“THERE were bodies everywhere, and we could not recognize where our house used to be,” said a Sri Lankan man after a tsunami destroyed his village in December 2004. In an article on the disaster, a religion editor said that he sometimes finds himself “praying through clenched teeth.”
ON TUESDAY evening, July 17, 2007, about seven o’clock, a passenger plane skidded off the runway at Brazil’s busiest airport, in the heart of São Paulo. The plane crossed a major road and crashed into a cargo depot. Some 200 people died in the accident.
The Bible also says: “There is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have the same eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit, so that there is no superiority of the man over the beast, for everything is vanity. All are going to one place. They have all come to be from the dust, and they are all returning to the dust.” (Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20)
KEVIN’S mother was killed in the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. Peter did not suffer a similar terrible loss, but he was still greatly affected by the events.One news report says: “Thousands of children living in New York are struggling with mental problems related to [the attacks on] September 11 that in many cases will last into adulthood.” . . .
"ONE quarter of the world’s population live in poverty, 1.3 billion survive on less than $1 a day, 1 billion are illiterate, 1.3 billion lack access to safe drinking water and 1 billion go hungry daily." So notes a report from Ireland about the state of the world.
Even after a conflict ends, mines and explosive remnants of war such as unexploded bombs, shells and cluster-munition bomblets continue to kill and maim. This deadly problem has a name: weapon contamination. It deprives entire populations of water, firewood, farmland, health care and education. — ICRC . God’s will?
The sons of the patriarch Jacob hated their brother Joseph so much that they sold him into slavery. (Genesis 37:4-28) Later, Israel’s King Saul tried to kill David. Why? Because he was envious of David. (1 Samuel 18:7-11) In the first century, two Christian women, Euodia and Syntyche, disturbed the peace of an entire congregation with their arguing.—Philippians 4:2.
Hitoshi Kato, who wrote a book on retirement, says that among older couples in Japan, many divorce proceedings are initiated by wives because of deep-rooted resentments accumulated over the years. “But,” he says, “it is also a result of the couple’s not talking things out when faced with crises.”Upon retirement, a husband may be surprised when his wife hands him a notice of divorce. For many years the couple may not have discussed how they felt about each other.Husband and wife may have tried to express their feelings but were unable to keep the conversation on a positive note. Instead of building a closer relationship, they found themselves embroiled in repeated arguments.
It takes wisdom to discern which objectives to pursue in order to “get a firm hold on the real life.” (1 Tim. 6:19) How thankful we are that Jehovah, through his Word and organization, shows us exactly which way to go!—Isa. 30:21.
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