atthat time, intertribal warfare and the result-ing captives provided an abundance of slaves,making war a lucrative enterprise for both thevictors and the greedy slave traders. In ad-dition, slaves were acquired through kidnap-ping or from African traders who brought� From its relatively small beginnings, the slave population

in the United States expanded, largely because of natural pop-ulation growth as slaves had their own children.

A WALK ALONG THE

SLAVE ROUTEBENIN

Ouidah

S l a v e C o a s t

A F R I CA Approximately 12 millionAfricans were shippedacross the Atlantic forslave labor

Built in 1721, this Portuguese fort nowserves as the Ouidah Museum of History

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them from the interior. Nearly anyone couldbe sold as a slave, even a prince who had fall-en out of his king’s good graces.

Awell-known dealer was Brazilian Francis-co Felix de Souza. In 1788, De Souza tookcommand of the fortress that was the hub ofthe Ouidah slave market in the Bight of Be-nin. At the time, Ouidah was under the King-dom of Dahomey. However, De Souza andDahoman King Adandozan had a falling out.So De Souza, perhaps while in prison, con-spired with the king’s brother, and togetherthey ousted the ruler in 1818. Thus began alucrative relationship between the new king,Ghezo, and De Souza, who was placed incharge of the slave trade.�

Ghezo was intent on expanding his king-dom and needed European weapons to do it.Hence, he appointed De Souza as viceroy ofOuidah to help administer trade with the Eu-ropeans. With exclusive rights over the sale ofslaves in that part of Africa, De Souza soonamassed a fortune, and the slave market, situ-ated near his house, became a hub for foreignand local buyers.� “Ghezo” is spelled in various ways.

A Walk Wet With Tears

For the modern-day visitor, a tour of theOuidah Slave Route begins at the recon-structed Portuguese fort. Originally builtin 1721, the fort now serves as the afore-mentioned museum. Captives destined tobe slaves were confined in the large centralcourtyard. Most had walked, chained togeth-er, for many nights before their arrival. Whynights? Darkness helped to keep them dis-oriented and made it harder for escapees toreturn home.

When a group of slaves arrived, an auc-tion was held, after which traders brandedtheir acquisitions. Slaves consigned for ex-port were taken to the beach, where canoes orsmall boats ferried them to ships.

Another point on the historical SlaveRoute is the former site of the Tree of Forget-fulness. Today a memorial stands in place ofthe tree around which the slaves were forcedto walk—males allegedly nine times and fe-males seven. This exercise, they were told,would clear their memory of their homeland,making them less inclined to rebel.

The route also features a monument thatmemorializes the Zomaı huts, which no lon-ger exist. Zomaı refers to the constant

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The Door of No Return—a memorial that symbolizesthe slaves’ final moments on African soil

A statue of a slavebound and gagged

24 Awake! May 2011

darkness inside the huts, which got thecrammed captives used to the wretched con-ditions they would encounter aboard theships. Indeed, they may have been held in thehuts for months while awaiting transporta-tion. Those who died during the ordeal werethrown into a mass grave.

A monument called Zomachi, which sym-bolizes repentance and reconciliation, is es-pecially poignant. There, every January, de-scendants of both slaves and slave merchantsrequest forgiveness for those who perpetratedthe injustices.

The last stop along the tour route is theDoor of No Return—a memorial that symbol-izes the slaves’ final moments on African soil.This large, arched entrance features bas-relieffriezes of two rows of chained Africans con-

verging on the nearby beach, with the Atlan-tic in front of them. At this point, some des-perate captives are said to have eaten sandso as to remember their native land. Otherschose death, strangling themselves with theirown chains.

Emancipation!

