Weekly Meanderings, 7.17.21
Good morning to you and yours!
Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash
Philip Yancey, one of the most influential writers of the last half century, writes a memoir and here’s a clip from a recent interview, in which he reflects on growing up Southern:
What changed for you?
It started cracking apart when I realized that this “Southern culture” I grew up in was a deeply flawed, whitewashed, and racist narrative. It was in my high school days when those cracks started to appear in my own life and I wanted to separate myself from that culture. I was attracted to literature, good music, and the culture around me was not something that really nourished that. I wanted to find a different place. I wanted to distance myself.
What perspective has this given you on evangelical Christianity in the U.S.?
Somehow, in the midst of all that fear and fundamentalism, the light of God’s love seeped through. In my own story, along with the worst, I had very good experiences within evangelical subculture. Along the way, I gravitated toward people who were positive models, people fighting sex trafficking or visiting prisoners. At root, the word evangelical means “good news.” I cling to that. While the rest of culture hears “evangelical” and thinks of a media caricature of a redneck racist who supports Trump, my experience is with people who sacrifice themselves, reach out to others, and spread mercy and compassion and love.
“Yes, for sure,” I said.
It was my standard response. Conversations at church about me as a working mom often devolved into the same question: but your home and family come first, right? This happened most often with new acquaintances. Perhaps because I was a pastor’s wife, they needed assurance that my vocational calling as a historian and professor would take a backseat to my God-given role as wife and mother.
“Yes, for sure,” I would say. What else could I say?
Once, when both motherhood and my doctorate were still shiny, a friend’s question caught me off guard: Would I home-school my children? It was an ordinary Sunday morning. I stood in the hallway outside the youth Sunday school rooms, my toddling son clinging to my fingers. I don’t remember why my friend asked this question. I don’t remember exactly what I said in response — only that I shook my head no and mumbled something about my inability to teach small children well.
But I do remember what my friend said in response. I remember those words as clearly as the day they were spoken. “You have a Ph.D.,” my friend said. “You are perfect for home-schooling.”
It was a bewildering moment for me. I had invested more than 10 years of my life at institutes of higher education, including six years of Ph.D. work at a Research-1 university. And this, I was being told, made me perfect to teach my children at home. I couldn’t help but think about a passage written by the 20th-century English writer, playwright and Christian intellectual Dorothy L. Sayers in her 1935 novel “Gaudy Night.” The main character, Harriet Vane, stumbles into a conversation about vocational callings with one of her former Oxford classmates. “A ploughshare is a nobler object than a razor,” remarks Vane. “But if your natural talent is for barbering, wouldn’t it be better to be a barber, and a good barber — and use the profits (if you like) the speed the plough? However grand the job may be, is it your job?”
My son saved me from having to reply to my friend, choosing that moment to escape down the hallway. I can’t tell you how relieved I was to chase a wobbly toddler. I knew my friend meant well; the question was asked with sincerity. Yet the assumption undergirding the conversation troubled me — the assumption that Christian women, regardless of their “natural talent,” had one primary job: their God-given role as wife and mother.
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Caring for confiscated wild life at Shedd’s:
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Every animal living at Shedd Aquarium has a story, whether they were rehabilitated after a major injury or born as part of a conservation breeding program. Sprinkled throughout the exhibits at Shedd are aquatic animals who were confiscated and rescued from the illegal wildlife trade.
In typical confiscation cases at Shedd, local, federal, or international government agencies contact the aquarium to provide immediate medical care and to coordinate long-term placement of rescued animals. While those agencies spend years pursuing lawsuits and convictions against the criminal parties, medical staff at Shedd are focused on animal welfare.
"Caring for animals is what we do all day, every day," said Erica Hornbrook, Shedd's director of animal care and sustainability.
Confiscated animals often arrive at Shedd in poor medical condition, having dealt with neglect and cruelty during their transportation. Often, many animals have already died upon arrival.
"Sometimes we're pulling through most of what comes to our doorstep, sometimes we might pull through half," Hornbrook said. "We're always gonna try and save as many (animals) as we possibly can."
Most of the confiscations that go to Shedd are delivered by U.S. Fish & Wildlife, so that medical staff can triage and treat the animals before finding them a comfortable, permanent home. Such was the case with a confiscation of 80 Arapaima - fish that grow from a few inches as hatchlings to 10-foot adults - several years ago.
Keep your eye on Mike Bird’s Substack newsletter.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Wearing a wedding dress has been the dream of a lifetime for Martha Mae Ophelia Moon Tucker of Birmingham.
She got married in 1952 when her late husband said he would take her to the movies, and instead they ended up eloping.
Moon Tucker, 94, never had a traditional wedding — but this weekend she at least got to try on dresses surrounded by her family. The first dress she tried on was her favorite, making her feel like a queen, she said.
“I felt like I was getting married,” Moon Tucker said. “I looked at myself and said, ‘Who is that?’ Yeah, I enjoyed that dress.”
Her husband passed away in 1975. Moon Tucker said she can’t thank her grandchildren enough for helping her get into a wedding dress.
“The experience was the joy of me getting in that wedding dress and being able to say I got married,” she said. “I have enjoyed this, really.”
Moon Tucker’s story has been shared thousands of times on Facebook since it was posted. Over the weekend she also had brunch, her makeup done and a reception at Applebee’s to complete her special day.
Trouble getting to sleep? Try this:
So how does it work? Well, first of all the method should be practiced daily to experience its full effects – expect amazing results in six weeks of practice – and all you have to do is the below.
Relax your entire face, including all the muscles and your tongue, from your jaw to inside your mouth. It can be easier to tense them all up first and then let go.
Drop your shoulders to release any tension and allow your hands to drop to the side of your body.
Exhale, relaxing your chest and focusing on the breath. Also allow your legs, thighs and calves to relax in the process, letting gravity pull them down naturally.
Clear your mind for ten seconds, imagining a relaxing scene. If this doesn’t work, try saying the words “don’t think” over and over for 10 seconds.
Within ten seconds, you should fall asleep, but it may take up to two minutes when you first start practicing.
The technique, which was designed to help soldiers fall asleep quickly in any situation to help minimise the risk of mistakes made on the job, puts the emphasis on helping to alleviate muscle tension and unwind the body which in turn helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system, that is responsible for our rest and recover mode. It costs nothing – so why not try now?
ROSELLE, Ill. (WLS) -- Braxton Mayes said he enjoys walking, which is a good thing because he's been walking more than six hours a day - three hours each way to work and from work - since his vehicle broke down. He leaves at 4 a.m.
"It's just one of those things," Mayes said. "You gotta do what you gotta do."
The 20-year-old former high school football player said he's been saving up to get his 2006 GMC truck fixed. It has nearly 300,000 miles on it. But in the meantime he needed to get to work, and his two feet were the best way he knew.
The three hours walk covers 12 miles each way between the west suburban towns of Montgomery and Batavia, just about a marathon each day. But when Chicago radio personality Ray Stevens drove by several times and noticed Mayes walking, he stopped to offer a ride and discovered the backstory.
"This guy checks all the boxes," said Stevens, who works for WLS 890. "He's a good, solid human being. People are having a hard time finding people to work and here's a guy walking three hours one way just because his truck broke down."
Stevens started a social media campaign to raise funds to fix Mayes' truck. And within a couple days he's raised more than $4,000, which should be enough to cover the repairs.
"I just want to make sure he has a reliable truck to drive to work every single say," said Eric Schmit of Yackey's Friendly Ford.
Like reading of Philip Yancey, who's writing has impacted me, sharing his "woke" experience.