Meanderings, 16 March 2024

Two of this house’s favorite weekends of the year are the Big 10 Conference Tournaments weekends — last weekend for the women, this weekend for the men. Iowa won the Big Ten last weekend, and as I write this Purdue survived a scare from Michigan State. Save some time for these Meanderings.

Photo by Nils Huenerfuerst on Unsplash

Kris plays Wordle every day. Do you?

One word. Five letters. Six tries. Countless moments of triumph and dismay.

Wordle — the daily word game that became a cultural phenomenon during the pandemic — will release its 1000th puzzle on Friday, March 15. 

For some, Wordle is a fun way to pass the time. For others, it requires rigorous thought and strategy. The premise is simple (guess the word) and yet can be highly competitive. How many tries did it take you? Have you optimized your starting word for maximum impact? Do you play in Hard Mode, where you need to use the letters you’ve already found in each subsequent guess?

Wordle’s balance of simple, fun competition quickly resonated with players. Within two months of its public release in October 2021, the number of daily users shot from 90 to around 300,000. After the New York Times acquired Wordle from its creator, software engineer Josh Wardle, in January 2022, its player base grew to tens of millions.

There’s a lot of strategy behind the puzzle, as well. From the words the Times picks to Wordle’s place in the publication’s business model, everything has its purpose.

Feel good story of the weekend:

The leaders of two Pennsylvania dioceses – Central Pennsylvania Bishop Audrey Scanlan and Bethlehem Bishop Kevin Nichols – on March 10 celebrated the efforts of the Help, Healing and Hope initiative, through which churches from both dioceses raised $30,000 to eliminate $3 million in medical debts of fellow Pennsylvanians.

During an Evensong service at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, the two bishops joined the congregation as sheets of paper representing medical bills were set aflame in a metal bucket.

“Things like taking care of medical debts … is not merely social work, it’s the work of God,” the Rev. David Zwifka, St. Luke’s rector, said in his sermon. People are liberated when the crush of medical debt is removed from their lives, he said, calling this “the very work of Jesus.”

The dioceses were able to alleviate the burden of medical debt in their communities through RIP Medical Debt, a charity that has partnered with numerous Episcopal churches in recent years. It buys outstanding medical debts from collection agencies for pennies on the dollar and helps people and organizations pay off the debts through donations. …

Fundraising efforts began in Advent 2022 with a goal of $2,500, and after raising that, it was increased to $5,000 and then $10,000. Other churches in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania started to chip in, too. Zwifka, a friend of the Mattsons, got his church involved early on. St. Luke’s was started in 1858 as a mission of Hope Church, just seven miles apart, but they ended up in different dioceses when the Diocese of Bethlehem was created in 1904. The two dioceses recently have begun exploring the possibility of reunification.

Both dioceses promoted the effort, and contributions grew, ultimately bringing the total to $30,000.

The church is good at healing the sick, clothing the naked, giving the thirsty a cup of water and visiting the prisoner, Scanlan said during the service, but there are other kinds of illness, distress and disease that go unseen, including the mental anguish and suffering of medical debts.

“I’m especially proud that we have been able to make a significant difference and bring and restore people to wholeness, to alleviate the anxiety and the suffering that they are feeling,” she said.

Katelyn Beaty takes on the “extra-special” church myth:

I’ve been attending church most of my life. But I’ve only ever been part of one extra-special church.

It was Church of the Resurrection, an Anglican congregation in Wheaton, Illinois. It started as an Episcopal plant in the 1950s, led by the charismatic (in both senses of the word) William Beasley, then split from The Episcopal Church (TEC) in 1993. Beasley was replaced as pastor in 1999 by the equally charismatic Stewart Ruch. “Rez” later joined the Anglican renewal movement, composed of evangelicals concerned about TEC’s liberal drift, especially on issues of women’s ordination and same-sex marriage….

Rez leaders and members regularly shared during Sunday morning worship how Rez had changed their life. Or how God had changed their life. Or both, I guess. It wasn’t always clear: who was doing the saving and the changing? Clearly it was the Holy Spirit, moving in and through Rez. But was the Holy Spirit more present here than in other churches? Was the Holy Spirit blowing in and through the dozens of other churches within just a 10-mile radius of Rez’s building? Might the Holy Spirit even blow through an Episcopal church door or two from time to time?

It didn’t take long for me to perceive a kind of spiritual hubris, born of numerical growth, stories of transformation, and self-identity as the good, faithful Christians standing athwart the bad TEC Christians (if we could even call them that!). Rez leaders talked far more about what God was doing at Rez than what God was doing beyond its walls. It was easy to walk away believing that this church stood at the epicenter of God’s work in people’s lives. …

Beyond this, I couldn’t swallow the story Rez leaders told because their stories, especially from Ruch, tended to locate themselves at the center of God’s redeeming work. One Sunday, while Ruch (who by then was bishop of the Upper Midwest Diocese) was preaching, he shared an anecdote about praying with a young man who was struggling with something in his relationship. Ruch recounted how, as he and his wife prayed over the man, something emerged from the man’s mouth (it was implied to be a demon or unclean spirit). After that, the man could re-engage this relationship in a “healed” way.

