Professional Documents
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VIEWPOINTS ON THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
wind.Ecclesiastes 4:6.
Monica Richardson:
This issue of Awake! provides A Physician Explains Her Faith
practical suggestions on making What she learned about the miracle of
wise use of our time, which in- childbirth changed her view on the origin
cludes setting practical priorities.
r of life.
(Look under PUBLICATIONS VIDEOS, in the category
Interviews and Experiences)
Vol. 98, No. 4 / ENGLISH Produced Each Issue: 60,240,000. Available in 117 Languages
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Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the modern-language New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
to one of the addresses below.
Awake! (ISSN 0005-237X) Issue 4 August 2017 is published bimonthly by Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.; JEHOVAHS WITNESSES: UNITED STATES: 1000 Red Mills
L. Weaver, Jr., President; G. F. Simonis, Secretary-Treasurer; 1000 Red Mills Road, Wallkill, NY 12589-3299, and by Watch Tower Bible Road, Wallkill, NY 12589-3299. CANADA: PO Box 4100,
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5 2017 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. Printed in Canada.
COVER SUBJECT
IN A 2015 survey of full-time workers spondents said that they often felt rushed
in eight countries, many respondents said even in their leisure time! Children too can
that they nd it hard to meet the demands be aected if overloaded with tightly
of both their work and their homelife. scheduled activities.
Causes included increased responsibilities When we constantly try to do more than
at work or at home, rising expenses, and time may allow, we can become stressed
longer working hours. In the United victims of what has been termed time
States, for example, full-time employees pressure. But is it possible to live a more
report working an average of 47 hours balanced life? What role do our beliefs,
a week. Nearly 1 in 5 claimed to work choices, and goals play? First, consider
60 hours or more! four reasons why some try to do too
In another survey, this one involving much.
36 countries, over one quarter of the re-
up boundaries between the job and home parents. So avoid trying to match the pace
or take vacations nd one consistent reve- of other families who are constantly on the
lation: There is no apocalypse while youre go. Declare some downtime, Gary suggests,
gone. and drop things that have a lower priority.
Gary, quoted earlier, was nancially When your family is together, do not let
comfortable, so he decided to reduce his television, cell phones, or other devices iso-
working hours. I talked with my family late you from one another. Share at least one
and suggested that we simplify our life- meal together each day, and use mealtimes to
style, he said. Then we gradually took talk as a family. When parents heed that sim-
steps to do so. I also approached my em- ple advice, their children enjoy greater well-
ployer with a proposal to work fewer days being and do better at school.
each week, and he agreed. In conclusion, ask yourself: What do I
want out of life? What do I want for my fami-
ly? If you desire a happier and more mean-
MAKE FAMILY TIME
4 A HIGH PRIORITY
ingful life, set priorities that reect the proven
wisdom found in the Bible.
Husbands and wives need to spend time
together, and children need time with their
Carsten Egevang/ARC-PIC.com
IT WAS long believed that arctic terns ew As shown in the illustration, a common Atlan-
about 22,000 miles (35,200 km) on their jour- tic Ocean route took an S shape. The reason?
ney from the Arctic region to Antarctica and The birds simply take advantage of prevailing
back. Recent studies, however, revealed that wind systems.
the birds actually y much farther. During their lifetime of about 30 years,
Tiny instruments called geolocators were terns may travel well over 1.5 million miles
attached to a number of birds. About the (2.4 million km). That is equal to three or
weight of a paper clip, these amazing devices four round-trips to the moon! This is a
revealed that some terns ew an average of mind-boggling achievement for a bird of just
56,000 miles (90,000 km) on the round-trip over 100 grams [3.5 ounces], said a re-
the longest animal migration known. One searcher. What is more, because arctic terns
bird ew nearly 60,000 miles (96,000 km)! experience the summers at both poles, they
Why the revised estimates? see more daylight each year than any other
No matter where they began their migra- creature, states the book Life on Earth:
tion, the arctic terns ew an indirect route. A Natural History.
A good name, or reputation,
earns trust and respect
When the
Children
Are Gone
Find new things to do together. Talk about goals We came to realize that we now
you would like to pursue together or interests you would had more time and that we needed
to take full advantage of it. So we
like to explore as a couple. Having raised children, you decided to reach out to more peo-
have gained much practical wisdom. Why not use that to plefamilies with children as well
help others?Bible principle: Job 12:12. as young couples. We love helping
others and sharing our experience
Rearm your commitment. Think about the qualities with them.
that attracted you to each other. As a couple, think back
on the history you have shared and the storms you have
weathered. In the end, this new chapter in your life can
be a good one. In fact, with cooperative eort you now
have the opportunity to improve the quality of your mar-
riage and rekindle the love that brought you together in
the rst place.
