018: Tuesday Quiz / Heroic Women of Faith

October 15, 2007 by


    Here are a few things that You — our readers — are telling us.
    First, a reader from Michigan stopped me this weekend to say that she loves reading our stories each day, and also enjoys the fact that “there are things to do” at ReadTheSpirit. Another reader from Chicago emailed to explain that he printed out last week’s musical quiz and used it in a Sunday School class at his church. Others have sent us similar comments.
    So, with your encouragement, we’re going to continue our Tuesday Quizes and encourage you to send them to your friends and use them in groups.
    Second, we’re hearing that readers still are finding their way around our site and learning about the many facets of ReadTheSpirit. “I really enjoyed the interview with Frederick Buechner, but I’d like to know more about that book, ‘Godric,'” one man said. He hadn’t noticed that, if you click on book titles or book covers on ReadTheSpirit — you’ll jump to our Amazon-related bookstore and, on those pages, I do tell you more about the books and movies we mention. (In fact, you can buy them through our bookstore and a small portion of that sale comes back to us from Amazon to help support our work.)
    So, as we grow and add more inspirational features, keep exploring our site, keep telling your friends — and we welcome you to copy our quizes, interviews and stories — as long as you credit what you’re copying to David Crumm and readthespirit.com


    TODAY, we’ve got a clever little quiz to test your awareness of Heroic Women of Faith.
    Here are the rules: You’ll find 20 first names listed below, then 20 short descriptions of these women. Match them up correctly. Then, click on the link at the end — and the answers will pop up. If you’re a daily subscriber by Email (you can sign up for free on the right-hand side of our site), we’re sorry that you don’t get this Click-to-See-the-Answers feature in your Email versions — so, please don’t read too far ahead today, if you’re an email reader.
    Who are these 20 women? Half of them are featured in the short Guideposts-like profiles of women in Bonnie St. John’s book, “How Strong Women Pray.” Tomorrow, in our weekly Conversation, we’ll hear from Bonnie about her own remarkable life and her experience interviewing dozens of women about prayer. The other half of the 20 in today’s quiz are women from the Bible and other books we’re featuring this week on ReadTheSpirit.
    Ready? Here’s the list:

    1.) Barbara
    2.) Harriet
    3.) Ann
    4.) Marsha
    5.) Teresa
    6.) Johnetta
    7.) Edie
    8.) Kathie
    9.) Immaculee
    10.) Nadia
    11.) Marilyn
    12.) Aimee
    13.) Amy
    14.) Maya
    15.) Vonetta
    16.) Eve
    17.) Mary
    18.) Hagar
    19.) Ruth
    20.) Deborah

     THEN — Match these women with their IDs …

    … the first among Firsts
    … a world-famous judge
    … inspirational Rwandan survivor
    … influential Catholic visionary
    … mistaken as a prostitute; actually a leader
    … Boaz’s wife and David’s great grandma
    … crossover singing star
    … black Olympic bobsledder
    … gave birth to a great nation
    … knows “Why the Caged Bird Sings”
    … pioneering Pentecostal evangelist
    … an admiral in tough times
    … founded a utopian movement
    … 20 percent of the 5th Dimension
    … former First Lady
    … Olympic star who defected
    … risked her life to free slaves
    … president of women’s college
    … award-winning Soprano
    … from talk show to activism

    When you think you’ve got all 20 lined up correctly, CLICK on the link below in the online version of this quiz, and the ANSWERS will pop up!
    Remember, if you’re intrigued by any of the book, movie or audio titles (or covers) that you see sprinkled through this article, click on them to read more — or to purchase copies.
    Ready? CLICK for the ANSWERS below …