Beginning in the early 1800’s, efforts toabolish slavery mounted. The last boatload ofslaves sent from Ouidah to the United Statesarrived in Mobile, Alabama, in July 1860.Their servitude, however, was short-lived,for the U.S. government issued the Emanci-pation Proclamation in 1863. Slavery finallycame to an end in the Western Hemisphere in1888 when Brazil abolished the practice.�

A most visible legacy of the slave trade isthe vast African diaspora, which has signif-icantly influenced the demographics and cul-ture of many lands in the Americas. Anotherlegacy is the spread of voodoo, a form of re-ligion involving magic and spells that is es-pecially popular in Haiti. “The term voodoo,”says Encyclopædia Britannica, “is derivedfrom the word vodun, which denotes a god, orspirit, in the language of the Fon people of Be-nin (formerly Dahomey).”

Sadly, harsh forms of slavery continue to-day, although not always in a literal sense.Millions, for example, slave to survive un-der harsh economic conditions. Others strug-gle under oppressive political regimes. (Ec-clesiastes 8:9) And millions are held captiveby false religious teachings and superstitions.Can human governments emancipate theirsubjects from those forms of slavery? No.Only Jehovah God can do that, and he will!Indeed, his written Word, the Bible, promisesthat all who turn to Jehovah by worshippinghim in harmony with Bible truth—the truththat sets men free—will one day enjoy “theglorious freedom of the children of God.”—Romans 8:21; John 8:32.� The Bible’s view of slavery is discussed in the article “The

Bible’s Viewpoint: Did God Condone the Slave Trade?” in theSeptember 8, 2001, issue of Awake!

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Many believe that the slave traders ob-tained their quarry by raiding villages andkidnapping whomever they wanted. Whilethis may have happened, slavers likelywould not have taken away many millionsof people “without the cooperation of ahuge network of African rulers and mer-chants,” said professor of African historyDr. Robert Harms in a radio interview. Howtrue that “man has dominated man to hisinjury”!—Ecclesiastes 8:9.

“MAN HAS DOMINATED MANTO HIS INJURY”

˘ Researchers describe the sea turtle’smigration from its feeding ground to itsnesting beach as “one of the most remark-able acts in the animal kingdom.” Fordecades, this reptile has intrigued them.

Consider: Every two to four years, thefemale turtle comes ashore to lay her eggs—numbering about a hundred in a singlenest—and conceal them in the sand. Oncehatched, the baby turtles make their wayto the ocean. They then embark on anamazing journey that, all told, may cover adistance of some 8,000 miles (12,900 km).Years later, the female turtles, now mature,return to lay their own eggs—at the samestretch of beach where they were hatched!

How do sea turtles navigate? “It seemsthey inherited some sort of magnetic map,”says biologist Kenneth Lohmann of theUniversity of North Carolina in the UnitedStates, quoted in National GeographicNews. Research indicates that the turtlemay determine its position by detecting theangle and intensity of the earth’s magneticfield. This amazing ability enables thesetiny, defenseless hatchlings to embark ontheir 8,000-mile (12,900-km) migrationaround the Atlantic, “and they do it alonewithout following other turtles,” says Loh-mann.

What do you think? Did the navigatingability of the sea turtle come about bychance, or was it designed?

WAS IT DESIGNED?

The NavigationSystem of

the Sea Turtle

FAST FACTS

˘ After laying and concealing hereggs, the female turtle abandonsthe nest.

˘ To break out of its shell, the hatch-ling uses a special tooth calleda caruncle, which then falls off.

˘ Sea turtles spend 90 percent oftheir life in the ocean.

� Masa Ushioda/WaterF/age fotostock

26 Awake! May 2011

DO FEELINGS of inadequacy preventyou from taking on new challenges? Do

the well-meaning comments of those yourespect sometimes undermine your confi-dence? Does discouragement over past blun-ders hold you back from trying again? If so,how can you come to terms with your failures—real or perceived?

