From Our Readers
TMJ Syndrome Thank you for the article “Out Of the Jaws—The Great Impostor.” (June 22, 1991) Until a little while ago, I was afflicted with this problem. I would wake up during the night, panic stricken because my jaw was stuck! Various doctors misdiagnosed my problem until I consulted a dental expert. He immediately discovered that it was caused by poorly aligned teeth. The suggestions given in the article are practical, useful, and can give immediate relief.
S. F., Italy
Bad Habits Thank you for the help I found in the article “Preventing the Return of Bad Habits” (April 8, 1991) in overcoming TV addiction. Chapter 36 of the book Questions Young People Ask—Answers That Work [published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.] helped for a while, but I fell back into heavy TV viewing again. Your article helped me substitute a bad habit with a good one, namely, reading the spiritual food that comes out in Awake!
A. G., United States
Children of Divorce Heartfelt thanks for the series “Help for Children of Divorce.” (April 22, 1991) When I was three, my father divorced my mother. She did a fine job in bringing up my little sister and me to love Jehovah. But during the teenage years, it was just as you described. I felt that “all relationships are unreliable, doomed to unravel someday in betrayal and infidelity.” I was afraid to love and be loved, and even among fellow Christians, I kept all relationships on a superficial level. Learning to do things for other people and serving as a full-time evangelizer helped me overcome these tendencies to some extent. However, your article enabled me to understand some of my deepest feelings for the first time.
M. H., Japan
The articles made my husband and me feel guilty. My first mate was disfellowshipped from the Christian congregation for unfaithfulness. My boys and I then moved in with my parents, about 2,000 miles [3,200 km] away. The boys had little contact with their father. After I remarried, we continued to discourage any contact, feeling the father was a bad influence. Did we make the right decision?
C. W., United States
Neither divorce nor expulsion from the Christian congregation ends a parent-child relationship; children continue to need both parents. Nevertheless, each situation is different. Physical distance or indifference on the part of an ex-spouse may greatly limit parent-child contact. On the other hand, the courts may impose visitation arrangements, and a Christian may have little choice but to cooperate. Where no visitation arrangements have been imposed, it is up to the custodial parent to determine if association with an ex-spouse would pose grave physical or spiritual dangers.—ED.
Thanks for the naked truth in your articles on divorce. My parents divorced when I was nearly 20 years old, and I went through a stage where I despised the very institution of marriage. I viewed it as a trap or a prison! Thanks to your Bible-enlightened books and magazines, I actually look forward to marriage someday, with its real potential in sight.
L. T., United States
Colosseum I found the article “The Colosseum—Ancient Rome’s ‘Entertainment’ Center” (April 8, 1991) to be most engaging. As a historian, I thought it was inspiring the way you separated the truth from legend.
N. H., United States