    HERE are THE ANSWERS:
    See how you did …
    1.) Barbara Bush is a former first lady and the mother of the current president. Her no-nonsense, compassionate approach to faith and life is widely admired.
    2.) Harriet Tubman risked her life repeatedly to free slaves as a leader in the Underground Railroad.
    3.) Ann Lee was the founder of the Shakers in the late 1700s, a utopian Christian movement that separated men’s and women’s living quarters, but also shared leadership between the sexes.
    4.) Marsha Evans was an admiral in the U.S. Navy, assigned to clean up abuses after the Tailhook scandal. After her retirement in 1998, she was a national leader in Girl Scouts and the Red Cross.
    5.) Teresa of Avila is the 16th Century Catholic visionary whose meditations inspired novels and artworks and continue to shape the lives of many modern Christians, as well.
    6.) Johnetta B. Cole was president of Spelman College, a leading historically black women’s college.
    7.) Edie Falco is the Emmy-winning co-star of “The Sopranos,” whose spiritual journey includes overcoming alcoholism.
    8.) Kathie Lee Gifford moved from a talk-show career with Regis Philbin to activism on behalf of children, but her plan took a tough turn when it turned out that she was unknowingly raising funds through sweat-shop labor. To her credit, Kathie now works against sweat-shop abuses even as she continues to work on causes that aid children.
    9.) Immaculee Ilibagiza survived the Rwandan genocide by hiding in a bathroom with seven other Tutsi women for 91 days. Her inspirational story has appeared on network TV several times and she speaks to groups around the world, as well.
    10.) Nadia Comaneci is the Olympic athlete who finally defected from Romania to the U.S. and now is known for charitable work with causes such as the Special Olympics and an effort to bring better health care to children in Bucharest.
    11.) Marilyn McCoo was 20 percent of the Fifth Dimsension and later left the group with her husband Billy Davis Jr. Their memoir, “Up Up and Away,” also is an enjoyable and uplifting story of faith overcoming life’s many obstacles.
    12.) Aimee Semple McPherson was infamous for disappearing in the 1920s, but she also was a pioneering Pentecostal evangelist in an era when women weren’t allowed in most American pulpits. She was the subject of a popular PBS documentary recently.
    13.) Amy Grant is a crossover singing star who moved a number of gospel and country hits onto the pop charts. After her early years as an evangelical darling in the country music world, her second marriage and later career has mellowed and deepened her religious reflections.
    14.) Maya Angelou is a world-famous poet and Civil Rights activist whose work, including “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” is an inspiration to millions. (By the way, if you’re a Maya Angelou fan, you’ll want to check out our review of “Celebrations,” a terrific collection of 12 of her best pieces.)
    15.) Vonetta Flowers seemed like an unlikely medalist at the 2002 Olympics, because there are not many black bobsledders poised at the top of this highly competitive winter sport. Prayer plays a key role in her life.
    16.) In women’s history, Eve was the first among Firsts.
    17.) Mary of Magdala often was mistaken as a prostitute by people who assumed that an unnamed adulteress was Mary Magdalene. Modern Bible scholars say she was given a bum rap by earlier theologians and artists who depicted her as a whore. In fact, she was a key leader among Jesus’ earliest followers.
    18.) Hagar, in both the Bible and Quran, gave birth to a great nation. The stories vary in some key details, but they agree that Hagar and Abraham were the parents of Ishmael. Muslims regard Hagar and Ishmael as sacred figures in establishing the branch of the Abrahamic tradition that eventually would be known as Islam.
    19.) Ruth is best known for her second marriage to Boaz in a boundary-crossing life that displayed great courage, compassion and friendship. But she also is listed as King David’s great grandmother.
    20.) Deborah is the Israelite judge and military leader whose story is told in the fourth and fifth chapters of the book of Judges.

    How’d you do? Remember — if you enjoyed this week’s quiz, you can print it or email it to a friend. We welcome that. We only ask that you credit the quiz to David Crumm and readthespirit.com
    Tell us what you think. Click Here to email me, David Crumm, or leave a Comment for other readers on our site.

    AND: Come back tomorrow for our Conversation With Bonnie St. John!