You have everything to gain by finding theanswer to that last question because soon-er or later everyone fails at something. (Ro-mans 3:23) But people who can deal with fail-ures are resilient. That means they can puttheir mistakes in perspective, get up, and tryagain. And next time, they’re more likely tosucceed! So let’s see how you can cope withthree challenges—potential failure, perceivedfailure, and actual failure.POTENTIAL FAILURE @ WHAT COULDHAPPEN You expect the worst and thereforehold back from making an attempt, thinkingthat your chances of success are slim.

Identify the challenge. Below, put a Inext to the task that you would like to succeed

in—but feel certain that you would fail at ifyou tried.

M Defending your beliefs before classmatesM Applying for a jobM Speaking before an audienceM Participating in a sportM Singing or playing a musical instrumentM Other ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

Think it through. Consider the task thatyou identified above, and weigh the possibleoutcomes by answering these questions:

‘What would I like to have happen?’˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

‘What do I fear will happen?’˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

Now write one reason why you should at-tempt the task, despite the risk of failure.˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

Bible example. When Moses was commis-sioned by Jehovah God to lead the nation ofIsrael, his first reaction was to think of whatcould go wrong. “Suppose everyone refus-es to listen to my message?” he asked God.Then he started to dwell on his faults. “I have

YOUNGPEOPLEASK

Am I a failure?

“I used to feel inferior to a friendof mine. Everything was so easyfor her—she never seemed to workfor any of it! It made me wonder justwhat in the world was the matterwith me. I can be my own worstenemy.”—Annette.�

� Name has been changed.

Awake! May 2011 27

WHAT YOUR PEERS SAY

“ If you do onlythings that you’regood at—if you nevertry new things forfear of failing—thenyou’re cheating your-self.

”“You can learnfrom failure and bemotivated to improve,or you can focus onwhat went wrong andstay within your com-fort zone. It dependson what kind of per-son you choose tobe.

”“ If I know I’mlikely to fail at some-thing, I make light ofthe situation. It’s bet-ter to laugh than tosulk. If your expecta-tions for yourself aretoo high, you’ll neverbe happy.

”

Andrea

Trenton

Naomi

never been a good speaker,” he said. “I cannever think of what to say.” Even after Jeho-vah promised to help him, Moses pleaded:“Please send someone else to do it.” (Exodus4:1, 10, 13, Contemporary English Version) Mo-ses finally accepted his assignment, and therest is history. Under God’s direction, Mosesled the people of Israel for 40 years.

What you can do. King Solomon wrote:“All that your hand finds to do, do with yourvery power.” (Ecclesiastes 9:10) So insteadof letting fear of failure immobilize you, putyour heart into the task. Why not think of anoccasion on which you did better than youexpected? What lesson did you learn aboutyourself from your success? How can that les-son help you conquer any fear of failure youmay be experiencing now?

Hint: If necessary, get input from a parentor a mature friend who can help you build upyour self-confidence.�PERCEIVED FAILURE @ WHAT YOU THINKHAS HAPPENED When another personsucceeds at some endeavor, you feel thatyou’re a failure by comparison.

Identify the challenge. To whom are youcomparing yourself, and what achievementon that person’s part made you feel as if youwere a failure?˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

Think it through. Does that person’s suc-cess really mean that you’ve failed? Below,write about a recent event, such as a test atschool, where you did OK but someone elsedid better.˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

Now write about why it was worth attempt-ing the endeavor.˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

� For more information, see Awake! of May 2010, pag-es 26-28.

Bible example. Cain was “hot with an-ger” when it became evident that Jehovahlooked with favor on his brother Abel. Jeho-vah warned Cain about his jealousy, but healso expressed confidence that Cain could

28 Awake! May 2011

succeed if he chose to. “If you turn to doinggood,” Jehovah said to him, “will there not bean exaltation?”�—Genesis 4:6, 7.

