OF MOLD AND MEN

Guest Writer: Gary P. Eubanks

he Ballard family was in serious trouble. A mysterious and virulent disease had racked Ron, Melinda, and their four-year-old son, Reese. It started with Reese coughing up blood arid experiencing equilibrium problems, vomiting, and diarrhea. Then, Ron had trouble breathing arid coughed up hard, rock-size lumps of blood.

t was finally discovered that “the family was being poisoned by a black, toxic mold, known as stachybotrys, that had invaded the house.”

o toxic is the mold in Melinda’s house that [a doctor] says it has contaminated all of the family’s possessions - everything they own.” The only way to get rid of the mold was to “bulldoze the house and haul everything off’ to a dump. None of the expensive furniture or even the family photographs could be spared.  The mold was deadly dangerous and the risk of recontamination was too great.

ome strains [of mold] cause allergies, asthma, and skin rashes, but others produce toxins that are released into the air that can seriously damage the lungs and central nervous system.” Ron Ballard was an investment banker but suffered such serious memory loss that he was eventually unable to continue working. His co-worker said that the mold had “turned him into a nincompoop.” An Albany, New York doctor, who specializes in toxic molds, ultimately determined that Ron had suffered permanent brain damage. Exposure can even cause death, especially in infants. Little Reese developed asthma and scarred lungs and may have neurological problems (CBS “48 Hours” broadcast, Sept.28, 2000).

he Ballard’s experience is not an isolated one. “Scientists are documenting what many had long suspected: household mold can make you sick....’In homes across North America, the presence of molds and mildew has been associated with increases in upper- and lower-respiratory symptoms’...As many as 30 percent of U.S. homes have a mold problem. And experts estimate that between 13 million and 26 million Americans may be allergic to molds, both indoor and outdoor” (Reader’s Digest, “Is your House Making You Sick?” Mar. 1999, pp. 129-30).

ew Jersey has witnessed two recent school closings due to mold growing in carpets. “The first was a school in Somerset County, which delayed its opening by 10 days.... In Deerfield, high levels of mold will keep the K-8 school closed for at least three weeks” (Home News Tribune, A-4, East Brunswick, NJ, Oct. 25, 2000).

old even menaces the non-living. “China’s famed 2,200-year-old ‘army’ of terra cotta warriors is threatened by more than 40 types of mold.... The mold has attacked 1,400 of the 8,000 life-sized statues of soldiers and horses excavated from the tomb of China’s first emperor....” As a result, the museum has enlisted the help of a Belgian pharmaceutical company, which “will research the problem for a year and then provide 1,100 pounds of mold-killing chemicals. ‘Because of the diversity of the molds, it is difficult to kill all of the species without professional help from anti-fungal experts...”‘ (Home News Tribune, A-6, East Brunswick, NJ, Sept 19, 2000).

or those familiar with the minutiae of the Mosaic Law, these stories may evoke memories of the leprosy regulations pertaining to houses and articles of clothing (Lev. 13,14). Bible students have long suspected that the “leprosy” which these regulations mention as attaching itself to woolen, linen, and leather articles or even the walls of houses is a type of fungal growth now known as “mold” or “mildew.” Yet, until modem science recently revealed the deleterious, if not deadly, effect of some molds, Bible commentators could hardly imagine that these rules were anything more than moralistic ritual.

(To be continued)

ONE SOLITARY LIFE

Author Unknown

e was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he was an itinerant preacher. He never set foot in a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place he was born. He never wrote a book, or held an office. He did none of these things that usually accompany greatness. While he was still a young man, the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends deserted him. He was turned over to his enemies, and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property he had – his coat. When he was dead, he was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave. Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure for much of the human race. All of the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever sailed, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of a man upon this earth as powerfully as this One Solitary Life.

THE MASTERY OF SELF

Guest Writer: Eddie R. Littrell

elf-mastery, or self-control, is epitomized in this striking passage. “Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he that takes a city” (Prov. 16:32). The wise man mentions two types of power—internal and external. The mighty, military conqueror Achilles, Homer’s great warrior, illustrates the anger of the mighty. He was the most famous Greek warrior in the war with the Trojans, but when the Commander-in-chief of the Greek armies took for himself a prize of war that had been given to Achilles, and offered Achilles an inferior prize, the great soldier retired from the battle and sulked in his tent. Various leaders tried to get him to return to the field since without him the Greek armies were being badly beaten, but he refused. His “honor” or pride had been offended. It was not until his dearest friend was killed that Achilles was finally persuaded to put on his armor again. But great numbers of the Greeks had already been slain because this great warrior had sulked like a spoiled child.

he contrast between hot anger and a cool spirit are vividly expressed another Proverb, which helps us to understand the importance of self-control. “Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly” (14:29). In this divine observation we see two of man’s most prominent weaknesses—impatience and anger. Men of both low and high intelligence, of both good and poor breeding, are often made to look ridiculous by their uncontrolled anger. Sometimes the anger is directed against another person but it may—quite irrationally—be directed against some object like a bulky engine, or a system such as the income tax or the military draft.

hen one realizes that anger does not solve problems but can radically reduce one’s reasoning powers, the substitution of calmness for impatience and reason for outrage ought to be obvious. Anger may lead to irresponsible action and do great harm to anyone who happens to be near the raging individual. The writer is thus reminding us that controlling oneself is more honorable than conquering a city.

 strong temper or anger is by no means completely undesirable, if it is kept under control. It is as natural as any other emotion. But, like fire, it must be carefully used or it can destroy both property and people. A man is less than a man when he is overcome by anger. He becomes more like a raging beast than a man. But when anger gets out of control, it becomes sin. This seems to be the meaning of Paul’s statement, “Be ye angry and sin not” (Eph. 4:26), which is translated in the New English Bible as “If you are angry, do not let anger lead you into sin.” Phillip’s paraphrase reads, “If you are angry, be sure that it is not out of wounded pride or bad temper.”