013: Quiz Yourself on Songs Our Spirits Sing

October 8, 2007 by

 

For the 70th birthday of John Lennon on October 9, 2010, Google published an animated logo that ends with this image.

Let’s have a little fun today, shall we, with the music of the Beatles, Elvis and traditional American hymnals?

ReadTheSpirit recomennds three books that explore the spiritual nature of music—and, more importantly, the musical nature of Spirit. But let’s explore those books in the form of a QUIZ.

All of these answers can be found in The Gospel Side of Elvis by Joe Moscheo (with a foreward by Priscilla Presley), Simple Gifts: Great Hymns: One Man’s Search for Grace by Bill Henderson; and The Gospel According to the Beatles by Steve Turner.

All three books explore music that millions of Americans know by heart, so here are 10 questions to test your musical and historical memory. So, see how you do!

Then, give this quiz to a friend. Pass it around.

10 Question Quiz on Elvis, Simple Gifts and the Beatles

No. 1: What’s the next phrase? “’Tis the gift to be simple, ‘tis the gift to be free; ‘Tis the gift to …”

No. 2: Which religious group brought us the popular Christmas song, “Away in a Manger”?

No. 3: What’s next? “O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder Consider …” what?

No. 4: Put these Beatles albums in chronological order: “Revolver,” “Rubber Soul,” “Beatles for Sale” and “Help!”

No. 5: In February 1968, the four Beatles got on a plane and made a trip that changed their lives. What was their destination?

No. 6: In 1957, John and Paul met for the first time after a concert by the Quarrymen, a band that John had helped to form. Where was this concert held?

No. 7: Where was the name “Eleanor Rigby” found?

No. 8: What denomination was Elvis Presley’s family church, when he was a boy in Tupelo?

No. 9: Did Elvis ever include “Amazing Grace” on one of his long-playing record albums?

No. 10: Only after Elvis’ death did a series of journal notations surface that he penned while playing Las Vegas in 1976. In one of the most poignant notes, he jotted down a short verse that he especially loved from Psalm 46. What were the words?

Answers to Our Elvis, Simple Gifts and Beatles Quiz:

No. 1: “… come down where we ought to be.”

No. 2: Lutherans.

No. 3: “all the worlds Thy hands have made.”

No. 4: “Beatles for Sale,” “Help!” “Rubber Soul” then “Revolver.”

No. 5: India.

No. 6: At a church. (It was the Anglican parish of St. Peter’s in Woolton, where John had been involved in a choir as well as a Bible-study group for young people.)

No. 7: On a gravestone (in the Woolton parish cemetery).

No. 8: Assembly of God

No. 9: Yes, on the RCA-produced album, ELVIS: He Touched Me, which won a Grammy. It’s still available on a remastered CD. Click on the title to learn more about it.

No. 10: “Be still and know that I am God!” which turns out to be Verse 10.

 

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008: “25 Words” Through a Glass Darkly

October 1, 2007 by


  What have you stored in your mind?
    What images and assumptions are rattling around up there?
    In all that we’re doing here at ReadTheSpirit, we’re focused on making helpful spiritual connections. But that effort doesn’t make much of a difference if our minds already are jammed full of media debris.
    Today, I’m going to share with you a popular experiment that I developed during a University of Michigan Journalism Fellowship in 2001-2002. I spent that year in research on faith, culture and media. As I studied these issues, I kept running into the problem of strong assumptions – including vivid visual images – that people already have stored in their minds about many of the most common concepts in our culture.
    To inventory some of the common images in our minds, I developed this list of  “25 Words” that summon 25 images from our minds.

    I’ve used this experiment with thousands of people in dozens of programs in recent years and I used it again on Saturday during a keynote talk at a “Religions in America” conference at Wayne County Community College in Michigan.

    As usual, people were fascinated by what they experienced in this simple process, so I’m sharing it with you today.
    Do it yourself.
    Then, test the 25 Words by reading them to someone you know.
    Use it with a class or a discussion group.