What you can do. Instead of “stirringup competition”—even if it is just in yourmind—acknowledge the accomplishments ofothers. (Galatians 5:26; Romans 12:15) Atthe same time, without becoming boastful,recognize your own unique abilities. The Bi-ble states: “Let each one prove what his ownwork is, and then he will have cause for exulta-tion in regard to himself alone.”—Galatians 6:4.ACTUAL FAILURE @ WHAT HAS HAPPENEDYou reflect on a previous failure and feelthat success is not worth the effort.

Identify the challenge. Which personalfailing do you find most discouraging?˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

Think it through. Does the failing youwrote above truly define you? For example, ifyou have given in to some weakness, does thatreally mean you’re hopeless? Or is it merelyan indication that you need assistance? If youfell while engaging in a sport, you’d accept ahelping hand to get back in the game. Whynot take the same approach to coping with� Cain chose to disregard Jehovah’s admonition. His down-

fall underscores the need for you to curb any tendencies to-ward jealousy that might arise over another person’s success.—Philippians 2:3.

a personal failing? Write below the name ofa person you could talk to about your prob-lem.�˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

Bible example. At times, the apostle Paulfelt discouraged over his weaknesses. “Whata miserable person I am,” he wrote. (Romans7:24, CEV) Evidently, though, Paul realizedthat his imperfections did not define him. Hewrote: “I have fought the fine fight, I have runthe course to the finish, I have observed thefaith.”—2 Timothy 4:7.

What you can do. Instead of focusing onlyon your faults, reflect on your good points aswell. Jehovah certainly does. The Bible states:“God is not unrighteous so as to forget yourwork and the love you showed for his name.”—Hebrews 6:10; Psalm 110:3.

Remember this: No one is perfect. Every-one fails at something, sometime. If you canlearn to be resilient, you will have acquired avital asset that will serve you well in adult-hood. Proverbs 24:16 states: “The righteousone may fall even seven times, and he will cer-tainly get up.” That’s the sort of person youcan be!� A Christian who has committed a serious error will bene-

fit by talking to a congregation elder.—James 5:14, 16.

WHY NOT ASK YOUR PARENTS?

When you were my age, what personaldisappointments did you encounter? Howdid you cope with them? Do you still facesuch challenges from time to time?

˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

More articles from the “Young People Ask”series can be found at the Web sitewww.watchtower.org/ype

After a fall, the resilientperson gets up—with help

if necessary

Importing Asian Brides“Asian men from rich countries such as Ja-

pan and South Korea are increasingly seek-ing brides from poorer [Asian countries] likeVietnam and the Philippines,” says the on-line Philippine newspaper BusinessWorld. Be-tween 1995 and 2006, the number of Japa-nese men marrying foreign women increasedby 73 percent. Why? “Economically liberat-ed local women get picky,” says the report,and are more reluctant to wed. Women frompoorer countries, on the other hand, are will-ing to wed even working-class men in richernations, because they “offer hope of a betterlife.”

Perfecting Infidelity?A controversial online dating site operat-

ing in five countries promotes its serviceswith the slogan: “Life is short. Have an affair.”According to its founder, the service does notmake people more likely to be unfaithful totheir partners, since those who turn to it have“already reached that decision.” “Most ofthe problems associated with infidelity comebecause people get caught. We allow people

who want to have affairs to do so discreet-ly,” he asserts. “We did not invent infidelity—we just perfected it.” The service currentlyboasts some 6.4 million members.

Born to Dance?“Humans have a unique ability to coordinate

their motor movements to an external auditorystimulus, as in music-induced foot tapping ordancing,” says a report published by research-ers from the universities of York, England,and Jyvaskyla, Finland. The researchersfound that even before infants learned tospeak, they responded to the rhythm of mu-sic and spontaneously tried to move in timewith the beat. The more successful their at-tempts, the longer they smiled. This sug-gests that the sense of rhythm and a desire tomove with music are not something we pickup but something that comes naturally.

WATCHING THE WORLD

“Women living in poor countriesare 300 times more likely to die duringpregnancy or childbirth than if they livedin rich countries.”—BUSINESSWORLD, PHILIPPINES.