1 If you are still raising children, remember that you are one esh with
CARLO AND CATERINA
your spouse. (Mark 10:8) Children feel especially secure when they see that their
parents relationship is a solid one.
It took time to accept the idea that
our life had changed. For years we
talked mainly about the children.
Now, when doing things together,
we have gradually become accus-
tomed to talking about ourselves
and our interests.
A Brain
Pathologist
Explains His Faith
PROFESSOR Rajesh Kalaria, of
Newcastle University, England,
has studied the human brain for
more than 40 years. He used to
believe in evolution. But later, he
changed his views. Awake! asked
him about his work and faith.
Please tell us about your ing and camping with my and traditions, such as the
religious background. friends to see the spectacular worship of animals and
My father was born in India, wildlife. My initial goal was to images.
and my mother, although of In- be a veterinary surgeon. But
after graduating from a techni- Why did you accept the
dian origin, was born in Ugan-
cal college in Nairobi, I went to teaching of evolution?
da. Their lives were largely gov-
erned by Hindu customs. I am England to study pathology at In my younger years, many
the second of three children. the University of London. Lat- people around me held the
We lived in Nairobi, Kenya. er, I specialized in research view that human evolution be-
Many other Hindu people lived into the human brain. gan in Africa, and we often dis-
nearby. cussed this idea at school.
Did your studies aect Also, the teachers and univer-
What stimulated your your religious beliefs? sity professors gave us stu-
interest in science? Yes. The more I studied dents the impression that all
I was always interested in science, the harder I found it respected scientists believe in
animals, and I often went hik- to believe in Hindu mythology evolution.
In time you reconsidered from both inside and outside instructions, growing bers
the question of the origin of the body. would soon get lost. The
life. Why? Our brain functions the way whole process is brilliantly
I had been studying biology it does largely because of its orchestrated, starting with
and anatomy for some years complex chemistry and intri- the instructions written in
when a fellow student told me cate networks of neurons, the our DNA.
what he was learning about the primary brain cells. The hu- That said, we are far from
Bible from Jehovahs Witness- man brain has many billions understanding fully how the
es. I became curious. So when of neurons, which communi- brain develops and functions,
the Witnesses held an assem- cate with one another through including how it forms memo-
bly at our college hall in Nai- long bers called axons. From ries, emotions, and thoughts.
robi, I attended. Later, two these, a single neuron may For me, just the fact that
Witness missionaries explained make many thousands of con- the brain worksnot to men-
some Bible teachings to me. nections with other neurons by tion how well it works and
Their belief in a Grand Design- way of branching bers called how beautifully it develops
er who has the answers to lifes dendrites. As a result, the total points to a mind far superior
big questions did not sound number of connections in the to our own.
like mythology. It appealed to brain is astronomical! What is
more, this dense forest of Why did you become one
me as being reasonable.
neurons and dendrites is, not of Jehovahs Witnesses?
Did your medical knowledge chaotic, but precise. It is an The Witnesses showed me
hinder your belief in creation? amazing feat of wiring. evidence that the Bible is Gods
On the contrary! As I Word. For example, the Bible
Please explain. is not a science book, but
studied anatomy, I saw how
well-designed and complex liv- The wiring progresses in a when it touches on scientic
ing things are. To attribute most orderly way during a ba- matters, it is consistently cor-
such a high level of sophistica- bys development in the womb rect. It also contains accurate
tion to an unguided process no as well as postnatally. Neurons prophecies. And it improves
longer made sense to me. send out bers to target neu- the lives of those who apply its
rons that may be a few centi- teachings. My own life is evi-
Can you give us an example? meters awaya vast distance dence of that. Since I became
I have studied the on the cellular level. The target one of Jehovahs Witnesses in
human brain since the early of a ber, by the way, may be 1973, the Bible has been my
1970s, and this remarkable or- not just a specic cell but a guidebook. As a result, my life
gan never ceases to amaze specic part of that cell. has become truly satisfying
me. It is the seat of thought As a new ber branches and purposeful.
and memory and the control out from a neuron, it is guided
center for many bodily func- by chemical signposts that say
tions. The brain is also the such things as stop, go,
hub of our many senses, inter- or turn until the ber reach-
preting information that comes es its target. Without clear
T E M P TAT I O N
Broken marriages, ill health, pangs of consciencethese are just some of the
consequences of giving in to temptation. How can we avoid this snare?
s
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