    Here’s how it works: You’ll find 25 Words in the second half of this article. They’re waiting for you when you click on the link at the end of this portion of the story.
    Now, WAIT before clicking on the link. Get ready with a piece of paper and a pen to write down your responses. When you click over to the list, and as you read each word, jot down a note to yourself about the first visual image that pops into your mind.
    This isn’t a “word association” process. It’s an inventory of the images that pop up in your mind the moment you read these words.

Ready with pen and paper?
So, CLICK on the link and: GO!

HERE ARE … THE “25 WORDS”:

1.)    Home
2.)    Tree
3.)    School
4.)    Dog
5.)    Firefighter
6.)    Tornado
7.)    Mountain
8.)    Skyscraper
9.)    Airplane
10.)    Soldier
11.)    Agent
12.)    Patriot
13.)    Police
14.)    Alien
15.)    Gangster
16.)    Freedom
17.)    Terror
18.)    Race
19.)    Investigate
20.)    Pirate
21.)    Danger
22.)    Homeland
23.)    Gun
24.)    Enemy
25.)    Safety

    What’s the point of this?
    Well, there are a number of ways to analyze your list of images, but here’s the most common instruction that I give to groups: Count how many of the 25 images that flashed in your mind represent things that you’ve actually seen “in person.” Then, count up those images that actually came from media you’ve seen (images from movies, TV, the Internet, newspapers or magazines).
    In dozens of experiments with this list, I’ve found that the portion of media-produced images is very high among people under age 25, sometimes as high as 80 percent of the list!
    The reverse is true for many people over age 65 and I’ve met a handful of people over the past few years, all of whom were in their 70s or 80s and don’t watch TV, who claim that they’ve personally seen all 25 images that flashed in their minds.
    These folks have seen a lot in their lives. They don’t watch TV and their visual associations are drawn from personal experience.

Do you see the problem?
    If the mere reading of a single word flashes a media image in your mind, then media moguls potentially can play our minds like pipe organs – pushing various verbal keys to play visual notes in our memories.
    Now, that’s a troubling realization.
    On Saturday, a woman came up to me after the experiment and said, “Thank you for that experience!”
    Then she told me about someone she knows, “and I realize that he’s got all kinds of things filling his mind that he’s always trying to associate with whatever he happens to hear. He’s got all this negative stuff stored up there, all these memories and ideas that are so negative. And I can see it happen. Someone will talk about something that’s happening today and, right away, I can tell that he starts associating what he’s hearing with all this stuff that’s been up there in his mind for years.”
    I nodded. “I understand,” I said.
    She shook her head. “I wish he could clear out all of that and start fresh.”
    “It’s very very hard,” I said. “But you understand the problem. You understand what’s happening.”

    Perhaps this isn’t a problem for you.
    But I’ll bet that, after reading the list –- if you were careful and honest about your visual associations –- you’re asking yourself right now: Who put all that stuff into my head? How can single words summon up media images so easily? And, can I regain control of the associations I’ve stored in my brain?

    I’ll leave you with those questions today.

    Whenever I do this experiment, I’m always eager to hear what people have to say about the experience – and I’m eager to hear responses to the questions I just raised.
    Sprinkled through today’s article, I’ve placed the covers of a few helpful books that may help you sort out some of the most powerful images in American media. They’re all books by Westminster John Knox Press, a leading religious publisher in trying to help people make sense of the often bewildering array of media images showering all around us.
    Obviously, many of the troubling images in our minds are not covered in these books. Most of the troubling images come from news media, TV shows or perhaps from advertising campaigns. But WJK Press is making a very promising start at helping us to sort out the spiritual issues in media.

    CLICK HERE to email me with your thoughts – or click to leave a Comment below that all of our readers can see.

COME BACK throughout the week for these stories:

TOMORROW: 009 A Conversation With Frederick Buechner
THURSDAY: 010 The Gifts of Aging
FRIDAY: 011 Teach Us To Pray