Ruch recounted this story with a dramatic flair that made him a beloved leader at Rez. There, he encouraged congregants to refer to him and his wife in familial terms such as “mama” and “papa.” After this anecdote, I remember looking around to see if anyone else noticed what seemed glaring: In this story of spiritual victory, Ruch was the protagonist. According to this account, he was the person through which God had healed this man. So, it was no coincidence that many Rez folks seem to have trouble distinguishing between Rez as a whole and Ruch’s spiritual bravado. Without Ruch, where would Rez be?

SMcK: When leaders and churches, two of which are mentioned in her Substack, tell you not to read blogs etc, they are playing games with truth-telling, mind-control, and powermongering.

Self-help vs. culture supports, with Kirsten Powers

Each time I look at the Publishers Weekly bestseller list, I am struck by how Americans are always seeking guidance on how to do the most basic human things: follow a healthy diet, exercise, have friends, or be happy. 

Yet, no matter how many of these books are printed and read, Americans still aren't happy, healthy, connected, or anything else that they keep reading about. I was once a great consumer of this genre, and I recently reflected on how much time I wasted trying to make my life work by nibbling around the edges of the problem. 

This is not to say that there are no self-help or personal development books worth reading. There are. But it feels like it's time that we come to terms with the fact that most of the problems from which Americans seek relief can’t be solved at the individual level.

You can't have more meaningful friendships if you and your friends don't have free time. You can't retire and live near your grandchildren if you lost half your retirement savings in a stock market crash (or if you have no retirement savings). You can't join a book club, volunteer, or take up a hobby if, when the workday ends, you are so depleted that all you have energy for is to lay under a weighted blanket and binge Netflix. 

A new workout, a “clean” eating regime or a meditation practice can’t make a person healthy in an unhealthy environment. No amount of therapy or prayer will erase the chronic stress of a two-hour commute, lack of childcare, medical debt, or loneliness. Walkable cities and towns would do more for our physical and mental health than a thousand wellness books.

The fact is, happy and healthy people don't just happen. 

They are created by the culture in which they reside.

Late last year, as I came to terms with my desire to leave the US, I read The Year of Living Danishly byHelen Russellto learn what it feels like to relocate to a foreign country. (I would put this book on the list of helpful “self-help” books). Russell and her husband found themselves in their early thirties, completely burnt out from life in London, which sounds frighteningly similar to American life. (Her description reminded me of my conversation withLeyla Kazim) …

Watching eagles care for their nest of eggs when …

Jackie and Shadow’s three bald eagle eggs in Big Bear Valley aren’t likely to hatch again this year, disappointing tens of thousands of people that’ve been keeping a close eye on a livestream for any signs of new life in the nest.

Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that manages the cameras, told LAist the couple’s quiet caretaking can teach us a few things about ourselves.

“They just show us how to live life, and live it from a place of peace and patience and compassion for what happens, and still being who they are and doing what they do without having to change everything to fit an agenda, whether it's yours or someone else's,” said Sandy Steers, the executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley.

Although it can be emotional and disappointing to have weeks of waiting end up empty handed, Jackie and Shadow continue to move forward and do their bald eagle best, and right now, Steers said they’re still calmly focused on protecting the nest.

“We want everything to be in our control, we want to know what's going to happen, we want guarantees — and nature is just the opposite, there are no guarantees,” she said. “Everything happens as it happens, and it teaches us to slow down, and to watch, and to know that maybe our life is OK if it's not happening exactly the way we want it.”

In the meantime, there’s been no confirmed pips — pip being the term for when an eaglet starts emerging. All three have passed the typical pip timeline.

There’s really no way of knowing why they haven’t hatched. Friends of Big Bear Valley said on social media it could be environmental, such as the oxygen levels at high altitude, humidity percentages, and temperature.

Dr. Seuss and returning a book to the library — a little late:

SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. – A library on Long Island, New York, was in shock when a Dr. Seuss book was returned after more than five decades.

A couple walked into the Smithtown Library with a copy of “Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories,” according to one of the library’s recent social media posts. The library said the book was first checked out in 1966, though a closer look at the check-out card appeared to show it was last checked out on April 30, 1970.

Close to $2,000 in late fees have accrued since the book was last checked out, but the library said it will waive them.

“Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories,” written by Dr. Seuss — real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel — was released in 1958.

According to Random House Children’s Books, the book presents three modern fables, featuring “tales about greed (‘Yertle the Turtle’), vanity (‘Gertrude McFuzz’), and pride (‘The Big Brag’).”

“In no other book does a small burp have such political importance!” said Random House, referring to a part of the first story’s plot.