According to a survey in Germany, 40 per-cent of 11- to 15-year-olds theredo not know that the sun rises inthe east; 60 percent do not know thatthe period between successive full moonsis four weeks.—WELT ONLINE, GERMANY.

Archaeologists have found aPhilistine temple in ancient Gath.The structure, anchored on two centralcolumns, is reminiscent of the Biblicalaccount of Samson, who braced himselfagainst such pillars, causing the templeto collapse.—THE JERUSALEM POST, ISRAEL.

FOR FAMILY REVIEW

What Is Missing FromThis Picture?Read Genesis 13:5-17. Now look at thepicture. What features are missing? Writeyour answers on the lines below. Connectthe dots to complete the picture, then colorin the drawing.

1 ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝ ˝

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˘ “FOR FAMILY REVIEW” answers on page 11

FOR DISCUSSION: What disagreement arosebetween Lot and Abraham and the herders of theirlivestock? Despite his own rights, how did Abrahammake peace? CLUE: Read Genesis 13:7-9. Did Abra-ham hold on to any ill feeling he may have hadtoward Lot? CLUE: Read Genesis 14:12-16. How wasAbraham rewarded for his godly qualities? CLUE:Read Genesis 13:14-17. How can you show that youare a peacemaker? CLUE: Read 1 Corinthians 13:4, 5;James 3:13-18.

FAMILY ACTIVITY: Without speaking, one familymember could act out the part of one of the charactersin the above Bible account. The rest of the familyshould try to guess the identity of that character.

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PROFILE A faithful man who left behindthe prosperous city of Ur in order to carryout Jehovah’s will, despite not knowingwhere he would live. (Hebrews 11:8-10)He constantly taught his household to“keep Jehovah’s way to do righteous-ness.” (Genesis 18:19) The Bible callshim “the father of all those having faith.”—Romans 4:11.

QUESTIONS

A. How old was Abraham when his sonIsaac was born?

B. What promise did Jehovah giveto Abraham?

C. Fill in the blank. Because of his greatfaith and works, Abraham came to becalled ��������������.

ANSWERS

A. A hundred years old.—Genesis 21:5.

B. By means of his seed all nationswill certainly bless themselves.—Genesis 22:16-18.

C. “Jehovah’s friend.”—James 2:21-24.

Peoples and Lands3. Our names are Rahela and Andrei. We are bothseven years old, and we live in Romania. About howmany of Jehovah’s Witnesses live in Romania? Is it38,600, 68,300, or 83,600?

4. Which dot shows where we live? Circle it, drawa dot where you live, and see how close you are toRomania.

Children’sPicture SearchCan you find these pictures inthis issue? In your own words,describe what is happening ineach picture.

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˘ From outer space, planet Earth looks like a beautiful blue-

and-white jewel. But closer inspection reveals that our home is

in trouble. Why? The answer is simple: Humans have been poor

tenants. What is more, they are ruining the earth not only literally

by means of pollution, deforestation, and exploitation but also

morally and spiritually through violence, bloodshed, and sexual

immorality.

This sad state of affairs was foretold some two thousand years

ago in amazing prophecies recorded in the Bible. (2 Timothy 3:1-5;

Revelation 11:18) The Bible also foretold that God—not any

human—will fully correct matters. These important topics will

be developed in the public talk “Will Humans Ruin This Earth?”

The discourse will be delivered at the “Let God’s Kingdom Come!”

District Conventions of Jehovah’s Witnesses, beginning in May

in the United States and continuing around the world.

You are cordially invited to attend the convention nearest you. For

specific details, please contact Jehovah’s Witnesses in your area or

write to the publishers of this magazine. The Web site www.jw.org

lists the convention locations in Canada and the United States.

“WILL HUMANSRUIN THIS EARTH?”

www.watchtower.org g11 05-E